History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Well-done and Worth Reading
The Works and Then Some
Good infrastructure introduction
Spectacular!
Must read, esp. for New Yorkers

The Works: Anatomy of a City
Kate Ascher
Manufacturer: Penguin Press HC, The
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1594200718

Amazon.com

Kate Ascher could not have chosen a much drier topic for a book than water mains, parking meters, railroad classification yards, and the other doodads of city infrastructure. But in Ascher's captivating book, The Works, the innards of New York City come alive. Wonderfully illustrated, the book combines text, maps, and other graphics to tell the story of the systems that keep America's greatest city running smoothly. How are traffic lights coordinated? How do potholes form and which areas have streets with the best "smoothness score"? How is mail processed? What happens when you flush the toilet? Ascher, who has a PhD in government from the London School of Economics and is now executive vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, dissects the colorful workings of all these systems and much more.

The Works contains a section on pretty much every aspect of the Big Apple's infrastructure. You'll learn the mystery of the shiny silver tanks that have become a familiar sight on New York streets. (They prevent moisture from damaging underground phone lines.) Ascher explains how the city's 23 million daily pieces of mail are processed. We also learn about the 27-mile underground pneumatic mail tube that used to carry canisters with 500 letters up to 30 miles per hour around Manhattan. Also interesting: the story of the nine-foot-long, 800-pound robot submarine that city engineers send to probe leaks in the Delaware Aqueduct--which, it might interest you to know, is the world's longest continuous underground tunnel. And you'll find out all about Colonel Waring and his "White Wings." A great coffee table book for New York lovers or anyone with a curiosity bone. --Alex Roslin

Book Description

How much do you really know about the systems that keep a city alive? The Works: Anatomy of a City contains everything you ever wanted to know about what makes New York City run. When you flick on your light switch the light goes on--how? When you put out your garbage, where does it go? When you flush your toilet, what happens to the waste? How does water get from a reservoir in the mountains to your city faucet? How do flowers get to your corner store from Holland, or bananas get there from Ecuador? Who is operating the traffic lights all over the city? And what in the world is that steam coming out from underneath the potholes on the street? Across the city lies a series of extraordinarily complex and interconnected systems. Often invisible, and wholly taken for granted, these are the systems that make urban life possible.

The Works: Anatomy of a City offers a cross section of this hidden infrastructure, using beautiful, innovative graphic images combined with short, clear text explanations to answer all the questions about the way things work in a modern city. It describes the technologies that keep the city functioning, as well as the people who support them-the pilots that bring the ships in over the Narrows sandbar, the sandhogs who are currently digging the third water tunnel under Manhattan, the television engineer who scales the Empire State Building's antenna for routine maintenance, the electrical wizards who maintain the century-old system that delivers power to subways.

Did you know that the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge is so long, and its towers are so high, that the builders had to take the curvature of the earth's surface into account when designing it? Did you know that the George Washington Bridge takes in approximately $1 million per day in tolls? Did you know that retired subway cars travel by barge to the mid-Atlantic, where they are dumped overboard to form natural reefs for fish? Or that if the telecom cables under New York were strung end to end, they would reach from the earth to the sun? While the book uses New York as its example, it has relevance well beyond that city's boundaries as the systems that make New York a functioning metropolis are similar to those that keep the bright lights burning in big cities everywhere.

The Works is for anyone who has ever stopped midcrosswalk, looked at the rapidly moving metropolis around them, and wondered, how does this all work?

Customer Reviews:

Well-done and Worth Reading.......2007-09-17

If you want to know about how New York City works, this book is worth reading. It's well-researched and well-written. Kate Ascher is a very smart woman and her book is a real achievement.

The Works and Then Some.......2007-09-11

A comprehensive review of the above ground and underground infrastructure of the City of New York. Great for the general public.

Good infrastructure introduction.......2007-03-02

This book looks, feels, and smells good (smell might not be a factor to most readers, but we hopeless book lovers do also judge a book by its smell). Great attention and care has been paid to presentation. Even the manhole cover on the dust jacket is beautiful. The illustrations and graphics inside are colourful, detailed and helpful. This book, without going into great detail, provides a wonderful introduction to the infrastructure of New York City. It includes many interesting and obscure facts about New York and its history. (e.g. Two Irish families have dominated the tugboat business in New York harbour since the late 1800's. Also, in the early 19th century, rival firefighting companies used to disguise the location of fire hydrants to keep their competition from getting to them first in the event of a fire, and sometimes would hire gangs of toughs, called plug uglies, to keep their rivals away.) So much of New York's infrastructure is underground, some of it for over a century -the subway, the steam system, underground rail and road tunnels, electrical wiring, water aqueducts and pipes, natural gas lines, and, of course, the sewer system. There was even a pneumatic tube mail system that had miles and miles of tubing that operated until 1953. I found this all fascinating.
I would have liked to have seen something about vermin control (Robert Sullivan's book, Rats, is good for this) and at least a nod to the capacities and workings of the police and fire departments. There is a good index in this book, but it is missing a bibliography and, more importantly, a list of further reading suggestions for people who might want to go into further depth in the areas they are most interested in. [...].

