Cunningham Reviews

I purchased this book because the author personally performed my first regression. Amazingly, I also saw that I was a member of a Native American tribe. Believe me -- I was a skeptic myself, until I received validation of the events later that night and the next day. However, I prefer not to give the details here. Excellent book by an excellent regressionist.

When I began reading "A Tribe Returned", I couldn't put it down. The "coincidences" had my hair standing on end and my heart beating. The pictures were evocative and powerful. The combination was incredible.

And I found this book to be particularly inspiring. It has given me permission to look at my own story, in this lifetime and others, to face my own fears, my own pains and to be willing to be vulnerable in front of others and myself. The people in this story heal in real, tangible, healthy ways. Ways that we all want to heal in life.

I recommend this true story for anyone interested in past-lives and spiritual connections, but also for anyone seeking a richer, more meaningful existence.

I found "A Tribe Returned" to be a very well written book that certainly held the reader's interest. Like most books about past lives, skeptics will point out a few inconsistencies and then make the claim that this disproves the entire idea of past lives. But people must stop and consider how good is their own memory of events that occurred in this life only twenty or thirty years ago? There will likely be inconsistencies when compared to the memories of other people who experienced the same event with them, but this doesn't mean the event didn't occur. Overall, I found "A Tribe Returned" to be an excellent book that certainly held my interest to the end.

The beauty of the works of Imogen Cunningham to this day remain staggering. Knowing that the photographs are early contributions to the genre of nude photography is even more amazing. Yes, compared to some of today's art photographers the poses may appear a bit static and stagey, but the quality of composition, of light and shadow, of clarity of vision is still hard to match. This is an historically important volume and one of great beauty. The accompanying essay is brief but sensitive and informative.

It is astonishing to think that the images Imogen made came from such an early age in photography. Starting in 1906, Imogen made pictures of the human body that stand out as the finest today. These images have been lusciously reproduced in this book that plots the history and progress of Imogen through her career. What a pioneering career it must have been. The subjects of her lens were almost unheard of in those days where the showing of an ankle was scandalous. She makes no technical concessions whatever; each exposure is exactly in needle-sharp focus and rendered in smooth gradual tones of the highest quality process. She must have had strict discipline to technical detail to have consistently produced this quality of images, there is no other way. I would have loved to have known her. The things she could tell a fellow photographer must have been volumes. You cannot be disappointed by this book.

This book deserves more than five stars for the remarkable quality of the images, the virtuousity across styles, and the pioneering inventiveness of its compositions.

On the Body contains much male, female, and child nudity of the sort that would mean that these images would be beyond what a motion picture could portray and still have an R rating. The images are done in a natural style that will remind many of the Jock Sturges work with children and young women.

Imogen Cunningham is quoted in this volume as asserting, "You might say I invented the nude." Before you dismiss this statement, you should realize that while she was an undergraduate at the University of Washington Ms. Cunningham did a self-portrait of herself nude in a meadow. The year was 1906. The composition and quality of the photograph reflect a sophisticated understanding of the body as an abstract shape. Ms. Cunningham is also famous (infamous in her day with some people) for her nudes of her husband, Roi Patridge, outdoors. She also brought a high level of taste to her subject at a time when many men were posing women in the nude more for the prurient interest than for the artistic values. Although modern nude photography has moved beyond her work in its inventiveness, the classical elements she portrays here are the sound foundation on which much of the best modern work is based.

Anyone who is a fan of 20th century photography should own this book. All Imogen Cunningham fans will find this book becoming the core of their collection of her images.

Although I personally prefer Ruth Bernhard's work, the best of Ms. Cunningham's work is just as winning. Ms. Cunningham works on a broader body of subjects, which makes this book far more interesting than most photography books. You will find studio work, nudes in landscapes, bits and pieces of individuals including many wonderful hand images, pregnant women nude, children playing naturally nude, and prominent people expressing their personalities in interesting ways. The book is a fine cross-section of all the styles that Ms. Cunningham used.

