Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description

The busy women�s guide to managing their.time and simplifying their lives�with less.stress and more excitement
.For the woman who has everything�except the time.to do anything�comes this empowering handbook of.proven techniques for reducing the �busy-ness� levels.in our crazy, hectic lives. Written by a �recovered.Superwoman� who tried to do it all, the book shows.you how to prioritize, how to say no, how to deal.with difficult people, and how to get more done in less.time�without multi-tasking. Best of all, it teaches.you to relax and enjoy the things that really matter.and become reenergized and excited about life! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A Must Read As You Begin 2010
I got this book as a Christmas present from my best girlfriend. Out of politeness, I perused the Table of Contents while she watched. I knew immediately that I would read the book. I did.

Now you must do the same, you busy people. As a favor to your best girlfriends, give them this book for the New Year. Get them started at beating their own stress. By following the advice in TOO BUSY FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, all of you readers will find even more time for your "girls' night out!"

A must-read!
Too Busy for Your Own Good is a must-read for any busy person. The author gives you practical tools to deal with the near-universal problem of overcommitting. Set aside time to read this book, and you'll gain more time and energy to devote to yourself and your relationships. Worth every penny.

helped me in business
This book helped me in my business, to know how to balance work, family & social activities.I wish I had it 10 years ago...an excellent resource for busy people. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The Last Bachelor is About to Fall
Keith Owens is the last of a group of five guys in the Cattleman's club in Royal, Texas to have fallen to marriage and his four friends are joking with him about that as the book opens, because Keith has been selected as the member who picks the charity that will be benefit of a large check at the Cattleman's Club Ball and Keith has picked the New Hope Battered Women's Shelter, run by Andrea O'Rourke. Keith and Andrea were an item many years ago and the boys think Keith wants to pick up where they left off.

Joking aside, the boys begin to muse about who killed Eric Chambers (See "Her Lone Star Protector by Peggy Moreland). They believe Dorian Brady is the guilty party, but he has a solid alibi in Laura Edwards, who swears she'd been with Brady on that fateful day that Chambers was murdered.

The women at New Hope are delighted about the award from the Cattleman's Club, but Andrea has reservations. She believes Keith is setting her up. She's right. Keith relentlessly pursues her, ignoring all the attempts she makes at rebuffing him and in a moment of weakness she succumbs in his car and not to long after discovers she's going to have a baby. In another moment of weakness, Andrea tells Keith about the baby and now he doubles his efforts to win her hand.

Meanwhile, Laura comes into the shelter. She tells Laura she's afraid of Brady, that she'd lied, that Brady is actually the murderer. And now Brady is after them both.

This is an excellent addition to the Texas Cattleman's Club series of romances in the Silhouette Desire series of Harlequin books. Wow, that was a mouthful or should I say, a sentenceful, but no matter how you say it, this was a very pleasant read.

back of book description
Texas Millionaire Keith Owens loved his bachelor ways- until elegant and sophisticated Andrea O'Rourke came back to town.Years ago the sparks between them had nearly seared them both- but Andrea had left, swearing to forget the power of Keith's touch.... Now she'd returned, cool, calm and collected- until she caught Keith's possessive, passionate eye once more.This time, he swore she wouldn't escape him before he had his fill- but then he would release her.Only, Keith forgot to let Andrea in on his plan...

Pretty Good Read
This was a nice story about love gone wrong and righted.

Disappointed
I enjoyed every book in this series, except this one.The Heroine whine to much for me about what happened in the past.She went on with her life and got married, to a man she supposedly had loved then widowed.But when she meets her child hood friend and past love.She harps on the pass.I've read just about all of Jackie Merritt's books and this was a no win situation for me.Before I was finished with book, I definitely wanted the man to move on and dump her.

Passionate reminders of the past -- Highly recommended
Texas millionaire Keith Owens remains the last bachelor in the Texas Cattleman's Club. All five men had all been bachelors five months ago until each discovered the power of love. Keith scoffs at other's taunts that he is next, but does not deny that he has placed himself on a collision course with his old flame, Andrea O'Rourke. Eighteen years, earning millions in the computer business, and a divorce did not erased his fascination with Andrea.

