Foreign-market Books

You may find Thoreaux's openness and directness refreshing, or you may find his brashness, arrogance, condescension, and hypocritical judgementalism revolting. If the latter is true, take heart that this book actually becomes enjoyable once you get past the first hundred pages or so...

Maybe others will better appreciate Thoreaux's attempts at humor, but the first hundred pages of this book could arguably compete for the most off-putting intro ever written. Before even beginning to prove a thing about himself (unless he's relying on an established reputation?), he devotes a few pages to trashing the state of current travel literature as being formulaic and overly focused on the destination vs. the journey. Beginning his story, he immediately picks a couple of confrontations with fellow passengers: correcting an elderly man who likens the New England winter landscape to Siberia ("Actually, there isn't this much snow in Siberia") and contradicting a 20 year old radical girl ("I wouldn't call them radical... they're smug views, self-important ones. Egocentric, you might say.").

Clearly Thoreaux is self-aware enough that this impression must be intentional, but it just doesn't work. Thoreaux is trying too hard to *tell* you to how to regard his work and the people he meets, rather than let you draw the same conclusions by just portraying people and their behaviors. There are so many better travel writers out there today (maybe this wasn't the case in the 70s when this was written) that this is inexcusable. Bryson is far funnier, Dalrymple far more insightful and also pretty funny.

Fortunately, Thoreaux gets more bearable further into the book. He's most insightful when he reflects on the nature of writing and his reasons for traveling alone, avoiding idle chatter that gets in the way of more thoughtful observation ("I am diverted, but it is discovery not diversion that I seek.") After pages of tolerating idle chatter from a fellow traveler Thornberry, I'm finally able to sympathize with Thoreaux's cruel fantasy of pushing Thornberry off the train. The stories get more interesting as Thoreaux's adventurousness and openness lead him into situations where tourists rarely go- a Salvadorean soccer game where the players stop to watch a fight in the stands, the "simmering anarchy" of a Panamian high school (liken to a `50s American high school), the chaos of the utterly untouristy Barranquilla, mass altitude sickness on a train through the Andes... Throughout the journey, Thoreaux colors the narrative with short excerpts from books he is reading including the Adventure of Gordon Arthur Pym and Life of Johnson. By the end of the journey, Thoreaux seems a little more humble, reflecting on the pointlessness of his journey, but knowing the story needed to be told.

In 1979, Paul Theroux departed from his childhood home in Medford, Massachusetts, and began his train journey from the East Coast of the United States to Patagonia, on the southern tip of Argentina. A seasoned traveler, fluent in Spanish, Theroux brings to life his trip through the northern and southern hemispheres, traveling without a schedule and observing his fellow passengers on the train and people at stops along the way.

In Texas he is astonished at the contrasts between Laredo on the Texas side of the Rio Grande and Nuevo Laredo across the border in Mexico, commenting on society and governments. Traveling through Mexico and Guatemala, he observes the poverty of the Indians and their lack of opportunities. In El Salvador he attends a soccer game and gets caught up in the melee and riots which follow it. In Costa Rica, the cleanest country he has visited, he finds himself stuck on the train with Mr. Thornberry, a New Hampshire tourist so boring that Theroux cannot wait to escape him--only to have Mr. Thornberry "save his life" by offering him a place to stay upon his arrival in Limon. In Panama he meets the "Zonians," from the Canal Zone, and in Cali, Colombia, he meets a married "priest" who cannot tell his devout mother in Belfast that he has "left" the church to marry and have children.

Throughout his trip, Theroux reads classics, particularly enjoying Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson and Edgar Allen Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, and Related Tales (The World's Classics), both of which provide ironic reference points for his own journey. For literature lovers, the most fascinating section occurs in Buenos Aires, where Theroux spends many days visiting blind writer Jorge Luis Borges, who persuades Theroux to read to him. Ironically, one of Borges's favorite novels is The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. As Theroux takes notes on his meetings with Borges, he becomes Borges's Boswell.

