The Savage Detectives: A Novel
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • One of the few original, innovative authors
  • Bolano = Lezama-Lima
  • Who are the savage detectives?
  • Magical Mexican Mystery Tour
  • So Visceral, So Real
The Savage Detectives: A Novel
Roberto Bolano
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374191484
Release Date: 2007-04-03

Amazon.com

The late Chilean writer Roberto Bolaño has been called the García Marquez of his generation, but his novel The Savage Detectives is a lot closer to Y Tu Mamá También than it is to One Hundred Years of Solitude. Hilarious and sexy, meandering and melancholy, full of inside jokes about Latin American literati that you don't have to understand to enjoy, The Savage Detectives is a companionable and complicated road trip through Mexico City, Barcelona, Israel, Liberia, and finally the desert of northern Mexico. It's the first of Bolaño's two giant masterpieces to be translated into English (the second, 2666, is due out next year), and you can see how he's influenced an era. --Tom Nissley

Questions for Translator Natasha Wimmer

Natasha Wimmer translated books by Mario Vargas Llosa and Bolaño's good friend Rodrigo Fresán, among others, before tackling Bolaño's two long novels, The Savage Detectives and the upcoming 2666, which have had an immeasurable impact on modern Latin American fiction (and perhaps now on Anglo American writing as well). We asked her a few questions about the process of bringing such a vast and vital book into English.

Amazon.com: How did you come to literary translation, and to translating a work of such prestige? Is the community of Spanish-to-English literary translators small, given Americans' famous lack of interest in translated work?

Wimmer: Luck, really. I lived in Spain when I was little, which is where I learned Spanish, and then I studied Spanish literature in college, but it was a job in publishing--at FSG, the publisher of The Savage Detectives--that made me realize that literary translation was something I could try. I've been translating now for eight years. My first project was a novel by the Cuban writer Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, Dirty Havana Trilogy, and since then I've worked on books by Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel Zaid, Rodrigo Fresán, and Laura Restrepo. When I read The Savage Detectives, I thought it was one of the best novels I had read in any language in years, but I was sure there was no chance I would get to translate it. Bolaño already had a great translator--Chris Andrews. But Andrews couldn't do it, and I was the extremely fortunate runner-up.

The community of full-time translators is definitely small--it's hard to make a living. But there are many great occasional translators--professors, editors, writers.

Amazon.com: We're told that Bolaño towers over his generation of writers (and I can believe it). What did he do that was new? What has his influence been?

Wimmer: Bolaño was (is) the first to make a true break from the legacy of the Boom. Many other writers of his generation, and younger writers, too, have tried and are still trying to make a literature of their own, one that doesn't languish in the long shadow of García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, and the other novelists who exploded on the world scene in the 1960s. Bolaño made the leap seem effortless. The writers of the Boom put Latin America on the map. Bolaño creates a Latin America of the mind, a post-nationalist Latin America filtered through a rootless, restless, uncompromising literary sensibility.

Amazon.com: Could you describe Bolaño's style and his sentences? (I love his parentheses.) How did you handle the dozens of voices in The Savage Detectives?

Wimmer: Bolaño is both a maximalist and a classicist. He loves to play with excess, with the notion of reckless abandon, but beneath that there is a very careful sense of balance. He was a poet for many years before he became a novelist, and he is an endlessly inventive stylist. But--more rarely for a poet--he also has an unerring sense of character and a palpable fondness for his characters. The Savage Detectives could never have worked otherwise. There are very few writers who could write a novel from the perspective of fifty-odd characters and make each character's story seem urgent and intimate.

From the translator's perspective, some voices were definitely more difficult than others, but I rarely felt that I had to strain to make them distinct from each other. Mostly, it just involved following Bolaño's cues. The hardest thing, oddly enough, was getting the rhythm of his sentences right. There is something syncopated and unpredictable about them that would have been all too easy to smooth over as a translator, and I made a concerted effort not to do that.

Amazon.com: All of his books are full of references to, and appearances by, Latin American writers both fictional and real and I'm sure as a clueless American reader I'm missing hundreds of inside jokes. What's it like to read his work when you actually know the people he's referring to?

