The Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought

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A vision ,but no analysis (of J M Keynes),is in this book

For Keynes.

The Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought
Robert L. Heilbroner , and William S. Milberg
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0521497744

Book Description

A deep and widespread crisis affects modern economic theory, a crisis that derives from the absence of a "vision"--a set of widely shared political and social preconceptions--on which all economics ultimately depends. This absence, in turn, reflects the collapse of the Keynesian view that provided such a foundation from 1940 through the early 1970s, comparable to earlier visions provided by Smith, Ricardo, Mill, and Marshall. The "unraveling" of Keynesianism has been followed by a division into discordant and ineffective camps whose common denominator seems to be their shared analytical refinement and lack of practical applicability. This provocative analysis attempts both to describe this state of affairs, and to suggest the direction in which economic thinking must move if it is to regain the relevance and remedial power it now pointedly lacks.

Customer Reviews:

A vision ,but no analysis (of J M Keynes),is in this book.......2005-06-24

The two coauthors,Heilbroner and Milberg,understand,in very,very general terms,what Keynes's conclusion was in the General Theory(GT;1936)-due to the extreme difficulty of making optimal decisions about the size and quality of the capital stock to invest in and maintain in the face of irregular technological change over time under conditions of uncertainty(Daniel Ellsberg's ambiguity),capitalist societies will most likely have suboptimal amounts of private and public capital goods(plants,factories,infrastructure,etc.).This insufficient spending on long run investment projects leads to involuntary unemployment.This is as far as Heilbroner and Milberg can get.Due to their very limited mathematical capabilities,they completely overlook the formal technical analysis provided by Keynes in chapters 19,20,and 21 that proves his case.On p.262 in chapter 19 of the GT,Keynes specifies the major analytic conclusion of his theory-Unless the mpc(marginal propensity to consume)=1,involuntary unemployment will result.If the capital stock is at suboptimal levels,the condition then becomes mpc+mpi=1,where mpi is the marginal propensity to invest.This condition is the missing equation in Pigou's macroscopic model that Keynes discusses in the appendix to chapter 19 of the GT.In both chapter 20 and chapter 21,Keynes derives the following optimality condition ,linking both the commodity market and the labor market-w/p=mpl/(mpc+mpi),where mpl is the marginal product of labor derived from an aggregated neoclassical production function(p.283,ft. 1 and 2).Unless mpc+mpi equal 1,it is impossible for labor,in the aggregate,to reduce unemployment by cutting the money wage.Involuntary unemployment will automatically exist.The reason why mpc+mpi will be < 1 is due to the unstable,unpredictable,volatile nature of investment spending.This is ultimately due to the uncertainty or ambiguity of the information base faced by businessmen who are trying to figure out the correct amount of capital equipment to hold in the future in order to make an economic profit in the present by selling the output they have produced with that equipment in the past.Heilbroner and Milberg completely overlook Keynes's analysis although they understand the vision.

For Keynes........2002-12-05

The authors are harsh for today's US economists, because they have lost contact with the social reality: "the extraordinary combination of arrogance and innocence with which mainstream economics has approached the problems of a nation that had experienced twenty years of declining real wages, forty percent of whose children live in "absolute" poverty, and which endured an unprecedented erosion of health, vacation, and pension benefits. The commitment to full employment legislated in 1946 has been "honored" in these socially destructive years ... by redefining "full" employment as a higher level of unemployment."(p.6)
The solution of the authors is government intervention in the economy and a re-evaluation of the public sector, although they recognize that Keynesianism was and is not perfect: it was unable to present a coherent theory of inflation; it failed to include a concept of stagflation; and its treatment of the money supply could lead to inflation.
But in fact, the US government intervenes already heavily in the economy, but for the authors not in the right sector: defence.