More an observer than a participant, Theroux has an unfortunate air of superiority about what he sees and hears. Sparing little sympathy for American and German tourists, he rarely gets excited about his surroundings, expressing genuine emotion only when he talks with three boys, ages ten to twelve, who live in a doorway and scavenge for food because their rural families have abandoned them. Theroux's self-congratulatory attitude gets a bit wearisome, but the picture of Central and South America, thirty years ago, and the section with Borges are unparalleled. With beautiful, carefully observed prose and a great ear for dialogue, Theroux's Patagonian Express is a landmark travel memoir. Mary Whipple

Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Capetown
The Great Railway Bazaar
Riding the Iron Rooster: By Train Through China
The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific
Theroux: Collected Stories

One of Theroux's best train trips. You can really feel the shifting landscapes as he moves through the latitudes...

Note: I made some immature Mormon angry because of my negative reviews of books that attempted to prove the Book of Mormon, and that person has been slamming my reviews almost as fast as they are posted.

So, your "helpful" votes are appreciated. Thanks, and note that a short review is not necessarily a bad review if it leads you to a great book.

From Boston to Patagonia by train. What an adventure. As I wrote in my review of the "Great Railway Bazaar," treat yourself to traveling the easy way and read one of Paul Theroux's books.

Peter Mathiessen described the "Old Patagonian Express" perfectly: "Sharp-eyed, honest, and exceptionally well-written...an implacable landscape, conveyed through a series of marvelous encounters."

Terrific in every way, as all of Theroux's travel books are! Not a word too many, and not an insight overlooked in this adventure through the Americas. Wonderful, beautiful, and a treasured book in my library.

At LAST! It's about time! Finally, she's becoming independent and doing something for HERSELF for a change, and she's doing it ALONE! No Jessica and no parents. Freedom has arrived...but at the price she never would have wanted or expected.

This was probably one of the most memorable books in the SV series, not only because Elizabeth is on her own for the first time but because her anger at her sister and her parents have freed her from her soft touch demeanor. She finally stands up for herself, gains her independence, and takes off for London. When she hung up on her father, she set herself free after years of predicable behavior she was so well-known for. Bravo, Liz!

This was a very enjoyable book, and it gave the reader an understanding about the life that Elizabeth Wakefield had suddenly decided to take. The storyline was well thought out; her trials and tribulations were painful and realistic. You could feel what she was going through each time something happened to her. Her brief and almost pathetic email from Sam; her talk with a desperate Jessica asking her for help and to forgive her; her reaction to her parents' demands on the phone; her finding out that her scholarship was given to someone else; her reaction to the fact that she had no place to go, bearly any money to her name; and finally, the emmence relief of finding a job and a place to stay. This is what books should be about: getting involved and feeling for the main character, as well as sharing the adventure with him or her.

An A rating book, I strongly recommend this to any reader who has been waiting forever for Liz to finally stand up for herself.

This book was okay. If I could do .5's, I'd give it a 3.5. I usually love Sweet Valley books, but this one didn't keep my attention. I only kept reading because I don't like leaving books unfinished.

This book is more of an introduction to the series than a real "first book". It shows why Elizabeth decides to go to London and it describes what happens when she gets there, up until the very end, when she finally finds a place to stay & work. The whole thing could've been a chapter or two. I thought the details were too drawn-out, and it was not a real page-turner. I'm hoping the other books in this series will be a lot better.

liz has alays been a good person. she's smart intelligent, and a caring person.. and mabe a little bit of a pushover.. however, she needs to grow up, and become her own person..and she also needs to find someone to love her and cherish her for the person that she is...overall, this book was good, and i can hardly wait for the next one..

I am a great fan of Sweet Valley. i have started reading (and collecting) the books when i was really young starting with sweet valley kids, till now with sweet valley university. even though i had read better books, and keep my favorate book at the carnival ghost, part of the sweet valley twins series, i thought this book was a hit. i really like how they discribe every part of her adventure from the sights and sounds in the airport the the streets of london england. even though the adventure she took was a little to Coincidental(i dont know if that is spelled right) i am proud that she is on her own(finally).

it basicallystarts out when elizabeth catches her sister kissint her boyfriend. little did she know jessica was saving her from loseing her verginity with the wrong guy. instead Elizabeth hops on a plane to london with her schallarship, which she is soon to realize when she gets there has been taken by someone elce cause she hasent responded by the dead line. so she gets stuck on the street with barley any money. and to her surprie she gets a job for a family of royalty as a made.

hope you enjoyed the book as much as i did.