Wimmer: It adds a little something, but not as much as you might think. And many of his references are obscure even to Spanish-language readers. There is something cultish and purposefully arcane about the literary world that Bolaño's protagonist, García Madero, yearns to join, and like García Madero, the reader is entranced by authors' names and book titles without knowing exactly where they come from.

Amazon.com: You are working on translating his other giant masterpiece, 2666, the even larger novel that he completed just before his death. How is it going? What can we expect from 2666?

Wimmer: It's an extremely long novel (1100 pages in the Spanish edition ), so it's a test of stamina, but it's going very well. Like The Savage Detectives, it revolves around a lost writer (Cesárea Tinajero in TSD and Benno von Archimboldi in 2666), and the crucial episodes take place in the north of Mexico, but it is a darker book. The lurking sense of dread that many of the characters feel in TSD becomes something more palpable and sharply defined in 2666, and is linked to the killings of women in the Mexican city of Santa Teresa (modeled on Ciudad Juárez) and the legacy of the wars of the 20th century, particularly World War II.

Book Description

New Year’s Eve, 1975: Arturo Belano and Ulises Lima, founders of the visceral realist movement in poetry, leave Mexico City in a borrowed white Impala. Their quest: to track down the obscure, vanished poet Cesárea Tinajero. A violent showdown in the Sonora desert turns search to flight; twenty years later Belano and Lima are still on the run.

The explosive first long work by “the most exciting writer to come from south of the Rio Grande in a long time” (Ilan Stavans, Los Angeles Times), The Savage Detectives follows Belano and Lima through the eyes of the people whose paths they cross in Central America, Europe, Israel, and West Africa. This chorus includes the muses of visceral realism, the beautiful Font sisters; their father, an architect interned in a Mexico City asylum; a sensitive young follower of Octavio Paz; a foul-mouthed American graduate student; a French girl with a taste for the Marquis de Sade; the great-granddaughter of Leon Trotsky; a Chilean stowaway with a mystical gift for numbers; the anorexic heiress to a Mexican underwear empire; an Argentinian photojournalist in Angola; and assorted hangers-on, detractors, critics, lovers, employers, vagabonds, real-life literary figures, and random acquaintances.

A polymathic descendant of Borges and Pynchon, Roberto Bolaño traces the hidden connection between literature and violence in a world where national boundaries are fluid and death lurks in the shadow of the avant-garde. The Savage Detectives is a dazzling original, the first great Latin American novel of the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars One of the few original, innovative authors.......2007-10-13

This book delivered the vigorous originality, warped magica realism, and gut-punching beauty that so, so many books pretend to be able to deliver. Bolano truly was a masterworker in an era of apprentice magicians.

I only wish I had the command of Spanish, and Latin American argot, necessary to enjoy what must be some complex layers of references embedded herein. I suspect, unlike most pretentious crossword puzzle-poets, the payoff would be worth it.

The book is a grail quest for a new manifesto, an attempt to uncover an Arthurian sword to shatter the prevailing aesthetic . . . and on this premise it takes all the great genre conventions -- quest narrative, buddy novels, hallucinatory explorer -- and comes up with a diary of the absurd that truly entertains and satisfies with its rough-handed skill. The pedestrian 'diary' format which reveals the plot is ingeniously ruined by the unpredictabilty of the various authors within the text . . . some who support, and some who dispute, the Quixote combat of the protagonists. It creates a hillarious cacophany, and Bolano's wild prose truly awed me with its skill and sincerity. It had both flash and guts, vision and technique . . . in a time when almost everybody is all technique and no vision.

Bolano gave me what so many NYTimes 'Best of!' failed to deliver: a truly original piece of prose, vigorous in its gaze, innovative in his views, and hotheaded in its rooms . . . one of the few books that made me walk around the room going, "YES!" Forget Jesuit schools for werewolves, cloud atlases, or wild sheep chases -- this book is one of those moments when prose truly becomes more than clever technique or science fiction ambition, but achieves a plateau of such individuality and raw force-of-nature sincerity that Art seems possible at last. Bolano is a bullfighter who has knocked off all the phone iconoclasts of 'innovative' prose.