The book contained so many images that I liked that it is beyond what you would want to read for me to list them all. Let me mention a few though. A very high percentage of the works involving her husband nude outdoors are remarkably beautiful and inspiring. A series of outdoor nudes of Helene Mayer in Canyon de Chelly during 1939 are as beautiful a set of photographic images as I have seen. The hand photographs are quite remarkable, and will cause you to want to examine peoples' hands for the rest of your life. I especially liked her efforts to create a spiritual or transcendental style in the inventive works involving "Dream Walking" in 1968 and Morris Graves in 1973. These images seemed to foreshadow the type of work in Light Warriors.

To me, the most haunting works were a series of abstract partial nudes of women's torsos (usually more than one in an image) that formed a series of triangles. This perspective was transforming for me. I seldom think of the human body in terms of triangles. The triangles are references to the negative space outlined by the nudes.

After you view this wonderful volume, I suggest that you think about how our concepts of the human body limit photography, and how how concepts of photography limit our ability to appreciate the human body. Why is it that no one does studies of nostrils? Or elbows? Are they less worthy than hands?

Open yourself to the full potential of the physical world around you, and expand your ability to perceive the reality and potential of that world for you to partipate in.

Unlike the other reviewers, I found this particular collection to range from truly awful to good; there is nothing spectacular here, though. Troy Denning, an FR author I usually enjoy quite a bit (and whose first two books in this particular series are excellent), delivers a plodding, predictable story that degenerates into standard fantasy fiction stereotypes without any significant characterisation. This is atypical for Denning, and for this reason I am likely more disappointed than I might have been had another author penned the tale. Salvatore and Cunningham, as usual, deliver satisfying tales with memorable characters. Jessica Beaven is, to me at least, a new contributor. In my opinion, this should be her last attempt. Her tale was disjointed, stylistically pretentious and without any storytelling merit whatsoever. While this may tide one over between "The Siege" and the forthcoming "The Sorcerer," it would be best to not bring too much hope for an overall satisfying FR experience with this particular anthology.

This book provides an entertaining read even with the occasional poor story thrown in. The Theme of the book is interesting and several of the stories more than do it justice. The story by Paul Kemp was exceptionally entertaining, and the Lisa Smedman story was also very good. Salvatore's characters are always interesting and, although short, his story was a fun read. There are several others that make the book worth purchasing also, just accept that there will be some stories that will leave you shaking your head in disbelief. This book does prime the pump of interest in the return of the Shadovar adequately to make this an anticipated FR event.

From Lisa Smedman's Netherese mystery tale to Peter Archer's Indiana Jones-esque reprise of a character from Realms of Mystery, Realms of Shadow offers a nifty tie-in which stands effectively apart from the polarizing Return of the Archwizards trilogy (personally I like the trilogy a lot, but plenty of you don't -- do not let that discourage you from buying this anthology). I particularly like Paul Kemp's story (watching this guy. He's going to be Salvatore-big some day), Elaine Cunningham's comedy and Richard Lee Byers' adventure tale set in the ruins of Tilverton. Ed Greenwood's story sets some kind of "sets of villains in one story" record with four - phaerimm, malaugrym, shades and Bleth/Cormaeril renegade Cormyrians.

Jasper "gets it" because "it" is common sense really. A more believable (and thus attractive) brand is one that appears genuinely aligned internally and externally. It's 'ideal' branding. However, the problem is that most companies today have all these pressures in their head that make this nearly impossible to implement in a smooth way. It requires core thinking and consistency and teaming up with the people at the top of the company. Yet, the average lifespan of any President and CMO today is like one year. And when during their tenures, they think, "I need sales tomorrow. Not some zen master to come in and 'harmonize' my culture with my image." They further believe that the "outside agency" should stay in his/her place. "Just do the fricken ads. I don't need a corporate shrink right now." Of course, it's up to the agency team to enlighten them to the business benefits of this 'alignment' approach. For now, I've found that rather than force a company to take on an approach that makes them uncomfortable (or an approach that they feel is out of your range as an outside agency), it's best to seek out relationships with only those companies that are already doing it, just not effectively. The goal is to help them 'strengthen' their branding, with a perceptive strategic planning process and creative sensibilities that ultimately put it in to play. As we succeed on this level, the companies who didn't see its value at first,
will soon follow. I suggest that Jasper's next book be about how to educate and sell in such an approach.

