Economics of Health Care Financing: The Visible Hand; Second Edition

Book Description

This new edition examines the economics of health care systems in a non-technical manner, highly accessible for economists and non-economists alike. It is very timely and includes the latest evidence of health care reforms and their implications from a number of countries with different systems.

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Long Term Success Must Read

Gain a competitive Edge

Good Content, Don't Need Toto

It's to Laugh

An Excellent Book!

Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve A Competitive Edge by Creating A Culture of Accountability

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

The Oz Principle: Getting Results through Individual and Organizational Accountability

Accountability: Freedom and Responsibility without Control

Journey to the Emerald City

The Oz Accountability Power Pack (Smart Tapes)

Accountability: Getting a Grip on Results

ASIN: B000I5YUS0

Amazon.com

Taking inspiration from The Wizard of Oz, international management consultants Roger Connors and Tom Smith have adapted the underlying framework of one of the world's most famous morality plays to propose a better way of doing business. In their first book, The Oz Principle, they described the potential benefits of a related structure of corporate unification and discussed its long-range ramifications for organizational improvement. In their new effort, Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve a Competitive Edge by Creating a Culture of Accountability, they articulate a step-by-step plan for accelerating its development. The obstacle-strewn path negotiated by the story's legendary characters helped create an "understanding of what was needed in order to achieve the goals of each person on the team," write Connors and Smith. "Yet, the journey not only led to personal insight about what needed to change, but also a collective insight about how the team needed to think and act as a whole in order to get where they were going." Accordingly, the authors present a Yellow Brick Road-map here for altering behavioral patterns of employees and managers to get them working together more effectively to achieve superior results. --Howard Rothman

Book Description

"The transformation of corporate culture…has largely

eluded the recent wave of performance improvement

innovations. Connors and Smith fill this gap by…outlining

how their processes for culture change work not only in

theory but also in practice. This volume provides hands-on,

concrete tools for helping organizations fulfill their

potential." — Chairman and CEO, Eli Lilly and Company

Customer Reviews:

Long Term Success Must Read.......2004-03-14

One of the most challenging things for people to do is open their minds and accept new ideas and/or new thoughts about old ideas. Journey To the Emerald City affords readers the rare opportunity to overcome this challenge.

Following the metaphor developed in their best-selling book, The Oz Principle, Connors and Smith dive into the core issue surrounding the achievement of results in organizations...the company's culture. Simply put, the culture of the organization actually determines the results the company will achieve. Connors and Smith clearly let us know that the company culture is how the company both thinks and acts.

As readers of The Oz Principle found, the answers to the problems that plague most of us are most often found within ourselves. Journey To The Emerald City picks up where Oz left off. This is a step-by-step guide to first understanding your current culture and then defining what it needs to become in order to attain and even exceed your expected levels of achievement.

As a former TEC Chair, I had the privilege of working intimately with CEO's and Presidents of companies ranging in revenue from just under $2M to over $60M. One of the hardest steps any of these successful leaders had to take was creating a Culture of Accountability within their organizations. The reason for the challenge was painfully clear, most leaders do not know how to create a culture of accountability, let alone really understand what such a culture looks and acts like. More and more senior leadership teams are searching for the "magic program" to make people "more accountable." Happily, Journey provides just that program, but it isn't magic. It's practical and simple to understand. It's implementable, right now. It doesn't require any special training to understand, and in the face of potential return on investment of time, it stands head and shoulders above all other ideas on the subject.

In Journey, you will find a model called "The Results Pyramid." To borrow a phrase, this model is profoundly simple and simply profound. Readers will find their thoughts leading to circumstances and situations that exemplify and validate the model without effort. The beauty of the model is that it helps leaders define their business case for change, as well as defining the path along which the organization must be aligned in order to achieve success.

Readers are introduced (or reintroduced for readers of Oz) to the best practices that actually define "The Steps to Accountability," See It, Own It, Solve It and Do It. It is these best practices that, when applied and practiced within an organization, will lead to success. Connors and Smith clearly define the path and the processes necessary to change an organizational culture.