5 out of 5 stars Bolano = Lezama-Lima.......2007-10-09

I venture to say that "The Savage Detectives" is the second best novel by a Latin-American writer. The inner workings of the book remind me of Lezama-Lima's "Paradiso." I would put him on the same level as Kafka, Nabokov and Genet. How sad he is not still w/ us.

5 out of 5 stars Who are the savage detectives?.......2007-10-05

This book is a translation of Roberto Bolaño's first full length novel after publishing short stories and poems. The novel probably suffers in the translation of mexicanismos; otherwise the author captures the flavor of the 60's - 90's literary scene, not only in Mexico but internationally. Structurally, this novel is interesting; three parts include standard narrative style and one part devoted entirely to testimonials, interviews, as if the police were interviewing witnesses. .Many characters are real persons, well-known poets and writers. It's not an easy book but after one gets into the book, it is difficult to stop reading. This novel won an important prize. The author died in 2003. Mario V argas Llosa points out that this is a brilliant novel and should receive more attentiion.

5 out of 5 stars Magical Mexican Mystery Tour.......2007-09-19

Well into The Savage Detectives, one character says to the other: "The visual arts are ultimately incomprehensible. Or they're so comprehensible that nobody, first and foremost myself, will accept the most obvious reading of them." Substitute "written" for the "visual" arts and you get a taste for what you are in for in this book: a combination of wisdom, puzzle and in-joke.

I loved the book and am now hunting down other Bolano novels. The Savage Detectives is not easy - two sections of conventional narrative set in Mexico about our poet heroes are split by nearly a 400 page section of oral history, almost like witness statements, from those who encountered them over the subsequent 20 years. The knowledge gained in this intervening section colours and adds a sense of melancholy when the initial narrative resumes. An obvious reference point is the film Y Tu Mama Tambien because of its Mexican setting, its young protagonists on a road trip, and the ephemeral nature of youth's passions (and lots of sex). While the novel's structure is challenging, it holds together because the voices are compelling. The characters ramble, digress, talk your ear off and engage in bawdy, violent and colourful adventures. There is a sense of urgency about their testimony, as though their experiences had to be recorded. While our picture of our main protagonists is never complete, often contradictory, there is a real power here. Bolano wrestles with representing the fullness of a life, while at the same time acknowledging the impossibility of ever doing so. We may be the centre of our own individual universes but in the end we are just dust in the wind.

This is a book to read at a good steady pace - too fast will mean you will not savour the words and small clues left along the way, too slow and you will lose track of the multiple threads. One of the best books I've read in the last five years.

5 out of 5 stars So Visceral, So Real.......2007-09-05

First of all, Natasha Wimmer does a great job with this posthumous translation. Considering the author's poetic style, I'm sure it must have been difficult.

Bolaño tells the story of a fictional poetry movement, the 'visceral realists', an anti-Octavio Paz group based in Mexico City (apparently modeled on Bolaño's own experiences with a similar movement called the 'infrarealists' ).

What's so great about this book , for me, is not so much the story but rather how the story is revealed: through so many unique voices (over 50?); one of whom being Juan Garcia Madero, a 17 year old student of poetry and one of the original anti-Paz "gang". His diary, which elevates the tale to a mythic quest, frames the novel in the 1970's.
The middle section of the book reads almost like a documentary; a sort of literary verité. It masterfully patches together the experiences of the quixotic figures, Arturo Belano (Bolaño?) and Ulises Lima, leaders of so-called 'visceral realists', from the reminiscences of tangential characters in their lives.