Andrea feels incredible frustration that she must accept a large donation from Keith on behalf of New Hope Charity for battered women. Her carefully cultivated life, preference for quiet entertainment, and cool demeanor conceal a heart that never recovered from Keith's rejection. Eighteen years ago she expected a marriage proposal, and received a business proposal instead. Now she finds that her elegant demeanor is not enough to protect her from Keith's passion and her own desire.

Author Jackie Merritt breaks with the age convention I have come to associate with the Desire product line by giving both hero and heroine thirty-eight mature years. I find such a choice refreshing, and suspect such a choice greatly broadens the appeal to her mature audience. One's perspective of the past radically changes as do priorities as the age of forty approaches, and Merritt broaches those changes well, forcing her characters to both confront the past and reconcile it with a future neither feels certain of. They also realize that approaching forty does not give all the answers when love and desire become involved. These strong characterizations combined with an unexpected conclusion to the Texas Cattleman's Club make THE BACHELOR TAKES A WIFE come highly recommended. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dolls of death
"Burn Witch Burn" is a very unusual book for Abraham Merritt, who's best known for his gloriously weird, surreal adventure stories (think Jules Verne/H. Rider Haggard on acid). But in this book, he took a brilliant left turn into the earliest days of urban fantasy -- a harrowing, horrific tale of curses, illusion and dolls that will literally stab you to death.

Dr. Lowell is summoned on a strange medical case for the underworld boss Julian Ricori -- one of his men is afflicted with a bizarre limp paralysis, along with an inward-directed expression of pure terror.

The man eventually dies, and Lowell is completely mystified about what killed him. But he soon learns that seven other people have died with the same bizarre symptoms, and soon the nurse ends up dying the same way. Ricori claims that it's witchcraft, and though Lowell insists that can't be the case, his only lead is to a (dramatic drumroll) doll shop.

But after Ricori visits the doll shop, he's suddenly stabbed (non-fatally) in the heart by a pin... and the chauffeur insists that the attacker was a doll. Though Lowell wants to stick to his scientific principles, he slowly learns that the dolls are infused with a magical force, put there by the malevolent dollmaker -- and he's being drawn into her demonic web. Can a doctor and an underworld mobster defeat someone with such horrible powers?

People count urban fantasy as starting in the 1970s or 1980s, but "Burn Witch Burn" could probably be considered one of the earliest examples of the genre. Sure, it doesn't have werewolves, vampires, faeries or a leather-wearing heroine who insists she's the toughest thing since petrified leather -- but it does have a very ordinary, sleek modern setting that is slowly infused with horror and death.

Merritt's prose here is lean and nimble with a hint of noir, but also little moments his usual florid style ("eyes seared and blind...the long white hands clutching at her torn throat, and no longer white but crimson with her blood"). And though it starts off pretty staid and steady, Merritt slowly dribbles more and more of a sense of horror into the story -- and the only problem is that the idea of evil dolls OPENLY menacing you with tiny knives is kind of unintentionally silly.

Lowell is an unlikely hero for this sort of story -- he's very stuffy, prissy and uptight at the beginning, and he clings to his scientific principles like a security blanket. But as the book unwinds he's forced to loosen up and accept that there are things outside the realm of science.

And Ricori makes a good counterpart for Lowell -- we never forget that he's basically a mob boss, but he has his own code of honor and decency, knowing the difference between mere criminality and true evil. And he knows from the beginning that it's "la strega" who is causing all this trouble. As for the dollmaker, she crouches over the entire story like a leering bloated spider overseeing her web.

Not only is it one of the earliest urban fantasy stories I know of, but "Burn Witch Burn" is a harrowing, eerie tale just soaked with atmosphere.Definitely give it a read. ... Read more

Product Description
Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing tools and principles to the design, implementation and evaluation of health and social behavior change programs. It focuses on target groups within the population, tailoring campaigns and awareness with the aim of achieving specific behavioral goals relevant to the public good. It is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool within public health, where it can improve health and reduce health inequalities. It is particular important for influencing voluntary lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, drug use, drinking, and diet.

