Sterling Reviews

The title of this book is a little mis-leading as it contains more than just selling strategies for your manuscript. The authors take you step by step through the writing process with insight that comes from their own experience as writers. I found the chapter on creating believable dialogue invaluable. This book is a must-read for any aspiring author.

Everyone I talk to tells me this is a great book to have for the sample tests. The readability of it is zero---make sure you have a supplement with words and phrases and background before you crack this open. It summarizes key points and thats IT. Then gives you sample quizes. And vocab. The thing everyone says is great is that it gives you the answers to the test and tells you the answer---and why the answer is right to the question they ask. Its helpful as an alternative source---if you are new to real estate, PLEASE don't just use this book. The vocabulary alone will KILL YOU! Use this as a study guide and practice material to your main work. And good luck!

John Sterling (1806-44) led a short, but fascinating life in early 19th century Britain. John's father was a well-known editorialist for the Times, and he himself became a member of the Apostles at Cambridge during a time of great intellectual and religious ferment. He became a radical in the cause of freedom, while he later became an Anglican curate and then an author. Plagued by ill health, he traveled around the world of his era: to the Caribbean, Madeira, France, and Italy. And, along life's paths, he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Thomas Carlyle and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Overall, he was a man of varied abilities, and varied pursuits.

This book is quite interesting. Carlyle not only paints the portrait of a man in this book, he also paints the portrait of an era. If you are interested in that era, or perhaps in Coleridge, then I highly recommend this book to you. It is relatively short, and yet quite interesting.

Lots of very cute stickers. The bears are adorable, as are the various extras. Some of the stickers are themed and some are suited for any or most occassions. There are lots of possibilites for creating fun scenes. This would make a nice creative activity for a child. The only bad thing is that the stickers don't stick really well.

This is a book of primarily local and regional interest. For those who are unaware, Sterling McMurrin was a professor of philosophy at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City during the 50's, 60's, 70' and 80's. Sterling was considered one of the most scholarly and capable professors at the University and held a variety of important academic positions. In fact, during the John F. Kennedy Presidential administration, Sterling was United States Commissioner of Education (the position that was the forerunner of the cabinet level post, Secretary of Education).

Those who do not live in the Mormon culture in Utah may not be able to appreciate large segments of the book. Sterling describes his years teaching Mormon Seminary in the Church Educational System and his subsequent history in the church. The most fascinating part of the book for me was when Sterling ran afoul of church leaders Joseph Fielding Smith and Harold B. Lee for honestly informing them he did not believe in the most basic Mormon teachings. The subsequent story of him *almost* being brought to trial in a church court and being excommunicated is very interesting and entertaining. Apparently, than church President David O McKay personally intervened and prevented this from occurring. McMurrin met personally with McKay and the details of their conversation are highly interesting. It also furnishes an important insight as to why the LDS Church failed to open the priesthood to African Americans until 1978. (McKay favored doing it, but many people underneath him did not)

After finishing the book, I was proud. I am proud that the University of Utah had such a distinguished professor for so many years. I am proud that the Mormon culture of which I am a part is capable of producing free-thinkers and intellectuals like McMurrin. Sterling McMurrin died in 1996. However, he left behind a legacy of fearless intellectual freedom and inquiry that will long prevail at the University of Utah.

like other books of mr. lanier's this book is very good also like his Heiro books it leaves you with the impression that more books will follow covering the same heros. This book also sujested that there were books before it.

This book provides an excellent preparation for the Illinois Real Estate Salesperson's Exam. The text is easy to follow and has break out "In Illinois" sections that give state-specific information. Each chapter has a quiz at the end and list of key words at the beginning. These are supplemented by two sample examinations and a comprehensive glossary. The sample exams are very similar to the ones provided by the testing company that administers the licensing exam. The graphics in the illustrations look dated, but are clear and easy to follow. One downside is photocopied list of corrections that comes with the book. It is very inconvenient to have to carry these around and refer back to them.

With Mars now closer to the Earth than it has been for hundreds of thousands of years, some of us are given pause to think about how all the stories of spaceships going to Mars have never really been concerned with the actual logistics involved. Such practical considerations are a minor part of "The Moon Maid," a 1923 pulp fiction yarn from the master of adventure, Edgar Rice Burroughs, in which a spaceship headed for Mars is sabotaged and ends up on the Moon instead. Unlike John Carter, who made his way to Mars simply by raising his open arms to the red planet, the adventures in this story, the first in ERB's Moon trilogy, actually take a spaceship.

It is interesting that Burroughs played a bit more attention to the science in his pulp novel this time around, even in terms of the fanciful Eighth Ray, given that the Moon books are his most political. Burroughs began working on a story, "Under the Red Flag," at end the First World War, which voiced his concerns over the Communist takeover of Russia, albeit in slightly dramatic form. However, with the war over pulp magazine editors were not interested in ERB continuing to fight the war, even in his Tarzan novels. Over the course of the next several years, while he worked on other projects, the prolific Burroughs turned his grim prediction of a world under the yoke of a communistic goverment into a space adventures that would allow him to make the points he felt needed making. After all, the man who created Tarzan was obviously a big believer in personal freedom.

However, the first volume in the trilogy turns out to be a rather standard ERB romantic adventure. "The Moon Maid," originally published in "Argosy All-Story Weekly," is the first book in the Moon trilogy and takes place after the end of the Great War (1914-1967). Captain Julian commands "The Barsoom," the Earth vessel that ends up on the Moon. Once there he and his companions discover flora and fauna, including small horse-like creatures with human features. The title creature is Nah-ee-lah, human type known as U-ga, who comes from the city of Laythe where she is the daughter of it's Jemadar (come on, this is an ERB yarn: you knew she would be royalty). The godless Kalkars prove to be the biggest threat to both Julian's survival and his chance of a romantic relationship with the Moon Maid. The first time around saving the girl becomes the prime objective. Saving the rest of the Moon people from a fate worse than death will happen in the next set of stories, "The Moon Men" and "The Red Hawk" (usually you will find all three combined as "The Moon Men").

The characters have lots of depth and are interestingly written. The story line also has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested.

Out of Time's Abyss is the third book of the Land that Time Forgot series, preceded by the Land that Time Forgot and the People that Time Forgot. It continues the story of the World War I German submarine captured by a combined allied group that gets stranded in a mysterious pre-historic land. The story is typical, light fare, something you might have expected from a black and white pre-history movie. A bit melodramatic at times, naïve at others. But so what! I've been reading and re-reading ERB for decades and while we aren't talking classics of literature, the stories are fun to read.

Burroughs tackles the issues of evolution in this series, condensing the scope from millions of years to mere generations. Darwinism was still being debated at the time this was written, so it provides a glimpse of the shocking impact and disbelief in certain circles. A fun afternoon read, or something for a pre-teen with an appetite for adventure. (While you can read this book separately or out of sequence, I wouldn't recommend it, too many references to what has happened in the prior books.)
P-)