I used to read the short Sweet Valley Twins books when I was in about third grade, but I could never get into the SVU books. I was pretty excited to read this one though ~ the plot seemed to be more about Elizabeth and her problems than about boys. Yeah, it *is* about Elizabeth, but, it's also about boys (and those parts got real annoying - real fast).

After Elizabeth catches her twin sister Jessica and her boyfriend Sam kissing one night, she bolts with the Jeep. SHe has no idea where she's going, she just knows she has to get away from Jessica and Sam. Elizabeth ends up at a diner in Springfield, Illinois...where she meets Daphne, and forms a great friendship.

After serious consideration, Elizabeth decides to go to University of London (she got a full-ride to study there for a semseter), but when she gets there - nothing goes right.

Yeah, this book was actually good, better than the SVU books, but not the best. It became really predictable by the end, because Elizabeth keeps getting into problem after problem. It is good escapist reading though.

Overall grade - B

"Iberia" is an amazing book. I can't believe that a person could research and write this book and get anything else done in one lifetime. It is a great book to read immediately before or immediately after a trip to Spain. Michener's enthusiasm for his subject is quite evident as he discusses nearly every imaginable aspect of Spain.

Make no mistake, this book represents a reading challenge. In the paperback version it is over 900 pages long and covers such a wide variety of subjects related to Spain that there is probably something to interest most readers. However, there is probably something to bore most readers as well.

I enjoyed Michener's personal travel anecdotes and his reviews of European history the most. Michener's reviews of paintings and sculptures go on at great length at times, but would probably be fantastic for someone who is more of an art aficionado than I.

The book was published in 1968 so it is a bit dated, but it is still a great review of all things pertaining to Spain.

As usual , James Michener narrative about Spain is very nice and worth reading to anybody, specially individuals who are planning to visit in the near future

IBERIA is non-fiction memoir of Michener's experiences in Spain. I read the book before I went to Spain and found that Michener was right. He said Spain haunts people who go there. I've been all over the world and Spain is the only place that haunts me in a delicious way.

Spain likely was the heart and soul of Imperial Rome.

IBERIA is a splendid tale about a splendid place.

Written in 1968 this is a non-fictional account of James Michener's travels throughout Spain during his lifetime. He includes much history, local culture, tradition, and insight into this somewhat enigmatic country. Still relevant, but if you'd like to complement this book with a more recent follow-up, I would suggest Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett, but first read Michener if you want to get some great comprehensive background. The two in fact complement each other.

This book is a rambling, dated, starry-eyed tourist's view of Spain. For a cultural guide or a historical record, try Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through Spain and Its Silent Past or The Buried Mirror: Reflections on Spain and the New World. If you must buy it, get some tissues -- you'll be bored to tears.

I consider this a good Forex book, well rounded mentions strategies and important indicators. Warnings against too much margin. And it is not day trading like "Currency Trading for Dummies", this one is longer term. For some strange reason other Forex books won't mention any online brokerage houses, but this one will mention ten. You might want to get another currency book to comppliment this one, but not "Currency Trading for Dummies" (this one assumes you will be day trading and does not mention any brokerage houses except the ones the authors belong to.)

If you're a relative newbie to Forex, this book will introduce you to the fast paced foreign exchange market. It glosses over many different subjects, not really going into great detail but providing just enough information for the novice to learn some new things. It covers basics like how some currencies are tied to commodities like gold and oil, and the basics of technical analysis. If you know what "Bid" and "Ask" are and what a "pip" is and are looking to learn from there, this book will be a good building block in your trading library.

If you want to really understand the forces behind the market, this book is a must for you, especially, if your knowledge is limited regarding the fundamental analysis.
The authors beautifully described how different economic indicators- such as oil, inflation...etc affect the market.
Technical analysis in this book is limited, however, it still very effective!
I recommend this book for every beginner and every good technical-based forex trader, who wants to finally understands the fundamental analysis

These guys are a waste of time if you want direct and straight info on what the forex market is about. It is a bad book for a newbie... Instead I advice you go online (babypips dot com) and learn.