Social Marketing and Public Health: Theory and Practice gives an international focus on social marketing. It covers both theory and practice, frames social marketing within its political and policy context, and takes an ecological view of health improvement. The book includes case examples to allow the reader to understand some of the benefits and challenges of this approach, and provides a step-by-step guide to developing, implementing and evaluating social marketing. It will appeal to a broad academic and practitioner readership from both a medical and business background, including those working in public health, health promotion, public sector management, nursing, medicine, allied health, communications, and marketing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent insight into social marketing- practice and theory
This a great review of social marketing - a practice that is rightly being recognised as an essential tool in public service delivery - in health and the wider sector. This book has the right balance of theory, tips and practical advice for implementation and fully evaluated case studies. Well written, accessible and the kind of book that you will continually revisit. HIghly recommended, and a welcome addition to the many US centric titles currently available. Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
A revision of the classic reference covering all important principles and techniques needed by practicing civil engineers.The 5th Edition incorporates changes in design and construction practices, especially in design specifications for construction materials, buildings and bridges, safety and health concerns, and the most current codes changes including ACI, AISC, ASTM, NDS for wood structures, etc.The Handbook covers systems design, community and regional planning, the latest design methods for buildings, airports, highways, tunnels and bridges.It includes sections on construction equipment, construction management, materials, specifications, structural theory, geotechnical engineering, wood, concrete, steel design and construction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

What I needed
The book came within a couple days and was fairly priced and new.

It's just a desk, of field, reference.
I've read several other of the reviews, and feel the need to add a little to the conversation.

This book will not make you into an engineer if you don't have the foundation knowledge required.It is a desk reference, useful mainly for a quick review, of principles outside your primary area of engineering practice, when you need a quick refresher.

I am a degreed and licensed Civil Engineer, but I am primarily a Construction Engineer.I use this book to get myself back upto speed on topics that I haven't dealt with in a while, and to do field checks on designs I'm trying to build before I call the Design Engineer.I've got several hundred text books, and years worth of journals, and technical reports available in my office.They don't fit in my breifcase and travel to the field well.The handbook does.

I wouldn't rely on the knowledge contained in this book alone, to execute a design for any complex or critical project.I doubt that any competent professional would, or should.

All said, it is worth every penny you spend on it.

excelent andgood reference
I found it most complete reference for civil engineers ,I always carry this book in my travels ,I found it complete in this fields: safety and health concerns, and the most current codes changes including ACI, AISC, ASTM,
and you find powerfull data in covers systems design, community and regional planning, the latest design methods for buildings, airports, highways, tunnels and bridges. It includes sections

what do you want else ,buy it and carry all knowlege you can have.

Still the bestCivilHandbook
The fifth edition update mainly reflects changes in code requirements for structural engineering.Other sections seem barely changed from the fourth edition.The water resources chapter has several misprinted tables.Use the corresponding tables out of the fourth edition.

Generalle well-written and easy to follow.Useful as a supplemental study reference for the Civil PE Exam.

Could use a good bibliography.

Great Review/Reference Book
I'm a senior in CE this year and I have been using the 2nd edition of this book (1976) more or less daily as I work on my senior design projects.Not really in depth on any one subject, but its great if you just need to look up a formula or technique that you forgot from some class.I plan to ask for the new edition as a graduation present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Couldn't be more impressed!!!
I really loved this story. I especially love how it was written. Not a bunch of long drawn out descriptions that go on and on like some writers do, to the point where you lose your place in the story. There were several twists and turns that really kept you reading, not wanting to put the book down because you just had to find out what happens next. Truly enjoyable!! I can't wait to get her next book. Hurry Liz, get that next one out there!!!

You most assuredly have a fan here. I'm glad I got to read your first book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A great book that can be read in a day.
this book was great, i thought that it would be just like the others, but i got so into the book that it was 100 degrees outside and i thought that it was cold.there was a snow storm in the book and i got the shivers.itwas sweet and it ended like you never thought that it would.it was a goodending and a sweet story!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Here is the evolution of the American house - social and technological as well as architectural - in a book intended for a general audience: people interested in houses and architecture and people who visit house museums. Starting with the Fairbanks House in Dedham, Massachusetts, arguably the oldest surviving house in America (1637), and ending with the Gropius House in Lincoln, Massachusetts (1937), and the Pope-Leighey House in Falls Church, Virginia (1940), the author looks at the American house through its architectural evolution, through its significance as a reflection of a changing society, and through its technological development with creature comforts such as heat and light and indoor plumbing. There is a particular emphasis on seeing these houses through the lives of those who lived there and called them home. ... Read more

Product Description
The Age of Technology is nowhere made more personal than at home. Modern convenience shapes our daily routine, making today's American house a place of comfort, the like of which has never been known. Yet of all aspects of modern technology, it is the evolution of what is in the household that has
been least written about.
        
