Business Law, Second Edition: CIMA Inter@ctive CD-ROM (CIMA Inter@ctive)

Book Description

Brush up on difficult subject areas and gain invaluable question practice with CIMA Inter@ctive Study Systems. These CDROMs are the ideal way to supplement paper or classroom based learning of the Foundation subjects.

CIMA Inter@ctive Study Systems each provide extensive syllabus coverage through the 60 hours of learning. Extensive question practice supplies important feedback on incorrect answers to allow you to quickly identify and fill gaps in your knowledge.

Computer-based assessment is now the preferred method of examination, so computer-based learning is the best way to supplement your study and improve your chance of success. CIMA Inter@ctive Study Systems are fully supported by EQL International. The courseware runs on most PC's with a suggested minimum specification of:
* Pentium 133 processor
* Microsoft Windows 95 (or greater)
* 16mb of RAM
* Approx 25mb free hard disc space

Please note this item is subject to VAT at your local rate.

* The only interactive e-learning materials fully accredited by CIMA

* Increases success in the foundation level computer-based assessment through learning and preparation in the same format

* Enhances and tests understanding through extensive syllabus coverage, practice exercises and feedback

Book Description

"Read it for no other reason than to learn Bob's Seven Immutable Laws of Business. . . . This is vintage Bob-contrarian, thoughtful, and he's really fun to read."
—Forbes

In this edition of Bob Lutz's bestselling account of the business philosophy with which he revolutionized Chrysler and much of the automotive industry, Lutz reveals his unique brand of creative management. Readers will learn many lessons herein, including why the key to success in any business is maintaining a positive tension between the creative minds and the buttoned-up financial minds, and how to attract, motivate, and strategically deploy each type throughout an organization. This book features a new introduction and an epilogue in which Lutz introduces an eighth law that helps today's business leaders put his famed Seven Immutable Laws of Business into sharper perspective.

Robert A. Lutz (Scarsdale, NY) is General Motor's Vice Chairman of Product Development and Chairman of GM North America.

Download Description

What do you do with a book that' s filled with controversial, counterintuitive, and downright contrarian statements that stand conventional wisdom on its ear and claim, lightheartedly, to be immutable " laws of business?" If the author is Robert Lutz, you read the book very carefully, probably several times, learn all of the " laws" by heart, and follow them to the letter every chance you get. You also find yourself laughing out loud, shaking your head in wonder, and nodding in agreement. Revised and updated, this is a maverick' s primer on the business philosophy that revolutionized Chrysler and is now powering dramatic new product development at General Motors. In it, Lutz reexamines his iconoclastic maxims to see how they have withstood the test of time. With hard evidence, hilarious anecdotes, and his characteristic frankness, the high-flying chairman of GM North America challenges his own contention that businesses should deliberately construct a " schizophrenic" corporate culture that combines rock-solid financial controls with a highly creative, no-holds-barred product development process.

Customer Reviews:

Clear Cut And To The Point Business Advice.......2006-11-27

This book presents the 8-plus rules on how to run a successful business (and life) from a former GM Vice Chairman of Product Development. Robert Lutz presents a highly autobiographical, hypercritical, look at his career and how these laws he developed for himself can apply to anyone.

While the information may be a little dated, (the book was originally published in 1998, republished in 2003) the principles are universal and apply well to anyone looking for a little coaching in business. It is a lot easier to get into the book if you are a fan of cars, and to a lesser extent, military history. Lutz peppers a lot of his life experiences to get the point across, admitting freely that he wasn't always (and sometimes still isn't) the best example for focus, discipline, or innovative thinking. His own experiences with failing in school, joining the US Marine Corps, and dealing with car companies in Europe and the US helped to shape his 8 rules and 4 corollaries.

The most interesting part is a very candid and detailed breakdown of the creative process that gave birth to the Dodge Viper, and the admission that it wasn't exactly a car that was begging to be made, but by making it, it changed the culture of a car company and like any fine work of art, found its proper audience.

Callin' It Like He Sees It.......2004-09-01

This book is a refreshing collection of straightforward thoughts and observations about business and leadership from one of the most seasoned, creative, colorful, and highly successful executives of our time-Robert A. Lutz, Chairman of General Motors North America. This revised and updated book contains the blunt, honest wisdom of an authentic maverick leader in the form of his laws of business that have stood the test of time over his thirty years in the car industry, and his rise to the top of Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler.