This book, written in 1995, contains already the central proposition of 'The Silent Takeover' by Noreena Hertz: "On a wold wide scale, this internationalization of finance seriously limits the ability of advanced nations to carry out domestic fiscal and monetary policies that are not compatible with the "will" of a stateless world financial market." (p.120)
Their world vision was correct, but too timid: "On a still lager front, world population growth threatens to bring another billion people into existence within a generation, raising the spectre of large immigration pressures for the advanced world ... Ecological problems ... the forces of ethnic and nationalist unrest ... together with sporadic terrorism." (p.120-121)

It is evident that the above mentioned problems can only be resolved by political intervention. The proceeds of the successes of the market economy can only be redistributed or guided by political decisions, by politicians, not by, but with the help of, economists. The problem is that no international authority has enough power to impose his decisions unilaterally on national states.
Ultimately, the decisions lay in the hands of the voters. If a majority votes for a certain direction, the political authorities have to follow, otherwise they will loose their mandate.
This is a thought provoking book.

Average customer rating:
The Crisis Vision in Modern Economic Thought. (book reviews): An article from: Southern Economic Journal
Charles J. Whalen
Manufacturer: Southern Economic Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: B00096NZI4
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Southern Economic Journal, published by Southern Economic Association on October 1, 1996. The length of the article is 1078 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: The Crisis Vision in Modern Economic Thought. (book reviews)
Author: Charles J. Whalen
Publication: Southern Economic Journal (Refereed)
Date: October 1, 1996
Publisher: Southern Economic Association
Volume: v63 Issue: n2 Page: p551(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought

Average customer rating:

Crisis of Vision in Modern Economic Thought
Robert [L.] & Milberg, William S. (born 1957) Heilbroner
Manufacturer: NY: Cambridge University Press, [1995]. 1st Edition, Paperback issue. [ii]+[x]+131+[1]pp. Trade paperback. A fine copy. (OP). eng.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000T6050K

Book Description

" . . . I thoroughly endorse the book. . . Fairtlough is an excellent thinker."
Napier Collyns

"Takes Arie de Geus's thinking forward . . I have no hesitation in recommending it for publication."
Gill Ringland

"The most important aspect is the potential to legitimise the use of storytelling in a business environment . . and help management think outside the box."
Arie de Geus

Story-telling is one of the best ways for individuals, groups, organizations and societies to learn. Skill in story-telling and in other narrative activities allows us to understand complexity, live with uncertainty, communicate well and increase personal and organizational effectiveness. As organizations move away from old-fashioned command and control, they will increasingly need the bonds of shared stories, which create shared language, shared visions and shared values.

Customer Reviews:

A Good Read!.......2003-03-06

If you think story-telling is just for little kids, three experts - psychologist Julie Allan, biochemist Gerard Fairtlough and consultant Barbara Heinzen - disagree. They have discovered significant value in story-telling within organizations. After briefly describing the multi-cultural history of stories and oral traditions, they dissect the purposes of story-telling, such as increasing rapport, appealing to the emotions and explaining situations. They use seven composite company case studies to demonstrate how stories can build truth and trust, promote learning, develop skills, break new ground and create scenarios you can use in planning the future. These well-intended examples tend to meander confusingly, but you'll get the point. The last section of the book is devoted to thinking about stories and their uses, an innovative subject that gets little general attention and is the real meat of the text. While the book is very informative and useful, it is not always clear about the purposes of particular stories. We from getAbstract found many helpful lessons about story-telling here, including, unfortunately, a demonstration of the need for sharp editing.

The subversive power of the tale ..........2002-03-15

This book has obviously been conceptualised as a primer. It provides a broad survey of findings in various fields, particularly psychology and to a lesser extent anthropology, philosophy and linguistics. In the treatment of its material it is very didactic: the language is straightforward and non-technical, themes and issues are gradually introduced and key messages are regularly revisited. 'The Power of the Tale' starts off rather inconspicuously with a short and very general presentation of the main themes of the book. Then it moves on to the central part, consisting of seven chapters in which the role of story-telling is highlighted in a range of different organisations: formal and informal, small and large, temporary and durable, business and non-business. Some of the settings are fictitious transpositions of the author's real-life experiences, others are existing and recognisable organisations. Thus we dwell consecutively in a maturing start-up company, a large car producer, an informal community of practice, Britain's National Health Service, a not-for-profit organisation in the cultural sector and a countrywide society. Each of these settings provides the backdrop for a different way of leveraging the art of story-telling: for building trust, for furthering personal and organisational learning, for dealing constructively with dilemmas, for spurring innovation and self-organisation, and for enriching the strategic conversation.

