Austin Reviews

I printed a return label for this course within one hour of receiving it. The entire 2 CD set is basically one short stlye demonstration after another. Very boring and hard to listen to. Scales, pitch, intervals, and so on are not part of this course. The "book" is basically a 5X7 twenty page pamphlet that was stuck inside the CD case and of little value. Not what I was expecting and not what I'd call "Singing Lessons."

I've had lessons with a few teachers but this born to sing course coveres topics that none of the teachers covered. It made everything very clear and showed me exactly how to practice to get the most out of my voice. - Their video is really good too.

"Born To Sing techniques have gotten me through the toughest vocal situations." Jennie Kwan, "Miss Saigon" title role. "California Dreams" (NBC TV)

I bought this book...its only for 3.1...and the first demo i tried to install was noted as expired...sup with that???

Where as I would prefer to put it at about 4.95, 5 stars is close enough. The thing that I most like about this book, which I am still in the middle of reading, is the obvious class and "beauty" of the author's writing; simply true class. To put it into a little more detail, this man (Daniel Burnstein) seems to display the impressiveness of a well educated, academically structured man, and yet has the cutting edge ability to reach out to people of all types by writing in plain, talented english. I have read other books and what I often find is that I have to go back over sections of the book(s) to try to retain the information. In Burnstein's book it was a totally different experience -- even after reading any one chapter, I was easily able to reassemble the information from that chapter in my head without the book in my presence.. I would recommend this book to people that want to do business the right way. Burnstein is right in saying that his book is good for business managers and owners that want quality knowledge and education by doing it on their own time.

This is superb...ignore my previous commment...amazon.com wont delete it...

The future of software is decision-support software--going beyond clerical software, such as MS Project.

I am so impressed with this book and software that I am going to spend time promoting it. Get it and let me know what you think.

This book basically puts forward a theory that the founders just established the Constitution for their own personal economic gain. This book is well-researched, but its premise is totally flawed. Moreover, it tries to portray all of the founding fathers as self-serving and looking out for their own economic interests. It doesn't really explain why some of the wealthiest colonists and statesmen such as George Mason and Elbridge Gerry refused to sign on. Moreover, I'd recommend that any student of the Constitution, study the writings of James Madison and John Adams to answer these charges. I also recommend The Founder's Constitution set, edited by Phillip Kurland and Ralph Lerner. It is an excellent tool for examining original intent.

This book is only recommended for its historical value. The renowned constitutional scholar, Forrest McDonald, does an excellent job introducing this book and debunking its controversial charge towards the Constitution.

Beard's origional thesis form 1913 remains that the forming of the United States Constitution was an effort by the economic well-to-do of the newly formed American social class to establish a government that would protect their interests and raise the value of the government's obligations in their possessions. Beard's goal is simply to re-establish the idea of the aforementioned economic interests as the primary, not secondary cause of the U. S. Constitution. Through a topical analysis of interests, that seem contrary to the work of his historical mentors, Beard weaves his interpretation of the economic history. Throughout his book Beard consistantly refers to his work as fragmentary, but it appears extensively researched through primary documents such as the Federalist Papers, early Treasury Department records, and Madison's convension notes. Beard does an excellent job in presenting all necessary facts for the reader to follow his argument. Little, if any information is left to the supposition of the reader. Whereas the work can be dry at times, it does provide scholars with alternative, not necessarily new, interpretations of early American historical events.

Charles Beard's thesis held sway for decades --and was not attacked in a significant way until after his death in 1948. Major critics were Robert E. Brown (1956) and Forrest McDonald (1958). It should be noted that Charles Beard greatly angered the liberal Establishment in the 1940s with his strong criticism re how Franklin Roosevelt manipulated the US into World War II and provoked the Japanese to attack Pearl Harbor.

A new book due out in July 2002 -- Robert McGuire's "To Form A More Perfect Union: A New Economic Interpretation of the United States Constitution" will supposedly show that Beard was right re the Founding Fathers/Constitution and his critics were wrong.

