Book Description
From the best-selling author of Route 66 comes this long-awaited biography of one of America's most legendary folk heroes.
Award-winning historian Michael Wallis has spent several years re-creating the rich, anecdotal saga of Billy the Kid (1859-1881), a deeply mythologized young man who became a legend in his own time and yet remains an enigma to this day. With the Gilded Age in full swing and the Industrial Revolution reshaping the American landscape, "the Kid," who was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett in the New Mexico Territory at the age of twenty-one, became a new breed of celebrity outlaw. He arose amid the mystery and myth of the swiftly vanishing frontier and, sensationalized beyond recognition by the tabloids and dime-store romances of the day, emerged as one of the most enduring icons of the American West—not to mention one of Hollywood's most misrepresented characters. This new biography, filled with dozens of rare images and period photographs, separates myth from reality and presents an unforgettable portrait of this brief and violent life. 60 illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Billy the Kid.......2007-10-11
This book was a well written examination of Billy the Kid. It clarified much of the myth that still surrounds the man. I appreciated the author addressing some areas of the Kid's life where there is just not enough information to come to a definite conclusion about.
A Commendable Biography Based on Limited Information.......2007-10-01
Several efforts have been made in an attempt to untangle the short and controversial life of Billy the Kid. I would suggest that this book by Michael Wallis is probably the best since he acknowledges when little is known about his subject, and speculates about what may have happened when information is lacking. That may not satisfy some people, but that is the best he can do. Billy the Kid actually did not pick up his charismatic title until the last year of his life. He initially went by the unlikely name of Henry McCarty, then changed it to Henry Antrim when his mother remarried, William H. Bonney, and finally Billy the Kid. Where he pulled out the name of Bonney is unknown. He was a very literate person, enjoyed music, and considered Turkey in the Straw and Silver Threads Among the Gold as his favorite songs. His tuburcular mother moved the family from the eastern part of the country (New York City)? to Indiana, Wichita, Kansas, and then to the southwest into New Mexico territory in hopes of improving her health. Following her death Billy was left to shift for himself. Kid was a common nickname for juveniles at that time, and wirey would probably be the best term to describe his short and slight frame. When the book got around to describing the Lincoln County war between competing factions involving horse thiefs I had difficulty keeping track of all the individuals involved. The Kid sided with an Englishman named John Tunstall who ended up getting murdered. Billy became somewhat of an anti-hero with his dramatic escape from jail in which he killed two guards after being sentenced to death. Kit Carson comes off as a villain with he and his men laying waste to Navajo Indians, their homes, food, horses, and other animals. The remaining Navajos began a 450 mile journey to join the Apaches. This became known as the Long Walk. This brought up reminders of the Cherokee Indians in 1839 under the regime of Andrew Jackson. I believe you will find the book to be enjoyable. The author has done a commendable job based on the information available on his subject.
A very well researched work.......2007-09-01
Michael Wallis has studied his subject well. Unlike many other authors he provides quite an insight not to just Billy the Kid, but many of the other players in his short life. This then gives a complete picture of the corrupt times in which he lived. This book is a must have for Billy the Kid students.
The Life as Well as the Legend.......2007-08-05
"This is the west, sir," the newspaperman tells Jimmy Stewart in _The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance_. "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." And for over a hundred years, that is just what has happened to Billy the Kid, starting in countless dime novels and then historical reviews, a ballet by Aaron Copland, and scores of movies. Obviously the legend has a life of its own. The attraction of _Billy the Kid: The Endless Ride_ (Norton) by Michael Wallis is that the legend is fully appreciated. Wallis mentions but does not detail the many media representations the legend has presented after the Kid's death, but does show much of what the papers had to say about him during his life, and also what people who knew him said years after his death, and how unreliable it all is. There are certainly enough facts within the biography, but it is also a realistic look at the Kid's status as a legend in his own time. There were not only many false reports and representations of the Kid, but there are also voids of his life that no one can do anything but guess at. Wallis presents an enjoyable summary of what we can know as accurate and what is pure myth.
The Kid grew up in a changing masculine culture often known as "The Code of the West", which was a new way of dealing with threats. The tradition from British common law was that a man under threat was obligated to retreat until his back was against the wall and there was no alternative but to use deadly force against his opponent. The Code of the West, often celebrated as part of frontier self-reliance and integrity, merely signified that no such restraint under threat had to be shown; the courts even found that a "true man" did not have to back away from a fight, and it was a given that a man could pursue an adversary even once the threat had been lifted. The Kid was certainly one to stand his ground, and probably was on the offensive more than most, but his homicidal actions have been exaggerated. He has four confirmed killings to his name, some completely in self defense, but even before the end of his short life, the tally was being exaggerated. His enemies had good reason to do so. The Kid was caught up in what is called the Lincoln County War, a complex conflict that Wallis says "had been spawned long before in Ireland and England, in boardrooms and court chambers, in saloons and places of worship." It featured private armies of hired killers attempting to settle the conflict of two competing commercial property interests, with governmental corruption and ethnic clashes thrown in. Neither side represented "The Good Guys", and the Kid as a hired shootist was as culpable as any of the other members of the "banditti", but his opposition used him as a targeted bad boy. His own side didn't lack for corruption or malevolence, but the other side could mask its own corruption and malevolence by deliberately playing up the Kid's outlaw role and making him (despite a limited number of crimes) the most wanted man in the Southwest.
So it was that after an astonishing escape from the jail in Lincoln, the Kid was pursued by a posse including Pat Garrett. None of the legends about the Kid and Garrett being companions, pals, or fellow-outlaws are true. Garrett gunned him down in 1881, and his death was world news. A New York paper didn't start the exaggerations, but merely continued them, when it wrote that the Kid "had built up a criminal organization worthy of the underworld in any of the European capitals." The distortions were present during the Kid's lifetime, and have continued; he is a psychopathic serial killer, or a loner out for justice against the system, or a benefactor of the downtrodden, depending on which version of the legend is favored by times or tellers. Wallis's is a winning account of a small life which popular fascination has insisted on writing large.
Fabulous book.......2007-07-23
I travel extensively throughout New Mexico for my job and therefore bought the book-on-CD version of this text. It was fascinating, particularly as I drove through areas discussed in the book; Silver City, Santa Fe, Las Cruces. In terms of a book on Billy the Kid, this work is interesting and helps bring perspective to the story surrounding this folk hero. More important, however, is that the author did a beautiful job of conveying the realities of the times--for cowboys, Native Americans, Hispanics, African Americans, and the others who found their way to New Mexico. Living in New Mexico, it is fascinating to see how our peculiar ways of doing things in this state dates way back; some changes, much stays the same. I recommend this book for anyone interested in Billy the Kid, 'Old West' history, and New Mexico politics. Great job! Thanks for making my driving more tolerable.