Organized into three parts, the book opens with the story of Chrysler's second turnaround in the early 1990s. Lutz was part of the executive team that conceived and brought to life one of the most famous and successful muscle cars of all-time: the Viper. Part Two is an in-depth review and validation of Lutz's eight immutable laws of business. The final part is Lutz's corollaries to his laws, or, as he calls them, "The Rest of the Story!"

A former Marine with an ongoing, life-long love affair with the Marine Corps and its leadership practices, Lutz presented many business and leadership concepts and personal anecdotes that reflected and blended his business and Marine Corps backgrounds. From his beliefs about the need for attention to detail and critical performance evaluations, to his emphasis on holistic, empowered, cross-functional teams and the value of a culture that nurtures middle-management dissent of conventional wisdom in open forums, Lutz's insights and experiences were both entertaining and informative.

If the following lists of Lutz's business laws and corollaries even sound remotely appealing to you, read this book - you will not be disappointed.

Lutz's Immutable Laws of Business:
LAW #1: The Customer Isn't Always Right
LAW #2: The Primary Purpose of Business Is Not to Make Money
LAW #3: When Everybody Else Is Doing It, Don't!
LAW #4: Too Much Quality Can Ruin You
LAW #5: Financial Controls Are Bad!
LAW #6: Disruptive People Are an Asset
LAW #7: Teamwork Isn't Always Good
LAW #8: When You Inherit a Really Big Rat's Nest, Don't Try to Lure Them Out With Food. Use a Flamethrower

Lutz's Corollaries
*It's Okay to Be Anal Sometimes
*A Little Fear, in Reality, Ain't All That Bad
*Leadership Is All About Common Sense, Which, Unfortunately, Is Not All That Common
*Some Squeaky Wheels Don't Get the Grease, or Pros and Cons of Being a Change Agent

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Independent Review, published by Independent Institute on June 22, 2002. The length of the article is 1425 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: Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do about It: a Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs.
Author: Andrew P. Morriss
Publication: Independent Review (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2002
Publisher: Independent Institute
Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Page: 137(4)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

This is a text for an introductory astronomy course. One of the main goals is to provide a broad enough and deep enough background in astronomy so the student will be able to follow current developments in astronomy years after they complete the course. This book presumes that most of its readers are not science majors and that they probably have not had a college-level science or mathematics course. The book provides a complete description of current astronomical knowledge, neither at an extreme technical level nor at a level that fails to communicate the quantitative nature of physical science. Finally, the historical development of astronomy is emphasized to show that astronomy, like other sciences, advances through the efforts of many scientists, and to show how present ideas have been developed.

Book Description

Understanding the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements is critical for success in the chemistry classroom and laboratory. In today's classroom, students not only need to understand the properties of the chemical elements, but how these elements play such an integral role in industry, the earth and the environment, and in modern life. No resource provides a better introduction than Robert Krebs's The History and Use of Our Earth's Chemical Elements. In this thoroughly revised edition, with extensive new and updated examples on the use of the chemical elements, the elements are examined within their groups, enabling students to make connections between elements of similar structure. In addition, the discovery and history of each element - from those known from ancient times to those created in the modern laboratory - is explained clearly and concisely. In addition to the handy "Guide to the Chemical Elements" that comprises the bulk of the work, The History and Use of Our Earth's Chemical Elements includes other useful features: BLIntroductory material on the basics of chemistry and the Periodic Table BLAppendices on the discoverers of the chemical elements BLA glossary of words commonly used in chemistry and chemical engineering BLA complete bibliography of useful resources, including websites All of this information makes The History and Use of Our Earth's Chemical Elements the ideal one-volume resource for understanding the importance of the chemical elements.

Customer Reviews:

Fulfilled all my needs.......2002-12-02

I used it for my project, great book. I reccommednt it for 8th graders or middle schoolers.