Bg

Quick review : well written, easy to read with examples, and quite innovative - but the more experienced pratitioner or well read academic will probably be familiar with much of the ideas presented.

Full review : This book will appeal to those who prefer the visualisation of models and concepts alongside short examples, and the format will be particularly liked by those whom have followed an MBA degree or similar training. Main stream academics looking for well researched material may be a little disappointed, for by the authors own admission this book is "a constructive attempt to show another, more dynamic way, for companies to move forward. This book is not about research results, but about attitudes". The center has received feedback from many practitioners and managers tackling live corporate branding projects whom seem to like this book, and it is a fairly easy and somewhat innovative read for non-specialists or general managers, but perhaps less so for the well practiced or academic experts in the field.

The author, Jesper Kunde, is the founder of one of Scandinavia's largest and most successful advertising agencies. In this book, he outlines how it is possible to build strong brands through strong leadership and a strong vision. In explaining his holistic approach to brands and organisations, he draws on concepts from psychology and he argues that his ideas can be implemented in any organisation. The book is not a step-by-step manual as such, but rather an introduction to Kunde's way of thinking.

Kunde points out that simply having a good product is not enough anymore. Consumers pay less attention to adverts and brands and look at the companies themselves. They are looking for reliable companies with sound, consistent attitudes. It is necessary for the management to secure trust and loyalty from both within the organisation and from the consumers, and it thus needs to communicate its ideas to all the company's employees and to the public. Kunde argues that if a company has a strong spirit as its foundation, it can reach a strong market position, and a strong market position is what ultimately decides a company's destiny.

In order to achieve a strong market position, an organisation has to have a strong leader who can unite the entire organisation around an idea, a shared vision - a corporate religion. It is important for the leader to find out what the company really is, to be able to describe it. Kunde argues that this ability is unusual, especially in large international companies.

Successful examples mentioned in the book's many short and to the point case studies are Richard Branson and Bill Gates. These charismatic leaders have strong believes, a clear vision of the future, they know how to communicate it and they are conscious of their own roles. However, Kunde points out that the challenge is to establish the corporate religion in people's minds throughout the whole organisation, so that it is not connected to just one person. The corporate religion must be able to continue even after the first charismatic leader is gone, perhaps particularly relevant based on Microsofts problems of recent months.

Kunde argues that in most large, international companies half of the available energy is unused. If the management can describe the company, develop a consistent company concept, formulate an internal religion and manage the whole company accordingly, this hidden potential can be released. The employees, and consumers, need to feel that the company has a soul and that they are all fighting for a cause. The ultimate goal is to reach the stage which Kunde calls 'brand religion', when the product is a lesser part of the brand than the concepts associated with it. Harley Davidson is one of the examples Kunde mentions.

Summary

Kunde writes in a clear and straightforward manner, and Corporate Religion is an easy and enjoyable read. Those used to already reading ideas and approaches from scandinavian academic literature will find this general philosophy to business practice quite familiar. The concepts and ideas are well explained and further illustrated by case studies and graphic models. It is a book that some academics (used to MBA approach to learning) and most practitioners will enjoy and find useful as it provides both interesting ways of analysing organisations and of interpreting the reasons for their success, or lack of it, and practical guidelines on how to implement a corporate religion and what pitfalls to avoid.

However for well-read academics or practitioners, the book may not seem that revolutionary and Kunde's ideas rather common sense, but it is still an inspirational book worth reading if you have the time.

Many will be offended or discouraged from reading this book because of its title. Most of us would like to get our religion from a religious institution or our spiritual practices.

What is in the book did not seem to me to really relate to creating and maintaining a corporate religion, however. I found the book to be describing the benefits of having intense emotional bonds among customers, users, companies, and employees. I would rename this book, In Search of More Intense Connections.

The key theme of the book is the importance of creating emotional value. 'Emotional values are replacing physical attributes as the fundamental market influence.'

Mr. Kunde is the head of his own advertising agency, and his perspective is very much a psychological one. He takes that point of view, however, and effectively expands it to include a company's external positioning, internal culture, nature, mission, corporate concept, external market competition, internal relationships, and management tasks. This is one of the broadest corporate concept descriptions that I have seen, and is a helpful one.

