Book Description
Readers who love Carl Hiaasen's off-the-wall novels won't want to miss this outrageous, eclectic collection of his notorious Miami Herald columns. His unique and passionate essays prove that the facts can indeed be stranger than fiction...
Customer Reviews:
it really kicks a__.......2006-07-30
This book is; to borrow another Hiaasen title a real Hoot. He is without a doubt not only informative,and thought provoking but he does it while leaving his readers in stiches. I think he shows a genuine affection for the idiots he writes about
Most columns are winners.......2006-07-06
Sidenote: I also wrote this review for "Paradise Screwed" b/c it's the same book, just different selected columns.
If you've ever read a Carl Hiassen book (or Tim Dorsey for that matter) and you wonder where he became so cynical, or where he gets his outrageous ideas from, read this book. Taking only the best of his newspaper columns, this book gives little glimpses into the absolute mess that was Miami/South Florida in the 80's/90's. Taking on anything from connected land developers, to cartel-backed politicians, to prostitute employing evangelists.
Each column is 1 to 1.5 pages in length making it the perfect length to read here and there, or big bites at a time. If you're a fan of Carl Hiassen, try this book not for Hiassen's opinion, but just for the shear knowledge of ludicrisiosity he imparts.
If you like his novels, you will love his columns.......2006-04-13
I've never set foot in Florida, but I can't get enough Carl Hiaasen. I've read every single novel he's written and I have to say his columns are just as worthy a read.
From the opening column of the book (Carl Hiaasen's Florida Stress Test) to some of the more serious writings (the group of prostitutes he talks to, the crumbling county health building) Hiaasen writes it all with a razor-sharp flair and zeal that can't be matched. You know this guys just loves going to work every day.
Who else would refer to the newly elected mayor of Miami as a "pernicious little ferret"?
Keep them coming, Carl. I'm waiting on Volume 3.
I Wonder What Happened to that Jeb Bush guy?.......2002-07-25
There was a brief stage in my college career when I hoped to get into newspapers. Unfortunately, I'm a very slow writer. I would sweat bullets over remarkably simple stories, and my editorial prowess was equally dubious. It was at that time I discovered Carl Hiaasen and his remarkably subversive novel, TOURIST SEASON. His author's bio indicated that his newspaper setting was drawn from authentic experience -- he was a columnist for the Miami Herald.
Unfortunately, the web was just in its infancy, and access to Hiaasen's newspaper writing was apparently one of the few exclusive benefits of living in South Florida. KICK ASS turns out to be just the sort of collection that I had been craving for many years.
KICK ASS does not disappoint. It begins with a nifty introduction that provides a smattering of biographical information on Hiaasen, as well as a context for the subjects and tone of his columns. Hiaasen clearly resides in a longstanding tradition of muckraking American journalism, and I mean that in the best possible way.
This is no mere sampling of his work -- there are more than 200 columns here, organized by topic, and just about every one of them meets the mandate stated in the title of the collection. Hiaasen has a passion for the environment, consumer protection, crime control, and good government. His portrait of a Florida reeling after the flood of growth and development of the last three decades is even starker than the one in his novels. Speaking of the novels, it is also fun to see where he "lifts" some of his ideas for the things that happen in his books. The overamorous dolphin of NATIVE TONGUE appears in KICK ASS as well.
If there is anything to regret about this book, it is that the topical organization often generates confusion for the reader when certain figures re-occur. Some of them almost develop a roguish charm. After all, us non-Floridians don't have to live with the direct consequences of local corruption. A little wrap-up to let us know how some of the notorious figures and controversies ended up would have been nice. I always hated that device at the end of his novels, but it would be perfect for a collection like this.
Another Must-Read from Hiiasen.......2000-06-27
As a lifelong resident of Florida (albeit a ninetten-year-old one), I have seen Florida at its best and worst. Hiiasen's columns represented in this book illustrate the "politics" and people of a great but confused state. If you live in Florida, have visited, or even have heard of it, this book will both amuse and depress you, as is the nature of the state. Everyone will identify with the outrage Hiiasen evokes over the disregard of the envirnment, the sham of politics, and the overall life in Miami, and indeed, all of Florida. This book will remind readers of what Marjorie Kinnan-Rawlings and Marjorie Douglass once experienced in Florida, and tells both the good and the bad of what has happened after a hundred years of exploitation If you want a non-stop laugh and a big dose of reality, read this collection - it's one of the best books in print right now.