This is a novel you can read over and over and still pick up something new each time. I am looking forward to the upcoming Belano translation (thankfully by Wimmer as well) called "2666".
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • I know, I know...
  • A must read for anyone
  • Good stuff, but less important than his other work
  • Buy the ticket...take the ride
  • A wild and extraordinary ride down a lost highway ...
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream
Hunter S. Thompson
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679785892
Release Date: 1998-05-12

Amazon.com Reviews

Heralded as the "best book on the dope decade" by the New York Times Book Review, Hunter S. Thompson's documented drug orgy through Las Vegas would no doubt leave Nancy Reagan blushing and D.A.R.E. founders rethinking their motto. Under the pseudonym of Raoul Duke, Thompson travels with his Samoan attorney, Dr. Gonzo, in a souped-up convertible dubbed the "Great Red Shark." In its trunk, they stow "two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half-full of cocaine and a whole galaxy of multicolored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers.... A quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls," which they manage to consume during their short tour.

On assignment from a sports magazine to cover "the fabulous Mint 400"--a free-for-all biker's race in the heart of the Nevada desert--the drug-a-delic duo stumbles through Vegas in hallucinatory hopes of finding the American dream (two truck-stop waitresses tell them it's nearby, but can't remember if it's on the right or the left). They of course never get the story, but they do commit the only sins in Vegas: "burning the locals, abusing the tourists, terrifying the help." For Thompson to remember and pen his experiences with such clarity and wit is nothing short of a miracle; an impressive feat no matter how one feels about the subject matter. A first-rate sensibility twinger, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a pop-culture classic, an icon of an era past, and a nugget of pure comedic genius. --Rebekah Warren

Book Description

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is the best chronicle of drug-soaked, addle-brained, rollicking good times ever committed to the printed page.  It is also the tale of a long weekend road trip that has gone down in the annals of American pop culture as one of the strangest journeys ever undertaken.

Now this cult classic of gonzo journalism is a major motion picture from Universal, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro.  Opens everywhere on May 22, 1998.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars I know, I know..........2007-09-30

I know, it's THE Hunter S. Thompson book. It would be like having the gall to write a review for the Grapes of Wrath or Slaughterhouse Five and think you'd be doing anything other than blabbing just to see your own words on a computer screen.

That said, read this book this instant. Whatever good anyone's ever said about this book, it's twenty times better. I read it in two sittings and only stopped myself from reading it again because it was a library book and had to be returned.

The late HST's gift for gonzo, that strange mix of fiction and nonfiction, is ultimately realized in this book. Reality is seamlessly mixed with a bizarre fantasy world of sentient reptiles and split personality through the medium of hard drugs that serve to clarify (and sometimes amplify) a violent and twisted town in a strange time.

This book will have you laughing hysterically at parts, so don't read it around other people unless you're okay with passing it to them. This book will have you cringing at the brutality of human nature at points, so have your wits about you.

I really can't say anything else, other than that this book must be purchased and read this very instant if you haven't already done so.

5 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone.......2007-09-21

Thompson's book helps create a vivid picture of the drug fueled 60's and early 70's a way no one else has before.

4 out of 5 stars Good stuff, but less important than his other work.......2007-09-14

¨Fear and Loathing¨ is a great ride for sure. A drug-addled, hilarious, disturbing romp through Las Vegas in search of the American Dream. Thompson is definitely a skilled writer and an outlaw and this stuff comes through in this book. I don't want to shrug this work off by any means, but I definately prefer his other work, such as ¨The Great Shark Hunt,¨ because it truly brings out Thompson's outlook on the world, his hatred of wealth, power and greed, etc. This book is fun, but Thompson is definitely capable of more depth and thought. While this work might be what gave him his big break, he definitely went on to better things.

5 out of 5 stars Buy the ticket...take the ride.......2007-08-23

A bizzare journey to the heart of the American Dream, funny, witty and full of memorable episodes. The illustrations by Ralph Steadman are also superb. Raul Duke says it clearly : "buy the ticket...take the ride"

5 out of 5 stars A wild and extraordinary ride down a lost highway ..........2007-08-20

The lost highway of the American Dream.

I wasn't old enough to remember much from the late 60's early 70's let alone the political aspects of Nixon's presidency or the drug culture of the time, so this review won't have any profound social or political commentary, except that comparisons can well be made to the drug culture of today, and it is glaringly apparent that not much has changed.