It's an OK book if you want to know:
1. History of Forex
2. Some fundamental Analysis (e.g. what happens to US dollars when oil goes up)

If you get it, don't waste your time reading it cover to cover, get the info (history of forex, and fundamental analysis in my opinion) you want and skip over pages trying to get you affiliated with organizations they are involved with (e.g. invest tools and some other charting reference they put in the book)

Two summers ago, I attended a 4-day hands-on workshop on currency trading at the Investools headquarters. Profiting With Forex was just about to be published. John Jagerson dropped in on our class one day and I had the pleasure of speaking with him, briefly. What struck me was how he is truly interested in helping others learn the forex world.

The book itself reflects this. It is an easy read and, yet, contains all the information you need to begin trading. From terminology, money management, fundamental and technical analysis, and everything in between - it's all there.

I especially enjoy their discussion of how world economic events effect the forex markets.

While I am always studying other materials, I refer to Profiting with Forex the most.

John and Wade continue to educate through their website, [...] . I am constantly learning from these guys.

Having always been intrigued by the FX market but also having never traded a day in my life I bought this book and his other with the intent of learning the basics. I wanted to get an overall view of wha the FX was and how I could trade in it. I believe it has done what I wanted and helped me to greatly understand the MANY different aspects of trading. I would say that it covers the basic aspects while only slightly delving deeper into some of the more complex issues. I believe one of the greatest things about this book is that it has helped me to figure out which directions I need to pursue as well as which I don't. I have read some other comments on this book and am rather appalled that people actually take the time to make negative and unsubstantiated claims about the author, his knowledge and experience. If you are disattisfied with the book, state your reasons why and perhaps make a constructive recommendation. Otherwise, all you're doing is wasting my time. This book is probably not for someone who is experienced and has a fair command of their trading. For someone who is looking for a clear, concise discourse on the basics this is definitely the book for you.

As a Foreign Currency Dealer, I was NOT helped from this book at all! Actually the title is misleading since he does NOT concentrate on FX, he only shows some graph examples using FX crosses instead of stocks... The author just refers to a lot of TA indicators only reviewing their typical Buy and Sell signals that are written in every TA book, and furthermore the sections are very bad structured. Really very very disappointed!!!

If this book is very bad, I am glad to learn it from people who consider themselves knowledgeable and who have read it. But should it be possible for such critics to propose another reference which they appreciated the content. It would be much more instructive for readers who are shopping for quality books.

I haven't completed the book but if I never read another page it's well worth what I payed compared to some prices of other simular books on the market. I don't know what the initial cost was, but those who wrote the unfavorable reviews should have waited to purchase. Maybe they would have been more positive.

This is a very good book. If you want to start trading currency online (like me) you must read this book first.

With a world market available, and a world labor pool available, there will be a decline in wages and standard of living in the US. Not much can change that - even protectionism and whining. Throw out the neocons that have exacerbated this mess by their love of deregulated markets. Was there a foreword to this book by George W Bush?

This is a wonderful read. Definitely invest in buying it. You won't regret it, no matter what your political convictions.

I loved this book; it was funny, informative, and very well written. For those who want a quick, new, and great approach on today's economical situations.

This is an absolutely excellent book. Even if you are a democrat, unless you are completely close minded and ignorant, you will enjoy it. Not too politically biased, the book gives the current economic challenges of outsourcing a comical spin, and puts things in perspective. I loved it, and recommend it for anyone; regardless of whether you care a great deal about the economy, it is a funny and enlightening quick-read.

When I picked up this book I thought it would offer me two things. I thought it would be about outsourcing and it would provide solutions to the problems. Sadly, Buchholz's book did neither. Instead, it provided many critiques from an American capitalist's point of view about society. In that regard it did a satisfactory job, although there are many popular books that did a far better job of doing it (Sowell's Basic Economics and even Stossel's Give me a Break).

The first 20 pages of the book offered hope that it'd stay on the topic of outsourcing; however even they were disappointing. There were few facts supporting free trade or details about why outsourcing can help an economy. After the first chapter Buchholz quickly veers off outsourcing and into taxes, education, tort reform and many other faults within our society. In doing this though he rarely talks about how they relate to outsourcing. This book is especially lacking in any quantitative analysis. Many of these facts are seen as given and therefore don't require support. Finally, his last chapter on our cultural exports seemed to be a socially conservative polemic that was out of place in an otherwise economically focused book. If you are looking for a book about outsourcing or an above introductory look at economic problems in the United States, I'd look elsewhere. Buchholz's book is strictly for those who haven't read alot about modern American politics and are looking for a partisan introduction to them.

