Technology Transfer for Entrepreneurs: A Guide to Commercializing Federal Laboratory Innovations

Book Description

A toolbox for accessing federal laboratory innovations and financing the acquisition of new technologies with corporate equity, this book is also a guide to understanding the expertise of specific government laboratories. Entrepreneurs can rapidly accelerate the growth of their companies and become more competitive by acquiring federal laboratory innovations. This book is an indispensable resource for those who want access to the latest breakthrough technologies, most of which can be traced to universities and federally funded laboratories. These taxpayer-funded "idea factories" can and should be leveraged by companies for competitive advantage. The authors describe how the private sector can engage these labs as long-term strategic partners, as well as development partners for the ongoing, cost-effective improvement of new technologies. Jargon-free and succinct, this guide also explains how to benefit from knowledge of the current technology-transfer landscape in order to maximize this special private-public partnership. No country can equal the United States in research and development assets. But the federal government is not always as successful as it could be in using its authority to encourage such partnerships. It is therefore up to the private sector--entrepreneurs as well as established companies seeking new growth outlets-exploit the information presented here. Included is a directory of federal laboratories with a synopsis of their expertise and contact information, along with copies of the breakthrough technology-transfer legislation that has made technology transfer possible.

Customer Reviews:

Great for Entrepreneurs.......2004-06-02

The book, despite the other reviewer's comments, is excellent for its purpose: to provide a roadmap for the entrepreneur to find and commercialize technology from federal labs. The Baye-Dole Act and its companion, the Stevenson-Wydler Act, are extremely important to technology transfer. Their legislative history is currently playing a large role in the debate over government rights over Abbott Labs Norvir drug. Understanding the legislative intent and purpose of the act will provide greater clarity to the entrepreneur as to what he can do with government created technology.

The book provides the tools necessary to find and license technology without useless surfing on the web.

Superficial, at best..........2004-04-13

If you already know that the Federal government sponsors R&D, that Federal labs often collaborate with private companies and individuals, and that there are laws that govern these activities, this book is not likely to be of much value to you.

Of the book's 252 pages, 101 are verbatim recitations of public law that can easily be retrieved from the FirstGov web site. Another 25 pages contain cursory descriptions of various Federal labs that look as if they were captured directly from the home pages of the labs' web sites. Much of this information is too general, out of date, or both. For example, R&D funding information is presented at the Agency level (e.g., DOD, NASA, DOE), rather than the lab level, and, despite the book's 2003 publication date, the budget numbers are from FY98 (as I write this, the FY05 budget is being debated).

In a chapter entitled "Property Rights and Their Imperative" the authors provide an exhaustive, but essentially useless, exposition on the historical precursors of the various laws affecting current Federal R&D practices (do we really care that in the mid-80's "...Senator Dole became increasingly frustrated with continued bureaucratic resistance to Bayh-Dole..."?).

Other chapters provide freshman-level overviews of nano-technology, patent law, and, oddly enough, bibliometrics.

In sum, you can probably find more current and useful information in 15 minutes surfing the web.

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Technology Transfer for Entrepreneurs: A Guide to Commercializing Federal Laboratory Innovations
Clifford M. Gross Joseph P. Allen
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORA5O0

Book Description

Bureaucrats perform most of the tasks of government, profoundly influencing the daily lives of Americans. But who, or what, controls what bureaucrats do?

John Brehm and Scott Gates examine who influences whether federal, state, and local bureaucrats work, shirk, or sabotage policy. The authors combine deductive models and computer simulations of bureaucratic behavior with statistical analysis in order to assess the competing influences over how bureaucrats expend their efforts. Drawing upon surveys, observational studies, and administrative records of the performance of public employees in a variety of settings, Brehm and Gates demonstrate that the reasons bureaucrats work as hard as they do include the nature of the jobs they are recruited to perform and the influence of both their fellow employees and their clients in the public. In contrast to the conclusions of principal-agency models, the authors show that the reasons bureaucrats work so hard have little to do with the coercive capacities of supervisors.

This book is aimed at students of bureaucracy and organizations and will be of interest to researchers in political science, economics, public policy, and sociology.

"This book is breathtaking in its use of models and techniques. . . . The approach developed by Brehm and Gates allows us to re-open empirical questions that have lain dormant for years." --Bryan D. Jones, University of Washington

John Brehm is Associate Professor of Political Science, Duke University. Scott Gates is Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University.