Spectacular!.......2006-06-09

As a designer in the New York metropolitan area, I thoroughly appreciate the effort that must have gone into making this book, and in particular its illustrations. They are detailed, accurate (as far as I can tell), and above all informative in a way that infrastructure diagrams from other books are not. It is noted that TW:AOAC's lead designer found inspiration in a chance encounter with famed statistician/graphic artist Edward Tufte - a credible claim, if this book is any indicator. Conveying so much about the city yet basking in white space, these spreads are consistently excellent. Ascher's writing, too, is impeccable, and while a free-market standpoint is appropriately engaged in her commentary, the invaluabity of New York's public bureaus is not given short shrift. Indeed, where politics have clouded issues of development for the city, Ms. Ascher has deftly surmised the issue and given it full and fair treatment. As a major in economics and a professional graphic designer, I am happily forced to recommend this book.

Must read, esp. for New Yorkers .......2006-03-29

This is one of the most fascinating and enlightening books I've read in a while. It explains everything that goes on behind the scenes of modern life that allow us to live the way we do. As expected, we find that there is a complex network of infrastructure and laborers that keep cities running. This book shows how each of these moving parts works and ties them all together with brilliant illustrations.

Floating Cities: Venice, Amsterdam, Leningrad-And Moscow

Average customer rating:

Brilliant
Floating Cities
A savant at work!
The Wrong Description
The Wrong Description

Floating Cities: Venice, Amsterdam, Leningrad-And Moscow
Stephen Wiltshire
Manufacturer: Summit Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0671755684

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2002-08-09

Stephen Wiltshire's pen and ink drawings are fantastic. He captures each subject perfectly and in incredible detail...sometimes having only seen the subject for a few minutes. Incredible drawings made even more incredible by the fact that Stephen is autistic.

Floating Cities.......2001-11-30

Reading this book was an inspiration.The intricate detail and elegance of each drawing is breath-taking.
As an autistic individual he is able to capture the beauty an essence that a normal person with their eye would not see.
His work seems effortless, and takes him no time to do at all, but yet he is a perfectionist, right down to the last detail.
I am not an art critic, but certainly now I do appreciate the architecture that surrounds me and realize how beautiful it really is, and although Autism is not really understood and how it is actually caused.
Stephen, no matter what level of autism he seems to possess, he has truly mastered and captured the gracefullness of each buillding that he draws.
In a word he is an "Artistic, Autistic Genius."

A savant at work!.......2001-05-06

This man's pictures have to be seen to be believed. Stephen Wiltshire actually is Autistic,operating on a six year old level for most of his adult life. He has a very rare talent of being able to visually process all that he sees and reproduce these images on paper. I have seen him on a TV show being flown around London on a helicopter and reproducing a image of 4 square miles, including 11 London landmarks and over 600 buildings with perfect perspective and scale in less than three hours.

This book has to be appreciated for what it is, a work of a genius!

The Wrong Description.......2000-06-24

I agree that this is not the correct description of the book. Floating cities is actually a series of drawings done by a young english autistic boy. They are absolutely fantastic renditions of famous buildings, made more incredible by the fact that Stephen himself has this overwhelming disability, and many of them were done by memory. This book will make you realise that disabilities are by no means disabling, and can open up worlds unaccessable to the rest of society.

The Wrong Description.......2000-06-24

Average customer rating:

Well worth the read
A Pretty Good Book
Loved it!
A Lasting Work of Art:17,000/Day Visit The Sistine Chapel
The god within Man

Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling
Ross King
Manufacturer: Walker & Company
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000MV8HCU

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Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera.

The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael.

Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling's panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen

Book Description

“There is no other work to compare with this for excellence, nor could there be,” wrote Vasari in his Lives of Artists.

The extraordinary story behind Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel - from the author of the acclaimed Brunelleschi’s Dome.

In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Though he considered himself primarily a sculptor not a painter, he laboured over it for the next four years and the result was one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Ross King’s fascinating new book tells the story of those four extraordinary years. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems and inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco, Michelangelo created figures so beautiful that, when they were unveiled in 1512, they stunned the onlookers. From Michelangelo’s experiments with the composition of pigment and plaster to his bitter rivalry with Raphael, who was working on the neighbouring Papal Apartments, Ross King paints a magnificent picture of day-to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding and outside in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Well worth the read.......2007-08-16

A master sculptor, who becomes a painter, to continue with his quest and passion as a sculptor. King's accounting of the painting of the sistine chapel ceiling is filled with details of day-to-day situations arranged and contrived by the artist. Micelangelo must use real world problem solving skills to deal with the realities of his times in his performance in completing a task of incrediable challenges. King convincingly clarifies and disarms some of the myths surrounding the work and working process. Clearly King has done his research and gives an insightful accounting of the life and times of Pope Julius II and his relationship with Michelangelo and other artist, architects and politicians. The warrior Pope maintains a love and support of the arts throughout his career with a special display of admiration and love for the artist, Michelanglo. He does all this while managing some strategic manuevers in an era of difficult and trying political arena. For anyone interested in the Renaissance art and artist of the time this approach to learning is a pleasant read. As for me, I am looking into what else Mr. King has to offer.

A Pretty Good Book.......2007-05-12

I found this an excellent read. It's pretty much a straight forward story of Michelangelo. It seemed to have updated information compared to "The Agony and the Ecstacy" and much less drama.

Loved it!.......2007-03-08

I am an art historian, and spent a year of grad school researching the restoration of Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes. I only with that this book had been published when I was still in grad school. Ross King writes very well, with good research of primary sources.