In The Comforts of Home, an unprecedented work written for a general audience with no particular knowledge of science or technology, social historian Merritt Ierley weaves in aspects of architecture, social history, and technology to present an underexplored but central feature of American cultural identity: how our lives are shaped by the domestic technology around us. Here we see a simple brick cubicle with a stove inside it evolve into central heating, a barrel with a large handle become the automatic washing machine, a box lined with charcoal birth the modern refrigerator, and the modern toilet develop from a rudimentary stone trough.
        
The Comforts of Home charts the evolution of mechanical systems--from central heating to lighting, from kitchen to bathroom, from washing machine to vacuum cleaner--on which we all depend and without which most of us could hardly imagine surviving. It is also the story of the people responsible for the revolution of convenience in the home: people like Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, a British Loyalist, inventor and spy who fled his home in the American colonies in 1776. His genius of invention returned in the form of inventions with practical impact on everyday life in the household. Or like architects Benjamin Latrobe and James Gallier, Jr., who defined the cutting edge of modern convenience for their times. The Comforts of Home is also the story of ordinary people like David and Ida Eisenhower, who provided their son Dwight and his brothers with a home that increased in comfort the way most American homes did--bit by bit, appliance by appliance, advance by advance--as new technology became cheaper and more widespread, and more a part of everyday life.
        
The story of the convenience of modern living is compellingly traced in this delightfully written book illustrated with nearly 200 photographs and vintage illustrations.

Front and back illustrations, c. 1892, show a Standard Gas Machine apparatus that was used for supplying one's own home with illuminating gas in the age of gaslight (courtesy of Smithsonian Institution). Inset shows delivery of a 1960s automatic "Ice Maker" refrigerator (courtesy of Whirlpool Corporation).


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Highly interesting popular history.
The author makes horizontal sections in time recounting then current household technology. He covers heating, lighting, waste removal, plumbing, and major appliances.
Having grown up in a house built in the twenties and several times modified I am quite familiar with the use of anthracite coal for heating, and regular refuse removal including clinkers from the furnace. I hauled many a ton of coal, basket by basket, to stoke the fire and dragged out many an ash can full as a young lad.
On the other hand my father grew up in a house heated only by the kitchen range and a Franklin stove in the parlor. He was born in 1901.
Later we converted to gas and then moved to a house built in 1878 which also had been upgraded to have showers and gas heat. Up until the forties and fifties we had enormous hot air furnaces which depended on natural convection to distribute heat. Post WW II with the use of forced air heating the size of furnaces shrank to the size of a small wardrobe, instead of taking up half the basement.
This work is not much of a technical history but covers enough to carry the story, tracing from the inventions of the 1700s on. By the 1920s the major equipment of the modern home was all developed but was still to be refined and made automatic with thermostats and regulators. And the general use of central built-in air conditioning was not until the late 1950s. Only a few public buildings had chilled air and most of those were movie palaces and theatres which could not be left open to the natural environment.

A highly browsable, NEAT book.
COMFORTS OF HOME is an awesome book that tells (in beautiful pictures as well as words) the story behind all the household conveniences we have grown accustomed to. After spotting this title in the architecture sectionof my local independant bookstore, I knew I would be leafing thru it forthe next several minutes--I love a good illustrated history or technicalbook. What I didn't know is that just browsing this really interestingvolume would lead me to purchase the book. And not just one copy, either. Iordered several copies on the internet for a number of my friends that Iknow will appreciate the old pictures and the story behind toilets,kitchens, microwaves, etc.

Good job, Merritt Ierley! ... Read more

Product Description
*BOOK PURCHASES THROUGH 8/31/2010 MAY BE ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY INTO CONTEST "WIN YOUR OWN NIGHT IN ROME." Go to http://www.nightinrome.com for complete details and entry.After the heart wrenching death of her parents in 2007, the author embarks on a soul-searching journey with her stepsister until a series of unexpected events sends her on a solo adventure. Deep in the toe of Southern Italy, Michelle reunites with the fascinating man she met One Night in Rome. While most American women have fantasized about traveling to Europe and falling in love with a handsome stranger, few ever realize that dream.  One Night in Rome leads the reader through a true tale of adventure and romance in Italy, proving that the dream is possible for anyone. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Too much information
This is portrayed in the product description as a story about a romance in Rome while the author is there on a solo trip.