This book is a very disappointing experience for me. While this book is very good reading, and exciting and well written, it is not at all what I thought it was when I bought it.

The dustjacket notes expalin that this is the further adventures of Sir Hugh of Taranto, who first appeared in the novel "Durandal," written by Harold Lamb. "Durandal" is a series of three stories first published in seperate editions of Adventure Magazine, and then later published as a novel. (I've posted a review of "Durandal" on Amazon.com. Great book. Read it. You'll love it.)

But the problem with "Sea of the Ravens," is that it does not continue where "Durandal" ended. "Ravens" is part of "Durandal"--the middle part actually--just rebound and sold under a seperate cover. Maybe the publisher thinks this is a pretty funny little joke. But for [the cost], I am not laughing.

Do no buy this book. Buy and enjoy "Durandal," but avoid "The Sea of Ravens."

Harold Lamb wrote some of the best swashbuckling fiction in the last century, and is long overdue for rediscovery. Once one of the most popular writers of Adventure magazine, he is chiefly remembered today for his fine histories and biographies.

Before his days as a respected historian, though, he wrote pulse-pounding historic adventre fiction featuring complex plots and heroes with Odyssean wit. Robert E. Howard listed him as one of his favorite writers.

As another reviewer noted, this is the second portion of a trilogy (I've learned that the third part should come out in 2002) that begins with Grant's reprint of Durandal. All three stories were collected in the 30s under the title "Durandal," but as that volume is long out of print and the Donald M. Grant editions feature amazing artwork, purchasing the individual books one by one is definitely the way to go--so long as the third book is finally printed!

Let me second the wish of that reviewer from Jordan that someone reprint Lamb's Adventure fiction.

Sea of the Ravens is a wonderful book by an underappreciated master of the adventure story. The problem is where is the end of the complete tale, "Rusudan?" Is publisher Donald Grant ever going to publish it or have they lost interest just like they did with the deluxe versions of Robert E. Howard's immortal Conan of Cimmeria? A paperback version of the entire story would be very nice. Harold Lamb is ripe for discovery. A lot of his best work, found in the moldering pages of "Adventure" pulp, has never been published in book form, even in the old days! Won't someone reprint the complete Khlit stories or publidh the excellent novellas like "The Grand Cham" or "The Golden Horde?"

David Cowles and other faculty at BYU have come up with a very decent introduction to critical theories. I enjoyed reading it and found its explanations helpful.

That the book is too reductive is the major complaint I've heard as I've spoken with other students who have used it. These are usually English M.A. students, though. Especially after studying more in-depth the theories that the book covers, I admit that it's reductive, but I also wonder how I would go about writing an unreductive INTRODUCTION to anything.

I think that this book can be extremely useful to students wanting to get acquainted with the general aspects of theory, and the key is that they remember that it's only an introduction.

This is a super introduction to various critical approaches. Unlike authors of other books of this kind, the authors of "The Critical Experience" write in easy-to-understand language rather than stilted Academian. It was probably not designed for MA students, or even for undergraduates who sit in the library, bantering about the benefits of new historicism and why relativism is impractical.
Now, as an MA student, I have found myself returning to this book on numerous occasions throughout my academic career, and sometimes it's refreshing to go to a textbook for clarification and finding it without being made to feel like a dolt because I have to look up every other word in my elegant, pretentious textbook.
Admittedly, there are moments in this book when the authors become excessively chatty (esp. in the Poststructuralist chapter) and it is maddening, but there is a lot of good information to be taken from these pages. It isn't the ultimate Critical Experience, and it doesn't set out to be. But it's not "Dick and Jane's Pop-up Book of Literary Criticism," either.

Unlike the previous editions in the series, Friction 6 is flat. Yeah, there's a few can't-miss writers in it like R.J. March, T. Hitman and Dale Chase, all come through as usual, but over all the book left me bored. I found myself having to move on to the next story in order to get the job done! That never happened in the previous volumes. Oh well, maybe 7 will be better.