The final section of the book deals with accelerating the culture change within the organization. It's no secret that certain activities will impede and others will accelerate any change. Connors and Smith promote the use of what they call, "Focused Feedback" to accelerate and achieve the desired changes. Leadership is the key and the entire organization needs to be enrolled.
In making my decision to delve into this book, several things are worthy of note. First, as I mentioned, I have dealt with senior leadership for several years and believe they know they don't have all the answers. I wanted to have another tool to give them. Second, I read a review by someone who was frustrated with the book because he felt it was merely a promotional piece for the authors to sell their consulting services. This intrigued me because I have yet to meet an author of business and leadership books (myself included) who didn't want to be contacted by their readers and hopefully create some business relationship between these readers and themselves.

Lastly, I read The Oz Principle when it was first published in 1994. I have yet to find another business book that created as deep a feeling about "the right thing to do" as Oz did for me. Journey To The Emerald City runs a very close second. Having been exposed to authors writing about accountability from T.J. Rodgers to Jack Welsh and back to Andrew Grove and the Marines and our service academies, I understand the subject quite well (both as a service academy graduate and as a consultant). This book is a must in today's business environment. The stories support and motivate. The process is direct and clearly defined.

If you have the least concern for how to evolve, grow and define your company's future success, Journey To The Emerald City is required reading.

Gain a competitive Edge.......2004-03-13

In Journey to the Emerald City, Connors and Smith present the principles that make organizational culture THE competitive edge for the 21st Century. They describe in useful, applicable, and concrete ways how to blast away boundaries, create ownership, and drive performance by creating a culture of accountability. Applying the process found in Journey will give any organization a competitive edge!

David Mathisen
Sr. Vice President & General Manager
Orbital Transportation Management Systems

Good Content, Don't Need Toto.......2003-03-16

In 1998, the authors wrote The Oz Principle around the concept that "an organization will perform at its highest potential if, and only if, each of its members assumes personal accountability for achieving its results." Thus, Conners and Smith emphasize a corporate culture that is based on personal accountability, with leaders, goals, tasks, teams, and every aspect of organizational life connected to that theme.

I will admit to being put off by the title and the cover. Wizard of Oz? Dorothy and her red shoes? The Cowardly Lion? Do I have time for fables and games? There are some mentions of Frank Baum's classic, some quotes, and some relationships like explaining that managers don't have magic. Overall, however, this book is a solid management book on changing organizational culture. And that's a vital issue for a lot of companies today.

The book is organized into three sections whose titles give good insight into the value and flow of the text: Understanding Company Culture, Shifting to a New Culture, and Accelerating Culture Change. The ten chapters explain the concepts and a process for moving forward in an organized, results-oriented fashion. The book is filled with practical approaches that can open a company to achievements that have been trapped inside by a dysfunctional culture. The key is accountability that starts at the top of the organization with an open and complete style of leadership. No games: communication.

The authors show us how to change the way people think and act. They show how to get people involved in a positive way so transformation can occur. Culture change is a journey, a journey that can be taken at an agonizingly slow pace, a normal flow (whatever that is), or moved to a higher level of velocity and enthusiasm. Graphics and an index enhance the book's value, which is far beyond the connection to the Oz story.

You'll learn from consultants who have "been there" and achieved results. The knowledge you gain will enable you to achieve some change in your organization based on what these men have learned and share in this book.

It's to Laugh.......2001-01-30

Many business books are a form of utopian literature and should be treated as such. Given this premise, one would think that a book with a title like "Journey to the Emerald City" would be a top-notch business book as it suggests the authors might have a certain awareness of this genre.

Unfortunately, this in not the case here. Instead, this is yet another entry in the "book as selling tool" sweepstakes. In this sub-genre of the business book, the book is the foot-in-the-door for selling consulting services. Little more than a powerpoint presentation fleshed out with the usual miscellaneous facts and figures, these books are short on everything but jargon. They offer middle managers cozy, self-evident insights and simplistic advice that most company employees find insulting or at least insipid. (Around our office, the charts in the first chapter that show "non-aligned" and "aligned" processes and goals are considered a fine example of this facile and fallacious sub-genre as they keenly demonstrate the obvious in the most obvious fashion possible.)

Business books are not known for their sense of humor, certainly, because as we all know, business is extraordinarily serious. Yet, lack of wit and self-awareness are not virtures either. Nor is the plodding purposefulness with which the authors describe their "innovative" approach, although again, they are clearly in good company in this genre.