Book Description

Biological invasion of native plant communities is a high-priority problem in the field of environmental management. Resource managers, biologists, and all those involved in plant communities must consider ecological interactions when assessing both the effects of plant invasion and the long-term effects of management. Sections of the book cover human perceptions of invading plants, assessment of ecological interactions, direct management, and regulation and advocacy. It also includes an appendix with descriptive data for many of the worst weeds.

Ecological assessment of oxygen and nutrient dynamics in Lake Martin, LA: Implications to the management of lake eutrophy and aquatic weed invasion

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Ecological assessment of oxygen and nutrient dynamics in Lake Martin, LA: Implications to the management of lake eutrophy and aquatic weed invasion
Ronald G Boustany
Manufacturer: U.S. Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Lakes & Ponds | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Amazon.com

In The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins proposed the concept of the meme as a unit of culture, spread by imitation. Now Dawkins himself says of Susan Blackmore:

Showing greater courage and intellectual chutzpah than I have ever aspired to, she deploys her memetic forces in a brave--do not think foolhardy until you have read it--assault on the deepest questions of all: What is a self? What am I? Where am I? ... Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme.

Blackmore is a parapsychologist who rejects the paranormal, a skeptical investigator of near-death experiences, and a practitioner of Zen. Her explanation of the science of the meme (memetics) is rigorously Darwinian. Because she is a careful thinker (though by no means dull or conventional), the reader ends up with a good idea of what memetics explains well and what it doesn't, and with many ideas about how it can be tested--the very hallmark of an excellent science book. Blackmore's discussion of the "memeplexes" of religion and of the self are sure to be controversial, but she is (as Dawkins says) enormously honest and brave to make a connection between scientific ideas and how one should live one's life. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

'Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme I am delighted to recommend her book.' Richard Dawkins Humans are extraordinary creatures, with the unique ability among animals to imitate and so copy from one another ideas, habits, skills, behaviours, inventions, songs, and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Memes, like genes, are replicators, and this enthralling book is an investigation of whether this link between genes and memes can lead to important discoveries about the nature of the inner self. Confronting the deepest questions about our inner selves, with all our emotions, memories, beliefs, and decisions, Susan Blackmore makes a compelling case for the theory that the inner self is merely an illusion created by the memes for the sake of replication. 'Anyone who hopesDSor fearsDS that memetics will become a science of culture will find this surefooted exploration of the prospects a major eye-opener.' Daniel Dennett

Customer Reviews:

From the Oxford University Press Editor.......2007-05-18

The following elucidation of her text, copied from the back cover- does much to reveal the content of Dr. Blackmore's insightful and often controversial insights into the perspective of life from the view of memes. What it fails to portray are Dr. Blackmore's total reversal of every aspect of human life, viewed not from the everyday perspective, but from that of the self-replicating selfish "mental" gene, the Meme.

Humans are extraordinary creatures, with the uniques ability to imitate, and so to copy from one another ideas, habitats, skills, behaviours, inventions, songs, and stories. These are all memes, a term first coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene." Memes, like genes, are replicators, competing to find space in our minds and cultures, and this enthralling book investigates the consequences. Confronting the deepest questions, from why humans have such a big brains and language, to altruism, sex and the Internet. Susan Blackmore makes a compelling case for the theory that even our inner conscious self and our sense of free will are illusions created by the memes for the sake of their own replication.

Copied from the text by: Bryan McGilly

clear and interesting, but... .......2007-05-16

I just finished the book and think it is a clear and interesting introduction on the subject. On the other hand I felt it was rushing into too many generalizations and the arguments on science vs. religion sounded quite empty.

The Meme Machine.......2007-05-08

This book was just plain fun to read and has given me new insights into why people push there points of view even when you wish they would not bother you with them. Reading this book has brought an increased sense of humor to my experience in relationships with people where discussion about religion are concerned. My tolerance for meme campaingns has increased, and I feel better able to accept my own "meme" infections. While this is a relatively serious topic, it is also a fun one. After reading the book, I am aware that I too am pushing my own meme preferences in sublties, and am able to laugh about it when I catch me doing it. better, I am doing it less and less. My daughter is a mom with a little daughter, and we laugh and play with the memes we are passing along to her. Some "memeing" is useful enough, and supports having a quality life experience. Reading this book has opened my eyes to why I got caught up in certain beliefs that were without practical applicatons in my life. It explained to me why belief agenda's get promoted and why I bought into some of them unwittingly. I jokingly refer to replicators, and meme fountains in causual converstaions now with others who have read the material. I feel better able to choose my loyalty to certain meme complexes now. I can stop the insanity of participating with the subtle control that can happen in a society where people don't ask why. And, I am having a lot more fun dealing with the meme fountains in life experience now~ including dealing with those who push their invasive and distructive memes unmercifully onto others who are innocent and unaware of the affects it will have on them to remain passive. If you want to wake up and smell the roses on purpose, read this book~

An aid to understanding thought contagion.......2007-01-13

Blakemore's book endeavors towards two goals:

1) A recapping of the origins of meme theory...which she does exceedingly well and

2) Humble suggestions on the place of memes in consciousness...where she seems to stumble.