The book contains detailed examples of companies operating at various levels of effectiveness in these areas. The examples are very visible ones that should mostly be known to you. His examplars are companies like The Body Shop, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, The Walt Disney Company, Harley-Davidson, Nike, Virgin, and SAS. The book contains many beautiful color illustrations and photographs from these companies that reinforce the author's point. To him, 'corporate religion is a set of values which unite the organization around the mission and vision.' When these values are compelling enough, people who do not even use the company's products or services will wear merchandise with the brand name on it. For example, Harley-Davidson stands for freedom in the minds of most, and young women who honor that principle wear skirts with the brand name on it who have never been on a Harley. There are even Harley-Davidson cafes (I have eaten at the one in Manhattan, and I can promise you it isn't the food that brings people in. There is lots of wearable merchandise sold there and elsewhere).

The book ends with a one-year plan for implementing a corporate religion, and an example of how the author applied these principles in his own advertising agency.

Just a few years ago, it was unusual for a management book to address the psychological satisfactions of having an empowering purpose in one's work. Today, that theme is a fairly common one. The book rises above many of the rest by addressing more elements of creating and maintaining this empowering purpose. I encourage you to read the book and apply its lessons. When I first worked in a company after attending law school, I was pleased to find out how cooperative business is compared to how competitive law is. This book brought back that perspective and made it fresh for me again.

These days, many people seek out volunteer work to gain the satisfactions that paid work does not provide. You will know you are making progress with these concepts when people tell you they feel more self-esteem from what their business work stands for than for what their volunteer work does.

After you have finished reading this book, I encourage you to think about the most empowering purpose you can imagine for an organization or a company. Then ask others how they repond to that purpose. Keep refining that purpose until you find an expression of it that positively zings you and sends others into a happy orbit as well. When you can do that, you will then be well on your way to finding the ideal best practice for leadership.

Be irresistible!

Donald Mitchell (donmitch@irresistibleforces.com)

I came to read this book via my partner/boyfriend. I have not finished the book yet I'm two thirds of the way through it (at the time of publishing this review) and must say that it has been invaluable.. even to someone like me who knows nothing about astrology (my partner/bf is the Astrologer, lucky me!). I do recommend having one's Astrological Natal Chart handy as well as a friend (or someone) to whom you can refer in regards to Pluto in your chart (if you're a no nothing like me or else read some of the books she recommends to get a beginner's understanding).

The way this book is fantastic is that she guides (there are no SHOULDs in this book) you to ways to heal yourself of negative Pluto traits such as resentment and inappropriate guilt via Flower Essences, Affirmations, Mediation, etc.. not just explaining about them.

This book will only benefit those who truely would like to release themselves of negative Pluto traits.. if you want to change.. this book will help you otherwise.. do not bother. It is not a light read and can at times make you uncomfortable... she deals with subjects that most people will find are taboo: abuse, death, grief, resentment, inappropraite guilt, etc.

** I recommend this to everyone as it is relevant to everyone (we all have Pluto in our Natal Charts). **

A Book for Everyone including Non-Astrologers :-)

SunsetSeashell, Gold Coast, Australia

I came to read this book via my partner/boyfriend. I have not finished the book yet I'm two thirds of the way through it (at the time of publishing this review) and must say that it has been invaluable.. even to someone like me who knows nothing about astrology (my partner/bf is the Astrologer, lucky me!). I do recommend having one's Astrological Natal Chart handy as well as a friend (or someone) to whom you can refer in regards to Pluto in your chart (if you're a no nothing like me or else read some of the books she recommends to get a beginner's understanding).

The way this book is fantastic is that she guides (there are no SHOULDs in this book) you to ways to heal yourself of negative Pluto traits such as resentment and inappropriate guilt via Flower Essences, Affirmations, Mediation, etc.. not just explaining about them.

This book will only benefit those who truely would like to release themselves of negative Pluto traits.. if you want to change.. this book will help you otherwise.. do not bother. It is not a light read and can at times make you uncomfortable... she deals with subjects that most people will find are taboo: abuse, death, grief, resentment, inappropraite guilt, etc.