A shame really, especially since clearly the publishers felt strongly enough about the book to spend some extra bucks on shiny green foil on the jacket. Then again, perhaps the title is more apt than I take it to be. Like in the Wizard of Oz, we find there is no wizard behind the flashy curtain and special effects, but rather the usual seller of snake oil.

An Excellent Book!.......2000-04-07

An Excellent Book.. A must for all the mangers in any organisation.

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Field Studies of Radon in Rocks, Soils & Water

Manufacturer: Diane Pub.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0941375617

Product Description

A diverse collection of geologic, hydrologic, geochemical & geophysical studies of radon in rocks, soils & water. The various techniques used to measure radon in water, soil & air are discussed; geologic case studies of radon in soils & water derived from faults, metamorphic, igneous & sedimentary rocks are examined; & models for assessing radon regionally are presented

Field Studies of Radon in Rocks, Soils, and Water

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Field Studies of Radon in Rocks, Soils, and Water
Gundersen/Wanty
Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0873719557

Book Description

Field Studies of Radon in Rocks, Soils, and Water focuses on the principal sources of indoor radon and detecting radon through geochemical and hydrological studies of ground water. The book addresses how to measure radon, covers geological field study techniques, and presents techniques for assessing radon potential. The geochemical and hydrological studies of ground water cover such areas as health effects and radionuclides in geology. Techniques for measuring radon in ground water are also provided. Field Studies of Radon in Rocks, Soils, and Water is an excellent practical guide for geologists, geochemists, ground water professionals, and geophysicists interested in radon. Features

Field studies of radon in rocks, soils, and water (SuDoc I 19.3:1971)

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Field studies of radon in rocks, soils, and water (SuDoc I 19.3:1971)
U.S. Geological Survey
Manufacturer: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0001060IK

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FIELD STUDIES OF RADON IN ROCKS, SOILS, AND WATER.
Linda C. S. & Wanty, Richard B. Editors. Gundersen
Manufacturer: US Govt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O5D6DO

Field Studies on Radon in Rocks Soils & Water Us Geological Survey Denver (Bulletin No. 1971)

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Field Studies on Radon in Rocks Soils & Water Us Geological Survey Denver (Bulletin No. 1971)
L. C. S. Gunderson , and R. P. Wanly
Manufacturer: United States Geological
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 9992836156

Book Description

"This is an absolutely superb book! I have been recommending it enthusiastically to professional colleagues, graduate students, and even the occasional highly motivated undergraduate student ever since it was published last year, and the response to the book has been overwhelmingly positive. Not only is the book unique in terms of topical coverage, but it is also extremely well executed. In fact, it is one of the best textbooks on any subject that I have read. It belongs on the shelves of everyone interested in the genetic aspects of human evolution. There is also much of value in it for paleoanthropologists, historical linguists, archaeologists, and human biologists (biological anthropologists), as well as for geneticists with various complementary specialties and interests.

… The text is clearly written, and the illustrations are excellent. The boxed supplementary text is especially informative, whether just explanatory information or an opinion piece by an outside expert. There is a real richness to the mtDNA and Y-chromosome data presented in a phyolgenetic/phylogeographic framework in the three chapters on prehistoric range expansion and global colonization. Students have found chapters 3-6 (about genome diversity) quite helpful and have deemed the text's brief excursions into the realm of mathematics to be effectively presented and not overly technical. Appropriate Web sites are mentioned throughout the book, to foster independent research. I must confess that I learned something new (and important) from every chapter in the book!

… This new compendium emphasizes the enormous explosion in knowledge derived from human haploid systems and molecular genetic markers, and, as such, it is a most worthy successor. It should quickly become the book to consult for genetic information pertinent to the evolution of our species. To the authors, I offer both a sincere thank you and a hearty congratulations for a job well done!"

American Journal of Human Genetics, 76:0, 2005

Customer Reviews:

A great book all around.......2006-07-28

I ordered this book when I first began my research using DNA markers. I found it very easy to read and highly informative, even beyond my own interests. It's a great reference to have around and a must read for anyone working in the field of human genetics, both from a clinical or academic perspective. Its organization lends it suitable for a good textbook in an advanced evolutionary genetics course as well.

A must have book for this field.......2004-08-07

Very up-to-date (msot references are from 2000 to 2003),
and well-written.

