Conference back40::soapbox

    Everville  - Clive Barker	Good read so far, sequilish to The Great
    				and Secret Show
    
    Mr. Murder - Dean Koontz	Tough to get through, too similar to other
    				Koontz story lines, kinda boring I guess.
    
    Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy 	Took a long time to get through as well
    
    
    Brian

    
    City of God - St. Augustine
    
    Political Polytheism - Gary North
    
    Can Man Live Without God? - Dr. Ravi Zacharias
    
    What If Jesus Had Never Been Born - Dr. D. James Kennedy
    
    The Western Canon - Harold Bloom

 
   jeff

    Over vacation, I read lots of Michael Crichton and all the Clancy
    novels that got turned into movies.  Unfortunately, I find it hard to
    stop reading a book midway, so those Clancy books caused me some
    early mornings....

    	The World According to Dave Barry -- Dave Barry.  

    De Profundis - rereading Oscar Wilde's letter from gaol to the man who's 
                  'failure of imagination' largely put him there.  He has a
                   bizarre concept of Jesus as artiste that I must have
                   skimmed the first time through, though in reality I think
                   all that section was put in for the benefit of the
                   prison governor.  Still, it was worthwhile.
    
    Crichton - reread Jurassic Park.  No good reason.
    
    Tim Powers - reread The Drawing of the Dark, one of my favorites.  The
                 West is in ill-health as is its spiritual heart, the
                 Fisher King; Suleiman is advancing with legions of Turks
                 and Janissaries upon Vienna, and one of the greatest
                 heroes of the west has been reborn into the body of an
                 Irish mercenary, Brian Duffy, who doesn't know it.  The
                 target of Suleiman is the beer vat from the Herzwestern
                 Brewery, built over the remains of Finn Mac Cool, and 
                 infused with his spiritual essence - the Dark is to be
                 drawn after aging for 700 years, and it will restore the
                 Fisher King and reinvigorate the West.  Duffy is persuaded
                 by Ambrosious (Merlin) to come to Vienna and eventually to 
                 serve heroically as befits his skills - though it forces
                 him to destroy what he loves and to confront bitter choices
                 at every turn.  Oh, there are gaps - but its a helluva book.
    
    DougO

    Also read "Interview with the Vampire" and find Louis rather boring. 
    Mope, mope, mope.

    oh yeah, I reread the first three Vampire Chronicles books; but 
    I disagree, Chelsea, Louis doesn't simply mope, he never stops
    wrestling with the inherent contradictions of his nature; he would
    be moral but he must kill to live.  And the killing gives him
    pleasure, and he was raised Catholic, so the pleasure gives him
    even more guilt than does the killing alone.  Rice understands the
    gothic, dark nature and sensuality of that old-time religion so
    well.  Lestat came to much more impressive terms with the
    quandary, I think; except that his dreams came true and scared 
    him quite terribly.  Louis, moping?  You have no sympathy for that
    most human in the bunch.
    
    DougO

    Readin like in "on paper" vs. readin like itz gonna be, "on Web?"
    
    Enquyryng mynds want to know...
    
    |-{:-)
    

    nuttin'. to busy.

    
    Jostein Gaardner	- Sophie's World
    
    Kurt Tucholsky	- Gripsholm
    
    Anonymo Triestino	- The Secret

    
    Don't do a lot of readin, but right now it's a book called
    "Chickenhawk".
    
    
    
    Mike

    Whatta ninny.  Whatchoo think yer doin wif all these funny liddle
    black-and-white markz on yer screen?  Don't do a lot of readin indeed.
    
    Well I never.
    
    |-{:-)
    

    
    
    
    Perhaps I should qualify that and say substantive reading....? :')
    
    
    
    Mike

    JUST a minnit.  Are you flauccinaccinihilipilificating these Noble
    Interactions that we share here in ::SOAPBOX?  Are you claiming that
    they are not edifying?  Do you think that I use these sesquipedalian
    agglomerations of graphemes out of a purely eelymosynary rather than an
    instructional motivation?  Why, just LOOK at all the benefit that
    accrues to you, simply from LAFFING at this note!
    
    The very IDEA.  I've never been so miffed.
    
    |-{:-)
    

    
    
    
    Well...er.....I may end up laughing after I get through with this here
    dictionary. :')
    
    Actually, I would not defame ::SOAPBOX nor the persons found herein as
    it is truely a sacrosanct forum which is the holding of the truth.  A 
    pox upon me for even suggesting such a thing boxrebbe.
    
    
    Mike

    
    well thats better.
    
    (sniff)
    

    I picked up 3 books at the ocean in a post-holiday blowout sale for 50
    cents each...Haven't started them yet, but one is about the Journey to
    Find the Lost Tribe in Ethiopia, one about the Internet connection
    behind the Fall of the Iron Curtain, and one is a novel about a
    Miliken-like character on Wall Street.  Get them read in the next two
    weeks or it waits till after 4/17.

    
    I still haven't managed to finish Dostoyevsky's _Crime and Punishment_
    that I started almost a month ago.  I got about 4/5 of the way through
    and then put it down and haven't picked it up again 8^).

    
    
    i tried to read dostoyevsky's book waaaaayyy back in high school. 
    couldn't do it.  thanq god for cliff notes.
    
    over new year's i finished _the seventh child_ by brooks someoneorother.
    i had read it before, years ago, but didn't realize that til i was over
    1/2 thru.
    
    currently in the process of reading _weep no more, my lady_ by one of
    my favs, mary higgins clarke.  pretty good so far.  thinq i know who
    did it, but that usually means it was someone else.
    
    and i have _mr murder_ by koonts waiting in the wings.  i have noticed
    that a lot of his books are very similar to each other... 
    
    i also like john saul and read a great book by gloria murphy over the
    summer...
    
    
    

    
    
    Right now I'm reading a lengthly account of earthquakes, what
    causes them, where they occur most frequently, where they predict
    the next big ones will occur, and the make-up of the planet.
    It's very interesting.
    
    
    Terrie
    

    Well, a little blusher around the Seychelles, some eyeliner beneath
    Passaic, and some light lip-gloss on Queen Maud Land simply send me
    into a tizzy of earthmoving.
    
    Your mileage may, of course, vary.
    
    |-{:-)
    

    
    
      Viruses - Arnold J. Levine (Scientific American Library)
    
      Excellent.
    
      Paul
    

	Night Mare - Piers Anthony

	Actually, I have been reading the whole Xnath series, but lately only
when I do laundry..... interesting stuff!


Glen

I am on a Lewis Grizzard binge right now.  My ladyfriend got me two of his
books for Christmas (she is trying to make a southerner out of me).  The
man was funnier than hell.  It's kind of sad reading this stuff knowing 
that he is dead.  Lot's of references to places in Atlanta. 

Ordered the book "Skunk Works" by Ben Rich who was part of the Lockheed 
Skunk Works that developed the Top Secret spy planes (U-2 and SR-71) in
the late fifties and early sixties.  This book apparently sold well during
the holidays.  After looking in four bookstores I decided to just order it.

Have recently completed "Disclosure" pretty good book, I must see the film
even though Michael Douglas has no business being in it IMHO.  I have read
all the Clancy and Grisham that is out there as well.  I am a best-seller 
junkie I guess.  

I have been trying to get past Chapter 1 of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance" for over a year now.  I guess I am to dumb for this.

Paul

>>I have been trying to get past Chapter 1 of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
>>Maintenance" for over a year now... 

	;>  i hear ya.

    I also abandoned Pirsig's book.  The tedium got to me.  
     
    

    rereading "The Golfing Mind" by Vivienne Saunders
    
    dipping into "Bully for Brontosaurus" by Stephen J Gould
    
    want to buy "Whispering Death" - autobiography of Michael Holding
    
    ric

    
    Manuals.  Software manuals.  Hardware manuals.  Manuals. :-(  bb
    

    "Moon Shot" by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton.  Excellent stuff.
    
    "Deke!" by Deke Slayton, also excellent stuff.
    
    "A Man on the Moon", by I-forget-who.  Bigger, thicker, and more
    detailed than the above two books, and also excellent.
    
    All three of these cover more of the "human side" of the space
    program through the Apollo years, and all three are currently
    available at bookstores.  Great if you're into this stuff.
    
    Chris

RE:    <<< Note 222.29 by DECWIN::RALTO "Suffering from p/n writer's block" >>>
                     -< Spaceflight, back when it was fun >-

       
   > "A Man on the Moon", by I-forget-who.  Bigger, thicker, and more
   > detailed than the above two books, and also excellent.
    
    
     Wasn't that by Buzz Aldrin?  I read his book and thought that 
     was the title..I'll have to check the others out..

 Jim

    _God's Other Son_, Don Imus
    
    _Debt of Honor_, Clancy (stooopid, predictable ending)
    
    Just started _Couplehood_, by Paul Reiser....hilarious.
    
    Mark.

    .24, .25
    
    obviously, if you're having that kind of problem, zen is not for you.
    
    ibinreadin:
    
    o	the first man in rome - colleen mccullough
    
    o	cathedral, forge, and waterwheel: technology and invention in the
    	middle ages - frances and joseph gies
    
    o	bamboula! the life and times of louis moreau gottschalk - s.
    	frederick starr
    
    o	the memory of earth - orson scott card

    
>>    obviously, if you're having that kind of problem, zen is not for you.

	er, or it could be that the writing bites. ;>

	i'll have to give it another look some day.

    re: .30 Jim
    
    >> Wasn't that by Buzz Aldrin?  I read his book and thought that 
    >> was the title..I'll have to check the others out..
    
    Buzz Aldrin has written two books that I know of... one is titled
    "Return to Earth", and I forget the other one right now.  The
    particular "A Man on the Moon" (what a generic title...) that I'm
    reading now was written by a non-astronaut, but he did extensive
    interviews with most of the Apollo astronauts, and from their
    comments on the back cover, they seem to like the result.
    
    I just called home to get the author... he's Andrew Chaikin.
    It's got lots of detail on the later Apollo flights as well,
    which were mostly ignored by the public.
    
    As long as I'm talking about space books, I'd say the single
    best spaceflight book I've come across remains "Carrying the Fire"
    by Michael Collins.  It's probably out of print by now, but it
    may be in the library.
    
    Chris

 Oh...wasn't Alrdin's book called "Men from Earth"?  I'll have to check
 when I get home..I'd call my cat and ask her to check, but she can't
 read.




Jim

    Yup, "Men From Earth".
    
    Mark (who has an autographed copy).

    
    And without opposable thumbs, she'll have a hard time picking up the
    telephone!

RE:        <<< Note 222.37 by POWDML::LAUER "Little Chamber of Ecstacy" >>>

    
   > And without opposable thumbs, she'll have a hard time picking up the
   > telephone!



    I have a speakerphone..all she has to do is push the "speakerphone" 
    button...which she can't read :-/




Jim

    Debt of Honor - Tom Clancy  (Getting a little tired of these)
    
    Users Guide to the Internet - Digital?
    
    Till Death us do Part - Vincent Bugliosi (true murder mystery)
    
    Wired - Bob Woodward (Story of John Belushi)
    
    
    
    
    

>>  Oh...wasn't Alrdin's book called "Men from Earth"?
    
    Aha!... yes, that was his second book.  And a damned good one,
    too, almost as good as Collins' book.  Strangely enough, some of
    the best parts of "Men from Earth" concern the Russian space program.
    
    His first book, "Return to Earth", dealt more with his personal
    experiences during and especially after Apollo 11, including his
    difficulties with stress, alcohol, family life, and so on, all of
    which he seems to have overcome, good for him.  It's been nice to
    see him more visible in the last few years.  He seems quite a bit
    more personable now (compared to his earlier public persona, anyway),
    as if all of his experiences have mellowed him out.
    
    Chris

    
      RE: Till Death us do Part - Vincent Bugliosi
    
      I was surprised to learn a few years ago that Bugliosi doesn't
      actually do the writing. He does the research and then somebody else
      does the writing. He was a guest on the David Brudnoy radio talk
      show, where he discussed this. This was the same method he used for
      'Helter Skelter'.
    
      Paul
     

    re: .39  "Wired"
    
    I've read that too... it was pretty depressing.  Of all the celebrity
    deaths I've heard of, premature or otherwise, for me Belushi was
    probably the most extreme case of "what a waste".  A very talented
    guy, who no doubt would have accomplished much more had he not thrown
    it all away.
    
    To this day, it's unnerving to watch when the old SNL short film
    "Don't Look Back in Anger" comes on.
    
    For more on Belushi (and the "early" SNL years), see the book
    "Saturday Night" by (?) Jeff Hill and Doug Weingrad (approx names).
    
    Chris

    
    "debt of honor" - outswapped after about 100 pages. gonna read "red
    storm rising" again.
    
    "lucy and desi" by warren g. harris - desi demanded top billing in the
    show's title, thus the "i" in "i love lucy."  vivian vance despised
    william frawley, etc.  good light reading.
    
    "it doesn't take a hero" by norman schwarzkopf - interesting account
    of the gulf war as politics and military strategy bump heads.  doesn't
    paint a very flattering portrait of colin powell; i can't wait to read
    colin's book and see _his_ side of the story.
    
    "politically correct bedtime stories" by james finn garner - bwahahaha 
    
    ...the wolf said "you know, my dear, it isn't safe for a little girl
    to walk through these woods alone."
       red riding hood said "i find your sexist remark offensive in the
    extreme, but i will ignore it because of your traditional status as
    an outcast from society, the stress of which has caused you to develop
    your own, entirely valid, worldview.  now, if you'll excuse me, i must
    be on my way."
       red riding hood walked on along the main path.  but, because his
    status outside society had freed him from slavish adherence to linear,
    western style thought, the wolf knew a quicker route to grandma's
    house...
    
    
    bill

    re: "I Love Lucy"
    
    That's interesting... I'd read a slightly different spin on the
    title story in another Lucy/Desi book.  Supposedly CBS was insisting
    that the series be titled "The Lucille Ball Show", given that she was
    a "name" (a fairly successful light-comedy "B" actress in the movies
    and perhaps even more successful on the radio, particularly with
    "My Favorite Husband" (if I'm recalling the title).
    
    Anyway, Lucille would have none of it, mainly because one of the
    primary motivations for doing the series, for her, was to attempt
    to save her faltering marriage by having them work together more
    and pick up his career.  So supposedly she insisted that Desi be
    in the title somehow.  CBS thought that Arnaz would be a detriment
    to the show, and didn't want his name in the title (they didn't even
    want him in the show).  So, they wrestled with different titles for
    a while, and finally someone (but I forget who) came up with the
    clever compromise "I Love Lucy", which has Lucy's name in it, but
    also refers to Desi, since of course he's the "I".
    
    The book "Desilu" (I forget the author now) is pretty good, and
    sounds like it has some similar info to the book mentioned in -.1.
    In particular, the Vance/Frawley wars are ruefully funny in retrospect
    (one wonders what was going through their minds when they did their
    little musical numbers together), and the details on Lucille's career
    struggles in the years immediately following "I Love Lucy" are very
    interesting.
    
    As for the title, it's probably noteworthy that the hour-long
    follow-on "specials" featuring the "I Love Lucy" cast (1957-60)
    were titled "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour".  So Lucy did get first
    billing in the end.  :-)
    
    Chris

Spent my last day of vacation reading "Gerald's Game." Between this and
"Delores Claiborne", King should have ignored July 20th, 1963 altogether.

    I've been reading Joseph Wambaugh novels, which is new ground for me.
    
    He's quite funny.

