Floor Books

Poor Richard's Web Site is a practical guide for any one who wants a straight forward approach to getting a private or commercial website up and running quickly. Although I am a fairly experience systems integration professional, I found myself somewhat intimidated by the latest internet technology. Fortunately, Peter Kent demystifies the terminology and technology so that you can focus on the truly important elements of your website (namely content).

Note that this is not a programming book. You will still have to purchase books on the specific technologies that you wish to use. It is a primer on how to run a website development project.

The book consists of four major sections. "Part I - Preparation" walks through the basics of deciding how to obtain a website (web hosting, domain registration). "Part II - Creation" addresses website design, HTML, site authoring, on line ordering and email integration. "Part III - Promotion" deals with how to effectively roll out your site once it is up. The final section is composed of the appendixes which contain a number of helpful checklists.

Overall I think that most people will find the straightforward language and real world examples to be very helpful in planning the development of a website.

This comprehensive, updated book effectively points out that there is more to building a website than learning HTML. The author gives guidelines and points out what you must know or learn and then tells you how to get there. This is an excellent book for both beginners and advanced web site designers.

Poor Richard's Web Site is a practical guide for any one who wants a straight forward approach to getting a private or commercial website up and running quickly. Although I am a fairly experience systems integration professional, I found myself somewhat intimidated by the latest internet technology. Fortunately, Peter Kent demystifies the terminology and technology so that you can focus on the truly important elements of your website (namely content).

Note that this is not a programming book. You will still have to purchase books on the specific technologies that you wish to use. It is a primer on how to run a website development project.

The book consists of four major sections. "Part I - Preparation" walks through the basics of deciding how to obtain a website (web hosting, domain registration). "Part II - Creation" addresses website design, HTML, site authoring, on line ordering and email integration. "Part III - Promotion" deals with how to effectively roll out your site once it is up. The final section is composed of the appendixes which contain a number of helpful checklists.

Overall I think that most people will find the straightforward language and real world examples to be very helpful in planning the development of a website.

If you're thinking of setting up a web site but you're not very familiar with the web or with the logistics of setting up and maintaining a web site, "Poor Richard's Web Site" is definitely a good place to begin your research. He covers the various things you need to consider and the decisions you'll have to make from figuring out the equipment you'll need, to finding a web host, to actually creating your site and getting people to notice it. The book is definitely geared toward small business owners, but almost everything applies to people who just want to build their own personal web site as well. Many links are contained in the book that lead to further resources, which is useful, but there are also self promotional parts of the book which can get a little annoying. And surely, with better editing, this book could be much shorter. But the good stuff generally outweighs the occasional plug for Peter Kent's other books or for Top Floor publishing, and though it's too long it's easy to skim over the fluff.

Every business needs a Web site. The online brochure has replaced the printed brochure because it is easier to change and cheaper to distribute. With your "store front" open to the world, customers will come to you.

There are a lot of specialized books on html written in geek-speak. Peter Kent covers the whole field and makes it easy. He discusses the preparation, creation and promotion of your site. For coverage, click on Table of Contents in the left-hand column of this page. Includes checklists and an index.

Peter Kent is the author of more than 30 books about computers and the Internet.

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is in business. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

Excelente livro sobre o uso do e-mail para a divulgação de informaçòes pela Internet.

Livro de facil leitura, mostrando de forma clara e através de exemplos páticos e concretos a arte do uso do e-mail. Um dos melhores livros que ja li sobre o assunto, que tem 100% minha aprovacao e recomendacao

This is truly a terrible book - very thin on usable content. Further, the author, Chris Pirillo, writes like a high school "valley girl." It is a prime example that the Internet allows anyone - despite how dumb they are - to venture, and in this case, publish their opinions. Don't waste you money. And for the author, become a cheerleader!

This book was a poor excuse for a definitive guide. Poor Richard rehashes are...well.......kind of like Sam's Publishing IT books being definitive guides on how to fix a network in 10 days.

You could spend months in the school of hard knocks learning what you need to know to publish an email newsletter....but why would you?!?

This book has the type of detailed up-to-the-second information that will save you a lot of trouble.

If you want to:

1)Save Time

2)Make Money

Get this book.

An interesting book. Chris Pirillo discusses publishing an e-mail newsletter, or e-zine. In fact, he covers it almost completely. The only problem I had with this book was the author's incomplete and sometimes rambling discussion of configuring an e-mail account for your mailing list. I had to look elsewhere (online) to understand this. To his credit, it is difficult to understand.
Other than that, this book is a fabulous introduction to e-mail publishing and will give the reader many good ideas and tips on publishing online.