In relation to her first goal, Blakemore admirably retraces the work of the likes of Richard Dawkins and Dan Dennett. For his part, Dawkins coined the term "meme" in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene" wherein he described meme as a process or idea subject to replication. The song "Happy Birthday" for example would be a meme. Dennett built on Dawkins work by saying in his 1991 book "Consciousness Explained" that consciousness is a combination of in built human cognitive systems (like our innate understanding of physics or our ability to acquire language) along with memes.

Blakemore also recapped Dennett's later book "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" for his tower of states of consciousness, viz. a first level occupied by Darwinian creatures who have to produce a new generation in order to acquire new abilities, a second and higher level occupied by Skinnerian creatures that can acquire new abilities inter vivos but only through operant conditioning, a third and still higher level occupied by Popperian creatures -- for Karl Popper -- capable of abstract reasoning to acquire new abilities and a final highest level occupied by Gregorian creatures that can pick up additional abilities by means of culture or memes.

Building on these earlier thinkers Blakemore asserts that meme theory in and of itself can explain everything from temporary fads like the tulip craze bemoaned by Charles Mackey in his 1841 book on the Madness of Crowds to religion itself.

The mechanism by which Blakemore posits the transmission of memes is one of virture wherein superiorly altruistic memes will oust those previously occupied by more selfish memes. Her thinking is that the vehicles of meme transmission, us, will be more favorably disposed to ideas disseminated by people who have been nice to us than by those who haven't.

To the extent Blakemore ventures out on her own, I would part company with her.

Understanding any aspect, let alone persuasion of others, of human behavior is tricky business. And while Blakemore would posit a subtle arithematic to human behavior the truth probably lies closer to a delicate calculus.

As she herself indicated in her book, understanding consciousness is probably best begun with an understanding of first principles, namely that that subset of evolution relating to human behavior is but a special case for the general rules bearing on behvaioral evolution generally.

In other words, human consciousness is not different in kind but rather merely in degree from animal consciousness generally.

As shown by evolution, animals with motility will have to have both the ability to differentiate between themselves and their environment as well as discriminate the ingredients of their environment between potential areas of sustance and potential areas of threat. And so, the seemingly nettlesome questions of consciousness kind of answer themselves.

A sense of "I" exists because it evolutionary has to and the likes and dislikes of "I" (the so called "qualia" question) really amount to a running tally of emotionally encoded learned experiences.

To be sure, that sense of "I" is different for a person than a pidgeon but again, the differences of degree (albeit, in some cases a great degree, rather than kind).

So, to take religion as an example:

1) From pidgeons to humans, it's an aspect of cognitive perception to allow for false connections or superstitions to arise. And so, the difference between a pidgeon dancing around a machine to obtain randomly produced pellets is not that different from a person performing an elablorate ritual prior to gambling.

2) In the case of humans, theory of mind works powerfully to over ascribe personality. And so, the gambler makes his petitions not to chance but to Lady Luck personified.

3) Because, as noted by Dennett, we have in built cognitive systems, those systems can be decieved from time to time in remembering certain types of knowledge in preference to others. And so, while most English verbs use "ed" as past tense, the special case, commonly used verbs have irregular endings to promote their specialized recognition and recall. In the same way, we remember novel creatures over others. And so, Lady Luck is just like any woman but if pleased can grant you unlimited fortune.

4) Humans also respect strategic knowledge. From evolution in an environment where an extended knowledge of strategic relationships was helpful, we are capable of understanding metarepresentational interactions up to the sixth level. What I think that you may know about what someone else believes that somone else said is not a meaningless sentence. This quality fires our mythologies just as certainly as our soap operas. If we could experience an alligator religion or soap opera, I think we'd be bored.

5) Again, as noted by Blakemore, game theory gives us a sense of the outer contours of religious belief. In this regard, the recent Jeffrey Moses book "Oneness" which is a verbatim repetition of religious principles from around the world shows that the similarities in the main statements of religions around the world (e.g. all of them have a "golden rule," advice to respect elders, educate children and the like) shows that all human religions have made basically the same types of prescriptions and prohibitions.

6) And powerfully, finally a sense of group membership. Are you or are you not one of us?