    Re: .7
    
    >I disagree, Chelsea, Louis doesn't simply mope, he never stops
    >wrestling with the inherent contradictions of his nature; he would
    >be moral but he must kill to live.
    
    He's a one-note character.  I got tired of going over the same ground
    again and again and again.

    
>>    He's a one-note character.  I got tired of going over the same ground
>>    again and again and again.

	exactamundo.  moi aussi.

    Re: .19
    
    >mary higgins clarke
    
    I got a copy of one of her books; it was a duplicate in my grandma's
    library.  As far as I can tell, she writes by checklist -- lays out all
    the information she wants to convey, and then just runs down the list. 
    I couldn't finish it.

    
    "Winter Moon" Dean R Koontz 
    Was good, but not as good as Mr Murder
    
    "Comstock Lode" Louis L'Amour
    
    One of the few that I haven't read of his, good book.
    
    On Deck
    
    "Debt of Honor" Tom Clancy
    Love all of his books, the last two were fantastic especially
    Without Remorse, my favorite so far.
    
    Spencerville  Nelson Demille
    
    I have read almost all his books, this and Word of Honor are all
    I have left of his. Pick up Charm School if you want to read a really
    good book. Talbot Oddessy is also very good.
    
    Robert Ludlum  Have read all of his books, except his newest title,
    but can't rember the name. Scorpio Illusion was the last of his that
    I read. My all time favorite author.
    
    Mark

    I stopped reading Ludlum after The Bourne Supremacy.  Talk about an
    author taking a Word .doc template, changing character names, and 
    hitting carriage-return....
    
    Mark.

    
    
    re:mary higgins clark
    
    i must say i don't agree with you on this one...i like her style of
    writing...and so far very few of her books (that i have read) read
    similarly as some of her other (unlike koonts, whom i do like, but too
    many of his writings sound the same....)
    
    she may not be intelectual  but i do find her entertaining...
    
    

    
      I like Ludlum, his Bourne books were great. BUT, he hasn't really 
      written x amount of books, he has written 1 book x amount of times.
    
      Paul
    

    RE: Ludlum
    
    True about rehashing a story line.  His early works IMO were much
    better.  I tired of the the pained hero and unlikely heroine schtick 
    rather quickly.  I lost interest after the Bourne books and the Aquitaine
    Progression.  Kind of like watching the same movie over and over again.  
    I am finding Koontz to be similar.  Mr. Murder is taking me a long time 
    to get through.  Then again, I read for the escape and accept what the
    stuff is at face value, entertainment.  
    
    
    

    
    Brian, I agree about Lulum in latter books, similar plots, etc...
    
    Check out Nelson DeMille, he is fantastic with different charachters,
    plots from book to book. I think you would enjoy his writing.
    Charm School or General's Daughter are both good.
    
    Mark

    Ludlum's _Gemini_Contenders_ was my favorite.
    
    Mark.

    Four,Four,Two. The best football magazine around. Good,intelligent 
    reading for your footie fan. Even better than my usual "When Saturday
    Comes".
    

    Thanks Mark I will.  I also agree on the Gemini Contenders, Mark.  One
    of the better early novels from him IMO.
    
    Brian

    Newest book - David Burns "Feeling Good"

	Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman - James Gleick

"Surprised by Joy" - C.S. Lewis

...another piece of the puzzle found...

    
    
    What's it about, Martin?  Is it a long read?
    
    
    
    Mike

    "Making Hypermedia Work" by DeRose and Durand.
    
    The gripping tale of two link ends as they make their way through the
    Finate Coordinate Space and Measurement Modules, on their way to seek
    the holy grail of standardom: inclusion in the Internet RFC for the
    next generation of HTML.
    
    -b

I just finished "Bishop as Pawn" by William X. Kienzle.

Now I'm rereading "Stalky & Co." by Rudyard Kipling.

					-K-

    A Soldier of the Great War, by Mark Helprin- been on the bookshelf for
    months, so I took it with me on the flight to New Orleans.  Wow.  Better
    than his "A Winter's Tale" which I enjoyed thoroughly.  An old man of
    extraordinary character recounts the questions his life taught him as
    he experienced it as a lecturer in aesthetics sent to the line in WWI.
    
    DougO

 >>   Better
 >>   than his "A Winter's Tale" which I enjoyed thoroughly.

	That were a good 'un.  A most unusual book.
	I'll have to give this other one a try.
	

    
      "Crossing the Threshold of Hope", by HHJP2.
    
      I kid you not.  bb

    Clear And Present Danger - Tom Clancy

    For some reason, this is a book I'm finding hard not to put down. I
    think it's the attention to detail.

    Glenn

There have been lots of books I've found hard not to put down.

    "The Shipping News"  -  any Newfies out there whove read it?  what do
    you think?

    
    "Debt of Honor" by Tom Clancy...
    
    I'm trying like heck to get started (sorry &ndy!! :), but I can't seem
    to get going.... Too many coals in the fire...
    

>>There have been lots of books I've found hard not to put down.

	;>  me too - most of 'em.

    "God's Other Son" is freakin' hilarious.
    
    Mark.

    
    Inspector Imanishi Investigates, by Seicho Matsumoto.
    
    A police procedural set in Tokyo (mostly), circa 1960. 
    
    Decent.

    
    <-- those are good.
    
    Isn't it Bean, singular?

    
>>    Isn't it Bean, singular?

	yes, it is thanks - i'll fix that.

	The Bean Trees
	Animal Dreams

    
    You're good to me, di 8^).

    Just read Sarum again and still lost interest when it got to modern
    times (I must be a lover of ancient history) Loved the part where the
    stone masons went out on strike when they were building the cathederal
    because the church did not pay them. Way back then, who else would have
    the guts to stand up to the King, the Barons, and the Church?
    
    Just started to read Mary Stewart's books on Merlin and King Arthur
    again, this time in the right order, the first time I picked up the
    second book first, then dicovered I had missed something.
    Over the years , my kids have managed to spirit my paperback versions 
    out of the house so my daughter gave me all four books in hardcover for
    Christmas.
    
    
    Joan

    Got about 1/3 through _Dirty White Boys_ by Stephen Hunter this weekend.  
    Tough to put down.
    
    Mark.

    
    
    Introductory Algebra/An applied approach  Third edition
    By Aufmann/Barker
    
    
    18 hours spent on homework, and I'm only 2/3 done. :((
    
    
    Terrie
    

    I've been reading the "Eye Of The World" series by Robert Jordan. I
    rarely read fiction, but when I do, I tend toward the epic fantasy
    genre.
    
    I'm on the fourth book of this series, and although I have a lot
    of complaints about these books, I'm also known to be extremely
    persnickety when it comes to fiction. So, I'll give you the closest
    I can manage to an objective review.
    
    Jordan focuses on the characters and their thoughts and motivations,
    rather than the action. The backdrop of the story -- rather typical
    of the genre -- is a flawed hero foretold in prophecy. There's the
    usual dash of magic, herein referred to as channeling (in the first
    of many obvious nods to the New Age movement).
    
    Of course, there's also a politically correct dose of strong women
    who dominate their intellectually inferior, hormone driven, male
    companions. Frankly, if I lived in this particular fantasy space,
    I would definitely take a vow of celibacy and become a monk.
    
    3.5 books into the series, the reader is still following Rand Al'Thor,
    Pippen and Mat around in a relatively small fantasy space in
    which they do battle with the Dark Lord for the control of man's
    destiny... or at least, where one assumes they will one day do battle.
    You see, all the characters in these books do is basically wander
    around aimlessly from place to place and wonder aloud about their
    wretched state of being. Every once in a while, a Trolloc or Fade
    shows up for a little sword play, but otherwise nothing much happens.
    I'm under the impression that our heroes are hoping to bore the
    Dark Lord to death. Thus, I'm left wondering if Robert Jordan is
    trying to anthromorphise Satan through his readers...
    
    There's six very large books so far in the series; as I said, I'm
    about half way through the fourth. Highly recommended for fantasy-
    loving insomniacs, otherwise read something else.
    
    -b

    I've read the first 5 (6?) books of this series "Eye of the World". 
    I'll add to MARKEY's review...
    
    Jordon drags things out too far.  He does concentrate more on the
    personal movitivation of the characters, rather than the action (to an
    extent that I find annoying).  I feel this is necessary to a
    point, for character development, but he goes beyond the call of duty
    here.  I found that in many areas, I simply skipped sentences,
    paragraphs (pages), simply to get on with the course of events.  Of
    course, I am a more action-oriented person, so ymmv.
    
    The latest installment sends the reader to and fro in rapid
    succession...all the way through the book.  Though there was some
    decent action and character development, I got dizzy trying to keep up
    with the various directions this book webbed into.  I don't mind having
    different strands of story to be tied together later...but there are
    simply too many strands to keep up with at this point.  The ending of
    the book tied a few together, but not enough. 
    
    I would've enjoyed the book a lot more without the above annoyances. 
    Just going by the ending of his last installment, and his prolific
    writing style, there will be at least 4 more books before the "last
    battle" takes place (shades of Armageddon?).
    
    I agree with MARKEY that it does give the nod to new age, but then
    again, I have yet to see an epic fantasy series that doesn't show
    Biblically incorrect views of witchcraft or similar elements.
    
    It's not terible reading.  It does seem to get both better
    (more action and plot advancement) and more annoying (continual 
    mind-reading) as the series goes on.
    
    
    -steve      

    jurgen, by james branch cabell
    
    technology in the ancient world, by henry hughes
    
    annals of rome, by cornelius tacitus

    >jurgen, by james branch cabell
        
    Delightful.  Still about the only easily found volume in the 27-volume
    Biography of Manuel, due solely to the notoriety of Jurgen when it was
    briefly banned for obscenity back in the pre-WWI era.  Its too bad the
    rest of the Biography wasn't treated that way; it's all quite as good,
    but more scandalously heretical than obscene.  Had it been so treated,
    it would be a lot easier to find!  6 other volumes were  reprinted (The
    Silver Stallion, The High Place, All About Eve, Domnei,  and two others
    I can't remember which) by a fantasy house in paperback in the late
    60's/early 70's; other than that, you have to go to old bookstores and
    pay first edition prices; and they're hard to find.   I've got my hands
    on about 20 of the Biography so far.
    
    DOUGO

>    technology in the ancient world, by henry hughes


That sounds interesting. I'll speak with you about it one of these days.

* The Hot Zone (Preston) - True story of rare, lethal virus found in a primate 	
	house within sight of the Washington Monument.  Stephen King called the
	first chapter the scariest thing he has ever read.  Good material
	for re-thinking the value of bio-diversity.  Points out the reality
	of the potential for fast moving world-wide plagues.  Scary stuff.
* The Passing of the Armies (Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain) - First hand 
	account of the breaking of the Confederate lines at Petersburg
	at the end of the Civil War with the chase of Lee to Appomatox,
	the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia and the final
	grand victory parades in Washington following Lincoln's murder.
	Well-written, often flowery, of the end of the conflict that did
	much to shape the U.S.  Primarily for Civil War and military fanatics.
* The New Economics/Second Edition (W. Edwards Deming) - Deming's final
	work - completed shortly before he died in December.  Deming writes, 	
	"This book is for people who are living under the tyranny of the 	
	prevailing style of management."  Easy to read, difficult to assimilate.

Jim

    > True story of rare, lethal virus found in a primate house within sight
    > of the Washington Monument. 
    
    Um...while the virus 'tested' (Reston) appeared to be the same as 
    the most deadly (Zaire) form, it didn't actually kill anybody but the
    monkeys, even though several researchers were definately exposed.  And
    the primate house in question was actually about 40 miles from the
    Washington Monument, in a northern Virginia suburb near Dulles Airport.
    The army gets a lot of credit in my book for going immediately into full
    containment mode and ensuring the virus didn't spread any further,
    though they technically didn't have the authority to do what they did,
    and they KNEW they didn't have the authority.  It was the right thing
    to do, they were the only ones within hundreds of miles equipped to
    handle it, so they did it.
    
    Was the whole book worth the read?  I got this much in five long
    extracts printed in the local paper.
    
    DougO

Yes, it was worth the read.  Could have been a bit better structured.  It will
very likely be made into a movie.  I'm not sure where Reston VA is, but they
say in the book that the Washington Monument can be seen from Reston.  Forty
miles seems a bit far.  As for human lethality, there is not much evidence.
I for one don't want to be exposed.  Clearly is was lethal and air-born for
the monkeys in the building.  The military did not "move right in" as you
suggest, but waited until they had approval from the corporate owner of the
building.  The CDC from Atlanta was also part of the overall team.  Yes, it
was worth the read.

Jim

    There is no way, unless you are in anairplane 5,000 feet up, that you
    can see the Washingtyon Monument from Reston, VA...not even or a rare
    clear day!

    .85
    
    the other two that were republished are creatures of earth and the
    cream of the jest.  i have them, but i don't have the silver stallion.

    yes, you are correct, I rmember those titles.
    
    If I spot a copy of the Silver Stallion paperback, do you want it?
    I look for Cabell in every used bookstore I walk into...
    
    and are you interested in the other books?  Sometimes they go for less
    than $20.  I found one for $12 in New Orleans last month.
    
    DougO

    > If I spot a copy of the Silver Stallion paperback, do you want it?
    
    yes, please.
    
    for now, i'll take a pass on the others, but the silver stallion would
    look very nice on my shelf.

    Re: .89
    
    >It will very likely be made into a movie.
    
    There were two competing projects.  The one with Dustin Hoffman is
    being released in March, I believe.

    Publications 17,25,501,502,503, etc...... at least until 4/17.

    Old NOTES
    
    ME

    
    Disclosure - Michael Critchton (sp)
    
    Having read Jurassic Park, this one is as interesting in a different
    manner. They even mention Dec, as the main character supposedly worked
    for Dec in the early 80's.
    
    Mark

	The Mother Tongue  - Bill Bryson

	(Coincidentally, the section I was reading last night
	contained a reference to Sir Thomas More's Utopia, which
	he apparently wrote in Latin.)

>    <<< Note 222.98 by PENUTS::DDESMAISONS "no, i'm aluminuming 'um, mum" >>>

>       The Mother Tongue  - Bill Bryson
                        _and how it got that way.
        
        Good reading, ain't it, Di? Fun and interesting. 

        Andy
        

    Literate snarf!

    I'm doing a bit of fluff reading this week...Star Wars 'The Crystal
    Star'.
    
    I like light reading every now and then.

        
>>        Good reading, ain't it, Di? Fun and interesting. 

	aye.  lots of surprising factoids.

    Catilina's Riddle, by Steven Saylor.  The latest in his continuing
    series featuring Gordianus the Finder, a private shamus in
    pre-Christian Rome.  In this one, Gordianus gets involved in Lucius
    Sergius Catilina's conspiracy in -63.
    
    Previous outings were Roman Blood, in which Gordianus works for Marcus
    Tullius Cicero in -82 to defend Sextus Roscius from a charge of
    parricide, and Arms of Nemesis, in which Gordianus is called to find a
    murderer on the Baiae estate of Marcus Licinius Crassus in -72.
    
    Well written, historically informed, tautly plotted, all in all
    excellent mystery novels.

    Steven Brust's "Five Hundred Years After"
    
    He's doing sort of a tribute to Dumas' Musketeer trilogy ("The Three
    Musketeers," "Twenty Years After," and "The Man in the Iron Mask.")  

    The Musketeer trilogy isn't a trilogy.  You forgot "Ten Years Later."