Very Disappointing.......1999-09-03

I wanted so much to like this book-- there is such need for a good tome of this sort. Unfortunately this book doesn't satisfy that need. I had hoped it would give much in-depth knowledge of each element. It does not: it is remedial, and, sadly, that in the truest sense. Now, even a remedial book of this sort would be nothing to sneer at, and I would have rated it much, much higher were it not for the fact that, not only does it offer but a smidgeon of information about each element, but that information is badly written (often quite prolix), and worse, replete with the most glaring inaccuracies and downright errors! I found myself scribbling corrections and refutations in the margins, I was so annoyed! One could quote literally dozens -- almost every little element-entry contained one or more flat inaccuracies. The definitions of technical terms alone are so poor I can only surmise the author has but a poor understanding of his subject. And indeed the information he presents seems to be an uneven patchwork of data gleaned from all over, some from old books now quite out of date. (He, for example, writes that Thorium is "like hafnium above it in Group IVA of the periodic chart"-- and that's no longer the case as of the 1940s. He says that Iodine "has no naturally occuring isotopes" -- and his definition of an isotope is an element "with more than the normal neutrons" in its nucleus). He writes that Helium was one of the elements "predicted by the periodic chart" -- totally wrong: far from being predicted by the chart, the discovery of the Noble Gases in toto, from 1895 to 1899, came as a complete surprise to all. In fact, no one had the slightest clue that an entire group of the chart remained to be discovered. I could go on-- and on-- AND ON --- with this litany of error, but why? Better to look for an old copy of Hammond's "Encyclopedia of the Chemical Elements", or Greenwood & Earnshaw's magisterial "Chemistry of the Elements", than wasting your money on this.

Average customer rating:

Funny, sly, wry and wonderful

Spite Hall

Spite Hall
Jack Mauro
Manufacturer: Writers Club Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel

ASIN: 0595193226

Book Description

A glorious October morning in Knoxville, Tennessee. 1996.

John Grigio stops dead in his tracks while crossing the street. He waits for the unseeing driver to strike him down; it is the spite within him making a stand.

Although not, of course, for very long.

Spite Hall. A dark comedy of misery, misanthropy and true love.

Customer Reviews:

Funny, sly, wry and wonderful.......2005-01-23

Spite Hall is a book about a bitter man who gets even with...the world? No telling... by standing in front of a car in an intersection, and allowing it to hit him. By doing this he proves...something. Or not. But no matter.

The elderly woman driver who hits him is fraught with guilt, and apologizes by sending pies. So begins this little fable about bitterness, friendship and ultimate redemption.

The book is a gem, and gut-bustingly funny, particularly if you are a fan of high-end, John Gielgud (the butler in "Arthur") type wit. Every character - and "character" is the word - is well-drawn, recognizable and hilarious. The writing is superb. It's a two-read book (though I'm preparing for read Number 3).

If you're looking for a book you can't put down, and will really love, this is the book! I give it my very highest rating!

Spite Hall.......2001-12-30

A reading of SPITE HALL should convince anyone, who may for some reason have had any doubt, that Mr. Mauro is certainly no " flash in the pan." Having moved to the novel format, the talented erstwhile short story writer ( GAY STREET) takes advantage of the opportunity to lift his foot from the brake pedal. Indeed, in his latest endeavor he is able to fully indulge his creative talents. As in his previous presentation, he presents the reader with wit and wisdom and delightful turns of phrase; moreover in SPITE HALL he is free to toss over the entire cast of characters a finely woven web, in and out of which they can squirm ,slip, and climb.
Gentling his characters across streets of downtown Knoxville while, at the same time, deftly implanting them into the reader's imagination, Mr. Mauro oftentimes is a jazz player: his spontaneous and seamless flights lifting the audience above the core melody as his innovative fingerings articulate nuances of character, subtleties of interaction, and unique insights into the Human Predicament.

ADVENTURE - Volume 116, number 2 - December (Dec) 1946: Balloons for Bowlegs; Crooked Mile; Uncle Ned's Teeth; Killers Love Guns; Spite Corner; Charley Hoe Handle and the Great Big Bass; Devil to Pay; The Cape Town Blighter; North of Forty; Winter Drift

Average customer rating:

ADVENTURE - Volume 116, number 2 - December (Dec) 1946: Balloons for Bowlegs; Crooked Mile; Uncle Ned's Teeth; Killers Love Guns; Spite Corner; Charley Hoe Handle and the Great Big Bass; Devil to Pay; The Cape Town Blighter; North of Forty; Winter Drift
Kenneth S. (editor) (William du Bois; John H. Knox; James Norman Hall; Michael Oblinger; Georges Surdez; Jim Kjelgaard; Franklin Gregory; Geoffrey Major; Fred Lane; Harold O. Weight; Steve Hall; K. M. Walker; John Richard Young) White
Manufacturer: Popular Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GVW89Y

Average customer rating:

Zapata The Demon?