Book Description
Cowgirl Smarts will make you want to saddle up, and follow your dreams!
Wild West cowgirls were bodacious and lived amazing lives, almost too fantastic to believe. They bucked all the norms and persevered against tremendous odds to live full and adventurous lives. Cowgirl Smarts identifies the characteristics that made these cowgirls successful at roping more out of life when others thought they shouldn't.
Cowgirl Smarts is about being fearless, adventurous, original, resourceful, independent, faithful, honest and genuine. The book demonstrates how to get cowgirl smart through the stories of real cowgirls from the Wild West and early rodeo days. If you want to rope a kick-ass life or to enjoy some fun cowgirl history, then this book is for you. It's a sassy guide for finding your cowgirl spirit and thinking outside the ranch.
Customer Reviews:
Cowgirls' inspiring lives.......2007-05-03
Using the lives of western women who made a difference in their own lives and that of others, the author provides brief biographical sketches and relates those lives to her typology of self improvement. It's an interesting approach and serves well to exemplify how ordinary folks provide the substance of history.
THE BOOK for every woman!!!.......2007-01-05
Every woman, whether a teenager, whether in her twenties and thirties, or even in her sixties, should read this book. Based on the TRUE lives of women who lived in the West, or Cowgirls, this small volume provides an enormous amount of insight into life in general and to growing and living as a woman. Very inspirational.
Cowgirl Heroes.......2005-12-31
MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN COWGIRLS! Reading this book made me know I was right. Happy Reading and Happy trails. Cecile K Dunn Lady Lake Florida
Customer Reviews:
Reading couldn't be more fun!.......2006-04-26
Okay, let me set something straight here, just because there's a naked chap leaping about on the front cover doesn't mean this is a bit of silly fun. It is a huge amount of fun! But it is also thought provoking, intelligently written and potentially life-changing. I recommend that you read this if you're stuck in a rut at work or in your personal life and I recommend that you read it if you're not. This book will make you really think, really smile, really play, really dream. So put down your John Grishams or your Khalil Gibrans and get stuck in to this for a genuine gem of a read. Apply it to your business, to your role and to yourself! This book will be the one you'll read time and time again and the one your mates will all want to "borrow". Be inspired and learn... go on, you know you want to.
Jeff Semenchuk, VP Global Innovation, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.......2006-02-22
I encourage you to buy this book. Then read it. Then buy it for every person on your team at work. I've done just this. We've worked with Chris and his team for nearly two years, and we are now the fastest-growing company in our industry. The concepts and practices he offers will change you as a leader (personally and professionally), your team, and your company's business results. And you'll have a good laugh as you do it.
Huge Impact .......2006-02-22
An energetic romp that leaps off the page - grabs your creativity and gives it a glorious shake. It's packed with everyday tools to solve life's most creative challenges and the confidence to make it happen. A "business book" without the attitude and ten times the impact!
Love something change something.......2006-02-14
This is a really good and fun read. It is practical, informative and inspiring. It makes you think about your life and what you need to do to change in it for the better. It is also really helpful it getting you to think creatively. I wish all books that one can claim are for business where this fun.
Useful and inspirational - what more could you want.......2006-02-09
Great book with really helpful things to do to get down to what really matters and to be creative while you're doing it. Loved it.
Amazon.com
Rob Adams--an ex-Marine and former technology executive who now runs an "accelerator venture fund" that works like an entrepreneurial boot camp--offers A Good Hard Kick in the Ass to wake up and shake up today's would-be business owner. The era when virtually any wannabe could turn an intriguing idea and slick presentation into a hefty bankroll is long past, of course. Adams believes the current environment calls instead for a return to elementary but oft-ignored rules expressed here through blunt admonitions (good ideas are a dime a dozen, you don't know your customers as well as you think you do, you don't need big bucks right out of the gate) meant to counter the "startup myths and misconceptions" many hopefuls still harbor. Each chapter breaks down one delusion-busting assertion into specific suggestions (assemble a team with solid "execution intelligence," validate the market, forge a strategy for getting out there quickly) and is fleshed out with the real-life experiences of both big-name techno-ventures and some of the embryonic participants in Adams's AV Labs. Any time you step up to the plate to start a company, you take a chance on striking out, he says, but following these steps should at least get you into the game. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
Every day, Rob Adams helps entrepreneurs find true markets for their products, design solid business models, and hire great teams—because that’s what it takes to build a successful company. While this sounds self-evident, far too many entrepreneurs have forgotten these fundamentals. They’ve been influenced by what Adams calls “business porn,” myths lingering like a bad hangover from the easy success days of the late ’90s. These entrepreneurs believe a unique idea is the key to igniting a great business. They think their industry experience already makes them experts on customer needs. They have simplistic, self-defeating illusions about sales, marketing, financing, and more.
