Nonfiction Books

I read through most of it and found it to be much like other books that I had to purchase for graduate writing courses. I was a bit disappointed.

For beginning writers, this book could be useful. The 'journey' image is sometimes overused, but this is in part because it responds to a deep need in us. Preachers often use the image of a journey; indeed, many stories in the Bible will use the journey as part of the tale (if not the integral part of the tale). Mythological figures often have their lives and exploits told in journey images -- from times as ancient as those of Gilgamesh, through to modern times, the journey is important as a storytelling device. One can think of Gilgamesh, or Odysseus, or Aeneas in the ancient world; one can think of Moses and Martin Luther King, Jr. in search of the promised land; one can even think of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, seeking the Emerald City, when in fact she's looking for home.

The characters along the way in the journey also represent key elements in our lives -- dangers, strengths, things to love, to hate, to avoid, to embrace. These are archetypes. As others have noted, there are other guides to these (Campbell being perhaps the best known, and perhaps the best writer of these), but Christopher Vogler's use of these mythic structures and the journey process to help beginning writers puts the framework into an interesting and accessible guide.

This is a work with a journey of its own -- as a third edition, there are stories within the making of it. Vogler relates some of these, which include some major motion pictures experiences (one of the primary storytelling vehicles of the twentieth century) in his introduction. This has developed also in part due to critique and questions Vogler has received over time. One of those is that this is formulaic. Films, television shows, songs, poems, stories -- all of these are susceptible to being formulaic, and there is a fine line between following a form and being a slave to the formula.

This guide is practical. For those with experience writing, it can be a bit of a retreat, and, in truth, a bit simple. But for those looking to break into writing and have little experience with how to craft a story, this can be a good guide. While we are surrounded by stories in our lives, many of us don't quite know how to tell them well. Vogler's book gives insight into a process for making meaning and making sense while doing so.

Based on content alone, I would have considered three stars; however, I have a hard time accepting *writing* advice from a book so badly written. I realize Mr. Vogler is a story analyst, not a writer. Still, the style here is atrocious, often to the point of distraction.

As he describes various films, he frequently jumbles his characters and his actors, creating a rambling, grammatically nightmarish style: "Recurring mentors include 'The Chief' on 'Get Smart', Will Geer and Ellen Corby as the grandparents on 'The Waltons', Alfred in 'Batman', James Earl Jones' CIA official in Patriot Games and The Hunt for Red October, etc." (For the record, I typed this sentence exactly as it appears in the book, other than my inability to italicize the Jack Ryan titles. Yes, those commas are found outside the quotation marks; yes, Mr. Jones's name is made plural possessive.) This utter disregard for parallelism can be found on nearly every page. In addition, Mr. Vogler refers to some characters only by their names ("In the film The Last of the Mohicans, Major Duncan Hayward is the rival of hero Nathaniel Poe..."); he refers to still others as only the names of the actors ("James Stewart forces Kim Novak to change her hair and clothing ..."). I was left with the feeling of a first draft, as if Mr. Vogler hadn't yet looked up the names he couldn't recall.

If you can overlook these stylistic eyesores (obviously, I have a difficult time doing so), you might find something useful in these pages. Or you might not. As demonstrated by the variety of reviews, this book's usefulness really depends on the reader.

Do you have an intermediate grasp of mythology and archetypes? You'll be bored by this. Have you read Joseph Campbell's _The Hero With A Thousand Faces_? You'll probably wonder why anyone bothered to publish this, because Mr. Vogler quotes and paraphrases Mr. Campbell to a worshipful degree. Do you write with characters in your mind first, and let them "tell you what to do" in terms of plot? You'll want to approach this book as a road you can wander from, not a roller coaster track you must stick to or die. Do you have some fully developed characters you'd love to explore, but struggle with plot? This book (as well as any study of archetypes) can help you find some signposts to guide your way. Are you entirely unschooled in archetypes and mythology but would like to learn? This book isn't the best starting place available, but I doubt it's the worst.

Before you start reading, examine your writing goals and your knowledge of archetypes to decide if this one is worthwhile for you. (Oh, and examine yourself for grammatical-OCD tendencies to decide if you can endure it.)

As a teacher my interest in the book was not so much in the hopes I would learn how to write a smashing new hit for Hollywood as how I could better see the patterns in narrative and relate them to my students. Certainly Campbell will remain a first choice in that regard but this suggests some interesting new facets as well. Perhaps a problem with contemporary story telling is the need to shock. Understanding the patterns that have traditionally worked may not help directly in a postmodern world that has seen the death of art though they may still be useful as a via negativa. Congratulations to those who have succeeded in their writing careers despite having read the book.

