Editorial Review

From absurd 911 calls to presidential philosophizing and foolish felons, Leland Gregory generates the best laughs by exposing the worst of human nature. Following up his New York Times best-selling Stupid American History, Gregory sets his sights on the holidays as he exposes mind-numbing mistletoe maladies in Stupid Christmas: Idiots under the Mistletoe.

Perhaps it's the spiked eggnog or the multiple family members gathered around crazy-colored, twinkly lights, but the holidays are rife with idiocy by the daft and the dumb. Inside this latest collection, Gregory offers more than 200 accounts of holiday-induced stupidity, including:

* While smoke billowed out of the store, firefighters had to physically restrain enthusiastic shoppers from entering a Great Lakes Mall store during an electrical fire.

* In 1995, officials debated over whom to invite to the city's Christmas tree ceremony: President Bill Clinton or the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

* As a joke, Andrew Jackson sent formal invitations to his Christmas ball to a well-known mother-and-daughter prostitute team in Salisbury, North Carolina.

Reviews

Christmas, As Related By News Of The Weird, December 4, 2010
If your sense of humor is slightly bent, if tidbits from both current events and historical references tickles your fancy, this is the book for you. All of the stories are only a paragraph or two, but point to the regular foibles of people with a holiday feel.

You'll find a mishmash of stories, ranging from stupid criminals to overly officious politicians. I don't want to give too much away, but I personally thought that the Baby Jesus equipped with a GPS tracking device was worth the reading time alone.

Stupid Criminals and other Dunces, December 2, 2010
This book is not the kind of book one would read in church or to small children.

This is an amusing collection of police reports, small-town newspaper articles and little-known factoids about anything related to Christmas. Gregory must have gone through a lot of newspapers, magazines and websites from around the world to find some of these articles. There are anecdotes about criminals getting stuck in chimneys, thieves stealing the wrong gifts, reindeer high on mushrooms, drunken villagers running through town showing off their Christmas jewels, town scrooges, or just plain stupid or quirky people around the world. There are a lot of stories about fake Santas, female Santas, drunk Santas and criminal Santas. Some even are pleasant little stories about Good Samaritans.

My favorites are the little stories about quirky holiday traditions of other countries: Germans, Swedes, Irish, English, Spanish, etc. If these stories had their own book, it would be a better collection of perhaps not "Stupid Christmas" but "Quirky Christmas."

This is not a bad collection if you like dirty humor, though. Gregory has written a few winning quips in this book that is typical of his humor and just like his other book "Stupid History." There is nothing here that is obscene or highly offensive (expletives have been left out) but several topics may be unsuitable for the highly religious.

This would make a nice gift for anyone who enjoys sick or twisted humor, or anyone who collects stories about Darwn Award winners and nominees.

Stupid Christmas, December 5, 2010
This is a collection of snippets of information, all relating to human stupidity and Christmas. You get the politically correct running amok, your dumb thief getting caught, Santa's acting not very christmas like, weird historical facts, funny citations etc.

I would have liked all facts to be new but found that some of them were familiar, having been already published in other Leland's books.

There's no lack of stupid people out there, which will allow this author to publish for a long long time.
It's OK for a light read and a smile.

Don't Bother, December 6, 2010
The old adage "You get what you pay for" really applies here. I had hoped for funny stories and instead got a compilation of holiday related news items that didn't even have me cracking a smile. Went ahead and read all of it as I'm awaiting the arrival of my Kindle.

Boring news articles that just spark no interest., December 14, 2010
I have read Leland Gregory's "Stupid History" book and thought it was fascinating, but couldn't choke down one more story from Stupid Christmas. I got 60% thru the book. I wish I could say it was humorous or fun, but just cannot. I felt it was a waste of my time. He could take the handful of good stories and add them to his Stupid History book on the next addition. Try his other book, "Stupid History"

Here's what I like: There are a few pieces that are historical and interesting twists, showing the crazy things we don't know about Christmas and how it has changed.

Here's what I don't like: Out of the 138 stories I read, nearly all of them are just clippings from a news articles or wired stories and have no twist and are only slightly interesting. The author puts a few words into the article to add his own flare and maybe a little humor to the otherwise uninteresting stories. It seems as if the author just pulled random newspapers off the internet and wrote them into the book only adding a few words. I felt as if he really struggled to fill a book and pulled from a period from November to January from various years. Some of the stories really have nothing to do with Christmas. I would have preferred to read 10 really funny crazy stories rather a chocked full book of dull stories. Even my wife was amazed I could read to the 60% point.

Fun, Light, Interesting, December 10, 2010
Great for a fast read. Each Kindle page has a different crazy story or tidbit about Christmas happenings around the world. I found it fun to open up and read a few pages a day before delving into my other books with deeper subjects. Each page turn would result in me snickering, rolling my eyes, or shaking my head in disbelief at how brainless people's actions can be. In fact, my idea of reading "just a couple of pages for now" would usually result in the reluctance to stop reading it!! The author bases most of his stories on news items found in newspapers from all over the world. While it is on special as a free Kindle download, I would definitely recommend it!! Lighten up, folks, and give it a chance!

Don't judge a book by its cover, December 16, 2010
Don't judge a book by its cover, especially if it's this book and the cover looks good. *Sigh* Not even good enough to finish reading.

Stupid book Stupid Title, December 8, 2010
i am glad that I didn't pay for this book I did not find the stories funny at all. Got about a quarter ways through it and gave up. It was about a bunch of stupid people doing stupid things at Christmas time. A lot of stories were about crimes that did not pan out. I do not recommend it.

Stupid Indeed, December 7, 2010
I had higher hopes but this book is neither interesting nor funny. There's a certain breed of delusional nut jobs running around at this time of year whom the author should have targeted for his stories, which would have made the book entertaining. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Guinness World Records 2011 continues to build on the intriguing, informative, inspiring and instructional records and superlatives that have made Guinness World Records one of the most famous brands and an annual best-seller around the world.Over 110 million copies have sold since the first edition was published in 1955.Nearly 4 million copies are sold every year in more than 100 countries and in 25 languages.Market research has indicated that Guinness World Records is one of the strongest brands in the world, with prompted brand recognition of 98.2% in the English language territories.
What's New in GWR 2011...

More US specific content including spreads dedicated to "American Heroes", "North American wildlife", "Route 66" andextended US sports pages!
· New unique design - new decade, new look.A fun, poster-style design reminiscent of the circus, the old wild west and letter pressed WANTED ads!
·Records GPS - starting at Greenwich, London - the home of time - we go around the world city by city revealing fascinating records set along the way.
·Glossary - improve your vocabulary by learning the meaning of new and unusual words.
·As Well as -- New spreads on....
* Space Shuttle- being retired in 2010
* TV's 75 years Diamond Anniversary
* Pop Culture chapter - all your favorite movies, DVDs, comics, graphic novels, manga and so on....
* Mr. World Record Breaker ... Read more

Reviews

They ruined this book, December 4, 2010
I had the GBWR 1984 as a kid and used to look up records all the time. Based on my experience I decided to get the current GBWR for my kids. Boy what a mistake! I have 2 basic complaints.

Number one, the format. This used to be a reference book, kinda like a dictionary. The new version looks like it was designed and laid out by somebody with serious ADHD and an espresso drip. I think they must have cut more than half of the records out to make room for the spinning artwork.

Number two, the propaganda and fun-facts. I wanted my kids to be able to enjoy looking up who the tallest man is, or who can run the fastest, instead there are all of these little "did you know" blurbs about how people are destroying the Earth, and general facts about the founding of the U.N. and UNICEF. Why is this material in a book about world records? Nuclear energy isn't listed in the section devoted to alternative energy? Who owns this publishing company,...George Soros?

I am severely disappointed. At least I can still get a copy of the older versions, the versions which are about, you know, world records. I just ordered the 1994 version, which is the last year before the reference book became a comic book.

My first Guiness World Records!, October 29, 2010
I have seen the Guiness Book of World Records over the years, and had gone though them while at my family or friend's homes. I must say that with this being my first personal copy, I'm not disappointed. And now I can browse through the records on my own time.

Even though the book is not as thick as the older editions, it's still packed with ALOT of information more than you can believe for a book that's about 1.5 inches thick from cover to cover (hardcover)

The quality of the pages is good and the print quality and layout is not bad either. At the bottom of each page there are records from around the world in small snippets, so when you're done going through the book, you can go though the snippets at the bottom.

Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and I'm looking forward to the 2012 Edition.

Great fun--as always!, November 25, 2010
I look forward to this annual update each year. There are a lot of goofy records here, but also some interesting tidbits as well.

This volume begins with "Fire" as a category. Here, we read of the largest gathering of fire breathers ever (269 people got together at Eindhoven in the Netherlands); we see the largest flaming image using candles (the image depicted the logo of the Sandoz company [Pakistan]); most people burned at the stake (133 witches were burned on one day in 1859 near Leipzig, Germany).

Randomly turning pages yields other records:

Oceans and seas--Oldest seawater (the water at the bottom of the 12,000 foot Canada Basin has been unstirred for several thousands of years); the warmest ocean (Indian Ocean); Newest forming ocean (the Afar Depression in Ethiopia).

Insects and arachnids--Largest spider (a male bird-eating spider, with an 11 inch long span--ugh!); largest beetle (a beetle from Africa, coming in at 3.5 ounces [doesn't seem that bad to me]); hardiest beetle (1,547 were living in a bottle stoppered for 12 years).

Human society--Most dangerous country in which to be born (Afghanistan, featuring such negatives as unbelievably high infant mortality rates [257 deaths per 1,000 live births]).

3D cinema--first full-length 3D movies (in 1953, French, Indian, and Japanese 3D movies were released); most expensive 3D movie (A Christmas Carol, released in 2009).

Roller coasters--Fastest (Ring Racer at Nurburgring in Germany at 134.8 mph); Most expensive (Expedition Everest, for $100,000,000); tallest (Kingda Ka at Six Flags Adventure in New Jersey--456 feet high; it6's also the second fastest roller coaster).

Baseball--Most runs batted in a World Series game (Hideo Matsui, 6 for the Yankees in 2009, tying Bobby Richardson); most games played at shortstop (Omar Vizquel, 2681); most postseason wins by a manager (Joe Torre, 84 wins).

Water sports--Largest race (13,755 participants swam the 2009 Midmar Mile in South Africa); Oldest Olympic canoeing medalist (Josefa Idem of Italy at nearly 44 years of age).

Another year, another set of wacko records! As always great fun. . . .

Great for my 9-year-old daughter!, November 1, 2010
My 9 year old asked for it this as soon as it was released. I bought her the 2010 edition last year for Christmas and the pages are completely worn out from reading it over and over. I have a feeling she will be asking for this every year to come.

Terrible Format, October 14, 2010
This is a very pretty book, with lots of pictures; in fact, far too many pictures and photos instead of facts. Its pages look like comic book pages (I almost expected BAM, POW and BOOM to appear). The pages are confusing, distracting and disjointed, and its index is quite incomplete and useless. Just try to look up a specific record, like "the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world." Good luck! Normally, a picture is said to be worth a thousand words, but, with this edition, the opposite is true. Guiness sacrificed content and ease of use for "flash." I prefer the older editions, where you could look up a very specific record, read it, and say "wow." This book tries to say "wow" for you. Very disappointing.

Great Knowledge book, October 30, 2010
Saw someone with the 2010 book and decided I would buy 1 for myself and 1 for my son for Christmas.Actually, the 2011 book was cheaper than the 2010 book. Makes a great gift for some one who you don't know what to give them.I know he will be happy with this book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Reviews

Glad it was free
There are three parts to this book. The part that I completely agree, the part that I disagree and the part I did not really understand. The part I agreed with is terrific and I wish our federal government and California state would read and follow. This is the part on personal responsibility. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Boost Your grades with this illustrated quick-study guide. You will use it from high school to college and beyond. The full version is absolutely FREE.

Features

• Conversion of over 1,000 units.
• Metric, English, and US customary systems.
• Length, Area, Volume, Speed, Force, Energy, Electricity, Viscosity, Temperature, and more.
• List of powers of 10 prefixes.
• Explanation of SI writing style.
• Approximate conversion of units.
• Clear and concise explanations.
• Difficult concepts are explained in simple terms.
• Navigate from Table of Contents or search for words or phrases.
• Add bookmarks and annotation.
• Access the guide anytime, anywhere - at home, on the train, in the subway.
• Use your down time to prepare for an exam.
• Always have the guide available for a quick reference.
• Indispensable resource for technical and life science students.
• The full version is absolutely FREE.
• FREE updates.

Table of Contents

Conversion of units:

Length: Definition | Conversion

Area: Definition | 2-D Formulae | 3-D Formulae | Conversion

Volume: Definition | Formulae | Conversion

Angle: Definition | Conversion

Mass: Definition | Conversion

Time: Definition | Conversion

Speed: Definition | Conversion

Acceleration: Definition | Conversion

Force: Definition | Conversion

Pressure or mechanical stress: Definition | Conversion

Energy, work, or heat: Definition | Conversion

Power: Definition | Conversion

Angular momentum: Definition | Conversion

Electricity: Current | Charge | Resistance | Voltage | Formulae | Conversion

Viscosity: Definition | Conversion

Information entropy: Definition | Conversion

Temperature: Definition | Conversion

Approximate conversion of units

History: Systems of measurement | History of measurement

Metric system (SI): Definition | SI writing style | Powers of 10 prefixes

Other Systems: English system | Imperial unit | United States customary units | Comparison of the Imperial and U.S. customary systems

Reviews

Excellent Reference and Technical Refresher
I bought this Kindle book thinking it would be nice to have a little reference of conversion units handy, and then neglected it for several weeks. Today I opened it up and what a surprise!! WOW! This is a great little book, filled not only with conversion units for virtually every imaginable unit of measure, but it is a great refresher for a myriad of technical principles. It is filled with explanations of the fundamentals behind the units as well has fascinating little historical snippets about how the units all came to be. Highly recommended. We need more like this!

The book was corrected on January 15th, 2009. The new version 11.1 completely resolves the image scaling problem.
Comments from the Publisher:

The book was corrected on January 15th, 2009. The new version 11.1 completely resolves the image scaling problem.

MobileReference

Kindle book
FREE Weights and Measures Quick Study Guide

This is a very useful ebook. Works great on my Kindle!

Great Reference Work - Highly Recommended!
The "Weights and Measures Study Guide", besides being free, is a very handy collection of units, definitions, and formulas for just every field. The book has all of the units you would expect (Length, Area, Volume, Speed, Force, Energy, Electricity, Viscosity, Temperature) and also adds worthwhile sections on the various histories of systems (English, Metric, etc) and conversion guides.

While this looks good on the Kindle and formats just fine, it actually is very handy to have on the iTouch\iPhone and PC with the free Kindle App. On the iTouch it is the perfect pocket reference for when I'm working in my shop and am away from the computer.

The navigation is good, complete with a linked Table of Contents, but the only issue I found was that the "Start" page was the middle of a chapter - not the Cover Page. Once I figured that out, it was easy enough to get started.

Overall, this is a great free book with a huge amount of information that is very useful to students, professionals, and the overly curious. I leave mine "parked" on the conversion guide page since that is extremely helpful information.

Highly Recommended!

CFH

Excellent ebook for general knowledge and school work
FREE Weights and Measures Study Guide

This ebook is incredibly helpful and educational. But don't take my word for it. Give it a try and see for yourself!

The book looks fine on my Kindle.
I am not sure what the other reviewer is talking about. The book looks fine on my Kindle.

Useful
This was a freebie, so I thought why not download to have as a reference. I think my husband would use it more than I, but for free - why not? There is so much information in this book - it contains any conversion imaginable. ... Read more

Editorial Review

If it would shock you to learn that Benjamin Franklin didn't discover electricity, you'll appreciate this take on hundreds of historical legends and debacles. Historians and humorists alike may be surprised to learn that:

Samuel Prescott made the famous horseback ride into Concord, not Paul Revere. As a member of Parliament, Isaac Newton spoke only once. He asked for an open window. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S., thus starting the Spanish-American War. The U.S. declared war the very next day, but not wanting to be outdone, had the date on the declaration changed from April 25 to April 21.With these and many other stories, leading humorist Leland Gregory once again highlights both the strange and the funny side of humankind. ... Read more

Reviews

Light reading on a weighty topic!
I really enjoy trivia and I really enjoy history so it was nice to see them combined in a really funny collection. This is a collection of entertaining short, historical tales flavored with pieces of trivia and stupid acts through the ages. Leland Gregory has also peppered these narratives with "punny" jokes that are sure to make you crack a smile.

Fun Read
This is a fun book. The entries are one page little-known facts and anecdotes from history. I found the entries to be from slightly interesting to Wow! Plus, there are several laughs thrown in along the way. The one page entries made this perfect bedtime reading for me.

totally worth it impulse buy
I purchased this at my local Borders Books. Unintentionally. They had it up at the register, and being a history fanatic, and a fan of all things trivialesque & stupid, I impulsively purchased the book. I'm so glad I did. As another reviewer said, the book is full of everything from, "Oh, really?" to "OH WOW!" and very 'punny' jokes.