A Lasting Work of Art:17,000/Day Visit The Sistine Chapel.......2007-01-16

At the age of 33, the sculptor Micelanagelo Buonarroti, was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II. Having been essentially fired from the job of sculpting the Pope's tomb, this strong willed artist defied and denied the invitation as long as he could. Since his patrons, the Medici, did not want a war over this, he reluctantly went. To finally arrive and learn that the task was a mamouth painting assignment must have been a shock. He was not a painter. He wanted to finish the tomb.

Then follows the amazing story of how he did it. This reluctant artist gave it his all created an enduring work of art. The book covers the fresco process, how paints were made and their components procured and how the sculptor turned painter defied the architect and built his own scaffold. Going in order of their creation, the panels are explained.

While Michelangelo is painting, Pope Julius is also busy. He's having Rapheal paint his apartments and making wars. At one point the fear of invasion is so great there was fear for the paintings. Michelangelo's family is busy too. They hound him for money and want to exploit his contacts.

The book tells the tale but leaves you wanting more. You're only teased with the character development of the two principles. For instance, that Michelangelo's father beat him for drawing as a child is merely mentioned. The reader doesn't have a feel for the personal relationship of Michelangelo and Julius, only the formal one. A few weeks ago I read Basilica which led me to this. The very brief sketches of Julius and Michelangelo in Basilica are more compelling.

Perhaps the hardcover has more photos. The paperback's are wanting but this can be remedied with several internet sites that have the images. The black and whites that appear with the text, such as Michelangelo's sketch of the scaffold and the various portraits, appear on the right pages to help the reader visualize the story and times.

The book will no doubt be a classic, because it brings together so much of the period in a highly readable style.

The god within Man.......2006-12-22

While I read this book, repeatedly I had to remind myself that despite the drama on so many pages [the drama of clashing personalities, the drama of papal-declared wars, the drama of artistic competition, the drama of family obligations/frustrations], this was no "historical novel." The "characters" were actual people who existed and a great deal of the action is actually accounted for through the original writings of Michelangelo himself [for example, to his brothers and father] as well as of his contemporaries like Vasari and Bramante.

The descriptions of what a day consisted of for Michelangelo and his assistants as they tackled all the logistics of painting something as epic [epic in space, style and substance] as the Sistine Chapel - well, even these "quieter" elements of King's story grabbed me. It made me respect Michelangelo more and more deeply as I read into what it took to retain the necessary funds for materials for scaffolding, plaster and paints, mixing the various paints, transfering the outlines of the images into the wet ceiling to accomplish the amazing frescoes that we still enjoy today, so many hundreds of years after their original creation.

Add to that, King manages something along the lines of an art-in-context education course - you learn about the politics of the day, who the power brokers were, whether it was the Pope himself or one of the many Medici, who owned what land and who pledged allegiance to who.

Finally, the paperback version that I read had many black & white images sprinkled throughout the chapters that are of Michelangelo's sketches and other works, along with a handful of color prints of the Sistine Chapel.
You will find yourself repeatedly returning to those color images as you read about Michelangelo's painting of Genesis or Noah or even the many architectural accents.

Michelangelo, even though he was essentially forced into this painting commission when what he truly desperately wanted was to design & execute a 3-story, 40-taue layout for Pope Julius II's burial in St. Peter's Basilica -- which we only get the slightest taste of with his powerful and amazing rendition of Moses, which is contained within the comparatively tiny San Pietro in Vincoli church -- created what should truly be considered of the wonders of the "modern" world... we will never see his equal and King does right by the man who had the ability to create reality with paint and marble like a god creating man out of some baser element.

King's words bring the era and the man to life.

Average customer rating:

KM3 is 2Heavy
lot of information but little knowledge

Mvrdv: Km3: Excursions on Capacity

Manufacturer: Actar
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

From a converted printing house in Rotterdam and the experimental minds therein that brought you the Pig City project (an analysis of the pork industry's manufacturing conditions) comes KM3, another contribution from the iconoclastic idea lab and architecture firm MVRDV. The office, which for more than a decade has been studying density as it relates to contemporary life and architecture, bases its theories for the uses of space on complexly crunched data. Classic projects include the gravity-defying WoZoCo home for the eldery in Amsterdam, the headquarters for public broadcasting company VPRO in Hilversum, the Dutch pavilion for World Expo 2000 in Hanover, and the Housing Silo in Amsterdam. The firm's buildings overthrow the primacy of an architectural "footprint" for more innovative and varied spatial paradigms. A follow-up to the publication of FARMAX, which sought to question and analyze the growing suburban "greyness" of the Netherlands and to propose new ways of thinking about the homogenization of landscape, KM3 extends that idea to a three-dimensional model, one that "generates space instead of consuming it" and encourages variety in form. The book explores three different strategies each in Rotterdam and Amsterdam on their spatial and technical capacity for creating a "3D city," one of cantilevers and underground connections, airiness and, most of all, diverse spaces. This is thinking at the forefront of a new urbanism.

Customer Reviews:

KM3 is 2Heavy.......2007-05-31

"Three-dimensionality can be seen as architecture's fundamental existence, the profession's acclaimed domain. In times of globalizations and scale enlargement, an update of this definition seems needed: meters turn into kilometers, M3 becomes KM3."