You will become an expert in this filed after studying this classic!

I bought a copy for myself, and another one for my advisor.

I have read it twice in a week!

Essential reading.......2004-02-06

Clearly laid out like one of the classic undergraduate textbooks (e.g. Genes VII, Albers et al.), this is the only up-to-date introduction in the field.

The authors make great efforts to link advances in genetics to other fields (e.g. linguistics, anthropology), as well as to organise chapters around key issues such as the spread of agriculture, offering space to key authors in these associated fields. Bibliographic/website sources are also well documented.

Evidently, coverage is broad rather than deep, but if you need some basic background (e.g. I wanted to understand how Y-chromosome sequence data illuminated prehistoric migrations but needed some basic information on microsatellites) before proceeding to original papers, then this is the book for you.

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Human Evolutionary Genetics: Origins, Peoples, and Disease.
Mark A. Jobling
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M4SNHQ

Customer Reviews:

A masterful writer.......2000-05-02

Michael Checchio is one of the nation's best writers about nature. This volumn is, in fact, a concise and beautiful evocation of the Southwest, full of paradox. In a passage about the San Juan River in New Mexico, for instance, Checchio describes how a well-intentioned environmental approach -- catch-and-release -- can produce bizarre results: huge, docile trout that give up virtually without a fight. That might be a metaphor for what is happening to much of the Southwest. And yet, Checchio evokes the beauty and timelessness of the place. This is a wonderful book.

A masterful writer.......2000-05-02

Sundown Legends A Journey Into the American Southwest

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Sundown Legends A Journey Into the American Southwest
Michael Checchio
Manufacturer: Thomas Dunne Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTKP6G

Book Description

A riveting chronicle of the extraordinary debut year of the Washington Nationals—the team that brought America’s pastime back to the nation’s capital for the first time in over three decades…and quickly emerged as the team to watch in the 2005 season.

It all started in a freezing double-wide trailer parked outside RFK stadium—but this was no off-season tailgate. This was the official front office of Major League Baseball’s newest team. Crammed into the spartan space, Tony Tavares, the Washington Nationals’ newly appointed president, began the monumental task of fashioning a big league team that would, just six months down the road, usher baseball back to the nation’s capital.

Barry Svrluga, sports reporter for the Washington Post, has followed the saga of the Nationals from the early, intense political wrangling over bringing the team to Washington, to the defining triumphant moments -- and anguish -- of their first-ever season. A savvy observer of both Washington and Major League politicking, Svrluga covers the conflicts that undermined the existence of a D.C. team since the early 1970s (including the bitter opposition of powerbrokers inside the baseball establishment itself), and ended with the migration of the Montreal Expos to D.C.

Granted exclusive access to the players, the clubhouse, and the innermost workings of the team, Svrluga covers the surprise sensation of the 2005 season – which not only saw the Nationals gain a foothold on the Washington sports scene, but dominate the NL East through much of the season. From the outspoken legendary manager, Frank Robinson, to the inside stories of Jose Guillen, Livan Hernandez, and Brad Wilkerson, Svrluga brings the personalities of the team to life, interviews the most dedicated fans who’ve waited since the days of the Washington Senators for baseball to be restored in their city, and chronicles the team’s emotional ups and downs throughout the season.

A fresh new voice in sports writing, Svrluga combines the enthusiasm, authority, and attention to detail that guarantees this to be the definitive book of the Washington Nationals’ first season.

The nation’s capital hadn’t had a spring like this in more than a generation. In less than a week, the Nationals’ players and coaches were headed north. They didn’t know what kind of stadium awaited. They didn’t know what the reception would be. They didn’t know the town, how to get around, where to live, what to do. Most of all, though, they didn’t know who would play where, who would hit in which spot. Frank Robinson stewed over it all. He was supposed to go to Washington, bringing back the city’s first team in a generation, with this situation?

—From National Pastime

Customer Reviews:

Excellent review of the Nationals coming to Washington.......2007-01-04

For a Washington baseball fan like me, this book is a must-have, for those who want to read a very good account of the events in the return of baseball to the Nation's Capital, this book is the best that I have seen about it.