Totally worth the money. I'm glad it was on display, or otherwise I may have never known of it's existence. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Free Periodic Table in the DEMO Version. Melting & boiling points, Density, Electronegativity, Electron affinity, and much more in the Full version. Navigate from TOC or search for words or phrases.

Features

• Formatted for a small screen
• Atomic numbers, symbols & weights
• Chemical symbols and more...
• Easy to navigate.
• Search for the words or phrases
• Navigate from Table of Contents or read page by page
• Access the guide anytime, anywhere - at home, on the train, in the subway.
• Use your down time to prepare for an exam.
• Always have the guide available for a quick reference.

Table of Contents

Periodic Table: Standard | Large

List of elements sorted by: Atomic number (including atomic Mass) | Name | Symbol | Boiling Point | Melting Point | Density | Atomic radius | Electronegativity | Electron affinity | Ionization potential | Standard enthalpy change of vaporization | Standard enthalpy change of fusion | Specific heat capacity

About Periodic Table: Arrangement | Periodicity of chemical properties | Electron configuration | Naming of elements | Chemical symbols | History

Chemical Series: Alkali metal | Alkaline earth metal | Lanthanides | Actinides | Transition metals | Poor metals | Metalloids | Nonmetals | Halogens | Noble gases

Appendix: IUPAC nomenclature | Metric system (SI) | SI writing style | Powers of 10 prefixes | United States units conversion

Reviews

Descriptions are fine but the table itself is unviewable.
I guess Kindle has yet to come up with a methodology where dense tables etc with fine print can be viewed easily. I had to use my magnifier to view the table proper. However the descriptions following the table are great.

The demo version has a basic periodic table. Nothing elaborate, but quite readable on Kindle.
The demo version has a basic periodic table. Nothing elaborate, but quite readable on Kindle.

periodic table of awesome elements
this was an excellent book I would recommend this book for anybody interested in the periodic table would have a kick out of this book. This book is a very easy read and is enjoyable even for an younge person like me. ... Read more

Editorial Review

More than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content.

Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan–there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.

This step-by-step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches:
•How Tim went from $40,000 per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per month and 4 hours per week
•How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want
•How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs
•How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist
•How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent “mini-retirements”

The new expanded edition of Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Workweek includes:
•More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point
•Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating e-mail, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than $8 a meal
•How Lifestyle Design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times
•The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either ... Read more

Reviews

Better Than The First Version By A Very Long Shot . . . Definitely Worth The Investment
I reviewed the first edition of The Four Hour Workweek and was surprised by the content, it was a fresh look at a new idea (Lifestyle Design) and it offered some really practical, useful advice that virtually anyone could implement. I recommended the book to many people, most liked it some didn't.

I eagerly pre-ordered this version of the book when I first heard about it mostly because I was curious if it would really be better . . . and boy was it!

I sat down with this book and read until the wee hours of the morning. Sure a lot of the material is the same, but there are around 100 new pages of material and that material is what the first edition desperately needed. The new material is solid examples, case studies, new resources and it addresses how to navigate lifestyle design in a rapidly changing economy.

Tim includes a list of things learned in 2008 along with lessons learned, this section of the book was priceless. Here are a few of the things he talks about:

1. Don't accept large or costly favors from strangers - Exceptions, uber-successful mentors who are making introductions and not laboring on your behalf.

2. You don't have to recoup losses the same way you lose them - An interesting discussion of mortgages.

3. One of the most universal causes of self-doubt and depression: Trying to impress people you don't like (This one really hit home with me . . . hard)

4. Slow meals = life

5. Money doesn't change you; it reveals who you are when you no longer have to be nice.

6. It doesn't matter how many people don't get it. What matters is how many people do.

7. I should not invest in public stocks where I cannot influence outcome (Another hearty agreement from me).

The list goes on as does the new information in the book. This one is a must read for anyone who wants to break the slave-save-retire cycle and live on purpose now.

Reading Comprehension is Key
I'd like to preface this review with something interesting about the Amazon reviews for this book. Many 1-star reviewers accused the 5-star reviewers of being "plants." Especially the ones who hadn't reviewed a book before on Amazon. How do they know that the person wasn't just so moved by the book they made their first Amazon review? We all had that first book we reviewed at one point or another. And extreme feelings about a book, either extreme love or extreme hate, tend to motivate one to share that view with the world.

What I found amazing was, most of the 1-star reviews were reviews of positive reviews, not the book, even though they claimed to be reviews of the book. With all that was taken out of context and twisted, it was clear that most of the 1-star reviewers either didn't read the book or don't have sufficient reading comprehension to be a critic of anything. I find this unfortunate since many negative-minded people read these reviews and respond with things like: "This was what I suspected, glad I didn't waste my money." I'm not sure what exactly the threat is in exploring new ideas whether you agree with them or not, at least allow your mind the opportunity to choose.

This book is not about being lazy. It's not a get-rich quick scheme. It's not about being dishonest or unethical. It became very clear that some people really truly believe that working few hours on work you hate to free up time for more productive and meaningful life activities is somehow "immoral." I guess the Puritanical mentality this country started out with (earliest settlers here) has seeped deeper into our overall culture than we once imagined.

I used to be very held back by the notion of "the other people in the world who are suffering." i.e. why should I seek to make my life situation better when it seems selfish compared to all the starving Ethiopian children, for example. But the crux of the issue is this... I am either helping, being helped, or breaking even. Breaking even would be when a person barely scrapes by enough to support and take care of their own family unit (people living in the house with them.) They are often in debt, middle-class generally, but living paycheck to paycheck or not far above it. They live from scarcity rather than abundance and so any little bit they have over they have to save rather than use to help someone else.

Others are constantly "being helped" by the government, by charities, by whoever. Now I'm not making a moral judgment against either of these groups of people. Living in a money-based instead of a community-based society is hard. However... people often rush to judge those who either HAVE money or WANT to have money as automatically immoral or bad people. And that's not true. Who do you think the helpers are? It's certainly not the people who need help, and it's not the people in that middle class prison that can't seem to get ahead. It's the people who have extra money TO help. And those are also the people who volunteer the most because surprise surprise they have more TIME to donate than any of the other groups.

So I think people would benefit themselves quite a bit if they changed their attitude about acquiring money. Yes, there will always be greedy people who acquire at the expense of others. There will always be people who are materialistic and just want more and more useless "stuff." But then there are others who acquire money and more personal freedom who use a good portion of both of those assets to help others. And contrary to what many readers seemed to get out of the book (or out of their reading of the reviews only), the author's message isn't about being greedy, but about acquiring freedom and then using that freedom for something that benefits both you and others at the same time.

Pointless drudgery and suffering for the sake of it is... pointless. It's not character building necessarily and it doesn't make you a better person necessarily. And especially if a lot of the suffering is self-imposed based on a refusal to think outside of a very limiting box.

The author's definition of the "new rich" is a sliding barometer. For example his view (and I agree) is that someone who makes $40,000 a year and is totally 100% mobile and can live ANYWHERE in the world, and go anywhere in the world, is far more rich than someone making $500,000 a year who hates their job, works 80 hour weeks and is trapped in one location (usually a very expensive American city like NY or LA.) This is very true. You'd be amazed by the variable in quality of life for your dollar depending on where you live, even just in the United States there is huge variability.

This book explores a lot of ways for you to simplify your life and get work done with as soon as possible so you can get on to other things. Timothy Ferriss is NOT saying that you can work 4 hours a week starting tomorrow. The goal of this particular book for this particular outcome is one of two things: either to work remotely for your employer and increase productivity to the point that you can work fewer hours (though probably more than 4 a week) from home or anywhere else you are, or starting a business with the goal of automation at the end. i.e. internet business, product-based businesses (online), information products. You do a lot of work on the front end to create a product and set up an infrastructure so you don't have to continue to micromanage the business forever. You can go on to doing other things, either another income stream or micro-business on another topic/idea/product, or some other activity that interests you.

This is the kind of track I'm on and have been on for a little while now. This book wasn't overly novel to me because I'd already been initiated into this type of "Freedom-based" thinking through books like: "Unjobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook," "Making a Living Without a Job," and "How I found Freedom in an Unfree World," all amazing books and paradigm shifters that make you take stock of what YOU want and not what you're "supposed" to want and that also make you look at money and acquiring it in whole new ways. Every single one of them is valuable in their own right and reading those books probably made this book far less "out there" to me. Since apparently it seems pretty "out there" to a lot of people.

I've owned a service business before (wedding coordinating) and a craft business (candlemaking) and on both fronts I realized quickly that even if I was spectacularly successful, that there was a definite ceiling on the amount of money I could earn with either without adding significant complication into the mix (i.e. working long hours indefinitely and employees which I would then have to manage.) In the case of candles I could have gone an entirely different route into outsourcing manufacturing, but then it would cease being a "crafts" business and turn into just retail.

There is a common saying among entrepreneurs that they would rather work 16 hours a day for themselves than 8 hours a day for someone else. Well I don't even want to work 8 hours a day. It's not that I'm lazy, I just have other things to do, and if you enhance your productivity there really is no genuine reason to work that many hours a day. Most people in 9-5 jobs are getting about 3-4 hours of genuine WORK done a day. Well that's about what I do, but I just do it in a concentrated effort and don't get sidetracked by other things. Some days I work 6 hours especially when I'm in the new phase of a project, but that's about my max. Granted, we are talking about income producing activities here. This doesn't include cooking and cleaning which is also technically work, or exercise, which is a form of work. I enjoy exercise, but I enjoy most of what I do to one degree or another so liking or not liking the activity can't be the barometer for what is and isn't work.

Anyway this is an incredibly long-winded way of saying that I really enjoyed this book, and didn't find it that "out there." It's somewhat amusing to see the people who "do" find it that "out there" because I don't really think I'm an impractical person. But I will admit that it has probably helped that I'm so stubborn, I just pretty much refused to buy into many of the ideas I was "supposed" to buy into regarding work. So even with the first paradigm-shifting book I read in this category, I was open to the ideas. I'm not a lazy person but I also don't mistake "busyness" for productivity or accomplishment.

I was already familiar with a lot of the mentalities and ideas in the book from my exposure to the above mentioned books as well as learning experiences I've already had in business and things I'd figured out on my own, but I did learn a few new techniques and he also helped to boil down some things for me that will be useful in launching my next income stream which will hopefully eventually replace the freelance work I'm doing now. Because the goal eventually is automation so I can free up time to just write what I want (with or without big profit at the end of it), and focus on other pursuits.

One of the top 3 influential books I have read!
Brief Background: I owned and operated 4 bookstores in Austin, Tx for 13 years. I have read a lot of books and have sold many books on being successful in business and life. This is my first review.
I was given this book by a business partner and I was reluctant to read one more book on the secrets of a great life. I was fascinated and hooked after the first few pages. I am going to keep this simple. If you are clear that greatness is inside of you, then this book is for you. If you are clear that you have nothing to offer, then this book is for you. This book is a paradox as is Tim Ferriss. This is not a get rich quick book. It is a book that gives you all you need to have an amazing life. And along the way you may get rich. If you just do part of what he says your life will be great. If you attempt all of his recommendations...who knows. He gives you assignments at the end of every chapter to explore your limitations. Thanks Tim for pushing yourself beyond what experts said you couldn't do.

P.S.
Because of Tim's book I started 6 internet websites...3 made me zip and didn't cost me much except some time and a little money(under $100 each). The other 3 are making me a total of $2000 a month profit for the last 6 months. I also drastically reduced the amount of time I work at my other business'. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Reviews

A masterpiece of individualism and the fight for justice., November 25, 2004
Civil Disobedience is one of the most importance works of philosophy ever written. Like all great works of philosophy, it is as relevant today as it has ever been, as it transcends space and time. Don't let the abolitionist nature mislead you: this book is not merely about abolition and slavery. Rather, it is about Man Against the State, individuality, and Thoreau's philosophy of how one man can stand up to government and society, driven by his own convictions of right and wrong, as summarized by the timeless quote "Any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a majority of one already".

Thoreau's main point is that the best - and many times, the only - method for fighting injustice is through passive disobedience. By refusing to cooperate with the machinery of injustice, the individual can become the friction that stops the machine. Active resistance is bound for failure, as the machine (the State, society, etc.) is too formidable for the individual to fight. But, by refusing to cooperate, justice can be achieved and injustice toppled.

If you are looking for a marvelous primer on individuality and the fight for justice, start with this book.

"It is not so desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right."-Henry David Thoreau, February 27, 2009
In "Civil Disobedience" Thoreau presents political theories in which he dissects democracy and the interaction between citizens and their government.
Understandably, Thoreau was deeply concerned about injustices he witnessed during his life, such as enslavement of one sixth of the population and the invasion of Mexico by the United States.
Thoreau does not oppose the institution of government; he believes that when a government becomes "abused and perverted", it ceases to represent the will of the people. When a government makes decisions that promulgate harm and injustice, it is the duty of its citizens to rebel and break those chains of injustices.

Arguably, the strongest idea Thoreau presents, is the notion of individualism. Thoreau encourages skepticism of the government and rejects blind loyalty to it. Thoreau perceives citizens, who give blind loyalty to their government's decisions without questioning them, as participants in every injustice committed by that government. Whether this point of view is correct or not, it is worth debating, especially in view of the horrific injustices that are extant in today's world and the way the masses so easily accept them without considering the negative impact on others.

A testament to American Individualism, December 31, 2009
This is a thoroughly American view on political theory given the emphasis on the individual coupled with the call for civil disobedience. Definitely not for the faint hearted, go into this with a grasp of the events of the day and a willingness to read the entire essay at least twice to fully appreciate Thoreau's points.

Thoreau would be shocked by today's government, August 19, 2010
It seems to be a great truth that the most profound points are made in very short works. This is a very influential work by Thoreau that is the foundation of civil disobedience. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were greatly influenced by this work.

A famous quote from this work is "That government is best which governs least". Today's bloated government would literally drive him mad. I've also read "Walden" and it expresses similar sentiments.

This short pamphlet should be read by everyone. I would personally love to see less government and agree that civil disobedience is a very good way to encourage change. It sounds like politicians back then were similar to what we have today. Some things never change.

These kindle freebies have given me a great and easy way to review several items I have wanted to read for years.

A very good book, January 1, 2002
This was the first Thoreau's book I read, and it inspired me to read some other of his writings. They are all inspirational, above average, writings. Well, about this book, a strong critic to United States government of his time (why not to extend that to ours, since it seems not much has changed...). He takes a position against slavery, as well as the war with Mexico.
I believe this is one of the most well written works fighting for the liberty of expression and against slavery I ever read.

His ideas about an unexistent State are at least discussible, since it seems very difficult to people live without any organizational structure. But, of course, we SHOULD discuss about State's authority, as well its limits...
Thoreau's own natural life was his inspiration, and (as we can see in his texts) he loved nature, and he spent a lot of time of his life around it. He liked freedom, and in this work he depicts his ideas about freedom, and how it should be applied to him, as well as all mankind.

Take back your power, March 19, 2007
Though many statements Thoreau has made seem a little flakey around the edges, when it came to free will and individual choice he had the right idea and the courage to see it through. The importance of centralizing power within oneself is perhaps more important today than ever when unrestrained government in partnership with multinational corporations weild enormous destructive power. A book that has not lost its relevance.

Essential World Masterpiece, April 14, 2010
Henry David Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" - or "Civil Disobedience," as it became known - is an essential part of American literature, culture, and history. Even more remarkably, it is undeniable proof that great literature can have a real effect on the world even long after it is written and ignored. The essay is world famous as the founding text of civil disobedience, i.e., non-violent protest, and its effect on such luminaries as Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King was profound, thus sealing its immortality. This alone makes it essential for all.

However, it is easy to forget that the essay is a masterpiece in itself. Essentially Thoreau's highly individual expression of his mentor Emerson's self-reliance doctrine applied to government, it has a wealth of depth and nuance despite its brevity. The words are few but the implications endless; it has enough food for proverbial thought to last a lifetime. The gist is very clear, but the implications have spoken very differently to many different people. The work's nature - and Thoreau's generally - is such that it and he are championed by everyone from neocons to libertarians to liberals, and the truly notable thing is that all are justified. This underscores the importance of reading the essay for ourselves.

Its main query is "What does the individual owe the state?," the answer being a resounding "Nothing." Thoreau takes the maxim that the government that governs least governs best to its logical conclusion by wishing for one that governs not at all - a brave wish very few have seriously dared to make or even conceive. He makes a highly principled stand for individual rights and autonomy, arguing very persuasively that people should be able to go about their business without interference. This of course sounds very much like current libertarians, and their position has indeed hardly ever been better argued. Many related and implied issues - protests against taxation, conscription, etc. - also seem to support them. However, it is important to remember that the essay's crux and most famous section - Thoreau's account of a night spent in jail for refusing to pay a poll tax because he did not want to support war or slavery - was and is immensely liberal. Few issues can be more central to current liberalism than an anti-war stance, and slavery was the era's great liberal cause. All this must be kept firmly in mind amid the many attempts to reduce Thoreau to a current party platform. He was at once too simple and too complex for this and would not have suffered himself to be thus reduced; nor does the essay justify it.