KM3 is the newest tome brought to us by the group at MVRDV. Similar to FARMAX and its explorations of densities, this publication is loaded with ideas and projects, the large majority of which remain unbuilt, or even unbuildable. This agglomeration gives the reader a brick of over 1400 pages of type, photographs, renderings and sketches that will literally stand on its own on any shelf. Apparently, MVRDV first wished to publish each chapter (ten in all) as a series of smaller volumes, but concede that the cost of doing so was not feasible.

Throughout the bulk of pages, many extravagant ideas are presented. Most of these are simply unresolved sketch exercises reminiscent of the broad range of concepts found in any progressive architecture school. But, there is also documentation of elegant built work interspersed throughout, such as the Frosilo apartments in Copenhagen and the Patio 2 residences in The Hague. A sometimes surprising amount of effort is devoted to topics of research, the hypotheses of which reap interesting conclusions, such as in the study of stacked pig farming in the Netherlands.

KM3 does not break from common criticism of books of this nature - there is an abundance of flair, yet a distinct lack of rigor; perhaps another excursion on capacity could have shortened this book to one third its size. The progressively experimental nature of the publication can be commended, however, and readers should be surprised with the built work that is presented in KM3, as much of it has scantily been published.

lot of information but little knowledge.......2007-03-31

oma's S,M,L,XL was great and innovative in 1995. But now,this kind of compilation of whatever social/urban/scientific information data, and using that to make architecture via new computer techniques is getting boring. this book have thousands of data but the architectural idea is very shallow. They should just concentrate on architecture and explain about their architectural ideas instead of these graphic data books which the Dutch seems to love nowadays. I have returned this book to get their regular book by another author. Hope it is better than this one.

Average customer rating:

False Flat: Why Dutch Design is so Good
Aaron Betsky , and Adam Eeuwens
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SuperDutch : New Architecture in the Netherlands
Massive Change
Karel Martens: Counterprint
Area
Atlas of Novel Tectonics

ASIN: 0714840696

Book Description

The Netherlands is currently one of the world's poles of great modern design, a center of innovation and experimentation in architecture, urban planning, industrial design, and graphic design.This book showcases the dynamism of contemporary Dutch design and, through a detailed exploration of the country's geography, culture, and history, defines its particularities as a manifestation of things intrinsically "Dutch." Eschewing a traditional academic presentation, authors Aaron Betsky and Adam Eeuwens, together with the renowned Dutch book designer Irma Boom, have conceived a witty, multidimensional structure for the book that brings to life a prolific design culture in a rich landscape of interconnected stories.False Flat consists of an introduction and five illustrated text chapters by Aaron Betsky, the director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute. These chapters are interspersed with 16-page sections consisting solely of selected images and extended captions, in a unique presentation conceived by Boom.

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Angkor Wat
Photobook Angkor
Outstanding Photos and history
Awesome Angkor
A Must-Have Book on Angkor Temples

Angkor: Celestial Temples of the Khmer
Jon Ortner , Ian W. Mabbett , James Goodman , Ian Mabbett , Eleanor Mannikka , and John Sanday
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

Angkor and the Khmer Civilization (Ancient Peoples and Places)
Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)
The Civilization of Angkor
Churning the Sea of Time: A Journey Up the Mekong to Angkor
Sacred Angkor: The Carved Reliefs of Angkor Wat

ASIN: 0789207184

Book Description

An exquisitely illustrated history and exploration of Angkor, the world's most astonishing architectural treasure.

Built between the ninth and the thirteenth centuries by a succession of twelve Khmer kings, Angkor spreads over 120 square miles in Southeast Asia and includes scores of major architectural sites. In 802, when construction began on Angkor Wat, with wealth from rice and trade, Jayavarman ll took the throne, initiating an unparalleled period of artistic and architectural achievement, exemplified in the fabled ruins of Angkor, center of the ancient empire. Among the amazing pyramid and mandala shaped shrines preserved in the jungles of Cambodia, is Angkor Wat, the world's largest temple, an extraordinarily complex structure filled with iconographic detail and religious symbolism. Perhaps because of the decline of agricultural productivity and the expansion of the Thai Empire, Angkor was abandoned in the fifteenth century and left to the ravages of time. Today, many countries continue efforts to conserve and restore the temples, which have been inaccessible until recently. Now that the civil war has ended, Angkor is being reborn and is an increasingly popular tourist destination.

Undaunted by the difficulties of traveling through Cambodia and eastern Thailand, Jon Ortner, accompanied by his wife Martha, has photographed fifty of the most important and unique monuments of the Khmer Empire. His images include spectacular views from the rooftops of its temples, glorious landscapes, and details of inscriptions and art that few have ever seen.

The text by a team of distinguished experts provides historical, architectural, and religious analyses of Angkor and the Khmer civilization. The Appendix offers a glossary, a chronology of construction, and a chart of the kings and their accomplishments. Black-and-white floor plans and historic watercolors complete this breathtaking tribute.

Other details: 240 illustrations, 225 in full color

Customer Reviews:

Angkor Wat .......2007-09-06

Excellent book! I wish I had known about this book before I went to Angkor Wat.