Fast reading but a distanced perspective

A Great Political Life, Despite Some Criticism

Emiliano Zapata!: Revolution and Betrayal in Mexico
Samuel Brunk
Manufacturer: University of New Mexico Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Mexico | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution

Becoming Campesinos: Politics, Identity, and Agrarian Struggle in Postrevolutionary Michoacan, 1920-1935

The Mexican Revolution, 1910-1940 (Dialogos Series, 12)

Zapata Zapata

ASIN: 0826316204

Book Description

The life of Mexican Revolutionary Emiliano Zapata was the stuff that legends are made of. Born and raised in a tiny village in the small south-central state of Morelos, he led an uprising in 1911--one strand of the larger Mexican Revolution--against the regime of long-time president Porfirio Díaz. He fought not to fulfill personal ambitions, but for the campesinos of Morelos, whose rights were being systematically ignored in Don Porfirio's courts.

Expanding haciendas had been appropriating land and water for centuries in the state, but as the twentieth century began things were becoming desperate. It was not long before Díaz fell. But Zapata then discovered that other national leaders--Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, and Venustiano Carranza--would not put things right, and so he fought them too. He fought for nearly a decade until, in 1919, he was gunned down in an ambush at the hacienda Chinameca.

In this new political biography of Zapata, Brunk, noted journalist and scholar, shows us Zapata the leader as opposed to Zapata the archetypal peasant revolutionary. In previous writings on Zapata, the movement is covered and Zapata the man gets lost in the shuffle. Brunk clearly demonstrates that Zapata's choices and actions did indeed have an historical impact.

This clearly written and carefully argued narrative presents a less mythical and more human Zapata against the dramatic and chaotic background of the Mexican Revolution.

Customer Reviews:

Zapata The Demon?.......2002-03-23

Emiliano Zapata is a legendary and controversial figure in Mexican history. One of the many persons who have been intrigued by Zapata's mythical persona has been Samuel Brunk. Brunk first conducted his comprehensive research on Zapata while he was a graduate student at the University of New Mexico. Brunk's current research deals with certain aspects of Zapata not covered in this book, mainly with the accuracy of the cultural and political myth ascribed to Zapata since his death. Brunk currently teaches at the University of Texas at El Paso. His area of expertise is twentieth century Mexican history.
Brunk states that "the primary goal of the book is to provide a . . . political biography of Zapata, and to demonstrate . . . That his choices and actions . . . [had] a historical impact." Brunk portrays Zapata as a man with utopian ideals who is plagued by personal faults. He contends that Zapata, or more precisely, Zapatisimo had, and has had, an enduring effect on th Mexican conscience and psyche. His work, over a third of which is composed of notes and references, is well researched. Brunk utilizes oral interviews, anthropological data, and newspaper and archival documents (many of which had been recently released) to develop his thesis.
Although Brunk does a wonderful job in compiling information to narrate his thesis, there are a few aspects to the book that are disappointing. For instance, the back of the book and the introduction claim that Brunk's depicture of Zapatisimo humanizes the Zapatisimo legacy by recanting the brutality and banditry that surrounded the movement. This controversial depicture (controversial because most previous historians and scholars who have written on Zapata have minimized or left out claims of the movement's cruelty) that was promised, however, never genuinely materializes in the pages of the book. To be sure, Brunk does give attention to the banditry that occurred during the Zapata movement, however, Brunk downplays the criminal activity conducted by Zapatistas as isolated or justified occurrences. This is rather unfortunate, not because it overly influenced his work (this does not seem to be the case). But because the promotional description of the book does not accurately apply. A prospective consumer looking forward to reading book that demonizes Zapata might be led astray by the controversial advertisement. Brunk's book only mildly describes the Zapatistas as crooks and thugs. To be fair though, some reviewers seemed satisfied with Brunk's work in illuminating Zapata's unethical activities.
Going beyond what may be construed as a misleading description of the book, Brunk offers the reader a thorough account of the situation Zapata was facing during the 1910s. Overall, this is an enjoyable book, however, at times the book's readability is rough and course. Brunk's recreation of the constitutional convention is a clear example of this. It was dull, deliberate and repetitive. On the positive side, the remaining sections of the book, particularly his description on the early days of Zapatisimo, were well written. Perhaps the most pointed and painful critique, however, comes from experts in the field. John Womack, author of Zapata and the Mexican Revolution and Harvard professor, concluded that Brunk had missed "a chance for a major contribution to scholarship" in light of all the new material available to him.
Notwithstanding the rather disappointing aspects to the book, it is still a book worth reading. Brunk does an excellent job depicting the shifting coalitions between the various factions of the revolution. Indeed, it would not be far fetched to suggest that Brunk's depiction of the various coalitions immensely helps the reader understand the difficulties that confronted the US in its first war of the 21st Century.