I am a longtime fan of Washington baseball, loving the Washington Senators in the 1960's, and have been studying the history of baseball in D. C. for years. I attended the 2005 Opening Night game that I had looked forward to for 33 years, and also many other games since then. Barry Svrluga gives a very interesting inside account of the July 5 game when Jose Guillen threw the ball over the catcher's head and all the way to the backstop, I had wondered what on earth was going on that night, I saw that happen in person. The accounts were interesting, and told a story that is not obvious to the average baseball fan who does not know what goes on behind-the-scene.

A very good book, I highly recommend it!

A "must" for your baseball library.......2006-09-03

Many of us non-native Washingtonians see the Nationals as simply an overdue return of baseball to the DC area. But few of us are really privy to an inside behind the scenes view of the agony and ecstasy experienced by the die hard fans and baseball professionals who lived through this experience. If you thought baseball was just a game you won't after reading this compelling tale of just how DC came to have a new baseball team. If you want to understand more than just the current standings or statistics of your favority team and really want to know how the business of baseball is "played" grab a copy of this one. You'll find it an easy and thoroughly enjoyable read.

Here's to you, Mr. Robinson.......2006-04-03

Attention baseball fans who are looking for the best reads in 2006...
The two outstanding baseball books this season are "National Pastime" and "Black and Blue." Why?? Frank Robinson is why. Robby is the "Man for All Seasons", as told in these incredible two extraordinary straight-forward non-fiction books re-capping the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the 2005 Washington Nationals seasons. These efforts are sports writing at its finest by two of the trade's brightest and most promising upcoming reporters. I urge baseball fans to seek out and relish Frank Robinson --this 70 year-old legend and icon who epitomizes what is great about the National Pastime. "God bless you please, Mr. Robinson, heaven holds a place for those who pray. A nation turns its lonely eyes to you." Good luck, Skip, in 2006!!!!

Book Description

This compilation of thousands of overused words and phrases, and alternatives to them, is the ultimate tool for the writer who seeks to weed out common, tired, language and replace it with crisp, concise writing. Humorous examples of bad language make for great browsing, while readers can also look up specific clichés and find fresh options.

The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them

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Snooty
Dimwit's Awareness
Handy Reference
Pedantic, yes, but still an excellent reference
Disseminates Mean-Spirited and Destructive Convictions

The Dimwit's Dictionary: 5,000 Overused Words and Phrases and Alternatives to Them
Robert Hartwell Fiske
Manufacturer: Marion Street Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0966517679

Book Description

This compilation of overused words and phrases is the ultimate tool for the writer who seeks to weed out common, tired language and replace it with concise writing.

Customer Reviews:

Snooty.......2007-03-08

Hey, I know, let's all become the pompous vocabulary police and take all the personality out of our writing! Tedious to read and filled with unimaginative alternatives to what the authors believe are overused phrases (but are pretty much every phrase you've ever heard - hackneyed or not), this book is helpful only if you want to write like this (taken from a passage where one of the authors defends his use of acerbic commentary in the book):

This pedagogy may strike some as unworkable, and perhaps its efficacy is suspect, but we surely know that other methods of tutelage are largely unsuccessful.

Sheesh! Look, I understand that clichés are overused, but suggesting I replace "raining cats and dogs" with "raining" doesn't improve the writing, it just makes it more boring.

Dimwit's Awareness.......2006-06-06

This book taught me a valuable lesson because it reminded me of why I write at all...to touch others with my words and, hopefully, make an impression. This book inspired me to color my world with personal phrases, instead of just black and white cliches.

I didn't know what to expect before I received the book, but I was pleased to find that the book's format is exactly like a dictionary. It couldn't be easier to use, and though the author provides alternatives to overdone phrases, his suggestions sometimes trigger new thoughts. This book is a worthy addition to any writer's reference library.

Handy Reference.......2005-01-30

The book is inventive, not pedantic, and its suggestions help produce energetic writing. I believe even published writers could benefit from it. Its four hundred and ten pages divide into two parts: pruning sentences and using creative language. What the author calls "dimwitticisms" include some foreign phrases, grammatical gimmicks, ineffectual phrasing, redundancies, moribund metaphors and much more. Use the book to weed out the unnecessary so you will say more with fewer words.

Pedantic, yes, but still an excellent reference.......2004-08-19

The title itself is more than just a little self-righteously pedantic, and the language used within often reflects the title. However, the contents are an excellent reference tool for anyone interested in sparking up their writing.