Photobook Angkor.......2007-06-07

Angkor, Celestial temples of the Khmer Empire is a photobook limited to the Angkor Site and some outlining temples. Although the quality of the photo's is excellent, the book itself with regards to the informative value is disappointing. An exception to this is the chronology of sites. Angkor: Temples et monumentsThe Treasures of Angkor: Cultural Travel Guide (Rizzoli Art Guide)Angkor: Cambodia's Wondrous Khmer Temples, Fifth Edition (Odyssey Illustrated Guide)Ancient Angkor (River Book Guides)Angkor Cities and Temples

Outstanding Photos and history.......2006-03-09

I purchased three books on Angkor Wat after my week visit to Siem Reap, Cambodia and this book was by far the best I have seen. The photos are excellent and the narration in very informative. It is expensive but worth it.

Awesome Angkor.......2005-04-09

Wow, what a spectacular book, truly amazing. I was blown away by the quality of the photography, the reader actually feels like they are in the jungle amid the ruins of Angkor. I have never visited Angkor Wat and probably never will, but after experiencing this book, I feel somehow that I have been there. The quality of the book is superior and the book even comes in a wonderful case. The publisher should be congradulated, it's a luxurious book. Some books are extremely expensive and you wonder why, I can assure you, you will not ask that about this one. If you have any interest in this subject or just like to own beautiful things I urge you to purchase this book, it will be a jewel in your book collection

A Must-Have Book on Angkor Temples.......2004-02-02

Through his magical photographic eye, Jon Ortner has created a wondrous collection of striking images and scholarly prose. His perfectly lit photographs and well-documented historic descriptions allow one to easily understand this complicated ancient subject. Each temple is clearly organized into relevant sections from the central Angkor area to the rare and never-before-seen temples in the outer lying areas. If you have visited Angkor - Ortner's book is the perfect addition to your library. Or, if you have not visited, this book provides the perfect impetus.

The New York Trilogy (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)

Average customer rating:

"The question is the story itself, and whether or not it means something is not for the story to tell."
Was not impressed
Two extraordinary short novels and an exercise by a supreme storyteller
exceptional
Good? Yes. Engaging? that's a different question...

The New York Trilogy (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
Paul Auster
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Brooklyn Follies: A Novel
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ASIN: 0143039830

Book Description

Paul Auster's signature work, The New York Trilogy, consists of three interlocking novels: City of Glass, Ghosts, and The Locked Room—haunting and mysterious tales that move at the breathless pace of a thriller.

Customer Reviews:

"The question is the story itself, and whether or not it means something is not for the story to tell." .......2007-06-13

"He had always imagined that the key to good detective work was a close observation of details. The more accurate the scrutiny, the more successful the results. The implication was that human behavior could be understood, that beneath the infinite façade of gestures, tics, and silences, there was finally a coherence, an order, a source of motivation."

Paul Auster's "New York Trilogy," consisting of the novellas "City of Glass," "Ghosts," and "The Locked Room," is an intriguing blend of post-modern fiction, metaphysical philosophy, and detective novels. Through his reliance on the themes and structure of pulp/noir mysteries, Auster delves deeply into questions regarding identity, purpose, obsession, what is real, and examines the often tenuous grip that most people have on their sanity. His exploration is quite compelling and makes for a fascinating read, but it is unfortunate that the quality of the novellas is slightly uneven. The first, "City of Glass," is far too impenetrable and abstruse to be much more than frustrating. While it is clear that its protagonist, Quinn, is desperate to shed his identity in order to escape from the painful loss that has left him paralyzed, it is unclear why he becomes so obsessed with the case that he takes on after doing so. "Ghosts" is a marked improvement, but it is only in the final novella, "The Locked Room," that this trilogy really comes to life. "The Locked Room" is eloquent where its predecessors are vague, pointed when the others are intentionally blurry, and poignant rather than murky. Auster is certainly a great writer, and I will be interested to read more of his works, but "The New York Trilogy" requires a willingness to stick with it in order to get to its heart. But I recommend hanging in there, because that final novella is a true gem, and makes the ride worth your while.

Here's the grade breakdown: "City of Glass": C+, "Ghosts": B, "The Locked Room": A
Average grade: B

Was not impressed.......2007-05-20

I read this book because I loved Paul Aster's Brooklyn Follies. This compilation of 3 short stories may have well been written by a completely different author. They are short detective stories that are slightly intertwined. I did not enjoy this book and do not recommend it.

Two extraordinary short novels and an exercise by a supreme storyteller .......2007-02-08

I do not see this work the way Auster constructed it. To me it is not a 'trilogy' even though there are overlapping themes, and incidents. I see it as a collection of separate pieces. The first and the third are first-rate works of fiction . They are novels which are searches for self. They are -Multiple- identity -mysteries which illustrate Auster's way of seeing life and the world, as unending chance and surprise.
Perhaps the best summary of the Auster credo comes somewhere in the middle of 'The Locked Room' The narrator- best friend of Fanshawe meditates as follows.
" We all want to be told stories and we listen to them in the same way we did when we were young. We imagine the real story inside the words, and to do this we substitute ourselves for the person in the story, pretending that we can understand him because we understand ourselves. This is a deception.We exist for ourselves, perhaps, and at times we even have a glimmer of who we are, but in the end we can never be sure, and as our lives go on, we become more and more opaque to ourselves, more and more aware of our own incoherence. No one can cross the boundary into another-for the simple reason that no one can gain access to himself."
Auster is a supreme storyteller. In these works there are stories within stories of incredible power and beauty. In the first book there is a small story of a mother in the Shoah carrying a baby for whom she at last has the satisfaction of attaining and giving milk. The baby has been dead for days. In the concluding work of the Trilogy Auster tells the story of Lorenzo da Ponte whose life he describes as five or six distinct lives, illustrating a principle of Auster's fiction i.e. we can never know for certain where the story of the life is going to next.
I may not agree with Auster's philosophy of life but find him one of the supreme storytellers writing today . I pick up his work and I want to read and read and read.

