Full Books

As one of the "informants" whose views are represented in Dr. Ikeda's study of the meaning, organization, and affect produced by and associated with high school reunions, I was understandably a bit nervous to see how "my culture" was represented by this "outsider" to a phenomenon that most Americans take completely for granted. I was not only pleased with the way my words were used and interpreted, but with the many, many ways the author brought new insights and perspectives to my own perceptions and experiences. This is something rare, and it points to the absolute necessity of having "outsiders" look in using the ethnographic method in respectful, insightful, ethical, and compassionate ways. I happen to be an anthropologist who studies "others" and Ikeda's work has helped me look at my own work in productive ways. For the non-scholar, the book offers the opportunity for cultural and personal self-discovery as well as the valuable opportunity to see that bridges can be crossed, "difference" is a matter of perspective, and everything that seems hopelessly strange can be a mirror into our own selves. Ikeda has done what I could never have done, which is to take something I thought I knew by heart and show me that I needed her perspective to learn more about my own. I highly recommend this for every kind of reader, but particularly for American women who cannot help but see themselves at every graceful turn the author takes.

This is the definitive work on that strange American ritual, the high school reunion. Informative, and even moving at times.

Considering that the high school reunion is a ritual nearly every adult American confronts at one time or another (whether s/he attends or not), it is surprising how taken for granted the phenomenon is. This book offers the perspective of an "outsider" (a Japanese woman) who lived in the U.S. for many years and who obviously "gets" American society and culture, but who can point out aspects that Americans themselves rarely notice. What sets this book apart from typical dry academic treatises is the narratives of reunion participants of various ages, told in their own words. The stories are engrossing and sometimes even moving, and whether you like all the characters or not, you'll probably find a bit of yourself in all of them.

It's too bad the reviewer below didn't tell us by whom this "has been done better before." I've never seen anything like it, and I've looked. (Another book, by an Israeli sociologist, on American high school reunions was published almost simultaneously. I haven't seen it yet, though it would be interesting to compare.)

As for the comment that this book is "is an attempt to get tenure by publishing a dissertation"...um, isn't that one of the things scholars are *supposed* to do? Or has publishing one's dissertation been classified as an underhanded trick, and no one bothered to tell me? Besides, as the author profile in the book states, the author teaches at a Japanese university, and is therefore outside the American tenure fray. I wonder if the reviewer actually read the book. The review reads more like a cheap shot by someone who for some reason or another holds a grudge against the author.

It is all about a girl named Veronica, who plays the violin. People cry because she plays so nice. She takes a trip to the jungle. She travels with some fearless hunters. When the animals appeared the hunters ran away. Veronica played beautiful music and the animals partied. But then a deaf lion came and he did not know about the music and he ate Veronica. This is why the world is not full of happy dancing people!! I love this book!

I teach Grade One and my class love this book. It is a fun story with lots of Mr. Mckee's colourful, and rather surrealist, illustrations. This story has a good balance of comedy, tragedy and a sense of the ridiculous. Anyone who has read and enjoyed Not Now, Bernard will love this one.

I bought this book because it made me laugh out loud in the shop when I got to the ending. "Mothers are always right!"... Veronica plays violin beautifully, but terribly sadly... in every picture there are tears tears tears. One day Veronica who is now a star decides to get away from it all and go for a trip to the jungle... incredibly enough she plays music for vicious beasts but it is HAPPY music!! Yes, she will go back and play differently and the streets will be full of happy dancing people, rather than rivers of tears... but then.... Well, you will have to read it yourself for the explanation of why the streets are not full of happy dancing people. So sad you'll laugh!

The watercolor illustrations are great, with even the birds crying. The layouts are charming, and you can spend an enjoyable half hour searching out the tiny lion motifs hidden on the pages.

A highly recommended book with a great sense of humour, foreshadowing, suspense, character development and a climax ending... what more can you ask of a picture book?!

I think so, this is a very rare book and in spite of this, it has a low price.

This book contains information about the witch culture( in the Middle Ages ) and about magic.

I can recommend this book for everybody.

Joseph Glanvill was alarmed by what he perceived to be a rise of scepticism that accounts of witches and witch-trials were reliable. He wrote this tome, posthumously published in 1681, to convince his contemporaries that they were still worth sniffing out.

Whether he makes his case or not will ultimately be up to the reader. But what you will get is a collection of entertaining folklore, concerning not only witches, but also demon drummers and other alleged diabolical manifestations. All of these stories are written up in a quite good seventeenth century style.

Glanvill strongly influenced Cotton Mather and his -Wonders of the Invisible World-, which clearly owes a great deal to this work. [Got to hand it to Mather; he came up with a far superior title.] Students of the Salem witch trials will want to know this book as well.