They say things like “I have a million-dollar business idea for a new product.” Wake up, says Adams: Good ideas are not scarce—they’re a dime a dozen. Businesses are successful not because of a unique idea but because of extraordinary execution. They offer a better, faster, or cheaper product or service, or they change the way the world solves a problem.
In short, these entrepreneurs need just what Adams doses out in the pages of this book: a good hard kick in the ass. Adams debunks the myths and smashes the illusions—and he knows what he’s talking about, because he stands at the hub of many new startups. His firm, AV Labs, provides entrepreneurs with early financing as well as the management expertise they need to get off the ground.
A Good Hard Kick in the Ass offers detailed, hard-hitting guidance for smart, sophisticated entrepreneurs and established businesspeople alike—along with vivid, in-depth examples of companies that are walking the walk right now. Adams’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach is just what’s needed in the post-bubble economy.
Customer Reviews:
Necessary Reading For Entrepreneurs.......2006-12-19
This book is a great place to start for any entrepreneur. Despite the slightly odd title, the book does kick some reality into readers. The book is very interesting, and I'd highly recommend reading it to get some ideas of what is expected of you when you want to develop an idea into a business.
Good basic treatise on marketing.......2006-11-10
Rob Adams delivers a fair amount of info about marketing for new high tech products. Most of what is said is very sound and based on practical experience.
We probably all need a good, hard kick - I know I did!.......2005-07-06
What a wakeup call! Too bad I didn't read this book sooner - before I learned some of the lessons the hard way. All entrepreneurs and those aspiring to be entrepreneurs "need" this book.
If you're starting up a company, then read this book. If you've already started a company, stop and read this as soon as possible - before you screw things up even worse.
Adams runs AV Labs, with plenty of time in the trenches. So listen up. The 1990's really messed with entrepreneurs heads. Instead of identifying a solid market need and building products that meet those needs, entrepreneurs were told - by Venture Capitalists, and the Media, to take on the world. Business models were thrown out the window. Forget profits, or even revenues, just catch as many "eyeballs" as possible and you'll be the next Microsoft. Well, we all know what happened ... Crash!
Assembled into ten kicks, the book is overflowing with true wisdom:
1. Good Ideas Are a Dime a Dozen
2. You Don't Know Your Customer As Well As You Think You Do
3. Don't Wait to Ship a Killer Product---Get to Market Fast
4. You Don't Need the Big Bucks Right Out of the Gate
5. Investors Fund Great Teams---Not Business Plans
6. Investors Will Wait for Quality Returns---from Quality Companies
7. Advertising and Marketing Are Not Synonymous
8. Nobody Else Can Sell Your Product for You
9. Big Companies Need to Act More Like Startups
Final Kick: This One's Yours to Give in the Marketplace!
We probably all need a good, hard kick - I know I did. Focus first and foremost on knowing who your customer is and that they really will open their wallet (validate your market). Second, Be sure you can make money - preferably lot's of it (create a profitable business model). And third, remember it's all about people executing strategy.
My final piece of advice - If you read only one business book this year, this should be the one.
-----------------
Michael Davis - Editor, Byvation
Great on validating the market in early stage start-ups.......2005-05-09
This excellent book describes the early start up stage of a new business in great detail. The author has experience with pre-funded start-ups and their efforts to validate their markets. There are few books that describe this early stage activity for entrepreneurs, where it's difficult to judge a market. Thus, this book is highly recommended.
Pluses
- Puts proper weights on crucial start up tasks with an emphasis on the execution team. The author says execution and the execution team is more important than the idea. He makes a good point but I don't think having a good execution team is adequate reason to create a startup. You still need an organizing idea that offers overwhelming advantage.
