Westerns Books

While studying philosophy at university, I was fortunate enough to have read this book. Some years hence, I am now middle management at a Fortune 500 company (it's very strange to me), and have just recently re-read it. The ideas about egalitarian models of leadership in this book are almost solely responsible for allowing me to remain a fundamentally good person. Without this book, I know there would have been instances where I would have done things unthinkingly and in error.

Why am I giving this book a five star rating? Because this work is an effort at a new theory that is systematic and terminologically consistent and must have been a torture for the writers to conjure up in their head.

It certainly is a torture to read this work. Not because I can't understand hard-core philosophy - I have read, understood and liked Hegel, Heidegger, Sartre and Derrida, considered amongst the most abstruse stylists - but because it is difficult to empathize with writers who characterize themselves and their readers as 'desiring machines' rather than as subjects with consciousness and will.

Is desire the only thing that defines human beings - what about will, thinking, compassion, judgment? And further why am I supposed to be a machine and in what sense? These are the questions that came to my mind. The authors never explain. The question of the subject is dismissed in one sentence.

It is also difficult to agree with writers who dismiss all seeking of power and all active resistance by implication as fascism and preach escape/flight as the most radical ideology of resistance and hope.

And it is difficult to find hope in the vain jargon of molecular vs. molar, in the lines of escape or flight, or in a schizoid approach to life (a schizophrenic has no control over himself - is a machine and hence is the authors' favorite).

The authors fail in their synthesis of Marx and Freud although they come close and fail to understand Nietzsche, one of their favorite philosophers. Marx, Freud and Nietzsche would turn violently in their graves, if they ever know what Deleuze/Guattari did to their philosophies. They speculations on incest, kinship etc., are just too weak, sketchy and merely assertoric to be taken seriously.

I do not endorse the philosophy of Deleuze/Guattari. To be sure they offer brilliant insights but their line of argument has as many holes as Swiss cheese.

Yet there are a few things that are brilliant in the work and it certainly remains an original and challenging work. Having, stated my disappointment with the work, now let me also state the better aspects of this work. This work has a very well argued theory of control mechanisms in primitive, barbarian and capitalist societies.

The authors rightly point out that capitalism governs well because it always generates new rules to survive (new axiomatic) and controls because all social codes are 'decoded' (de-codified) into flows (loose, lawlike systems of control) and de-territorialized. (Other writers have explained the same things in simpler jargon, but Deleuze-Guattari need to be given due credit for the brilliance of their analysis of capitalism, although their libidnalization of economics doesn't add anything valueable to the analysis of either libido or economics and seems forced).

The other hallmark of this work is that it offers one of the more interesting critiques of Freud's Oedipal complex, psychotherapy and its role in making humans conformist. They demolish the Daddy-Mommy-Me triangle and its implications in making us conformists quite effectively.

However, it may be borne in mind that there have been better criticisms of Freud's theories and Deleuze/Guattari are in some respects more Freudian than Freud with their libidinal interpretations of human beings as desiring machines and of economy as investment of desire (libidnal economy).

To sum up, this work is worth reading for its analysis of capitalism, and to some extent for its critique of psychoanalysis. However this is not a work that offers hope for the oppressed or an agenda for political action although followers of Deleuze/Guattari like Antonio Negri and Alain Badiou take their philosophy in a more positive direction. The best portion is the third section, followed by second. The least satisfactory portions and the last and the first, although they are essential to read in order to understand the relevant middle portion of the work.

And of course human beings are not desiring machines no matter what Deleuze/Guattari say. Beyond a metaphor, machinism is delusory. We are what we are. Happy to be human and animal rather than machines. Much as post-structuralist and post-modernists dismiss the question of the subject, the question remains - alive and active and kicking.

What a dialectical post-modern absurdity that is the meaning of the life of some random people, clumped together in a multiplicity of neo-Neitzschean thought-waves.

Get what you will from this book, it is wordy--on purpose--and was written to try to piss you off. You may or may not get pissed off, but you will certainly take away something from this book: either a) it is stupid and so is D+G, or b) it is a solid critique of Freud and all those globe-controlling institutions that subliminally followed in his footsteps.

This one is classic. I read it first, a long time ago, before I read A Thousand Plateaus. ATP is a lot more accessible. I recommend that you read Eugene Holland's commentary on Anti-Oedipus while you read D&G. And, by the way, there is a new Deleuze Dictionary out that is very useful. On the other hand, it is fun to read D&G when you have no idea what the hell they are going on about. If you do then you have to work hard and be more creative, really making the book your own. I think that was D&G's intention. They make themselves almost impossible to use (in a name-dropping way) superficially. If one does that, then one just ends up sounding like an idiot.