Fast reading but a distanced perspective.......2001-06-08

You may need a glossary for this book if you're not familiar with such terms as ejido or hacendado. I highly reccomend doing some preparation reading on the mexican revolution before starting this book. Be advised, a third of this book is notes and references! The author does a good job of showing how Zapata remained committed to his cause while many around him were traitors. The author provides factual accounts with little embelishing or unsupported speculation. This book is a must-have for those who are interested in the real Zapata.

A Great Political Life, Despite Some Criticism.......2000-04-29

The book centers on how the personal life of Emiliano Zapata intermingled with his revolutionary movement during the high point of the Mexican Revolution: 1910-1919. The events and historical period the book covers are hardly new to scholarly review. In his book Brunk is standing on ground elevated by previous work- particularly by John Womack's Zapata and the Mexican Revolution. Still, from this advantageous position Brunk decided to focus his attention on the personal details of Zapata and give us a fresh political biography.

This book sadly misses the opportunity to examine the cultural dimension of Zapata's life and achievements. Starting with his beginning, Brunk totally ignores the religious attribute intrinsic in the culture of south/central Mexico - which he later admits it had. Indeed, he only mentions the word church when referring to how a village offered a strategic position from the tower of the church. When referring to the machismo culture and Zapata's relationships with females, he could have linked gender issues to Zapata's revolution. When he touched on the regionalist tendencies of Zapatismo, he could have compared one region against the other in greater details as to illuminate why regionalism was such a strong force. There were several questions that their answers could have enriched his research. How did religion influence the motivation of Zapatistas? What was the reaction of local priest and other members of the clergy, to Zapata's actions, and what type of relationship they had? What role did women play in Zapata's movement? How did the fatalism of machismo influence the outcome of the events? If the Guerreros were not as motivated for land reform as the Morelos were, what other motivations led them to follow Zapata? What role did Indians had within or against Zapatismo?

Brunk seems too concern at portraying Zapata as a benign leader, and worthy of idolization. While describing his childhood, he rarely criticizes the tradition as a source (with one important exemption), but it tends to place it at the center of the description. The book also has an inclination to smooth out Zapata's rough characteristics. Indeed, when there is someone to falter, there are always many candidates that are not Zapata. And when there is no way that Zapata can escape guilt, masterfully, Brunk explains out the reasons in a way that everything seems inevitable and the reader may sympathize with Zapata. The more obvious example, probably, is when a spirit of paranoia invaded the Zapata's camp, and he is not able to control it. At this moment Brunk chose to emphasize the doings of others, and when there was reference to Zapata's behavior, Brunk always did it with a compassionated tone and explaining that most convictions were done with lots of regrets. Furthermore, Zapata is presented as fair when he decided not to punish, and when he decided to punish, regardless that the cases were very similar and that the motivation for change appears to be related to mood swings more than any other factors. Undoubtedly, this book falls short of a complete description of the Mexican Revolution. This was not the intention of the book. However, the reader may gather the wrong impression of the Mexican Revolution by following the logic of the book. In many occasions the author clearly placed Zapatismo as the Revolution, and yet, in other parts he moved to explain how it was only a strand of a larger movement. This seemingly contradiction is not an isolated element. When Brunk tells about the differences on Villa and Zapata, and how that influenced the outcome of their relationship, he vacillates to use more unambiguous terms. To those fond of the scientific historical perspective and of empirical data, this book may prove a disappointment.