Book Description
DC Comics Absolute Editions set the standard for the highestquality, most in-depth presentation of classic graphic novels. Eachoversized volume is presented in a slipcase and includes unique additionalmaterial making each Absolute Edition a cornerstone of any serious comicscollection.The latest Absolute Collection is the Eisner Award-winning DC: THE NEWFRONTIER, written illustrated by Darwyn Cooke where the dawning of theSilver Age DC Universe is told from the perspective of those who survivedthe anti-hero sentiment of the Cold War, including Superman, Wonder Womanand Batman,as well as eager newcomers like Green Lantern and The Flash,poised to become the next generation of crimefighters.This oversized hardcover includes the entire series plus annotations, newstory pages, rare promotional art, a gallery of DC Direct DC: The NewFrontier product and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Great book.......2007-10-09
Love this edition of this work by Darwyn Cooke, and the added material in the back make it more than worth the price.
For those sentimental for Silver-Age heroism,this is a good read. But there is some colorful language used at times. And there is a dark tone the book takes. Seeing American through 50's communist paranoid,and dealing with racial injustice. It takes a hard look at America's mindset of the area. Through hindsight and reinterpretation.
But still a great book,worth checking out.
Cooke's Masterpiece.......2007-10-08
It's always a pleasure to read something like this that lives up to your expectations. New Frontier not only did that but exceeded them as well. From the heavily researched story to the beautiful artwork, this book succeeds on all levels.
The basic premise takes place during the 1950's and makes the transition from the Golden Age of DC Comics to the Silver Age. Here Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman have already been established, but we are now introduced to a handful of new characters such as The Flash (Barry Allen), Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz), and Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), who takes center stage in this retelling. I thoroughly enjoyed watching as J'onn passes himself off as human John Jones, a detective in Gotham City, because this is how he sees Earth's heroes and he wants to be a force for good.
There are several other long forgotten DC characters that were popular during war time such as The Losers, The Suicide Squad, and The Black Hawks who make an appearance here. Jack Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown also play a role. Not only is the story exciting and epic in scale, the artwork is consistantly cinematic quality. Dave Stewart is now officialy my favorite colorist of all time. His work is just so eye popping, I don't know how he does it but this is some of the best coloring in a book you'll ever see.
If the oversized pages don't do it for you, the additional features in the back make this edition worth it. Cooke provides a list of page numbers that give you tidbits of information ranging from character backstories, to artistic inspiration, to what pages were left out of the original trades, as well as inside jokes. It's the closest thing you'll ever get to a director's commentary for something like this. It also explained the mysterious inclusion of the character John Henry and why I had never heard of him before. Of course, there's also the obligatory sketchbook as well as a behind the scenes look at how each page is put together step by step. There's even a couple deleted scenes.
One of my favorite books I've read so far this year, I really can't recommend it enough. After the DC animated movie adaptation of this comes out next year, a lot more attention will surely be poured on this edition and deservedly so.
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!.......2007-09-29
Are you nostalgic for the DC Heroes from the 60's, This book has it all! I am a huge comic book and Graphic Novel fan especially the DC universe. This story looks at how the DC Universe would have reacted the the change from between the second world war up until Kennedy took office in 1960. This is an exciting and inspiring read. This book is also written by comic book writer and artist Darwyn Cooke arguably one of todays greatest creative minds. If you are nostalgic for the 50's and 60's and love the DC universe this book is for you. In addition to what I have mentioned about the story this edition is well worth the money it is in DC "Absolute Edition" which is the best way you can get a book you really like. It has oversized pages and is in a hardbound edition with a slipcase included. After I bought this book it has quickly become my favorite storyline of all-time!
If you don't buy this. There is something wrong with your eyes!.......2007-09-06
Every thing about this book is great! The art is amazing Darwyn Cooke comes from an animation background and it shines through in his comic work.
The three panel layout is brilliant makes it look much more cinematic and less cluttered. The story is really good as well, every character is well thought out and evolves nicely through the course of the book.
Even if you're not a DC fan or even a comic book fan it's worth the money,
The absolute version has a lot of break downs of pages and loads of sketch book work.
Any way stop reading this and go buy it!
The best since Alex Toth!.......2007-08-31
Not that Cooke's artwork copies Toth's, but it has the same feeling. Understated clean art, with great style mixed in! Story is told in a classic tone and delivers a sense of the promise of the 1960's new frontier, even with mankinds failures mixed in. Well done!
Book Description
Traders caught at the crossroads of traditional, proven, trading techniques - and new online tools and methods - have struggled to find a way of blending the two together into a unified trading system. Now, the marriage of the methods is complete, and brought into sharp focus in New Frontiers in Fibonacci Trading. This groundbreaking new work combines the foundations of Fibonacci trading with classic charting techniques, modern applications, and cutting edge online analysis tools.Michael has gone beyond his role as 'student" of the markets - becoming a gifted teacher in the process. He has not only mastered traditional charting and timing techniques - he's developed new methods of his own by adopting Fibonacci fundamentals to the online trading arena in which today's trader must operate for maximum advantage. He's broken down his process into an understandable 5-part 'system" which encompasses.- The Building Blocks of Price Action - market structures, retracement patterns and Fibonacci basics- Practical Fibonacci Applications - featuring original new applications explained in simple terms- 'ChartWorks" - a comprehensive charting section featuring indicators, case-study trades, chart-reading tips - and more- Building Good Trading Habits - 3 key steps for making rational, unemotional decisions and maintaining a steady, clear-headed focus throughout the trading day - even when the market is giving off mixed messages- Enthios RealTime - Puts all the pieces together, and introduces new methods that form the core of his own propriety 'Objective Method Trading System"With detailed charts and graphics throughout, each chapter illustrates real trading situations, setups, and solutions. Michael has fused cherished trading concepts and Fibonacci basics with his own experiences in online, real-time trading. The result is a thorough new primer that shows you how to trade with greater success - on a consistent basis.
Customer Reviews:
Fibonnaci Primer.......2007-05-18
I wanted to understand how to use Fibonacci in my trading, as well as when not to use it. Michael Jardine does a solid job of conveying the information a beginner to Fibonacci would want to know. I am sure there are better and more indepth Fibonacci trading books, but I dont believe that you could manage to keep the information accessible to new and early traders AND show how it is used, whilst going to the deep end of the pool regarding some of the uses for Fibonacci. At the end of the day, Traders, specifically commodities traders, want the ability to do technical analysis and technical forecasting to know when to 'get in' and when to 'get out' of a trade. Michael Jardine provides a solid basis for an early trader to gain knowledge and methods on how to do that through the use of Fibonacci. Please keep in mind however, that many of the trades that Mr. Jardine executes in this book are what I would term 'scalping' and require a much more precise hand at executing trades and much more 'nerve' to practice regularly then what other trading books teach. I would recommend this book to a new student of Trading, but only insofar as it is one of a dozen other books.
New Frontiers in Fibonacci Trading: Charting Techniques, Strategies & Simple Applications.......2007-02-15
Excellently written book. Described in laymen terms, I found this book to be the best I have ever read on any stock market subject. I highly recommend it, and refuse to lend mine to anyone.