exceptional.......2006-11-02

"The New York Trilogy", a volume containing three separate novellas: "The City of Glass", "Ghosts" and " The Locked Room", is an intriguing example of the author's game with the readers and, perhaps, with himself. The motif common for all three stories in the mystery, the solution of which is pursued by the main character, and the place of action, New York City (I do not agree with one of the reviewers who said New York could be here any other urban environment as well; certainly it could not be any European city, NYC gives these stories the distinct character and for anyone who has walked the streets through which the characters wander, it is a setting unmistakable for any other; The City's atmosphere hangs over the characters like a cloud).

"The City of Glass" features Quinn, a solitary man, living quietly after the death of his wife and son, and writing detective stories under a pseudonym. One night, Quinn receives a mysterious phone call from a man demanding the services of a private detective, Paul Auster... Although it is clearly a wrong number, Quinn decides to pretend to be Auster and take the challenge, changing his life forever.

A complete change of life circumstances is also a fate of the protagonist of a second (and the shortest) novella "Ghosts". Blue, who is a professional private detective, receives a task from the disguised client, White, to watch Black. The trouble is, Black never does anything interesting except reading or writing, and bored Blue tries to find out, where the real secret of this investigation lies.

In the last novella "The Locked Room", the main character is involved in the publication of the works of his missing childhood friend, Fanshawe. The books are a great success, he marries Fanshawe's wife and he assumes Fanshawe's identity, happily at the beginning...

These novellas are not, as has been pointed out by many reviewers before me, typical mysteries, where clues lead to conclusions and the reader may amuse himself with finding a correct answer. They are, on one hand, explorations of the soul, of the unknown in us, and, on the other hand, and taken together, a postmodern riddle, with literary jokes, cultural clues. They can be read on various levels, which is what really makes them interesting. For somebody, who expects a mystery story from the beginning to the end this book would be a disappointment, However, it is rewarding for the reader interested in reading itself (sounds absurd, I know, but this may be the truth - books play an enormous role in all the novellas). The introduction of Auster, as a detective, but really a writer in the first story, as opposed to Quinn, the writer, who has to become the detective, is only one of the twists here. The exercise with giving the characters the name of the colors (after all, what, if not "real" names make the reader think of the book characters as real? And are the color names unreal? Such names are common enough...) - is another.

By the way, has anyone been lured into drawing Quinn's walk on the street grid of Manhattan?

Good? Yes. Engaging? that's a different question..........2006-08-19

"The New York Trilogy", by celebrated author Paul Auster, is made up of 3, somewhat interlinked, long stories which were originately published separately at various times around 1985-86.
There is no doubt that Paul Auster is a terrific writer so I won't even get into that aspect of the book.
Let's get down to what's really important by trying to pinpoint the subject matter, i.e., what "the new york trilogy" is really about: in a sense, it's a mystery, in the true sense of the word, because even in the end many questions (most, I dare say) are left unanswered, many stones unturned and many cues are simply left hanging in the air.
The NYT has been described as metaphysical detective fiction and the description might in fact prove apt: each of the 3 stories follows the investigations of one man which always turn into an obsession, making the man completely lose touch with the reality. The NYT is thus much about mental processes, we see each of the 3 main chracters gradually become so absorbed by their quest that they lose all sense of proportion and stop thinking like the rest of us.
It's also a novel about writing because writing, depicted as the greatest obsession of all, always plays a role in the stories.
There is also a definite surreal element in most stories and, quite often, they reminded me of Dino Buzzati's short stories.
The author is obviously very pleased with himself, playing with his own name (much like B.E. Ellis does in his recent "Lunar Park") and toying with the other character's names (which pop up in different stories, alluding to the possibility of a strong link between them all).
Did I like the book? As much as it's clever and well-written, it leaves you with a sense of un-completeness, too much stuff remains only vaguely hinted at (I was never one to fall for open-endings. Plus, everything is open here, much more than necessary) and in the ends, the whole thing sound more like an elaborate intellectual game that engaging fiction. Thus, I give the novel 3 stars although this is in no way diminishes my appreciation of the author's talent.

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Lifestyles of the rich and shameless
a collection of some fragmented articles
The show is soooo much better!
Sex and The City
Just an idea for the excellent TV series.

Sex and the City
Candace Bushnell
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446673544

Amazon.com

The "Sex and the City" columnist for the New York Observer documents the social scene of modern-day Manhattan. The reader gets an introduction to "Modelizers," the men who only have eyes for models, as well as a more common species, the "Toxic Bachelor." Reading like a society novel gone downtown and askew, Sex and the City is a comically sordid look at status and ambition and the many characters consumed by the sexual politics of the '90s.

Book Description

The "Sex and the City" columnist for the New York Observer documents the social scene of modern-day Manhattan. The reader gets an introduction to "Modelizers," the men who only have eyes for models, as well as a more common species, the "Toxic Bachelor." Reading like a society novel gone downtown and askew, Sex and the City is a comically sordid look at status and ambition and the many characters consumed by the sexual politics of the '90s.