As can be seen, though the exchange of ideas operates in each of the six domains (and there are certainly others in some cases) the interplay of those ideas varies in individual cases. In this way, while why humans religiously ideate is certainly a question of history and society it's also a question of individual psychology.

Like choas theory operates to produce no two snowflakes that look alike so again no two personal histories are the same respecting their religious ideation.

In other words, while Blakemore's provides some helpful aid in understanding memes and their place in thought contagion, the ultimate answer is certainly much more complicated than her impressions would suggest not only on religious ideation but as to the other examples of meme transmission she discussed.

Before closing, it's noteworth that there's a definate Daoist feel to her last chapter wherein she renders her advice for taking the "I" out of your consciousness. Though she didn't intend it, it certainly does provide some interesting food for thought as to why attempts at Daoist living have such a...well...Daoist feel to them.

Really Fun!.......2006-12-13

I won't try to describe the book's content as several excellent reviews below have done. I just want to add that this book is one hell of a read. It's great fun and will stretch your mind (if there's really a "you" in there - see the book for more on this). I could barely put it down. Memes were definitely transferred!

The Mocking Memes: A Basis for Automated Intelligence

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The Mocking Memes: A Basis for Automated Intelligence
Evan Louis Sheehan
Manufacturer: AuthorHouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1425961606

Book Description

All scientific evidence supports the astonishing hypothesis that minds are brains and brains are biological machines. But, then, what sort of neural architecture accounts for the human ability to think? The answer logically follows from another astonishing hypothesis: There is no source of creativity anywhere in the universe other than the process of evolution. Such is the simple premise on which this book's description of all intelligence is based. Human thinking is thus reduced to a mechanistic process of neural firing patterns evolving. In this unique yet simple model of mind, memes are the currency of creative thought. All sorts of intelligence, from the creation of the universe all the way down to human thoughts, are explained as evolving patterns.

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The Meme Machine
Susan Blackmore
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965881784

The meme machine : An article from: The Ecologist

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The meme machine : An article from: The Ecologist
Kalle Lasn
Manufacturer: Ecosystems Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Monster Machines (Sticker Spot Its)
Meme Designs
Manufacturer: Top That Publishing PLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

La machine a beaute (adaptee du roman du meme nom de Raymond Plante) (Theatre)

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La machine a beaute (adaptee du roman du meme nom de Raymond Plante) (Theatre)
Robert Bellefeuille
Manufacturer: Diffusion Prologue
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

All French Books | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 2894230486

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The Meme Machine
Susan Blackmore
Manufacturer: Oxford Univ
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GRANLS

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The Meme Machine
Susan J. Blackmore
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKUTX4

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Meme Machine

Manufacturer: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GM31KS

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Elk Hunter's Bible
Jim Zumbo
Manufacturer: Stoeger Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Hunting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Sports Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
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The Complete Book of Elk Hunting: Tips and Tactics for All Weather and Habitat Conditions (Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)

Elk Hunting Secrets

The Ultimate Guide to Elk Hunting

Elk Hunting (Hunting & Fishing Library. Complete Hunter.)

Elk Tactics

ASIN: 088317250X

Book Description

The North American elk, or wapiti, is highly prized by wildlife enthusiasts and hunters. Restored populations of these creatures provide opportunities for elk hunters across North America. In Elk Hunter's Bible, Jim Zumbo, one of the leading authorities on hunting elk, looks at every aspect of this exciting sport from hunting methods to how to pack an elk out of the field. Elk Hunter's Bible provides a wealth of information about selecting equipment, planning hunting trips, understanding elk behavior, finding prime hunting locations and much more.

Book Description

Acclaimed by the New York Times as "part muse, part quick reference," this pocket-sized dictionary is an easy-to-use tool geared specifically toward the contemporary songwriter. A concise collection of the most-often used words in popular music, the simple format allows for fast reference, while the 15,000 entries provide more than ample rhyming options.

Customer Reviews:

What ryhmes with dissapointing..........2007-09-04

Kind of disappointing. In the interest of keeping the dictionary small, they limited the amount of words in the dictionary. So if you don't see the word you are trying to rhyme, you have to think of a word that rhymes with it...and look it up. So if you have to think of what word(s) rhyme with the word you are thinking of, you need a rhyming dictionary...wait a minute!!!

One of the best I've seen.......2006-01-06

This is one of the best rhyming dictionaries around. I love the way it is organized. It also has all kinds of tidbit information in the front of the book that other rhyming dictionaries do not. there maybe larger desk versions of rhyming dictionaries but as far as pocket sizes go this is the best.