This book has alot of really interesting things in it. Like how a ton of women were being tried as a witch. Very good!

The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story
By: Mrs. Messy
I do not recommend The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story because the author (Sid Fleischman) mad many mistakes, causing this to be a terrible book. The characters are extremely boring. They hardly had any personality. There were many things missing in the text. Such as when Buddy went back in time, nobody noticed how his clothes were different, as they were clothes from the future. That was an important detail about one of the main characters that the author should have realized. The ending was stupid because it would have more excitement if they had found the treasure at an area where it was possible to dig, and the story would be better if the loot had been buried an a more uncommon place. I would rate this 0 stars, but there were a few good parts. Firstly, it made a good discussion. A few of the words were unknown to our discussion group, so we discussed their meanings. We also were able to make predictions. But when I say predictions, I mean it in a bad way. The author was too obvious on what was going to happen next. Another good thing was how it was about the Salem witch trials, which taught us about history. The author could have used a bit more detail when they were describing the Salem witch trials. Overall, I think it The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story was a terrible book.

The book The 13th Floor written by Sid Flieshman was good. The story was a mystery. Also it was good because it was a ghost story. I didn't like the story because it was very predictable. Over all the book was ok. I wouldn't recommend this book to a frien

Any superstitious person knows that the number 13 does nobody any good. Buildings don't have thirteenth floors, and nobody seats thirteen for dinner. Bakers however, have been known to prefer bad luck over the consequences of being caught short with the dough, but that's another story.

This book explores the popular plot of the mysterious floor between twelve and fourteen, and this time it's a portal to the bad old days of privateers and witch hunts.

Lured by a weird message on their answering machine, Buddy Stebbins and his older sister Liz make separate quantum leaps (via elevator) three hundred years into the past, and join their ancestors on a dangerous but funny adventure.

It's up to Buddy to find Liz, provide legal aid to his ancestors - an accused witch and a pirate Captain - and find a way back to the 13th floor, preferably with all their limbs intact. However, time is running out and the ship that houses the portal is about to sink.

A clever and fast moving time traveling tale, but not at all scary or ghostly.

Amanda Richards, February 24, 2005

I liked this book because it is sort of a mystery and history book. This book is about two kids who owe money because their parents were poor and owed money but they died. When the kids, Bud and his older sister Liz, get a telephone message from a person who works on a 13th floor of a building, they think it is a prank. When his sister goes to work and doesn't come back, Bud thinks that she when to the 13th floor. When he opens the door to the 13th floor, he finds himself on a ship with an ancestor! Bud figures out that he traveled 300 years back in time! From there it goes on from Bud learning about a ship to Liz saving the ancestor who called them from accusement of witchcraft. I am not going to tell you the rest of the story. You are going to have to read it!!!

I purchased this to learn how to install hardwood floors in my home. I believe i paid about 15 dollars total with shipping. The book wont make you a hardwood pro, but will give more than a sufficient foundation to install flooring. Its an older book but the techniques being used today are still the same. I found it very helpful especially for determining the starting points, and how to measure and or come up with a starting point. I had a hallway, stair bull nosing and a living room on my install with no breaks between. Overall its a good book and it is a good purchase to learn and tackle hardwood flooring.

Very practical and useful guide to installing a hardwood floor. I would not have had as great a result without it. If you are installing or thinking about installing a hardwwod floor, get this book. It gives you all of the tips and tricks to do the job properly. Well worth the price.

I bought the book and the DVD and both provided information very useful for my first DIY install of hardwood flooring.

Like many projects it's the prep work that pays off in the end and it's also true with installing hardwood flooring. A sub-floor that is flat and secured to the joists along with that straight first row goes along way in ensuring a successful install.

Author Don Bollinger stares in, writes, or is quoted in just about every video or book about installing, sanding and finishing hardwood flooring. I came across his video 15yrs ago while researching my first hardwood project. Of the four books I checked out from the library on the topic he was pictured and quoted in all of them. He is a master of his trade and in this book he lays out the very basic and clear steps to a beautiful floor. I read this book again before every flooring project and finely I just bought it. It takes all the uncertainty (but none of the hard work) out of laying and finishing a hardwood floor. Like most do-it-yourself books this one covers the basic principles and standard practices for the first timer as well as instructions and ideas for the adventurous. What sets this book apart from the others is the focus on common and not so common mistakes that will always result in a expensive disappointment. Once you nail down a wood floor you will realize it's never coming up again. That's a bad time to discover you should have read this book first.