    Awhile ago I read a lot of Doris Lessing's stuff, and really enjoyed
    it.  Among other things, she did a science fiction series (Canopus in
    Argos: Archives) of which I picked up and read the first volume,
    "Shikasta".  I couldn't find the second volume at the time, though, so
    I've had my eye out for it "The Marriages of Zones Three, Four, and
    Five".  Acquired it Monday night, finished it Wednesday morning on the
    train...whew!  Really good.  I put the third volume in my bag this
    morning ("The Sirian Experiments").  There are two more after that...
    
    DougO

    	Motel of the Mysteries, by David MacAulay

    Pulp Diction: The Decline of Proper Pronunciation in Liberal Societies,
    by Robin McNeil and Snoop Doggy Dog

I just finished "listening" to a book for the first time. Clive Barker's
"Everville". It was on sale at Costco for $14.95 which I didn't think
outrageous (about the same as hardcopy) so I got it to listen to during
the commute. One thing I learned is that you tend to rerun major portions
of it if you become distracted while driving. The other thing I learned
was that "Everville" is a sequel to "The Great and Secret Show" which I
haven't read yet, even though it's in my stack.

Oh, and the story inhaled, too. Maybe I can just pass on "The Great and
Secret Show" . . . 

    Sorry to hear that Jack.  I read Everville and found it to be okay.  It
    is better understood if you read The Great and Secret Show first which
    I thought was the a better of the two BTW.  Don't pass on it based upon
    Everville.  Who did the reading?  
    
    Brian

Someone named John Glover, Brian. Says he was a three-time
Emmy nominee and appeared in Julia, 52 Pick-Up and Melvin and Howard.

    I tried to listen thru a book on tape...  couldn't get the hang
    of it.  First of all, the book was "A Brief History of Time,"
    which was *major* mistake, in hindsight.
    
    Everytime I tried to listen to it while driving, I'd miss what
    the reader was saying and have to keep rewinding.  I tried listening
    on headphones at night, and I'd fall asleep.
    
    It was a noble experiment, but a failure.  {head hung in shame}
    

    Don't feel bad... That there book was said to have been "the most
    popular, most unread book ever."  I too picked it up but suffered
    severe MEGOitis almost instantaneously.....
    
    My
      Eyes
          Glaze
               Over
    |-{:-)
    

                     ___   ~----._
            _______     ~~---.__  `-.
        --~~       ~~-----.__   `-.  \
        _,--------------._   ~---. \  `.
      '~  _,------------. ~~-     `.\  |
     _,--~      _____    `        _____|_
         _,---~~          -----         `-.            /##
      ,-~   __,---~~--.       `._____,',--.`.        ,'##/
    ,' _,--~  __,----.          `  () '' ()' :    _,-' `#'
     ,~   _,-'   ,' ,--          `---' \ `.__,)--'     ,'
       ,-'      -  (                                _,'
     .'   _-~ ,'    `--                          ,-'
    /  ,-'  ,'  __                        ___,--'    _______________
     ,'  ,'~ ,-~     /            ___.ooo88o  |    ,'               `.
    /  ,' ,-'    /               ' 8888888888,'   _|                 |
      /  /    /                 '  `888888888.`.  \    JOOO-JOOO!!!  |
     /  /  /      /            '    `888888888 |   |                 |
       '      /     /         '       `888888','   `._______________,'
         /                   '           ~~~,'
        /   /  /            '            ,-'
         /           /                 ,'         

    Well that's it -- he's lost it completely...  Sad, really...  I guess
    we'll never know what "Alleged Degirdification" meant, him having
    regressed to hebephrenic incoherence and all.  In Memoriam...
    
    |-{:-)
    

    
      Well, I actually did read my copy of Brief History of Time, but
     later my wife told me I had the book upside down...
    
      bb

>    I tried to listen thru a book on tape...  couldn't get the hang
>    of it.  First of all, the book was "A Brief History of Time,"
>    which was *major* mistake, in hindsight.
    
>    Everytime I tried to listen to it while driving, I'd miss what
>    the reader was saying and have to keep rewinding.  I tried listening
>    on headphones at night, and I'd fall asleep.
    
 

   I've had the same problem...I like the idea of books on tape, but I 
   don't think it will work with me.


 Jim    

    Delbalso:
    
    Didn't know Glover wrote a book, but I have seen him in a number
    of movies; he's one scary dude!!
    
    If Anthony Hopkins hadn't portrayed Hannibal Lector, Glover would
    have been a good choice IMO.
    
    

    Re: .105
    
    Actually, I never knew about it.  I only found out about "Twenty Years
    Later" because I read the author bio or some such thing in my little
    paperback of "The Three Musketeers."  I expect I'll have as much
    success finding "Ten Years Later" as I've had with "Twenty Years Later."

    I thought "A Brief History of Time" was fascinating.  Read it from
    cover to cover, even the hard words, and subsequently had a wonderful
    time discussing it with my chimneysweep.

	I've been Spiny Norman'ed!  *That* goes in with the
	stuff I takin' wiv me next Friday.

re:   <<< Note 222.118 by DECLNE::REESE "ToreDown,I'mAlmostLevelW/theGround" >>>
>                               -< Name of book? >-
>    Didn't know Glover wrote a book

I don't think he did. He read Everville, though.

>>    Everytime I tried to listen to it while driving, I'd miss what
>>    the reader was saying and have to keep rewinding.  I tried listening
>>    on headphones at night, and I'd fall asleep.
>    
>   I've had the same problem...I like the idea of books on tape, but I 
>   don't think it will work with me.

Make that three of us.

    Dick,
    
    You are right!  I read one of Saylor's a few weeks ago.  Damned if I
    can remember the title, tho!  I'll be looking for more of this stuff.

    'tine,
    
    Here, in clear form, is a list of Steven Saylor's novels featuring
    Gordianus the Finder, in order of publication - it'w worth it to read
    them in order, because they move chronologically in Gordianus' life:
    
    	Roman Blood
    	Arms of Nemesis
    	Catilina's Riddle
    
    If you like these, you might also enjoy the series by Lindsey Davis
    about Marcus Didius Falco.  They're set in the time of Vespasian (about
    +70).  Falco is much the same sort of private shamus as Gordianus; he
    lives in a Subura walkup and gets involved romantically with the
    patrician woman featured in the first novel.  Falco's attitude is a
    little more sardonic than Gordianus'.  These are also a time-based
    series like the Saylors and should be read in order:
    
    	Silver Pigs
    	Shadows in Bronze
    	Venus in Copper
    	The Iron Hand of Mars
    	Poseidon's Gold (not yet out in paperback)
    
    Davis is not as consistently good as Saylor, but she's still a nice
    read.

> he lives in a Subura walkup

Is that anything like a van down by the river?

    No.

    teehee-jack
    
    dick, merci.  i've read roman blood and more recently, i've read
    was it shadow bronze?  You are right of course about the two, but
    i found them a pleasant change from the normal 'best-seller' type
    books.

    
    Our Game.
    
    The new one from John LeCarre. Post-Cold War spy fiction, set in
    Blighty and the Caucausus.

    
    
    MAMIsta  By Len Deighton
    
    Almost finished with it.  Pretty good if you like espionage/Tom Clancy
    type stuff.
    
    
    Terrie
    

    Deighton has kicked in with yet another first novel in yet another
    projected trilogy involving Bernie Samson. This one's called Faith
    (presumably to be followed by Hope and Charity).
    
    MAMista was pretty good, I thought.

    
    
    Yup.  I bought that one last week, then decided I better read
    the other one first.
    
    His last set, Spy Hook, Spy Line, and Spy Sinker  were really good
    also, but one of my favorites of his was SS-GB.
    
    
    Terrie
    

    i haven't had much time to read lately 8-( cos i've been moving house
    
    and it is *chaos*
    
    ric

    
    
    Finished Len Deighton yesterday afternoon.
    Now, I'm reading.....
    
    
    
    
    
    Banned:Classical Erotica...Fourty sensual and Erotic excerpts from
    Aristophanes to Whitman-Uncensored.
    
    Compiled by Victor Gulotta and Brandon Toropov
    
    
    It's amazing what they referred to as 'erotica' back in the 15th
    century!!  
    
    
    Terrie
    

    Reading two stories and in both of them the main charactors are named
    Pitt. The first one is Dirk Pitt in Inca Gold, this is the first I have
    read of this series and find it very interesting, I like the mixture of
    old and new history. The second is an Inspector Pitt off the London
    Police, set in the nineteenth century, this I have just started and I'm 
    not sure how I will Like it, I like him but I'm not so sure about his 
    wife and sister-in-law, I have a feeling they will be more trouble than 
    the murderer for him.
    
    joan

    Quoted without permission from `The Sunday Telegraph'
    March 19, 1995

    by Michael Harrington

    "The most influential books of the 20th century were not necessarily the
    most famous, the most widely read, or even the best written."

    Ten Books That Shook The World:

    - `The Interpretation Of Dreams', by Sigmund Freud, 1900

       "Freud created, in psychoanalysis, a modern ideology of the emotions
       which has occupied much of the ground vacated by religion."

    - `The Economic Consequences Of The Peace', by John Maynard Keynes, 1919

      "Keynes' arguments had considerable circulation in the United States
      and contributed the the decision of the US Senate not to ratify the
      Versailles Treaty, a decision which virtually killed the League Of 
      Nations at birth."

    - `The General Theory Of Employment, Interest And Money', by John Maynard
								Keynes, 1936

      "The long-term inflationary consequences of Keynesian economics were
      apparent to Robbins and Hayek but to few others, and until the 1970s
      Keynesian theory was orthodox economics." 

    - `The Gathering Storm', by Winston Churchill, 1948

      "Western leaders, confronted by the danger of Soviet aggression, invoked
      the `lessons of the 1930s' as mediated by Churchill from the later 1940s
      right up to the later 1980s to justify a policy of containment - a policy
      which in the end proved victorious."

    - `Nineteen Eighty-Four', by George Orwell, 1949

      "Orwell's novel is uncompromisingly grim, and the picture of the
      character and motivation of a totalitarian party is so real and fright-
      ening that the expression `Orwellian' has entered the language."

    - `The Power Of Positive Thinking', by Norman Vincent Peale, 1953

      "He does not encourage you to find someone else to blame for your
      troubles before you can improve your position.  You can do something
      yourself, today, right now."

    - `The Affluent Society', by John Kenneth Galbraith, 1958

      "...one of a series in which he sought to undermine the intellectual
      case for capitalism by asserting that the competitive free economy was
      largely a left-over myth from the 19th century."

    - `Silent Spring', by Rachel Carson, 1962

      "...there is no better way into the intellectual and moral heart of the
      [environmentalist] argument..."

    - `The Godfather', by Mario Puzo, 1969

      "By the time of his death, the old Don Corleone has become an underworld
      statesman of Lincolnian stature.  He differs from conventional polit-
      icians, judges, and senior police officers by virtue of his simple
      integrity and sense of duty to the community.  `The Godfather' is written
      by a first-class writer and is pure rubbish from the first page to the
      last."

    - `The Female Eunuch', by Germaine Greer, 1970

      "...came as a shock to all those - perhaps a majority in 1970 - who had
      thought that the emancipation of women was something that had happened,
      was a good thing, and was now settled."

    Finally started Disclosure.  Tough to put down.  Scary to imagine this
    can and does happen regardless of gender :-(.  

    Been reading Harry Turtledove's "The Guns of the South."  Good stuff. 
    'Murican Civil War, men from the year 2014 show up to give AK-47 rifles
    to the Confederacy.  Don't want to give away any more, this is a purely
    excellent book.

    Collected Short Stories of Jack London.
    
    Mark.

    Great story. Now that's cold! :-)
    
     Nice vineyard on Sonoma Mountain, too. :-)

    Various SF stuff by Elizabeth Moon.

    "Some came running" by James Jones.
    
    'Condensed from the American edition' to a mere 900+ pages...
    

    "Hyperion", just started "Fall of Hyperion" by Dan Simmons...

    
    
    Finished "MAMista" and "City of Gold" by Len Deighton,
    and started  "Faith" last night.  Pretty good so far...
    
    
    
    Terrie
    

Lake Wobegon Days
by Garrison Keillor


I'm in re-read mode, but it's a nice comfy read, and I can almost hear his 
voice...

(of COURSE I hear voices - I'm not deaf :} )

Chele

    About a year ago I read the book Fatherland (Robert Harris, I think).
    It was a bloody excellent book, one which I just couldn't put down. I 
    picked it up one night and read for hours just to finish it.
    
    I have noticed that there is now a film based on the novel, starring
    Rutger Hauer. Has anyone seen it and read the book ?? What's it like ??

   "A Study In Scarlet"-- Doyle
   A anthology of five Holmes short stories.
   
   I regret that I waited 40 years to read these.  I look forward to
   reading the rest of ACD's Holmes stories.

    I just finished "The Chamber" by Grisham.  Not the legal thriller his
    others have been; much more of a character study.

    Is the sequel called "The Little Chamber" by any chance?

    8^)

    Simon Callow, _Shooting the Actor_
    Edward Burman, _The Inquisition, Hammer of Heretics_
    Evan Eisenberg, _The Recording Angel_
    John Dalmas, _The Kalif's War_

    
    Tom Clancy's Stuff ... my ranking of the books
    
    1) Cardinal of the Kremlin (I can't believe they didn't make a movie)
    2) Clear and Present Danger
    3) Hunt for Red October
    4) Patriot Games
    5) Red Storm Rising (?)
    
    Greg
    

    I'm reading this book called 'Complicity' at the moment (Iain Banks).
    Not usually my cup of tea, but it's pretty good.

    just finished, well, ok, a week or so ago Everville, Clive Barker
    presently finished Song of the Lonely Harp and Song of the Lonely
    Exile (something like that) by mumble mumble Boff, two parts of the
    emerald ballad series and really disappointing if wanting to read up
    on the history of Ireland, but not bad for romantic/generational 
    story

    Decided to read 'Interview With A Vmpire' so I picked it up the other
    day. It's quite different to the movie, and a good read.

    
    No it's not.
    
    
    :^)
    

    "Jack Delbalso - The Chronicles Of A Lucky Man"

    Difficult to put down.

Hey Martin, I didn't know you could read!  There goes your reputation...

I'm currently reading Terry Pratchett's "Soul Music".  For those of you
who haven't read his work before, I won't even attempt to describe it,
just go out and buy "The Colour of Magic".

Chris.

    
    
    I've been reading the on-line tutorials for my new 
    DECAthena.  :*)
    
    
    
    Terrie
    

    I`ve been reading 'Loaded' - the magazine "for men who should know
    better".
    
    It cuts the crap and acknowledges that what men really like in life
    is boozing,sport and a bit of skirt. 
    
    Not for sensytive myn,i`m afraid.
     

Lots of Crichton. 
"The Day After Tommorrow" by Ken Folsom

    So many books, so little time...

I just started "The Bridges of Madison County" last night - determined to finish it before I see 
what looks like a pretty good movie.  

    
    	I read 1 book/week ... the TV Guide, cover to cover.
    
    	I've learned alot in the past couple years.
    

RE: .164

	You've been reading a movie?

ME

    "Angry Candy", by Harlan Ellison.  It's been more than a decade
    since I've read anything by Ellison (his stuff isn't exactly easy
    to find), though I have a lot of his older stuff stored away in
    boxes somewhere.
    
    As usual, when he hits, he hits big, and when he misses, he misses
    big.  Either way, though, he's difficult to ignore.
    
    Chris

    
    Good used book stores have plenty of Harlan Ellison sitting around.
    