- Recommends that you apply new technology to existing market to ease an existing pain. He particularly likes applying new technologies to business processes (of course Dell is one of the examples here).
- Asks you to repeatedly hypothesize and then prove/disprove the pain of your prospects. The area of customer need has to have a felt pain. The search for pain increases the likelihood of success, and makes marketing easier.
- Recommends rigorous upfront market research into prospects and influencers. Talk to at least 100 potential customers. After doing this the author says the business plan is easier to write.
- I liked his comments on talking to affinity groups, trade pubs, user groups, trade shows, and industry influencers.
- Get to the market quickly with a product that solves their immediate pain.
Minuses
- Relies on quantitative market research for initial phase instead of one-on-one. His defense is that our goal is to be doing market research, not selling our solution. However, I believe the best market research comes from one on one discussions. See Barry Feig's books on market research for more on this, "Marketing Straight To the Heart" etc..
Questionable Items
- Your idea does not have to be unique. "There is no new idea." To the author, ideas are commodities, it's teams that can execute that are scarce. While I agree, I can't see starting up a company unless you have a competitive advantage that goes beyond our subjective opinion of a start-up crew.
- First to market is no big thing, it's an unsustainable advantage. Execute to dominate, not define a space. I generally disagree, but he makes a good point. I also believe in first mover advantage made popular by Geoffrey Moore ("Crossing the Chasm") and also in Ries's recommendation to create a new niche to dominate (See "The Origin of Brands" by Al and Laura Ries). But I also believe, like the author suggests, great execution is often a deciding factor. I think he gives these other ideas short shrift because he sees so many companies failing on execution.
- Partner, partner, partner. I think the startup should try for a complete product rather than give up large pieces of the solution. But I can see how some situations demand this.
There's a lot more to this book than the few points I listed above. He gives more details on the execution team which were particularly good.
Overall, I think this is an excellent book. It should be required reading for all MBA students of entrepreneurial studies as well as anyone in the early stages of a startup who is trying to validate the company's market.
John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX
Disappointing.......2005-03-04
Like other reviewers have noted, this book is aimed at a very particular audience: successful executives with significant experience, starting a technology company.
I figured I was close enough to that audience that I'd love the book. Turns out, I was wrong. This book is overwhelmingly focused on enterprise companies. I am the CEO of a consumer-focused company, and felt like the book was misleadingly positioned. Maybe "Basic Training for Entrepreneurs selling into the Enterprise" wouldn't have been as catchy... but it would be much more accurate.
I also found Rob's book troubling for softer reasons. For me, probably the most important decision I ever made was my choice of co-founders. Absolutely, you want a smart team just like Rob recommends... but you also want a team of people you can *trust* with your life. I was surprised by Rob's total focus on hard skills/experience in hiring.
But upon reflection, his focus on hard skills makes sense here, since the book is overwhelmingly about making money. If you want to build a team of people who want to change the world... or make a difference... this book is not for you. I'm not talking about non-profits or government; I'm talking about creating products that have an impact on the world (Apple, Sony, Google, Harley, Ben & Jerry's, Intuit, etc.).
This book has zero talk about creating a shared sense of purpose/mission. That's ok, because companies targeting the enterprise rarely have that sort of vibe. That's too bad, because I think that every company can use a "soul". And to be frank, creating a sense of purpose/mission can dramatically increase customer and employee retention. Maybe all this soft stuff can translate into hard dollars after all...
Book Description
They're sexy. They're smart. And they aren't afraid of a little danger-not even when it comes to matters of the heart...
Four of today's hottest authors present a quartet of stories about bold women who take no prisoners-either in a fight or in love. Whether it's in the bedroom, in the outer limits of the galaxy, or out on the mean streets, they kick heart-stopping action to the next level. These are women who can hold their own and aren't to be trifled with. The men in their lives know that-and they love it...
Customer Reviews:
Nice Blend of Stories.......2007-03-15
This was a very enjoyable book. The stories were mostly engaging and enjoyable. I always enjoy books like this because usually they give me the opportunity to "vet" new authors and this one was no exception! These are all great and very different stories with strong female warrior women. Enjoy!
Kick A$$.......2007-01-11
I'm a big MJD fan. However, beware. All three writers are off in this one. Still a must read for hard core fans, but don't get your hopes up that it will be very good.