Although Deleuze and Guattari are usually invoked as part of a "postmodernist" litany, this work is refreshingly different from most postwar French theory. Derrida and Foucault, for all their revolutionary ambitions, are fairly traditional *maitre-penseurs*: the expectation is that you have a tip-top understanding of Hegel and other historical heavyweights, the better to appreciate their reversal. By contrast, *Anti-Oedipus* resembles nothing so much as the "philosophical" part of a work of hip science fiction: the line of argument is neither dialectically nor formally elaborated, but asserts only its plausibility in the context of the world being evoked.

I say this as a form of praise: in fact, unless you are (somewhat foolishly) expecting that an "intimate" knowledge of this book will advance your academic fortunes, your reading doesn't have to be especially careful to get something useful out of the book. As for its relation to thinkers who are properly venerated in the academy, it is (for all its contrariness) more accepting of Freud and Marx than most contemporary discourse is, so it actually isn't all that devastating a critique of them. But the enthusiasm they display for new hypotheses about these two is infectious: this is a book that makes you want to read *more* economics and psychology, not slam your head against the wall in protest against the impossibility of all understanding.

In the theory of schizophrenia advanced here, the "clinical" schizophrenic is carefully marked off from their treatment of schizophrenia as a process, so the anti-psychiatric implications of the book are only of the most general kind. Furthermore, a great deal of this process is elaborated with respect to imaginative literature by eccentric writers, not case studies of the clinically ill. But this means the results are not fundamentally incompatible with a contemporary understanding of psychotic illnesses: what opposes their resituation of schizoid desire as located at the most basic levels of work and social interaction are the normative intentions of those who study and control (or simply detest) the mentally ill, not scientific findings per se.

A thought-provoking book requiring no "theory" masochism to enjoy.

It is undeniable that J.M. Synge was a very important Irish playwright of the early 20th century. These plays, especially, "Playboy of the Western World," are pivotal to Irish literature, and now, Irish culture. Any serious student of British drama, or actor should read both of these plays.

On the other hand, it may not be an ideal idea for someone that does not fall into one of those two catagories. The dialectic style is very thick, and at times difficult to understand. "Playboy," an important (and early) Irish peasant drama is beautifully writen, but for a casual reader it would probably come off as a slow read that is not all that entertaining.

Important work from cultural and recent historical perspectives, but these plays are very dated and, as I mentioned, not the most entertaining read.

First off, I write in favor of the works of Synge; yet, I find it unfortunate that Amazon is not offering a better version than the Dover Thrift. Synge's symbolism will pull you in and embrace you and warm out to his style. John Millington Synge was a lover of words and dialect, he even says that he only used words that he heard being used in Ireland. Both of these plays are well written and full of symbolism. For the serious love of Irish Literature or drama, J.M. Synge is a must. Read on...

I have never received these books. They were due on June 1-5, 07. It is now July 13th. I placed the order the first week in May. This is slo even for Mexico mail. However, I know the Peterson series and they are usually excellent.

I love this book because I have the National Audubon Society First Field Guide for reptiles and I would often run in to reptile that the I couldn't Identify. I knew that I needed a bigger better book. So I bought the western and eastern Peterson Field guide for reptiles and amphibians and it had a lot more reptiles and it had amphibians which I never had a book that had information about them before, it has a lot more reptiles and it's shows you were they are each located. It give you a detailed description of each animal and a detailed drawing of each animal. Because of this I have been able to identify reptiles and amphibian that I couldn't before. I don't like that they use drawing of the animals instead of pictures and the drawings just show the heads of the snakes.

great detail & pictures are in color this edition! Maps are in color also! This is helpful when out in the field looking for your "herps". Thanks to Robert Stebbins & all involved in compling all the data needed for the updated guide

Stebbins does it again. As a biologist who works throughout southern California I find this book indispensable. It is a vast improvement to the last edition (which was very good to begin with) with lots of color photos, many more color plates and the range maps are great too, again with color. It has revised the taxonomy of many species and included a many of the lastest subspecies designations. This book is easy to use from the novice to the advanced and should be in any nature enthusiasts library.

This field guide is very well organized and illustrated. It is quite complete. With over 300 pages of information this is a must for westerners.

Alpha male meets alpha female and the sparks fly!

You needn't like westerns to love this book. Caine is the epitome of 'alpha-hunk'-a man of passion, compassion, warmth, depth, understanding & humor.

Desi is fearless, many times to her detriment. Her will & stubborness, combined with Caine's personality, make for an often laugh-out-loud-humorous read.

Absorbing plot, witty dialogue, adventure, continuous sexual tension & blazing hot sex. ***Contains bondage, anal sex, spanking.
First in Hell's Eight Series. #2=Sam's Creed 7-1-8 release date.