The "Saducismus Triumphatus" of Joseph Glanvill, originally published in 1681, is one of the seminal works on witches, demons, ghosts, and other paranormal happenings. Glanvill was a distinguished member of the famous Royal Society (of which Isaac Newton was a member) and was disturbed by the rising skepticism and disbelief concerning demons and witches in the late 17th century. Glanvill believed, perhaps justly, that a rising disbelief in ghosts and spirits would eventually lead to a disbelief in Christianity. Glanvill, as an active opponent to Atheism, set out to prove, using scientific means, that ghosts and demons were in fact real, and continued to be a menace to a good Christian society. In doing so, Glanvill produced what has been called the first book on psychical research and what is generally considered the most influential of all English works on witchcraft and the paranormal.

Glanvill relates a number of stories that he collected from friends and colleagues concerning witchery, demons, and other supernatural beings, though he himself witnessed one first hand. Glanvill personally visited the Mompesson house and claimed to witness the doings of the famous Demon Drummer of Tedworth, supposedly the disembodied spirit of a dead soldier who was thought to haunt the place. The other tales deal with other interesting incidents of levitations, flying witches, sabbats, and much more. It is understandable why this work was so popular in its day despite the growing disbelief in the existence of witches.

As noted below, Glanvill's works were highly influential on the Boston clergyman Cotton Mather and were referenced in his "Wonders of the Invisible World", a defence of the Salem Witch Trials published shortly after that infamous affair. Glanvill's attempt to use science and reason to empirically document the supernatural was a first and this book is a valuable addition to the literature of the paranormal.

WOW! This is one of those books that you just can't put down! The author has done a wonderful job of pulling the reader in, and keeping you at the edge of your seat throughout the entire book - something that I've not encountered with very many books of this genre.

"The Self-Full Life" describes the authors NDE (which occurred when she was only in her early twenties), and the beautiful encounters she has experienced during meditation since the time of her NDE. Each of these encounters - with her guides & angels - brought many learning lessons to light, and have helped her to grow spiritually over the years.

In my opinion, the best thing about this book is that we can all learn & grow through the information & guidance that Mrs. Abernathy receives from her guides & angels - which is especially wonderful for those of us who have not yet made contact with our own "soul team".

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in spritiuality, NDE's, &/or guidance through spirit guides & angels. It's an easy, interesting, soul-expanding read, that is jam packed with great insights that can benefit us all! One word of "caution" though - an open mind is a must.

This is the most fasinating book I have read on this subject. Peg uses such discriptive language that it is easy to picture life on the other side. Her confirsations with the Guides are illuminating and informative. It is very easy to feel the warmth and love coming from their words which are spoken to help all of us live our lives to the fullest. I would highly recomend this book to anyone searching for the meaning of this life and what it is like on the other side. This book provides the reader with the idea that there is life after death and that we have choices in this life that will affect us forever.

This book was so touching and interesting that I read it in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down. The descriptions of the magical places are so real, you feel like you are there. It gives you a whole new perspective of what really happens after we die. It is an inspiring book that gives you hope and makes you realize that we are not alone and if we look deep enough inside ourselves, we too can find peace and harmony. It's a life altering experience.

I bought this book for my nephews 10th b-day, it is now his favorite book!! His mom tells me he reads it every night!! Having read it myself, I know why he loves it, it takes eveything that is fun about being a kid and puts it in one great story!! I hope this author continues to bring his imagination to life for the rest of us to enjoy!!

Such a fun book to read! I am well into adulthood and this book kept me smiling from beginning to end. What a great story, incorporating such fundamenals ~ family, imagination, creativity! I really enjoyed this book and am sure that children of all ages will too!

I'm closer to the 600 year old range but I loved this book. It brought me back to a magical time of my childhood where grandparents were the greatest and summer was the most wonderful and adventurous time of the year. With all of the over use of computers, video games and numerous TV, this little book is a great reminder of how important imagination is to a kid. No matter how old.

I loved this book. I have read almost all of the Stephanie books and this was one of my favorites.
This book is about Stephanie starting a catering buisness .She doesn't realize the amount of work that it takes to run a buisness.
I love cooking to so it made the book even more fun. I have read this book twice. And I will probably read it again. It is a fun book for kids around 7 to 12. I hope you pick up this book and enjoy it just as much as I did!!!

Stephanie cooks herself into a heep of trouble. When she needs to cook dinner for her family and they like it, she otimaticly thinks she could make it in the cooking buiness. READ THIS BOOK!

This book was great. When Jessie can't cook dinner, Stephanie takes his place. She cooks an excellent meal, which everbody loves. So then, Stephanie decides to run a catering buisness! She gets a bunch of orders, and she messes up all of them!!!! Finally, Stephanie manages to burn a salad, and makes an important decision. But for more details, read the book!

It isn't at first apparent from the listing that this is a book of postcards. I found it very valuable because I also bought Eaton's "Tiffany Windows: Stained Glass Pattern Book". Although colored examples were given for them, the Tiffany designs are complicated. 15 or 16 of the postcards were duplicate designs that were in the Eaton book. I use the images for computer application and they helped me a lot to choose the right colors.

Was looking for good color photos of some of Tiffany's work. This book did not disappoint. The illustrations here have excellent detail that I didn't see for some of the works published elsewhere.

