Amazon.com Reviews
A sprawling saga about five generations of a family from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Fall on Your Knees is the impressive first fiction from Canadian playwright and actor Ann-Marie MacDonald. This epic tale of family history, family secrets, and music centers on four sisters and their relationships with each other and with their father. Set in the coal-mining communities of Nova Scotia in the early part of this century, the story also shifts to the battlefields of World War I and the jazz scene of New York City in the 1920s.
Book Description
The Piper family is steeped in secrets, lies, and unspoken truths. At the eye of the storm is one secret that threatens to shake their lives -- even destroy them.
Set on stormy Cape Breton Island off Nova Scotia, Fall on Your Knees is an internationally acclaimed multigenerational saga that chronicles the lives of four unforgettable sisters. Theirs is a world filled with driving ambition, inescapable family bonds, and forbidden love.
Compellingly written, by turns menacingly dark and hilariously funny, this is an epic tale of five generations of sin, guilt, and redemption.
Customer Reviews:
Madness and Religion.......2007-09-11
Intriguing family saga of the impact of mental illness and spiritualism gone wrong. The dept of emotion within each character - parents and siblings - brings understanding to their seemingly irrational behavior. Strong characters draw you into their thinking and justification of their actions. MacDonald does a fine job of weaving the plot around historial events that lend added dimension to the complex relationships and the story overall. An excellent read.
Exploring different forms of love.......2007-09-02
This was Ms MacDonald's debut novel It is black and bleak and full of secrets. Peopled by flawed yet believable characters, this was one of the most amazing novels I read in 2003.
While the story starts on Cape Breton Island with James Piper (a poor Scots piano tuner) and Materia Mahmoud (the dauhter of a wealthy Lebanese family) and their relationship and elopement, the main story is of their daughters.
The childhood of the Piper sisters - Kathleen, Mercedes, Frances and Lily - is insightfully written and breathes life into the characters. Their lives on Cape Breton Island and then later in New York is an epic tale of love, pain and death, which also contains joy and triumph.
This novel is so rich in themes and in its development of characters it is hard to try to categorise it. So I won't. Instead, I'll recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good well written story but is also willing to explore some of the darker aspects of humanity.
Highly recommended.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Wow.......2007-05-03
This is not my normal book. It is quite dark (Gothic may be accurate) but a page turner, not in the thriller sense but much deeper. The book starts out with a snapshot of a family then goes on to unfold the story of how that family got to be that way. The snapshot makes you keep reading to find out each characters situation. As I read, I kept turning back to it as each piece of the plot unfolded. I finished this 2 days ago and can't get it out of my mind, it was so twisted and multilayered. I keep thinking about the Piper characters and putting them into modern context or comparing them to people I know. While the story covers many issues (poverty, race, prohibition, children taking on adult responsibility, coping with death, incest, small town life, relgion, homosexuality, and the list goes on) it interveaves the topics so well that it is still one elegant, continuous story.
I rarely review a book, but decided to since this book hasn't left me even though I'm halfway through the next. I believe everybody is accurate when they say that they cannot really find the right words to describe this book. All I can come up with is Wow, like when you hear some completely unexpected news about someone that goes against what you thought of them and you just can't put it into context or even categorize it in your brain, yet all you can do is keep thinking about it.
Cursed Family.......2007-04-17
James is an eighteen-year-old piano tuner who has recently lost his mother and whose abusive father has been gone for years. He falls desperately in love with Materia, the twelve-year-old daughter of one of his clients. They elope and Materia's family disowns and curses her and her children.
Within a year the couple has their first child, Kathleen, and the romance has gone from their relationship. James wonders if Materia was always so fat, so unpleasant, so utterly stupid. Materia misses her family and deeply regrets her marriage. To James, though, his daughter Kathleen is an angel. He adores her and brings her everywhere. She is beautiful and sweet and at eighteen months old begins to show signs of an impressive musical talent. James decides she will be an opera singer, and he is determined to give her every opportunity possible.
When Kathleen is twelve, James begins having incestuous thoughts about her. Materia notices, and in an attempt to save her daughter she begins seducing her husband, producing two more daughters, Mercedes and Frances. James recognizes his weakness, though, and decides to join the army and go fight in World War I. As soon as he returns home, he sends Kathleen to New York to study opera. It is not long before Kathleen is home again, though, and scandalously pregnant.