Cliché's, misplaced metaphors, and other identifications made by Fiske occur too often in published books. I personally use this (along with its relative companion, The Dictionary of Concise Writing) with regularity, and have caught myself more than once using language that could use some freshening up.

Disseminates Mean-Spirited and Destructive Convictions.......2003-12-28

Fiske has written a strange book indeed. Its primary purpose would appear to be the dissemination of an idea that with Fiske somehow dim-wittedness can be removed from your language. Alas, his identification of so-called grammatical gimmicks, ineffectual phrases, moribund metaphors, wretched redundancies, and the like is seldom shared by well-known language critics such as R.W. Burchfield, Bryan A. Garner, and William Safire.

That said, he does tend to identify weak and rummy phrases. However, instead of suggesting ways of strengthening such phrases to unassailable idiomatic expressions, Fiske suggests their deletion or single word replacements, which tend to be as queer and eccentric as they are gestures of ill-will and contempt for English idiom and its guardians.

Book Description

Trigun Maximum Volume 3 is intensity embodied - a front to back fight! Vash the Stampede and the mysterious Wolfwood versus the terribly resilient Gray the Ninelives and one of Yasuhiro Nightow's most curious villains, the completely frightening puppet master, Leonoff. The Gung-Ho Guns get harder and harder to beat as the philosophical tension between our two heroes grows daily. The Trigun Max manga includes many aspects and characters from the television show but places them in different situations at different times giving the reader a much more detailed and dramatic idea of who these terrible enemies really are and the rough challenges Vash faces every day.

Customer Reviews:

Bloody, but good. .......2004-11-22

This third installment of Trigun Maximum is a bit bloodier than the rest of the series so far, but it's very good. The first five chapters are pretty much non-stop action in which Vash is faced off against Emilio, the puppetmaster, and Wolfwood is facing the horrific Grey the ninelives. Wolfwood's challenge is that he's facing a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut (who can somehow manage to move his arm even after it's no longer connected to his body). Vash is forced to half heartedly fight against the puppetmaster while trying to avoid taking human life in the process. A difficult prospect considering Knives' henchmen know all about Vash's love of humanity.

The philosophical tension between Wolfwood and Vash continues to grow. In the last chapter Wolfwood learns more about Vash's past. We are also introduced to some of Vash's old aquaintences.

The art work is fantastic. The charachters, addicting. Nightow has managed to create an interesting mix of philosophy, action, and plain fun into his series. It's hard to read Trigun without forming a sort of attachment to Vash and his friends. At the same time it's even easy to sympathise with Knives, knowing all of our human failings (and knowing a little more of the brothers history). I can't wait for volume 4.

From An Avid Collector.......2004-11-09

Well, I just got volume three yesterday and finished it in a little over an hour. It's that addicting!! I love the new Trigun Manga from Dark Horse, and I perfer it over the Anime now that I'm hooked. The characters are more fleshed out, others appear at different times, and some are completely different.

Let us take this volume for example. In the Anime, Grey the Ninelives was an android. Not so in the Manga, for he is flesh and blood with a name that makes far more sense this time (after one version of him dies, another sprouts out of his body). Also, there is more to the mysterious Leonoff the Puppetmaster, a character that Vash seems to have met in the past. I won't give away too much more, but it was very interesting to read this, IMO, better take on the series.

I've heard people talk about how Nightow's art can be somewhat sketchy, and while I see where they are coming from, I still don't understand the complaints. In the heat of action, Nightow is all about detail; it's only when he switches to a more light-hearted/comical scene that details vanish. But seriously, if you look at the art from other Mangaka like Kubotite, they do the exact same thing. It's a style in Japan, deal with it.

As I said earlier, the story for Maximum is far better to me than that of the Anime. While I do like the Anime, there are so many filler episodes that it can become boring after a while. I've even fallen asleep during a couple. Plus, with Cartoon Network almost always playing Trigun, there really isn't a huge reason to me to buy the DVD boxset, considering it's $150. I believe Maximum ends at volume 6, so in all I'll have spentabout $80 on that, so for my money, the Manga is the cheaper and more accessible way to relive a favored franchise. That, and you can read them first in the stores.

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