Nothing fantastic, an okay introduction for beginners.......2007-02-14
After reading some of the other reviews I thought the book would be a lot better than it was. While it does give a good introduction to Fibonacci and some of its uses, I found the book a bit hard to put into practice into my own trading. There are a lot of examples of specific trades and what went right and what went wrong. Maybe it needs another read to absorb all the information. But my impression after finishing the book was that using this approach to trade doesn't really improve your chances in isolation but must be used with other indicators to even be useful. So while the book doesn't make any promises, if you are dedicated, disciplined and willing to learn this way of trading, then maybe it might suit your style of personality and trading. While its all very interesting I didn't feel it suited my trading style.
A good book about Fibonacci trading.......2006-02-13
This is a solid 4-star book. I thought that I would learn something new about trading Fib levels, unfortunately no - most of the techniques are discused on the forums or are writted by Dinapoli or Fischer. But anyway, all the information is relevant and can be applied to real life trading, and the author adds some more trading tips and strategies.
Very interesing book .......2005-09-04
It's really as it claimsto be. New Frontiers in Fibonacci Trading . I read it once, but will need to read it againandagain. every time you read achapter you find something new
Amazon.com
Fascinating and authoritative, Chaos and Fractals: New Frontiers of Science is a truly remarkable book that documents recent discoveries in chaos theory with plenty of mathematical detail, but without alienating the general reader. In all, this text offers an extremely rich and engaging tour of this quite revolutionary branch of mathematical research.
The most appealing aspect about Chaos and Fractals has to be its hundreds of images and graphics (with dozens in full-color) used to illustrate key concepts. Even the math-averse reader should be able to follow the basic presentation of chaos and fractals here. Since fractals often mimic natural shapes such as mountains, plants, and other biological forms, they lend themselves especially well to visual representation.
Early chapters here document the mathematical oddities (or "monsters") such as the Sierpinski Gasket and the Koch Curve, which laid the groundwork for later discoveries in fractals. The book does a fine job of placing recent discoveries about chaos into a tradition of earlier mathematical research. Its description of the work of mathematicians like Pascal, Kepler, Poincaré, Sierpinski, Koch, and Mandelbrot makes for a fine read, a detective story that ends with the discovery of order in chaos. (For programmers, the authors provide short algorithms and BASIC code, which lets you try out plotting various fractals on your own.)
This is not, however, only a book of pretty pictures. For the reader who needs the mathematics behind chaos theory, the authors in no way dumb down the details. (But because the richer mathematical material is set off from the main text, the general reader can still make headway without getting lost.)
There have been advances in the field since this book's publication in 1992, but Chaos and Fractals remains an authoritative general reference on chaos theory and fractals. A must for math students (and math enthusiasts), Chaos and Fractals also deserves a place on the bookshelf of any general reader or programmer who wants to understand how today's mathematicians and scientists make sense of our world using chaos theory. --Richard Dragan
Topics covered: Overview of fractals and chaos theory, feedback and multiple reduction copy machines (MRCMs), the Cantor Set, the Sierpinski Gasket and Carpet, the Pascal Triangle, the Koch Curve, Julia Sets, similarity, measuring fractal curves, fractal dimensions, transformations and contraction mapping, image compression, chaos games, fractals and nature, L-systems, cellular automata basics, attractors and strange attractors, Henon's Attractor, Rössler and Lorenz Attractors, randomness in fractals, the Brownian motion, fractal landscapes, sensitivity and periodic points, complex arithmetic basics, the Mandelbrot Set, and multifractal measures.
Book Description
The fourteen chapters of this book cover the central ideas and concepts of chaos and fractals as well as many related topics including: the Mandelbrot set, Julia sets, cellular automata, L-systems, percolation and strange attractors. This new edition has been thoroughly revised throughout. The appendices of the original edition were taken out since more recent publications cover this material in more depth. Instead of the focused computer programs in BASIC, the authors provide 10 interactive JAVA-applets for this second edition.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent tutorial on nonlinearity.......2005-09-08
At least 50% of this book can be well understood by any 1st year, exact science student. There are a couple of mathematical issues that are more senior-like, but never mind. With the appropriate teaching or guidance, a lot of practical, advanced tasks can be tackled down. I could use this book all along for giving examples for college (university), undergraduate students of almost every mathematical subject: numerical analysis, calculus, linear algebra, group theory, algorithm theory, visualization in 2 and 3 dimensions, topology...you name it, after reading this book. No fuzzy theory or wavelets or any other advanced statistical method for dynamical systems is formally mentioned, though. However the concept of measure is very well introduced and described with examples. For physics is not bad for dynamical systems theory. Although no Hamiltonian or Lagrangian formalism is mentioned, the description on how to obtain Lyapunov exponents out of a set of differential equations is very good. Engineers get their share too: useful examples are given about, e.g., feedback and control theory (mind you, it is not a book specialized in, say, robotic control using chaos theory, but it is a good start). For philosophers and the layman there are quite a few pages as well. The foreword from Mitchel Feigenbaum, just to give an example, tells us a kind of summary which "warms up" the reader and "exorcises away" the possible fantasies an unprepared reader could have regarding (or against or in favor of) the word "chaos". Nice color plates for those with artistic inclinations and the graphics are just so very well printed, you can practically "follow" their computation. Not a bad book at all for your personal (or institutional) library, I may say.
A good introduction.......2003-10-05
Chaos as a physical theory began essentially in the 1970's, but as a mathematical field it has existed since the early 1900's. This book covers only the mathematical study of chaos, and is addressed to those readers who have a fairly strong background in undergraduate mathematics. A knowledge of dynamical systems and measure theory would help in the appreciation of the book, but are not absolutely necessary. The application of fractals and chaos to finance is now legendary, but other applications, such as to packet networks and surface physics are not so well-known. Current research in chaos is done predominantly in the context of information theory, wherein the goal is to understand the difference between chaos and noise, and develop mathematical tools to quantify this difference. The BASIC code in the book gives away its age, but can be easily translated to one of the symbolic computing languages available now, such as Maple or Mathematica.
This is a sizable book, and space prohibits a detailed review, but some of the more interesting discussions in it include: 1. The video feedback experiment, which can be done with only a video camera and a TV set. This is always a crowd pleaser, at whatever level of the audience it is presented to. 2. The comparison between doing iteration of a chaotic map on two different calculating machines: a CASIO and an HP. The difference is very dramatic, illustrating the effect of finite accuracy arithmetic. 3. The pictures illustrating the Chinese arithmetic triangle and Pascal's triangle as it appeared in Japan in 1781. 4. The space-filling curve and its relation to the problem of defining dimension from a topological standpoint. This discussion motivates the idea of covering dimension, which the authors overview with great clarity. They also give a rigorous definition of the Hausdorff dimension and discuss its differences with the box counting dimension. 5. The many excellent color plates in the book, especially the one illustrating a cast of the venous and arterial system of a child's kidney. 6. The difficulty in measuring power laws in practice. 7. Image encoding using iterated function systems, which has become very important recently in satellite image analysis. This leads into a discussion of the Hausdorff distance, which is of enormous importance not only in the study of fractals but also in general topology: the famous hyperspaces of closed sets in a metric space. 8. The relation between chaos and randomness, discussed by the authors in the context of the "chaos game." 9. L-systems, which are motivated with a model of cell division. 10. the number theory behind Pascal's triangle. 11. The simulation of Brownian motion. 12. The Lyapunov exponent for smooth transformations. 13. The property of ergodicity and mixing for transformations, the authors pointing out that true ergodic behavior cannot be obtained in a computer where only a a finite collection of numbers is representable. 13. The concept of topological conjugacy. 14. The existence of homoclinic points in a dynamical system. These are very important in physical applications of chaos. 15. The Rossler attractor and its pictorial representation. 16. How to calculate the dimensions of strange attractors. 17. How to calculate Lyapunov exponents from time series, which is of great interest in many different applications, especially finance. 18. The Julia set, which the authors relate eventually to potential theory.