    Lisa

        >Note 222.165 by BUSY::SLABOUNTY "Trouble with a capital 'T'"
    
    	>I read 1 book/week ... the TV Guide, cover to cover.
    
    	>I've learned alot in the past couple years.
         	      ^^^^
    
    
    Not enough, it seems 8^)))))).

    
    	I REFUSE to separate those 2 words.
    
    	Sorry, but that's the way it is.  8^)
    
    	Heck, I've known that that's not an acceptable word for years
    	now, but I consider it a challenge [before the whole human race]
    	to try and use it as often as possible.
    
    	8^)
    

    
    Eisenhower, by Stephen Ambrose.
    
    
    A highly readable biography.
    
    Amazing parallels between the Old Guard wing of the GOP in the early
    50's and today's "crusaders" (Ralph Reed, etc.). 
            

    "Around the World in Eighty Days" by Michael Palin.  The diary he
    kept whilst filming the series for BBC.  Interesting and humourous
    observations.
    

    
    The ingredients on everything I eat.
    

  gave Michael Crichton a try (Rising Sun, Disclosure)  <feh>
  gave Robin Cook a try (Terminal, Fatal Cure) <double feh>

  now reading Zaddik, by David Rosenbaum - purty good, so far

    Current reading:
    
    Harry Harrison, Stainless Steel Visions
    Arthur Gould Lee, No Parachute
    Sir Wallace Budge, Egyptian Religion
    Stephen Howarth, The Knights Templar

    
    	TV Guide [every week]
    	Stereo Review
    	Car Stereo Review [maybe my "car that goes boom" can "go boom
    			   better"]
    	Automobile
    

    Try Stereophile.  Though all too many reviews are of stuff mortal men
    cannot afford, they don't usually pull any punches on their reviews.
    
    Stereo Review has the tendency to "flower" their reviews, in my
    experience, though it gets easier to read between the lines as you get
    used to the style.  I prefer a more straightforward review, personally.
    
    
    -steve (constitutional extremist and audio buff)

    "Our Hands Are Stained with Blood" - Michael L. Brown
    "The Rapture" - William Kimball
    "Piercing The Darkness" - Frank Peretti
    "Holy Bible, New American Standard Version" - God

    
    interesting, i have budge's eqyptian language and am 
    considering what a heiroglyphics user interface would 
    be like?
    
    i can imagine what the inscription for "segmentation fault - 
    core dumped" would be..

    
    It's a cartouche depicting Ra descending into the netherworld
    on his sacred barge, while Osiris records the contents of the registers
    on papyrus.  A dung (scarab) beetle represents the dump.

    David Coperfield by Edmund Wells

    
    Management Information Services: 
    	Organization & Technology Laudon & Laudon
    
    Sports Illustrated
    
     Mickey

Try Knickeless Knickleby next.

    Is that one by Edmund Wells too?

    This Copperfield book....  so does it mention Claudia Schiffer?
    

    No it's Coperfield with one `p' by Edmund Wells.

    
    	"David Copperfield" [with 2 p's] was by Dickens, I believe.
    

    Well, does it mention Claudia Schifer, then?
    

    Who wrote Rarnaby Budge? Was it Edmund Wells or Charles Dikkens with
    two k's, the famous Dutch author?

    OK, here it is. 8^)
    
The Bookshop Sketch from "Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl" 
 
Customer: (entering the bookshop) Good morning.
Proprietor (John Cleese): Good morning, sir.  Can I help you?
C: Er, yes.  Do you have a copy of "Thirty Days in the Samarkind Desert with
   the Duchess of Kent" by A. E. J. Eliott, O.B.E.?
P: Ah, well, I don't know the book, sir....
C: Er, never mind, never mind.  How about "A Hundred and One Ways to
   Start a Fight"?
P: ...By?
C: An Irish gentleman whose name eludes me for the moment.
P: Ah, no, well we haven't got it in stock, sir....
C: Oh, well, not to worry, not to worry.  Can you help me with "David
   Coperfield"?
P: Ah, yes, Dickens.
C: No....
P: (pause) I beg your pardon?
C: No, Edmund Wells.
P: I... *think* you'll find Charles Dickens wrote "David Copperfield", sir....
C: No, no, Dickens wrote "David Copperfield" with *two* Ps.  This is
   "David Coperfield" with *one* P by Edmund Wells.
P: "David Coperfield" with one P?
C: Yes, I should have said.
P: Yes, well in that case we don't have it.
C: (peering over counter)  Funny, you've got a lot of books here....
P: (slightly perturbed) Yes, we do, but we don't have "David Coperfield"
   with one P by Edmund Wells.
C: Pity, it's more thorough than the Dickens.
P: More THOROUGH?!?
C: Yes...I wonder if it might be worth a look through all your "David Copper-
   field"s...
P: No, sir, all our "David Copperfield"s have two P's.
C: Are you quite sure?
P: Quite.
C: Not worth just looking?
P: Definitely not.
C: Oh...how 'bout "Grate Expectations"?
P: Yes, well we have that....
C: That's "G-R-A-T-E Expectations," also by Edmund Wells.
P: (pause) Yes, well in that case we don't have it.  We don't have anything
   by Edmund Wells, actually: he's not very popular.
C: Not "Knickerless Knickleby"? That's K-N-I-C-K-E-R-L-E-S-S.
P: (taciturn) No.
C: "Khristmas Karol" with a K?
P: (really quite perturbed) No....
C: Er, how about "A Sale of Two Titties"?
P: DEFINITELY NOT.
C: (moving towards door) Sorry to trouble you....
P: Not at all....
C: Good morning.
P: Good morning.
C: (turning around) Oh!
P: (deep breath) Yesss?
C: I wonder if you might have a copy of "Rarnaby Budge"?
P: No, as I say, we're right out of Edmund Wells!
C: No, not Edmund Wells - Charles Dikkens.
P: (pause - eagerly) Charles Dickens??
C: Yes.
P: (excitedly) You mean "Barnaby Rudge"!
C: No, "Rarnaby Budge" by Charles Dikkens.  That's Dikkens with two Ks, the
   well-known Dutch author.
P: (slight pause) No, well we don't have "Rarnaby Budge" by Charles Dikkens
   with two Ks, the well-known Dutch author, and perhaps to save time I
   should add that we don't have "Karnaby Fudge" by Darles Chickens, or
   "Farmer of Sludge" by Marles Pickens, or even "Stickwick Stapers" by Farles
   Wickens with four M's and a silent Q!!!!!  Why don't you try W. H. Smith's?
C: Ah did, They sent me here.
P: DID they.
C: Oh, I wonder...
P: Oh, do go on, please.
C: Yes...I wonder if you might have "The Amazing Adventures of Captain Gladys
   Stoutpamphlet and her Intrepid Spaniel Stig Amongst the Giant Pygmies of
   Beckles"...volume eight.
P: (after a pause for recovery) No, we don't have that...funny, we've got a lot
   of books here...well, I musn't keep you standing here...thank you,--
C: Oh, well do, do you have--              ---\
P: No, we haven't. No, we haven't.            |
C: B-b-b-but--                                |
P: Sorry, no, it's one o'clock now, we're     |
   closing for lunch--                        |
C: Ah, I--I saw it--                          |-------loud arguments
P: I'm sorry--                                |
C: I saw it over there! I saw it...           |
P: What?  What?  WHAT?!?                   ---/
C: I saw it over there: "Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds".
P: (pause; trying to stay calm) "Olsen's Standard Book of British Birds"?
C: Yes...
P: O-L-S-E-N?
C: Yes....
P: B-I-R-D-S??
C: Yes.....
P: (beat) Yes, well, we do have that, as a matter of fact....
C: The expurgated version....
P: (pause; politely) I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that...?
C: The expurgated version.
P: (exploding) The EXPURGATED version of "Olsen's Standard Book of British
   Birds"?!?!?!?!?
C: (desperately) The one without the gannet!
P: The one without the gannet-!!!  They've ALL got the gannet!!  It's a
   Standard British Bird, the gannet, it's in all the books!!!
C: (insistent) Well, I don't like them...they wet their nests.
P: (furious) All right!  I'll remove it!!  (rrrip!)  Any other birds you don't
   like?!
C: I don't like the robin...
P: (screaming) The robin!  Right!  The robin!  (rrrip!)  There you are, any
   others you don't like, any others?
C: The nuthatch?
P: Right!  (flipping through the book)  The nuthatch, the nuthatch, the
   nuthatch, 'ere we are!  (rrriiip!)  There you are!  NO gannets, NO robins,
   NO nuthatches, THERE's your book!
C: (indignant) I can't buy that!  It's torn!
P: (incoherent noise)
C: Ah, I wonder if you have--
P: God, ask me anything!!  We got lots of books here, you know, it's a
   bookshop!!
C: Er, how 'bout "Biggles Combs his Hair"?
P: No, no, we don't have that one, funny!
C: "The Gospel According to Charley Drake"?
P: No, no, no, try me again!
C: Ah...oh, I know!  "Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying".
P: No, no, no, no, no,...What?  WHAT??????
C: "Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying".
P: "Ethel the Aa--" YES!!!YES!!!  WE'VE GOT IT!!  (throwing books wildly about)
   I-I've seen it somewhere!!!  I know it!!!  Hee hee hee hee hee!!!  Ha ha hoo
   ho---WAIT!!  WAIT!!  Is it??  Is it???  (triumphant) YES!!!!!!  Here we are,
   "Ethel the Aardvark goes Quantity Surveying"!!!!!  There's your book!!
   (throwing it down) Now, BUY IT!!!
C: (quickly) I don't have enough money.
P: (desperate) I'll take a deposit!
C: I don't have ANY money!
P: I'll take a check!!
C: I don't have a checkbook!
P: I've got a blank one!!
C: I don't have a bank account!!
P: RIGHT!!!! I'll buy it FOR you! (ring) There we are, there's your change,
   there's some money for a taxi on the way home, there's your book, now, now..
C: Wait, wait, wait!
P: What?  What?!?  WHAT?!?  WHAT???!!
C: I can't read!!!
P: (staggeringly long pause; very quietly) You can't...read.  (pause)  RIGHT!!!
   Sit down!!  Sit down!!  Sit!!  Sit!!  Are you sitting comfortably???
   Right!!!  (opens book) "Ethel the Aardvark was hopping down the river valley
   one lovely morning, trottety-trottety-trottety, when she might a nice little
   quantity surveyor..."  (fade out)

    You're going to force me to produce the dirty Hungarian
    phrase-book, you are, and possibly
    
    (the Chinese watches)
    

    
    	RE: .191
    
    	Rolling!!
    
    
    	RE: .188
    
    	I don't think she was born as of the writing of that book.  Or
    	she was at least very young and hadn't quite caught the eye of
    	our hero.
    

    
      German-English phrasebook, furiously.
    
      Entschuldigung, was gibt es here fur Sehenswurdigkeiten ?
    
      bb

    
    
    mr. murder by dean koontz.  typical of his work, but enjoyable (to me)
    nonetheless.
    
    

    "A Woman Rides the Beast" - Dave Hunt

    Dave Hunt gets out his Catholic-blastin' gun.
    
    ;^)

    it's a small gun though.  Actual history provides the huge target.

    All the Tony Hillerman mystery novels I can get my hands on...
    

    the newcastle telephone directory by telecom

    
    re: -1
    Not only that, but he grabs cheap SNARFS too ! ! ! !
    
    <in my best Abraham Simpson voice>
    BURN HIM !
    
    :-)
    Dan

    Tangle Box - Terry Brooks  (Fourth in the Landover series)
    
    
    Doesn't compare favorably with his "Shannara" series, but the hard-back
    was on sale for $5.99, so I nabbed it.  I can't resist a bargain.  8^)

    Crashlander - Larry Niven

    SMURF::BINDER
    
    <<    Crashlander - Larry Niven
    
     I just bought that as part of my vacation reading list. (Starts
    Friday)
    
    		Any Good ?
    
    							Derek.

    .207
    
    Crashlander is a collection of short stories about Beowulf Shaeffer,
    drawn from several Niven anthologies and threaded together to form a
    coherent narrative with flashbacks.  Shaeffer is a character from the
    Known Space series, which includes the novels Ringworld, The Ringworld
    Engineers, World of Ptaavs, Protector, The Long ARM of Gil Hamilton,
    and some short-story collections.  He was born on the planet called We
    Made It, whose first colonists crashed, hence the name crashlander.
    
    I like Niven's stuff - it makes sense technically (with the necessary
    suspension of disbelief to permit FTL travel and other science-fiction
    premises), and it's a fast, easy read.  His big hit was Ringworld, in
    which he postulates a "world" fabricated in a ring shape, out of the
    stuff of possibly several planets, to completely encircle its sun, thus
    providing vastly more living area than a spherical planet of comparable
    mass.  He got the idea from the Dysan Sphere, whose "inventor"
    postulated a complete spherical shell around its primary.

    SMURF::BINDER
    
    >>it's a fast and easy read
    
    
     Sounds perfect for the beach. Thanks.
    
    			Derek.

"The Shape of the Liturgy" by Dom Gregory Dix.

    
    Fwoooarrr...any good naughty bits in it?  Dom Dix, did you say?
    Where's that Comedy Names note?
    

    
    
    "Great Essays of the 20th Century-1994"
    
    
    
    
    Terrie
    

Is Fort Dix named after Dom Gregory?

    Mine's by Cox.
    
    And also Vurt by Jeff Noon.  Which is thus far a no-op.

    A compilation:
    
    "Wish You Were Here"
    "Rest in Pieces"
    "Murder at Monticello"
    
    by Rita Mae Brown and Sneaky Pie Brown

    _Edmund Kean,_ by <mumble mumble> Hillebrand.

    
    > "Great Essays of the 20th Century-1994"
    
    Been having trouble sleeping recently Terrie ?  
    
    :-)
    Dan

    
    
    
    Actually Dan, they are very interesting.  The one I'm reading now
    is called 'Skunk Dreams'.  It's very cute.
    
    
    
    Terrie
    

    
    "Mostly Harmless"
    
    

>    "Mostly Harmless"
    
The collected 'boxnotes of Chelsea?

    "Sacred Honor"	Colin Powell
    "Ebola"		William T. Close, M.D.
    
    

    
    .220
    
    Prolly not, cuz I'm laughing through this one 8^).
    
    

    > "Ebola"
    
    
    Great lunchtime reading...

"Atlas Shrugged"
It gets tedious in spots. Never read it before.

What ever happed to the Ayn Rand note?

    If you like Ebola Coladas....

    "UFO's in the New Age : Extraterrestrial Messages & The Truth of
    Scripture" - Bill Alnor, Professor of Journalism, Temple University

    Interesting note inside the cover of Ebola, Dr. Close is actress
    Glen Close's father.  Dr. Close was there during the 1976 epidemic;
    he's been working on the book for several years.  Quite a coinky dink
    that the book came out this year.
    
    His tribute is to the Belgian nuns who perished along with so many
    of the natives.  It isn't thrilling reading if you have a weak
    stomach, but I've read stories that were grosser than this.
    
    

 "To Renew America"   By Newt Gingrich

    Stereophile, Aug. 1995 issue.  8^)

    Currently reading 'The Vampire Lestat'. Its fantastic, much better than
    the first one (Interview). I have yet to read even one sentence that is
    boring in it. The book, so far, has just been go go go.
    