When several tragedies strike the family in quick succession, permanent roles are set for Mercedes and Frances. Mercedes is the responsible and deeply religious one who will hold the family together. Frances is the bad one, the troublemaker who will tear the family apart. Despite their differences, both girls have terrible secrets that will continue to affect their family through the next generation.
This book was very well written, with vivid characters. I especially liked Frances, who was willing to take any punishment necessary to protect her family and to create a safe haven for her little sister.
Parts of this book were awkward, though. The first few pages, describing the Piper home, didn't make any sense until much later in the book. I was left very confused and had to flip back later to place it in a time frame. I didn't like that Kathleen's story was eventually told long after the fact in the form of a diary. I feel this is an overused device and is a cop-out for an author who is unable to figure out how to integrate a person's narrative into the larger story. It was likely supposed to be a shocking revelation, but, really, how many people hadn't figured out the secret of Lily's birth by then? Kathleen had been out of the story for so long by then that I was no longer interested in the details of her life in New York.
Action Packed.......2007-04-07
For the most part this story is delightfully action packed - full of surprises - unexpected turns and twists that keep the reader open mouthed. It is the story of a highly dysfunctional family in New Waterford, Cape Breton Island.
The author's writing style is different, yet very effective. The way Catholicism is worked in here is quite interesting, as is the predicament Lebanese find themselves in. Please don't call them coloured or Arab. They would like to be considered European.
I am still not sure about the character Rose. What exactly is the author saying here?
Also Lily driving,then walking down to New York to meet Rose...what was the point here?
I have to admit that at times I was left with an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
Book Description
Kaplan AP English Language and Composition includes:
*2 full-length practice tests
*detailed answer explanations
*proven score-raising strategies
*targeted content review
*key terminology defined in context
*sample essays for Free-Response questions
Customer Reviews:
Good Test Prep.......2007-07-29
This book is an excellent introduction to the AP exam. The literary term section was especially helpful, as was the new synthesis practice section.
Book Description
*3 full-length practice tests
*detailed answer explanations
*proven score-raising strategies
*targeted content review
*key terminology defined in context
*sample essays for Free-Response questions
Book Description
Four years after the end of the Brood War, Emperor Arcturus Mengsk has rebuilt much of the Terran Dominion and consolidated a new military force despite an ever-present alien threat. Within this boiling cauldron of strife and subversion, a young woman known only as Nova shows the potential to become Mengsk's most lethal and promising "Ghost" operative. Utilizing a combination of pure physical aptitude, innate psychic power, and advanced technology, Nova can strike anywhere with the utmost stealth. Like a phantom in the shadows, she exists only as a myth to the enemies of the Terran Dominion.
Yet Nova wasn't born a killer. She was once a privileged child of one of the Old Families of the Terran Confederacy, but her life changed forever when a rebel militia murdered her family. In her grief, Nova unleashed her devastating psychic powers, killing hundreds in a single, terrible moment. Now, on the run through the slums of Tarsonis, she is unable to trust anyone. Pursued by a special agent tasked with hunting down rogue telepaths, Nova must come to terms with both her burgeoning powers and her guilt -- before they consume her and destroy everything in her path....
Customer Reviews:
Alas, poor Nova, if only they hadn't killed your game ..........2007-08-23
First and foremost, the criticisms that people are listing here that the novel ended strangely are (unfortunately) spot on. The reason for this is that this novel was originally intended to be a prequel to the video game StarCraft: Ghost, which was also set to follow the protagonist, Nova. If anyone is to blame for the awkward ending, it is Blizzard rather than DeCandido -- if you read the beginning of the book, you will even notice that there is an apology included from Blizzard that was pasted in at the last minute.
I have always imagined that Ghosts would be tragic characters. They are overwhelmed at a young age by external emotions and thoughts that they cannot control or understand, typically to such a point that they must drug themselves with "inhibitors" that render them as little more than pharmeceutical slaves to the highest military bidder. This is a depressing existence, and I feel that the mood is perfectly captured in this novel. Nova is a great character, and I deeply enjoyed reading about her genesis. The protagonist is very well developed in this story, and I did feel a distinct and emotional attachment to her. I cared about what happened, which is more than I can say for the characters in most other StarCraft novels.