Integral as all this is, the work's core point is arguably a new self-reliance argument above and beyond immediate practical considerations. Thoreau certainly had a practical, political streak, especially compared to relative idealists like Emerson, but he thought individuality more sacred than anything. He articulated this more fully elsewhere, but it is very present here. His work is thus in many ways the best kind of self-help material - and, unlike the mass of current self-help tripe littering bookshelves, is intellectually and even aesthetically pleasing. Thoreau was the most thoroughly local writer that can be imagined, but his willingness to look deep inside himself for the eternal truths present in all people has made him an inspiration to millions and millions of people from across the political spectrum and indeed the world. This essay is a major part of his legacy and thus one of the very few works that literally everyone should read. Few can be the same afterward, and it will change many lives; it is nothing less than one of the most important documents ever written, and its value simply cannot be exaggerated. It is an excellent primer for those new to Thoreau, and those who have not already done so should open their minds to him immediately - and once done, they will never be closed again.
... Read more

Editorial Review

Updated December 2010!

From the author of the best-selling blog “Free Kindle Books Plus a Few Other Tips” comes this update to your guide to millions of free books online! Rather than limit yourself to the offerings at Amazon, there are literally thousands upon thousands of books, short stories, and more available to you for no charge which you can transfer directly to your Kindle or other eBook reader, download via the Kindle’s WhisperNet service or, for a small fee, email directly to your Kindle.

Everyone enjoys receiving free stuff – the author included. This guide shows you where you can receive several hundred thousand (actually over a million) free books, blogs, short stories, and other content. Theoretically, you will never have to pay another cent for Kindle reading content again. It would cost thousands of dollars to replace most people’s physical books with the same books in electronic format – this guide will show you where to look and find thousands of books so you can read to your heart’s content.

This guide also provides a brief overview of how to transfer books to your Kindle, the various file formats that are compatible with the Kindle, and how to download free books from the Internet and transfer to your Kindle.

The book has the following topics covered in detail for you to enjoy your Kindle experience:

1. Guide Layout
2. Transferring Books to Your Kindle
3. Types of File Extensions
4. How to Download Books to Your Computer
5. Sources for Free Kindle Books
6. Blogs for Your Kindle
... Read more

Reviews

I was impressed with this book, October 10, 2009
I have to admit that i was skeptical in buying this book. I bought it because it was only 99 cents, and expected that I would not get my money's worth out of it. Clearly, I was wrong. I could not believe how many sites for free kindle books were listed. This is a very informative book that helped me enlarge my kindle library.

Awesome Resource for Free Stuff!, December 9, 2009
My sister showed me this book over Thanksgiving on her Kindle, and I studied it for a long time researching the various place to find free Kindle books so I decided to get my own copy. For the price, I think this is worth every penny and then some! It actually seems to point you to well over a million free books if you had the time to read that many in your lifetime. In addition to telling you specifically how to find the free books on the Amazon website, it points you to 20 other places with a description of the content and format of each one. Now that's useful information to me! We're in a recession and I am trying to watch every penny so I need something free!

The book also shows you how to transfer the books to your Kindle, which I imagine is helpful to kindle owners - my sister seems to think so but I can not comment as I am using the PC kindle application (can't afford to shell out the bucks for a Kindle in this economy). Now I may have to try out this guy's blog!

And full files compatibility with Kindle?, December 27, 2009
Just read the e-book in my kindle and found some really great sites, however it bothers me when sites such as:
1) Baen, who has a great fantasy/sf collection claims to have prc files compatible with kndle, and when you transfer to the device it only registers the title and not the author's name (which makes it impossible to order by author)
2) Open Library, which also has a very complete collection, but some of the works from aldous huxley in mobi file had lots of errors showing some bugs in the files made available (even if they are made available for free)
3) World Library and Bookyards, with great titles but only pdf which even if converted by kindle still is difficult to read and appears wrongly catalogued making it impossible to do a good sorting job by author

However it's nice to find some other great sites.

Well worth the investment., January 27, 2010
I paid $2 and I have already downloaded four free books from non Amazon sites. It's simple math. Also gives a tutorial on how to move info to Kindle. Can't go wrong with this one.

Not worth $1.99, September 21, 2010
Granted there are many good resources listed in the book, but nothing you couldn't find via Google. Also some of the sites listed had already changed their URL's. OK. This is not the author's fault, but it does reinforce the fact that Google is better than this book. If you hate using a search engine, then this is the book for you, otherwise just search for free ebooks yourself.

Free Kindle Books..for $1.98??, November 29, 2010
Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them.. revised.

Revised or not, you can get the same info from Amazon by doing a search on Amazon..
Search: Kindle Store ; Free
Then Click on "Free Book Collection"

There's a whole page/pages dedicated to free e-books and other sites that are compatible with Kindle. A whole list of them...

And yes, I find that rather ironic.. a book titled Free Kindle Books and How to Find Them and charging for it. LOL

Anyway, save your money.. just do a search. Amazon provides most of the info.

Great Resource, January 21, 2010
well worth the purchase. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves to read all kinds of books.

Wow, October 14, 2010
This was one of the first Kindle books I got, and wow are there a lot of things out there for free. It also has clear and easy directions even I could understand on how to download things to my computer and then get it over to my Kindle. Now I just need more time to read everything I got now.

Free Kindle Books - how to find them, November 3, 2010
Practical and well detailed. It helps me to find the sources to download e-books on my Kindle.

How to find Kindle Books, January 30, 2010
This was quite helpful with several sources (links) to websites that offer books in digital format. I intend on visiting every site. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Featuring more than 400 pages and over 1500 images, the LOST Encyclopedia will be a comprehensive guide to the characters, items, locations, plotlines, relationships, and mythologies from all six seasons of the landmark series aired on ABC-TV and produced by ABC Studios. Created in full collaboration with ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios, this will be the first and only fully licensed and comprehensive reference to all things LOST, and it includes a foreword by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.



LOST © 2010. ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved. ... Read more

Reviews

Great content; poor editing, October 15, 2010
First, an initial statement of possible sources of bias: I am a professional academic and an unapologetic LOST enthusiast (you may read what you like into that conjunction). I ordered the LOST Encyclopedia on May 4 and received it on October 12 following a delay from its original listed release date of August 24, so I've been anticipating its release for a while.

Second, an executive summary: as a fan of the show, I'm glad to finally have this "encyclopedia" on my bookshelf and think it an excellent resource. Nevertheless, the presentation of the book is somewhat less polished than I would have hoped, leading me to suspect that a second edition may be in the works. Any recommendation that I can give would therefore have to be a guarded one.

Like the show for which it serves as a reference guide, this book must have been a massive undertaking for everyone involved with little guarantee of pleasing everyone in its audience. I can therefore forgive the omission of some items (no entry for the Hybird, or "Hurley bird," for example) and the lack of linked entries (e.g. "The Hatch: see Swan Station," or "Jeremy Bentham: see John Locke").

My objections to the book's editing begin with the character entries, which are generally sorted alphabetically by first name. I have no problem with organizing an encyclopedia in this way, as this is hardly an academic text and there are a variety of minor characters whose last names are unknown; however, the glaring exceptions to this rule--John Locke, whose entry is filed under "L," and James Ford, whose entry is filed under "S" for "Sawyer"--happen to be among the most important entries in the volume. Finding those entries will only take an extra few seconds of the reader's time (especially since, as mentioned above, there are no linking entries), but the organization comes across as sloppy.

Also sloppy are the various textual redundancies. In the "Man in Black" entry, for example, a text blurb entitled "Jacob's Spirit" calls attention to the fact that "The spirit of a young Jacob repeatedly appeared to the Man in Black while he was acting out his end game as Locke..." One page later, immediately facing that blurb, is another blurb entitled "Haunting Reminders" which calls attention to the very same fact using the very same text, the only difference being in the capitalization of a single word. Similarly, the entry for Magnus Hanso ends with a three-sentence paragraph: the first sentence states that "Hanso's death remained a mystery to the outside world [until] DHARMA Initiative member Stuart Radzinsky documented Hanso's final resting place on the Blast Wall Map"; the second sentence states that "Details of Hanso's death remained a mystery to the outside world"; the third sentence states that (you guessed it) "DHARMA Initiative member Stuart Radzinsky documented Hanso's final resting place on the blast wall map." Again, this book constitutes a relatively massive undertaking and it's understandable that various typos would slip through (and there are a number of those), but given the two-month delay in the book's release I would have expected the editors to catch these obvious artifacts of the rewriting process.

I had initially speculated that the publication delay was a function of the writers' need to rewrite some entries in light of the final episode's controversial revelations regarding the "flash-sideways universe." That was apparently incorrect, as the only reference to the flash-sideways (that I've found, at least) comes at the tail end of Juliet's entry. Instead, all information about that "universe" is relegated to a few text-light and picture-heavy character entries that follow the encyclopedia's index. The entries seem arbitrarily organized (in order: Desmond, Hurley, Ben, Sun, Jin, Sayid, Kate, Claire, Locke, and Jack) and utterly disconnected from the rest of the encyclopedia. To the writers' credit, they call attention to some quotes from the final episode that should help confused viewers figure out where the flash-sideways universe fits into the overall story structure; however, one is left with the impression that someone involved with the book's production was embarrassed by the reception of the final episode and wanted to minimize its influence on the rest of the text. I would certainly hope that delaying publication gave the writers and editors adequate time to integrate this information--if they had wanted to do so. For better or for worse, this storyline is as much a part of LOST canon as anything else and it should have been treated as such.

Finally, there are several minor factual errors in the text--particularly with respect to the descriptions of the philosophers referenced by the show--but those are more nits to be picked than they are problems affecting the book's presentation. Nevertheless, it's an editor's job to pick those nits before publication.

Again, I'm glad to own the LOST encyclopedia and will readily admit that fans of the show (be they dedicated or casual ones) won't be able to find a better reference. The content is top-notch, covering both breadth and depth, as detailed in other reviews. If asked whether or not I would recommend that someone else spend $25 on it (much less the $45 cover price), however, I would only be able to answer that anyone considering doing so should take into account the very real possibility that an updated and cleaned-up new edition may be forthcoming. Of course, I also can't guarantee that any such edition will actually see the light of day. As such, I have no regrets on my part, but less risk-averse fans might think otherwise.

A good, if not definitive resource with some noticeable flaws, October 19, 2010
The LOST Encyclopedia will not bring a bevy of new insights or craved "answers" for fans of the show, but it is a solid catalog of facts and histories from the show's vast mythology. I wouldn't call it comprehensive, but it's an enjoyably casual reference for fans of the show.

The biggest negative trait of the book is the sloppy editing. Despite being delayed multiple times before its release, the articles still contain numerous typographical errors (I'd estimate one every couple of pages on average), far more than should be acceptable for a professionally published work like this. There are even entries that are OUT OF ALPHABETICAL ORDER: under "D," there are three entries ordered "Donovan," "Dogen" and "Doctors." I know it's something most people won't lose a lot of sleep over, but as an English major I found them impossible to ignore and quite distracting from the flow of the book.

More important and germane to the nature of the LOST Encyclopedia, there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to the emphasis placed on some elements of the show in contrast to others. For example, on the same two-page spread, Eddie Colburn, a minor character featured in ONE flashback episode, is given as much attention as Edward Mars, a character who appeared in multiple flashbacks and on the Island. Another example: there's a massive two-page entry dedicated to the RECORD PLAYER in the Swan station. The same amount of space is given to the blast door map, one of the pivotal set pieces of the series. If I had to guess, I'd say that such decisions were made to make the articles fit into neat two-page layouts, with the visual presentation emphasized over the relevance of information.

As mentioned in a previous review, the alphabetization of the entries is slapdash. If you want to actually look up an obscure element of the show rather than just casually browse the book, you may find yourself taking several guesses on what your query may be titled before you find it. For example, if you want to look up the glowing river alternatively called "The Source" or "The Heart of the Island," you won't find it listed under either of those two names. Instead, it is mentioned in a brief paragraph in the massive entry "The Island," as well as intermittently in other entries. Other aspects of the show that this fan thinks should have entries but do not, based on their importance in the show, include the Whispers, Time Travel, and the Donkey Wheel.

Now, to the positive. Given the existence of the much more comprehensive fan wiki "Lostpedia," the biggest appeal of The LOST Encyclopedia is not the depth or organization of its entries. Instead, it is the hundreds and hundreds of visual aids that accompany the entries, along with photos of LOST props and locales sprinkled liberally throughout the book. All of the entries on the major Dharma stations feature original diagrams. There are hundreds of close-ups of key props, such as Faraday's journal and maps used by the characters, as well as more obscure pieces like Drive Shaft promotional posters and the contents of Kate's time capsule. Most fans have never had an opportunity to see such components of LOST lore this clearly and up close.

The encyclopedia also features a number of ancillary elements that exist outside of the show, thus establishing them as canon while also exposing them to fans who may not have seen them before. The entry for Alvar Hanso contains information about Thomas Mittlewerk and Rachel Blake, characters featured only in the LOST Alternate Reality Game "The LOST Experience." The article on the Purge includes a copy of the truce between the Others and the Dharma Initiative, previously available only to those who bought the special edition of the Season Five box set. There are even translations of many of the hieroglyphics featured on sets and props from the show, engravings that would be impossible to discern from screencaps.

Ironically, the unofficial Lostpedia easily remains the definitive source of information on LOST even after the release of this book. Really, The LOST Encyclopedia functions best as a kind of coffee table attraction, a tome to peruse for the sake of curiosity as opposed to a serious study of the show's mythology. While its numerous textual errors give some entries an unpolished feel, from a strictly visual perspective the book is stunning. It's not easy to produce as many new images from a show as heavily scrutinized as LOST, but the material unique to the book, as well as the conversational tone best suited to enjoyable casual reading, make it worth the buy.

No buts-this book is canon, October 12, 2010
I still highly recommend this book to anyone who loved Lost. If you want a gift for your favorite Lost fanatic, this is the only book you should consider buying. That is because this is the only book written with the help of the Lost producers. It is fact-canon. Other books may theorize what happened in the Lost world but this is the only book that tells you what did happen.

"No great depth" said the previous review! I was amazed at all the depth and details. Just a few examples: Jacob appreciated Widmore's loyalty and allowed him to rise to leadership with Eloise. Jacob had Alpert strip Widmore of his position and banish him. Danielle arrived on the island after the Purge. Ben planned to fool Juliet into releasing the gas from the Tempest killing herself, the 815 survivors and the freighter crew. Plus it confirms things we suspected like Widmore being the one to execute the Purge of the Dharma Initiative via gas from the Tempest and the one who told his goons to slaughter the Ajira 316 survivors.

There is very little on the flash-forwards. The 14 or so pages (text is limited to brief recaps) are tacked on the end of the book after the index like an afterthought. Given this is an encyclopedia there isn't much for the writers to say about them anyway but the placement is very odd.

Know what else is odd? Apparently the editors didn't show up for work! I found too many instances of misplaced and repeated text including this gem in a series of bullets about Shannon; "Loudly whined about Marshal Mars dying too callously." LOL! It is sooo annoying when someone dies callously! That probably should have been "Callously whined about Marshal Mars dying too loudly."

I also found overall that the text lacked clarity. Many paragraphs were poorly worded and clumsy. In places grammatical errors left the text unnecessarily ambiguous. It's obvious that neither the publisher nor the writers were up to the task of producing this book properly which is sad. Or perhaps the producers are at fault for not choosing writers who could produce clean text under a tight deadline.

I'm still giving it five stars because the book looks great (all 400 pages), it contains a mountain of information that is all canon (which no other Lost book can claim) and it is relatively cheap for all it contains. For all its faults, it still makes the best gift you can buy for any kind of Lost fan from the causal fan all the way up to the Lost fanatic.

Coffee Table Book, NOT Encyclopedia, November 27, 2010
First off, let me explain that this is a coffee table book, plain and simple. It is hardly encyclopedic and exhaustive like I had expected. Every page is crammed full of large photos and the text is squeezed in the left over space as an afterthought. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with pictures, but why do they have to dominate the entire thing? I wanted an encyclopedia with lots of information and painfully detailed entries. Instead, they delivered an excersize in photoshop. When I actually saw this thing, I was really surprised how tall and thin it was. I was expecting something squat and fat, more along the lines of a dictionary. The proportions further emphasize the coffe-table-bookedness of this thing.

If you already own this book and enjoy it, then I do not mean to take away from your enjoyment. I simply would like to warn those who haven't purchased this and who are on the edge to NOT buy it. At the very least, go to Barnes and Noble (like I did) and check it out first. If it's what you want and you are pleased, then I am happy for you. But I will be sticking with my guides by Nikki Stafford, which I can't say enough about. I really hope some day someone will come along and give us the thousand-page treatment this material deserves.