Simply a fantastic book.......2002-12-21
I purchased this book when it first came out, during the
initial wave of popularity of fractals and chaos theory.
Although the fadishness of chaos and fractals has died
down, a number of solid applications for this theory have
appeared in areas like computer graphics, finance,
modeling computer network traffic and data compression.
I have purchased a number of books on fractals and chaos and
how these concepts can be applied in a number of areas. I
have yet to see a better introduction to the topic. This is
a core reference and I keep coming back to it again and again.
In the spectrum of popular science books, this is definitely
on the technical end. You do not need an advanced background
in mathematics as you do for some books on chaos and fractals,
but the authors do not shy away from equations. However, the
ideas are clearly presented. I have used this book as a
reference for developing software for fractal brownian motion
and Hurst exponent estimation.
"Chaos and Fractals" covers a great deal of material. On a few
occasions I found that the algorithms or explaination were
difficult to follow. In some cases, like the generation of
Gaussian random numbers, I found better, simpler algorithms.
When this book was written, fractals and chaos were fairly new.
It is difficult to avoid comparing this book to an even thicker
book, "A New Kind of Science" by Stephen Wolfram. Although
cellular automata, the core topic of "A New Kind of Science"
are not exactly new, Wolfram claims new and profound
perspectives. Many, including this reviewer, feel that Wolfram's
claims are overblown and egotistical (he has a bad habbit of
claiming credit for innovation, even as he cites other work).
The authors of "Chaos and Fractals" do not make exalted
claims for this work. Yet without any fanfare, this book
really does deliver profound ideas. This is simply a
fantastic book. I recommend it for anyone in the applied
sciences (e.g., computer science, quantitative finance,
geology, etc...). Even for the mathematically sophisticated it
will provide an valuable overview, which is difficult to obtain
anywhere else.
Well worth the cost.......2002-08-27
This is possibly the best and most thorough of all books on fractals. The discussion is excellent, the illustrations superb. After all, these are the guys who developed the computer art exhibits that toured Europe and parts of the US in the 1980s.
The mathematics is somewhat advanced, but not so advanced that most persons with a thorough background in high school mathematics cannot understand it. After all, I used it as a primary reference for my book Fractals in Music!
Excellent for intermediate knowledge of chaos.......2002-02-06
This book is a great entertainer for anyone who wants to spend many evenings "playing with chaos". The code in the book is a little dated (BASIC), but you won't have problems to use it as a good reference. The book will guide you through the understanding of the exciting realm of chaos and its hidden monsters.
Chaos and fractals are subjects that sound modern, interesting and eye-catching in the most of the cases. However, the applications and implications of chaos in the real world constitute the great achievement of human knowledge that the concept represents.
The lecture of this book doesn't require an extensive knowledge of math (but it would be helpful), it requires many will and passion for rediscovering your conception of the universe instead.
Before reading this book I'd recommend "Chaos: the Making of a New Science" by James Gleick and for those who are looking for a more compact but challenging material "Fractals, Chaos, Power Laws: Minutes from an Infinite Paradise" by Manfred Schroeder will be just fine.
Average customer rating:
- a review by Ralphy
- " Tell them I sing"
- Sarah Plain and Tall
- A Tearjerker Plus Much More!
- A Good Book
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Sarah, Plain and Tall
Patricia MacLachlan
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ASIN: 0064402053
Release Date: 2004-08-03 |
Amazon.com
MacLachlan, author of Unclaimed Treasures, has written an affecting tale for children. In the late 19th century a widowed midwestern farmer with two children--Anna and Caleb--advertises for a wife. When Sarah arrives she is homesick for Maine, especially for the ocean which she misses greatly. The children fear that she will not stay, and when she goes off to town alone, young Caleb--whose mother died during childbirth--is stricken with the fear that she has gone for good. But she returns with colored pencils to illustrate for them the beauty of Maine, and to explain that, though she misses her home, "the truth of it is I would miss you more." The tale gently explores themes of abandonment, loss and love.
Book Description
"Did Mama sing every day?"
Caleb asks his sister Anna.
"Every-single-day," she answers.
"Papa sang, too."
Their mother died the day after Caleb was born. Their house on the prairie is quiet now, and Papa doesn't sing anymore. Then Papa puts an ad in the paper, asking for a wife, and he receives a letter from one Sarah Elisabeth Wheaton, of Maine. Papa, Anna, and Caleb write back. Caleb asks if she sings. Sarah decides to come for a month. She writes Papa: I will come by train. I will wear a yellow bonnet. I am plain and tall, and Tell them I sing. Anna and Caleb wait and wonder. Will Sarah be nice? Will she like them? Will she stay?
Customer Reviews:
a review by Ralphy.......2007-09-10
I personally did not like this book because it did not catch my attention, but some people might disagree. Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia Maclachlan tells about a family that lost their mom; so they find a new another mom. She will decide whether or not to live with them. First of all, their mother died when the youngest child, Caleb, was born. Equally important, the dad, Jacob, puts an ad in the paper for a new mom. The ad says how they need a wife and a mom. After that, a girl named Sarah responds to the ad in the paper. She writes letters to each of the kids and she writes Jacob telling him she will come by train wearing a yellow bonnet. Lastly, Sarah learns to love the family. Sarah decides to stay forever even though she misses Maine. Even though I did not like this book, some people may have other opinions.
" Tell them I sing".......2007-07-24
A story with very simple lines: in modern life with reality TV we sometimes forget how meager our lives can be. A story about real people and real values that makes a few words go a very long way. Can be read to children at bed time...
Sarah Plain and Tall.......2007-03-22
Sarah Plain and Tall is about two kids and their father. The two kids names` are Caleb and Anna. Caleb and Anna's father put ads up to find a mother. Then they found one. Her name was Sarah Elisabeth Wheaten. Caleb and Anna had a lot of fun with her.
The message is that you should just be happy where you are. That you are stuck with your family. I know that is the message because you would think of it when you are reading the book.
I liked Sarah Plain and Tall because it reminds me of my family because Caleb and Anna have a step-mom and I have a step-dad. I think people should read this book because it was a winner of the Newbery Medal.
A Tearjerker Plus Much More!.......2007-02-27
I would give Sarah Plain and Tall 5 stars! It is funny, and it has drama, and a little action, too. It would be good to read it to your son or daughter and brother or sister, but make sure you have a box of tissues nearby because it might make you cry. When I read it, I got into the book and all it did was make me laugh and cry. I bet if you get this book, you won't have to get your money back!