Customer Reviews:

Lifestyles of the rich and shameless.......2007-10-10

This book is a 200 something page chronicle of sex, lust, wealth, love, hate, and craziness experienced by the upper crust, spoiled sect of the New York population.
One thing this book makes obvious is that if you have a soul at all, stay away from New York. And if you don't have a conscious or morals, then "welcome home!"

The flaws of Sex and the City:

1. The book reads mostly like a stat sheet and/or obituary in most places e.g. Thomas Blow, 36, New York, accountant, likes to date 5'9" blondes...After 230 pages of this, it really gets monotonous.

2. The book is a bunch of unrelated stories about people we don't and shouldn't care about. Some characters resurface, but they are all one-dimensional, spoiled, childish imbeciles. And I still wonder how close to reality these stories are. Is the "I" in this book Candace? Are these real experiences by real people whose names were changed to protect their guilt?

Good things about Sex and the City:

1. There is some accurate, biting commentary of the social lives of celebrities and the wealthy crowd. This book very closely examines the fictional counterparts of toxic bachelors like George Clooney and Leo DiCaprio who go from model babe to model babe; and Bill Maher who is old enough to be a grandpa, yet thinks the hot 20 year olds should still want him. And let's not even mention Hugh Hefner who not only has 5 girlfriends, but parades them around together and expects them to be friends. Men like these are covered ad nauseam in Sex and the City; and you come to realize how pathetic they are.

2. There are several funny moments.

Bottom line: The tv series is leaps and bounds better than this. I really admire the writers and producers who were able to turn this material into a smart, funny, and award-winning show. Sarah Jessica Parker and the gang gave the characters heart that these book characters lack completely.
If you want to know a little juicy tidbit about Candace Bushnell, read Michael Bergin's book The Other Man. Plus, I believe you'll find that the Sex and the City book character, The Bone, shares some similarities with model Michael Bergin.

a collection of some fragmented articles.......2007-07-30

If you're after Carrie & Mr Big's story, probably you'll be disappointed - instead of a complete storyline, the book is a collection of some fragmented articles (originally appeared on a newspaper). I think the TV drama, which was based on & inspired by this book, is far more entertaining.

But I must say Ms Bushnell has made some interesting & remarkable observation of relationship pattern in big cities. Quite impressive.

The show is soooo much better!.......2007-02-01

I was very disappointed when I read this book. I had already seen a couple of the seasons of the TV show and was hoping to get an idea of how it got started. This author is awful! Her writing just doesn't flow well and it's not as engaging as the book. Don't waste your time.

Sex and The City.......2007-01-13

Great book and wonderful airplane reading. Nice thing to have in the library

Just an idea for the excellent TV series........2007-01-10

the only merit of this book is that it served as an inspiration for the smart and funny TV series, which I think it's far more meaningful that it may seems at a first glance.
The book is dull, badly written, and shallow.
It is incredible how different is from the scripts of the TV serial.

The Secret Life of Bill Clinton: The Unreported Stories

Average customer rating:

Incredible Work
What a McGovernite Liberal is Really Like
A must-read to any American citizen...
Partisan Revenge Tactics = Big Bucks
It's time for One Term Limits for all Politicians

The Secret Life of Bill Clinton: The Unreported Stories
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Manufacturer: Regnery Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Final Days: The Last, Desperate Abuses of Power by the Clinton White House
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ASIN: 0895264080

Amazon.com

These days, it seems like everyone's a Friend of Bill--Clinton's buddies from Arkansas are turning up in powerful White House positions faster than you can say "Whitewater." But make no mistake, British journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is no F.O.B.: in the course of The Secret Life of Bill Clinton's 350-plus pages, he manages to connect the president to everything from 1997's Oklahoma City bombing to Arkansas's drug underworld to the mysterious death of White House aide and longtime Clinton friend Vince Foster, and, of course, to Paula Jones. According to Evans-Pritchard--who has reported for the London-based Spectator, Sunday Telegraph (where he served as Washington bureau chief), and Daily Telegraph newspapers--Clinton's "original sin" was the Waco incident, the FBI's much-criticized assault on the Branch Davidian community in Texas that led to the deaths of 76 people. From that point on, the author asserts, it was all downhill for the American people.

Evans-Pritchard's exposé of Arkansas's favorite son is indeed scathing: he documents the then-governor's drug use and consort with prostitutes (primarily in the company of ne'er-do-well brother Roger); innumerable lies to friends, staff members, and the people who empowered him; numerous infidelities; blackmail--the list goes on and on. Evans-Pritchard claims that, because he is not an American citizen, he is not "beholden to any political or financial interest in the United States," and he does not "hang on lips of official sources," nor does he "fear the loss of access in Washington, or the blackball of [his] profession"; in other words, he ain't afraid to call 'em like he sees 'em. And although many of his seemingly wild claims and accusations are substantiated by thorough notes and appendixes following the text (including copies of original FBI documents), you're never quite convinced of the author's theories. Whether or not you come to believe, as Evans-Pritchard does, that "Arkansas was a mini-Colombia within the United States, infested by narco-corruption"; that--because of William Jefferson Clinton--"you can sniff the pungent odors of decay in the American body politic"; that the president's "actions and character ... have engendered the most deadly terrorist movement in the industrialized world," you will most certainly be entertained and enlightened by the dirt this British muckraker has uncovered. You may not be an F.O.B., but after reading this book, you may not mind so much.