With the exception of Hickman's Speed of Darkness, Grubb's Liberty's Crusade, and DeCandido's Nova, I would be amazed to find that any of the other StarCraft authors even went so far as to pass an introductory-level Creative Writing course. Stick to the three I just mentioned and you'll be okay ... fans of the series looking forward to StarCraft 2 should also read the Dark Templar series that begins with Firstborn.
Don't hold your breath for the videogame..........2007-05-07
Read this book instead which is the prequel to the "game". It establishes the character "Nova" and how she became involved with the secret service. Well written and minor, if any, brain strain.
Save your Money and your Time and logon to Battlenet instead.......2007-04-03
If the Proposed game was as boring as this book, I understand why they cancelled it!!!!!
ALL STARCRAFT FANS SHOULD READ THIS!.......2007-03-11
It's unfortunate that Blizzard canceled the game.. but you should read the book.
Well worth the buy.......2007-02-12
I went through the book very fast but I still enjoyed it. It gives you a good feel for the characters and I only hope that the future game storyline covers this as the history...I just wish it was longer.
Book Description
You'll never fall into the tourist traps when you travel with Frommer's. It's like having a friend show you around, taking you to the places locals like best. Our expert authors have already gone everywhere you might go—they've done the legwork for you, and they're not afraid to tell it like it is, saving you time and money. No other series offers candid reviews of so many hotels and restaurants in all price ranges. Every Frommer's Travel Guide is up-to-date, with exact prices for everything, dozens of color maps, and exciting coverage of sports, shopping, and nightlife. You'd be lost without us!
Frommer's Nova Scotia, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island is the premier guide to the Atlantic Provinces, with complete coverage of the title destinations as well as Newfoundland and Labrador. You'll get the inside scoop on the best hotels, restaurants, shopping, and nightlife, as well as the author's picks for the best travel experiences, including: sea kayaking nova scotia; biking the cabot trail; hiking Gros Morne National Park; driving along the Viking Trail in Newfoundland; walking through Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia; feasting on fresh lobster and Digby scallops; and more.
Customer Reviews:
A Disappointment... .......2007-08-16
very limited information about Nova Scotia. I have used many guide books in the past and this one was a real disappointment ! In some regards actually found the AAA guide to be more useful,,,
Book Description
This succinct overview of the development of Western music can help students of all levels understand the evolution of musical styles. Although the text is only half the size of most music histories, it is enhanced by the many cross-references to the best anthologies and recordings for further information and examples.
Customer Reviews:
A great resource to own.......2007-08-27
This is a great source to have! It is easy to read and covers everything all the major music history text books cover. Overall it is a faster, eaiser, and more interesting read than other texts. World history is also linked with music history to help the reader understand what actually happened. I strongly suggest this book for Graduate students reviewing for comprehensive exams!
Valuable resource.......2000-09-13
Concise, but inclusive. Would make a valuable text for undergrad Music History or for general graduate study.
Book Description
Every year students pay $600 and more to test prep companies to prepare for the SAT. Now you can get the same SAT preparation in a book.
The SAT is challenging but it can be mastered through hard work, analytical thought, and by training yourself to think like an SAT test writer. Many of the exercises in this book are designed to prompt you to think like an SAT test writer. For example, in the math section, you will find Duals. These are pairs of similar SAT problems in which only one property is different. They illustrate the process of creating SAT questions.
Features:
* Math: Twenty-two chapters provide comprehensive review of SAT math.
* Verbal: Develop the ability to spot places from which questions are likely to be drawn as you read a passage (pivotal words, counter-premises, etc.). Learn how to answer analogy questions even when you don't know the given words. Also, learn the 4000 essential SAT words.
* Mentor Exercises: These exercises provide hints, insight, and partial solutions to ease your transition from seeing SAT problems solved to solving them on your own.
Also includes SAT test prep software!
Software features:
* Mentor Mode: In Mentor Mode, you are immediately told whether you answered a problem correctly, and you can immediately view a detailed solution of the problem.
* Test Mode: In Test Mode, you can take an SAT test timed and scored by the program.
Customer Reviews:
Not that great. .......2007-06-19
This book is very hard to read and understand.
It contains many sections that are poorly organized and also has a few mistakes.
It is more oriented for an SAT tutor than a student.
However, it is very thorough, and if that is what you are looking for you should consider buying this.