    I wasn't going to buy it to read (at $15), especially not after reading
    the first one. The first one dragged on and on. It may have something
    to do with seeing the film before reading the book. Anyway, I was with
    a friend in town looking at a pile of books on one of those charity
    tables and he picked up an original copy, it was either 1$ or $2, which
    ever it was still very cheap and I'm glad he convinced me to give Anne
    Rice another chance.
    
    I will return to this note upon completion. I've just realised that the
    first one was good up until about the same point :*) (DOH!).

    Essentials of Firefighting. 

    _The Conquest of Constantinople,_ Geoffroy de Villehardouin

    One of the kids brought home an assigned book the other day,
    a short (about 130 pages) novel that I picked up and read just
    to see what kind of stuff they're having the kids read in school
    (must be my right-winger parental vigilance :-)).
    
    I wasn't expecting much from a "young adult" novel.  And yet,
    it blew me away.  It was "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt.
    While I was reading it, I kept thinking, "What a great episode
    of 'Twilight Zone' this would make!"  Or even a great movie.
    
    I'd tell you what it's about, but that would be giving it away.
    It's probably available at the library, and I'm going to check
    out B&N to buy our own copy of it.
    
    Chris

>    While I was reading it, I kept thinking, "What a great episode
>    of 'Twilight Zone' this would make!"  Or even a great movie.

Must be that's why they did it! [Made it a movie.]

Available at Cinemascope Video in Milford, Cow Hampshire, if you
can't find it elsewhere.

    
    
    	Mary Shelley's  "Frankenstein"
    
    
    	reading it for my English Lit class.
    

    
>>    	reading it for my English Lit class.

    they should read it for themselves, it seems to me.
    

    
    `High Society', by Neil Boyd
    
    Commentary on drugs, Canada's anti-drug laws, their history, etc.
    

    
    	It makes it alot more fun to listen to if you deepen your voice
    	for Frankenstein's lines and then raise them really high for the
    	fair maiden's lines.
    
    	And use lots of body language for scenery descriptions.  Imagine
    	what you could do with the line "crossing between the rolling
    	hills".
    

  .238  plus, you have to get that worried Peter Boyle look on your
	face when Gene Wilder was yelling "It's alive!".  that was
	absolutely perfect. ;>

    
    oootin onnn da itz!
    

  ;>  

  footshtaps, footshtaps.

 Fronkensteen!

<sound of horses neighing>

   .243  no - you have to wait until someone says "Frau Bluuker" or however
         it's spelled.

I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention ...

    
    Where wolf?

	stay close to za candles

    
    "A worm, with very few exceptions, is NOT a human being."
    

  .248  good one. ;>

    He vould have ein enormous schwanstucker....

  Oof

    
    	"Put ... the candle ... BACK."
    

    
    "What knockers!"
    
    "Vy, sank you Doktor."
    
    
    

    
    RE: .252
    
    "Put...ze....cendle....beck!!"

    
    
    
    Rolllll... rolllll...rolll in ze hay!!!
    

    Get the bags, Igor.
    
    OK, You take the blond and I'll take the one with the toiban.

 .256  hey.
       i already quoted that elsewhere in here.  that's
       my fave.
 

    OK, I'll take:
    
    What hump?

    
    Abby-someone.
    
    

   .258  you just _had_ to, didn't you.

    I did, yes.

    Sorry to interrupt this rathole...
    
    Currently reading 'Behold a Pale Horse' by Willian Cooper.  It's good
    nutter material, it is.  Any self-respecting conspiracy buff should put 
    this book on their 'must read' list.  If only 10% of it is even
    remotely true...
    
    
    -steve
    
    Now, back to the 'Young Frankenstein' rathole...

Okay,

"My grandfather's work... WAS DOODOO!"

  then there's:

  "What is it that you..._do_ do?"

    Just finished Insomnia by Stephen King.  Not a bad read.  Good escape
    fodder.  The imagery was decent, the characters were believable, and the
    story, contemporary.  Different take on the good evil thing with the
    opponents being on either side of the pro-life/pro-choice fence.  Did
    not care for the references to another series of his books though. 
    That seemed out of place for some reason.  Kind of like his cameos 
    he was doing in some of his films.  It was tough to get started on it
    but it was a good one to have laying around. 
    
    Brian
    

    
    	I liked the references to other books.
    

    
    	Oh yeah ... I just got the 1st 3 urban legend books from Jan
    	Harold Brunvand [I already had the 2 most recent ones] and
    	started one of them last night.  Great stuff.
    
    	And I picked up 2 Dave Barry books that I didn't even know
    	existed until last night.  Not sure when I'll get to them,
    	though.
    

    Just finished The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen R. Lawhead, found them
    very good, not the routine romantic treatment that Arthur gets as a
    rule.
    Though the description of some of the battles were a little hard to take
    (while eating lunch) they did make you understand how they thought back 
    then.
    The only real gripe I have is, why the last book, it is almost like
    Lawhead suddenly realized he had missed something. I think Pendragon
    would have fitted in better between Merlin and Arthur, not at the end
    of the cycle.
    But who am I to say, I only read, not write:-)
    
    Just started Wild Horses by Dick Francis and enjoying it very much, the
    only problem I have is, every time I look at the cover, that darn song
    pops into my head and stays with me for hours.
                                                  
    joan

    
    Oh, I LOVE Dick Francis books.
    
    

    So do I, I have every one, most in paperback. I would like to have then
    all in hard cover but oh my, the price:-(
    
    Just saw a review of the last one, looks good but it's only in hard
    cover here right now $29 plus tax, plus tax. 
    
    And that's not a stutter folks, by the time they get through with all
    the taxes here on books, I,m kinda surprised any knows how to read.
    
    
    joan

    
    	The book store wants $21 for Dave Barry's "Complete Guide for Guys".
    
    	I don't think I'll be buying that one yet.
    

    
    re .271
    
    	Read it, it's real good, but $21 is quite a bit for a few laughs.
    
    	My wife just bought me Tim Allen's "Don't stand too close to a 
    naked man". Looks like the same type of book as Dave Barry's.
    
    ed

    
    	The Tim Allen book is OK, I guess.  He's no Seinfeld and he's no
    	Dave Barry, but it's funny in places.  The book is written like
    	a story, instead of a collection of "routines", so it's in a dif-
    	ferent class anyways.
    
    	Like I mentioned in here last week or so, he is quite fond of his
    	P-word, and mentions it often.
    

    My new study book still hasn't arrived from the states... So it looks 
    like I'm going to start reading a novel in the meantime.
                  
    I am looking forward to reading 'The Wasp Factory' by Ian Banks.

    
      Just finished "My American Journey" by Colin Powell.
    
      bb

    
    I just read the lid on my coffee cup...
    
    "12EL     CAUTION HOT     L4024"
    

    
    
    >CAUTION HOT
    
    No comma???
    

    
    No comma.  ;^)
    
    It's not just HOT, it's CAUTION HOT!
    

    Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
    
    Though I prefer the writing about riding through small town America
    than the philosophical stuff,which goes over my head a bit.
    

    Say hi to Phaedrus for me.
    
    

    _The Racist Mind_ by Raphael Ezekiel (sp?) and 
    _African Laughter_ by Doris Lessing, a wonderful chronicle
    of her several trips to Zimbabwe.
    

    
      Bosnia, A Short History  by Noel Malcolm, NYU press, 1995
    
      Malcolm is a political commentator for The Spectator in the UK.  Like
     anybody who goes to the trouble of trying to make sense of the Balkans
     he has an agenda.  But at least it is explicit, and he deals quite
     extensively with prominent opposing views.  What I really like about
     this book is its brevity (252 pp), clarity, forthrightness, and
     thoroughness.  From Roman Illyria, the middle ages, the Ottoman
     and Austrian occupations, to the muddles of the 20th Century, the
     world wars, communism and Tito, to the current catastrophe, you will
     find that Noel Malcom has put together the essential facts, evidence
     both statistical and anecdotal, and arguments of his own, which could
     be used just as well by someone with a different agenda.  Which, in
     my view, is all you can ask of anybody writing about so contentious
     a subject.  I'll be quoting it myself in the coming SOAPBOX Bosnia
     debate - bet on it.
    
      bb

    
       The Right to Privacy, by Ellen Alderman & Caroline Kennedy,
     Knopf, 1995.
    
       This is a second effort by these two attorneys.  I did not read
     their first, titled "In Our Defense".  The authors come to the
     topic from quite different childhoods.  Kennedy, of course, the
     daughter of the assassinated President, knows about lack of privacy.
     Alderman never went through such a carnival.  Of course, they are
     Democrats, and I feared the worst sort of liberal polemics
     masquerading as fact after the first few pages of spectacular, and
     purportedly true anecdotes.  But, no !  The book turns out to be
     a compendium of actual cases, of people's privacy being summarily
     violated, yes, but also of interviews with police who struggle with
     letting many criminals go free due to constitutional limits, and of
     many controversial state and federal court decisions relating to
     the Fourth Amendment and other privacy issues.  I must admit that I
     very quickly learned how confusing American law is at present in this
     area, and also that I was not correct as to the current situation.
    
       If you want to know what American actually IS, right now, rather
     than what you or anybody WISHES it were, I recommend the book.
    
       bb

    If you want privacy, I've got a book for you.

    It's a secret, though, right ?
    
    ;^P

    
    "Kiss the Girls" James Patterson. again follow the exploits of Alex
    Cross, the detective of the 90's. Similar so far, to Along came a
    Spider. 
    
    I like it

I have been interested in Richard Feynman for years, and have read
books about him (Surely you're joking, What do you care), and hope to
replace my now-lost copies and read 'em again.

I also wish I could find a tape of the PBS show re: Feynman and Tuva.

Pete

>I also wish I could find a tape of the PBS show re: Feynman and Tuva.

  i gots me one.  yep, i do.

  hey, and i also gots me a bumper sticker that reads "Tuva or bust"
  and a CD of the Tuvan Throatsingers, and, and, and some of his books,
  and, well, he was great.

    
    
    >i gots me one.  yep, i do.
    
    
    And she's real easy... yes she is!!!
    
    ;)
    

  .290  {blink, blink, frown}

    
    >{blink, blink, frown}
    
    
    Is that what you look like whilst taping something for someone
    else?????
    
    
    :) :) :)
    

  .292  more often than not, yes. ;>

  Well, mail to stowoa::pjohnson came back as undeliverable, so anyways,
  Peter, i'd be happy to have a copy of the tape made for you, if you'd like.

  - diane

    
    See Peter? I told you she was easy!!!
    
    :) :)
    

    >>hey, and i also gots me a bumper sticker that reads "Tuva or bust"
    
    
    well, at least now i know (sorta) what the hell that meant...

But Diane, I'm here, see? Right over here, waving (I'm the one without
the shirt).

I'd be forever grateful if you would do that -- tell me where to send
the tape and I'll do it!

Thanks,
Pete

    
    "Graham Chapman: A Liar's Autobiography, Volume VI"
    
     by Graham Chapman  ;^)
    
    
    "It's the `Magna Carta' and `Valley of the Dolls' all rolled into
    one...It will be so staggeringly popular that Graham may very likely
    be made Pope."
    					- Michael Palin
    

    
    J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit"
    
    Yes I've read it before, but its been over 12 years since the last time
    I read the book.  Although it is, in my oppinion, a great book (as well
    as C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" series) I find I am not quite as enraptured as
    I was in the past.  Maybe it's because I am getting older.  But I think
    it is because there is now so much being done in the fantasy genre that
    there are now better books out there.
    
    Anyway, my son has started to read "Narnia", so when I was dusting off
    those books, I found the Tolkinn and decided to give it a go.
    
    	Skip

    When my son was born, I gave him a set of 4 Tolkien books (in a
    special holder for the set) with "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the
    Rings" in it.

    I told my 6 day old son, "No need to hurry with this.  Just read 
    these at your leisure."

    He still has the book set.  When he was old enough to read the
    books, he LOVED them (and still does!!)

    Somehow, he just seemed to be the kind of person who would enjoy
    them eventually.  I noticed this several days after he was born.  :)

    > I was in the past.  Maybe it's because I am getting older.  But I think
    > it is because there is now so much being done in the fantasy genre that
    > there are now better books out there.
    
    I find just the opposite. Tolkien started it all and no one has
    come close since. The genre has just become more boring and more
    predictable. A case in point is that Robert Jordan is considered
    one of the best right now... and he totally sucks. I read five
    of his books waiting for something good... and gave up when
    I realized it was not forthcoming.
    
    -b

    
    re: .301>A case in point is that Robert Jordan is considered
        one of the best right now... and he totally sucks.
    
    I thought the first one was not too bad, but the rest has been a
    retelling of that same story in excrutiating detail.
    
    I like the earlier Asprin's "Myth" stories, since the humor was nice
    and the stories moved along.  He faded in the end, unfortunately.  The
    same can be said of the Peirs Anthony.  Success definitely effected
    this person's writing.
    
    Of course there is a lot of crap out there, but then again from
    Sturgeon's law - "90% of everything is crap"
    
        Skip

    
    I also find that the `fantasy' genre has paled somewhat for me.
    I do have fond memories of Zelazny's "Amber" series, though.
    

I agree re: quality of Tolkein compared to others. I have read the
Hobbit and the trilogy several times, and will again, I'm sure. I
tried to get into another, something about Narnia (?), and didn't make
it past a few dozen pages.

I do suspect, though, that my disposition to the LOTR trilogy is due
in part to the time of my life when I was first introduced to it --
flaming hippy, late 60's, Cape Cod, Daytona -- and in many ways takes
me back. Not at all objective, but that's my style.

Pete

>        <<< Note 222.297 by STOWOA::PJOHNSON "aut disce, aut discede" >>>
>                         -< Hello! Hello! Wave! Wave! >-

  well, Peter, i just tried it again, and i still can't send you mail.  i don't
  know why the heck not, but anyways, you needn't send me a tape - my treat.
  

    Tolkien's books make all other fantasy pale by comparison.  His stuff
    is thorough, consistent, lovingly detailed, and erudite enough to
    satisfy even the snobbiest elevated noses while at the same time
    readable enough that it's appropriate for anyone above the age of, say,
    10 or so.
    
    Nobody writing today comes close - not Asprin, not McCaffrey, not le
    Guin, not Zelazny.  Their stuff is all fine and good, but it's like
    comparing Gallo Hearty Burgundy to a Premier Grand Cru Chateau Mouton
    Rothschild from a spectacular vintage year.

As far as fantasy stuff goes, I find that some of Ray Feist's work is pretty 
good.  It borrows somewhat from Tolkein as far as races and geography are 
concerned, although the stories are generally told from a completely different 
angle, making comparisons worthless.

My favourite fantasy author has to be Terry Pratchett though, his books are a 
cross between Lord of the Rings and Red Dwarf.  Just finished reading 
Interesting Times, which marks the return of Rincewind the `Wizzard' who's 
sent to the Counterweight Continent to cause some trouble (the peoples and 
politics are not dissimilar to Feist/Wurts' `Empire' saga, only much sillier), 
and Maskerade, which is the latest tale of the Lancre witches' coven (now a 
due since Magrat left to marry), and covers the peculiar goings on at the 
Ankh-Morpork opera house.

Chris.

   > Premier Grand Cru Chateau Mouton Rothschild

	overkill alert.  ;>

    .308
    
    Call it a pre-emptive strike.

   > Premier Grand Cru Chateau Mouton Rothschild

The French home of a wealthy rap group?

    
>    Call it a pre-emptive strike.

	um, against what? ;>

    .311
    
    Against idjits.

    
>    Against idjits.

	oh.  idjits who don't know the significance of Mouton Rothschild, 
	but do know the significance of "Premier Grand Cru"?  them?  ;>

    us idjits are a motley cru.