As someone who applied Joseph Campbell's earlier work to my own 'Virtual Trilogy' of novels ( see Virtually Maria (Virtual Trilogy) and A Matter of Time) I found this book a useful interpretation of Campbell's theories to the modern medium of film and contemporary novels.

However, it is by no means as comprehensive as the original on which it is based and anyone reading it would be well advised (in my view) to read Campbell's work in depth. Nevertheless "The Writer's Journey" is a useful addition to any writer's reference library and fun to think of when you are watching any of the movies to which it refers.

We bought this book to accompany the Butterfly Pavilion from amazon.com. This book was a little above her level of understanding, she is only 2 after all. She did get the gist of it. Great illustrations and concise.

Excellent book- my 3 & 5 yr. olds loved it, and it was easy enough for them to understand, yet descriptive enough that they were intrigued. We bought it in preparation for buying a butterfly habitat to watch the process ourselves. Great learning experience.

I am very much impressed with this series of books, as I have ordered 4 of them. Your service is great and I continue to enjoy doing business with you.

I bought this book with the butterfly graden and we gave it as a birthday present. By the time the caterpillars came in the mail she was so excited and she new everything that was going to happen. This was propbably the best birthday gift I could have given an animal loving child. I will give this gift over and over again.

I bought this book for my friend's three-year old, who has been facinated recently with butterflies. I can see that he'll be interested now - and he'll be able to grow into the more detailed information later.

This review is purely as to the flaws of the Kindle transfer -- the book itself is a masterpiece I've reread with pleasure on paper over the years. Unfortunately the transfer is a rough scanned-PDF type that is MUCH harder to read than other Kindle books. Caveat Emptor.

This book is full of infomation about the times of the Civil War. Very informative about why things happened. Excellent.

If you wanted to read just one book to get an understanding of the Civil War and its effects on the United States, you could do little better than James PcPherson's book. It is an intimidating book at over 800 pages. This thickness comes from the fact that the book does not just cover the battles from 1861 through 1865, but examines the political war that took place long before the armed conflict continued the "politics through other means".

The book has a fascinating focus on the political dimension that may distract from those solely interested in a tactical account of the battles. There are ample books that look into greater detail of the personalities of the generals and the intricacies of the individual battles. The Battle Cry of Freedom covers these battles and their key points, but this is not the focus of this book.

Where this book is unique in other civil war books that I have read is its treatment of the political-military aspect of the war. It has an excellent examination of the political situations that gave rise to the Republican party and the debates between radicals and moderates even within this party. It goes to great lengths examining how the democratic party, whig party, no-nothings and numerous other parties influenced the political scene.

During the war this political examination gives great treatment to the political challenges that both leaders, Lincoln and Davis, faced within their governments and how they tackled issues that are eerily familiar today - the legality and constitutionality of war and the suspicion of civil liberties (to include habeas corpus) during war.

McPherson closes his book with a very well reasoned look at how the civil war altered the course of the nation and made us the nation we are today, versus the union that we were before. While there are fascinating studies of the leadership and battles of the armed conflict, this books places these studies within the larger context that is crucial to anyone who wants to have a full understanding of the Civil War and what it truly meant to American civilization and culture.

In my humble opinion, Battle Cry of Freedom is one of the best one-volume histories of the Civil War. All aspects are covered: military, political, social, economic, etc.

The narrative flows smoothly, is easy and interesting to read without being overly dry or bogged down into too much detail, and is broad in the width of topics covered. The battle descriptions give enough detail of who won and the results. McPherson does a good job of the situations faced by and strategies employed by Lincoln, Davis, Grant, Lee, Sherman, Jackson, and a host of other military and political leaders.

If you are looking for a book that covers the "high points" of the war, then this one's for you. However, if you are looking for a book for detailed battle descriptions or biographies, then you are better off looking elsewhere. It just depends on what you are looking for.

Again, a highly recommended introductory study to the American Civil War. Expand the knowledge you learn in Battle Cry of Freedom by reading books on detailed battles or biographies.

Read and enjoy!

Yes, this is an excellent political history. But it is marred by political correctness. The culture of American Indians was "vital," we learn, and all Indians are treated strictly as victims. Southerners are almost without exception villainous. Little is said of Lincoln's view of the alleged inferiority of blacks before 1860. And there is no mention of Nat Turner!

Perhaps the author had no choice, given the nature of academia today. I continue to prefer earlier versions of American history, without the PC.

What an adorable book! This is a great way to teach geometry, and the colors are amazing. I as a teacher appreciate the obvious math connections, but on the deeper level you can make this a story of being true to yourself and recognizing your own greatness (truly, the triangle is indeed one of the strongest shapes despite having a mere three sides). The shapes come to life, especially the title Triangle, and the reader becomes both annoyed and supportive of him as he goes through his bizarre and clever journey through the world of geometry. Adorable story and gorgeous illustrations.