Personally, I see it as a waste of 20 dollars. There are better books out there. Try The Official SAT Study Guide, Barron's SAT 2400: Aiming for the Perfect Score, among others...
This book works.......2006-01-12
I buy books for a group of professional tutors and this is the most popular SAT book that is ordered. No one orders Kaplan or the Princeton Review books anymore. I used it for my own kids.
Best Prep book ever!!!.......2005-02-28
This book is awesome. It has a 4000 word list, classification of the questions, and info you need to know to ace the test. Everybody who's serious about getting a good score on the SAT should buy the book!!!
Book Description
Walk on the ocean floor at low tide among stunning rock formations, ascend rugged coastal cliffs on the world's most scenic drive, mingle with the locals at a seaside lobster boil, or spend the night in a historic lighthouse—Fodor's Nova Scotia & Atlantic Canada, 9th Edition offers all these experiences and more! Our local writers have traveled throughout the area, including New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. Before you leave for your trip be sure to pack your Fodor's guide to ensure you don't miss a thing.
The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best —"Fodor's guides are saturated with information."
- We frequently update our Atlantic Canada guide, and we make every effort to bring you the most accurate and thorough book. Plus we provide timely updates about the area to Fodors.com.
- Unlike other travel books, Fodor's guides rely heavily on local experts who know the territory best—so you know you're seeing the real Atlantic Canada.
- We give you the planning tools you need to tailor your trip. We give options for all budgets. You make the choices.
-----------------------------------
With Fodor’s you get much more than a guidebook–we make it easy for you to customize your dream vacation.
Visit
www.fodors.com to find up-to-date travel bargains, mini-guides to worldwide destinations, information on local festivals, dazzling drives, maps, vacation planning tips and much more!
And, for more insider secrets, visit “Travel Talk” and “Rants and Raves” online at
www.fodors.com/forums to get advice from other travelers like you.
Customer Reviews:
Best buy.......2007-03-11
I am organising a trip in the Maritimes and this guide was the best. Very helpfull, very easy to read and you can tell the writers are from the area, they know the places.
Detailed info very helpful.......2006-08-17
The details of what is seen in the various areas are very helpful. Fodors takes you town by town in an orderly fashion with helpful information in planning your trip.
I found that after reading this book, my vacation plans were changed to accomodate more sightseeing. It was very beneficial.
Average customer rating:
- McLeod does it again.
- Perhaps the best written book I've ever read
- Great Canadian Read
- Ridiculously Overrated
- Rubbish
|
No Great Mischief: A Novel
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Family Saga
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MacLeod, Alistair
| ( M )
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Island: The Complete Stories
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Running in the Family
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The Rez Sisters
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Bear (Nonpareil books)
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As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories (New Canadian Library)
ASIN: 0375726659
Release Date: 2001-04-03 |
Amazon.com
For the MacDonalds, the past is not a foreign country. This Cape Breton clan may have lived in the New World since 1779, when Calum Ruadh ("the red Calum") and his wife, 12 children, and dog landed. Scotland, however, remains their true home. So profound is their connection to their lost land that on brief visits they find themselves welcomed by strangers. When one descendent tells a Scotswoman that she's from Canada, she is offered a gentle rejoinder: "That may be.... But you are really from here. You have just been away for a while." In some ways this is unsurprising, since the MacDonalds either have deep black hair or their ancestor's coloring. And those with the latter have "eyes that were so dark as to be beyond brown and almost in the region of glowing black. Such individuals would manifest themselves as strikingly unfamiliar to some, and as eerily familiar to others." Another sport of nature? Many are fraternal twins, including Alistair MacLeod's narrator, Alexander, and his sister.
But No Great Mischief is far more than the straightforward saga of one family over the generations. Instead the author has created a painfully beautiful myth in which the long-ago is in many ways more present than modern existence. Even in the last decades of the 20th century, the MacDonalds fall into Gaelic--its inflections, rhythms, and song--with deep nostalgia. This is a family that is used to composing itself in the face of disaster. They often assure one another, "My hope is constant in thee," and in the light of their many losses, the clan must cling to its motto.