Essential Songwriter's Rhyming Dictionary.......2005-08-22

This book is a little more complex, but works great for when your brain is just not working!!!!! Just pick a word and go with the basic sound and you have a rhyme!!!!

Easy-to-use Pocket Dictionary For On-the-road-musician.......2004-07-25

It's important to mention, that this physically small dictionary has its limitations. The dictionary doesn't cover every aspect on rhyming. But it's not its generally purpose. The book will come in handy for those who want a fast rhyme (or half rhyme) to finish his/her lyrics in a good way. It also have some practical information on songwriting in general. I like this practical book for what it is. Even though it's small, its potential are huge!

Handy but lacking.......2004-01-24

This is a handy book. It's small and easy to carry around and you can pretty often find what you're looking for in it. It's good if you're browsing for ideas and it has a small section on basic rhyming schemes and useful hints for beginner songwriters.
There are some serious drawbacks though. The obvious one is that it's not very big and doesn't have all that many words. Another is that while it lists words in different tenses, it does for some reason not appear to have any words in plural listed. It has 16 rhymes for the word "star", but "stars" (or any words that rhyme, like cars, bars, etc.) is nowhere to be found.
So while this is a handy book for the beginning lyricist, people who are really serious about songwriting should probably go for something more extensive.
But then again, it's only 6 bucks. And for 6 bucks it's not a bad book.

Book Description

SEWING! NO ONE could hate it more than Dina Kirk.

Endless tiny stitches, button holes, darts. Since she was tiny, she’s worked in her family’s dressmaking business, where the sewing machine is a cranky member of the family.

When 13-year-old Dina leaves her small town in Germany to join her uncle’s family in Brooklyn, she turns her back on sewing. Never again! But looking for a job leads her right back to the sewing machine. Why did she ever leave home? Here she is, still with a needle and thread—and homesick to boot.

She didn’t know she could be this homesick, but she didn’t know she could be so brave either, as she is standing up to an epidemic or a fire. She didn’t know she could grow so close to her new family or to Johann, the young man from the tailor’s shop. And she didn’t know that sewing would reveal her own wonderful talent—and her future.

In Dina, the beloved writer Patricia Reilly Giff has created one of her most engaging and vital heroines. Readers will enjoy seeing 1870s Brooklyn through Dina’s eyes, and share her excitement as she discovers a new world.

Customer Reviews:

A very good book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2006-01-24

I had to read this book for school and I did not think I would like it. But I did!!!!!!! Read this book, it is good!!!!!!!

The brave little tailor.......2005-03-13

Historical fiction is that huge genre of children's books that I am just not as familiar with as I should be. The field tends to be dominated by such big names as Richard Peck and, in this case, Patricia Reilly Giff. As a child I was always far more interested in books of fantasy and magic, and I am afraid that very little has changed since I have grown. But "A House of Tailors" is one of those well-written works of historical fiction that can draw in even a fantasy-preferring twit like myself. Giff brings to beautiful colorful life the world of 1870 Brooklyn, New York. The dirt, the disease, and the small human pleasures of it all.

Dina is desperately jealous of her older sister Katharina. While Dina must stay in Germany doing what she hates most, sewing, Katharina is going to America to live with their rich Uncle. At this moment in 1870 Germany is at war with France, an annoyance to Dina who likes to swap patterns with her friend Elise on the French side. But when Dina escapes one morning to do her usual swap and is caught by German soldiers thinking her a spy, her escape can only be brought about one way. She will have to be the one sent to America and not her sister. Dina is embarrassed and distraught but the fact that she won't be sewing anymore is some comfort. Yet when she arrives in America, the streets her uncle takes her down become dirtier and dirtier. Finally they reach the last one, climb all the steps to the top floor, and enter the apartment. That's when Dina sees the sewing machine in the middle of the room and realizes that she has simply exchanged one house of tailors for another. Now she must save her money to return to Germany, but not before growing to love her family, the boy in the men's shop down the street, and this crazy mixed up town called Brooklyn where dreams of the future came sometimes come true.

Giff's heroine undergoes a perfectly conceived series of changes and she grows and learns realistically in this new world of America. At first, Dina is really quite awful. When she runs off and does something without thinking you instinctively begin to cringe, knowing full well that some awful comeuppance is about to occur. At the same time, however, she's intelligent and ingenious, not to say heroic. It becomes clear that her true love is hatmaking and not sewing, and the sequences in which she describes the creation of a hat are truly amusing and wonderful. They reminded me at times of the hatmaking in Diana Wynne Jones's, "Howl's Moving Castle". Then there is the storytelling, something that Giff has perfected over the years. This book is an almost perfect series of adventures and misadventures with a steady rising/falling action that retains interest right up until the end. If you want something on the mid-19th century German immigrant experience, I can think of few books that tell their tales half as well as this one.