I am a big Sarah McCarty fan and I have all of her Promise Series books. I was exitedly looking forward to her books with the new publisher but I fear that the editors that work for Harlequin messed with something that wasn't broke. The ebooks under this author with Ellora's Cave are fantastic. They are easy reads and the stories flow, allowing your mind to envision yourself right in the old west. In Cain's Reckoning the storyline is sound the characters are well developed and you feel that you can get to love them but in the love scenes it's like Harlequin didn't want it to be too erotic. The scene will be rolling along and then just cut off leaving you wondering what the hell happened. On several occasions I had to go back and re-read a section to get a clear picture of what was going on in the scene. They chopped it up and edited it to within an inch of its life, so much so that it's disjointed like a dvd that skips and starts at another place further along. I feel that the editor of this book cut out a lot of vital imagery that would have made the story rock. I think Sarah McCarty made a huge mistake when she contracted with Harlequin because their spice line is much too prim for her stories and they ruin what could have been a novel on the level of her Promise Series books.

I devoured Sarah's past books within hours and enjoyed each one in her Promise series but sadly she's had to cut some of the "steam" you'd witness in her other novels in my opinion. Sadly the retail book world is not ready for an electrifying author like Sarah and you can see as such in this book and the editing of the love scenes.

Sadly this one is a bit lacking. I adore the author with a passion but I hope this novel doesn't set the scene for upcoming novels by Spice!

A fine author that's resorting to editing her passionate nation for a wholesale book line!

I agree with the other reviewers that mentioned the book was too long as well. I wouldn't have minded if it was as good as the Promise series but it was seriously grating on my nerves towards the end and I had grind myself towards the disappointing finish.


Stick with E-books Sarah! I'd love it much more!

Anyone with me?

The length of a novel wouldn't bother if I am hooked on the story, however, this wasn't the case. The details of each day became ponderous. About 250 pages in, I realized the characters were only in day two or three-they met in the first few pages-and they hadn't done anything interesting. I actually would skip two or three pages at a time and realize I didn't miss a thing.

Desi's character, while I can sympathize to an extent with her, got on my nerves by the end of the book when she still had the same 'issues' with Caine. Personally, even without her personal problems, I didn't see anything lovable about her. What did Caine see in her?

While the love scenes were hot, they certainly didn't make me blush. I bought this book based on the rave reviews, however, I was not impressed.

Caine Allen is a Texas Ranger and a member of Hell's Eight, a group of rough men who have fought and killed their way to a reputation of being ruthless, fearless, and ambitious. When Caine and his friends are sent after a group of kidnapped women, Caine is almost disappointed at how stupid the kidnappers are. They haven't managed to cover their tracks very well and the women can be heard screaming from a distance. It's going to be his pleasure to put these idiots out of their misery. But when Caine gets closer to their camp, one of the women catches his eye. With long blond hair and big blue eyes, she stands one to one against her captors with nothing but grit and determination to protect her--and she puts a pretty big fight.

Caine soon learns that this woman is name Desi, and she's the one he's specifically been sent to retrieve. The other women in the party are jealous of her, calling her scandalous names and implying that she has a way of tempting men that is unholy. And Desi doesn't defend herself against their accusations. What she does do is run. Repeatedly. She tells Caine that if he takes her back to her people, she'll die there, and the look in her eyes lets him know that she means it. When Caine gets back to town and sees the untrustworthy guardian she's been assigned and how his hands clench when he looks at Desi, and the guardian's friends who all look at Desi with lust in their eyes, he knows he can't leave her there. Making good on the promise to take care of her, Caine takes Desi back to Hell's Eight with him, where he can protect her and know that she's safe. And the only way to get away with it is to make her his wife.

Caine's Reckoning, Sarah McCarty, and the Hell's Eight books have just gone on my auto-buy list. This book was so good! To begin with Caine, I couldn't think of a better hero. He's alpha, protective, dependable, and hot hot hot! From the minute he decides that Desi's going to be his, that's the end of it. And when he learns the treatment that she suffered at the hands of her guardian and his cronies, the second thing on his list of things to do becomes to avenge her honor. But first he's got to take care of his woman and let her know that she's safe. And boy, does he.

If you've got a problem with damaged heroines, this is certainly not the book for you. Desi is broken by the time Caine gets to her, though she's still got a lot of fight left. It's just she's had to endure a harsh life--her parents were killed, her sister is missing, and she's been used and abused for so long she doesn't believe that she actually deserves to be treated gently. Even though Caine and his friends do nothing to rile her, everything to show her that she's safe with them and that they'll protect her, the past abuse colors her judgment from the start.