Overall, this book will give you the information you need to install and finish a new hardwood floor or re-finish an existing hardwood floor as painlessly as possible. The subject is covered thoroughly, from choosing lumber types and patterns to types and methods of finishing. However, I strongly suggest that one hint made by the author be ignored completely. On page 111 and perhaps other pages of the Sanding and Finishing chapter of the 1990 edition of the text, the author proposes the use of a floor buffer to fine screen between coats of finish to take the tops off and help successive coats of finish adhere. What this did for me, even with the finest grit screen available, was leave lots of spider web type scratches in the finish that reflected artificial light in every direction at night, and made what was supposed to be a high gloss polyurethane finish look dull in the daylight. This tip wasted two coats and two days of finish work. My suggestion is to use a drywall pole-type sander with 220 grit or finer sandpaper and always sand in the direction of the grain. This method takes much longer than the buffer method, but won't produce the spider web scratches that the buffer does. One other suggestion the author makes is to mix fine sanding dust with a water-based filler base called Wood Stuff to make perfectly matched filler. I thought that this was a great idea, because you'd get the closest match and you could mix a huge batch of filler right on the floor and trowel the entire space very quickly. I wanted the water-based Wood Stuff because I was using a water-based polyurethane to finish. The problem was that I couldn't find Wood Stuff or any comparable water-based product online or in any hardware or woodworking store. I ended up using several one-pint batches of Famowood filler hole-by-hole, which took days because my salvaged hardwood was full of tack holes. I'm just commenting on the suggested product's availability, here, which is not the author's fault. Maybe the book is a little out of date. Ultimately, with the other information in the book, my floor came out great. I just wish I used the floor buffer for the final wood sanding only (not on the finish).

I placed the order on Monday Sept 29th and today is Friday Oct 2. I am just being informed that my order cannot be shipped! There is another buyer who experienced the same thing. Books order through this seller but did not deliver. I would not buy from this seller again.

Book arrived nicely packaged and in mint condition. Super fast shipping as well. Seller highly recommended.

I ordered this book for school and was nervous it wouldn't show up on time, and quite the contrary....it came quickly and the book was in fantastic condition.

This was a required text for a design class. I found it pretty useful (in conjunction with the other text), and ended up keeping both for reference books when the class was completed.

GReat book pretty updated, I dont plan on selling it off in exchange for another in the future. It is a great referrance for anyone to keep who would like to reminded of all design terminlogy. A great foundation book for anyone pursuing Int. or Arch. Design.

There are times when it is difficult to understand the book. The instructions can be as convoluted as the systems in the body, but once you figure them out they work very well. I have a greater feeling of wellness and better understanding of my body. I am more in tune with the interconnectedness of the body and have more to integrate into my yoga classes. It is better than the cover, even. I recommend it

This book takes pelvic floor understanding and excercise to a new level. the power of visualisation to heal does help the process

Often overlooked, the pelvic floor is the key to core strength and feelings of power and self-control (or powerlessness). In every one of his books, Erik Franklin gives the most beautiful metaphors and excellent instructions to reclaim your body. These exercises are particularly fun.

Anita Boser, author of Relieve Stiffness and Feel Young Again with Undulation

Based on the glowing reviews, I checked out this book. It was a slow, slogging, complicated text that wasn't easy to follow or understand. After the discussions on chakras, prana, chi, meridians, nadis, imagery and a seemingless endless anatomical treatise, I was ready for a long nap.

If you are looking for a straightforward book with a series of exercises to strengthen your pelvic floor, look elsewhere.

This book is a gem, though I agree with several reviewers that the cover illustration is a poor choice. Luckily, it was one of the few poor choices that the author allowed into this book. The sequence of exercises, the illustrations and the well constructed mental imagery make a topic that is very difficult to "wrap you head around", feel accessible. This is a difficult task because few persons that have any grasp of the material covered in this book would even attempt to teach it without a hands-on face-to-face access to a student. Teaching this material is made even more difficult since our culture imparts many social difficulties in even speaking about this portion of the anatomy.
I teach taiji and various moving meditations and have some knowledge of numerous martial arts and meditative body works that all consider subtle control of the pelvic floor muscles to be a critical step in internal energy work. Teaching or coaching a person to mentally discover, and then actively work with these muscles can be very difficult, for all the reasons Eric Franklin outlines in this book. If the only thing that I got from this book was improving my repertoire of images for working with students it would have been a great find. However, the most important aspect of this book was that I found his exercises helped me to improve my own connection with, and sensation into, these important integrators of my internal somantic space. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the author for this book, the gratitude that a student feels towards a teacher when new learning blossoms. Thank you