Overall nice, if not a complete presentattion, November 20, 2010
Now I will readily admit that I do not actually own the book yet (I'm planning on ordering it ASAP), but I have read some of it at local bookstores and so far I do think it will be worth the purchase, and a nice complementary book to the LOST series. I did notice that some entries were oddly ordered, and although I haven't read much, I did notice an error in Alex's entry -- in reference to the episode "Stranger in a Strange Land" from season three, it stated that Alex opened the door of Jack's cell in the Hydra station so that he could stop Juliet's trial, which was not true -- in the episode "I Do," she unlocked Jack's cell door in the Hydra station which led to him seeing Kate and Sawyer on the monitor, but in the episode about Juliet's trial, Alex actually broke Jack out of one of the cages OUTSIDE of the Hydra station, when Jack asked to see Ben (so that he could save Juliet). I know this may be a minor mistake, and I may not have a right to gripe since I don't actually own this book yet, but as a rabid LOST/Jack fan, mistakes like that rub at me the wrong way. I also don't understand why some minor characters (like the undercover cop in one of Locke's flash back episodes), had a picture in his entry, but other characters (like Ben's childhood sweetheart, Annie) did not. Was it a space issue, or could they not get permission to use them? It was more likely the first, but still, that doesn't seem right to me. Especially since this is an offical encyclopedia.

Also, I wish that the book had a section devoted to the Flash-sideways - not like the one in the back of the book, but a special one that explains characters only in that world (i.e, Sayid's brother, and David Shephard), and the events that took place. I wasn't expecting answers to be explained that weren't in the show (Lindelof and Cuse are determined to be cagey about those), but a whole season was devoted to the Flash-sideways, and although those stories may have confused/pissed off people, I liked the majority of them, and would've liked them included. To have them omitted feels to me like they weren't a part of LOST - like the writers had "buyer's remorse" a little too late. But it WAS LOST, and they should be in the book! It makes me sad that they weren't.

And to the reviewer who mentioned the ordering of the characters listed in the Flashsideways - I think it begins with Desmond and ends with Jack because they were the two most important people in the FS. At least, that's what I think...?

Overall, though, I will gladly get this book in a few weeks if I can. It's a nice looking book, and the LOSTIE in me demands it. =)

Great book, but with painful grammatical and other editing errors, October 19, 2010
This is a great book for any die-hard LOST fan. It includes a number of details and clarifications that have not been offered anyplace else, which makes it indispensable. At the same time, many valuable features that one can find on Lostpedia.com (unofficial Lost encyclopedia online) are missing. Things like full lists of episode titles and summaries of each season, and, especially, timelines, character and mystery statuses. The book is also missing an index, which is quite odd for a publication of this nature, and makes it impossible to cross reference. This would lead me to believe there was not enough room to include all these features, which makes it somewhat curious that Sawyer's reading list, for example, is including twice in the book. Indeed, a number of facts and pictures are duplicated, while others are left out entirely.

My biggest complaint though is the number of grammatical errors. Someone who wrote or edited the book has a lot of trouble identifying the subject of a sentence. For instance, one sentence reads "Before his father went on the Kahana mission, Michael tried to make contact with Walt." What this sentence means is that Michael's father went on the Kahana mission, but this is incorrect--it was Walt's father, Michael, who went on the mission. This type of incongruent-subject error is very frequent in the book. I've only read about 1/10 of it so far and have found similar mistakes five times already, as well as a number of typos.

Most books have some mistakes, partly because our eyes tend to see what we know to be correct, so even astute editors miss some of these things. But there's a reasonable limit on just how many mistakes there should be, especially when this book is published by DK, known for its reference and educational books.

I'm glad I bought the book now, but I'm also hoping for a second, improved edition, at which time I'll sell the current one on Ebay and cut my losses.

Fantastic Informative Book for the LOST fanatic, October 15, 2010
I just received my copy of the LOST Encyclopedia last night and while I have only read about 20 entries so far, in no particular order, I can tell I will be very pleased with this purchase. From what I've read so far I am very happy with some of the information I have got from it. It seems there is an entry for every single character that ever had a speaking role on LOST, whether it was a main character or someone who just appeared on the show once and said only 3 words. Almost every location has a detailed entry as well. Another great aspect of the book is that it seems to tie up some small loose ends on the show. While you aren't getting answers for all major mysteries I have noticed loose ends such as why Libby was in the mental institution and if she recognized Hurley was answered to my surprise. I'm excited to read more of the book and I believe it's a must have for any serious LOST fan.

Overall pleased, October 20, 2010
As a fanatic of the show who followed all things CANON, I enjoyed the book overall. It's a great overall resource if you want to look something quick for reference. Whenever I thought something was omitted, it would pop up as information under a different entry.

There are some small errors here and there. But I think they can be taken with a "grain of salt."

Overall it's a great resource for the show. It doesn't offer "answers", but I felt the clarifications on things can be considered as new information. Such as how Ethan joined the others, that Widmore ordered the purge an JAcob suggested to Richard that he be removed from power, etc. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Everyone's life is governed by an internal code of conduct. Some call it morality. Others call it religion. But Bros in the know call this holy grail the Bro Code.

Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom. ... Read more

Reviews

Priceless humor for any fan of the show, November 10, 2008
This book isn't some quick, half-hearted cash-in for How I Met Your Mother Fans, it's basically Barney Stinson in paperback form. The Bro Code is hilarious. If you're a fan of the show you'll likely hear Neil Patrick Harris' voice in your head as you read the book cover-to-cover. With diagrams, footnotes, and over 150 "codes" written by the show's writers, this is a can't miss book.

enjoyable, but not as funny as I expected, July 28, 2009
Listening to the audiobook is definitely the best way to read this. Barney Stinson himself narrates. It was a good way to pass the time, and the accompanying pdf file is pretty funny, but I wouldn't go out of my way to read this unless you're a huge huge fan of How I Met Your Mother and Neil Patrick Harris.

Great Quick Read, October 11, 2010
If you watch How I Met Your Mother, this book will make the show much more emjoyable. Great Quick read, funny, sometimes real.

Eh, June 27, 2010
I was expecting something more. The book is basically just like Barney makes it sound in the series. It's a list of rules, most of which are mildly humerous/somewhat entertaining. Something good for reading on a train but hardly worth buying in my opinion.

Legen.......i hope you're not lactose intolerant because the next part is.....dary!!!!!, May 28, 2009
This book embodies what it means to be a bro, how to act like a bro, and even proper punishment for violation of bro code. Besides countless laughs this book does in fact set a good standard for bro's to follow

Penetrating Parody, March 25, 2009
The premise: we are all presided over by innate rules of conduct and behavior - some call it morality - but Bros in the know call it the Bro Code. This side-splitting prize comes fully loaded with penetrating parody. Although a quick read, "The Bro Code" is suitably weighted with entertaining one-liners. Men, keep this awesome book on your coffee table, or your desk. Women, buy this book for a peak into the psyche of a Bro in the know. This effortless and gratifying book makes a great gift.

-D.E. Boone,
Creator of LEGS TALK: A MODERN GIRL'S DATING GAME

It's Gonna Be Lengendary!, January 26, 2009
The Bro Code, as an audio book, is a brilliant thing, indeed. The writing itself is clever and very HIMYM, or--to be more specific--very Barney. Not only does Matt Kuhn (er, Barney) supply readers with ample material to laugh at and enjoy, he also rewards loyal fans with references to things that have occurred throughout the series' colorful seasons. Furthermore, he had me picturing the characters in an array of hilarious new situations that could arise from the ideas presented in The Code. I read the book first and the narration by Neil Patrick Harris makes the many articles of The Code jump off the page. He manages to bring Barney's personality very convincingly to life through voice alone. I would recommend this audio book to all who are fans of the show or simply wish to have a good laugh.

Wait for it....Awsome, January 1, 2009
This book is a quick but funny read. I finished it in one sitting, but I swear I as I read the book I could hear the spoken word of Barney from How I Met Your Mother. The lessons are meant as a joke, but in reality most college guys do live by these rules.

This is a must have for any fan of the show How I Met Your Mother.

laugh out loud funny!, December 20, 2008
If you are a fan of the show How I met Your Mother, then you are a fan of Barney. And if your a fan of barney then you will love this book! It is a quick read and laugh out loud funny! I am constantly reopening it to figure out what bro code was just broken!

The Bro Code Reviewed, May 11, 2009
The Bro Code is a light hearted read... very simple and strongly related to the "How I met your Mother" TV show character Barney Stinson.
The quality of the book Amazon sent me was very poor... the pages look like they had been photo copied with a lot of black smudges... I would recommend buying this book in a book store where you can see what you are getting. I didn't complain about the quality as it was ledgible and a quick read... ... Read more

Editorial Review

Since the dawn of history man has searched for the answer to the most fundamental of questions: “Why am I here . . . not banging chicks?” The search is over. Now, with the help of The Playbook, you’ll be able to approach any beautiful woman, discover her innermost passion, and use that to trick her into sleeping with you. You’ll master more than 75 seduction techniques, developed by pickup guru and all-around good guy Barney Stinson, guaranteed to turn you into a bona fide ladies’ man. ... Read more

Reviews

Suit Up!, October 7, 2010
This is a hilarious read, another gem from the 'How I Met Your Mother' series. The "plays" Barney Stinson uses to pick up women would not work on a girl with half a brain in real life, but nevertheless, it's fun to think about trying to pull off some of these moves on girls. You take it for what it is-- a great extension of a great episode of the show. The ones featured on the show are there: "The Mrs. Stinsfire", "The My Penis Grants Wishes", "The Cheap Trick", "The Scuba Diver", "The He's Not Coming", "The Snasa", "The Don't Drink That!", "The Ted Mosby", "The Scuba Diver", and among others, my personal favorite, "The Lorenzo Von Matterhorn."

There are exactly 76 plays broken down into sections from the basic to the advanced. Each play has its own fact sheet. You're given a success rate, what type of woman the play attracts, the requirements to perform the play, the prep time, and the "bummers", which is a way of saying "but here's the catch."
From there, the play is broken down into steps. The rest is self-explanatory.
I won't explain any of the new plays in detail, but I'll give you a couple play names so as to build a little intrigue:
- "The Little Orphan Barney"
- "The Ghost"
- "The Mannequin"
- "The Confused Inheritor"
- "The Ballet Defector"
- "The Vampire"
- "The I Can Land This Plane"
- "The Trojan Lesbian"
- "The Ghost Of Christmas Future"

It carries much of the same type of humor as 'The Bro Code.' It follows common stereotype assumptions of men and women, leaves little remarks, anecdotes and/or tips at the end of some plays (and in between) and extensively uses sarcasm to make very obvious points. If you're a fan of 'The Bro Code', I highly recommend picking this up. It's creative and smart and I doubt would be offensive or repulsive in any way to anyone. As a matter of fact, I think it appeals just as much to women as it does men, especially those women who have been the target of some ridiculous pick-up scheme (I'm guessing that's somewhere in the range of most to all). After all, they're the "victims" in this, so to speak. Might as well make light of it.

Like the show, 'The Playbook' is well thought out, well executed, and well... just plain quirky. Hopefully it wins your praise as well.

Note: The episode this book is based on is called 'The Playbook.' It's episode 8 of Season 5 and the 96th of the series.

Grade: A+

Bro! Suit up!!, October 27, 2010
How could you not love this stuff. Too funny. The HIMYM writers are great. Love the show. Love the books. Barney is great. Ted is a tool. See if you can find this at like half price books or something. I know it's really cheap already but still... It's such a fast funny read you can easily read the entire thing in the bathroom in one morning. Borrow it from a Bro.

Do Not Try This At Home, October 24, 2010
This is basically a spoof version of pickup artists' routines manuals such as The Art of the Approach and Rules of the Game, and as such should be considered more of a companion piece to the show than an actual how-to guide because it demonstrates the absurd lengths Barney will go to for his next conquest. While I'm certain you can pull off The Fireman in the real world because I've been mistaken for one at least twice just by wearing a Boston Fire duty T-shirt I got online, there's no way you're going to find a girl so stupid that she'll fall for The Olympian's lock-in prop of an aluminum foil-wrapped oatmeal raisin cookie posing as an Olympic silver medal. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The World Almanac® and Book of Facts is America s top-selling reference book of all time, with more than 80 million copies sold. Published annually since 1868, this compendium of information is the authoritative source for all your entertainment, reference, and learning needs. Praised as a treasure trove of political, economic, scientific and educational statistics and information by the Wall Street Journal, The World Almanac® contains thousands of facts that are unavailable publicly elsewhere in fact, it has been featured as a category on Jeopardy! and is routinely used as a go-to, all-encompassing guide for aspiring game show contestants. The 2011 edition of The World Almanac® and Book of Facts will answer all of your trivia questions from history and sports to geography, pop culture, and much more.

Key Features:

• 2010 Time Capsule


• 2010 Olympic Games


• 2010 Midterm Election Results


• U.S. Colleges and Universities


• Population Statistics for Cities over 10,000 People


• The World at a Glance


• Offbeat News Stories


• World Series Results


• Year in Pictures.

Reviews

An annual treat, December 5, 2010
Each year, I look forward to the publication of this cornucopia of facts, factoids, and statistics. This year's annual publication meets my normal expectations.

Just looking at the table of contents gives a sense of the scope of the 2011 volume. Special features and the year in review open the volume (e.g., Top Ten News Topics, Health Care Reform, Notable Quotes, and Historical anniversaries). The year in pictures is another feature, with a series of color photos commemorating events and people from 2010.

Then, the substantive material, with categories such as: Economy, business, and energy; Crime; Military affairs; Health and vital statistics; science and technology; consumer information; US facts and history; World maps and flags; US government; US Cities, states, and population; World history and culture; Sports. The volume concludes with a detailed index.

What of statistics? I'll simply report what pops up on a few pages that I select at random. On page 203, there is a listing of philosophers and religious figures from history (e.g., John Cotton, Karl Jaspers, Johann Fichte). Page 351 features information on small Solar System bodies, such as asteroids and comets; Page 453 summarizes important historical events in American History from 1936 (Jesse Owens winning four gold medals) to 1946 (a steel strike); Page 529 focuses on election results in the 2004 and 2008 presidential elections county-by-county in Georgia. Page 591 contains basic descriptive information on two American states--North Carolina and North Dakota. Page 749 has a more global coverage--with basic data about Armenia and Australia.

There are also rich data from the world of sports. Page 875, for instance, presents a discussion of Special Olympics and then records in outdoor track and field competition. The reader is reminded that Usain Bolt holds records in the 100 and 200 meter races; Hicham El Guerrouj has records in the 1500 meters, mile run, and 2000 meter run. Page 895? Super Bowl results (as a Chicago Bears' fan, it's nice to look at the results of Super Bowl XX!). Page 921? Major league leaders in runs batted in per year from 1907 through 1990.

So, once more, a cool resource and great fun!

Everyone's Perfect Reference Book, December 18, 2010
There are few reference books that everyone needs--but this book is the exception because everyone can use this book. Whether you are preparing for another great round of Trivial Pursuit or just wanting to know some unusual facts, THE WORLD ALMANAC 2011 is something you want to have on your book shelf.

Not everyone lives online or on their latest Smartphone device. Get this book for easy access to facts on the world. For example, in ranking of population, what is the fifth largest city in the U.S.A.? I suspect many people will instantly get the first, second and third city correct but number five? It's near where I live: Phoenix, Arizona.

I recommend this reference book.

a great book full of loads on information, December 17, 2010
i have bought these books every year since i can remember, they are full of information that you would not find elsewhere. and they continue to update it every year.

not based on the most recent USA census data, November 22, 2010
an almanac NOT taking into account the 2010 USA census data
should NOT be entitled "World Almanac and Book of Facts 2011" ... Read more

Editorial Review

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association" is the style manual of choice for writers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences. It provides invaluable guidance on all aspects of the writing process, from the ethics of authorship to the word choice that best reduces bias in language. Well-known for its authoritative and easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, and tone that will result in strong, simple, and elegant scientific communication. The sixth edition offers new and expanded instruction on publication ethics, statistics, journal article reporting standards, electronic reference formats, and the construction of tables and figures. The sixth edition has been revised and updated to include: new ethics guidance on such topics as determining authorship and terms of collaboration, duplicate publication, plagiarism and self-plagiarism, disguising of participants, validity of instrumentation, and making data available to others for verification; new journal article reporting standards to help readers report empirical research with clarity and precision; simplified APA heading style to make it more conducive to electronic publication; updated guidelines for reducing bias in language to reflect current practices and preferences, including a new section on presenting historical language that is inappropriate by present standards; new guidelines for reporting inferential statistics and a significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations; and, new instruction on using supplemental files containing lengthy data sets and other media. This book includes significantly expanded content on the electronic presentation of data to help readers understand the purpose of each kind of display and choose the best match for communicating the results of the investigation, with new examples for a variety of data displays, including electro physiological and biological data. It offers consolidated information on all aspects of reference citations, with an expanded discussion of electronic sources emphasizing the role of the digital object identifier (DOI) as a reliable way to locate information. It features expanded discussion of the publication process, including the function and process of peer review. It contains a discussion of ethical, legal, and policy requirements in publication; and guidelines on working with the publisher while the article is in press. Key to this edition of the Publication Manual is an updated and expanded Web presence. Look up additional supplemental material keyed to this book. This book lets you test your knowledge of APA Style with a free tutorial on style basics. It lets you learn about the changes in the sixth edition with a free tutorial reviewing key revisions. Sign up for an on-line course to enrich and enhance your understanding of APA Style. Read the APA Style blog and share your comments on writing and referencing. Consult frequently asked questions to sharpen your understanding of APA Style. This title lets you examine additional resources on such topics as ethics, statistics, and writing. It lets you familiarize yourself with submission standards for APA books and journals. ... Read more

Reviews

BEWARE! Many pages of corrections have been issued!, October 7, 2009
I just received my copy. As a psychology professor, this text is required for my bookshelf--the same is true for students in this field. However, I was upset to learn that APA has already issued 7 typewritten pages of corrections to this manual, and they will not exchange the first printing for a newer print. This is a resource that you will use for years! Wait to purchase until the kinks have been ironed out and they are on a second or third printing of the manual! I am also disappointed that they do not clearly delineate the changes from the 5th edition. It looks to me that there are few important changes (2 spaces between sentences, etc.). Save your money for at least a few more months!