It is a great way to learn about shapes for kids! With a little moral to the story! :)

The paperback version of Marilyn Burns' tale of a dissatisfied triangle is bright, colorful and full of real life references. Children grasp the concepts of polygons and their uses through this fun story of a triangle who ends up alienating its friends after visiting the shapeshifter far too many times. Discovering in the end, "there's no place like home!"Greedy Triangle (Scholastic Bookshelf)

I really liked this book - very whimsical! It would be great for kids who are just learning about shapes as well as those who need to review.

This is a very cute book about shapes and is perfect as an introduction for children who have moved beyond basic circles, squares, and ovals. It introduces children to the triangle and works its way up to a decadron (although it defines a dodecadron at the back of the book when the story is over). I liked how it showed children where different shapes can be found in everyday life, and how a shape morphs just from adding one more side to an already existing shape. The story is cute, and it is a much nicer way for children to learn about shapes than most of the standard books that just show a drawing of something and then show a word to describe the object.

The book was sent promptly and was exactly as advertised.

Great service!

I read this book on the way to Sydney a couple of years ago at the beginning of a project assignment which called for me to spend about six weeks there. I enjoyed the author's writing style much more than a typical travel book. However, despite the light tone and the many humorous anecdotes, I found that Mr. Bryson really did effectively capture a "feel" for the culture. Time and again, as I interacted with the people while working with them, I was reminded of a passage in the book. I beleive that reading the book helped me relate to the people more easily. Highly recommended.

Everything you never knew about Australia, presented in entertaining prose. I'm reading this book for the 2nd time and enjoying it quite as much as the first. My only complaint with this book is the map provided in the front - hand drawn and almost completely useless, it shows maybe half of the places mentioned in the book.

I initially bought the CD version of Sunburned Country thinking it would keep me from driving off I-5 into a feedlot while traversing San Francisco to LA and back. As it turned out - Mr. Bryson's account is so much more than caffeine or background entertainment that I must revisit this book (without the roar of Big Rigs or BMW's) to experience the details, wonderful insight, amazing adventures and most of all - hilarious perspective that he brings to Australia. Hearing it read by the author adds the perfect pitch to this journey, which has made this "book" a treasure!!

Bill Bryson's take on Australia is hilarious. I'm going there in a few weeks and can't wait to compare my experiences with him. This is a book that will have you chuckling, laughing out loud and then marveling at his insight and sense of humor. A must read for anyone interested in Australia and that part of the world.

Quite Frankly, this new Holt Phyiscs book, does NOT cover all the content that is involved in the detailed study of Physics. Not only that, but it leaves out some of the most important principles that are in physics. For example, Chapter 5-2, we talk about Energy, it doesn't give the law of conservation of energy, which is one of the most important laws in physics. It also when talking about Newton's laws, doesn't use the ideas that Newton had. There are so many things missing, I could go on forever, I wish I could give this book a negative score, but I can't do so. I'm currently in Physics at my school, and I like to study Physics in my spare time. Serway is a very good author of the college books, that I have, but this one does not cut it for a full understanding of Physics.

This was the text book used in my honors physics class. Though it may not go into extremely advanced issues, it does touch on A LOT of material, including basic collisions, fluids, rotational motion, relativity (a bit), and even some quantum mechanics. This book is definitely useful to anyone who wants a better education in basic physics and a start into somewhat beginner's advanced physics.

This is an excellent Physics manual and defines what a good physics textbook should be about. Excellent graphics and well defined explanations. A great resource for teacher and student alike.

Received book in excellent condition. The price was fair. It was cheaper than my college bookstore, but more expensive than purchasing it used at unknown websites. I prefered paying the extra amount for the piece of mind.

This book is a very interesting book that covers all the basic topics of modern computer science. It is very in-depth and very informative. When I first read the book I was confused and did not understand the text but once you look at the many illustration the information makes sense. This book is a very good book for any college level computer science class.

I just finished using the Computer Science Illuminated textbook, and I found it extremely helpful. I think that the explanations in the book are easy to follow and are a valuable assest to learning new concepts. The textbook also highlights the most important vocabulary words in the margins so it is easy to find the definitions of many terms. There are also many helpful visual aids in the book, such as charts and graphs, which makes learning new material much easier.

What I found to be best about the book is the Excercises and practice problems at the end of each chapter. They are a good tool to test your vocabulary and evaluate your progress thorughout the chapter. The problems are also a great way to prepare for tests, as they are very helpful when trying to study. The only little thing I don't like about the book is the summaries at the end of each chapter. Although the book is easy to read and skim through, I don't think the summaries have enough information in them to give a good overview of the chapter. However, I would recommend this textbook to all students studying computer science.