To get to the romance, we have to read way too much information about the author's family. Her trip to Italy is actually mostly in the company of her (half?) sister. She meets the guy very late in the book. The product description was right about Rome, though the relationship soon moves to Calabria.

Probably it's unfair to hold the author responsible for the inaccuracies of the product description.

The author is accountable for the genre. This book would have worked better as an account of the funny misadventures of an American tourist in Rome.

Like finding a new friend
I got a little bit of the feeling that you get when you surreptitiously read someone else's diary: Am I seeing too much?But quickly the fascination of the story, and getting to know the author carried me all the way through to the end. You will feel as if you have known the author for years.You will also feel like you've been to Italy and climbed the stairs and and seen the sights and eaten the foods -- and if you haven't been you will want to go -- and find your love, whether it's a man with a beguiling smile or some pasta con vongole.

The author paints it as a story of a woman who has finally found her place in the world.But just as all through the book you will find yourself eager to see what happens next, at the end you will be left asking, "So what happened after that!?Is that really the end?"What I am saying is the story is hard to resist and like all good entertainment, it leaves you wanting more.

And if your thinking "Ah, it's just another love story.So Michelle got her groove back.Big deal!"You will be surprised by the richness of the story of Michelle and her sister and the rest of her family.

It's not just readable, it's relatable and you will find a new friend.Buy it.

How can a guy enjoy a woman's memoir?
I asked myself that question when a friend suggested I read "One Night in Rome." Now that I have read it -- in one can't-put-the-darn-thing-down weekend -- I can tell you how.

Michelle Merritt writes genuinely and from the heart about the hurt of broken relationships, the loss of adored parents, the numbness facing an uncertain future -- and that dash of hope that keeps us all going.

Those life milestones afflict women and men. Through her journey, Michelle describes all the raw emotion as she travels through Italy with a long lost sister. She fights to stay open to life's possibilities -- sometimes admittedly staying a little TOO open.

Perhaps the best part of Michelle's story? When you get to the end, you care so deeply about her that you want to readmore.

wonderful story of loss, courage and adventure
I don't like books where a woman is in an unhappy life, meets a man and magically everything is better.This is not that book!In her memoire, One Night in Rome: And the End of Life as I Knew It, author Michelle Merritt shares the details of the sadness and emptiness in her life and the European adventure she strikes out on leading her to live life to the fullest.

Her children are grown, parents have passed away, and her relationships and job uncertainty leave an opening for her to try something new.Why not reach out to a newly known family member with enough of a bond to trust and take the trip of a lifetime that's she's probably always put off?

The self-depracating details of her adventures in Italy make it actually fairly easy to relate to -- anyone really could take this trip but most wouldn't.

Yes, she meets a man and falls in love. But the main takeway I had was she really fell in love with life again, a new country and a yearning to have these kinds of adventures all over the world. I'd Suggest this book to anyone that could use refelction on the direction on their own life...which is probably all of us.

Lemonade
There is a saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.In a short space of time Michelle faced many of the major crisis that can happen in our lives.Her writing takes you right into the middle of this sad and scary episode in her life and then scoops you up for an amazing ride up and out of the blues into an impossibly exciting and wonderful trip to Italy.She is a much braver person than I will ever be and it was wonderful to experience this vacation through her eyes.As the story progresses, it is heartening to see how she grows in strength, purpose, and determination to get the most out of her life.I get the feeling she will come out on top in her life and love when many people would have simply quit. Looking forward to the next chapters in her adventures. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (10)

Book in Great Condition
Book was packaged very well, received in very good time and in good shape.Haven't read it yet, but looking forward to do so.