Greatly Disappointed, October 14, 2009
I was very irritated to find that many errors existed in the 6th edition. I also contacted APA regarding the errors. They are not going to exchange the book for a corrected edition. They made several lame excuses for the errors and for not replacing it. My second email to APA pointedly expressed my displeasure with their stance - copied below...

To have grammar and writing errors in a book about grammar and writing is shameful. How much does your organization really care about the reputation it is presenting? Do you have editors reviewing your works before publication? Are your editors paying attention to their work? If you cannot hold yourself to the standards you have set out in your own publication, then your publications should not exist!


If you need this book, demand a corrected reprinting! If you are a university, you also demand a corrected reprint. This organization should not set standards they are not going to comply with. I give them an "F"

Do Not Buy, Join the Boycott!, October 20, 2009
Do not buy the first printing of the APA manual, 6th edition under any circumstances. There are errors on eighty (80) of its pages. How outrageous for a manual on writing style! As of 10/20/09, APA refuses to exchange their error full copies with corrected second printings. Despite the fact that the list of errors goes on for 7 pages, the Editorial Director of APA books stated "there are no errors that impede using the manual with full confidence." Many of the errors are in the sample papers -- a part of the manual so many of us use as an important reference. The abuse of power that APA is wielding over students required to purchase this book for classes, along with graduate students and professors who must write in this style for journals is alarming. APA goes on to state that with its 80 pages of errors in this edition that "it is within my control, as a true expert who has been intimately involved with each stage of this project, to verify for you without hesitation that the first printing is correct, accurate, and fully functional." As a Professor, when I grade papers, I say to my students that 3 APA errors will get them docked 1/2 a letter grade. If I were to grade this APA manual, it would not only get an F, there aren't enough letters in the alphabet to go low enough for the number of errors it contains. Meanwhile, APA is happy to take everyone's money for the book they know we all have to purchase in so many fields of study.

A formal boycott of this edition is underway on Facebook until APA agrees to replace the copies of the first edition that people are now stuck with. Please join us [...]

All is well, January 10, 2010
Given all the emotional responses around the mistakes in the new edition, I was worried about ordering my copy. However, it just arrived, and as promised, it's the corrected version (the second printing) of the 6th edition. The changes to the style included in the manual are an improvement, particularly in the way electronic resources are cited. Additionally, the organization of this edition is better. Overall, I'm pleased.

Unhelpful Guide about an Unenlightening Style, May 6, 2004
Like some of the other reviewers, I am in a program of advanced study in which APA is the "accepted" style of citation for scholarly research. As we can see, APA is an absolutely dreadful citation style, especially with its prohibition of footnotes, leading to incomprehensible paragraphs in which your prose is murdered by names and dates in parentheses. The lack of required page numbers in your citations also allows you, if you're so inclined, to transform your references into all sorts of unsupported speculation and conjecture, and no reader will be able to prove or disprove what you're saying. I realize that arguing about the merits of APA style is not the same as reviewing the merits of this book. But the weaknesses in the core citation style are so prevalent that it would be impossible to create a book of this nature with any sort of usefulness.

Now let's get to the trouble with this particular book. First, it is unnecessarily humungous, trying to beef up the very thin body of APA citation requirements (which by the way can be found for free all over the internet) with hugely unenlightening chapters on basic writing style and methods. Infinitely better guides on how to actually write and conduct research can be easily found elsewhere. Even when you do want to find instructions on the core requirements of APA citation style, this is an annoyingly difficult task in this atrociously organized and indexed book. A thin and under-compiled index sends you to hard-to-find section numbers rather than page numbers. And finally there is the practice of this book's publishers to promote a "new edition" which is merely the same as before with a couple of new entries, sold with a new cover and of course a new full price. In case you're wondering, about the only new information in this edition concerns how to reference websites and online publications. Once again, this info can be found for free on the internet, while you could also spend a pittance on a used copy of the supposedly "outdated" previous edition.

This book gets two stars because it is nominally useful (at least in theory) if you're stuck with it. But if you find yourself required to use the talent-crushing APA style in your attempts to write something of importance, first try to convince your mentors that APA is inherently anti-intellectual. Then find a way to get out of any requirements to buy this unhelpful book, and find the information on the internet instead. [~doomsdayer520~]

5th Edition APA Publication Manual, October 17, 2002
Even though there are only a few changes to the 5th edition, I would recommend getting it. It is too confusing to use an older edition especially if you are pressed for time or have never used this type of manual before.

Also I recommend marking your book with tabs such as in the "Reference Citations in Text" section or the "Reference List" chapter. Marking the book with tabs helped me find my way to the information that I needed over and over again. I've tended to use the same type of references throughout my graduate courses.

Small changes, big headaches, October 14, 2001
As an ABD-PhD candidate who's required to use APA format (and halfway through a dissertation using APA 4th edition), the small changes in this latest edition do little to add clarity and readability to a manuscript, but much to frustrate: Underlining references has been replaced with italics; after utilizing first-line indents in a Reference list (easier for a word processor) we've now gone back to second-line hanging indents; and none of these changes are clearly discussed in a "Revisions in the 5th Edition" chapter, you need to find them on your own in each chapter. I appreciate the updated guide for citing electronic resources, but the remainder seems to be aimed at "buy yet-another version" rather than major improvements and substantive changes. Maddening! If you're required to use it, you're stuck. Otherwise, keep the old 4th edition.

Very Difficult, But Necessary, September 16, 2003
Out of all the stylebooks I have had occasion to use as a professional editor, I have found this one to be the most difficult to follow and understand--the most difficult to master.

I am not a psychologist, but I am a professional medical editor, and I feel sorry for those who must follow this style when writing theses, articles, book chapters, and other items for publication. In addition, I find some of the APA's requirements (particularly in the references, which have their own unique style quite unlike most others) incomprehensible.

That having been said, this book is a must for those who want to be published by the APA, and those who are editing for same. Once it has been read many times, and key passages put to memory, it is not as hard to understand--but it shouldn't be so hard. The section on figures and tables, however, is a truly excellent primer, for any professional writer, not just those in the health care professions.

My grade: C plus.

Much better than previous editions..., August 18, 2009
Easier to read with a lot less pages. The 6th edition is a mere 272 pages vs. a whopping 439 pages in the 5th edition. This improves its portability and lap-use. ( I never could understand why a book that insists on 1 inch margins all around used 1.5 inch margin on the outer margins and left so much wasted unused space on the pages).

Material has been streamlined to reflect more of the electronic resources currently being used and the more obscure material has been consolidated. The newly added chapters on ethics, the publication process and journal article reporting standards are quite helpful. Some reviewers complained about the elimination of the chapters on writing for publication. Since each journal has it's own specific criteria for manuscript submission, I don't consider this a huge loss. Still has lots of sample for various references (and even includes video blog sources like you-tube) and information on how to display data results (Including radiologic and imaging data like MRI images)

So glad I bought the newest version, especially since it's currently half the price of the old version and a lot more user friendly and up to date. If you required to use the APA style, I strongly suggest buying this book.

Here we go again!, February 18, 2002
Here we go again... more minor changes to APA style! The hanging indent is back, we don't have to type long lists of author names anymore, and we can now use parentheses (woo-hoo!).

If you need to prepare manuscripts in APA style and don't have a previous edition of the manual, then you need this book. Though it remains relatively user-unfriendly, it is nonetheless the bible of manuscript preparation.

If you already have the fourth edition... determine how many of the changes in the fifth edition apply to your work. If you mostly write "plain vanilla" research reports and your reference lists mostly consist of ordinary journal articles, you may be able to get by with some handwritten notes in the margins of your old book. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The definitive guide on how to prepare for any crisis--from global financial collapse to a pandemic

It would only take one unthinkable event to disrupt our way of life. If there is a terrorist attack, a global pandemic, or sharp currency devaluation--you may be forced to fend for yourself in ways you've never imagined. Where would you get water? How would you communicate with relatives who live in other states? What would you use for fuel?

Survivalist expert James Wesley, Rawles, author of Patriots and editor of SurvivalBlog.com, shares the essential tools and skills you will need for you family to survive, including:

Water:Filtration, transport, storage, and treatment options.
Food Storage: How much to store, pack-it-yourself methods, storage space and rotation, countering vermin.
Fuel and Home Power: Home heating fuels, fuel storage safety, backup generators.
Garden, Orchard Trees, and Small Livestock: Gardening basics, non-hybrid seeds, greenhouses; choosing the right livestock.
Medical Supplies and Training: Building a first aid kit, minor surgery, chronic health issues.
Communications: Following international news, staying in touch with loved ones.
Home Security: Your panic room, self-defense training and tools.
When to Get Outta Dodge: Vehicle selection, kit packing lists, routes and planning.
Investing and Barter:Tangibles investing, building your barter stockpile. And much more.

How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It is a must-have for every well-prepared family.

... Read more

Reviews

Not bad, but misses the boat, October 6, 2009
Rawles is a great non-fiction writer, and this is a well written book. However, it has some major faults:

- The book is for hard core survivalists only. It assumes complete and absolute break down of civilization. It does not deal with "simpler" short-term emergencies (tornado, fire, flood) that you can ride out living in your normal urban or suburban environment. The book is practically all about establishing a well-stocked remote rural retreat, which you defend tooth-and-nail against looters and invaders, while keeping the curtains down not to let them see your window lights.

- Rawles preaches to the choir, not to the uninitiated. If you are not familiar with the survivalist vernacular and have not read similar books / blogs, you will find this book a little jarring and over your head. In fact, Rawles often cross-references his fiction novel Patriots as supplementary guide. Speaking of preaching to the choir: all these five stars reviews which are highly rated as helpful - feel free to ignore the ones written before October 2. Given that this book started shipping on the last day of September and is not available for Kindle, there is simply no way people could have received and read the book before Friday October 2. Rawles is known for encouraging his blog readers to all buy the book on the same day to create a "bestseller" effect on Amazon, and this carries over to the reviews. So beware.

- Book is way too tiny and short for much useful learning. In fact, each chapter is basically a thoughtful intro followed by a list of items to get, with some quick facts (e.g. how long honey or wheat can be stored, where to buy the containers, etc). There is barely any attempt to teach survival attitude and skills - those are farmed out to other books or training courses. To the author's credit, he has plenty of great pointers to other books and courses. However, you are much better off going there in the first place.

- Rawles has a misanthropic, dog-eat-dog sense to his writing, both in this book and in Patriots. It is too much about hunkering down in your darkened bunker, eating MREs, and using plenty of ammo to keep the less fortunate souls away. While it is possible that a major event could end civilization as we know it, I do wish Rawles had a more positive tone and attitude, at least when trying to covert newcomers to his cause :)

There is one really big issue with hard core survivalism in general. If a truly massive global or nationwide disaster comes to pass, the likelihood of surviving it is low, no matter how well you prepare. Surviving a nuclear war or a mass epidemic is unlikely, and more about random chance than preparation. The survivors are bound to come together in sizable groups for strength and protection. If a well armed gang or ex-military unit converges on one of the Rawles-style rural retreats, game is over. So at the end of the day, at least to me, hard-core survivalism comes across as a militaristic make-believe game, mostly indulged by paranoid guys. Last but not least, unlike "soft-core" temporary disaster survival, what Rawles recommends is expensive and requires major lifestyle changes, which limits its appeal tremendously.

So, what's good about this book? The chapters on food storage and vehicles stand out. Also, if you are looking for a primer on surviving a major end-of-civilization disaster, this is a great starting point. To the author's credit, his survival blog has more readers than most daily newspapers, so he knows his stuff, whether you agree with him or not.

Overall it's pretty OK, October 9, 2009
I have followed Rawles blog and his writings. This book is pretty OK, and here is why. The book does provoke a lot of thought, but.. Here is where it misses. The situation that Rawles describes, he has not lived through. I still have a rather normal life I have to live and for most of us, ditching it all and moving to the mountains is not a feasible option. He often cites needing a years worth of anything on hand, but what happens after that year? Do you really want to live in a place of constant death and destruction. He lists a lot of doomsday scenarios by where the ones who survive will not be the lucky ones.

I think the much more likely future is similar to what happened in Argentina or what has been slowly happening in South Africa.

So while next spring I will be tilling up a good part of yard for a garden, harvesting rain water, and buying and stocking in bulk. I will not be buying a GOOD location or a buying an old diesel junker truck to get there.

There is a lot you can learn from this book, but don't make it your sole reference. Where you live determines your survival strategy, there is no one size fits all approach.

Read this before you buy, July 27, 2010
First let me start by saying that I seriously debated giving this book either 2 or 3 stars. It's somewhere in the middle in my mind.

As part of my investigation into disaster preparedness, I read four books. I'd like to compare them here to help other customers.

The four books can be divided into two groups: practical guides, and the world's gonna end guides.

The first two books are related to what I'd call likely events - hurricanes, flu pandemics, earthquakes, blackouts, food shortages, water contamination, etc. The two that I read are:

- Handbook to Practical Disaster Preparedness for the Family by Arthur Bradley

- Crisis Preparedness Handbook by Jack Spigareli

These two books are similar in their scope. Neither preaches doomsday preparations and both have a wide range of good advice. Spigarelli's book focuses much more heavily on food storage, whereas Bradley's has a more well-rounded handling of subjects and targets family preparation (including the special needs of children, pets, the elderly, and those with handicaps). Comparing the two, I found Bradley's book to be more recent, easier to read, and more comprehensive. The quality of the publication is also better (numerous clear tables, examples, figures, conclusions, etc.). Spigarelli's book has been around for almost a decade and is highly regarded, but feels a bit dated (text looks almost like it was generated on a typewriter, figures are small, tables are not very clear). Not a bad book at all, just dated, and heavily focused on food storage (about 2/3 of the book). Just to be clear, both books are good.

The second set of books are targeted for more drastic, world-changing events - nuclear world war, asteroid hitting the planet, collapse of all government, doomsday stuff. The two books are:

- How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It: Tactics, Techniques, and Technologies for Uncertain Times by James Rawles

- When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes by Cody Lundin

Again, these two books are similar. Both target extreme preparation - massive food and water stockpiles, getting off the electrical grid, living in bunkers, stocking weapons and bartering supplies, etc. Of the two, I found Lundin's book to offer more. First of all it is much larger and has much more detailed content. Rawles' book is a low-quality trade publication that has zero figures or tables - think text only. The advice of Rawles book is also very general and not particularly useful.

There is some significant overlap between the two types of books, but they are definitely different in their focus. My advice is before buying a book, first decide whether you want to prepare for likely events or doomsday events. For me personally, I found the Practical Handbook for the Family to be the most useful. If you want to prepare for both ends of the spectrum, purchase Bradley's book and Lundin's book. Can't go wrong with that.

Hope this helps!

Covers all the bases, October 2, 2009
As one of the original pioneers in the survival and preparedness field, I have been critical of arm-chair survivalists who lead people astray with bad advice, product recommendations that don't work, and fail to take into consideration the fact that most people just can't head for the hills without destroying their financial lifeline. Self-sufficiency is fairly expensive, takes a lot of skill, and can't be done on a whim.

Jim Rawles' book is not in that category. He has lived everything he recommends, and thus gives the kind of savvy advice that carefully guides a person through the tough choices necessary for contingency planning. Moreover, he is very open about the pitfalls and cautions that readers must avoid in order to develop a successful retreat plan. I found myself agreeing with almost every recommendation he makes.

Highly recommended!

Joel Skousen, Author of The Secure Home, and Strategic Relocation--North American Guide to Safe Places

A reference for further learning., September 30, 2009
This book doesn't cover every detail of every disaster, of course. No one book could. What it has is easily referenced, concise summaries of particular events--hurricanes, earthquakes, brush fires, economic collapses, grid failures--and summaries of preparations one can make. Then, those preparations are roughly described.