What this book does is to allow the reader to appreciate the Mexican Revolution, and more specifically, Zapatismo, from the personal life of Zapata. The emphasis on Zapata's life is more on his relationships to his subordinates and enemies, and this focus brings a totally new perspective into the matter. It seems that by getting close to Zapata's leadership Brunk gained an edge in understanding Zapata. By the constant use of the word "perhaps" one can assume that Brunk commonly relies on his intuition cultivated by years of personal acquaintance with the original sources leading to Zapata.

Through Brunk's style the reader may appreciate the influence of personalities and how power conflict influenced the Revolution and its southern strand: Zapatismo. Through this book the reader may appreciate how the unfolding of personal interaction determined the relationship between Zapata and his intellectuals. In explaining internal conflicts within Zapatismo, Brunk clearly understands how the rural people related to each other and how that differed from those coming from the city: in the country they looked in the eye, in the city they thought in terms of systems. (126) When returning to Morelos, Brunk describes a lively Zapata, full of energy as he makes his leadership, once again, dependent on his charisma and personality. Brunk also brilliantly explains how the concept of justice was more a personal matter to Zapata and how it evolved out of his relationship to others. And finally, Brunk takes the reader to Zapata's vacillation before going toward Jesus Guajardo; how he knew that he was gambling his live by doing so. This inside view into Zapata's political and military world could not be achieved without Brunk's emphasis on Zapata's personal relationships. At the end the reader may agree with Brunk in that brutality, pain, and personalism "formed an integral part of the Revolution, without which could not be understood." (238) There is no doubt that Brunk employed contemporary research and advanced analytical skills to study the political life of Zapata. Yet, he departs a little from the overly skeptic attitude of some current scholars who avoid personal worship and prefer a more depressing view of life. According to Brunk, then, the Revolution was indeed a revolution, and Zapatismo was a peasant's revolution with clear political and social significance.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Read.......2005-06-19

Jim Peters must have one of the most pleasant personalities I have ever read about. Many of his "stops" brought laughter from his partners as well as himself. Wish I could have been Casper, the friendly ghost, on some of these capers! I would have laughed out loud too!! This is a great story of a modern day Ranger, maintaining the true tradition of the Texas Rangers. Wish there were more like him and that their stories could be told also. They will always be heroes in my books and I will continue delving into everything I can read about them. Way to to Ranger Jim! You were/are "a hell of a Ranger."

Mr. Peters: Friend and One of the Good Guys.......2005-04-08

I've known Jim Peters for many years, and have been at his side and witnessed both his investigative talent (who can forget Las Vegas 1995?) and skill at obtaining info from people not always willing to provide it. This is an entertaining story and a too brief glimpse into the life of a true Texas Ranger, before the computers and DNA changed the profession forever. Read it and wish you were there.

Jim Peters - Friend and Mentor.......2002-11-27

As one who is friends with Jim Peters, I can recommend this book to anyone who is a Texas history buff, especially those with an interest in Ranger lore. Jim truly was a Ranger when "Rangers were Rangers".

I thoroughly enjoyed this book........1999-01-27

Jim Peters has had a remarkable life, and it's fascinating to read about his adventures as a Texas Ranger. The author makes you feel as though you're right there with Peters and the Rangers as they piece together evidence and track down the bad guys. The fact that these are true crime stories makes them all the more interesting. The ones involving coldblooded killers make you grateful for the courage and dedication of men like Jim Peters. Other stories involving lesser crimes and dumb or unlucky criminals are very funny. A neat book.

Entertaining True Crime.......1999-01-09

Jim Peters, Texas Ranger is extremely readable as it consists of great stories of the activities of this reknowned and capable Texas Ranger. The Rangers, of course, are the best of the best, and Jim Peters was highly respected by his fellows. He was involved in the resolution of a lot of high-profile cases and the book is an interesting piece of both true crime and history.

Book Description

Here is the story of a boy who was destined for something larger than his tribal village, a boy who could not contain his wonder and curiosity about the world beyond the familiar. The circumstances of Mandela’s youth led him to a perpetual search for what is right and true, in constant pursuit of fairness and recognition for the colorful, valiant history and tradition of black South Africa. This unique biography tells of Mandela’s early years through the age of twenty-three – his upbringing and education, the rituals of tribal Africa and his rite-of-passage ceremony, the early death of his father and his subsequent move to the home of the Paramount Chief, the Regent who became his adoptive father.