"supernal chord"
The following comments and observations are directed towards individuals who are curious about author Abraham Merritt or who are contemplating reading the Moon Pool. This title, a fantasy novel, was first published in 1919. The story line, farfetched as it is, is easy to summarize: good and evil fantasy beings and their followers live in caverns far underground that can only be entered through mysterious ancient ruins located on as island in the South Seas. Several explores enter the underground realm and become caught up in the supernatural goings on. The resolution, good triumphant over evil is never in doubt.
The curious may ask then why is this 90-year-old novel by an unfamiliar author reprinted so many times?In my opinion it is the stylistic, ornate way Merritt describes supernatural events and everyday occurrences that rates this book a classic of fantasy. If you find the following quotes from The Moon Pool fascinating and enticing than you should read the book. If on the other hand you find them stuffed with quirky affectations then you should skip it.

"We were enveloped by a silence; a silence so intense, so - weighted that it seemed to have substance; an alien silence that seemed to cling and stifle and still stood aloof from us - the living. It was a stillness that might have followed the long tramping of millions into the grave; it was - paradoxical as it may be - filled with the withdrawal of life".

"There issued apparently from the air around us, a peal of sound that might have been the shouting of some playful god hurling great suns through the net of stars. It was like the deepest notes of all the organs in the world combined in one summoning, majestic, cosmic! It held within it the thunder of the spheres rolling through the infinite, the birth song of suns made manifest in the womb of space; echoes of creation's supernal chord! It shook the body like a pulse from the heart of the universe - pulsed - they died away."

I gave the book five stars so onward with the "supernal chord" and bring me another book by Abraham Merritt! By warned you may get hooked and want to read his other novels.

Starts and ends with a bang, but really drags in the middle
A loose association of adventurers penetrates the lost kingdom that lies far beneath a South Pacific island, where opposing religious factions teeter on the brink of war and a being of living light threatens to conquer the surface world.

Abraham Merritt's verbose and adjective-heavy prose varies in its effectiveness.At times, he does such a good job of describing settings that they appear effortlessly in the mind's eye.This is particularly true of the first part of the novel, which is set on and around the island of Ponape.On the other hand, once our heroes descend into the bowels of the earth, things become rather murky.Even after paragraph after paragraph devoted to depictions of his otherworldly settings, I was more often than not mystified as to their physical layouts and it made some of the action confusing.

The pacing is problematic as well.The first part of the novel is riveting and mysterious, so much so that I thought this would be a 5-star book.The story slowed down considerably once the action moved underground, with those confusing descriptions and too much uninteresting characterization.I was particularly annoyed by the character of Larry O'Keefe, a stalwart pilot whose superstitious Irish nature is way overblown.However, things pick up considerably at the end, with an exciting, apocalyptic climax that features some extraordinary imagery.

A coruscating novel
This is a fascinating novel.Merritt has a gift for setting. You actually feel like you are in a South Pacific ocean, or standing in front of the moon pool. This book grabs you and suck you into the setting.You have the feeling of gloom and wonder as you enter the Moon Pool for yourself.

However, Merritt's gift for setting is also the books main drawback.His prose gets wordy and adjective-heavy to the point of being absolutely unreadable. I kept rung back to Strunk and White: "Omit needless words," "Be clear," "Write with nouns and verbs, not with adjectives and adverbs. The adjective hasn't been built that can pull a weak or inaccurate noun out of a tight place," and "Avoid the use of qualifiers."

I cant tell you how many times I read "coruscations," a word that refers to metallic sparkles and glitters. It is also the noun form of "Coruscant," of George Lucas fame.

It is an obscure word, but it blunts the prose's effectiveness and story-flow if you have to stop reading and get a dictionary to figure out what's going on.

Once again, Strunk and White:

"Avoid fancy words.Avoid the elaborate, the pretentious, the coy, and the cute. Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able. Anglo-Saxon is a livelier tongue than Latin, so use Anglo Saxon words."

Amen!

*

Aside from being thoroughly unreadable, this novel fascinates me.The setting is supernal, and I felt something move in the dept of my soul as I read it. To be sure, it is pure pulp, but pulp is just a corruption of true myth. It seemed to be a return to the underwater cave of Grendel's mother in "Beowulf."

Pits strike fear in the core of our being. That is why Luca uses them so much in his films for the death of villain.This same archetype works in this novel.Once you get past the awkward prose, you find a very interesting story.