** I recommend this to everyone as it is relevant to everyone (we all have Pluto in our Natal Charts). **

I have to differ with the reviewer who called this a superficial book. I've been doing astrology for 35 years and have come back to this book many times to help me deal with my own and other's Pluto problems.

It isn't ALL there is to Pluto, but it is a very good introduction to the set of Pluto issues that have to do with abuse and sexual trauma issues. It's also very good on how to counsel people with strong Plutos.

Read it along with Steven Forrest's Pluto book and Jeff Green's Pluto book for a well rounded approach to Pluto in your chart.

A "Wiki" is a web site, where every page is editable, by anybody with a browser. It may seem wierd, but it's a very powerful, and successful, idea. The most well-known Wiki has been running since 1994 with thousands of users.

This book covers how and why Wiki works, case studies of use, and installing, configuring, and customizing an open-source Wiki supplied on CD. If you know a little about Wiki, and want more, this is a great book. It's sprinkled with practical advice and gives real code examples for enhancements. It can also be inspirational and has got me buzzing with ideas. It has a fine index and all the "tips" are listed for easy reference.

Wiki's obscurity is its greatest weakness, though. If you have never heard the term "Wiki", you would never think to pick up this book. I also found that the assumption of Perl in the example software sections clashed with the language independent nature of the theory and case-study sections. And beware that the book ignores or glosses over a few things which require more effort than in other systems.

If you find it clumsy or slow to get things on a web site, if you are looking for an easy way to let people collaborate, or if you just want to make sense of all your scattered notes, read this book.

What creates the sense of community that you feel in certain newsgroups, mailing lists, or IRC's? What drives people to gather there? If you find this question interesting, then look at Wiki: it is an example of a strong community on the web.

Wiki (the collaboration tool) can be thought of as a lightweight WebDAV (web Distributed Authoring and Versioning)
without n levels of standards committees. In a Wiki site, every page can be edited by anybody, and new page links 'spring into existence' automatically just by RunningCapitalizedWordsTogether. This simple concept, created by Ward Cunningham, is surprisingly powerful. The technology behind it is also simple, and the wiki code that makes this work is written in perl, so if you want to add a feature or tweak it, then you can 'hack it'.

A visit to the original Wiki web site can be very rewarding, at [1]. At this site, the community includes many experts in Design Patterns and Extreme Programming (XP). You will find literate discussions on software and life in general.

Laird Cameron describes Wiki well in his Open Sources column [2].

This book is an overview of Wiki, and a detailed how-to look at the code. The book is casual and informal, well suited to the wiki culture. It explains the thought processes which went into the design of wiki planning, deployment, and basic administration. The book contains case studies from academia and the corporate world. The accompanying CD will get you going quickly.

You will want to read this book, if:
- In the corporate world, you want your group to pull together and create a knowledge base.
- For the design of your software product, you want to understand group dynamics.
- In the academic world, you want an online meeting place for course work or peer review.
- You are studying the design and implementation of collaborative tools.
- For your personal use, you need a notebook that goes with you wherever there is a web browser.

Wiki's perl source can be hard to read,
and you will be wanting to change it.
Maybe Wiki is an entertainment for your spare time,
and then you can just play around with it.
However, you probably need this book if you are
deploying a wiki at work.

This book presents a relaxed, 'democratic' approach to Information Architecture. It encourages you to provide minimal structure: the inclusion of a search function, a recent changes page, users' mini-bios, and links to return to the top. The wiki users are encouraged to structure the content, and this book suggests how they might be encouraged to do so.

For counterpoint see Rosenfeld [3] who describes how to structure a conventional web site: organize information, help navigation, label the content, configure the search system, and manage the process.

I was interested by the discussion of the many Wiki clones, in Perl, SmallTalk, Java, and others. Everyone has different preferences for UI features and implementation.

Also interesting was part 3, which discusses the Wiki culture.
Wiki has fostered strong community spirit among those who have
contributed to its design and implementation.
People express diverse opinions yet work together well.
Compare this 'atmosphere' with that of of some news groups where
flames are common. When you set up a Wiki for use by your colleagues or students, you need to understand the group dynamics of a successful collaboration site, and this part of the book will help you to encourage people to take roles and get involved, thereby extending the community.