    .313
    
    No.  Idjits who don't know the significance of either.  They'll
    recognize Gallo Hearty Burgundy and be greatly impressed by the
    incomprehensibility of the thing it's compared to.

    overkill alert still in effect, then.  ;>

    
    
    I'm from the Will Rogers School of wine drinkers....
    

    
    There's always a fine '95 Thunderbird or MD 20/20.
    
    And don't forget the Australian table wines.

    The Journals of John Wesley
       edited by Elisabeth Jay
    
    pretty interesting stuff for a 18th Century stump preacher
    
    NRz
    

    Yeah, he didn't waffle on any issues did he?

 Apollo 13 (formerly known as "Lost Moon").  I'm less than 100 pages into 
 it but it is enjoyable reading.




 Jim

    
    
    Hope to read (maybe a Christmas present? :)
    
    Shock Wave by Clive Cussler...
    

    Thanks Andy, I didn't know Cussler had a new one out; he's always
    a good read!!
    
    

    "The Hidden Life of Dogs" by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.  I got it as a
    joke gift for my Dad, who is really a dog person, but I read a couple
    of chapters and it is really quite interesting.

    Agreed.  Read it at my uncle's, a confirmed dog person.  For one
    schooled by BF Skinner & his crowd ("thou shalt not adduce a mind to
    lower animals, oh whattheheck, not even to humans!") it was lovely, and
    incontrovertible.
    

    Thomas's book on cats, "The Tribe of Tiger," is also excellent.
    
    -Stephen

    Been mixing John Esquemeling's first-person account of the Brethren of
    the Coast with a reread of Rafael Sabatini's _The Black Swan._  Oddly,
    Esquemeling's description of Sir Henry Morgan seems not to coincide
    with Sabatini's where women are concerned...

    
    re: .323
    
    Youse is welcome....
    

    Everyone Poops

    
    	RE: "Everyone Poops"
    
    	I've seen that adverticed, possibly in Barnes and Noble or The
    	Literary Guild ... supposed to be some sort of educational book
    	for kids to explain certain [or most major] bodily functions,
    	right?
    
    	And if so, why are YOU reading it??  8^)
    

>>    	And if so, why are YOU reading it??  8^)

	i had to buy it.  i was buying dr. seuss (suess susse soose) books
	for my great-nephew and it was impossible to pass up.  i plan to
	leave it on the coffee table as evidence of my fine literary sense.

	

Did Dr. Seuss ski?  Did he own a Seuss Chalet?

� a devil snarf!

    You are reaching Glen.  It would have been more appropriate to claim a
    numerical anomaly than a half sanrf.  IMO, YMMV, SPCA, MSU, ETC

Brian... I claimed no sanrf. nnttm

Red Dwarf - again.

"You think you think, therefore you possibly are"

\C

    
    Well, I just finished "The Hobbit" and am deciding on whether to go for
    it and read the next three ("Lord of the Ring") or take another tack. 
    Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker" is beckoning from the shelf (for the 4th
    time).  Or Piers Anthony has new Xanth stuff out.  (Yeah, I know, I'm a
    glutton for PUNishment.)
    
    If I was serious, I have a book called "The World Lit Only by Fire"
    which is a history of Europe from the Dark Age up through the Middle
    Ages or some such time period.  It is supposed to be well written, but
    I don't know if I could handle something like this while not taking
    some form of history class.
    
    	Skip

    <- I'd recommend "The History of the World in 10-and-a-Half Chapters"
    By Julian Barnes.

    .337
    
    > history of Europe from the Dark Age up through the Middle
    > Ages or some such time period.
    
    There was no such period as the Dark Ages.  Sure, the five centuries or
    so after the fall of Rome in 476 used to be called the "Dark Ages," but
    that period supplied the critical mass of technological and scientific
    discovery that was required to launch the later Middle Ages and lead to
    the Renaissance.

    
    OK, so they were the "Not Particularly Well-Lit Ages"...
    
    -b

    The Wood-Chipper Murder (wasn't my best choice for lunch break
    though).
    
    OJ is a veritable "gentle ben" compared to Richard Crafts!!
    
    

    .340
    
    > "Not Particularly Well-Lit Ages"
    
    :-)
    
    On the contrary, however, that was the period that produced high-
    quality steel for weapons and tools.  The Romans had only low-grade
    stuff, not understanding the metallurgy; it took the alchymistes of the
    early Middle Ages to figure out WHY steel was better than plain iron.
    The early Middle Ages also produced the first widespread use of water
    power in Europe.  The Romans, although they understood water power and
    actually did construct a few small water mills, never exploited the
    vast potential.  The horse collar was another invention of the "Not
    Particularly Well-Lit Ages;" the Romans, who yoked oxen successfully,
    made only very inefficient use of horses and asses because they never
    figured out how to make a harness that wouldn't choke these longer-
    necked draft animals.

 .342  you forgot to say "Class dismissed.", and i really have to
       go home now.

    .343
    
    No, you have to stay after school.

    Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz.
    
    Good escapist fare, less supernatural stuff than some of his earliear
    works.  Would be a good read for the Konspiracy Knutz.  Central to the
    book is a shadow agency within the gov't that with all sorts of high
    tech doodads and computer wizardry being used to monitor and contolr
    the populace.  Kind of like Binkley's closet for the paranoid amongst
    us.  
    
      

    
    	Sounds good.  I bought that one a few months ago but haven't
    	gotten around to reading it yet.
    
    	I must be about 10-15 books behind by now.
    

    
    It DOES tend to take longer to read a book when you have to move your 
    lips and sound out each word, I guess.
             

    
    	The part that really gets me is looking up all the words I don't
    	know the meaning of, and asking anyone in the immediate vicinity
    	to explain all the confusing phrases to me.
    
    	And they don't put enough pictures in these new books to make it
    	interesting or fun.
    

    
     >And they don't put enough pictures in these new books to make it
     >interesting or fun.
    
    Really?  I was under the impression that the kind of book you read is
    MAINLY pictures.
    
    

    
    	No, I have no desire to look at MANLY pictures.
    

    Baseball Chronicles, edited by James Flatbush
    
    Only for the baseball purist, imho

    
    Just finished reading
    
    "Chain of Command" by Dale Brown...
    
     
    Good action, and well, written although I wanted to get through it as fast
    as possible...
    
    No names were ever mentioned, but the President of the US and his
    little Mrs. in the book had the smell and feel of none other than Slick
    and HRC...
    
      
    The book kept bringing me back to reality with the description of the
    first-lady though... They attributed a knock-out figure to the
    character in the book...

    
    just finished  dean koontz's  "icebound" (previously released as
    'prison of ice' under the pen name of dave axton).
    
    all in all, it was a pretty good book, tho very unlike anything i have
    ever read by him.  
    
    

	Just finished:    Good Omens   Terry Prachette and Neil Gaimond
				TOO funny

			Lord and Lady's  - Terry Prachette  (Diskworld)
				As always - WONDERFUL!

			Re-Read Soul Music  - Terry Pratchetet (diskworld)
				very funny


			The Mote in God's Eye (for the zillionth time)
				good read

	(Being sick does have _some_ advantages)

    
    	I picked up his new book last week, although right now I can't
    	think of the name.  Bizarre yellow/orange cover.  "Intensity",
    	I think it's called.
    
    	Has anyone read it yet?
    

    
    it is called "intensity", and i have even seen a commercial for it on
    tv...they say it is supposed to be good, but i still have a few to go
    til i am up to date on his books...
    
    

...not
>Prachette  (Diskworld)
...or...
>Pratchetet (diskworld)

it's `PRATCHETT'!!  (oh, and `Discworld')
HTH,

Chris.

"Interesting Times"
By T.Pratchett


and I'm horribly stuck in the game.

\C

    
    "darkfall" by dean koontz.
    
    one of those that i really shouldn't be reading before i go to bed...
    
    

    
    	Which one is that?
    
    	Have I read it yet?
    

    It is the one the Raq is reading and only one can determine for
    yourself if you have read it yet or not.  Be strong Shawn and find the
    inner strength to seek the answer which only one can provide.  

    
    	OK, if I must, I'll go home and read the liner notes.
    
    	Meany!!
    

    
    so far, it's about mysterious deaths by what seems to be killer rats. 
    
    and it's not a good image to have before you attempt to have sweet
    dreams and the lot. 
    
    as to whether or not you have read it, i have no idea...
    
    

    
    
    Just finished "Shock Wave" by Clive Cussler...
    
     Very fast-paced... action filled, although the ending left too many
    loose threads...
    

    Those loose threads are intros to the next series of Pitt's adventures. 
    I am in the middle of Dragon myself.  Larger than life, death defying,
    patriotic, real man type stuff.  Almost sounds like Gene H.  Good
    escapist fare regardless, IMO etc.  

  "How to Get on the Fecal Roster of Every Woman in a Notes
   Conference in One Easy Lesson"    by Chris Ralto

    i read that, but i was too shallow to understand it.

    
    I won't read it until I know whether or not Chris is good looking.
    
    

    i mean, i don't even know if he _looks_ like an author.
    you gotta look like an author to write a book.

    What friggin' string are we talkin' about here?

        Scraggly beard, long wild uncombed hair, glasses, shirt with coffee
    stains, Bermuda shorts, socks, sandals.

    >> I won't read it until I know whether or not Chris is good looking.
    
    I'm not, so go ahead and read it.  :-)
    
    As for the election results, I guess we were supposed to ignore
    the gender split because that's P.I., and besides, it's more fun
    and an easier target to blame the people who voted for that
    funny-looking Perot guy, as has been done countless times in here.
    
    Chris

    
    Who's ignoring the gender split?  No-one denied that women voted for
    Clinton more than men.  My argument is that attributing that split to 
    shallow bimbos who only care about someone's looks is pretty effing 
    stupid.  I don't give a tinker's damn about political correctness or
    political incorrectness.  Do you think that because more men voted for
    Bush that means all men are homosexuals?
                                

  .373  <snicker>

    pi and pc are names that men use in a knee-jerk attempt
    to understand women's political motivations...oh well,
    i guess it's easier than thinking.

My mother voted for Slick because he was "such a nice looking young man".

    .376
    
    well then, case closed.

    Wrong topic, but based on my own "surveys" among family and friends,
    there were indeed *some* "shallow bimbos" who were most impressed with
    Bill Clinton's looks, incredibly.  Furthermore, it's well-documented
    in various touchy-feely studies that attractive people tend to do
    better in these areas.  It's just human nature, it's not being a
    bimbo... though it's probably shallow.  Also, I recall various
    polls and analyses at the time on the "appearance factor", so I'm
    not just making this up as I go along.
    
    The point you're missing is that if the presidential candidates were
    female, there'd be some male shallow bimbos who'd vote for the
    best-looking female candidate.  And in this case, the "looks" factor
    wouldn't be much of an issue for women, just as it isn't much of
    an issue for men choosing from among male candidates.
    
    I've tried denying human nature, but ultimately I gave up... it's
    there to some extent whether we like it or not.
    
    Chris

No, not "case closed" necessarily - just adding a data point, Oph.

There are shallow women and there are shallow men - this is no news.
Neither should it be ignored as if it doesn't happen.

Some people vote for very shallow reasons, my mother being a shining
example.

    |The point you're missing is that if the presidential candidates were
    |female, there'd be some male shallow bimbos who'd vote for
    |the best-looking female candidate.
    
    _Two_ female presidential candidates?  Surely sci-fi material.
    But can't wait to count the male bimbos if this should miraculously
    occur in my lifetime.  

 ZZ    _Two_ female presidential candidates?  Surely sci-fi material.
    
    Senators Feinstein and that other not so good looking woman.

    >> _Two_ female presidential candidates?  Surely sci-fi material.
    
    Speaking of which... out of the hundred or so people running for
    office so far, why aren't any of them women?  There's lots of women
    senators, congresswomen, governors, and so on.  Even among those who
    are Democrats, one would think that at least some of them believe
    they could do a better job than Clinton.
    
    Sometimes people have to make their own science-fiction scenarios
    come true.  If a qualified woman would run against Clinton, I'd
    register Dem and vote for her.  And I tell you what... I wouldn't
    even care what she looks like.  :-)
    
    Chris

    I find it amazing that the U.S. still hasn't had a female president.

Has Canada had a female Prime Minister?

       |Speaking of which... out of the hundred or so people running for
       |office so far, why aren't any of them women?  There's lots of women
       |senators, congresswomen, governors, and so on.
    
       lots of women senators?  lots of women governors?
       compared to what?  i would venture to say that $$$
       is a major problem.

    Yes, unfortunately she wasn't given a chance.

    >>    lots of women senators?  lots of women governors?
    >>    compared to what?
    
    Compared to "one".  How many have to be there before even one
    will run?  Some of them have been there for many terms, as well.
    
    
    >> i would venture to say that $$$
    >>    is a major problem.
    
    Presumably the same sources of funding and backing that assisted
    with their senatorial, etc., campaigns would be just as interested
    in having them become president.  Of course, the old party structure
    would probably be the single biggest barrier; the Democratic party
    would be less of a barrier, naturally.
    
    Chris

    
    Hey!!! What's wrong with wearing socks with sandals????
    

        >>    lots of women senators?  lots of women governors?
        >>    compared to what?
    
        |Compared to "one".  How many have to be there before even one
        |will run?  Some of them have been there for many terms, as well.
    
        and how many of the big boy political financial backers in this
        country would in all seriousness support a woman for president?
        do you really believe they'd be clamoring to throw their money
        down on so risky a venture?  
    
        and in terms of numbers in the senate and house - women have
        to achieve parity with men so that, like the men, mediocrity
        will rule and hopefully, every once in awhile, a worthy 
        candidate will appear - worthy enough to take on the national
        political scene.

    
    	If she loses the election, she can always pose for Playboy, and
    	her backers can be her agents.
    

    |Hey!!! What's wrong with wearing socks with sandals????
    
    Nothing, as long as you drive an old Volvo or an old Volkswagon station
    wagon and you always carry a bag a nuts and raisins wherever you go.

    
    
    Nope
    
    Nope
    
    Sometimes...
    

    Then you're not allowed.

    
    
    Go smoke a cigar!!!!!!1
    

    >>    and how many of the big boy political financial backers in this
    >>    country would in all seriousness support a woman for president?
    
    Like I said in the second half of my last reply, the same political
    financial backers that supported the woman for senator/governor/etc,
    would presumably be interested in furthering her career even more.
    If they've supported her throughout her political career this far,
    why would they suddenly drop out of sight when their candidate runs
    for the next level up?  What kind of an investment philosophy would
    that represent?
    
    
    >>    do you really believe they'd be clamoring to throw their money
    >>    down on so risky a venture?  
    
    When Clinton started his run, and even for a while into his run,
    the very notion of supporting him appeared to be an extremely
    risky venture (e.g., Bush's 90% popularity at one point, the large
    Democratic field that was initially running, and so on).  And yet
    he managed to get backing.  I don't see this as necessarily risky
    in today's political environment.
    
    As for numbers, I see that as pretty much irrelevant, except that as
    the number of women in high offices increases, it becomes more
    statistically likely that one will want to run for president.  In
    addition, the electorate gets more "accustomed" to seeing women in high
    office, thus making it more likely that they'd vote for a woman.  But
    numbers of women in Congress and in governorships shouldn't be a factor
    in deciding whether one should run or not.  If you had been in the
    Senate for a while, and you had the desire and the qualifications for
    the presidency, would you look around first and say, "Well, there
    aren't enough other women senators around here, I'd better wait
    until the next election?"  I don't understand that.
    