Jeff Foley talked a good bit and
I remember him introing the book
on the Ar.FL halftime of a TNN
game (talking to the alltime
hottest Football woman, Jill
Arrington, son of ex-Phlliy back-
up QB, Rick. Bring back Jill!).
I was shocked at the vulgar language
in Foley's book! This is not suitable
for kids to read, in my opinion. It's
good to see a book out there on the
greatest sports ever invented in the
history of the universe (Thank you
Jim Foster, Ray Jauch, Mouse Davis!),
but he could have cleaned it up! And
that team is no longer around! Could
have been a contender!

A book every true football fan should read. Author Jeff Foley is allowed to spend the preseason as a member of the Albany Firebirds of the Arena Football League, not as a reporter hiding in the shadows but as a true professional football player. That's the rule, he is to be treated just as any other player on the team. As a rookie he receives his share of hazing but also earns the respect and support of his team mates because Jeff proves his courage, heart and his unwillingness to quit. From pregame preparation talks to post game meetings, Jeff Foley shows that there really is a special man behind each and every face mask. The reader learns that even though the players come from different backgrounds and may even be compeating for the same roster spot, a team is a unique type of family. Locker room antics, childhood memories, daily practice sessions and the games are interlaced into a "can't put it down" story.

Totally amazing book. My Wife & I were season ticket holders from day one of the Milwaukee Mustangs (3rd row at the 5 yard line) and we were in attendance at both games.

Very entertaining book from beginning to end. Must read for any Arena Football fan.

The Day I bought the book I was telling my wife about George Plimton. Open the book and chapter one is titled "Plimpton would be proud".

Jeff and I are the exact same size 5'6" - 180 and there is no way I would have put myself in his shoes.

Thanks for the memories, and great job.

Jacques from Kenosha

People often wonder what it would be like to live life over again - what they might change if they knew what they know now. I used to think that maybe I could have been more of an athlete and maybe a football player...but this book made me happy to be where I am, which is in the stands, where I belong. This book provides you a fabulous firsthand look at the life of a football player from inside the locker room and on the field. It's sometimes humorous, sometimes serious, but very entertaining the whole way through.

Even though it's the Arena League and not the NFL, it's no less of an accomplishment to make it to this level of competition. This really hits home when Jeff describes one player who quit the Firebirds training camp saying that he had no idea that guys in this league were as good as they were.

The opportunity for a writer to join a team in this manner to get this perspective and this story may never happen again, so if you ever thought you'd like another shot at life to become one of those guys you see on television, read this book...then join me in the stands.

I was very excited to read "War on the Floor" when I heard about it. I am a big Firebird's fan, and even though I didn't know about the team when they were in Albany, there are still some players that are on the Indiana team, and they by far are the best group of guys you'll ever meet!
Jeff tells about what it was like in the everyday routine of getting up early and having to be on a cold, rainy field to practice for the team. When he first arrived at training camp, the guys weren't sure if he was for real about playing and writing about the team. As days went by, Jeff became one of the guys, and he was determined to stick with the practices and "gassers", (and you'll just have to find out what I mean by this by reading the book)! Jeff endured the pain and the joy of being on an arena football team and tells what it is like and the determination to not quit when you start something! It talks about how the team members encouraged Jeff to not quit and to keep on!
Even if you are not a Firebirds fan, I think you will enjoy the book for its sincerity, laughs and plain downright competition.
As you will see, once a Firebird, always a Firebird!! I am waiting for the 2nd Edition of the "Tales of Achmel"! Happy reading!

Hedge Fund Masters is a great book. It helped me a lot in my forex trading.
It has you setting goals, formulating a vision, enhancing your process, and other great ideas to make you a success.

'Sceptic' (See March 2nd review below) is right - the author has conjured up a slew of similar 5 star reviews from family, friends and SAC office co-workers. His ego knows no bounds.

If you have his first two books you would be wasting your money to get this one. And it would be nice to expect better of an author on subjects of peak performance than to pad reviews. Sorry, Ari.