I have a few quibbles about the book and CD.
- Readers will want to visit the book's errata page [4] before using the CD.
- There is a 64 page subsection, with one contents entry, which is hard to navigate other than to read it sequentially (it spans pages 143 to 207).
- The source code examples in the book have an indentation width of one space (though the source on CD is formatted correctly).
- The book and CD are intended for users of MS Windows, which is unusual when discussing open source. This quibble is very minor, as the book and CD are platform neutral in most ways.

The book gets five stars at Amazon and a good review at Fatbrain. Recommended! At your bookstore, look for the cover drawing by M.C. Escher of two drawing hands, with nifty reflection effects.

By the way, you will have already heard of the untimely demise of Douglas Adams. His Guide to the Galaxy, similar to a Wiki, lives on at www.h2g2.com.

[1] www.c2.com/cgi/wiki

[2] Server/Workstation Expert Magazine, March 2001:
swexpert.com/CC/SE.C12.MAR.01.pdf

[3] Rosenfeld and Morville _Information Architecture_, O'Reilly

[4] the errata page: wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WikiWayErrata

An excellent book about Wiki technology, providing both a hands-on discussion on running and using Wikis and well founded discussions of the philosophical underpinnings of Wiki design (how much formatting to allow, and how much security to provide).

I particularly appreciated the comparisions between the various Wiki servers, and would have liked to see even more of that. On the other hand, I thought that the discussion of how to tinker with the bundled QuikiWiki server was somewhat excessive.

I think others miss the point when they search for historical inaccuracies--after all, this is a work of fiction. However, this book's purpose is to give you the feel of Britannia during the post-Roman era. It was a time of myth and fantasy, chivalry and heroism, as this book reflects.

During the fifth century AD, the hopes of most of Britain for a better life rest in the whispers of Arthur becoming the High King though some will refuse to cede power and will do anything to insure no one surfaces. However, as each year passes, the hope diminishes as no one steps forth to claim the crown. Needing assistance, Merlin recruits Welsh warrior, Marcus ap Iorwerth to work undercover in the search for the now legendary Arthur.

Claerwen escapes from one bad situation to another until she meets Marcus. He helps her understand her ability to see what no one else senses. As they fall in love, her visions lead them to the symbols of the High Kings of Britain, Macsen's Treasure. However, their powerful, sly foes are many. They cause Marcus to disappear and Claerwen must find a way to locate and rescue her beloved.

Medieval historical and Arthurian readers will enjoy INTO THE PATH OF GODS. The fast-paced story line vividly brings alive the second half of the fifth century in Britain. Marcus and Claerwen are a likable intrepid couple whose romantic elements will delight fans of that genre. The support cast adds depth so that the audience obtains a greater feel for the period than usually found in a novel. In her opening act of her four part saga, Kathleen Cunningham Guler provides a breathtaking panoramic view of the days leading up to Arthur's assent to the throne.

Harriet Klausner

As I progressed with reading "Into the Path of Gods, I was very impressed with the outstanding description of the characters and the relevant scenery and environment. It was like watching a movie. Many times, I wished it was a movie that I could watch with my friends. As an engineer, I have very little time for pleasure reading as most of my time is needed for reading technical literature. But this book held my attention with its excitement, education and entertainment. I do hope it will be made into a movie and I look forward to the next volume in this series.

Doesn't this book sound like a battle plan for investment success, maybe one filled with value-based accounting lessons? It's not.

In fact, we are spared math, and we are not given practical counsel, either. That was what I looking for, as the title suggests. The title should be How Can The Smart Money Be So Dumb.

Instead, this is an interesting run-through of recent horror stories on Wall Street from the Internet bubble to IPO's to pro forma accounting and Enron. Behavioral finance is discussed here, but Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes by Gary Belsky and Thomas Gilovich is far superior.

Or read Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein. Or John Neff On Investing instead.

Mr. Cunningham is one of the new wave of Buffett explainers. (Where were you people 15 years ago when there was money to be made buying Berkshire?) And why does someone so incisive, so downhome funny as Mr. Buffett need so much explanation?? (Try Cunningham's The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America or the Berkshire Hathaway annual report.)