Giff tells us in her Afterword that the Dina featured here is based on her own great-grandmother's life. One hopes that Ms. Giff has more ancestors from whom to plunder this kind of rousing story. Whether the book's showing the ways to battle smallpox or escape from tenement fires, it's a grand testament to a long gone time. A truly enjoyable book that kids will find themselves surprised to enjoy.

A Gift.......2005-03-08

Dina's stitches are small and straight. She has a sense for color and fabric. Dina's gift is sewing but she hates it. She longs to go to America and live with her uncle and his family but when she ends up having to flee to New York from her home in Germany she finds her dream and the reality of life in Brooklyn are far apart.

Giff can put the reader into the setting of a story better than any other writer. In her novel, "Nory Ryan's Song," we knew when the blight had overtaken the potato crop because we could "smell" it. In this book we sense the crowded streets, the cooking in the tenements and the soot from the fires of Brooklyn in the 1870s. The crowding, disease and long back breaking hours of labor that were part of the immigrants life are accurately depicted. The joys of the her new land include her first taste of ice cream, a new friend, Johann, and her niece and nephew. Dina longs for her home and family in Germany but finds she cannot imagine leaving her new family and friends. She takes great pride in her talent for hat and dressmaking and ultimately makes a place for herself in her new country. Dina is a wonderful character full of strength and love.

Giff wrote this story as a tribute to her great grandmother. Her touching afterward describes which stories from the book which came directly from her own family history.
Patricia Riley Giff is one of the most honest writers I have ever read. She is like an accomplished musician, every note of her books rings true and touches the heart

A House of Tailors.......2005-02-21

As this novel opens, we meet a family of tailors living in Germany. The mother and her 2 daughters work making clothes for others. The daughters, Katharina and Dina, find out that Katharina is being sent to America to live with an uncle. Dina is upset that her sister is going without her, but happy that she will be living out one of her life long dreams. After Dina becomes involved in a serious situation, the family decides it will be best for her to go to America in Katharina's place.

Dina is faced with several delimma's after arriving in America. She and her Uncle have trouble getting along. After one argument she decides to save money and go back to Germany. Will she ever make it home?? Then she is faced with another question..Where is home?

Giff has really created a masterpiece with "A House of Tailors". When I finished this book, I wanted to know what else happened to the characters. I wanted more! I think Dina is someone all readers will look up to. She copes well when placed in diverse situations. She can teach us all a lesson about ourselves, no matter what our age!

A girl's struggles in a creating new life for herself .......2004-10-23

Ever since she was little, thirteen-year-old Dina Kirk has worked in her family's tailoring business. Her mother takes pride in working with Dina and her sister Katharina. Her mother's business cards read "Frau Kirk and Daughters - Tailors."

Through a strange twist of fate, Dina's dreams of escaping her sewing machine come true. She leaves everything that is familiar in Germany and moves in with her uncle's family in Brooklyn. She is horrified to discover that her uncle is also a tailor, and soon she finds herself sitting in front of a sewing machine again. Now Dina is miserable and homesick too.

Dina struggles to fit in with her new family and tries to stand up to her uncle, who is almost as stubborn as she is. Her family soon discovers how strong and brave Dina is in the face of adversity. She helps the family through a health epidemic and does what no one else dares to do when a fire rages at their home.

Dina is surprised by the closeness she feels for her new family and her feelings for Johann, a young man from a rival tailor shop. Dina's future is revealed at the end of the novel, and no one is more surprised than Dina.

Patricia Reilly Giff has created a spunky and believable heroine with Dina in A HOUSE OF TAILORS. Readers will enjoy her adventures while learning about the challenges that our ancestors faced when coming to a new country.

--- Reviewed by Renee Kirchner (renee.kirchner@usa.net)

The Tailor of Panama (Random House Large Print)

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James Bond its not, but that's a good thing.
Oxnard, English
Groupthink: the Novel
A pure classic
An incredible, funny, touching tragedy

The Tailor of Panama (Random House Large Print)
John Le Carre
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books

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ASIN: 0679774130
Release Date: 1996-10-14

Amazon.com

John le Carré, the greatest spy novelist of the Cold War era, continues his post-Cold War quest to define the genre he helped perfect. The classic spy novel was essentially a story of good (England, the United States) vs. evil (Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union), in which good more or less prevailed. The Tailor of Panama is something else entirely: a spy novel with no spies in which the bad guys reap most of the rewards. It is also a viciously funny satire. The novel is set in Panama, where a plot is in place to make void the Panama Treaty, which would return control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians in 1999. At the center of events is Harry Pendel, the tailor of the title. Coerced into working for British Intelligence, he concocts out of whole cloth a left-wing movement with the goal of luring the American military to do the dirty work--invade Panama à la 1989 and nullify the treaty. From the characters to the setting, le Carré has succeeded in setting new parameters for an old genre.