A Good Book.......2006-11-29
This book is good and it is about two children, their mom die and they are getting a new mom. The woman's name is Sarah. Before she comes they send letters back and forth and they answer each others questions. In the summer Sharah comes to see them. If you want to know if she stays or not you will have to buy the book.
Average customer rating:
- Graphic SF Reader
- More Super Hero Action Than Vol. 1, Entertaining But Not Darwyn's Best Work
- awful dc book...
- Nostalgia of the Golden and Silver Ages set to real life events
- Superb artwork & drawing
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DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 2
Darwyn Cooke , and
Dave Stewart
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1401204619 |
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
This just got better and better, after seeming to be perhaps not so interesting to start with. You look at the cartoony style and thing that this is going to be a cheerful, simplistic, Golden Age homage. That would be way off base and I am very happy I spent the time to go past that, into this excellent complex tale.
More Super Hero Action Than Vol. 1, Entertaining But Not Darwyn's Best Work.......2007-01-29
DC: THE NEW FRONTIER, VOL. 2 has more action and adventure than VOL. 1. If you liked VOL. 1, then this will be slightly better.
VOL. 1 seemed to be all about moody foreshadowing, (the superheroes might return...the world before/without superheroes), but it was so moody and low on action that I thought that was the whole point of THE NEW FRONTIER, just to maintain the anticipation of The Silver Age of comics heroes, but not really to show it.
So I was surprised that VOL. 2 shows the precursor of The Silver Age of comics heroes. The first half of this VOL. 2 keeps up the moody anticipation, just like VOL. 1, but the second half (finally) turns into a typical, save-the-world, superhero free-for-all.
I like Darwyn Cooke, and I realize that this collection of THE NEW FRONTIER was his largest, most epic, most ambitious and far-reaching project yet. Yet, I think he does better with smaller stories and situations. I thought the moody atmosphere and non-superheroics would be sustained throughout THE NEW FRONTIER, so I was suprised with the last half of VOL. 2, when it got so large in scale, jumping almost too suddenly! Also, I think some of the artwork is not as refined and detailed as some of Darwyn's previous works. Maybe this is due to taking on such a huge project, and not having the time to fine tune the pencils as much, due to time and schedule constraints?
I think SELINA'S BIG SCORE is Darwyn Cooke's best trade paperback, and his redo of the Catwoman series, especially in CATWOMAN, VOL. 1, shows his most indelible mark on comics, in her coolest outfit ever! Darwyn Cooke's cute drawing style works a whole lot better when the situation is more localized, as in Catwoman, than when it tries to encompass too much, like an entire world conflict, as in THE NEW FRONTIER.
awful dc book..........2007-01-05
i love the dc universe, and i'm puzzled why everyone loves the new frontier. it's pretty bad. not only is it extremely boring and poorly written, but it's also obviously written by a total hippie trying to push his shiny happy ideals on you. this is one reimagining of the past that didn't need to be done, or i should say should have been done a whole lot better than this.
Nostalgia of the Golden and Silver Ages set to real life events.......2006-08-06
This is the second volume of the DC: The New Frontier TPB and contains issues #4 - 6. It continues Darwyn Cooke's ambitious project to bring back a sense of wonder to DC superheroes and bridge together the DC Golden Age of Comics with the Silver Age and beyond into one comprehensive and cohesive continuity. The first volume covered the years 1945 to 1958, beginning with the final mission of the Losers, detailing the break-up of the JSA and Superman and Wonder Woman's secret roles in the Cold War, and culminating with the advent of the Silver Age heroes.
Volume 2 continues the superheroes' interactions with real life events and covers the gaps between 1958 and the formation of the Justice League in the '60s. Set in the background of an America rife with escalating racial tensions, post-McCarthy era paranoia, the Space Race with the Russians, and JFK's optimistic Camelot, the Flash, the Martian Manhunter, King Faraday, the Challengers of the Unknown and test pilot Hal Jordan (who, in this volume, finally becomes Green Lantern), among others, strive to find meaning and true purpose in their calling. In time, an overwhelmingly menacing force called the Centre threatens to wipe out humanity and forces these fractured individual heroes to come together to save the world.
I have to hand it to Darwyn Cooke. This really is a daunting task but he manages to do yeoman's work in 6 limited-series issues. He seamlessly integrates real life issues such as racial inequality, bigotry, and national distrust. A telling point is Cooke's portrayal of newcomer (to Earth) J'onn J'onnz, who rightfully harbors a fear of man's hostile reaction should his true nature surface. There are numerous protagonists involved and yet each hero gets fair representation in his own vignette. By the end, the reader gets a real good sense of each protagonist's personality, internal sensibility and personal story arc. Hal Jordan, in particular, seems to embody the bold, can-do spirit of America as was characterized in the immediate post-WW2 era. Yes, because of the large cast, the story at times feels scattershot as Cooke jumps from one hero to another. However, no worries, it all ties together nicely.
Darwyn Cooke uses his past experience as a storyboard artist for Batman Beyond to maximum effect in New Frontier. He deliberately channels the classic, deceptively simple, "more innocent" styles of Dick Sprang and Steve Ditko - with just a touch of Keith Giffen and animator Bruce Timm. His artwork here purposely invokes memories of a simpler, less ambiguous time for superheroes. Back in the '30s, '40s and '50s, Mystery Men (and Women) were clearly on the side of good and villains were clear cut ne'er-do-wells. No lines were blurred or crossed. Darwyn's old school renderings drives that point nostalgically home. Cooke artistically conveys the little moments, the seminal scenes, and the grandiose sequences, all rendered with easy, stylish conviction. Those big splash pages are truly BEAUTIFUL to behold. It must be mentioned that Dave Stewart's colors ideally complements Darwyn's illustrations.
Nowadays, a lot of people choose to look back at the '50s as America's true Golden Age, a time when we as a nation truly were righteous, and flourishing, and on top of the world. Cooke reminds us that there's a bit of revisionist history being played out here, that not every American actually took part and enjoyed the benefits of an era that was supposedly one of our best. Darwyn Cooke elevates the New Frontier to a somewhat "important" work.
For those who enjoyed DC: The New Frontier, Volumes 1 and 2, I recommend the Golden Age mini-series by James Robinson and Paul Smith, which also covers the timeline between the Golden and Silver Ages, though focusing more on the JSA. And always worth looking into is Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross's Marvels, a depiction of 35 years of Marvel superheroes as seen thru the eyes and camera lenses of a newspaper photographer. Ross's lush paintings alone are worth the price of the book.
Superb artwork & drawing.......2006-08-01
These are my first encounter with Mr Cooke's work. I found the artwork and the drawing style are very unique. I do not find this style of drawing in any other comic books I've read. I like the style, it is superb and it is a feast for my eyes to see this high quality drawing. The colorist also did a great work with the color selection and application on the drawing.
Reading this comic just like wathcing a movie as the drawing is so dynamic.