This is a companion book, as it's glossy postcards. I spent an afternoon at my local frame shop & framed 6 of the cards, they are very attractive as smaller framed images. The images are sharp (although small) & the colors seem to be pretty true to what the windows would actually look like. I'm pleased with the results of my afternoon & glad I had a chance to read the previous review to know these were postcards.

Richard Strauss knew how to make symphonic music with great drama as well as humour. The three grand symphonic masterpieces of this edition just has it all. Dare I say that some of the music in Tod Und Verklarung is some of the most beautiful and heartbreaking music ever written? And how about the great humor revealed in Don Quixote? Richard Strauss truly is a master of the orchestra. If you don't believe me, have a look yourself. It just hardly get any better than this. Thank you Dover for this excellent book!

A great score, with no errors and very large, readable print. Great companion for listeners, music students, and conductors alike.

The score is very large (9 3/8 x 12 1/4) and lays flat on a stand or table. Highly reccommended!

No music truly exists in a book. The composer puts his directions on paper, and the musician tries his best to do what the composer has directed to do. Play this note high, this note low, this note long, this note short, etc. Music is an art that really doesn't exist until it comes to life through the time it takes to perform it. Like a seed, the score of an orchestral work lies dormant until the musician(s) plant it, nurture it through performance.

For the few that can read a score like the rest of us read a newspaper, the music can come alive in the imagination of their inner ear. For the rest of us mortals, following the score while the music plays can help us 'see' the tree come to life with our ears and revel in all of the life and vitality it contains.

The tone poems of Richard Strauss are like vast, sprawling trees. There is no need to follow a score to admire the beauty of the trees. If that were so, symphony orchestras would pass out copies of the score to the audience and keep the lights on. But following the score is like climbing right up into the tree. You can see the diversity, the details, and even look down at the ground and realize where you are.

So to be able to appreciate these masterpieces on a different level, following the score can be a revelation. Dover's edition of these tone poems is inexpensive, of good quality, and I especially like the large format. If you try to follow a miniature score of these works, you best have really great eyes or a magnifying glass. These are vast, romantic works, and Strauss uses a very large orchestra. So the large format is much easier to read and follow.

So if you ever have the urge to get closer to these masterpieces, then by all means let the Dover edition of the scores be your guide. Your efforts to climb the tree will be well rewarded!

Stephanie and her friends are in summer camp and they think it's going to be great! but then they find out that the flawmingos are there to! isn't it weird that every camp Stephanie goes to she mets Rene there! not that thats good or anything, but it makes a good story line, but Stephanie isn't that worried after she mets Luke. Then Rene tells her that Luke has a bad past, Stephanie doesent belive her- at first, but, could it be true?

I loved this book! It was really cool, and I couldn't put it down!

I really liked this book. It was about Stephanie and her friends at camp sail-away. She met her boyfriend out on the water. He was water skiing and the wave he created knocked her boat over. He came over to see if she was ok and one thing led to another. I would recommend this book because it was cool, exciting and you never know what would happen next.

This book is unmistakably useful as a guide for tourists visiting Turkey, but it will be of value also to all of us with Turkish friends. Turks are Middle Easterners, but not like most of their neighbours. This book sweeps away suppositions and errors and presents the Turks' history, culture, beliefs and ways in a clear and readable manner.

The Insight Guide to Turkey has breathtaking photos, and exceptionally well-written essays about the country, its history, geography, politics and peoples.

I read this book in preparing to host a Turk at my house. I was seeking an appreciation of the country and its culture. What I got was a fascinating read (I couldn't put it down) and a very balanced view, in addition to a great history lesson. I am left with a desire to see this country and meet its people!

Insight guides offer a rich history, political analysis and cultural insight to the countries they cover. By using locally based writers they get the insiders view of what the various camps believe in. For a discerning traveller who wants to know about the country, the people, geography, food, industry etc and for those who wish to travel independently, this is the book to read. It is not tourist guide which says stay here, eat this menu, see this statue. All that is left to the standard tourist guide writers. If you never travel to a country, you can know it through the insight guide. Because Muslim and Turkish cultures are so different from ours (and Turkish is different to Arabic Muslim) it is important to be aware of the behaviours that are considered polite and those that are considered to be rude. This book equips you to deal courteously with salesmen who would be considered pushy by western standards. Did you know for instance that it is rude to kiss your partner in the street in Turkey (or any muslim country) even if it is only a peck on the cheek -whereas it is polite for men to kiss each other in public. Why were Turks feared by all of Europe for seven hundred years? Why do the Greeks still hate them with such passion (if you want to insult a Greek just call him a Turk and see the reaction). For depth of analysis on culture, history and geography, to understand what makes the people tick, you should read this book. Then if you travel to Turkey you may, like me, find the Turks to be the friendliest people you have ever met. You may also understand why such friendly people are capable of being represented in quite a different way in Movies like Midnight Express. Vive la difference!