Are they men or mice? squeak..........2006-05-17
I usually love these authors, but this collection is a boring read. Just because the woman is strong, doesn't mean the hero needs to be a wimp. I did enjoy Ms. Knight's story, where the hero and heroine truly worked together, but the rest of the stories needed a shot of testosterone.
Four Entertaining Stories about Tough Ladies and their Yummy Men .......2006-02-11
I rather enjoyed the four short stories in KICK ASS, an anthology featuring romances between tough women and tougher men.
In "The Bride Wore a .44" by Maggie Shayne, the heroine has lost her memory and is about to get married to a fiancé she doesn't remember when a roguish wedding planner and well-armed thugs crash the wedding. I enjoyed the tension of discovering Kira's past with her and trying to figure out who were the good guys and who were the bad. She also had great chemistry with the wedding planner.
In "The Incredible Misadventures of Boo and the Boy Blunder" by Mary Janice Davidson, an albino vampire hunter acquires an annoying sidekick and falls for a vampire all in one night. It's a cute, funny story with good repartee between the three main characters - plus it brings us back into Davidson's hilarious vampire world first introduced in UNDEAD AND UNWED. If I had any complaint, it is that it was too short.
In "Warfem" by Angela Knight, we revisit the world of genetically engineered warriors from JANE'S WARLORD to watch love blossom between ex-lovers with secrets. While it was an entertaining story, I was a little put off by the fact that 20 years had gone by since the lovers had last seen one another and they were now in their 40s (which is too old for me). I also thought it was a little too heavy on extraneous sex scenes.
In "Painkillers" by Jacey Ford, a supermodel and her CIA agent partner run around a Caribbean island trying to prevent a coup d'etat and end up falling for each other. At first I thought it was a pretty cheesy story, but the more I read, the more I enjoyed. The characters actually mature in this story, which is something you rarely see. Plus, the action-adventure in this story was the most realistic out of all four stories, and the heroine was the most normal of the bunch, so she was easiest to relate to and enjoy. I am actually not partial to girls who kick ass (Davidson's vampire story was the reason I bought this anthology), so having a normal (non-kick ass) heroine was nice.
Again, I enjoyed all these stories, and would recommend them to readers interested in romance with a bit of supernatural and sci-fi thrown in.
Paired together.......2005-12-01
with another book i found to be kick ass, yet this book was lacking the umpfff I normally enjoy while reading Maggie's books.
Book Description
Revile it if you will, laugh it off but heavy metal's influence and audience just keep on growing. And nowhere is its brash outrageousness better expressed than on its album covers. This chunky compendium is a dungeonful of metal overload, complete with leather- and spandex-panted, huge-haired rockers, drooling beasts, and plenty of skulls. Charting a visual course of the genre, Heavy Metal Thunder shows the best album art from its youthful incarnation in the late '70s through the MTV era, when glam and hair metal ruled; to the punk-inflected revolutions of thrash and Nu Metal (with a grunge side trip); to the gory contemporary genres of grindcore, black metal, and doom. Page after page of aggressive and excessive album graphics makes this the perfect gift for both current metalheads and nostalgic (if embarrassed), thirty-and forty-somethings with headbanging memories.
Customer Reviews:
Cool for casual fans, Not enough covers for metalheads.......2007-01-25
I'm a huge metal fan, and was expecting more covers to be included.
Book is new 2006, but I didn't notice hardly any covers from after year 2000. Also appears they shied away from the more explicit stuff.
Some covers are included more than once (waste of space) and it would have been nice to have a banned covers section- showing the banned versions.Also some albums have received updated covers and this would have been good to show also.
THE POWER AND GLORY OF HEAVY METAL.......2006-12-24
Heavy metal music is not only defined by its look and sound, but also by the album cover art which often did as good, if not a better job, of selling the album as any other aspect. Heavy Metal Thunder from Chronicle Books takes a look at the proud and often controversial history of heavy metal album artwork. In today's world of CD's, iPods, MP3 players, and file sharing, cover art has become a relative lost art. Such was not the case twenty or twenty-five years ago as record companies and bands new the importance of producing a cover which could catch the eye of potential buyers. Having lived through the heavy metal years myself, I can truthfully admit to buying many albums based solely on the cover art, without ever having heard the band's music. Sometimes this worked out as in the cases of bands like Grim Reaper and Exciter...other times it didn't, but even if it didn't, you still had that great album cover art.