However I found the story telling sytle is not as enjoyable as the drawing. Mr Cooke's tells the story in fast pace and jumping here and there very quickly. I found it is hard to understand the whole story. This is the main flaw in my opinion.
I will still recommend these series for collection on the ground of the great and superb artwork. You won't find this kind of artwork easily.
Average customer rating:
- Enjoyed every bit of the entire series!
- I'm finally done!
- Good historical fiction
- Bland
- 5 Stars for Sara Donati
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Into the Wilderness
Sara Donati
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0553107364
Release Date: 1998-08-03 |
Amazon.com
In this ambitious and vibrant sequel to The Last of the Mohicans, Elizabeth Middleton, a well-educated spinster of 29, journeys from her home in England to her father's lands in upstate New York in 1792. Her widowed father has promised Elizabeth that she can become the schoolteacher for the local children, but on her arrival at Paradise, her father's property, she learns that he has brought her to America under false pretenses. It is his intention to find her a husband, preferably the well-respected physician, Richard Todd.
Though Elizabeth has no intention to marry, she is immediately drawn, not to Richard, but to backwoodsman Nathaniel Bonner, son of Dan'l "Hawkeye" Bonner, hero of the James Fenimore Cooper classic. Nathaniel's connection to the Mohican (Mahican) people is a strong one; he considers Hawkeye's adoptive father, Chingachgook, his grandfather, and his own wife was a Mahican woman who died in childbirth several years earlier.
Elizabeth learns from her father that her inheritance is a part of his lands, a mountain known as Hidden Wolf, to be granted to her when she marries. She soon finds herself caught between Nathaniel and the Mahicans, who want to buy back the mountain from her father as part of their hunting grounds, and Richard, who wants the land for himself and sees Elizabeth as the route to it. Her father, fearful that the sale of Hidden Wolf to the Mahicans will bring more Indians back to Paradise, favors Richard.
Knowing Richard's main interest in her is her land, Elizabeth resists his attentions as she gets to know Nathaniel and his people. The backwoodsmen and their Indian friends accept her and respect her opinions, and she soon finds herself siding with their claim to Hidden Wolf. Meanwhile, the attraction between her and Nathaniel grows into a love that only adds to the conflict between the whites and the Indians.
Into the Wilderness is an intelligent and beautifully written historical novel that draws the reader into another world. Elizabeth and Nathaniel are well-rounded and intelligent characters, and the secondary characters are also strong, three-dimensional, and often entertainingly quirky. Although the book is long--nearly 700 words--tight pacing makes it an entertaining read. Fans of Diana Gabaldon will want to watch for a cameo appearance by one of the characters of Gabaldon's stunning Outlander series. --Lisa Wanttaja
Book Description
Weaving a vibrant tapestry of fact and fiction, Into the Wilderness sweeps us into another time and place...and into the heart of a forbidden, incandescent affair between a spinster Englishwoman and an American frontiersman. Here is an epic of romance and history that will captivate readers from the very first page.
When Elizabeth Middleton, twenty-nine years old and unmarried, leaves her Aunt Merriweather's comfortable English estate to join her father and brother in the remote mountain village of Paradise on the edge of the New York wilderness, she does so with a strong will and an unwavering purpose: to teach school.
It is December of 1792 when she arrives in a cold climate unlike any she has ever experienced. And she meets a man different from any she has ever encountered--a white man dressed like a Native American, tall and lean and unsettling in his blunt honesty. He is Nathaniel Bonner, also known to the Mohawk people as Between-Two-Lives.
Determined to provide schooling for all the children of the village--white, black, and Native American--Elizabeth soon finds herself at odds with local slave owners. Much to her surprise, she clashes with her own father as well. Financially strapped, Judge Middleton has plans for his daughter--betrothal to local doctor Richard Todd. An alliance with Todd could extract her father from ruin but would call into question the ownership of Hidden Wolf, the mountain where Nathaniel, his father, and a small group of Native Americans live and hunt.
As Judge Middleton brings pressure to bear against his daughter, she is faced with a choice between compliance and deception, a flight into the forest, and a desire that will bend her hard will to compromise and transformation. Elizabeth's ultimate destiny, here in the heart of the wilderness, lies in the odyssey to come: trials of faith and flesh, and passion born amid Nathaniel's own secrets and divided soul.
Interweaving the fate of the remnants of the Mohawk Nation with the destiny of two lovers, Sara Donati's compelling novel creates a complex, profound, passionate portrait of an emerging America.
Customer Reviews:
Enjoyed every bit of the entire series!.......2007-07-18
Each book in this series left me waiting for the next. Extremely well written.. kept me interested from start to finish.
I'm finally done!.......2007-07-07
I can't believe anyone can compare this book to Diana Gabaldon's. Not too long into the book, I began checking what page I was on to see how much more I had to read. I was determined to finish it before I could judge. The plot and the characters are flat but mostly predictable..very predictable. A spinster who quickly falls in love with a white Native American who uses "ain't" too much and calls her "boots." She barely knows him yet she is ready to give up and sell her land to him, his family, and his Native American friends. The dialogue doesn't shine. The plot is once again, flat and predictable. The characters unbelievable. It is important for me to care about the characters when I'm reading a book, especially a book that has this many pages. Ms. Donati should have saved a tree and not tried to resemble Diana Gabaldon.
..Diana Gabaldon's books aren't a perfect 10 either but so much better than this one. I actually enjoyed them and I do recommend them.
This also did not strike me as a believable "Last of the Mohicans" sequel. Not even close.
I gave this 2 stars because this book had potential and it's a great idea..but it's just too ambitious to try and make a sequel to James Fennimore Cooper's literary classic and when failing, comparing it to other great books.
Good historical fiction.......2007-05-28
I love reading the historical fiction genre, but it took me longer than normal to read this novel. It was not because it has an overly complicated plot and it was not boring, but I just wasn't in love with the characters. It is a good enough story and Ms. Donati is a talented writer, but Nathanial and Elizabeth just didn't click for me as the main characters. I liked the post Revolutionary war time-frame and the wilderness aspect of the book held my interest.
Bland.......2007-03-07
I read the book with some interest, I would daze in and out of the 2 dimensional characters as I skipped pages of endless description. A lot of the book was descriptive to the point of "what's the point?' The villan was not too threatening, the main characters were boring and I did not get a real grasp on who they were, I wish Ms. DOnati would have spent as much time developing the characters as she did their intensive family tree. Yawn.
5 Stars for Sara Donati.......2006-11-06
I fully enjoyed, "Into the Wilderness." Anyone who enjoys Diana Gabaldon's books, will also enjoy this series. I just ordered the newest book in the series, and can't wait to get started. The characters in this fast paced work of historical fiction are memorable and lovable. If you buy this book, make sure to order the rest of the series too, because you won't want to wait for them to be delivered!
Book Description
This book offers an exceptionally up-to-date, in-depth, and broad-based exploration of the latest advances in UNIX-based operating systems. Focusing on the design and implementation of the operating system itself — not on the applications and tools that run on it -- this book compares and analyzes the alternatives offered by several important UNIX variants, and covers several advanced subjects, such as multi-processors and threads. Compares
several important UNIX variants—highlighting the
issues and alternative solutions for
various operating system components. Describes
advanced technologies such as multiprocessor and multithreaded systems, log- structured file systems, and modern memory architecture.