Of course this book implicitly invites to be read as a story. From this vantage point, it reveals a number of interesting subtexts. To my mind, there are at least two protagonists playing a key role in the background of this narrative. First there is 'the stranger', or 'the outsider'. He can be an external or internal consultant, who joins a constituency and reanimates it with the power of story-telling. It can also be a full member of the organisation who, after having developed a certain level of proficiency in the discipline, takes her leave from her erstwhile peer group. This implicitly forces the insight upon us that stories by their very nature are subversive. The narrative paradigm constitutes a deep antithesis to the command-and-control approach which is still dominating many of our contemporary organisations. Stories are 'Fremdkörper', wayward entities that develop their own viral logic once they're out in the open. A commitment to introducing story-telling in an organisation, therefore, is a serious affair. It constitutes a leap of faith which over time literally might change the organisational dynamics beyond recognition. It seems that the capacity for story-telling can only lead a tenuous, unstable existence within the confines of organisations as we know them today.

This brings us to the second mysterious protagonist: the 'senior manager' or the 'decision taker'. At first sight he seems conspicuously absent from the scene. But he is present enough, and in not a terribly flattering role, as a 'corporate bully'. Isn't it striking that the capacity for story-telling is, with exception of the start-up company, invariably injected at lower management levels? It's as if the top of the hierarchy is simply incapable of mustering a level of trust in their own organisations that allows them to constructively embrace the power of the tale.

If Allan, Fairtlough and Heinzen are right, then we have no choice but to wage a guerilla war in our own organisations. Long term viability is at stake. Whether we like it or not, the larger system we are part of is self-organising. So we'd better measure up and, humbly, unleash the power of story-telling. There are no guarantees, only that we'll be better prepared for the pains of failure and the glories of success. It may not be what the average reader of business books these days likes to read. At least we need to congratulate the authors of this book for their honesty.

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Allan, J., Fairtlough, G. and Heinzen, B. The Power of the Tale @? Using Narratives for Organisational Success, John Wiley, Chichester, UK, 2002, p. xiii ... European Journal of Operational Research]
R.V.V. Vidal
Manufacturer: Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Elsevier | By Publisher | e-Docs | Formats | Books
ASIN: B000PAUKD2

Book Description

This digital document is a journal article from European Journal of Operational Research, published by Elsevier in 2007. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:

The Power of the Tale: Using Narratives for Organisational Success.: An article from: Technical Communication

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The Power of the Tale: Using Narratives for Organisational Success.: An article from: Technical Communication
Gary Hernandez
Manufacturer: Society for Technical Communication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Technical Communication, published by Society for Technical Communication on November 1, 2003. The length of the article is 728 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: The Power of the Tale: Using Narratives for Organisational Success.
Author: Gary Hernandez
Publication: Technical Communication (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2003
Publisher: Society for Technical Communication
Volume: 50 Issue: 4 Page: 635(2)

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Advances in Agronomy continues to be recognized as a leading reference and a first-rate source of the latest research in agronomy. Major reviews deal with the current topics of interest to agronomists, as well as crop and soil scientists. As always, the subjects covered are varied and exemplary of the myriad subject matter dealt with by this long-running serial. Editor Donald Sparks, former president of the Soil Science Society of America and current president of the International Union of Soil Science, is the S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Plant and Soil Sciences at The University of Delaware.

Volume 84 contains six excellent reviews that discuss topics critical to agricultural and environmental sustainability.

* Maintains the highest impact factor among serial publications in Agriculture
* Presents timely reviews on important agronomy issues
* Enjoys a long-standing reputation for excellence in the field

Book Description

Electronic publishing and electronic means of text and data presentation have changed enormously since the first edition was first published in 1997. This second edition applies traditional principles to today's, modern techniques. In addition to substantial changes on the poster presentations and visual aids chapters, the chapter on proposal writing discusses in more detail grant writing proposals. A new chapter has also been dedicated to international students studying in the United States.