    Still wondering why we're not seeing a woman candidate this year...
    
    Chris

    The only one I'd ever consider voting for is Margaret Thatcher!

>    The only one I'd ever consider voting for is Margaret Thatcher!

loony.

    
    >>loony.
    
    aren't those canadian????
    
    

	Howard Stern   "Private Parts"
	Howard Stern   "Miss America"

		Interesting.....


Pat

    
    	Is he as much of a jerk in print as he is on the air?
    

    Actually, he's a riot in print. (Read Private Parts, laughed like
    hell.)

<---when you laughed, fire and brimstone came out of your mouth?

    re: .399
    
    {bow}

    
    	{arrow}
    

    {quiver}

    {butt}

    {bullseye}

    {yow!}

	I thought the books were pretty funny!  But then, I 
	think his show is pretty funny too.

	Of course have young male children in the house did help me relate 
	to his sense of bathroom humor.   At moments I think he'a a genius
	and at others I think he's such a dork - I'm always surprised
	at my reaction to him.

Got this from the internet and thought it might be of interest here.

"The Most Frequently Banned Books in the 1990s"

This list is taken from the table of contents of Banned in the U.S.A. by
Herbert N. Foerstel. It shows the fifty books that were most frequently
challenged in schools and public libraries in the United States between
1990 and 1992. 

  1. Impressions Edited by Jack Booth et al.
  2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
  5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
  6. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
  7. Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
  8. More Scary Stories in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
  9. The Witches by Roald Dahl
 10. Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoit
 11. Curses, Hexes, and Spells by Daniel Cohen
 12. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
 13. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
 14. Blubber by Judy Blume
 15. Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl
 16. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
 17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
 18. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
 19. Christine by Stephen King
 20. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
 21. Fallen Angels by Walter Myers
 22. The New Teenage Body Book by Kathy McCoy and Charles Wibbelsman
 23. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
 24. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Snyder
 25. Night Chills by Dean Koontz
 26. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
 27. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
 28. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
 29. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
 30. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
 31. The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks
 32. The Witches of Worm by Zilpha Snyder
 33. My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher
     Collier
 34. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
 35. Cujo by Stephen King
 36. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
 37. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellair
 38. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
 39. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
 40. Grendel by John Champlin Gardner
 41. I Have to Go by Robert Munsch
 42. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
 43. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
 44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
 45. My House by Nikki Giovanni
 46. Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume
 47. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
 48. Witches, Pumpkins, and Grinning Ghosts: The Story of the Halloween
     Symbols by Edna Barth
 49. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
 50. Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones by Alvin Schwartz

    
    How depressing.  I've just finished reading Dahls' two autobiographies.
    He is an amazing character.  During WWII as a spitfire pilot his
    squadron fought the Battle of Athens.  In this action, a force of about
    11 spitfires took on upwards of 70 ME 109s in a dogfight over the
    Acropolis.  Only a couple of spitfires survived but they shot down
    twice as many 109s.  
    
    A good read, as are all his books.
    
    Colin
    

Little Red Ridinghood?  Insensitive to wolves?

    
    
    I want to know why "Run to the OutHouse" by Willie Makeit isn't on
    there????
    

    
      I've read many of these, but not the number 1, Impressions by
     Booth.  What kind of a book is it ?
    
      bb

    Well, I see what my problem must be, I've read a rather
    large portion of those......in Catholic high school.  Thank
    goodness my English teacher recognized a good book when she
    read it.... :-)
    
    

    
    I'm always interested in unusual books, and saw references to
    "The Story of O" in some newsgroups, so I went and found it then read it.
    
    Some interesting passages, definately not politically correct, and full of
    "things that make you go Hmm"
    
    Not quite sure if I like it or not, but the litarary approach to rather
    sensitive subject was very refreshing.
    
    
    
    Conrad

  2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
  3. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
  5. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
 26. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
 34. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
    
    	>>  wow.  all of these were on my high school English 
    	>>  mandatory reading list.  
    
 23. Little Red Riding Hood by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
43. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  4. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
    
    	>>  gimme a break
    
 29. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
    
    	>>  ditto above.
    
    	>>  I'd be curious as to the reasons why.
 

    
    	What was wrong with Judy Blume's "Blubber" and "Then Again, Maybe
    	I Won't"?  I read both of those when I was about 15 and right now
    	I don't remember anything offensive about them.
    
    	I believe "Huck Finn" was banned for a couple reasons, 1 of them
    	being the constant references to "Nigga Jim".
    
    	And what was wrong with Stephen King's "Christine" and "Cujo"?
    	They were both somewhat violent, but so was "The Godfather".
    

Here are some of the reasons for book banning. Some of these are on the 90's 
list and some aren't.

Ulysses by James Joyce was recently praised by CMU English professor and
vice-provost Erwin Steinberg. (Steinberg also defended Carnegie Mellon's
declaration to delete alt.sex and some 80 other newsgroups, claiming they
were legally obligated to do so.) Ulysses was barred from the United States
as obscene for 15 years, and was seized by U.S Postal Authorities in 1918
and 1930. The lifting of the ban in 1933 came only after advocates fought
for the right to publish the book. (Please don't use this on-line copy if
you are in the US, where it is still copyrighted.)

In 1930, U.S. Customs seized Harvard-bound copies of Candide, Voltaire's
critically hailed satire, claiming obscenity. Two Harvard professors
defended the work, and it was later admitted in a different edition. In
1944, the US Post Office demanded the omission of Candide from a mailed
Concord Books catalog.

John Cleland's Fanny Hill (also known as Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure)
has been frequently suppressed since its initial publication in 1749. This
story of a prostitute is known both for its frank sexual descriptions and
its parodies of contemporary literature, such as Daniel Defoe's Moll
Flanders. The U.S Supreme Court finally cleared it from obscenity charges
in 1966. (Copies exist on the English Server and on Wiretap; if one server
is inaccessible, try the other, or wait until later.)

Aristophanes' Lysistrata, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Boccaccio's
Decameron, and various editions of The Arabian Nights were all banned from
the U.S. mails under the Comstock Law of 1873. Officially known as the
Federal Anti-Obscenity Act, this law banned the mailing of "lewd",
"indecent", "filthy", or "obscene" materials. According to Marjorie Heins,
the law remains on the books today, though a section banning information
about birth control has been deleted. The anti-war Lysistrata was banned
again in 1967 in Greece, which was then controlled by a military junta.

Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman's famous collection of poetry, was withdrawn
in Boston in 1881, after the District Attorney threatened criminal
prosecution for the use of explicit language in some poems. The work was
later published in Philadelphia.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau's autobiography Confessions was banned by U.S.
Customs in 1929 as injurious to public morality. His philosophical works
were also banned in the USSR in 1935, and some were placed on the Catholic
Church's Index of Prohibited Books in the 18th century.

Thomas Paine, best known for his writings supporting American independence,
was indicted for treason in England in 1792 for his work The Rights of Man,
defending the French Revolution. More than one English publisher was also
prosecuted for printing The Age of Reason, where Paine argues for Deism and
against Christianity and Atheism.

Blaise Pascal's The Provincial Letters, a defense of the Jansenist Antoine
Arnauld, was ordered shredded and burned by King Louis XIV of France in
1660.

The Bible and The Qu'ran were both removed from numerous libraries and
banned from import in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1956. Many editions of
the Bible have also been banned and burned by civil and religious
authorities throughout history.

D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was the object of numerous
obscenity trials in both the UK and the United States up into the 1960s.
This book is also still copyrighted in the United States, but can be
downloaded elswewhere.

E for Ecstasy, a book on the drug MDMA, was seized by Australian customs in
1994. At this writing (March 1995), the official ban on the book is still
in force in that country.

An illustrated edition of "Little Red Riding Hood" was banned in two
California school districts in 1989. Following the original Little Red-Cap
story from Grimm's Fairy Tales, the book shows the heroine taking food and
wine to her grandmother. The school districts cited concerns about the use
of alcohol in the story.

Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were excluded from the
juvenile sections of the Brooklyn Public library (among other libraries),
and banned from the library in Concord, MA, home of Henry Thoreau. The File
Room summary also notes that Huckleberry Finn has been dropped from high
school reading lists due to alleged racism. In March of 1995, such concerns
caused it to be removed from the reading list of 10th grade English classes
at National Cathedral School in Washington, DC, according to the Washington
Post. A New Haven correspondent reports it has been removed from one public
school program there as well. Recent objections have often concerned the
use of the word "nigger", a word that also got Uncle Tom's Cabin challenged
in Waukegan, Illinois.

John T. Scopes was convicted in 1925 of teaching the evolutionary theory of
Darwin's Origin of Species in his high school class. The Tennessee law
prohibiting teaching evolution theory remained on the books until 1967.

John Locke's philosophical Essay Concerning Human Understanding was
expressly forbidden to be taught at Oxford University in 1701. The French
Translation was also placed on the Index.

Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice was banned from classrooms in Midland,
Michigan in 1980, due to its portrayal of the Jewish character Shylock. It
has been similarly banned in the past in Buffalo and Manchester, NY.
Shakespeare's plays have also often been "cleansed" of crude words and
phrases. Thomas Bowdler's efforts in his 1818 "Family Shakespeare" gave
rise to the word "bowdlerize".

    "James and the Giant Peach" (Dahl) was banned because the peach resembles
    a bumb.  Renaming the book "James and the Giant Cucumber" failed to
    placate the censors.
    

    We're in the middle of reading "James and the Giant Peach" to my
    daughter.

    
    wow...some of those books (which were required reading in h.s.) were
    some of the best books i have ever read.  rather than ban them for
    their "un-pcness", why not have them read and then discuss how things
    have changed since the book was written.
    
    judy blume banned????
    brothers grimm banned???
    
    these people have too much time on their hands...
    

    Many dangerous books like this are regularly stolen from public
    libraries by self-appointed censors.  Here in Nashua, they reorder the
    books regularly and they generally go missing within a few days. 
    Apparently, they even know who is taking the books (although I fail to
    understand why no legal action is taken).
    

    
    "Loonies to the left of us!!! Loonies to the right!!!"
    

    Stuck in the middle with you.

    
    
    	Little Red Riding Hood is banned because of the mention of
    	WINE??!!!
    
    	GMAFB
    

 ZZZ    GMAFB
    
    Good Marguaritas are for breakfast!

That's even worse than w*ne.  Ban Jack Martin.

    
    I absolutely love margaritas.
    

    I like the margarena (sp?) dance.

    
    A/K/A Jack Martin's Body Dance 8^).
    
    

    By the way, I actually saw that deplorable song again this morning on
    Sesame Street.  
    
    Some slutty type singing ..."Move your booooddyy.......blah blah."
    
    It actually showed people from the waist down skipping rope, running,
    and it even showed a guy juggling!  

    
    You could actually decipher _words_?  I guess it's not the same dance,
    then 8^).
    

    Anybody read Primary Colors yet?

	  not i.


		-anonymous

    wouldn't that be !i?

    
    
    
    Been readin the Routing V3.0.0 and the Session Control V3.0.0 specs.
    
    They actually make quite good reading, if you're into that kind of
    thing.
    
    
    

    
    You earthbound mis-fit, you...
    
    -b

    Stephen King's `The Stand'
    
    (the complete and uncut edition)

    Various woodworking texts, Paul Prudhomme cookbooks, etc.

    
    re: .440
    
    > Various woodworking texts,
    
    Anything in there about carving??
    

    i'm reading this delightful novel by cormac mccarthy called
    'the crossing'.  it's the second work in a trilogy.  the first
    one was called 'all the pretty horses'.  he writes about the
    west, pre-WW2.  about the land and the people.  sort of reminds
    me of a western faulkner in a way, but more accessible.

   .442 i just read that too.  quite good.

    oy vey the way that guy can write.  i remember picking up
    'all the pretty horses'in the bookstore, reading the first 
    sentence, and voila!  had to have the book.

"Taltos" - Anne Rice
"Expiry Date" - Tim Powers

Started reading Bob Sheckley's "Aliens" series - he's a _strange_ man.


\C

    >Anything in there about carving??
    
     Nope. Mostly about joinery, cabinet construction, etc.

    My Dad is currently making a double bed out of wood.
    
    Keeps him amused now he`s retired.
    
    

    
    
    re: .446
    
    Thanks Doc...
    
    Looks like a trip to the library is in order...
    

    How was Taltos?  I've read the others in that series, haven't picked
    this one up yet....
    
    From the beginning of the year:
    
    Our Game...John LeCarre
    The Night Manger...John LeCarre
    A Dean Kootz Trilogy, forget the titles
    In Cold Blood....Truman Capote
    Casino.....The same guy who penned Wiseguy
    The Sam Giacana (sp) Story (or something like that)
    Currently re-reading Trinity by Leon Uris as a prelude
    to reading his sequel, Redemption.

    
    >A Dean Kootz Trilogy, forget the titles
    
    
    	If you mean "3 books in 1", I believe it was
    
    	Lightning
    	The Face of Fear
    	The Vision
    

You guys Koontz pell his name right.

    
    None o' youze can!!!
    
    The name's Stephen Coonts and I'm reading his third book now!!
    
    :)
    

    
    	I didn't mispell it ... I referenced a reply and didn't bother to
    	correct it.
    

    Hey, I just read 'em, I don't spell 'em :-)
    
    And Shawn, much as it pains me to admit this, you are right, those were
    the 3 stories.

    
    	Hey, it happens once in awhile.
    

    What, pain?

    
    	No, my being right.
    

    After pathetically struggling over "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
    Maintenance" for 3 months,I`ve picked up a book called "Presumed
    Innocent". Excellent book. Much easier to read n`all.
    

    So, what is quality? (in less than ten lines plse.)

    Well..quality is er,Aristotle er,no it`s er Phoebus,er no,it`s
    um,rhetoric er,I um.
    
    I`ll have to read that bit again.
    

    Axe Phaedrus.

    
    
    re .459
    
    
    There is high quality, low quality, good quality and bad quality.
    
    High quality is built/delivered/served well to a high price
    Low quality is built/delivered/served badly and to a low price
    Good quality is built/delivered/served badly for a fair price
    Bad quality is built/delivered/served badly to too high a price
    
    
    
    
    	
    Conrad Price (quality variable)
    
    

    Quality is a good razor, an analytical slicing tool par excellence
    which at one level lets you split the world into the analytical/romantic
    square/hip dichotomies.  At another level it helps you put those worlds
    back into balance with each other.  Thus, zen for the mind, for the
    perspective, cultivates the attitude that helps you maintain a
    motorcycle, or do whatever other sort of analytical tasks you might
    want to do enabled with the artistic nature to do it well, properly...
    one might say, with mental harmony.
    
    I apply this as frequently as I am able.  On the other hand, I approach 
    some such tasks with dread, still subject to self-imposed limitations.
    
    DougO

    From the Curmudgeon's Dictionary:
    
        quality  n.  Formerly, that characteristic which served to
        distinguish things worth owning and people worth knowing from those
        not.  Presently...

    
    
    You sure that isn't from Topaz's dictionary????
    

    
    the Chicago Tribune. fascinating stories abound.

    Dragon by Clive Cussler.  Decided I do not like it after getting 80% of
    the way through it.  Typical formula type escapist fare.  Guess I am
    tired of the formula.  Add to that, the cover fell off and took the
    last page with it.  :-/.  

    
    
    You're missing the best 20%!!!!!!!!
    