Book Description

The grand master of cloak-and-dagger dishes up a stew of thrills, intrigue, and even hilarity as Panama prepares to inherit the canal.

Customer Reviews:

James Bond its not, but that's a good thing........2006-04-23

I went into the book expecting a thrilling spy adventure a la James Bond or Jason Bourne. The Tailor of Panama is none of these things and that is a good thing. Instead of over-the-top action and flashy gadgets you get real people with real problems portrayed in lush detail and with great humanity by Le Carre. The main character Harry Pendal is an average man placed in extraordinary circumstances and he reacts accordingly. The book traces his rise and fall through the world of international espionage. Along the way a host of interesting characters are introduced from playboy British spies to house wives at their wits end. Throughout the novel each is rendered in great detail and help illustrate the range of human emotions. While not a traditional spy novel, The Tailor of Panama deserves a place on your self for its beautiful detail and excellent character studies.

Oxnard, English.......2006-02-03

In Constant Gardner, Le Carre showed that he had lost the Cold War & hadn't found a role. In Tailor of Panama he showed that all was not lost. Two of the best characters in a small subset of modern fiction are here, Pendel & Oxnard, and the plot Le Carre has built for them is a beautiful thing. Constant Gardner is dismal. Tailor of Panama is brilliant; it's only defect is that, being very good, it became the source of a very bad movie.

Groupthink: the Novel.......2004-10-08

This is one of the more intriguing spy novels in recent memory, and a rather good satire in addition. John Le Carre is a very talented writer who has his weaknesses (more about them below) but also has his strengths, and they frankly are legion, and outweigh anything else. This isn't Le Carre's best novel (The Little Drummer Girl? Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy?) but it's not his worst either. It's a very interesting book.

At its heart is Harry Pendel, the Tailor of the title, who's half-blackmailed half-bribed into spying for Britain. Pendel's a voluntary exile from a rather sordid lower-class existence in Britain, who's remade himself (and promoted himself socially) in the exile and wanna-be Brit community of Panama. He lies to everyone about his background, so when he becomes a British spy, it should come as no surprise that he immediately begins to fabricate information there, too.

Pendel's controller is Andy Osnard, a shady character with hidden agendas of his own, and behind him there's a rogue's gallery of crooked embassy officials, government functionaries, American soldiers, espionage service supervisors, and even a Murdoch-like media baron who tries to create the news in order to better report it ala William Randolf Hearst. While most of the characters are well-drawn, Pendel's wife sounds suspiciously British for an American. In one scene she refers to the children eating "crisps" which I believe is Brit for potato chips...though I'm not sure. No American would talk like that.

This all leads to several very funny passages where the heads of two governments decide to invade a country on the basis of the fabrications of this silly tailor who's trying to recoup his wife's inheritance, which he lost in a bad investment. The book winds up reading like the book version of the movie It's a Mad Mad Mad World, with everyone trying to steal more than their fair share of the pie.

I enjoyed this book a great deal. John Le Carre doesn't do satire much, or comedy (though some of the Smiley stuff was fun) and so this was a welcome change of pace. It's an interesting book, and I would recommend it to most anyone.

A pure classic.......2004-09-06

Written with endless wit and some dark humor, Le Carre proves himself again as a master of words as he plots a classic spy story- and the greatness of it is that this is both a spy story and an anti-spy story.

Do no except Tom-Clancy-like-action since this novel is about the humans and not the missiles. Harry Pendel is an anti-hero, a man drowning himself in a sea of lies, lying to the British intelligence- fabricating tales upon tales, lying to his beloved wife, lying to himself. With a multitude of conspiracy fabrications of all sorts, this story almost becomes a wry satire about the spy world.

Panama city and its characters are portrayed in a rich and elegant manner. The dialogues are complicated and brilliant; loaded with so much tidbits of fiction that Le Carre's mind seems to be a bottomless pit of ideas.