Selected Contents:
-Searching and Reviewing Scientific Literature
-The Graduate Thesis
-Publishing in Scientific Journals
-Reviewing and Revising
-Titles and Abstracts
-Ethical and Legal Issues
-Scientific Presentations
-Communication without words
-The Oral Presentation
-Poster Presentations

Customer Reviews:

Great scientific writing primer.......2003-10-21

What else is there to say. Covers papers, theses, and oral presentations. Quite thorough yet not large.

Inspiring reading........2000-08-29

A very inspiring and reminding book for people writing scientific papers.All the figures and citats makes it so funny to read. You don't have to be in the department of agronomy to get a good idea for your paper from this book. After reading I just longed for continuing my writing field with new ideas and it's frontpage is so coulorful so for me it's not only a book but also a piece of art.

Average customer rating:

The unfortunate Mr. Suggs

Great Read...

Blood Trails II: The Truth About Bowhunting (Outdoorsman's Edge)
Ted Nugent
Manufacturer: Woods N' Water Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Wildlife | Animals | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
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General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0972280472

Book Description

This new book is filled with updated action-packed hunting stories from one of the nation's most prolific and philosophical big game hunters—Ted Nugent. Completely updated and revised, Blood Trails II shares Ted's hunting stories that get the adrenaline flowing in even the most jaded of hunting veterans.

Each exciting hunt makes you feel as if you are right there alongside Ted as he comes to full draw or slowly squeezes the trigger of his firearm. You'll feel like you are sharing in his gratitude and joy as he bags a wide variety of big game. You'll feel as though you just returned from the hunt yourself!

Learn from Ted how to improve your arrow placement with his three-step archery prayer for shooting accuracy. Reflect on the blessings of the hunting season and how "self-sufficiency, after all, is the ultimate American Dream of independence and individualism . . . no doubt about it, hunting is the last and best way to remain in touch with a planet that miraculously sustains us all." Get charged with his love of bringing archery to neophytes, "Every man, woman, boy, or girl, falls in love with the Zen-like charge of making that next arrow better."

Any hunter, hard-core rocker, or just a Ted Nugent fan (and there are millions of you), will want to add this book to your outdoor library. You'll love and live along with Ted through his "absolute reverence for the precious beasts and their gift of protein."

Includes:
120 exciting hunting stories with 21 brand new adventures
Over 80 new b&w photos
A special full-color 8-page bonus section including rock n' roll photos!
16 brand new "Teditorials!"
A new special Ask Uncle Ted Q&A section
Why I Hunt-The Nuge's views and how he walks his talk
Ted's Hunting Techniques to help improve your hunt
Ted and Shemane's favorite wild game recipes

"In this day and age of intense scheduling and crazy pace, I prescribe peaceful time in the wild together to bring a family closer together and upgrade and increase the happy times together. Life is a BBQ. These grand family hunting adventures are the sauce for the soul." Ted Nugent

Customer Reviews:

The unfortunate Mr. Suggs.......2005-11-07

I myself am not a hunter. I really just do not understand it. However, my husband enjoys it immensly. While I do not understand the hunting mentality I do understand people such as Mr. Suggs. While, Mr. Suggs is exceedingly gifted in the art of penning sarcasm, he unfortunately lacking in his choice of reading materials. I find it odd that a person who does not enjoy a sport, nor the person who is participating in the sport, would read a book involving both. I give kudos to Mr. Suggs writing ability, shame on him for speaking out of turn.

Great Read..........2005-09-12

Unlike Philbert Suggs review, which is obviously, a sarcastic, soap-box stance, of a denial ridden, brain damaged animal rights/anti-hunting advocate who has not read the book in the first place. He is obviously shrouded by self-substantiated lies including his false profile in which he says he is a hunter and uses Elvis as his picture (a drug-ridden, stammering bafoon such as himself, evidently). Such people could benefit from reading such books in which denials of natural processes of life and death are not tolerated and truth is spoken. People are hunters by nature, Ted has always promoted that as he does in this book. Ted has never tolerated false idealistic views such as those perceived by Mr. Suggs who thinks his food has never had an effect on an animal or the environment or has denied that his actions through his course of life has never lead to the death of an animal or destruction of their environment. People who share views as those of Mr. Suggs pave a dangerous path to destruction of humanity through denial and lies. Rock-on Ted, and keep on spreading the truth of humanity and our impact of the environment, helping to preserve habitat and the abundace of wildlife for generations to come, and teaching kids to not just "Say No" to drugs, but, to kick the dealer in the balls, drag them in to the street, smash them into the curb and leave them to rot in the gutter. You have helped many youth to preserve their life and give them a good path to follow to become an asset to their community and the wild in general.