Book Description

An illustrious investigative reporter adds shocking new and exclusive revelations to his swelling bag of Clinton scandals.

Customer Reviews:

Incredible Work.......2007-06-23

I just read this book for the second time after having read it a few years ago. It's amazing how time dulls the memory. I had forgotten about all of the scandals and crimes associated with the Clintons and it is chilling that after all of this time the Clintons still have not been held accountable and at this time Hillary is even in the running to become our next president.

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has written a well-documented and well-researched book from years of investigation and interviews. He has meticulously laid out the evidence for the Clintons association with the Oklahoma bombing, Vince Foster's death, the sad murder of Kevin Ives, the "Dixie Mafia" and even Paula Jones.

I can understand why those who are enamored of Bill Clinton will not like this book but in typical left-wing form those who have given this book only one star and complain that it is filled with lies offer no facts to refute those supposed lies.

What a McGovernite Liberal is Really Like.......2004-09-25

Evans-Pritchard reveals what America gets when it elects a new age liberal. Bill Clinton a "new democrat"? Yes, if you mean New Left.

This Clinton is a man who served under the segregationist and anti-Vietnam war senator Fulbright.

Evans-Pritchard takes you behind the sanitized snapshots. What you see is at least a third of the American voting populace who does not mind Clinton's Arkansas corruption and subsequent White House coverup. "They all do it," was the Clinton defense.

Most reporters were too cowardly to investigate the suspicious activities at Mena, Arkansas airport, or the bumbling of Clinton's handpicked stooges in the Justics Department, and the subversion of the FBI's handling of the Oklahoma City bombing.

Before the dead kids bodies in the Murrah Building were even cold, Clinton blamed conservative talk radio for creating the climate that led to the bombing. That is what a real liberal does.

In retrospect, it now becomes clear why James Carville became Clinton's most staunch defender. To paraphrase a threat from Carville, "Ken Starr is one step away from having his kneecaps busted." THAT IS THE REAL BILL CLINTON, not the easy-going good-time charlie playing the sax on TV.

Bill Clinton was a Rhodes scholar . . . with extremely poor judgment. Crafty? Yes. Wise, like Reagan? Hell No.

A must-read to any American citizen..........2002-12-30

I purchased this book after hearing review after review of it from my family members. Needless to say, they were right - this book is an absolute bombshell of information that pinpoints most, if not all of the ethical and legal faux pas raised by the Clinton Administration and the organizations under that regime. Some of the highlights include how the FBI blundered Waco, how the Murrah building was most definately more than a one-person job (but was apparently ordered not to investigate it as such), how Clinton was dealing in cocaine trafficking and how the Clintons managed to cover all of this up with the help of the liberal media.

... Ambrose Evans-Pritchard documents everything he asserts based on facts of witness testimony, comparing FBI affadavits, and other documents related to these cases. If there is any flaw with the book is that Pritchard couldn't 100% tie all of the incidents to Clinton, though 95% of the crimes mentioned in the book can be easily seen how they tie to Clinton or to someone high up in the Clinton administration.

I reiterate - this book is a must-read to anyone who is sick and tired of hearing how great the Clinton Administration is, and should be read by those people who continue to profess how wonderful Clinton was.

Partisan Revenge Tactics = Big Bucks.......2002-10-29

To the people who read this book, you really should do some research on the author, who was sure that he was going to be killed by Clinton's "Death Squads" while writing this. It's a perfect book to feed the conservative paranoia that the Clinton years cultivated. The guy couldn't even have a successful affair without getting caught, how he could have managed all that he is accused of in this book is borderline absurd. And the section regarding the advanced knowledge of the Oklahoma bombing is just plain ridiculous, especially when you compare it to the recent allegation of the Bush administration's advance knowledge of 9/11 activities. It's easy to dislike Clinton when you're a conservative, I understand, and this book certainly gives you fuel for the fire. But no one should take anything in this book as entirely factual or of any journalistic value. The elaborate footnotes and "documentation" are an almost comedic exersize in logical thinking. But hey, I'm not going to knock a book that so many people like. The only thing I object to is its classification as a "non-fiction" book.

It's time for One Term Limits for all Politicians.......2002-01-29

I just finished reading this book - on the heals of finishing Bernard Goldberg's book, Bias. It made me sick to my stomach. Not being one to swallow what someone tries to feed me without thinking for myself, if even some of the allegations made in this book are true, it's horrifying.

I'm wondering why no one in the media wants to uncover the truth about Vince Foster's death. I learned recently that his widow received a $286,000 wire transfer 4 days after his death and no one wants to account for the money trail.

What blows my mind is if Bill had a "nose like a vacuum" as the author alleges Roger Clinton stated on a surveillance tape, why isn't that front page news? Are we so gullible as a society that we tolerate such behavior from our leaders so long as it doesn't interfere with our own personal quality of life?

I admit I am no fan of the Clintons and I didn't vote for Al Gore. However, I'm having trouble sleeping at night in fear for the country my son will inherit if these allegations are true. I always knew the rich and powerful got different justice from the rest of us - I guess I always thought the press would protect us from ourselves. God help us all.

This book is powerful in its ability to "probe and disturb".

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