No Great Mischief begins with Alexander's visit to Toronto, where his eldest brother now subsists on a diet of drink and memories. The narrator, a successful orthodontist, doesn't have much to do with the former but is unable (or unwilling) to escape the latter. As the novel proceeds, Alexander fills in his family history, including such key episodes as his great-great-grandfather's self-exile from Scotland. Though Calum Ruadh had intended to leave his dog behind, it broke away and tried to catch up with him. MacLeod piercingly captures the animal's struggle as her master first tries to make her head for shore and then--realizing she won't desert him--spurs her on. Throughout No Great Mischief various people recall this incident, an emblem of intensity, hope, and dependence. A descendant of the bitch is also on hand when Alexander's parents and one of his brothers disappear under the ice on a cold spring night. She persists in searching for her people and tries to protect their lighthouse from the new keeper, receiving in return "four bullets into her loyal waiting heart." When Alexander's grandfather hears of her death, he uses a phrase that becomes one of the book's litanies, "It was in those dogs to care too much and to try too hard."
This is a MacDonald characteristic as well. A good deal of No Great Mischief's strength stems from scenes of longing and despair--for those who die for a lost cause, whether in 1692 when one leader is killed ("the redness of his hair dyed forever brighter by the crimson of his blood") or in an Ontario uranium mine where one brother is decapitated. MacLeod evokes his clan, and the elemental beauty of their landscape, in quiet, precise language that gains power with each repetition. (A sentence such as "All of us are better when we're loved" comes to acquire a near proverbial ring.) If he occasionally tips his hand too much, pressing home his point that present-day prosperity isn't all it's cracked up to be, no matter. I doubt that this inspired and elegiac novel will ever leave those who are lucky enough to read it--proving after all the persistence of the clann Chalum Ruaidh. --Kerry Fried
Book Description
Alistair MacLeod musters all of the skill and grace that have won him an international following to give us
No Great Mischief, the story of a fiercely loyal family and the tradition that drives it.
Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.
Customer Reviews:
McLeod does it again........2007-08-23
I picked up Alistair MacLeod's No Great Mischief on the advice of one of my reading buddies (and you can never have enough of those!). I have never heard of MacLeod and when looking for more of his work, I was surprised to find that this Canadian is one of his country's most distinguished writers, although he has only two collections of short stories to his credit.
Weaving the past and the present, No Great Mischief is a tale of family. There are three plot lines in this intricate, yet highly readable novel. In current day, Alexander MacDonald is a successful orthodontist who often has trouble with why people pay him so much to make them pretty. He is trying to care for his oldest brother, Calum, a dying alcoholic who fascinates and repels him.
The second plot line is about Alexander's childhood. Taking place in Cape Breton, Alexander and his twin sister are raised by their paternal grandparents when their parents and one of their older brothers, Colin, falls through the ice as they make their way from the Cape to the lighthouse island where they live. Their three older brothers, now on their own, become loggers and miners in places around the world. They always go together and work side-by-side until one of them is sent to jail for murder.
And the predominate, yet most subtle, plot line is the coming of the MacDonalds to Canada. From the Scottish Highlands, the Calum Rudah (the red-haired clan) weathers a nasty and ill-fated trip across the ocean.
The story is almost, but miraculously not, confusing as different generations of MacDonalds are named "Alexander." However, that is one of the strengths of MacLeod's writing. It has the ability to weave in and out and flash back and forth, all the while never losing the reader.
At the heart of this novel, is family and loyalty. When the Calum Rudah leave Scotland, they try to leave their dog behind, but the dogs swims behind them until they can no longer risk her drowning and pull her into the boat. That image ignites the heart of the novel, as one of the dog's descendants waits for Alexander's parents to return to the lighthouse island in a show of loyalty.
Armchair Interview says: A 5-star offering from Alistair MacLeod.
Perhaps the best written book I've ever read.......2007-08-11
Alastair MacLeod's book is an stunningly well crafted and beautiful novel.
For me, the book that starts out confusing--why the characters are doing what they are today? and ends with a deep comprehension of bonds that form during a life.
This is definitely not a book for someone wanting a breezy travelogue about the pretty vacationland on Canada's East Coast. MacLeod's novel has nothing to do with the tourist experience. Instead, it is about a harsh and demanding land that shapes the characters and their relationships much as the waves carve the shore.
I'm not from Cape Breton, although I have been there 9 times and grown to love the place. The locals see MacLeod's writing as being very true to their heritage, and treasure it. His stories are often dark and quite sad. In particular his short stories (see "The Island") often leave me in tears.