Generally when a book (especially movies) is first released, all is well with the world. Then there is a second, or sometimes a third, etc and the reader starts to feel like he is getting a well-watered down version of the original. Friction 6 is a real rule breaker, however. The stories in this collection are even fresher and more original that the book's five predecessors. The stories are vibrant and alive and sometimes downright nasty, but they are also thought-provoking and, most importantly, entertaining. Bob Vickery's School Queer will have every (gay) man re-thinking his high school past and his story, Escorts, rethinking the stigma of hiring an escort. Simon Sheppard's The Glorious Fourth makes every other gay man's Independence Day celebrations pale by comparison and T. Hitman's Clean Shorts will have you visiting the Laundromat once gain, even if you have a fine washer and dryer at home. With 39 stories in all, you're sure to find something in this book to quicken your pulse.

annesi ve babasý için yasardi. ama þimdi annesi,kardesi,eþi için yaþamaya baþladý

Yes, there is a relation; I'm his daughter! :)

This book starts of a serious of wonderfully exciting and enjoyable books. It'll make you laugh. But most of all, you'll be hungry for more.

For those action adventure types, this will be one you can't put down. You'll be asking "when's the next one due?"

After reading Badlands , Goldfield and Sierra, and becoming quite a fan of Richard Wheeler, this latest work was dull to say the least.

Second Lives left me feeling hollow and found it difficult to get through the unimpressive and boring storyline given. I had no connection to the misplaced characters.

Second Lives is not the typical Western fare. Superbly written, this book is much more character driven than most other offerings from this genre. Incident is not the major emphasis. Here, instead, are very real people who shift and change as a result of forces both within and outside of themselves. Those readers who appreciate fine writing, sharply delineated characters, and a novel that causes the reader to truly care about its players will find much to admire here. Each person in the book is pushed into examining his or her existence, and the choices necessary to achieve some sort of fulfillment. Most of the characters seem to have arrived at a rapproachement with themselves, and with the vicissitudes of life by the novels end. The title here suggests a certain rite of passage in which the old rules and landmarks these characters used to guide their existence no longer work. It is now up to these people to fashion a future based upon the abiding lessons that experience has painfully taught them.

I read this selection for a genre fiction class I have in a graduate Library Science program, and this is the best book I've run across during the course of my assignments. Based upon the evidence of what I have just read, Richard S. Wheeler is one very fine writer. Quite frankly, I did not anticipate such a richly rewarding reading experience.

Oh, how I love Saylor's ancient Roman murder mysteries! That's where his heart lies and that's where the talent really is. I have a passing acquaintamce with Saylor and was thrilled to learn from him that he'd written a novel set in Texas in the late 18th/early 20th century. In fact, I ran to the store that day and purchased a copy. From page 1 something bothered me about the story, the narrative, the book. It took me about 20 pages to discern that what bothered me was that it was all written in the present tense. Example (not from Saylor's book): "By this time, I'm hungry. I go to a sandwich shop and get a nice fat ham and cheese. I eat it so fast that I dribble mustard on my shirt. I run to get some water to clean it..." This drove me batty and I couldn't, despite many further attempts, finish this creaky, ill-conceived disaster. Again, let me state for all time what a genius Saylor is with his Roman work -- everyone should read them; they're all real page-turners. But let me also caution Mr. Saylor that, next time I meet you, I'd like to say how wonderful your last book was instead of what I think of this one.

Steven Saylor is perhaps, barring the great Caleb Carr, the best historical novelist around today. Known for his Roma Sub Rosa series and his wonderful Gordianus the Finder, Saylor travels forward in time and regales the reader with a murder mystery that is based on real life and a "detective" who is a fellow writer- O. Henry.

In terms of plotting and chracterization, Saylor cannot entertain the reader in A TWIST AT THE END as Caleb Carr did in THE ALIENIST. The latter book, a hefty 500+ page tome, gave us an indelible and fascinating look at late 19th century New York city with the kind of perspective that only a gifted historian can give to a lively period in a great metropolis's history. Here, Saylor excels when he confines his novels to ancient Rome.