Customer Reviews:

Worth reading through to the end........2002-01-09

I almost didn't finish this book. My initial impression was that this guy's life is as dull and as vapid as anyone else's. He visits a department store with his mother and her neighborhood friend -- big deal. His dad finally gives in and buys the big freezer for the kitchen -- so what?

But suddenly, and quite by accident, I realized that the book had me firmly in its grip. It somehow became important to find out what happened at the AIDS clinic. The minutae of which gym he was attending -- and why -- gained a greater significance than I could have anticipated earlier in the book.

Cooper's writing style makes it easy to digest these essays. He writes with a precision that reminds me of Edmund White, or even Buckley, but without the pompous esoteric nature they sometimes employ.

The book ends abruptly. Whatever happened to Bryan, his roommate? What further progress was there in his relationship with his father, if any? But real life isn't conveniently episodic. I ended yesterday with unfinished business; I will leave unfinished business at this day's end. Just as a photograph captures only the briefest millisecond between what-has-gone-before and the unknowable what-will-be, so this book snatches Cooper midway between life's experiences, with stories as-yet unfinished. In the end, it makes his autobiography all the more real.

Cooper's Best.......2001-08-02

Far and away the strongest material Cooper has written, "Truth Serum" is one of the best memoirs I've ever encountered. It ranks with Theodore Dreiser's "Dawn" as a stunning evocation of early life. His language is fluid and beautiful. He writes about childhood as vividly as if he were watching intimate scenes from his past on a movie screen. Except that he describes feelings and thoughts-- unfilmable-- so freshly. The reader enters into the child Cooper's head and perceptions in astonishing ways. This is exceptional writing and the sense of immediacy (with the exception of the abstract final piece) is wonderful.

Intense Focus.......2000-08-19

I checked this book out of the library and read half of it before I realized that I had to own it, so I bought a copy the next day and picked up where I'd left off in the other copy. It's not a book-length memoir as much as it's a series of shorter memoirs. And what I find the most compelling in this book is his sense of focus. He writes a rather extensive essay about high school called "101 Ways to Cook Hamburger," and it essentially consists of three scenes. But from those scenes, I get a strong sense of his high school experience as a whole.

Also, he covers his entire life in this relatively short book. He has an essay on his mother that centers on the freezer she coveted, and an essay on his father. He talks about joining the gym, and the various gyms of his life, and that leads him to a discussion of AIDS. He has a short essay that categorizes all of the different kinds of sighs.

One of the greatest compliments I can give a book is to say that I wish I'd written it. I'm going through this book again, underlining passages and studying his use of scene, description, and exposition. He's a writer to learn from, in a lot of ways.

Wonderful.......1999-04-28

I found _My Year of Rhymes_ by accident and loved it so much I got _Truth Serum_ immediately. I loved it even more.

My friends who read gay writers are increasingly crabby with all the "negative" books being currently written. I guess they mean the self-tortured protagonists of Holleran and White and Picano and Peck and Monette. I offered this book as a remedy for their pique.

There is some description of the torture of growing up gay (and it is exquisite), but, in this book, I promise that you would have felt gypped without experiencing that aspect of the narrator's life. But there is also, for example, "The Fine Art of Sighing" and "Train of Thought," two short pieces that have nothing to do with gayness or angst or turmoil; "Train of Thought" made me weepy without a tragic incident anywhere in sight: the sheer beauty of the language moved me so much.

It's not hard to believe that Cooper spends hours and hours over one sentence. It shows. He is a remarkable writer.

Poetic memoirs of a gay LA baby boomer.......1999-03-24

Bernard Cooper's collected essay-memoirs give a poetic account of the trepidations of growing up gay in pre-Stonewall Los Angeles as the child of a raging father and an oppressed housewife. Whether he's grappling with his homosexuality as an adult at the therapist's office, or worried about his parents finding his collection of "physique" magazines, Cooper's memories are presented like pressed autumn leaves, captured just after turning a fiery color. He presents both gay childhood and the LA gay scene like time capsules. These memoirs are vividly detailed and are more like being there than retrospection. Despite years of self-torture followed by years of the AIDS crisis, Cooper does more than bear witness. He also has managed to survive and overcome the demons of the past.

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Truth Serum: Memoirs
Bernard Cooper
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J9ZAA2

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