The main positive about this book is it's an easy and quick read. At 179 pages you won't waste too much time on it. The author does a very good job at making the book flow. He adds many pop culture references, although they seem forced at times. Because of the very fluid writing style and his obvious intelligence, I might give his other books a chance. But hopefully they'll be a little better content wise than this one.

This was a very enjoyable book. Unlike most cozies, Agatha has a bit of an edge to her. She is an unrepentant smoker, lets a foul word slip in from time to time, and doesn't mind an occasional roll in the hay. She is a bit more unsure of herself, especially in relational matters than might be expected from a woman who successfully ran her own business. The plot moves along steadily, but not ploddingly, but the culprit seemed to become obvious to me long before it did to Agatha. All in all, worth the time, but not stellar.

Agatha Raisin had attempted to color her first grey hairs herself and had managed to dye the hairs purple instead. When she went to the popular new hair stylist that everyone in Carsely was raving about she too found Mr. John to be quite charming and a genius at his job. Something though about him just didn't seem quite right, and urged on by her friend Sir Charles, began to investigate Mr. John. Soon the investigations took Agatha's mind off her grey hair as the dead bodies began to accumulate.

As always with this popular cozy series the true attraction is the life and loves of Agatha and her circle of friends in Carsely. The mystery here is only moderately challenging although the reader will probably be surprised once or twice along the way. This is the eighth novel in the series, and does build on backstories established earlier in the series. Those fans of cozies who are new to this series will do better to begin with AGATHA RAISIN AND THE QUICHE OF DEATH, the first in the series and then proceed in order as much as possible.

Just what the doctor ordered following a grueling day at work. I visit small villages in England whenever I pick up one of the series. I have read every one.

As with all of the Agatha Raisin stories, the minute you open up the book you find yourself on yet another wonderful journey through the beautiful Cotswolds and Agatha's unabashed determination to get to the bottom of the latest mystery.

I never stop enjoying these mysteries, the character of Agatha Raisin is so believeably female and tons of fun.

Once you read one, you cannot stop until you have enjoyed them all.

Agatha Raisin's love life is in a mess . . . even though she's found a great hair dresser, Mr. John (the wizard of Evesham). James Lacey is away and isn't staying in touch. Mr. John is quite delicious in Agatha's eyes, but the frightened reactions of other women to Mr. John's name make Agatha suspicious. Out on a date with Mr. John, she finds her resistance melting. But Sir Charles Fraith (whom she saved from death in Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley and with whom she had a one-night stand in Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist) also wants to date "Aggie" and talks her into a joint investigation of Mr. John. Soon, Agatha is extravagantly throwing money and herself at the wizard . . . but she has some benefit because her hair has never looked better.

All of this fun is interrupted when Mr. John is poisoned. Agatha and Charles up their investigations . . . and also draw danger to themselves. They also draw more than the usual ire from the police, including Bill Wong who is being watched very carefully lest he play favorites with Agatha.

This is a confused Agatha. She makes fewer good decisions than usual and is clearly adrift emotionally. For those who like to think of Agatha as the next thing to Super Woman, this book will be a disappointment. If you don't like hair-based humor, this book also won't excite you.

Part of the appeal in this book comes from knowing how attached some women get to a given hairdresser. Turning that sometime attachment into a humorous mystery story is a good idea.

Detecting with Sir Charles isn't quite as much fun as detecting with a friendly James Lacey. There are also fewer romantic dreams for Agatha to relate. Instead, she's starting to wonder if she's just a dowdy middle-aged woman, despite younger men paying attention. I felt sorry for Agatha, and that made me realize that the character development was working for me. Before this book, I thought of Agatha as an interesting character rather than as a character I related to. In this book, the barrier finally dropped for me.

This product was in perfect condition and exactly what I expected. It arrived very quickly!

I originally purchased this book because I was working with a Korean firm in a Korean neighborhood. Boy, the stuff I overheard when people didn't think I understood what they were saying!
With that said, this book is handy for people with a basic understanding of Korean and definitely not for someone with little to no knowledge. The Romanization in the book it really sketchy to me as well as my Korean friends. As we all went thorugh the book, that one complaint came up over and over. My advice is to learn how to read Hangeul, that will help your pronunciation a lot more than the sketchy Romanization would.