I'm sure that many people who expected more action gave it low reviews because of this- explaining the surprisingly low average rating. But the novel is not uneventful, and it contains a cynical plot of intrigue and greed, and some satirical jabs at some imperialistic desires still present in some dark elderly western power holders.

This is literature, subtle, elegant and stylish, humorous and at its best.
And poor pathetic Harry Pendel, with all his weaknesses, is a character as human as can be, and one you can only sympathize with.

An incredible, funny, touching tragedy.......2003-06-08

I read this book for the first time two months ago, and now I've read it again. My second reading was inspired by the fact that I was part way through the book the first time before I realized what an incredible book it was. So I wanted to read it again from the start with a proper sense of appreciation.

"The Tailor of Panama" is purportedly a spy thriller, but the spy story is actually just the framework on which John le Carré weaves his amazing study of human nature. And the human characteristics which are dominant are not ones that the human race should be proud of. We are presented with large amounts of greed, dishonesty, jealousy, cruelty, selfish lust, corruption, apathy, frailty and stupidity. On top of that we are presented with some of the less attractive conditions for human existence: poverty, suffering, guilt and sickness.

But the amazing thing is that John le Carré writes about these human characteristics and conditions with a great deal of humor and understanding. And he does provide a few glimpses of love, altruism and generosity.

So even though the story ends tragically it is for the most part a funny and touching story, and this makes the book very readable.

Another strength of the book is John le Carré's masterful command of the English language. He writes beautiful descriptions, and has a surprising and inventive way with words. I often found myself delighted with one sentence after another, each one saying something in a way I hadn't realized was possible.

The way in which the plot is slowly but surely expanded is also very satisfying. We start out with the daily lives of a few seemingly ordinary people. But then the seemingly ordinary people are shown to be less and less ordinary, and at the same time more and more people are added to the story, and the scope of the story expands until high-level international politics of the worst sort get involved.

Yet another positive aspect of the book is the large amount of very interesting information about life in Panama and how Panama society works. In this respect the book can be considered to be an insider's tourist guide to Panama.

Highly recommended - and to be read slowly and savored.

Finally, my opinion as to why there have been a lot of reviewers who have given this book a low rating: I'm guessing that many of these reviewers expected a straight James-Bond-style spy thriller and were disappointed because "The Tailor of Panama" is definitely not a simple spy thriller. Another "problem" may be that most of the main characters are very British, and the book is written in British English. The dialog between the characters contains a lot of British slang and British expressions. To me this adds to the charm of the book, but I'm guessing that some readers find this irritating.

Rennie Petersen

The Tailor's Daughter (Severn House Large Print)

Average customer rating:

The Tailor's Daughter (Severn House Large Print)
Maggie Bennett
Manufacturer: Severn House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books

Literature & Fiction | Large Print | Formats | Books

Romance | Large Print | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0727875493

Book Description

An bittersweet historical novel from this bestselling saga writer - The unexpected friendship between Tabitha Prewett, the only daughter of a tailor, and Mariette de St Aubyn, daughter of aristocratic French imigris, deepens as the years pass, rising above their differences in social class and religion. But when Mariette marries Conor Townclear, Tabitha's emotions are stirred. As angry rioters flood through London during violent anti-Catholic riots, leaving mayhem in their wake, the three of them are drawn together in life-threatening circumstances.

Average customer rating:

House of Tailors
Patricia Reilly Giff
Manufacturer: Bt Bound
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1417769459

Welcome home: a living room-sized front porch and a backyard splash-fest are just the beginning of a home tailor-made for families.(An answer to new urban ... Mouen Architects): An article from: Builder

Average customer rating:

Welcome home: a living room-sized front porch and a backyard splash-fest are just the beginning of a home tailor-made for families.(An answer to new urban ... Mouen Architects): An article from: Builder

Manufacturer: Hanley-Wood, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000AJPHE0
Release Date: 2006-07-14

The barges of the Merchant Taylors' Company;: With notes on their barge masters, barge houses, and water processions

Average customer rating:

The barges of the Merchant Taylors' Company;: With notes on their barge masters, barge houses, and water processions
R. T. D Sayle
Manufacturer: Printed for private circulation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007K6HN2

Harry W. Smith, tailor: The success and growth of this house is built upon new and original ideas enabling it to give greater values, higher quality ... satisfaction

Average customer rating:

Harry W. Smith, tailor: The success and growth of this house is built upon new and original ideas enabling it to give greater values, higher quality ... satisfaction
Harry W Smith
Manufacturer: s.n
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0008C14R8

In-house and Tailor-made Counselling Skills Training

Average customer rating:

In-house and Tailor-made Counselling Skills Training

Manufacturer: British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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