For the most part, I found Computer Science Illuminated to be textbook that emphasized clarity with details and definitions. It was helpful to me, a freshman college student taking computer science for the first time, because at the end of each chapter it contained questions that were good aids in understanding the chapter's material. I also found the charts and figures illustrating important terms and concepts to be helpful to my understanding as I read.
While the chapters were clearly organized and finding a definition was simple, the difficulty I found was in the synthesis of the chapters. This was the first time I've taken computer science and most of the information was new to me so putting it all together was difficult. It seemed sometimes the book assumed the reader understood how the concepts came together, but after even reading it over a few times, I was still confused. Overall I would recommend this book to someone looking for a basic overview of computer science.

I am currently using this text for the fifth time in my survey course for non-majors. It does exactly what I want it to do: it gives the students a feel for each of the topics with just enough depth to be rigorous for non-majors without being overwhelming. It's not perfect for my tastes; I do less than a full chapter, for example, when talking about languages (only covering the introductions to Chapters 7 and 8), whereas I do a full week on an expanded coverage of databases (Chapter 12). But I have a hard time imagining a text with a better fit, and I have used this since its first edition.

The book arrive as described. I thought the audio CD's were included but its still good.

easy to understand and learn from, it is a textbook so that's what you are getting. Good pictures and diagrams so far. I bought here because it had the best price.

I ordered this book/ cd set because it was required text for a college class. It is well organized and clearly written. I especially like the way the listening guides in the book refer to specific portions of songs which are recorded so that the entire work can be played seemlessly in its entirity, or specific portions can be accessed individually.
The only thing this work lacks is impossible for any work that attempts to offer a complete appreciation of music to achieve, complete scope.
I recommend this set.

This book does a good job of putting music in an overall historical context. For example, it notes how Baroque productions, whether sculpture or music, meant to "fill space." That accounts for elaborate melodies in music, and movement in painting and sculpture.

Music used to be written as much for the mind as the ear. In some vocal pieces, lyrics correspond to melody. For example, if the word "ascending" is used in the song, the notes of the melody also go up. Vice-versa for descending. If the song mentions one person, a single voice is used--three voices come in when three people are in the storyline.

The musical selections are varied and enjoyable to listen to.

would buy from again everything just as promised and recieved book fast

My parents gave me this book when I was little and it was very informative, but not too detailed. Just right for a grade school child.
I know have my own children and I'm so relieved to find this book again. My son has started to ask some questions and this book was great.

this book is an excellent tool for helping kids understand the "facts of life". reading with the kids and explaining as you go really helps them to understand the concepts and participate in the conversation.

This book is a classic for explaining the birds and the bees to small kids. It's illustrated in a cartoony, friendly style and explains sex in a way that's comprehensible from a child's point of view. I don't think it crosses the line of what an average parent would consider "too much information".

The couple depicted are slightly chubby and middle-aged, quite the stereotype of a mummy and daddy. On one page they are standing together nude and smiling at the reader. On the page that explains sexual intercourse, they're under the blankets, so don't worry about kids seeing too much. Sex is explained as being like "skipping rope" - it feels good but you get too tired to do it forever! Sounds funny from an adult's perspective but I guess it's a good way to explain to a small child why grown-ups like it.

The book also explains fertilization down at the cellular level (the endpapers feature a cartoon egg being presented with a rose by a sperm) and pregnancy and childbirth in brief.

I read the book around age 5 or 6. My parents didn't want to have to explain this stuff face-to-face and I was an early reader =)

I got the movie and book as a "pack" after our 5 year old asked about sex and babies. Yes SEX and babies....horrifying thought isn't it.

I enjoyed how it explained what really happens to make a baby. How it takes a man and a woman, sperm and eggs etc. And I liked how they used "LOVE" in a lot of it. It was all about the man and the woman loving each other. :)


What I could have done with out was the detail about sex.

To me they just went a little to far...I would have left it at the man and woman are naked and very close to each other...end of story.

The book however goes into detail about the man putting his penis into the woman's vagina and wiggling around. Then explains how it has the same feeling as being tickled. Its one thing to know that "sex" is the reason babies are made, but not a manual for how it's done. Luckily in the book you can skip over it (until they learn to read anyway.)

I think this is a good way to introduce a child to sex and babies,but even better when they are younger and you can add your own morals to the story. (Marriage (which is not mentioned), God for people who are religious etc).

This is the book that my mom read to me when I began to ask about sex. However, we ordered this and "It's So Amazing" and opted to use the latter to discuss sex with our seven year old. "It's So Amazing" has a more biological approach and that is what our daughter was most curious about. Also, I felt that the other book was more comprehensive and will be a valuable asset in the continued discussion.