Book Description

Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon (9/e 1940) is the most comprehensive and up-to-date ancient Greek dictionary in the world. It is used by every student of ancient Greek in the English-speaking world, and is an essential library and scholarly purchase there and in W. Europe and Japan. The main dictionary covers every surviving ancient Greek author and text discovered up to 1940, from the Pre-Classical Greek of the 11C - 8C BC (for example Homer and Hesiod), through Classical Greek (7C - 5C BC) to the Hellenistic Period, including the Greek Old and New Testaments. Entries list irregular inflections, and together with the definition, each sense includes citations from Greek authors illustrating usage. The Lexicon is Greek into English only, as are other ancient Greek dictionaries. This is the market expectation among both students and scholars. In 1968 the Lexicon was updated with a Supplement, which was available as a separate volume (until 1992) or bound together with the dictionary. Representing the culmination of 13 years' work, the new Revised Supplement is a complete replacement for the 1968 Supplement. Nearly twice the size of the 1968 edition, with over 20,000 entries, it adds to the dictionary words and forms from papyri and inscriptions discovered between 1940 and the 1990s as well as a host of other revisions, updatings, and corrections to the main dictionary. Linear B forms are shown within entries for the first time, and the Revised Supplement gives the dictionary a date-range from 1200 BC to 600 AD. It is fully cross-referenced to the main text but additions have been designed to be easily used without constant reference to the main text.

Customer Reviews:

Clarendon Press of China.......2007-05-29

This review specifically refers to the "Big Liddle", ninth edition with revised supplement and inclusive of Linear B references.

Indispensible as it is, I was disappointed. Even this gigantuan work is poor on proper names. But my major gripe was that it was poorly made. As noted by another reviewer, in places the printing was faded although it was certainly still legible. But the paper was poorly cut. The pages stuck together at the edges - I imagine because a blunt (or insufficently sharp) blade was used to cut the pages. Each page had to be separated by hand or flicking the pages. The paper is sliver thin, and some of it was creased in the binding - excruciatingly poor quality for a $160 book. On reviewing the front, I noted that it was printed and bound in China - a country (like the USA) noted for its poor quality workmanship and third-world quality control. This would be fine if the cost savings were passed on to the buyer, but at $160 I can tell you that I expect more. How the Oxford Clarendon Press can put its name on such quality I don't know. My Middle Liddell was printed and bound in Spain by a European printer and the quality is superb.

It is a nonsense that it couldn't be reset. It would be a few summers work for a software engineer and a class of Classics students using purpose-written character recognition software and direct-to-press digital printing technology.

This would still get five stars if it weren't for the poor quality of the manufacture.

No problems with the font readibility in mine........2007-04-15

I haven't gotten a chance to really delve into the book yet. I just got it six hours ago, but from leafing through I can tell that readibility is not an issue. The font is some of the clearest I have seen on any book. Perhaps I have a more recent printing, but I noticed quite a few people seem to knock it for that. Just wanted to say that you can buy with confidence. From bavorite anyway.

oatmeal for the linguistic lobe.......2007-01-06

'LSJ', as this good friend of a book is called by specialists of ancient Greek language and linguistics, is a staple.

You wouldn't skip breakfast before heading to work. You wouldn't wear dress shoes without socks. You wouldn't fail to own a well-worn copy of this classic Greek-English lexicon if your work immerses you in ancient Greek.

Regularly updated since its initial publication in 1843, LSJ makes you wonder what people did before, well, LSJ. This Oxford University Press publication still sports an archaic but crystal clear typeface. Each entry has at least one English definition but often many more, Greek contexts, and citations from the literature in which the word is found.

As with any classic, critics abound. LSJ, it is alleged, is too dependent on debunked etymology, too slanted towards a certain sector of the literature, too passé in its linguistics, etc.