All this gives a person or family a handy guidebook to create a disaster plan from.

Obviously, not all disasters have equal probability, nor are relevant to all locations--brush fires and hurricanes don't affect me in the Midwest. Tornadoes, flash floods and blizzards do, as might a New Madrid earthquake. Long term societal problems aren't currently a problem in the US, but are in quite a few other western nations, such as Argentina and sometimes Chile. There's even advice on a checklist to prioritize exactly those issues.

As usual, a lot of the negative reviews revolve around a provincial "it can't happen here" mindset. A given disaster might not be likely in your current location at your current time, but places, people and societies change. Preparing ahead costs little, and can save your life. If you never need it, think of it as insurance.

Interesting, but niche appeal, October 14, 2009
I purchased this book with an open mind. I can say that my purchase was motivated mostly out of respect to the author for his previous work and his blog. I tried to read this book with the only expectation that I would walk away from it with one or two pieces of useful knowledge more than what I started with. At the end of the day, I felt slightly cheated. Let me list some of the biggest flaws with this work so people can be aware of what they need to address if they are looking at this as a resource material.

1. I am really not sure who is the real audience for this book. After finishing it last night, I concluded that most of the 5 star WOW feedback did NOT read the book before they posted their reviews. I guess if you live on 20 acres in the country 5 miles away from your closest neighbor then a lot of the over view sections in this book are for you.
2. The book is written with a very pessimistic tone that leaves the reader with a sense of helplessness if he lives with in a city or greater metropolitan area. I live in a city and because of my job I am unable to leave for the country. I think this was the greatest mental hurdle when confronted with this work. If you are unable to commit to a change of location and life style, then reading this book almost feels like a waste of time. Tell me something I can use for city survival as my home, family, job and life have all taken place inside of a society.
3. Lots of the specific reference areas into subjects that are of great interest (canning, strengthening the defenses of your home, essential home gardening on less than an acre, and the firearms questions) differ to other works by name only. I was rather upset with the feeling that I had just read a survival appendix when many of the real questions I had were just glossed over and left me confused. I know that the author has a lot of knowledge in this realm, but seems to only reference it to his consulting business or divert questions to other authors.
4. The feeling of "missing the boat" or helplessness which the author brings into his pessimistic conclusions. If you have not already built a stronghold out in the country at the top of your mountain with an independent water supply 5 years ago, then you are probably boned. Good luck!

These are my own thoughts and conclusions based on this work purely for its standalone value. I still have a lot of confidence and respect in and for the author based on his previous work. I just wish he would have given us more. I am still giving him a slightly positive review 

Relevant, September 30, 2009
Rawles has been providing an important service to the readers of his books and of his survivalblog for years. Disasters happen regularly all over the world, and Rawles has the best and most relevant info on how to prepare and cope with these life-threatening problems and this book shows you how to do it. I recommend everyone read his books and blog and take steps to prepare for what will inevitably come, be it storms, earthquakes, tornadoes, terrorism, economic breakdown, or civil unrest. Do a little bit of preparing every week and you'll sleep better knowing you can keep your family fed and sheltered in case something bad happens. If it never comes, all the better! We all have home and car insurance, right? This is just another kind of insurance.

Prepper bible, September 30, 2009
First, ignore that illiterate, lying fool who gave this compendium 1 star. He hasn't read the book, and is condemning Mr. Rawles for something he didn't do: Predict a collapse.

Mr. Rawles is a fountain of knowledge regarding basic and not-so-basic prepare-to-survive techniques. Additionally, he supplies excellent Do's and Don'ts for just about every likely, and unlikely scenario you may enounter.

This book is far more likely to save your life than whoever is on the other end of a 911 call, if anyone.

Agree with the Rawles Philosophy, Disagree on Many Details, and Hope We're Wrong About People, October 19, 2009
First off, I have read most of the reviews of this book and have found some misinformation. This is not a book of extremist thinking or encouraging extremist actions. One reviewer stated the book goes into details such as "man traps," and that is simply not true, not once does the book go into such a contrivance. The reviewer probably has a "knee jerk" reaction to anything with the term "survivalist" applied to it and might have run across a discussion of the subject elsewhere, perhaps on the authors survival blog, but not necessarily written by Mr. Rawles. One thing about this author, he certainly doesn't censor other opinions of the contributors to his blog, at least in my experience. That being said, I think the potential reader "on the fence" about it give this work a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I am of the opinion that Mr. Rawles does himself a disservice and denies his work a potentially broader audience by using marketing tactics (such as the title of this work) that will win with his core audience, but scare off others that could benefit.

A core principle that Rawles puts forth early in the book is the fragile nature of our current society. Just in time inventory practices, out of control government spending, and a fleeting work ethic in our nation are indeed a formula for disaster. Interestingly, the idea that there is a "bureaucratic branch" putting in place our downfall is put forth in Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny" and echoed here. Inflation may very well be in our near future and may very well be a cause for what Rawles calls here (and in his novel Patriots) "The Big Crunch." I agree with this view wholeheartedly.

A second core principle put forth, is that the typical citizen of this country, when denied his TV, drugs, microwave entr�e's, and other instant gratification will revert to a savage state. When confronted with deprivation and potentially starvation, he will resort to outright unbridled barbarism. I WANT to disagree on this point and believe in "the better angels of our nature." It is my hope that in a cataclysmic situation, people will respond as they did on 9/11, and "pitch in." We cannot trust this will be the case however, so we must prepare.

The last principle that I wanted to touch on in this review is the inclusion that is part of this philosophy. Mr. Rawles wants a prepared America. He does not only want white Christians to be prepared. I sincerely believe it is his hope that there will not be a societal collapse, but that he has abandoned the hope that there will not be. I think he believes the mechanisms put in place by the "bureaucratic branch" and the "moneychangers" have reached terminal velocity. The point that should be taken from this is that this is a NEW class of "survivalist" that can (and should) include everyone, although the principles of the philosophy tend to be more embraced by white Christians. Sometimes it does have that "traditional survivalist" flavor in its delivery, but to be dismissive and brand this man as a "survivalist nut" is the hallmark of a fool.

I disagree with some details in the book. I disagree completely on the idea that we can all somehow live at a retreat full time, requiring I adapt the information for my situation. I disagree with his advice on firearms completely. Many of the recommendations could be simplified, and one does need to consider an "oddball caliber" because of the current supply problems with ammunition. I dislike the at times "preachy tone" his Christian beliefs inject into the work, but that is his prerogative, and I like that his beliefs lead him to include charity in his philosophy. However, because I disagree with many points of this philosophy, and have some experience in Emergency Management, I develop and evangelize a philosophy called StrongPoint Preparedness and it's out on the web to those that may be interested in an alternative, and I invite all to participate.

This book is geared towards a cataclysmic circumstance, but much of the work is useful in planning for "routine emergencies" like hurricanes, fires, tornadoes, particularly the sections on G.O.O.D. All in all, this is an excellent preparedness resource that I hope none of us will ever need, written by a sincere man who practices what he preaches. Good luck!

Not great, October 22, 2009
This book does a good job of telling you why to prepare for emergencies, big and small, in the first 10 pages. The rest contains precious little actionable information to help you prioritize and accomplish any sizable preparations. This combination sets up the reader with a (maybe healthy) sense of foreboding and then leaves them with an unhealthy level of confusion and anxiety. Definitely not what I would call an effective introduction to emergency preparation.

In several areas where actionable information is provided, I noted flaws in the recommendations. Certainly everybody's situation is different, but packing grains for long term storage is not difficult and this book got it wrong. As an example, a metal twist tie for mylar bags is not as effective as heat sealing. This level of mistake in areas I have personally worked through leaves little confidence in the book's content on other areas of prepping I'm still learning about.

There are better books out there; few of them are "survival" manuals per se. The reader would be better served with books on low-tech living and camping, traditional skills like canning, gardening and homesteading and Mel Tappan's Tappan on Survival as an introduction to the prepper/survival mindset. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This handy journal is just the ticket for preserving and showing off tickets saved from sporting events, museum openings, rock concerts, and more. The roomy sleeves store tickets of all shapes and sizes, and lined margins provide space to (new art enclosed) jot down notes about the events. The acid-free pages will keep memorabilia in tip-top shape for years to come. ... Read more

Reviews

First Impressions are pretty good..., March 9, 2007
Maybe I shouldn't be reviewing this yet, since I've yet to actually put a ticket into it...

What I don't think was adequately mentioned in the product description (or else I missed it) is that the book is made up of different pages for different size tickets -- and if you're like me and want to use it for just concert tickets, that leaves a substantial number of pages that don't work as well...including several just-one-opening-per-page pages.

It would be nice to have the flexibility to change the order of the pages, so you could put tickets (regardless of size) in chronological order.

There are adhesive tabs included that are supposed to only stick permanently to the album pages (and act kind of like a post-it on the tickets themselves.) I'm not sure if I'd really trust that, but at least that would enable one to secure smaller tickets in a larger opening.

Despite these criticisms, I think the idea itself is pretty cool. I'm looking forward to finding the time to actually get all my old concert tickets out of the tin they're thrown in and have them all neatly arranged (and remember the days when you could see a major act in an arena for less than $20!)

Ticket Stub Diary, September 23, 2006
Finally, a place to keep ticket stubs from all of your favorite events - concerts, sports, theatre, movies. You know, the ones in your desk drawer, dresser drawer, kitchen counter, and desk? No excuse not to get organized, and the diary allows you to write in stuff about the event you want to remember. It's small and beautifully designed, and a great gift. Our family loves it and will be giving out lots for gifts this holiday season. Great job Eric Epstein!

Get those stubs out of that shoebox..., February 26, 2009
and organize them in this diary! I totally dorked out gathering all my concert ticket stubs from all the way back to my first concert up through today.

This tidy little hardbound book will help you bring back memories as you flip through the pages, remembering all the concerts in your life. The majority of pages fit the "standard" ticketmaster size very well, even if the stub isn't torn (nowadays they scan it, so the ticket never gets torn.) There are also additional size folios that will hold sporting event tickets, stickers, backstage passes, and other music memorabilia.

Makes a great gift for the live music lover that never bothered to do anything with those ticket stubs.

Clever Idea, March 26, 2008
Great idea and design. The diary is small - not bulky and won't take up a lot of space if your bookshelves are already crowded and space is a concern. However, despite the compact size, the diary holds a lot of tickets and offers an ample number of lines to write your thoughts so you won't forget the details of the event. The cover is sporty too.

Great Idea -- Why didn't I think of it ?!, November 24, 2009
I just wanted to tell everyone that there are three different "ticket window" sizes. I happen to think this works out fine as I have some ticket stubs that are larger than your usual 4+" x 2", which fit nicely in the 4+" x 3+" window. Also recently I got an E-Ticket which comes on 8 1/2" x 11" paper, yet if folded or trimmed, the ticket info fits perfectly in the third window size of 4" x 6+". Not to mention that this third option is perfect for 4x6 photos. Besides the attractive exterior design, the flexibility of window size is very useful. Also included are double stick "dots" to hold your treasures absolutely straight if you are a neat freak like me. I will also mention that each page has a column of lines next to the windows for notes or special memories of the event. Bravo!

Neat way to save your stubs, January 30, 2009
I had been keeping our ticket stubs just loose in a drawer. This diary provides a much better alternative. The tickets stay in better shape and they are organized so it is easier to locate a specific one or to reminisce. The diary does have different sized pockets, but the larger ones are all in the back. Since I like to have the tickets in chronological order that doesn't really work for me, so I just double up - I put multiple tickets in the larger pockets.

Good Product; Could Use More Pages and More Flexibility, September 8, 2008
Overall I really like it. I've fit tickets from concerts, plays and sporting events in it. I wish it had more pages and that I could move the pages around, though. I'd like to have everything in chronological order, but the pages are organized by ticket size. I've already filled one and have ordered a couple more.

Clever idea, January 9, 2007
It is really a cute add on gift. My sister collects Playbills and tickets so it suited her well. It would be nice if other colors were available.

Great, July 4, 2009
This was a great buy and a great gift. It has spaces for different sized tickets, and the back has storage slots large enough for playbills.

Poor quality, November 3, 2010
I know this thing is only $10, but I didn't expect it to be in pieces when I took it out of the box! Pages were separated from spine of book. Fell out all over the place. Great idea, but poorly executed. ... Read more

Editorial Review

By the author of the modern classic The Black Swan, this collection of aphorisms and meditations expresses his major ideas in ways you least expect.

The Bed of Procrustes takes its title from Greek mythology: the story of a man who made his visitors fit his bed to perfection by either stretching them or cutting their limbs. It represents Taleb’s view of modern civilization’s hubristic side effects—modifying humans to satisfy technology, blaming reality for not fitting economic models, inventing diseases to sell drugs, defining intelligence as what can be tested in a classroom, and convincing people that employment is not slavery.

Playful and irreverent, these aphorisms will surprise you by exposing self-delusions you have been living with but never recognized.

With a rare combination of pointed wit and potent wisdom, Taleb plows through human illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance, and erudition against the modern diseases of nerdiness, philistinism, and phoniness. ... Read more

Reviews

What's the rush? Slow down and think .....

An intriguing book based on an interesting thesis, well presented, in saying "we humans, facing limits of knowledge, and things we do not observe, the unseen and the unknown, resolve the tension by squeezing life and the world into crisp commoditized ideas ..."

"The person you are most afraid to contradict is yourself," Taleb begins, and shortly after continues, "to bankrupt a fool, give him information."

Okay, I declare bankruptcy. These aphorisms are an eloquent Luddite protest against the madcap technological excesses and follies of the modern world. I agree. Every new technology blossoms into excess, then retreats into practical use as newer ideas develop. Obsidian was once a new idea in cutting; but, anything this good soon evolved into ornaments and other impractical uses.

It's the inevitable fate of all new technology and all new ideas. All good ideas become complicated into absurdity, until wiser people ask, "Just what are we trying to accomplish here?"

Taleb is a wise man asking such questions, and this book is one of questions and relevant observations. It's the same question anyone with a cell phone and the choice of 250,000 apps might ask, like Taleb, "Why?" and the answer is "I dunno."

In brief, this is an eloquent plea to slow down and think.

What's missing is a recognition of human curiosity which creates all technology, from obsidian blades to Blackberrys. It's a book devoid of curiosity, of Rudyard Kipling's Five Faithful Serving Men and the journalist's eternal questions, "Who? What? Why? When? How?"

Of course, I'm not aware of the Luddites having many answers. But, Taleb, like those who sit and refuse to budge do serve to remind the rest of us that scurrying about accomplishes little. More power to him, and to those who ask, "Is this trip necessary?"

Now it is proven that you don't need to be dead to have people enjoy your aphorisms
I love this book. If you are a thinking businessman or academic, I think you will like it. The style is harsh, masculine, thoughtful, to the point, non-religious and timeless. The style reminds me a bit of Livingstone (Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart: Thirty True Things You Need to Know Now and Never Stop Dancing) even though he writes prose. The title of the book alludes to Greek mythology, but you don't need to know who Zeus was to enjoy the book. However, some people dislike the style of both Taleb and Livingstone, so the book is not for everyone. Finally, since the book is published this year (2010), you can utter some of the aphorisms out loud, causing the belief that you are a witty person :)

Potently distilled Taleb
I'm among those people who will read pretty much anything Nassim Nicholas Taleb writes, so I preordered this book without needing to know anything about its specifics. I just finished my first pass and am not disappointed (and will need to read the book again, probably many times).

We shouldn't make the mistake of getting so impressed that we're in danger of worshipping Taleb, and indeed some of his points may be exaggerated, inconsistent, partially wrong, or even completely wrong (I think he might even agree with that), but he's also genuinely and uniquely brilliant, and my sense is that he's right about most things and thus a source of valuable real-world insights.

Others have suggested that one shouldn't try to summarize Taleb, but we can surely say that his work revolves around the realization that we humans, both individually and collectively, are unknowingly prone to many kinds of errors and biases, so we need to develop practical tools to help compensate and especially to avoid disastrous consequences.

Using its densely aphoristic format, the book richly and wittily fleshes out this general idea by providing more specific insights on a wide array of "philosophical and practical" topics spanning much of the human condition. And I'll add that while Taleb seems ambivalent about Wittgenstein, I think his ideas are closer to those of the later Wittgenstein than he may realize (which I intend to be a compliment, while agreeing that Wittgenstein can sometimes be rather opaque).

If you're willing to take a serious look at yourself and the social world in which you're embedded, at risk of undermining some cherished illusions, this is a book not to be missed. Others have made many of the same points as Taleb but, to my knowledge, no one else writing today has done so with the same level of broad erudition and artistically powerful flair (hence his outlier level of readership and influence).

Excellent Book!
If you've read Nassim Nicholas Taleb's other books ("Fooled By Randomness" and "The Black Swan") then you have an idea of the power and magnificence contained in his writing. In my humble opinion, "The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms" is excellent; it's a must read. I have been anticipating this book's release for quite some time. Several months ago Taleb was testing out many of these aphorisms on Twitter, so it's interesting to see how the book came together. I certainly enjoy witty aphorisms and this book contains some of the best I've ever read.