Writers James Sherry and Neil Aldis trace the history of heavy metal album art from that first, foreboding cover to Black Sabbath's first album in 1969, right up to the present say's nu-metal and black metal releases. But this isn't just 250 pages of pictures; the pair also look at the music that inspired the art and how the art was a reflection of the band's music and personality. There were the hard-edged bands like Iron Maiden , Armored Saint, Manowar, and Black Sabbath that often subscribed to the swords & sorcery/gothic approach.
Then there were the glam/hair metal bands who, more often than not, put themselves front and center on the cover, clearly trying to appeal to the female metal fans yet still reeling in the guys with sexually suggestive covers and scantily clad women. But these bands were labeled as poseurs by the more hardcore metal heads who turned their attention to speed and thrash bands like Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth, and to black metal bands like Venom and Slayer.
Some of the most notorious album covers in history wait inside the pages of Heavy Metal Thunder including Twisted Sisters "Stay Hungry" showing Dee Snider munching on a bloody leg bone, Black Sabbath's gothic "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", Carcass' disturbing "Reek of Purification" and Marilyn Manson's "Mechanical Animal". Special sections are devoted to Iron Maiden's covers depicting zombie mascot Eddie, painted by Derek Riggs.
This was like taking a stroll back in time and revisiting old friends you haven't seen in a long time. If you're a metalhead, you'll enjoy paging through the book and seeing just how many of these albums that you owned, or perhaps still own. There are literally hundreds of album covers pictured here covering every sub-genre of heavy metal including grindcore and grunge. Sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, and sometimes repulsive, Heavy Metal Thunder is a book that any metal fan must have.
Reviewed by Tim Janson
Book Description
Skinny Bitches Can Bake Their Cake - And Eat it Too!
Quit your bitching--they've heard you already! You read Skinny Bitch and it totally rocked your world. Now you want to know, "What can I cook that's good for me, but doesn't taste like crap?" Well, lucky for you, the Bitches are on the case. Self-proclaimed pigs, Rory and Kim understand all too well: Life without lasagna isn't a life worth living; chocolate cake is vital to our survival; and no one can live without mac `n cheese--no one. So can you keep to your SB standards and eat like a whale? Shit yeah, bitches. To prove it, Rory and Kim came up with some kick-ass recipes for every craving there is:
-Bitchin' Breakfasts
-PMS (Pissy Mood Snacks)
-Sassy Soups and Stews
-Grown-up Appetizers
-Comfort Cookin'
-Hearty Ass Sandwiches
-Happy Endings (Desserts)
And a ton more! They are all so good (and easy to make) you're gonna freak out. Seriously. What are you waiting for? Get your skinny ass in the kitchen!
Product Description
The 1985 Bears set a standard for success which hasn't been matched in the past quarter century. The Monsters of the Midway did not only demolish the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, they dominated the NFL that season the way few teams have in the history of the sport. The Bears finished the regular season with a gleaming 15-1 record, perfect but for a slip-up on Dec. 2 in Miami. In a span of three games in November, the Bears defeated Detroit, Dallas, and Atlanta by a combined score of 104-3. In Reflections on the 1985 Bears, fans get a revealing look at Chicago's last Super Bowl champion through the eyes of the team's head coach. Coach Ditka vividly describes the emotion, humor, and inner turmoil of his team from quarterback Jim McMahon's arrival in training camp with a Mohawk haircut through the team's hit single, "The Super Bowl Shuffle" through their eventual Super Bowl triumph in New Orleans. Along the way, Ditka shares his memories of such characters as McMahon, Walter Payton, William "Refrigerator" Perry, Richard Dent, Wilbur Marshall, Otis Wilson and others. He reflects on his power struggles with both the front office and assistant coach Buddy Ryan. In the end, football fans will gain a new appreciation for one of the best teams assembled in the history of the sport, the 1985 Chicago Bears.