No matter. We all still slide it regulary from its honored place on a nearby shelf for helpful and usually appreciated consultation.

A dear old friend, LSJ. What ever did people *do*?

As advertised.......2006-08-14

As a Bible student that is studying the Greek language I was directed to Liddell and Scott by a Greek language instructor. It is been very helpful with translating words in the New Testament English to Greek. It is far superior to the information available in the Strong's concordance.

This dictionary is a life saver!.......2006-02-17

I bought this Ancient Greek Lexicon in order to help me translate a play by Menander for my senior thesis. Very seldomly am I unable to find the words I'm looking for. Many of the obscure forms of the verbs are listed and refer the reader back to the main entry. I highly recommend this item.

Average customer rating:

Lover of Gourmet foods/ writing

Good Stuff Here

A pleasurable read

Not the best

Best Food Writing 2004

Manufacturer: Marlowe & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1569244162

Amazon.com

For food lovers, the next best thing to eating is reading about it. Best Food Writing 2001, compiled by Holly Hughes, offers these and other readers the year's most memorable food writing from books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and Web sites. Like its predecessor, Best Food Writing 2000, the book is a banquet--51 pieces on food in all its nutritional, gustatory, psychological, sociological, and, in short, personal glory. Dip into the book anywhere and enjoy, for example, Jeffrey Steingarten on bluefin tuna, Molly O'Neill discussing the glories of soup, William Grimes on comfort food, and Coleman Andrews on eating in Rome. Readers also journey to Paris (of course) in the form of Michael Lewis's wonderfully cranky paean to cassoulet (with recipe), and with John T. Edge in his search for the best Parisian Southern fried chicken (it exists); they also follow humorist Calvin Trillin as he seeks desperately for superior ceviche in Peru, Ecuador, and Queens, New York. Also included are excerpts from Ruth Reichl's bestselling Comfort Me with Apples and Patric Kuh's The Last Days of Haute Cuisine. There's more, of course, on topics as diverse as the agonies of dinner-party hosting, a chef's-eye view of dining out, and preparing perfect rice. Ideal for bedtime reading, the book also makes a great gift for fellow foodaholics who can't get enough of their favorite passion. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

Best Food Writing 2004 assembles, for its fifth year, the most exceptional writing from the past year's books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and Web sites. Included are the best writers on everything from celebrated chefs to the travails of the home cook, from food sourcing at the greenmarket to equipping one's kitchen, from erudite culinary history to food-inspired memoirs. Considered a classic, Best Food Writing is required reading for all undergraduate students enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America and is used as a textbook at other culinary schools nationwide. Stellar contributors include Robb Walsh, John Thorne, Calvin Trillin, Amanda Hesser, Ruth Reichl, Colman Andrews, Jason Epstein, and Jeffrey Steingarten. Opinionated, evocative, nostalgic, brash, thought-provoking, and sometimes just plain funny, it's a tasty sampler to dip into time and again, whether you're in the mood for caviar-or pretzels.

Customer Reviews:

Lover of Gourmet foods/ writing.......2005-10-17

Really liked this book- Perfect for those who just enjoy reading cookbooks for relaxation or the journalist- which my husband was for 20 years and thought the writing was excellent!

Good Stuff Here.......2004-04-06

This compilation of food writing is perfect for the foodie who doesn't have the time to sift through enormaous piles of literature to find a handful of good essays. Especially interesting was the article entitled "Josiah & the Giant Onion", describing America's pathetic passion for gigantic chain restaurants.

A pleasurable read.......2003-02-13

A good selection of writing covering a wide variety of topics. Each story was a delectable mystery as to what was coming, because although the common theme is food, the topics varied considerably. All contributors are highly polished, professional writers, so the quality of the writing is excellent. It wa a great winter bedtime read, to be parceled out, one story a night.

Not the best.......2002-12-03

I really liked the 2000 and 2001 versions of this series. Those anthologies had a more down to earth feel. This new 2002 edition seems to have more selections from food insiders who just come off as spoiled brats. My advice is to skip 2002. Maybe 2003 will be a better year for food essays.

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