Customer Reviews:
Best OS book.......2004-04-16
This is the best OS book i have evern seen, really deserve 5+ starts. It gives many design issues/ideas of real exist OSes which helped me greatly. If you are really interested in OS or do some creative design job, this book is a must see. It seems next edition of this book will be unleashed next February. But what i concern is next editon may be delayed, because there are really too much new things these years, Linux 2.6 ... And I hope next edition will have some introduction to Windows Kernel. I am a UNIX fan, but you see, Windows conquer the PC's desktop, it surely has some shining points. GREAT JOB, URESH VAHALIA. :)
The best operating systems book in existence.......2003-11-15
A certain small and select set of books can be found in any serious programmer's library. "UNIX Internals" is one of those books.
I originally encountered "UNIX Internals" in my undergraduate operating systems class. At the time, I liked it, but I didn't really appreciate its full beauty until I re-read it with a few years of operating systems experience under my belt. I work as an operating systems programmer for a living, and whenever my knowledge needs brushing up, I go back to this book.
Uresh Vahalia does an excellent job of comparing and analyzing the approaches taken by different operating systems, rather than merely describing them. His deep understanding of the topic is what really sets this book apart. In addition, it is well written, conveniently organized, and thoroughly indexed. If you really want to understand operating systems, this is the perfect book for you.
As others have noted, this book is not for the beginner. You should probably have a minimum of three years of computer science experience before picking this book up.
Great book tolearn about diff. flavours of UNIX.......2003-08-27
If you need to learn different flavours of UNIX, this is an excellent book. This book is worth reading cover to cover.
Great reference.......2002-09-09
I found this book to be extremely helpful in studying for my OS PhD prelims. It really lays out the issues and presents solutions taken by SVR4, BSD, Mach, and Solaris in a clear fashion. Excellent detail. The Mach stuff is great, but it looks like it was almost cut and paste from the research papers. This book isnt for novices. I recommend using the BSD4.4 book as well. Both books dont look at Windows at all (for obvious reasons), so a look at the Dinosaur book (Operating System Concepts) is helpful as well for the case studies. You should have a
clear understanding of OS after finishing this book.
Must have.......2002-01-07
A must have book for the serious about Unix Internals. The author tried hard to cover the common features among the different Unix flavors. This book is very suitable for someone who likes to read textbooks. It needs lots of concentration. However, it's an excellent book to read, and a good reference. The author follows more or less an academic approach.
Book Description
Tiny Haines, Alaska, ninety miles north of Juneau, is accessible mainly by water or air—and only when the weather is good. There’s no traffic light and no mail delivery; people can vanish without a trace; and funerals are community affairs. As both obituary writer and social columnist for the local newspaper, Heather Lende knows better than anyone the goings-on in this breathtakingly beautiful place. Her offbeat chronicle brings us inside her busy life: we meet her husband, Chip, who owns the local hardware store; their five children; and a colorful assortment of friends and offbeat neighbors, including aging hippies, salty fishermen, native Tlingit Indians, Mormon spelunkers . . . as well as the moose, eagles, sea lions, and bears with whom they share this wild and perilous land.
Customer Reviews:
Memoir that shows beauty, danger, and community in small town Alaska.......2007-08-17
Heather Lende is a freelance writer, commentator for National Public Radio, and obituary writer for the Chilkat Valley News in Haines, Alaska. "If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name" is a portrait of life in Haines--a small isolated Southeast Alaska town dominated by awe-inspiring wildlife, majestic mountains, and 1,800 people (give or take) who manage to tenaciously hold onto their rugged individuality yet know when to set their individuality aside for the sake of greater goods (e.g. families in need of assistance, strong relationships with neighbors).
Lende writes from a first person perspective and thus Haines life is told from her idiosyncratic point of view. Many anecdotes revolve around Lende's vocations of stay-at-home-mother, school board member, member of the local Episcopal church, environmentally-conscious citizen, and (especially) obituary writer. As she presents Haines life from these angles, she often juxtaposes the complex emotions surrounding Haines. She presents examples of the breathtaking beauty of her town, but then tells the story of how their son almost died of appendicitis as they raced through a blizzard to a Canadian hospital. She writes about her divisive attempt to institute a mandatory gay sensitivity workshop at the local high school, but then writes about the unity she experienced with one of her most bitter rivals as they cooked a benefit meal together to help defray the medical bills of another town resident. She effectively shows that life in Haines, Alaska, is as complex as life anywhere.
A major theme running through "If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name" is death--or to be more accurate, the cycle of life. This should not be surprising since one of Lende's vocations is that of obituary writer (and every Haines death gets a full treatment). Writing about "good deaths" for people who lived life fully to a ripe, old age is easy; writing about a twenty-year-old who drowns when his fishing boat sank isn't nearly as easy; why? Each death is totally unique; each death fits the pattern of life-and-death that had been established since the world began; how is this reconciled? And then, how do the related issues of birth, ageing, growing, loving, and how one spends his life come into play? Lende manages to be poetically reflective even while she avoids the temptation of being simplistic about death. She allows it to be mysterious, fearsome, natural, and expectedly complex. Even still, her last chapter, "I Am Not Resigned" surprisingly ties up a lot of running themes and brings a feeling of completion without presenting "solutions."
In my reviews, I try to present both positive and negative aspects of any book. For this book, Lende's memoirs, it is difficult to condemn her life experience. I never get the sense that Lende is being less than totally truthful (even when she portrays herself in a bad light). This reader appreciates her honesty, even to the point of admitting that those on different sides of various "issues" have valid points. Being one on the other side of these various issues, I do have trouble identifying with Lende at times. Crying, she comforts herself by imagining a future in which a homosexual from Haines becomes President of the United States; when writing an obituary of a Tlingit, she is overcome by "white guilt" because of what all the "people who look like her" have done to American Indians; she indulges in religious pluralism as she is a leader of her Episcopal church, seems to believe Tlingit creation stories, writes laudably about a wedding in which the "eternal spirits of the universe" are invoked, writes equally highly about a totally secular wedding, and experiences the joy of praying the Rosary. With all of these, this reader and Lende are so far apart, that I simply can't put myself in her shoes and say, "I understand what you're feeling, even if I disagree."
However, as previously mentioned, this is Lende's life experience and it is well told. I was fascinated as she mused on life during the winter months (where the sun doesn't rise until 9:30 and sets by 3:00!) and summer months (where the sun stays out well past midnight!). Her relating tales on the process of smoking fish, picking wild berries, raising chickens, cooking meals for thirty from scratch, and the like are fascinating. She succeeds in getting this reader to envision what living in Haines would be like...and in fact envy the people of Haines (until I remember the lack of hospitals and winter sun). In all, this book is highly recommended as it provides a great balance of enjoyment and forces to the reader to contemplate things common to us all--life, death, family, vocation, and what's really important.