I know a lot of people think this book is too long, but because of Desi's past, I felt every bit of it was necessary. The thoughtful, careful descriptions of how Caine breaks down the walls she's erected, the tender, gentle way that he cares for her and gains her trust, and the time and care he takes to show her that what happened to her wasn't her fault and that he is not going to let her past affect their future, were absolutely integral to the plot and I wouldn't have had it any other way. This book was so so good that if I hadn't finished it at midnight I probably would have gone out right then and bought the next book in the series, Sam's Creed (Hell's Eight). I'm DYING to know what happens next in this series, and can't wait to get my hands on some of McCarty's other books. If you like erotic romance that doesn't shy away from harsher topics, if you like your heroes alpha, and if you're wondering where all the good western romances have gone, Caine's Reckoning has got you covered on all fronts.

I love Diana Palmer and her books. Yes, I have seen some similarities, yet I have also encountered some differences. I read them more to get each of the characters histories and stories of how they ended up where they are. I loved this book as well as the others I have read to date, but I have to say Colby Lane will always hold my heart above all these other men... I have a thing for the hot, ex-mercenaries!

Another good book in a long line of Jacobsville hotties. If you like Diana Palmer, then this book you'll love. Stuart is another hottie, but refuses to give into the young woman who captured his heart.

Ivy, has had a very sad life, and nothing seems to go her way. With the support of her best girlfriend, she finds life bearable. She is independant, with a big heart. Forgiving a sister who spread wicked lies about her shows the depth of her character.

Ivy soon finds herself thrust into the middle of a drug smuggling ring, and the man of her dreams comes to the rescue, picking up the pieces of her shattered world.

First, let me say that I am a Diana Palmer fan. I have usually felt a Diana Palmer book comes with a "guarantee" that it will be worth the read (and money!). Winter Roses just does not deliver. By the time I reached chapter 2, I was wondering if Ms. Palmer had really written the book (or proof read it). There are several instances where she contradicts herself in the story. It's horrible when an author can't remember what s/he wrote in the previous 10 pages. The plot and relationships are not well developed. I did not feel the connection at all! This book was a huge disappointment and difficult to even finish. I'll definitely read the reviews before I purchase another Diana Palmer book.

I bought this book on impulse. I wish I had read the reviews first. This is truly one of the worst books I have ever read. I won't detail this book's many faults as they have been adequately described by other reviewers.

This book was so bad that I won't ever buy another book by this writer. I understand that she is quite popular. Why, I cannot fathom.

The is one of the worst books in any genre I have ever read! Most of the story centered on the druggie sister and how mean she was to poor Ivy. There were so many possibilities with secondary characters that never materialized. In fact, there wasn't much between the primary characters either! SAVE YOUR MONEY!

This is the second book about Matt Jensen, I think, its a fun escape book of the west. If you like westerns like Louie L'Amour, you will enjoy reading these books!

To write a book about rap and hip hop, and to not once mention homophobia, is an extremely glaring oversight.

Imani breaks down the hermeneutics of hip hop with the same detail to nuance and complexity and rigor that a Greek Scholar devotes to Paul's Epistles or Plato's Republic. I agree with Cornel West: there isn't a better book on hip hop out there. She is both critical of Hip Hop's excesses as well as appreciative of its raw Dionysian energy. After reading it, I'm convinced that Imani will always be the smartest person in the room. I will use this for my Hip Hop and Urban America course.

Imani Perry is a wonderful writer and analyst. Her book is remarkable in its approach to the subject of Hip Hop's role in the black community.

"This clear, balanced book will help you understand the crucial political events, social and economic developments, ideas, and artistic creations that have helped to shape the Western world.

So clear, so balanced!
Thomas H. Greer and Gavin Lewis's A Brief History of the Western World will take you on a fascinating journey through Western civilization---a comprehensive view that gives you all the information you need in half the length of conventional survey texts.

In addition, the Ninth Edition includes so much that is new:
* An entirely new Prologue, "What Is Western Civilization?" that provides guidance on fundamental questions involved in the study of Western history

* A greatly expanded map program that incorporates full-color, spot maps, and icons for maps that appear in interactive form on the Western Civilization Resource Center

* An entirely new chapter devoted to events in recent history that helps you understand today's major political, economic, and cultural issues

* Expanded map and figure captions that enrich the reader's experienced of the places and events of the past

* A vivid, full-color design that enhances maps, timelines, and illustrations."

"THIS IS THE BEST ONE-VOLUME SURVEY OF WESTERN HISTORY THAT I KNOW OF."
---Warren Treadgold, St. Louis University

[from the book of the back cover]