This book contains so many informal, everyday speech phrases that it is hard to deny it's value. I learned how to say the worst things in Korean (sad but true) from this book. But here's the catch.
The English transliteration is so off it's not even funny. It's almost unrecognizable. You MUST be able to sound out (at least) or (preferably) read Korean in order to gain anything from this book. My reading skills are moderate so I got a lot, but if you cannot sound it out like it's natural, don't waste your money.

Having said that, if you read Korean - get this book - it's filthy!! +___+

My friend, who grew up speaking Korean, laughs when she reads this phrasebook. The phonetic pronunciations given are deplorable. Ignore them; learn hangul.
The phrases themselves are fun, but (I'm told) the language used is quite childish. It's sort of the equivalent of calling your lover "snugglewums". If you're using this phrasebook with someone you've just met, you're not likely to impress them. If you're already close, they're likely to think you're cute - after they stop laughing.
For fun-factor alone, the book is worth the price - but definitely don't make this the only Korean phrasebook you buy.

I'm learning a bit of spoken Korean with a Korean friend. We've gone over some videos we found online, a formal book which gives the full grammar and written language and a few other things. This is her favorite book we've looked at so far, as it actually gives words and phrases as they are used by real, live Korean people. Other books are awfully formal. Formality is important in Korean culture, but understanding people, and making yourself understood is probably more important. One of the other reviewers is quite correct: there is a lot of bawdy stuff in here. If you're religious, you are likely to be offended. However, there are a lot of us who want to be able to say such things in Korean, and as such, this is a valuable resource. It is decidedly non-proper, and it warns you when it teaches phrases which are not obviously off color (lots of "hey dude" kind of things involve calling the other fellow something fairly rude to most Koreans). This isn't a phrasebook for board meetings: it's a phrasebook for making new friends in Korean bars.

One point against it, which may be just a difficulty with Korean in general: the pronunciation guide is quite messed up. It makes very little sense, and sounds nothing like how Korean people pronounce the words. Probably no big deal if you are doing what I am doing, or if you understand the standard English transliteration of Hangul, but if you're just picking this up casually and hoping to make yourself understood, you'd be better off pointing to the helpful Hangul in the phrasebook than trying to sound the words out by yourself.

I was looking for something more relevant to understanding how to work with and the stock market. This book read more like a history book.

I took a quick glance over this book at a local book store. The author took a few popular indicators and commented on them with respects to various stock picks, plus other discussions on technical analysis that I found to be basic materials. However, he put a little twist in one of indicators that I found very interesting (I haven't thought of this indicator this way before). Thus, I programmed this method of analysis into my TradeStation and found it working quit well. Thanks Colin.

No single book on investing will provide you with all the knowledge you will need to be comfortable investing, but Colin Alexander's book comes as close as any. The book starts with the basics, and assumes no prior knowledge or experience with trading. It explains, in detail, the major charting patterns and technical indicators, and provides an algorithm for when to buy and sell. Having read over a dozen books in the field, I find that his suggestions are in-line with the prevailing philosophy of most traders. If you have yet to read a book on technical analysis or swing trading, I would highly recommend to start with this book. If you are already an intermediate trader trying to elevate your technical skills, you may find this work too rudimentary. All in all, this is an outstanding work that is clearly written and easy to implement.

When I picked up this book, I expected something similar to the book All About Market Timing, which overall I thouht was a good book. However, I got something very different in this book. This book consists of an introduction to a handful of indicators, such as on balance volume, the macd, moving averages, stochastics, and some subjective price patterns.
The description of these indicators seems okay to me, although nothing special. He has a brief section on options, where he makes a lot of extremely dubious claims, including the often-repeated professionals sell options, amatuers buy them. I suppose if you repeat this lie often enough, somebody is bound to believe it. He goes on to describe what is apparently his preferred option strategy: covered calls. There's nothing wrong with covered calls or being long premium or any other option strategy, but to claim that one is correct and the others are wrong is quite questionable.

He also is fond of uncovered puts, as a viable option strategy -- unfortunately, this strategy does not work out over the long term; you make steady small profits until you encounter a 10+ sigma event in the market, and get blown out. The lessons of LTCM and Niederhoffer should not be forgotten, especially given that equities markets trend far more than one would assume based on a log normal distribution. High probability trades are not always good trades!