1884-5 Austin is rocked and caught unawares with what is falsely credited as the nation's first serial murders. The police are of course baffled and William Sydney Porter, the so-called detective in this novel, is more concerned with slacking off and warbling love ditties under the windows of Austin's young ladies than in solving the case. Even after his beloved Eula Philips is brutally murdered, Porter does not do much to advance the investigation. Nor should he. It was a classic case of the wrong protagonist being at the right time, as O. Henry was indeed present in Austin during the murders. Imagine Oscar Wilde being made the hero of a Jack the Ripper novel and you'll see my meaning.

A large reason why THE ALIENIST and its sequel worked is because we got a sense that an investigation was being made, that, if not the police someone was doing their best to apprehend the killer. As Saylor rightly posits, the Austin police dragged their heels during this real-life investigation. However, there's no talented and well-characterized task force to pick up the slack and the only thrill of the novel is the cheap one of waiting for the next murder, one that we already know will be committed.

Porter makes for a weak, unsatisfying protagonist and the bland characterization is only enlivened by the love between himself and Eula Philips, a real-life victim of "the servant girl annihilators". The recreation of a long-lost Austin is something that I imagine would be fully appreciated only by a native of that city (as Saylor is), since it lacks the recognition and universality of Carr's 19th century NYC. Still, the pacing is even, although dragged out, and the characterization adequate. The lack of reknown for this unsolved series of murders baffles me as it did the author and I believe that the story deserved to be told.

Unlike Carr, who does not shy away from the horror of the murders and allows the reader to look over his detectives' shoulders in his two brilliant period pieces, Saylor affects the sensibilities of his genteel characters and gives us virtually no details of the servant girl murders, thereby depriving himself of the chance to more fully immerse the reader as a novel of this length must do. It's also quite obvious from the first half of the book who the killers are. No twist at the end, there.

And, aside from the identity of Porter's blackmailer in 1906 New York, which alone doesn't justify the title and the buildup, there *is* no twist at the end. All in all, a journey in which the train ride is more memorable than the destination.

Steven Saylor is known for his fine (Roman) historical detective series. However with the unfortunately titled 'Twist at the End' (..known as 'Honour the Dead' in Britain) Saylor spins a mystery fable based in his home town of Austin (Texas), circa 1885. He has cleverly recontructed a story surrounding a series of true crimes: the brutal murders of young women over a two year period (..in fact these crimes were never solved). Saylor makes use of some infamous/notorious late 19th century Austin residents to embellish his story. Sadly, these embellishments completely ruin any sense of believability; this is a major "no-no" with any piece of historical fiction. And as other reviewers noted, despite its title no one will find a "twist at the end" here.

But all is not lost. The prose flows very well, and the characterizations have some depth to them. I actually enjoyed 'Twist at the End' for its snapshot of 1880s Austin life. Folks interested in Texas history will appreciate the author's obvious detailed research.

Bottom line: certainly a half-baked mystery novel. But the overall writing talents of the author and historical perspectives make 'Twist a the End' a surprisingly decent read.

Are we sure Fire Ice was written by Cussler? I've been fascinated by his imagination since I read Raise the Titanic years ago, and I've read a number of his books since. First, it is too much a reworking of other novels and too little an adventure based on historical possibilities. Second, it appears to be written with Hollywood, not readers, in mind; one can almost read the script's instructions between the lines and the director's voice in the background. Too bad. It really was an idea with possibilities.

This is a great book. It is innovative and captivating. Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. That is what makes Cussler a great author he throws surprises at you to make you keep guessing and interested. I would recommend this book to anyone because it suits everyones needs in a story.

Fire Ice the third in a developing series of fiction from the NUMA files is without question the best yet.

As with the others there is a historic link to the plot that takes the reader a little while to connect the current plotline to. But that in my opinion is the best part of this well paced, thought provoking novel.

An excellent vacation read.