Customer Reviews:
A very highly recommended addition to any personal or community library American football history collection.......2006-02-06
In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections On The 1985 Bears And Wisdom From Da Coach is classic Mike Ditka sharing his memories of the 1985 Chicago Bears and Super Bowl XX. With the assistance of sports columnist Rick Telander, Ditka is able to bring the reader into the locker room and out onto the field for one of the most memorable seasons the Bears ever had -- with one of the most memorable coaches the game has ever seen. A very highly recommended addition to any personal or community library American football history collection, no true Bears fan can miss out on reading what Mike Ditka has to say In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections On The 1985 Bears And Wisdom From Da Coach
Book Description
Reckless recounts the stories of nine women who made choices that sent their lives on unique paths. Gloria Mattioni was so entranced by these women that she moved from Italy to the U.S. to explore their lives, getting to know each one individually over more than a decade. Her subjects include:
•Julia Butterfly Hill who lived alone for 738 days atop an ancient 200-foot-tall redwood tree
•Wilma Mankiller was chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma for more than 10 years
•Gevin Fax left a promising career in Ohio to ride a motorcycle across country to California, where she became the ambassador of women bikers
•Annie Duke is the queen of professional poker, who won $2 million and the World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions in 2004
•Libby Riddles is the first woman to win the legendary Iditarod
•Angelika Castaneda and Barbara Warren are twin 61-year-old Ironman, X-Treme Games, and Triathlon multi-champions who continue to compete
•Lisa Distefano is a former Playboy model who captains a pirate vessel in order to protect sea life
•Polly Matzinger returned to school in her late thirties to become a world renowned biologist with theories that could revolutionize the way we treat disease
Customer Reviews:
Nine lessons in courage.......2005-12-08
Sometimes we read books to learn lessons from others' lives without having to live them personally. To me it has been the case with "Reckless": a lesson (or better, nine lessons) in self-confidence, bravery and nonconformity. At any age, at any time in your life - as teaches storyteller Gloria Mattioni page after page, just recounting the adventures of her "extraOrdinary" women - you can change the course of your destiny.
I found particularly stimulating the story of Polly Matzinger, a former Playboy Bunny and sheep-dog trainer turned into a successful scientist (she is now at the head of a laboratory at the NIH): a trail of life that in a country like mine (Italy), where career paths still lack of flexibility and imagination, would have hardly been possible.
essential, not exotic.......2005-11-21
Definitely a very exciting book. These nine women and the author herself show that recklessness is not something weird, but a vital energy. It's a strong, corageous, creative relationship with the world and the life. It's something essential, not exotic. This book reveals that in order to be reckless we don't need to go beyond human, but simply beyond a miserable idea of human.
Get Moving!.......2005-11-10
Even if you're only an armchair reckless or a even a freelance reckless, pick this up. You'll be inspired to try something new, shake things up a bit.
What's important.......2005-11-06
I was recently asked to choose what was important to me. Love is important. So are friends. And compassion. Gloria loves the women in her portraits and they are her friends. And she has great compassion for them. All three are clear in the writing in "Reckless." As is Gloria's passion for her subject. I bought a second copy and gave it to my daughter as I was reading mine. She will soon be eighteen and my hope is that she will choose a path in life that she can pursue with the passion demonstrated by the women in Gloria's profiles.
women models.......2005-11-06
finally a book again that writes about women that can be models for a society that is conditoned by instant gratification . all the examples show us that these woman are trained to delay gratification and to tolerate frustrations. i hope we will get more stories in the future.
Books:
- Kiss Me Forever/Love Me Forever (The Vampire Series, Books 1 & 2)
- Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum Novels)
- Love Bites (Argeneau Vampires, Book 2)
- Love's Unending Legacy/Love's Unfolding Dream/Love Takes Wing/Love Finds a Home (Love Comes Softly Series 5-8)
- Man of My Dreams
- Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook
- Midnight Man (Midnight Series, Book 1)
- Minx
- My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands
- Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got: 21 Ways You Can Out-Think, Out-Perform, and Out-Ea
- Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China
- Modern Trends in Applied Aquatic Ecology
- Random Signals for Engineers Using MATLAB and Mathcad
- Teaching Children with Autism: Strategies to Enhance Communication and Socialization
- While Europe Slept: How Radical Islam is Destroying the West from Within
- The Philosopher's Dog: Friendships with Animals
- The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques: Fifth Edition, Revised and Updated
- Painting the Beauty of Flowers With Oils
- Sedum of the trans-Mexican volcanic belt: An exposition of taxonomic methods
General | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
PARADISE SCREWED: SELECTED COLUMN OF CARL HIAASEN
Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World
Naked Came the Manatee
Powder Burn
A Death in China