Unfortunately, the author lets slip his idea of a five-year holding period for stocks. That may turn out to be good advice, but which stocks would he choose to hold? We have no idea. (Tech stocks, big winners 2 years ago, have crashed back down to their 1997 prices. And non-tech Walt Disney is well below its 1997 prices.)

I think Mr. Cunningham is an extremely brave and patient investor.

I read Cunningham's book based on the review in Barron's rounding up the best investment books of 2002. They were right. The book is a eye-opening intro to the psychology of investing, important to investors and market observers/regulators. (Cunningham's other books have more of the basics for investors--also very good books.)

Awesome. Cunningham dissects the woes besetting corporate American using lucid, concrete examples, with boundless energy and enthusiasm, endorsed properly on the back cover by those who take behavioralism seriously, including Gary Belsky, who wrote the top-seller "Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes" (which is about general habits, not investment philosophy of which Cunningham writes) and Robert Hagstrom, prolific author (who writes about investment philosophy, and sometimes behavioralism). What an astonishing record Cunningham has developed as a writer and expert in invesetment theory and practice! A better title for this book would be Rational Investing in a Hair Brained Environment; the one chosen is unduly flashy for the seriousness of Cunningham's pursuits (he's a professor of law and business!).

I haven't read this particular edition, but I read an older edition, so it's possible the racist bias of the author has been discussed in the foreward, or perhaps even eliminated. But in the edition I read, the author seemed to applaud the cold blooded murder of blacks committed by a gunslinger who would today be considered a serial killer. In spite of the author's unsavory sympathy with the racist motives of the murders, I think it's wonderful that he recorded the racism of the old west. Popular culture has pretty much overlooked the presence of black folks in the old west and the rabid racism they had to live with. In this book innocent black men are murdered by a crazed killer who I had never heard of before (his name escapes me at the moment). He killed more people than any other western outlaw, according to the author, mainly because his murder of black people was condoned and even applauded by the white populace. These weren't gunfights in the standard sense, but cold blooded assasinations. The author neglects to villify this killer with the same passion he villifies other gunfighters in the book, but if you can overlook the distaste his attitude leaves in your mouth, the book can be very informative about one of the dark secrets of the old west.

A look at the old west is best done in Triggernometry. This book tells the real (if not short) stories about the well known gunfighters. It gives no glamor to what they did, just the facts. If you are a fan of Westerns or one who studies the old west, this book is a must.

After reading several books on the Old West outlaws, I was curious to the content of their footnotes, and bibliographies, using this book. Which is the reason I bought and read it.

This is a great western book. Copyrighted 1934.
This not only has short histories on several gunfighters, but there is also a nice section on how to perform the flashy moves with the six-shooter. If you've tried these spins, twirls and shifts, you've no doubt found them difficult to perform. Yet John Wesley Hardin was a master at it, and it was Hardin, who taught Ringo the tricks. ( Hardin also told the guards, to get that psychopath--Ringo---out my cell. They shared the same cell in prison)

I would consider this a mandatory book for a Old West gunfighters library. You have the primary sources for many of the other later books.

I bought this book hoping for an explanation and in-depth analysis of the nuances of testing NT systems. What I got was a boilerplate Y2K book with the standard information you would find on every website or other book (Assess, Analyze, Remediate, Retire, etc.) The "NT" portion of the book simply repeats the Y2K status of NT Server, SQL Server, etc. But the information is months old! NT4SP4 is listed as a new release. No mention of NT4SP5. Some of the testing guidelines are incredibly simplistic (1-send messages 2- roll over the clock on your Exchange server 3- send more messages). The book also has standard Y2K compliance information (check the website instead) for many products such as Groupwise and Lotus Notes. If you are looking for a general, simplistic approach to Y2K compliance information of major products that is 6 months old, this is the book for you. I'm returning mine. If you want a technical reference for NT Systems, check out the Microsoft Y2K CD from Technet. It's not great, but it's better than this (and it's up to date).

This book has a compilation of great resources... It helped me to understand the Y2K problem solving concepts in a great manner.

This book gave me some real world information to use in my job. With Y2k around the corner, this book is a must! It validated all the work we've done to this point and gave us some extra pointers for other areas in applications that we had not explored.