I'm trying to get a handle on the intended audience of this book. It seems to be intended for people new to a technical approach to the market, and if that's the case, I don't think it'd make it to my top 100 list of such books. If someone is new to technical approaches, i'd probably recommend the much smaller (and in my view, much more useful) The Visual Investor by John Murphy.

Overall, I think this book should be avoided like the plague. There's nothing new in this book, just rehashed age-old advice, some of which is dubious, some of which is good.

This book is a tremendous gift to future generations and should be the basis of a mandatory course for everyone in highschool. If it were already, many of my friends and acquaintances would not have lost their fortunes in the last 3 years' bear market.
There is a mountain of great advice and detailed checklists for buying, selling and shorting stocks. Some of my favourite quotes are as follows:

-"The mutual fund industry constantly trumpets from the rooftops the merits for the long term...However the benefits...diminish significantly when capital is constantly eroded by transaction costs and withdrawals to pay capital gains tax...Dickens observed that 'the business of lawyers is making business for lawyers.' Things do not change. The investment business is not immune to mutual back-scratching at the expense of the public...There is no doubt that the rapid turnover of stocks is one reason why so few funds come close even to equaling the performance of the stock indexes."

-"Never put a large amount of money into stocks all at once."

-"Buy bonds for retirement when you are retired."

-"It is as important to know when to sell a stock, or when to sell it short, as when to buy it."

-"It is an absolute certainty that in the future there will be stock market declines similar to the one in 1987. Some will be more severe and some will last much longer." [Alexander's book was published in 1999 before the major bear market of 2000 -...]

-"During a general bear market put [ALL] your money into cash equivalents like Treasury Bills until the storm blows over...Contrary to popular belief, for all practical purposes there are no stocks to own when the general direction of the market is down."

-"There is certain to be a sell signal for every stock you ever own...Warren Buffett...has shown that the stated policy of the mutual fund industry ['buy and hold'] does in fact work...in a bull market"!

"The market is always right; you either make money or you lose it!"

-"It often happens that the stock that doubles once goes on to double again...the greatest stocks always look expensive."

-"Buy strength, not weakness!"

-"Do not buy many different stocks...Aimless diversification merely increases the liklihood of investing in fewer great stocks."

-"Always place an initial protective stop as soon as you buy a stock."

-"A Lindahl price rule and a double reversal price rule are particularly powerful indicators of the potential for a stock to make a substantial move."

-"You should never own a stock making a new 52 week low but you might well consider selling it short."

-"In a general bear market you should generally do nothing but sell short, if you are in the market at all."

-"The downside [in] writing options is [they are] a waste of time compared with owning stocks like Microsoft and Intel when stocks are really running."

The book has many more gems and concrete action plans. It is the most useful book for the public I have ever read. It should top Hillary Clinton's autobiography and Harry Potter, but, regrettably, it won't! People will continue to listen to their liars - their brokers, financial planners and mutual fund salespeople, regrettably. A few will read the book, and be wiser, and richer!

I purchased the 2001 edition of this book in a retail book store about two years ago. At first I seldom used it, but in the last few months of 2007 I started to use it quite a bit. Shortly after, the pages begin to come loose from the binding. I believe any dictionary should be made with enough quality to give years of use. I have paperback English dictionaries that are several years old and still in one piece. I have other paperback English/Spanish dictionaries that are still holding up. Of the hundreds of paperpacks that I have purchased over several years, this book is one of the five or six that did not hold together.
Aside from the poor binding construction, I would rate the content of this dictionary a 3 or 4. It is possible that the edition on sale here has a better binding than my edition, however, if you need an everyday dictionary, look elsewhere.

There is quite a lot to recommend this dictionary, but after using it for quite some time, I have grown to loathe it. The grammar section is actually a very positive feature; very well done and helpful even to someone who may be studying grammar formally or casually using another text. The dictionary did seem quite comprehensive at first, however there are just too many words with common definitions and usages omitted. This is true for both English and Spanish definitions. Furthermore, the dictionary is pathetically under cross-referenced, with very serious omissions in this regard indeed. I don't think this is a good investment for anyone. It's too big and combersome to be really portable and far too haphazard and unhelpful to be considered "complete". I think you're much better off getting a useful compact/pocket dictionary and/or a genuinely complete and comprehensive desk reference.