This is the story of some lives, tough lives in remarkable places from Cape Breton to western Canadian mines. In the end, if you are like me (and several of my friends), you will understand the brothers' bond, and applaud the extraordinary skill and beauty with which the author has told this story.
Great Canadian Read.......2006-12-09
Canadian fiction usually has at least one of two themes--harsh conditions of some kind, and family. This has both. This book takes harsh conditions to mean a few things: the terrain, the sadness of true life, and the things we must face everyday. It is an interesting story about a family who has not had the easiest life, and it continues to be difficult for everyone. It is a story about how a tragedy can bring a family together and tear them apart. It is full of courage, hope, and love for your family. It makes you think what you would do if this happened to you. This is a story that dates back to the narrator's ancestors and how the events and tragedies that happened to the ancestors and the actions of distant relatives affect the narrator and his family today. It is a deep and interesting tale, good for anyone to read.
Ridiculously Overrated.......2006-07-13
I've had this book on my radar for quite a long time. Ever since it won the IMPAC award really. I've never been much for Canadian literature, to be honest, and recently I've started to feel that was a shame so I've been making an effort to find some good Canuck authors. This book, unfortunately, was a misstep.
The story revolves around an Orthodontist called Alexander MacDonald. While on a trip to visit his decaying, alcoholic brother in Toronto, MacDonald recalls the story of the first half of his life in Cape Breton, and the story of how his family came to Canada in the 19th century.
There actually is some good writing in here, but you have to wade through a great sea of mediocrity to get to it. The narrator's grandfathers are probably the best developed characters, and the description of his parents' death and visits to his older brothers' house are highlights, but I don't think they alone are enough to recommend it.
One of the first things you'll notice is that MacLeod has a tin ear for dialogue. The only way the dialogue between the narrator and his twin sister could have actually been delivered is if they were both stoned and one had nodded off while the other prattled on, or possibly if there was a hypnotist in the room, mesmerizing each in turn. The parts of the book that stuck most in my craw, however, were the descriptions of trips to Scotland.
These descriptions, given by the sister and by the narrator, really come across as the pathetic wet dreams of an ex-pat. Just try not to roll your eyes as misty-eyed locals, seemingly equally as mesmerized as the main characters, approach any visiting foreign MacDonalds they happen across (recognizing them, apparently, because they have black or red hair and dark eyes), and instantly "know" them and accept them back into the fold. Welcoming them "home." This book really should come with an Enya CD.
Anyway, if you like that sort of mystical clan nonsense, and can look past the dialogue, you might get something out of it. I am still stunned that this won the world's richest literary prize. Perhaps all of the judges had red hair, dark eyes, and haunted, far off stares?
Rubbish.......2006-06-19
I agree entirely with B. Walsh of San Francisco. The dialogue in this novel is wretched. The only reason we're given to care about the characters is their omnipresent Cape Bretonness -- and that's just not enough. How the book managed to pick up the Impac Dublin award is beyond me.
Amazon.com
The authors tell you up front: "The GMAT is not easy--nor is this book." While that may seem daunting, the test is challenging for a reason, and if you want to get into the top business schools, you'll need to excel in a very competitive field. If you're willing to work hard, the GMAT Prep Course will show you the ropes and get you to score your best. Its refreshing, no-nonsense style reflects the authors' insistence that it is hard work, not tricks or insider knowledge, that brings success.
An orientation chapter sets the scene and guides you through the basics of what you'll find inside: overviews of each test section (including the essays) with lots of sample questions and in-depth analyses of correct and incorrect answers. No frills here, just lots of practice and some general help with the types of questions you should expect, such as analogies and data sufficiency. While some readers might miss the flashy design or eye-catching logos of the competitors, the authors maintain that attention and diligence are all that's needed to beat the GMAT. If you're up to the challenge, get the GMAT Prep Course and start burning the midnight oil. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Comprehensive preparation for the GMAT
Every year students pay $1,000 and more to test prep companies to prepare for the GMAT . Now you can get the same preparation in a book. GMAT Prep Course provides the equivalent of a 2-month, 50-hour course.
Although the GMAT is a difficult test, it is a very learnable test. GMAT Prep Course presents a thorough analysis of the GMAT and introduces numerous analytic techniques that will help you immensely, not only on the GMAT but in business school as well.
Features:
Math: Twenty-two chapters provide comprehensive review of GMAT math.