"My best definition of a nerd: someone who asks you to explain an aphorism."

As Taleb says, aphorisms lose their charm whenever explained so I'll refrain from demonstrating my foolishness and ignorance by trying to interpret any of them in this forum.

Excellent-Nassim Nicholas Taleb at his best
My copy arrived today, and I was anxious to read Taleb's book of aphorisms after following his progress at his website. He does not disappoint; he will make many laugh, many angry, and most think. His wit and insight spares no one; particularly academics, economists, and bankers (politicians, too).

The chapter I most anticipated was Robustness and Fragility, given Taleb's continuing dialogue at Facebook concerning anti-fragility.

This slim volume is highly recommended if you enjoyed Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan. Highest recommendation.

Sam Kinison of contemporary philosophy
Taleb is the Sam Kinison of contemporary philosophy: He shrieks mischievously about how we delude ourselves and allow others (e.g., consultants and intellectuals) to delude us. "The Bed of Procrutes" tells where not to look for answers and seems grounded in a profound respect for the ever-elusive: human dignity and courage. Unlike his seminal "The Black Swan," which overflowed with examples and explanations (and which should have been proofread more carefully) this book is spare and copy-edited. It is compulsory reading for the aspiring fl�neur.

Great encouragement to think more!
I'm a big Taleb fan, but this review is not biased. I enjoyed this book a lot. It's a quick read, but is intended to make the reader think. Highly recommend it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls “Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister”) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans. ... Read more

Reviews

Great, for what it is., March 31, 2008
I find it so surprising--reading the angry, negative reviews--that the people who hated the book hated it for exactly the reasons why some steer clear away from the the spiritual-journey-memoir genre. Yes, the author is self-absorbed, yes, she seems to think of only trite stuff, yes, she seems self-indulgent with her problems. And yes, she's allowed. It is after all a book that is positioned to address these things in the author's self; who otherwise would not be searching for something more: more meaning and more appreciation in/of her life.
Here is a woman who shows all the possibly-perceived-as-lacking-substance thoughts of hers and we are throwing tomatoes at her. One thing, she obviously wasn't afraid of that. She wasn't aiming to be coming off as some deeply wise woman but a fumbling girl-woman trying to break out of what she felt was imminent disaster (had she had the baby and delayed her need to find out what she truly wants from her life she might have left not only her husband, but their child, or most probably ending up not leaving out of guilt and becoming crazy instead: exposing her family to that for years; not an uncommon reality). She is not one for anti-depressants, remember.
This memoir falls in the same category as the TV show Sex and the City (of which it was compared to in a review here). Both get trampled for being supposedly superficial, covering the silly plights of city girls who don't know what they want and yet have everything. But this book--as the TV show--actually are part of a wider story that is illiciting reactions from the public because it reflects the transition in which women in the modern world are experiencing: now that we have equality with men professionally, now that we are liberated from all the limitations being a woman dictated two generations ago, how does that affect us? From a distance, in a glance, it seems that women have all the cards to play with now. But this book and many other works by women and/or about women of this generation show that having all those cards does not mean Happiness.
There are still things in society--in regards to a woman's role--that grates. And then there are things within our Modernised, Westernized, Individualized, Ambitious selves, that are lacking.
This is what Miss Gilbert's search is about, and what she represents.
On a collective level, much of the modern world is in search of God, Spirituality (one just needs to walk through bookstores in the US and see the plethora of soul searching self help books on the shelves). This is what needs to be observed and understood as a phenomena in the West; the small voices, small cries, here and there by those who come up with the balls to share their journeys and thoughts with us--no matter how trite-sounding, how shallow-seeming--are part of a collective howl for the meaning of life.
Elizabeth Gilbert's voice is just one of many that calls for recognition as part of a chorus for something that firstly, many women are hollering about, and secondly, humanity in general--humanity in the first world--are crying for: some kind of guidance, indication, that the collective paths we fought for and chose (the best education, career ambitions realised, a certain amount of money needed to live that certain kind of magazine-lifestyle life--which is what Liz Gilbert's life is a reflection of, remember--love in the form of marriage and what society dictates) are truly the things that give us peace and happiness in the infinite sense.
Eat, Pray, Love might not be that deep, wise voice representing the deep, wise journey into the deep, wise self. But this book's packaging and tone, hell, its WORDS, never did say it was. It is a fumbling--almost child-like in its guilelessness--show of the ego's awareness and needs, and its attempt at searching for what many people from all walks of life only wish they could go out and find: THEMSELVES. SELF, being the keyword here. And in this memoir, ultimately, God, being in each of our selves.
To the people who were disappointed that the author didn't seem to give a hoot about India's poverty, they must have not read the book through: Miss Gilbert never ventured out of her ashram and the little village it is located in, after making a decision to further develop her meditation skills and thus skipping the rest of India. She also ignored Italy's corruption with her indulging in good food and focus on learning and enjoying the Italian language. Again, the critics missed the point of this memoir. It's a book about a writer, a New Yorker, a recently-divorced-woman-in-her-early-thirties' journey to heal and find spiritual strength through various means: pleasure first to recover (Italy), spiritual examination and purging (India), combining the two for balance (Bali), which would result hopefully in the kind of substance and depth and balance that so many critics mentioned she lacks.
One doesn't pick this book up to: 1. Be exposed to India's poverty and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 2. Be exposed to Italy's corruption and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 3. Be exposed to Balinese wiles and expect the author to discuss that in depth. (which she actually did in the account of the Balinese woman she raised money for to buy the land the woman needed to build a home).

Next time you pick a book up at the bookstore, call up your powers of perception before purchasing it. A book IS pretty much its cover. Did everyone really expect a book titled "Eat, Pray, Love" A Woman's Search for Everything, to be an experience of religious fervor, one that would reveal the secrets of the universe? It's a story about a girl who thought everything she thought she wanted, would bring her happiness. It didn't. It didn't for her, and possibly not for many other women. If it took this one woman to go to Italy, India, and Indonesia, to get away after a difficult and painful divorce to heal and get perspective--instead of festering and turning into a pile of flesh in depression--then by all means. Yes, she financed her travels through her book advance--after giving away the suburban home and NYC apartment to her ex-husband. And if she wrote this book for us, it's really for us to appreciate and enjoy the ride with her. Anybody else who got so upset needed only to put the book down and pick another one to their taste. If anything, that's this book's lesson: Do what makes you smile and thankful for life.

A ME-moir, not a memoir, April 25, 2009
I'm a big fan of Gilbert's earlier work (specifically 2003's The Last American Man) and I was deeply disappointed by this book. In fact, I sent it sailing across the room twice within the first hour. Gilbert's a fine writer, let there be no doubt. Her structure is great. She writes scrumptious sentences. She's an eminently likable narrator. But my complaint is more psychological rather than literary. As we learn over the course of the book, Ms. Gilbert is an enormously privileged woman, lives the glamorous writing life in NYC, owns two homes and yet is so sad and depressed about life. Get over yourself, lady! This book is the literary equivalent of like How Stella Got Her Grove Back. Only with yoga and white people.

Gilbert claims to be quite the globe-trotter but seems to have never learned the basic tenet of travel: learning about the larger world. Confronted with the rich, confounding, complicated world, she turns away and gets lost in her own navel.

What I hate even more about this book is what its incredible popularity says about us as Americans: just like Gilbert, we are giant narcissists and we never, ever stop thinking about ourselves and our own needs and cannot, even for a second, think about the lives of the less fortunate around the world. Gilbert thus becomes the American Every-Woman: 9-11 happens in her own backyard and she's so distraught over her failed marriage that it barely registers. If you think I'm being too hard on us Americans, think of it this way: her previous book The Last American Man was much, much better than Eat, Pray, Love but since it evinced none of the yoga-loving-upper-middle-class-woman-who-spouts-cheap-wisdom-like-Oprah-on-a-global-quest-for-self-actualization story elements, it barely sold 1% of what Eat, Pray, Love did. This is a sadly-revealing book about the state of our culture. And it's not just about Elizabeth Gilbert. It's all about us.

And, of course, don't miss the upcoming film adaptation, starring-you guessed it- Julia Roberts. If I have one other person recommend this book to me I'm going to to kill them.

Eat Pray Shove (It), February 16, 2008
Here is a book that either changed people's lives or irritated the bejesus out of them. Count me among the latter.

Eat Pray Love - One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert was supposed to enlighten me. It didn't.

OK -- First the positive: Overall, it is a well-written book. The author takes many complicated metaphysical concepts and makes them readable. The book is divided into sections: Eat, which is the author's journey to Italy; Pray, her pilgrimage to India and Love, where she takes a lover in Bali.

This is about a thirty-something woman looking for spirituality and happiness. She is married, but desperately unhappy for no single reason that she cannot or will not divulge. So, she leaves her husband (and, by the way, gives him all marital property out of supposed "guilt" for leaving him, making me wonder what exactly she did to warrant this)and falls right into another relationship (a-ha! adultery, perhaps?). When the rebound relationship that broke up her marriage falls apart, she now wants to find God. Of course. She claims God spoke to her on the bathroom floor, thus beginning her journey.

But not before she goes to her publisher and secures a $200,000 advance for this book. Makes you wonder, as one reviewer on Amazon pointed out, was the journey retrofitted to the book proposal?

What better way to go find God than in Italy. For four months she eats gelato, practices her Italian with a young man named Luca Spaghetti (If you are going to make up names of allegedly real people, could you find a more sterotypical name? Why not Carmine OrganGrinder?) and gains 23 pounds -- quick to point out to the readers that she was way underweight to beign with.

She learns to enjoy life and be selfish from the Italians - who by the way still find her immensely attractive, although they don't hoot and holler at her like they did 10 years previously. But she is still so damned cute. Just ask her.

On to India. At the Ashram, she learns to meditate and still broods over her lost marriage and subsequent realtionship. Probably the most boring part of the book, except for her conversations with "Richard from Texas" -- a down home, larger than life character who speaks in folksy platitudes that would make Andy Griffith proud. He also bestows our author with her nickname "Groceries" because she was emaciated from grief from crying for the millionth time over her beloved David. As one reviewer from Amazon said, "What kind of nickname is Groceries?"

I honestly believe she made these people up. Reminds me of "Go Ask Alice" -- supposedly the real story of the drug-addicted Anonymous -- until it was revealed that the protagonist was a fictitious composite of the author's psychiatric patients. Boo.

Then Bali. She ends her self-imposed celibacy with an older Brazilian man. High on orgasmic ecstasy, out of the supposed goodness of her heart, she asks her friends to send $18K in donations to help a single mother, an alleged friend of Ms. Gilbert's, who is portrayed as a con artist because she didn't buy a house in the timeframe coinciding with the termination of Ms. Gilbert's visa. I always thought that a gift should be a gift without strings attached -- especially coming from someone who supposedly found God. I wanted to ask Ms. Gilbert "What Would Jesus Do?"

My biggest problem with this tome is that this 30-something woman basically is looking for applause for running off for a year, obstensibly supported by a $200K book advance, to "find God." I'm sure millions of women would love to leave their everyday lives and travel the world to do nothing but self analyze. If she had done volunteer work, I may have felt differently. If she went through some real hardship, I could sympathize. But she was in an incompatible marriage, then dumped by the guy she left her husband for. She should perhaps speak to those battling life-threatening diseases, or raising children alone, or taking care of an elderly parent, or worried about where their next meal is coming from.

And for all of her self-realization and navel-gazing to end her dependence on men, Ms Gilbert has, as pointed out by anotherAmazon reviewer, married her Brazilian and moved to new Jersey. She could have saved Penguin Books a whole lot of money by getting in her car and going through the Lincoln Tunnel. I wonder how long before she ends up back on the bathroom floor.

Blah, blah, blah, blah...., October 24, 2007
I could not finish this book. When the author burst into sobs yet again in the middle of prayer, or a conversation, or walking down the street, or (more likely) on the floor of yet another bathroom, I gave up. This is the type of person you meet at a cocktail party and RUN in the other direction after a few minutes when she starts spewing out all her problems at you with no end in sight. Note to the author: I am your reader, not your psychotherapist. I really tried to enjoy the book and even like the author, but after slogging through a couple hundred pages of endlessly self-absorbed chatter, I was worn out and put the book in the Goodwill pile. When she writes, "I discovered my mind was not a very interesting place to be," I have to say, "Amen, sister!"

dishonest and poorly written, April 14, 2007
I've read several of the reviews posted here and though I couldn't finish this book, it seems to me that what's wrong with it is not so much the author's hollow-souled narcissism but her lack of intellectual seriousness. Someone gave me this book as a birthday present. That it has received a lot of attention is no surprise. Look at the drivel America reads. Light, shallow laughs, sex, food, not much real thought. That's the sum of this book. Feel-good rubbish that inspires not one iota of serious thought. Gilbert's slapphappy universe is one in which everything can be solved with pizza and fresh mozarella. Every paragraph contains at least one stock one-liner. This isn't literature. It's stand-up comedy of the worst kind. We've read it all before. She claims she can make friends with anyone. It's precisely that lack of discernment and depth that makes this story forgettable. The prose is laced with one cliche, one trite and cutesy obvservation after another. Some reviewer here said this book is not a book but a magazine article. Exactly right. I finally closed the book when I read that while in India she wanted to "valet park" a destitue family into a new life. It isn't just that the phrase is a silly toss-off modernism but that there's no true emotion in it. You'll never know how this woman really feels. Don't waste your money on it.

Expected more. MUCH more., March 19, 2007
This book reminded me of a quote that's served me well in life: "It's a sign of maturity when you begin to fall out of love with your own drama." The author clearly hasn't reached this stage on her path to "enlightenment"!

don't waste your time on this one, July 12, 2007
Not one interesting character. Not even the author. A horrible divorce... big deal. A love of food ... not really worth 116 pages. I had to get to page 156 to finally understand. She is in an Ashram in India having trouble silencing her mind and meditating.

"What I am alarmed to find in meditation is that my mind is actually not that interesting a place after all."

That sentence sums up the book

Glib, narcissistic and lightweight, May 14, 2007
I picked up this book on the strength of good reviews and found myself wanting to throw it at the wall. The author is a fine writer with a good sense of humor who seemed to want to write about her journey to self fullfilment, spiritual awakening and happiness. Instead she came off as a priviledged, slightly spoiled writer who needed an excuse for a writers advance so she could travel for free. She reveals herself to be a spiritual narcissist who obsessively navel gazes. While many passages are light hearted and funny and she is oh, so very clever and witty!! there was no real depth, no real meaningful questions asked or answered except for how she could get more breaks and be FULFILLED. It seemed like an extended article for SELF magazine. Instead order books by Kathleen Norris or even Anne LaMott for God's sake!

Symptomatic Of The Downfall Of Western Civilization..., October 28, 2009
Elizabeth Gilbert was a self-absorbed, married, thirty-something living the privileged existence of an affluent writer in the most powerful nation on Earth, when, suddenly - shock-horror - she realized that she wasn't happy. As a consequence, she cast aside her husband, took up with another man - with whom she still wasn't happy - and, after this relationship fell into inevitable dissolution, decided to run off around the world in order to "find herself" (one must assume that she'd already looked down the back of the sofa) after receiving a handsome advance from a publishing company to chronicle her subsequent exploits.

"Eat, Pray, Love" is pseudo-intellectual, altruistic, mother-my-dog pap of the worst kind masquerading as spiritual insight. Read between the lines and it expounds selfishness as a virtue and mindless hedonism as both philosophy and legitimate path to spiritual insight. Unsurprisingly, that great doyen of the gullible, Oprah Winfrey, loved it and made it one of her book club choices, thus unleashing it to a wider audience than Gilbert's talents as a writer would normally have ever allowed. Apparently, God help us, a big-screen version with Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts is currently in the offing.

As a literary construct, Gilbert herself seems to be the contemporary living embodiment of Tom and Daisy Buchanan from "The Great Gatsby", of whom F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, "They were careless people...they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness...and let other people clean up the mess they had made."

"Self-absorbed" does not begin to cover it; "self-centred" is not nearly an adequate description. One hopes that she can't really have been so completely inured to the poverty of India and Indonesia by her solipsism. If so, then she seems to be genuinely emblematic of a subset of the "sex and the city" generation of women who put their own self-gratification above all other things. Worryingly, this attitude seems to be becoming increasingly more prevalent in western society.

I will be honest, I first happened upon this book after briefly seeing some of Winfrey's interview with Gilbert on television and consequently read three quarters of the book in my local library - and was so completely incensed that I felt it my civic duty to warn you off of this book.

If you want a genuinely enjoyable book to provoke introspection, this isn't it, but may I politely suggest Tom Hodgkinson's How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto and The Freedom Manifesto: How to Free Yourself from Anxiety, Fear, Mortgages, Money, Guilt, Debt, Government, Boredom, Supermarkets, Bills, Melancholy, Pain, Depression, Work, and Waste or Lin Yutang's The Importance Of Living in it's stead; If you want a decent travelogue, may I politely suggest any Bruce Chatwin's books, and if you really want to read a writer with talent give the exponents of the Gilbertian philosophy of self-aggrandisement both barrels, then I strongly recommend Michael Bywater's Big Babies: or: Why Can't We Just Grow Up?