[Note: this rating is for a dictionary of this size.]

This is one of the two concise dictionaries I own. A new edition (5e, what happened to 4e?) is coming out. Supposedly to be released 1/08, but it has yet to actually appear. I will buy it when available.

3e has good coverage for its size and lots of idioms. Sure, it's hardly complete, but every dictionary that I've seen has unexpected omissions. And, of course, it's what I would consider an intermediate size dictionary.

The format with blue, bold headings and the general typography make it easy on the eyes.

The grammar section at the back is both a good and bad feature. Bad in that it makes the dictionary significantly heavier to tote around. I wish it were detachable. But, it is quite good for its grammar summary, providing a general grammar and not solely verb conjugations.

I prefer this edition of the Collins-Harper to the similarly sized and newer Langenscheidt's Diccionario Moderno Ingles / Langenscheidt Standard Spanish Dictionary: Espanol-Ingles/ Ingles-Espanol / Spanish -English English-Spanish (Langenscheidt Standard Dictionaries). Primarily due to the convenience of 3e opening flat, but also for my occasional use of the grammar section.

However, I think the Langenscheit's has a bit more contemporary usage and is slightly more extensive.

But, used for $.95 + shipping this is a great deal if you don't want to lay out more or want a 2nd dictionary. My 3e will move over to work when 5e finally comes available.

My Master's thesis was a review and rating of Spanish-English dictionaries. I find this dictionary, like all the other Collins dictionaries, to be a good choice.

Here are a few of the factors which distinguish a good bilingual dictionary from a bad one.

To begin with, ignore certain publishers' marketing ploys such as entry and translation counts. They say nothing about the value of the words chosen.

The first valid factor to consider is lexicographic technique. A bad dictionary simply lists translations. Take, for example, the entry in the Cassell's Spanish Dictionary under the English headword loop: "lazo, gaza, nudo; ojal, presilla, alamar; anillo; recodo, comba, curva, vuelta," etc. For the English reader writing in Spanish, this is hopelessly inadequate, as the dictionary provides no clue as to which translation to use in which situation.

Compare the treatment of the same word in the far superior American Heritage Spanish Dictionary. "(length of line) lazo; (coil) vuelta; (bend) curva; (circular path) vuelta, circuito; (fastener) presilla" etc. Here, the user is given glosses in the native language to assist in identifying the right word for the context. Example sentences are also a tremendous help. Collins is excellent in this respect, presenting good information to guide users through the semantic and syntactic complexities.

Second, a good dictionary should maintain an up-to-date lexicon, including such cultural and technological additions to the language as "baby sitter," "hostile takeover," "software," "flash drive." Collins is a leader in this respect; its frequent revisions are more than mere window dressing and do a creditable job of covering the most recent additions to the language.

Third, idioms, slang, and cusswords can present real problems to the language learner, and a dictionary needs to handle them in a clear and frank fashion. This dictionary gets it right, giving stylistic equivalents for translations as well as clear advice to the user.

One complaint about Collins dictionaries is that they often presents Britishisms without labeling them as such. Revisions have only partially corrected the problem. For this reason, I would not recommend this dictionary to native Spanish speakers in the US.

Be careful when you choose a bilingual dictionary, as some of the choices--Cassell's and Vox, for example--are downright terrible. The field of large dictionaries stays relatively static over time, and the best choices in it by far are Oxford, Collins, and Larousse. The field of small dictionaries, on the other hand, has many more players. While not the only good choice, Collins is a dictionary most users would be pleased with.

Publisher Comments:
It's now the best buy in paperback on a crowded shelf! HarperCollins Concise Dictionaries carry on the tradition of our strong-selling bilinguals, which have earned a reputation as the easiest to use, most consistently updated, and most reliable authorities on slang, technological, political, and business terms. Easy to carry and painlessly priced, they're perfect for college or advanced high school language students.
-- A comprehensive dictionary and grammar reference in one, the Concise Dictionaries include 316-page step-by-step guides to grammatical constructions and idiomatic usage.
-- The keyword feature gives students extra help in translating the most essential vocabulary words.
-- Special entries throughout the text illuminate aspects of a given country's life and culture.