If You Died There, She'd Write About You.......2007-08-01
Though I enjoyed reading about Haines and parts of this author's life, the preoccupation with death throughout this book was overwhelming. Death of relatives, strangers, friends, animals. Accidental death. Death by falling, by weather, by cancer, by boats sinking, by airplanes crashing. Fear of death. Near death. Funerals. Researching and writing obituaries. Anniversaries of loved ones dying. Even when it seems a chapter is going to be about a different subject, within a few pages it seems like death always sneaks in there.
I'd like to see another book by this author, this time devoted to life and living, instead of death and dying.
Haines, here I come..... in 7 years.......2007-07-30
I have been wanting to move to Alaska for about 15 years but my family won't come with me, so after the kids are through college and I have put in 20 years on my job, (I have 7 years to go) Haines, AK, here I come. During the past 15 years I have been reading about different towns in Alaska and there is always something that turns me off. Not one thing about Lende's descriptions about life in Haines has turned me off. I am sure this is the place for me. I am going to take a road trip in the summer of 2008 to Alaska and will definately spend time in Haines. I can't wait. One thing for sure, I won't be getting on any planes there until I am ready to go meet my maker.
Subtitled "News from Small-Town Alaska".......2007-04-03
Heather Lende writes the social column and obituaries for the small town paper in Haines, Alaska. You get to feel you know all of the residents there through her eyes and the columns she tells about that she has written. A book well worth reading. It will show you the joys and sorrows of a small town in Alaska and help you appreciate that small town where you may have grown up any where else.
I live here, she knows my name........2006-10-02
I live here. Heather knows my name. I know hers. I'm even rated a quick mention in her book. But there are many people in town she doesn't know. Heather doesn't get to the trailer courts and the local convenience store all that often. And in all fairness, the publishers were the ones who slapped the title on this book. Heather's Haines is just that Heather's Haines. It is Haines as seen through 'A Prairie Home Companion' liberal vision of life. On the surface it is all embracingly fair, painting a picture of wonderful quirky resilient people all moving, even if unconsciously, towards a politically correct utopia. Yet the reality is of course quite different.
While the town does have the vestiges of real community, satellite cable television, the internet, cellphones are all making inroads. Back in the early 90s when music videos finally arrived the teen boys suddenly all turned their caps around. And they became as disaffected as teens everywhere. Black Metal is now the rage. Sex before the age of 13 is not uncommon. And the Christian or New Age parents often don't understand the kids at all. But of course it is not all of the kids. Athletics, Drama and other influences keep a fair number of students relatively sane. Nevertheless there are serious problems.
Alcoholism is one of them, particularly among adults and Native Americans. And it's pretty much a taboo subject in public discussion. The town is not that violent though, unless you spend a LOT of time at the bars only. The doors to the homes are still unlocked, though lower forty-eight styled teen alienation are making a few people wonder how long that will continue. And there are some seriously prickly and petty people lodged in places of power. Heather doesn't note the real dark side of Haines, because I don't think she thinks that there is much darkness in the world. One can live in a Haines that is somewhat like Heather's description of it. And just sort of close one's eyes to it. You can go to a festive event, and see the smiling faces and not the alcoholics also present. The chipper couples at today's parties will have often switched partners within a year or two. One can see the moment without seeing past or future.
Heather does often capture something of the joy of living in Haines, yet she glosses over many of the dark spots in the picture. And she ignores many of the really great aspects of living here. What are they? You'll have to visit for yourself in October or April to find out. Many of the people I've met who have read this book probably wouldn't appreciate Haines on the many gray days of rain. But that's the reality. Sunshine is more the exception than the rule. Heather's book is a bit too sunny. But yes the sunshine is here too.
Book Description
MASS CUSTOMIZATION--the trailblazing book that showed companies how to mass-produce and individually customize their products and services--is now available in paperback. New ways of managing, together with new technology, make possible the seeming paradox of providing each customer with the "tailor-made" benefits of the pre-industrial craft system at the low costs of modern mass production. As author Joe Pine makes clear, businesses that learn to embrace mass customization are able to create greater variety and customization in their products and services at competitive prices, or better. This insightful book shows how it's done. Also available in hardcover; ISBN 0875843727, $35.00.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic for Internet Entrepreneurs.......2005-08-13
Fantastic! The fact that this book was written in 1993 is particularly astounding, as its ideas are still cutting edge today. Internet entrepreneurs need to read, re-read, and workshop this book, as it is particularly useful from both a practical and conceptual standpoint in helping companies realize how their business models need to change once they begin to participate in markets where supply is infinite -- an issue that strikes at the core of e-commerce.
Essential Concept Related to Production.......2004-02-08
This book contains a winning formula for production industry to success under the dynamic economic environment and rapid changing consumer taste.
Joseph is prescient to identify an important trend on production since 1993. Although this book was written a decade ago, ¡§Mass Customization¡¨ still occupies a crucial position on maintaining an effective and efficient production line.
In this book, Joseph first introduced the main trend on production before 1970s, which was ¡§Mass Production¡¨. Then, he mentioned the change on production from ¡§Mass Production¡¨ to ¡§Mass Customization¡¨. He used a comprehensive comparison to locate the distinctive advantages of applying ¡§Mass Customization¡¨.
After persuading audience how imperative the change was. Joseph suggested three directions for companies to plan for their change: ¡§Move Incrementally¡¨, ¡§Transform the Business¡¨ and ¡§Create New Business¡¨. He also suggested five fundamental methods for companies to implement their change.
As the product life cycle becomes shorter and shorter, especially for technology related products, companies can¡¦t use only the ¡§Push¡¨ strategy to produce their product. However, they also can¡¦t produce their products only when receiving an order. It is because there is no enough time for them to do. As a result, ¡§Mass customization¡¨ helps companies to produce a critical mass for basic elements and then assemble the final product base on customer¡¦s requirement.
Moreover, Joseph used many tables and graphs to explain his idea, which help readers to understand the concept easily. Also, he provided many subtitles that help readers to concentrate on the main idea in the following paragraph.
Furthermore, it is interesting that Joseph also customized his book too. He grouped the chapters, which based on specific objective. By this action, he reinforced the main idea of ¡§Mass Customization¡¨ and facilitated readers to read this book.
In short, this book has a clear direction and systematic layout, which guide readers to understand the full picture of changing production trend.
useful but a bit oudated.......2001-11-06
After reading the book, I found a clearer picture about mass customization. Mass customization is now widely used by many businesses, but we may not know how it operates!
In this book, it tells you how you should change your business operation to mass customization step by step, also tell you 5 methods to customize your products or services. And these 5 methods are useful and practicable for designing how the business enter the market.
The stucture of the book is clear, give a full description on the development of the operation, from mass production to mass customization , and the pros and cons of those two operations, followed with the detail explanation on mass customization.
However, I think it's a bit outdated because all the things around us are mass customized and we do not have to decide whether we should change to customized operation or not, but to decide the degree of the customization.
He gets it........1998-11-08
What a refreshing book that is inendated with facts and research, yet the concepts have implementable steps to move your organization into the personalization future. Indeed this author "gets it" when it comes to the individualized services and products that every company should adopt.
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