She teaches you how to discipline yourself not to judge someone, November 20, 2007
I hated this book but I forced myself to finish it. Putting the authors irritating voice aside, it epitomizes everything wrong with American culture today: worship of the mediocre, travel without seeing anything, polarizing of the Other and fake spirituality. That said, I learned something important about spirituality as well but I'll get to that in a minute. It has to do with learning not to judge (see above, I've become quite judgmental).

When I was dragging myself through this book, I experienced strong waves of hatred for this woman. She missed all of the poverty in those places and all complexities of the cultures she "learned about". She acted like hers was the only travel experience any of her readers have ever had with her "Let me explain what being Balinese means..." demeanor. She couldn't even accurately transcribe the Italian words in the passage of curses ("Molto migliore"???). She spoke about Italy like an annoying travel companion who has been there for five minutes, has read two things about the place and knows five words and acts like the expert and when you visit her there and after 2 days there yourself you can see that she still hasn't seen or learned a thing. She takes what she wants to see from the world and tells readers what she thinks they want to hear about it. She doesn't even give an original spin to these common travel destinations, or even any insight into the expats she does meet. Did she ever mention not liking someone? Did she ever mention any negative emotions about anyone other than "David" or her ex-husband? Did she ever mention any locals being any less than thrilled that she graced them with her presence? Did any other readers feel her jealousy seething when the sexy Brazilian Armenia walked in Wayan's shop? Of course we all did but the author, miss Spiritually Enlightened at Greeting Her Emotions must still not be able to face that one. Or maybe she can't dare mention it because that might make her readers not like her and this woman spends all her energy spinning a version of herself that everyone can like. I guess her spiritual enlightenment only works for exploring and sharing insights about her weight. Or making money off the bored, privileged American public.

Now, how about how offensive she is? Besides her condescending assumption that we are all married 35 year olds stuck in our houses who have never traveled and are relying on her to tell us how it is, she made two references where she tried to make the suffering of her love life out to be comparable that of a refugee ("we had the eyes of refugees" and counseling with the boat people revealed that their suffering too "was all" love story sagas (personally offensive to anyone touched by the world's refugee story).

Okay, I said that I learned something. Yes, I learned something. Important. I looked deeply into my hatred I felt towards this woman throughout the book. I learned that the reason I hated her so much was because I was expecting her to have something insightful to say and I was expecting to learn about the people from an anthropological, non-biased, realistic perspective. Each faux pas she made infuriated me. I wasn't seeing her for her. I was trying to project what I thought was her view of herself onto her. Basically, I was expecting her to live up to how great she tells us she is and when she didn't deliver, time after time, sentence after sentence, I felt some justified sense of triumph and anger at "catching" her, and then feeling immense frustration at not being able to expose her to the world so everyone else would see through her too. Instead, I should learn to accept the book for what it is (horrible) and accept the author as she is (whoever that is) and accept that to her it was suffering, to her it was enlightenment and it does no good to judge her for it (even though I am not spiritually enlightened enough to stop myself). Instead of hating her, I should have shut the book, written this review, and laughed about it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Uncle John's Latest and Greatest!, October 16, 2010
In some respects, the word "Heavy" in the title of this 23rd Edition of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader might refer to the hefty nature of the book. UNCLE JOHN'S HEAVY DUTY BATHROOM READER clocks in at 538 pages; that's almost two pounds of book! More importantly, it's stuffed full of the interesting, oddball, "didn't-know-that" info that Uncle John readers relish.

In terms of format, why mess with a winner? Edition 23 has the same mix of quick reads, two-three page articles, longer pieces and "extended" articles that have made the Bathroom Readers so successful.

In this case, Uncle John enlightens readers on the following:

famous food origins;
final concerts of famous performers;
a three-parter on smart birds;
funny church board messages;
185 uses for a pig;
bathroom-themed art;
famous gangster couples;
food dinosaurs ate;
people you thought were Americans but aren't;
a three-parter on Esperanto;
popular myths;
"Monopoly" game facts;
forgotten cartoon characters (think "Chilly Willy," etc.);
phobias of the rich and famous;
products that flopped;
fatal first flights;
weird fish stories;
good deeds done by celebs;
and - my favorite - a four-parter on explorers "who strode bravely into the face of the unknown and never came back"...and much, much more.

In short, you're sure to find something interesting in UNCLE JOHN'S HEAVY DUTY BATHROOM READER. So, a big thumb's-up to Edition 23!

**********
2,600 Helpful Votes!

Love IT, November 17, 2010
I love all the bathroom reader books. I read them at bedtime, and they give me great pieces of information to use as conversation.

Another smash from Uncle John!, December 15, 2010
What more can be said of a book that is in its 23rd edition and keeps on getting better! This series is so entertaining and delightful that even its great length, almost 500 pages, hardly seems a bother. The various stories are so entertaining they stagger the imagination. The anthrax story is very interesting as is the one dispelling various conspiracy theories.

If you enjoy being entertained and maybe learning something in the process than this book is for you! ... Read more

Editorial Review

This basicyet classic Large Ruled notebook is one of the best selling Moleskine notebooks. This reliable travel companionperfect for writingsthoughts and passing noteshas a cardboard bound cover with rounded cornersacid free papera bookmarkan elastic closure and an expandable inner pocket that contains the Moleskine history. ... Read more

Reviews

Best Choice for Journaling, November 24, 2008


I've been journaling ever since I was a pimply-faced teenager, and now I'm 31. In that time, I've used all varieties of notebooks, and filled them all. I came across the Moleskine brand a few years ago, and now I won't use anything else. The large ruled notebook is sturdy, of excellent construction, holds I think 265 pages, and the pages will not fall out. This notebook is best for writers and diarists.

I wouldn't use this book for school because, first of all, it is expensive. Second of all, it's a bit of overkill. I doubt you'll take a class in which you'll have time to fill up this notebook. You'll be more organized in a class if you buy a simple lab book or composition book to take notes in for each class.

I know a lot of people who try to write in jounals. They buy them with the best intentions, write a couple of pages, and then seem to forget about them and eventually buy ANOTHER journal, in which they will write a few pages and forget about. The key is just to keep the SAME journal, to keep in it in the same safe place, and to write in it whenever you feel like it, even if months go by without you touching it. If someone buys you another journal, fill up the first one first, and then move on to the new one. You can learn from my experience and start with the best, which is Moleskine. Otherwise . . . do whatever you want. The main thing is just to have something to write in.

I've also used all variety of pens. My choice is the Pilot Precise V5. Every now and then you'll get a bum one, that you've just got to throw away because it's not writing smoothly or properly. But, for the most part, these are the best choice for journaling and writing. They are fine point. They last longer than gel ink. They require no pressure whatsoever to be placed on the tip, as ball-point pens do, and they don't smear.

The Positive Talk is Right!, June 7, 2008
I've heard these books are wonderful. I take a lot of notes at my job. Having struggled with wire bound books (the bindings getting bent or snagging clothing) and being teased about being too old to use composition books, these notebooks are a joy to use. The attached ribbon bookmark and elastic band close have come in handy to use. The paper is smooth and a heavier weight than other notebooks. The paper is also a cream colored so there is no glare when writing in bright sunlight. The book is tough enough to be out on the job but professional looking enough for meetings. Love this book! I'm planning to buy more and have the covers laser-etched to give out as gifts.

A Ferrari exterior, with a Pinto drivetrain, September 29, 2008
Okay. I admit it. I fell for the hype. Not so much the company line ("this book used by famous artists, and writers" blah blah blah)... but the beautiful exterior, clean professional design, and... naively... assumed that for twelve bucks, I was getting something nice.

Well... yes and no.

They're "okay". Everything I thought was special about them is true. They really look like something a professional would use. They look like something you could proudly use to write in while your sipping a latte at Starbucks. They have a look that makes people ask you what you're writing in, and where you got it.

Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver on the aspect that I took for granted. The paper.

I'd read some reviews that said the paper was cheap, and that it wasn't good for artists. I... equally naively... disregarded those opinions, because I couldn't believe that such a nice (and expensive) product would go cheap on the most important part of a notebook. The part you write/draw on.

I've tried gel pens, felt pens, ball-point pens, liquid ink pens... they all cause problems. Gel pens, and liquid ink pens smudge too much to be of any use (great for artists, eh?). Ball point pens are just cheap, ugly, and work poorly, and felt-tip pens look nice, and dry quickly enough, but bleed straight through to the other side, forcing you to only write on one side of each page. Certainly not what a journal writer, or novelist would prefer.

If there is a form of pen that writes on these things satisfactorily, I've honestly not found it.

I wanted to love the Moleskine. I love the story (I didn't believe the story about Picasso, Hemingway, or Chatwin, but it is a compelling one). I love the design. I love the binding. I love the elastic strap. I love the bookmark. I love everything about them except for the paper.

It'd be like buying a Ferrari, and finding out someone replaced the engine with that of a Pinto. It looks great. Its a conversation starter. You might impress some people. Yet in the end, it just isn't satisfying to use.

Honestly, the paper in a ninety nine cent composition book is better.

I'll be looking elsewhere from now on.

Needs Better Paper, January 2, 2010
There's a lot of good to be said about the notebook, and Moleskine deserve credit for reviving this design which had nearly disappeared. The hard cover. . . the elastic band. . . the cloth bookmark. . . the ivory paper. . . the rounded corners. . . It's all good. I might quibble that the ruled lines are spaced a bit narrowly for my handwriting. It's good with a EF nib pen, and it fits a few more lines on each page, but it's a wee bit cramped compared with my normal handwriting.

What really ruins it for me is the paper quality. I've heard it varies from one batch to the next, and it sure seems like I got one of the bad ones. I found many combinations of fountain pens and ink are prone to ugly feathering and bleeding in it. With many of them it's impractical to write on both sides of the sheet, which basically cuts the notebook in half from what it should be. TO BE FAIR, I found I could tame it by choosing the right ink (Noodlers Black) and using a not-too-wet fountain pen. Indeed, I would be willing to take this extra effort to adapt to this notebook's quirks if there were no better alternatives out there.

Recently, though, other companies such as Quo Vadis and Rhodia have come up with their own moleskine-style notebooks featuring high-quality paper. They cost a bit more, but I figure this type of notebook is a premium product to begin with. In the future I'll give Moleskine a miss and spend a little more for a better notebook. (Being able to write with confidence on both sides of the page means I could actually come out ahead on cost too.)

The Classic - Don't go for look-alikes, they are not the same..., January 20, 2009
I love the Moleskine notebooks. Every year I buy a new ruled notebook to journal, tape keepsakes, draw, list up, and record in. This year I'm going with the Moleskine Classic Red Notebook, Ruled Large, but usually I use the classic black.

These are tough notebooks. The cover is particularly nice if you live in a humid place, as it's a oilskin material that doesn't mold. I once had a look-alike notebook from another company and the cover molded in 6 months. Moleskines stay nice for years.

I love the back inside pocket for holding onto tickets, coupons, business cards - you name it.

My favorite part is the elastic strap that keeps your journal closed. I love taking it off and closing it back up with a "snap". This is another feature that the imitators can't get right. Their strap gets stretched and looses elasticity. Moleskine's stay nice and tight.

Go for the best, go Moleskine.

Tough - portable - perfect, March 2, 2009
If you are an incessant journaller, as I am, then this is the journal for you. I have been using these as my "walk about" journal for years and have not yet had one fall apart on me. The attached rubber band is even perfect for storing a pen when on the go.

i originally preferred the blank pages but found writing difficult without a guide. The lined pages are a little thinner tho, so take care in the sort of ink you select for writing with.

Finally, the perfect notebook., September 26, 2010
I've long been an avid fan of notebooks, and more generally, quality stationary. I own quite a number of notebooks, both self-bought and those that were gifted to me. However in each case, the notebook somehow fell short and I would find myself disheartened to write in them a few pages in. They were either spiral-bounded, poorly bounded, lines were ruled too wide, had poor paper quality, etc.

Yes, I'm absolutely anal-retentive over the quality of my notebooks and how I write in them.

I've always thought about Moleskines as a teenager, and I finally took the plunge recently. Never again will I ever consider purchasing a different brand of notebook.

The binding, cover, and paper quality of this notebook are top-notch. The ruled lines are a perfect width. The elastic band keeps the notebook closed and prevents damage to pages should I just happen to haphazardly throw my Moleskine into my bag. The additional pocket at the back of the notebook is also great for keeping little tidbits of information, such as business cards from restaurants I want to write a short little review for.

I originally started to write in my Moleskine using a Tombo Playcolor 2 black pen (available in Japan), and the ink dried nicely. However, I recently adopted this: Sharpie Pen Fine Point Pen, 2 Black Pens (1742659). These Sharpie pens are perfect for writing in your Moleskin for three main reasons:

1. The ink dries near-instantly (even faster than my Tombo pen), leading to minimal ink-transfer and smearing.
2. Minimal pressure needed to apply ink, so your pages lie flat after writing on them instead of being wrinkled from a ballpoint pen.
3. Bold ink colors lend to great aesthetic.

I'll never use Moleskine for taking class notes in (except perhaps the thinner paperback notebooks that come in sets of 3), since the number of pages is overkill for most classes. I'll use Five Star notebooks for that.

But for everything else - rants, thoughts, and introspection - this Moleskin is perfect.

Best for carrying everywhere, February 10, 2009
Moleskine makes really nice notebooks. This is my second one, I also have the Cahier Model which is about the size of a passport and it is great because I can have it in a pocket for quick notetaking.

This large model comes with ruled paper, and the lines are about the size I really like. The paper is also good, but be careful when choosing a pen since the paper is not as weight (is kinda thin) as you might expect so the ink might show on the back side of the sheet. I recommend you to try your ink on one sheet and see it for yourself. If you're fine using one side of the paper you won't have any trouble on that matter.

And regarding the size, it's about the first Harry Potter book from Scholastic, so you get the idea, it is really portable but gives you enough room to take notes, make daily plans or taking notes in classes (that is what i use it for).

I recommend it, it has an inside pocket for storing stuff like stickers, store bills or presentation cards, and the elasic band attached to the back of the notebook makes it stay all compact and tidy.

5/5

Lives up to the hype, August 8, 2009
I've been using moleskine notebooks for the past few years. Having kept a journal since 7th grade, I've had my share of good and bad notebooks. Although some may say that moleskines are a bit on the expensive side, I've found them to be comparable in price to other well-made journals/diaries. I wouldn't say, as some have said in their reviews, that this is a composition book replacement. For extensive writing, I'd rather use a full size notebook, not a paperback sized one. This notebook is good for keeping a journal, or even to jot down random creative ideas (although one of the smaller moleskines may be more handy for the latter).

Pros? Durable cover (I've been using this one on/off for a couple years, thrown it in backpacks when I went traveling, in cramped laptop bags, purses, etc. and it still looks the same), good elastic enclosure, back pocket for any stray notes/mementos, decent page marker (mine has begun fraying, but I've put the notebook through a lot), and most importantly, really smooth college ruled paper. I hate writing in journals with wide/huge ruled paper, with lines that don't extend all the way. This notebook is perfect in the sense that you don't have any wasted writing surface, and the lines are so light that they don't detract attention away from the writing. The paper is an off-white cream color, super smooth. I always look forward to writing in it because it just /feels/ different. Pages are normal thickness, but I haven't found any problems with the pen ink bleeding.

My preferred pen of choice, as others have mentioned, is the Pilot Precise V5. I use the extra fine one. You can easily buy an office pack for $15 at Staples, much cheaper than buying the pens singly. I've also tried out Uniball gels, but I found the V5 to be the smoothest. My creative writing instructor also recommended it for extensive writing.

Anyway, you really can't go wrong with this one. It's just a beautifully well constructed notebook, and will make you feel like going back to it again and again to write!

Great journal, especially if traveling., May 25, 2009
I love the large Moleskine, particularly when traveling. It is large enough to use as an everyday journal, but small enough to carry when traveling, going on a day trip, or riding a subway. The elastic band to hold the journal closed is great. It holds a pen inside the covers snugly and without warping them. The expandable pocket is great for holding mementos, train tickets, receipts, postcards, or whatever other small items you collect or might need to stash where you won't forget it. The Moleskine is also durable. I have never had pages fall out or covers fall off. Overall, it is well made and practical.

Others have complained about the paper, but I have never had a problem with it. I generally use a ballpoint pen (Zebra Z-501) writing on both sides of each page with no trouble, no bleed through, no grooving of the paper, or other flaw. I am sure some fountain pens or rollers may leak through, but a good ballpoint pen will usually be preferable when traveling anyway.

This journal suits me perfectly. I am sure others prefer larger journals and some may require thicker paper, but this journal provides lots of space to write without being cumbersome to carry.

I recommend the Moleskine Large Notebook. ... Read more