I did not read the book so I can't review it, but reviewing the reviews it does not smell good that 11 out of 14 reviews are between Aug. 1-4 by reviewers that for most of them this is their only review

I had expected something of the genre and quality of Market Wizards I & II, Trading for a living, Trade like a Hedge Fund (by James Altucher), Soros on Soros, Reminiscences of a stock operator, Running Money by Andy Kessler etc etc. I had been confoundedly disappointed. The book is flooded of interviews with hedge fund managers anonymous leading you to nowhere but setting goals, visualizing success, overcoming fears and all the stuff you find in any trading psychology book, only that the writing skill of the author is sub-standard. The author had repeated the term "Hedge Fund" highly frequently. However, the content is not related particularly to any hedge fund or hedge fund manager at all. Also, the author had elaborated the term "mastery" throughout the book. I assure you that you will have no idea of how to achieve it unless you employ the author as your personal trading counsellor.

In short, a waste of time, money and the paper to print the book.

After reading all the negative reviews (one from a reviewer that admits he didn't even read the book???) I am a little confused. I just finshed reading Hedge Fund Masters and I really liked it.

The author comments on interviews with 80 hedge fund managers. He talks about the problems holding them back and keeping them from getting bigger, or keeping them from staying profitable. I am amazed that all these managers running huge money have the same problems that I do. Maybe there is hope for me!

There are many ideas in this book that will help traders and managers. Everything from developing a vision, planning a strategy, to the section on fears, emotions, and overcoming obstacles. I think Kiev is more of a coach than a psychologist in this book. He does not say "Ok, I validate your fears, its ok to be a loser", he comes out and tells some of these managers they are being weak and should change their risk levels and profit targets if they want to run big money. It makes sense in the context of the conversations.

With the loss of 5 billion by Aramanth this week, maybe they should have read this book last week. Now just getting bigger is not going to help many managers. Kiev only pushes some of these managers to trade larger on the positions they have extreme confidence in. Confidence levels that they have a track record of in previous trades. After all, if your goal is to be one of the best, you cannot stay in your comfort zone.

Skeptics I don't mind, but this book attracts a lot of cynical remarks. Why I wonder?
It seems that people think famous men and women have different souls to the rest of us. They don't!
I agree that the memories in this book were exceptionl, but this is explained by the regressionist's obvious lack of experience. The subject was literally thrust back into her past life and virtually re-lived it, that was why the recall was so detailed. I wouldn't want to go through what the author went through. I found it riveting.
As for Garth Brooks - I think the photo of him with the author says it all. Did you see the wonder in his eyes?

Oh it's an uplifting tale, with love and magic, but the author actually believes it happened. She's insane. Go ahead and read the book, but just know your money will be going to someone who's crazy and uses her psychotic ideas to make a bundle of money. Poor Garth Brooks must be freaked out by such a weirdo.

This book is not a work of literary genius. It's not concrete proof of reincarnation. It's not a how to do it on regression, not is it scientifically based. But if you want a story that will touch your heart and soul - this is it.

I have read Ripples three times and loved it! It is believable because she has written from her heart. Her life was transformed because of her experience and she in no way would ever use Garth Brooks' fame for her own profit. In fact, she has donated all money earned from the first edition to Music for Africa.

Two very nasty comments by previous reviewers made me do my own review of this book. First of all misquoting Garth - he said 'I'm not sure I understand the book, probably somebody would need to explain it to me.'
A whole different context - please quote correctly if you're going to quote at all.
Second thing - I have it on totally definite authority that ALL proceeds from this book were donated to 'Music For Africa' Hardly the actions of a money grabber!
This book is magical and beautiful and Garth doesn't hate it, unlike 'Road Out of Santa Fe'!
For your info - a review is meant to be about the BOOK - not the author.

I'm a huge fan of Roky's work, so purchasing this book was a no-brainer: it has "Roky" prominently in the title. In short, though, the book lives in the weeds. It has pages and pages of minute details, and I found it...dull. "The band lived here for two weeks, then they had eggs for breakfast, and then they watched a cartoon." (OK, I made that up.) I felt the author could have removed half the content, focusing on the drama and the bigger picture. Nothing personal to the other band members, (I almost feel like they are my next door neighbors at this point) but the band had limited success. Their only significant hit, You're Gonna Miss Me, was not their song: Roky wrote and recorded it before he joined the Elevators. The band had numerous line-ups over a relatively short period of time, and the author devoted space to everyone's perspective. Again, nothing personal boys, but I'm not interested in the granular HISTORY of the Elevators, I'm interested in the STORY of the Elevators, particularly Roky.

As a side note, John Ike was right, [The band is sounding great] "and then here comes this jug!" The jug was infinitely annoying after one or two songs.