    
    :)
    

    Wise guy ;-).

  anyone in here read Al Franken's book yet?

    no.  but i am enjoying 'pigs in heaven'!

    
    	Is that the sequel to "Pigs In Space"?
    

>    no.  but i am enjoying 'pigs in heaven'!

	oh cool. ;>  dontcha just love the names?

    no.  these pigs never traveled in space to 
    get to heaven.

    i like jax.

   .475  yes!!

	If anyone is -

	a) A Clive Barker fan
	b) A listener to books-on-tape
	c) Interested in getting their hands on "Everville"

	let me know.

    
    	"The Goal"

    		by John T Delbalso


    	A bit repetitive, but funny, very funny.

Gets the point across, doesn't it?

    
    	No, it parades the point back and forth.
    
    	Big difference.
    

  .480  well said.

 Used a gift certificate for a bookstore over the weekend and picked
 up "On the Edge"..by Elizabeth Drew..covers the first 18months of the
 Clinton presidency, and "Primary Colors".  I started "On the Edge" and
 so far am finding it fascinating reading.



 Jim

        Roddy Doyle - The Barrytown Trilogy
        
                        The Commitments (movie made from this book)
                        The Snapper
                        The Van
        
        Roddy Doyle - Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
        
        
        

   The Snapper - me too.  What a laff, but very close to home.

    
    .483
    
    > - The Barrytown Trilogy
    
    Based on the title, it sounds like a great book.

    Le Carre' - A Murder of Quality.
    

    still working thru Redemption
    
    in the meantime, Spencerville - Nelson DeMille
    Days of Drums (forget who wrote it)
    A Home at the End of the World (or something like that) Mike Cunningham

    A Dick Francis book.
    
    Good book,quite a bit about riding horses. 
    

    
    Funny that, ALL of Dick Francis' books are to do with horses....
    
    
    I.

    
    And there's usually a little bit of riding in them, too 8^o.
    

    <snort>

    NEwt's 1984 classic Window of Opportunity.

    
    	"Dragon Tears" - Dean Koontz
    

    
    
    	Good book! Strange as all getout, but good...

    I've been looking at Koontz lately.  Haven't read any of his stuff
    though.  Is he similar to King?  If so, I'm there!

    Similar but also quite a bit different.  The prose is more
    straight forward.  There is less supernatural entity type stuff in the
    Koontz books.  Easy reads, decent story lines/

    
    	I'm about 80 pages into it or so ... that shape-changing guy
    	is kinda weird.
    
    	There seems to be a few different stories going on at the
    	same time, and I have a feeling they'll all tie together
    	somehow, ala "Strangers".
    
    	April, check out "Strangers".  His longest, as far as I
    	know, but his best.  And I've read 15-20 of them.
    

    
    just finished 'all that glitters' by v.c. andrews (sorta...she's dead,
    but her family keeps writing under her name or something like that).  i
    like her stuff.  i'll be starting the next one in the series sometime
    this week.
    
    koontz is also a good read.  he is similar to john saul and even a bit
    similar in a way to mary higgins clark (tho hers tend to have some good
    romance stuff involved).  definitely read his stuff, 'pril...
    

    Cool.  Thanks, I will!

    Just finished Winetaster's Secrets and am starting Jointery Techniques

    
    
    Never could get into Koontz although I really like Saul.
    
    ed

    
    Sounds like a personal problem to me.
    

    Needed something light to read on the bus and have started reading the
    "The Cat Who" books again.
    
    They can be amusing but are not something you can't put down.
    
    
    
    joan

    
    Oh, yes!  I have a handful of those books.
    

    
    	How's the Sue Grafton "alphabet series" ... any good?
    

    .503, .504
    
    I have all of the "Cat Who" books.  Fun stuff.  Qwill's cats are the
    cat's meow, as it were...

    
    I imagine Qwill's moustache to look like Jim Henderson's.
    
    I like the Sue Grafton alphabet series.  I have heard some men who read
    them say that she's overly detailed with stuff that doesn't interest
    them, though.
    
    

    
    	RE: Sue Grafton
    
    	Oh, you mean like "what women really want", and "what makes them
    	happy", and crap like that?
    

    
    No, other kinds of crap 8^).  
    
    The men I've talked to who have read and disliked her books say she goes 
    into too much detail about surroundings, people, furniture, clothing, etc. 
    - details on how things _look_, her thought processes, etc.  I find it
    interesting, but evidently some men don't.
    
    If you're into details, you might like them. 

    
    	Stephen King is like that to an extent ... his books tend to be
    	VERY long because he goes into [too much?] detail on everything
    	he writes about.
    
    	I guess I'd have to read a book of hers to see if it's similar.
    

    I was just about to say, "Hey, that sounds like SK"...I like it.  
    
    All writers could learn a thing or two from him on embellishment.

    What are these, russian writer wannabes? Now THEY launch into detailed
    descriptions/embellishments/literary indulgences.

    There was a series of books I had years ago, with John Putman Thatcher
    as the protagonist.
    He was very high up in a financial institutian and kept getting
    involved with some of the very unusual going's on in his clients lives.
    
    They went into a lot of detail about the trade that the mystery he was
    involved in at that time.
    
    Each book had a different setting, a hockey franchise, the oriental rug
    market, Greece, during the Olympics.
    I always thought that this information gave a bit more life to the
    stories.
    
    I can't remember the names of the authors (there were two of them) but
    I thought their research must have been quite extensive to cover all
    the different types of business that was involved. 
    
    
    joan

    finished "pigs in heaven" in a hammock on a hill overlooking
    the caribbean.  a really good book.  thanks for the pointer,
    amiga. :^)

    
    	I finished "Dragon Tears" this morning.
    
    	IMO, the parts written from the point of view of the dog made
    	this book much better than it might have been without.  Pretty
    	good, overall.
    

  .514  de nada. ;>

    
    "Divinity and Dust"
    
    A fascinating history of Townsend Ma.

    
    	Sounds like a good book to take to a G&S play.
    
    	8^)
    

    
    The Chicago Tribune, almost cover to cover. fascinating characters
    and plots. Almost like everday living, murders, rapes, etc.... very,
    very, lifelike. 

    Anybody read Blood Sport yet?

    
    just finished 'hidden jewel'.  not exactly rocket science, but
    entertaining nonetheless.
    
    

    P.D James - The Black Tower.
    
    Very intriguing so far.
    

    Is this the same guy who wrote "The Blue Nun" ?

You rang?

    Recently finished _The Venus Throw_ by Steven Saylor.  Well plotted
    mystery with good characters, set in ancient Rome.  It's the fourth of
    a series: _Roman Blood,_ _Arms of Nemesis,_ _Catilina's Riddle,_ and
    this one.  Main character is a hardboiled detective type called
    Gordianus the Finder.  Historical background is excellent.
    
    Been devouring the Nicholas Seafort saga by David Feintuch. 
    _Midshipman's Hope,_ _Challenger's Hope,_ _Prisoner's Hope,_ and the
    soon-to-be-released finale, _Fisherman's Hope._  Set 200 years from
    now, space-navy tale very much in the style of C. S. Forester's
    Hornblower series.  These things are 400-500 pages each (paperback),
    and I read the three I have in a total time of six evenings.  They are
    page-turners.

    
    >Recently finished _The Venus Throw_ by Steven Saylor.  Well plotted
    >mystery with good characters, set in ancient Rome.  It's the fourth of
    >a series: _Roman Blood,_ _Arms of Nemesis,_ _Catilina's Riddle,_ and
    >this one.  Main character is a hardboiled detective type called
    >Gordianus the Finder.  Historical background is excellent.
    
    
    	If the story were that good, don't you think it would've been
    	written a couple thousand years ago and therefore written in
    	the present tense?
    
    	I don't know about you, Binder.
    

    .526
    
    Nah.  It concerns events of the time of Julius Caesar.  The first known
    novel (The _Satyricon_ by Titus Petronius Niger) was written about 100
    years later.

    Takedown, Tsutomo Shimomura's book about Mitnick's raid on his
    computers and Shimomura's tracking him down and getting the FBI to bust
    him seven weeks later, was recently given to me.  I've read excerpts in
    Wired, the narrative style is fairly laconic- the book includes a pile
    of unrelated detail, indicative either of sloppy editing or Shimomura's
    insistence on exposing himself as a normal human being, not just a
    technogeek.  Ok, he's human.  Boringly so.  If the story weren't worth
    perusing for the overview of what's technically possible with current
    consumer gizmos, it certainly wouldn't be opened for literary merit.
    
    DougO

    Well, I read "TAKEDOWN" yesterday, and I really enjoyed it!
    
    It was interesting to see the details of the hunt (after having read
    sketchy descriptions in newspaper articles earlier.)
    
    Tsutomu's 'human' aspects of the story were good for pacing (for events
    which occurred over a 7 week period,) IMO.
    
    Highly recommend this book.

    Well,
    
    I took Suzanne's advice and have been reading "Rush is a Big fat Idiot"
    by Al Franken.  Great read, especially on the fact-finding information
    and stuff on Newt.  The fantasy on the Chicken hawks and Viet nam was
    quite hilarious.  
    
    meg

    
    
    	I must say, the title is certainly interesting.
    
    

        I'm looking forward to reading the "Tenth Insight". A part of the
    Celestine Prophecy.  It looks interresting.
    -ss
    

    Chris Darden's "In Contempt".  It's looking like VanAtter
    and the his partner are the real version of the keystone
    cops...

	The Weatherman, by Steve Thayer

	Pardon me very much, but I just don't understand.
	Fiction about a serial killer.  Got to the end and went
	"Hunh?".  Anybody else in here read it?
  	

    Just finished Harper and Klapich's "Worst Team Money Could VBuy " about
    the 92 Mets....why was Jesse Orosco the most hated Met of All-time?

    Just finished C. Northcote Parkinson's _Devil to Pay_ and now reading
    his _Touch & Go._  Neither is up to Forester's Hornblower standard, but
    they're still pretty good.

	_Captain trips_ by Sandy Troy.
	A biography of Jerry Garcia.   ;-)
	

   .537  Are the middle chapters all stream-of-consciousness, by
	 any chance?

    Currently reading "The Mammoth book on War Stories" compiled by John
    Lynch.  Has stories from Hemingway, to Poe, to ReMains. 

    Dante's _Devine Comedy_

    "midnight in the garden of good and evil"  by john berendt.
    

>    Dante's _Devine Comedy_

Andy?

 are there any jingles for that book?

    
    Hiya, kids... Hiya.. Hiya!!!
    

    
    soon to be reading Primal Fear by William Deihl. author of Sharkey's
    Machine and Chameleon. good writer

    Bought this book myself the other day ("Primal Fear").
    

    
    <--- haven't seen the movie, will wait until the book is finished.

    basic instinct tells me to avoid primal fear
    even though i'm fatally attracted to it.

    
    well, thanks for the full disclusure, oph.

    
    finished "Primal Fear" the other night. The ending was good, and
    I can't wait to see the movie. Give it a read if you need something
    for the pool or patio. You will like it.

	Finished Rose Madder by STephen King - very good book, yet
	*very* difficult to read - That was very close to my 
	first marriage - 

Pat

    I'm reading Rose Madder now too...glad to know it's will be a good
    novel. I guess it reminds me a bit of Delores Clairborn. i'm also
    reading the new novels by him about the jail, the new one is Coveys
    hands....I think...good so far. 
    

    
    
    Alan Furst's The World at Night.
    
    Contra El Globo, I wouldn't call this an espionage novel, per se,
    but it was pretty good anyway.

    Just finished some fantasy fluff.
    
    For those who liked the Shannara series by Terry Brooks, you will like
    'First King of Shannara'.  It is a prequel to the Sword of Shannara-
    prequels seem to be en vogue currently.  Another one (my current fluff
    reading) is 'Belgarath the Sorcerer', a good bit of fun fantasy
    to kill time with (and yes, I have been able to tear myself away from
    computer games to read  8^) ).
    
    
    -steve

    I really enjoyed the Belgariad series.  I think it has great
    character development, good all around.  There are two five book
    series.  I've read each several times...
    
    
    Mike
    
    

    Has anyone read "Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America"
    by Roger Morris ("award-winning biographer of Richard Nixon,
    investigative journalist, and former high-ranking government official
    under presidents of both parties")?
    
    The book has made the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times
    bestseller lists after being on sale for less than a week, despite
    having been resolutely ignored by almost all of the mainstream media.
    According to newsgroup postings, those refusing to do anything on
    the book include Sixty Minutes, PrimeTime Live, Larry King, Nightline,
    Dateline, Today Show, Diane Rehm (?), and C-SPAN Book Notes.
    
    The book contains some rather stunning (and even bizarre, imho)
    revelations.  This should be an interesting read.
    
    Chris

    Such as?

    >> Such as?
    
    Hmmm, I should probably post one summary of the book that I've
    happened to see, over in the Clinton note.
    
    I almost hesitate to do so, because as much as I can't stand Clinton,
    much of this even pegs *my* B.S. meter, which ain't easy to do.  :-)
    
    Chris

    "101 Ways To Wax Your Bean"
    
    			- The Sensual Gardener

Cold Shoulder by Lynda LaPlante-boring
An Uncertain Death by some silly person-worse than boring
Taltos by Anne Rice-better than Lasher but not quite as good as the Witching Hour
Currently 1/2 way thru Gone With the Wind, to be followed by Scarlette.

    A faddah's day gift from older daughter.  Absolutely hysterical.  I'm
    not done wiv it yet but I've already developed what I've come to call
    my "White Noise cackle."  
    
    :-)
    

    
    "the chamber" by someone whose name i forget.  it's by the dude the
    wrote "the firm"...gresham??
    

    
    	Grisham.
    
    	Currently reading Proof, by Dick Francis.  Light and entertaining,
    	perfect summer fare.
    

    John Grisham

Stephen King == Tommyknockers, Fire Starter, It!

Mercedes Lackey == Silver Gryphon

Jack L. Chalker == The Watchers at the Well

Sun Tsu == The Art of War

Lao Tsu == The Tao Te Ching (English & Feng translation)

Chang Tsu == The Inner Chapters (English & Feng translation)

And the beat goes on...

Have a GREAT day!
Pete

[Posted by WWW Notes gateway]

    "a drinking life" by pete hamill.  that man has an
    eye for detail.  he brings brooklyn of the '30s and '40s
    to life.  his account of his own alcohol abuse and 
    his choice to walk away from it is unsentimental and
    honest - only a few writers ever get to this level.

    More fluff for me...
    
    "Dragon Wing" Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
    "Elven Star"         "              "
    "Fire Sea"           "              "
    
    Found them in 1/2 Priced Books real cheap, so I thought I'd give them a
    try.  Not bad, not great.  Worth the price of admission, though.  I may
    finish the series if I can find the rest similarly cheap.
    
    If nothing else, they are a quick read.  An interesting thing is that
    the series (so far, I think there are a total of seven books to the
    series) is not put together in the normal manner of fantasy fluff.  Each
    book can pretty much stand on its own, though the later books do
    reference the previous ones on occation, and there is a larger thread
    that connects the books. 
    
    
    -steve                   

"Songs of Distant Earth" - Arthur C. Clarke

Describes a society in which the president is drafted/elected from a list
of qualified individuals.

If you want the job, you are automatically disqualified. 

>If you want the job, you are automatically disqualified. 

Sounds like a diff'rent kinda Catch-22.

TTom

    
    	Just started Dean Koontz' "Midnight" this week.
    
    	It's a werewolf story of sorts.  Not sure that I'm going to
    	be able to call this 1 of his best.