I hope someday they adapt this to film.

classic, influential sci-fi reissued
One of the most popular science-fiction writers in the early 1900s, Merritt had the reputation of the Lord of Fantasy. "The Moon Pool" evidences the "baroque complexities that Merritt introduced into his fairly standard plots through his use of elaborately contrived creatures, technologies, and settings," as the editor Levy remarks in his Introduction. The Dweller reawakened on the island of Ponape where an ancient civilization once existed by a Dr. David Throckmartin and his group of scientist explorers is a vampire seeking new souls to devour. Merritt's fantasy about the Manichean struggle between good and evil is colored by his interest in the mystic Madame Blavatsky. Looked on unfavorably by some leading critics of the time, Merritt never gained much notice outside of the field of science fiction. For later generations, his ornate style limited his appeal. But he holds considerable historical interest in this genre of popular literature for opening it up to diverse elements such as developments in the sciences of physics and biology, figures from folk literature, literary references of all types (e. g., Celtic literature), and philosophical and religious ideas and themes like Blavatsky's mysticism which were all a part of his eclectic erudition. One sees such effects not only in today's fantasy literature, but also the popular fantasy movies. ... Read more

Product Description
W. W. Norton presents Inventing America, a balanced new survey of American history by four outstanding historians. The text uses the theme of innovation—the impulse in American history to "make it new"—to integrate the political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of the American story. From the creation of a new nation and the invention of the corporation in the eighteenth century, through the vast changes wrought by early industry and the rise of cities in the nineteenth century, to the culture of jazz and the new nation-state of the twentieth century, the text draws together the many ways in which innovation—and its limits—have marked American history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Review
Product was in good shape, some highlighting as listed in product discription.Product was helpful with history class.

Review
The interface between technology and historical evolution is one that is frequently overlooked by the general community of historians.This book, which correlates technological evolution with the developmental paths of American history, will be a revelation to those who have been unaware of this prime driver of historical change.Very well done.

standard text for general American History
Inventing America is a new history of the United Sates whose unifying theme is innovation. It aims to integrate into a compelling narrative the persistent inventiveness of American in devising new political institutions and practices, economics arrangements, social relations and cultural motifs, adaptations to the natural environment, and exploitation of science and technology.

Indeed, the most original aim of Inventing America is its treatment of science and technology as integral elements of American history. Technical innovation has been important since the earliest times, from pre-Columbian peoples cultivated grains into maize. With the arrival of Europeans, Americans began importing knowledge, technology, plants, and animals from abroad, a process mirrored the import of capital, people, and culture, as we established ourselves as members of a global exchange. The activities of naturalists and scientific societies in eighteenth-century America contributed to the creation of an American identity. The technological and organizational innovation of the nineteenth century changed the ways Americans worked, lived, and spent leisure.

Inventing America serves as an effective teaching tool for the US history survey course. Each chapter features focus questions, outlines, chronologies, and thematic running heads that keep the main points in view for readers. Many features in Inventing America provide readers with a wide perspective: "American Journal" boxes use primary sources to give readers a taste of everyday life in all the major periods. And the packaged CD-ROMs contain numerous archival and original multimedia materials, including audio reading, tours into the different aspects of life, designed to supplement the text discussions.

The text is neatly done: the writing is straightforward and succinct, complete with ample maps and illustrations. As an inevitable part of composing general history, the book does in many instances sacrifices depth for breadth with a less than desirable suggested reading list at the end of each chapter.

Ideal for textbook usage in secondary schools, Inventing America nonetheless proves suitable for all learners of American history with its fresh, intuitive approach of how the nation was invented. ... Read more

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Isaac and his friends are excited. They are going on a journey to Mt. Moriah, where Isaac s father, Abraham, will make a sacrifice to God. The three boys enjoy camping under the stars, chasing rabbits, and running on the hills. But soon Isaac realizes that this journey is different. It will be a test, not just of his father s faith, but of his own. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

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Book is one of my favorites
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The Best thesaurus I have ever owned. Great for college students or writers. Large book. Over 1000 pages. More than 300,000 synonyms and 100,000 antonyms. ... Read more

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Great tool for writers
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The Best Thesaurus Available
This is a fantastic reference book for writers.For once the blurb on the back is correct--it is "the perfect tool for finding the perfect word."An added bonus is the 240 mini-essays on favorite words by noted writers such as Zadie Smith, David Foster Wallace, and Simon Winchester.Highly recommended.

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