I gave this book one star (*) to get you the potential reader's ATTENTION. It's actually a Five-Star book EXCEPT for a fatal flaw; WHY do they go on and on about HOW BAD the Elevator's records SOUND??? These are some of the MOST AMAZING RECORDINGS EVER MADE - EVER. PERIOD. BAR NONE. There is NO IMPROVEMENT to be made, why all the apologizing ? I DO NOT GET IT. IA Records gets a perpetual hose-job throughout this book for what is in retrospect perceived to be poor treatment of their "star group". I mean REALLY, can any of us really IMAGINE what it must have been like trying to keep those guys out of prison and/or mental wards and on keel enough to finish those amazing records, tour etc...? and all the "trips" THEY were put through with the various eccentrics in the group's personal issues?...... OK I'm done, my critique is short & sweet & to the point I hope. READ THIS BOOK and enjoy it for all the otherwise fascinating details heretofore generally unknown. God Bless The Roky Express & All Who Ride IT! - We return you now to "Donovan's Brain".

This is an outstanding book. Having lived through the era it describes and having owned one of the albums produced by the 13th Floor Elevators, I can testify to its real-life accuracy. There are multiple strands that later proved common elements in the hippie phenomenon and the bands that provide much of its voice: self-exploration with psychedelic drugs gradually turning into addiction with amphetamines, alcohol, and opiates; head-tripping egoists who were themselves variously sincere spiritual seekers or manipulative sociopaths; and the greater number of people who were drawn to "the scene" in conformist expectations of getting high, getting laid, and getting by. It was, in short, an amalgam of all that is best and worst in human beings.

Roky Erickson and the rest of the changing cast of characters who were the 13th Floor Elevators personified these elements. An extraordinarily gifted singer, Roky was also someone in need of a parental figure to guide him. Fortunately and unfortunately, Tommy was the group's guru, and years before Timothy Leary came to be known for his advocacy of LSD, Tommy saw to it that the band was routinely (often, daily) turning on for rehearsals and performances. Unsurprisingly, the responses to these unstructured trips varied a great deal...in at least a couple of cases, resulting in nearly complete mental breakdown. Roky himself ended up being committed to a mental institution and given electro-shock therapy, along with seriously heavy medication.

This band truly did pave the way for what later became commonplace psychedelic themes in the music of that time; unfortunately for them, the Elevators were inked to contracts with incompetent and indifferent outfits (the now-defunct International Artists being the main one) that never parlayed the group's very real originality and dynamism into major stardom.

There are serious questions that run through this story: the use of psychoactive substances as a means of spiritual exploration and self-discovery versus their casual and irresponsible use; the role of a "spiritual leader" as educator and friend versus less-benevolent effects; and always, the hostility of a surrounding straight culture that did not want long hair, drug use, or anything else to do with the burgeoning youth phenomenon that was the hippie scene.

There is plenty of tragedy in this story, but thankfully, at least some of its main characters ultimately did achieve some degree of personal fulfillment. The Elevators' music has a cult following in various parts of the world, and Roky himself is still writing songs. The lives of these young men (and their often betrayed girlfriends and wives) present plenty that is sorrowful and degrading, but there was real courage and creativity in the experimentation that characterized the Elevators' original project.

This is without a doubt the best, most well researched rock biography I've ever read. True, the author may have trouble distinguishing between 'affect' and 'effect,' and he may have got a few details about life in Texas circa 1965 wrong, but he truly delivers the goods that all of us Roky/Elevators fans have been waiting to hear for a very long time. He's great on details, and attentive to historical and cultural context. As far as I can see, he's tracked down every surviving member of the band (including Tommy Hall!), and pieced the whole story together in meticulous detail, 1965 to 1968. It doesn't get better than this. All the information (Tommy) you could want, combined with emotion (Roky) required for a spell-binding read. This book lives in a time of its own!

One of the BEST music biographies ever written that tells the story of a decade in American music history with all of the uncensored truths intact. This book is overflowing with all of the explanations, descriptions, and details about which everyone has wondered for almost a half-century. This is a valuable source for those who are just starting down the road as well as answering some questions about unfinished business for those who experienced it. The research for this book rivals scientific methods of verification. One review called it "rock archeology". If you want to learn about the psychedelic era and the band that paved the way for the Beatles' "Lonely Hearts Club" and the Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow", then this is a must read. Not only does it tell about the music of the 13th Floor Elevators but it also "gets it" when explaining the philosophies of the Hippie Generation. This is more than a biography. It is a history book and a legend told in an honest and unbiased way. Paul Drummond outdid himself on this effort. Thumbs up.