Logical Reasoning: Discover the underlying simplicity of these problems and learn the tactics the GMAT writers use to obfuscate the answers.
Reading Comprehension: Develop the ability to spot places from which questions are likely to be drawn as you read a passage (pivotal words, counter-premises, etc.).
Sentence Correction: Comprehensive review of GMAT grammar.
Mentor Exercises: These exercises provide hints, insight, and partial solutions to ease your transition from seeing GMAT problems solved to solving them on your own.
Also includes a comprehensive, Free online Course!
Course Features:
Ask Questions! Our instructors monitor StudyDesk to answer your questions. StudyDesk also records the step where you make a mistake or ask a question. This is just one of many powerful educational tools in StudyDesk.
Highly Interactive: You can search the course for any topic, take notes, view solutions, view reports, and each time you return to the course it presents the last topic you were studying.
Versatile: You can access the course from any computer at any time.
Statistics: Your performance on the exercises and tests is saved and you may review your performance and check solutions at any time. Also, you can check your ranking based on all students taking the course.
Also includes GMAT test prep software!
Software features:
Mentor Mode: In Mentor Mode, you are immediately told whether you answered a problem correctly, and you can immediately view a detailed solution of the problem.
Test Mode: In Test Mode, you can take a GMAT test timed and scored by the program.
Customer Reviews:
Garbage.......2007-05-18
I read some other reviews stating this book helped you. I don't know how you managed that, but cheers. There are more errors in this book than I have ever seen in a professionally published work. The answer descriptions are weak at best, and their relations to the questions asked are awkward and obscure. I made a special note to review this to warn off anyone considering the purchase. Stay away.
Bleah software.......2007-04-01
Perhaps the book itself is a nice enough book on preparing for the GMAT, but the software on the CD accompanying this book has to be the worst ever designed for testing. And the online course (while looking slick) is pretty much a rehash of the CD. An example that I have given below is pretty much symptomatic of the software design.
While doing one of the full-length tests, in the verbal section, I was answering the first reading comprehension section. After I spent about 2 minutes reading through the passage, I answered the first question. Instead of taking me to the next question about the same passage, it immediately took me to a completely new reading comprehension passage and asked me a question there! And this happened with all the reading comprehension passages. I am sure the GMAT is not a sissy test, but surely even ETS would not play with your mind by switching around passages like this.
For those in my situation (I already hold a graduate degree and had about 4 weeks to study for the GMAT): get the Kaplan guide (with accompanying CD) and perhaps the Barron's guide. That may be all you need. However, I sincerely think you need more computer-based questioning than the full-length practice tests that most of these moron testing guides give us.
The best book so far,.......2007-03-18
I have been study for gmat quite some time now. I started with Princton, Kaplan, and the official but none of them helped in the math section. This book is the best at math subject. I also liked the reading comprehension explaination much better than Kaplan.
Worst book.......2007-02-08
When I read reviews before purchasing this book, I was encouraged to buy it. But after reading it, I felt that first few sections are good and it looked that I was getting all answers correct but problems given are really too simple and not to the standard of GMAT. I wasted my time in reading this book. I wish I had not purchased this book. I read official guide combined with Kaplan and Princiton which helped me a lot. Now I am in doing MBA at Harvard.
3.75.......2007-01-18
I think this book contributed about 10% to my overall score. The most helpful books were Princeton Review and the OG and its supplements. The problem with this book is that it cannot be used as your main source of strategy because, well it introduces non-traditional methods as well as questions that are not very similar to the actual GMAT questions.
Don't get me wrong, the exercises are very good, but I only used a portion of the book because I discovered this book late in my preparation.
This book really has no strategy in the data sufficiency portion, which is far and away the more difficult portion of quant for everyone.
Sentence correction is not that great either.
Where this book shines is the math review (which is quite thorough), the introductory logic (great if you never took any logic courses), and the reading comprehension (which a lot of quant-heads fear).
The most helpful part was the reading comp. This book is the first I've read and the only one that I know of that tells you that you need to understand the reading passage. There are two types of reading comp questions -- general/specific which any person of minimal intelligence can get right by sifting through the passage and inference questions which test your ability to understand the passage. If you cannot answer both of these questions, you will not score very highly in verbal. Inference questions separate the boys from the men. This book has some good reading exercises. The exercises are not geared specifically for the GMAT, but it does help you to improve your reading skills.
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