Considering the climate of the time: Nixon's presidency, the war in Vietnam, and the country's young men succumbing to the draft, it was no wonder that an entire generation wanted something more, for this was not the American Dream they had been sold. And for some, the only way to drown out the hypocrisy gnawing at your brain is to give your brain an escape. Expand your mind, as that might be the only part of you that is truly free. Whatever it takes to get you directly out of your head -- the higher the better. This story chronicles a journey utterly devoid of restraint and reason as these two men, Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo, and their trunk full of felonies set themselves loose upon Las Vegas -- the last vestige of the American Dream. However, their idea of the American Dream is not how most of us would understand it, but somehow, through the fog of hallucinatory metaphor, we can actually see and feel what the main characters are searching for so desperately.

All that aside, even if the 60's culture is beyond your age group, Thompson's writing is worth the read -- Brilliant, sarcastic, and frighteningly funny: Bars seething with has-been lounge lizards, tearing the patrons to shreds, blood soaked tacky hotel rooms, police car chases, kidnapping, gambling, excess, and debauchery ... not to mention the Narcotics Convention. The dialog is brilliant. Harrowing experiences abound; it is amazing that the two main characters make it out of Vegas alive.

Definitely a wild ride for all.
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Relevant but Misleading
  • A Life of Equality
  • A sobering view of the American educational system
  • Don't read this at night ~ This book will turn you into an activist
  • Nothing Changes
Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
Jonathan Kozol
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060974990

Book Description

National Book Award-winning author Jonathan Kozol presents his shocking account of the American educational system in this stunning New York Times bestseller, which has sold more than 250,000 hardcover copies.

Customer Reviews:

2 out of 5 stars Relevant but Misleading.......2007-06-07

As an "inner city" teacher, I found this book relevant yet misleading. Author Jonathan Kozol visited schools in impoverished U.S. communities, and shows the shameful way we fund public education via local property taxes. Readers see how this unfair system short-changes our poor schools, leaving students in leaky classrooms short of books, computers, and lab materials. Kozol correctly calls for equal funding of public schools, and even integration as needed.

But like too many reformers, Kozol avoids the vital behavioral/cultural issues disproportionate to impoverished minority schools - poor student discipline and motivation, gangs, fights, broken homes, truancy, pregnancies - perplexing challenges we teachers face daily. By avoiding these realities, Kozol misleads readers into seeing the problem (and solution) as basically one of funding. Not so. After all, my home suburb of Evanston (Illinois) integrated its well-funded classrooms back in 1967, yet glaring gaps between white and (usually poorer) black students persist, narrowing only modestly. In short, culture trumps funding, and Kozol barely mentions enhanced early childhood learning and pregnancy prevention - programs that help.

SAVAGE INEQUALITIES promotes equal school funding an overdue (but modest) reform backed by most of us teachers from poor schools. But Kozol misleads readers - and earns scoffs from many experienced teachers - with his naïve, unrealistic approach.

3 out of 5 stars A Life of Equality.......2007-01-29

Before I began reading Savage Inequalities,by Jonathan Kozol, I was expecting a interesting, moving story of the truths behind poverty and equality and that it was i read. This story was a compelling read with significant insight into the dream and life of equality. However, Savage Inequalities,at times was very boring and dull. Throughout many parts of the novel I felt as if the author were repeating himself or stating the same points numerous times. Through vivid details, and the shocking truths behind the American education system, the reader gains a tremendous understanding into public schooling during the mid 1900's. Overall this novel successfully portrayed the tragedy of American school life for the millions of unfortunate children in the United States.
The biggest strength of this novel was the tremendous detail and imagery. The author witnessing life first hand gives the reader a greater, more insightful understanding of an childs actual life. As a school teacher in the novel, the author observed the children everyday and noticed the numerous struggles they had. The biggest weakness of this novel in my opinion was that at times the story became boring and almost difficult to read. Many times the author had excessive facts and , that the book became more like a list or documentary then a real story. Also, the author seemed to refute the same points and ideas various times throughout the book. For the first time reading a novel by Kozol I believe he is an insightful writer with a variety of great ideas. Savage Inequalities gave me as the reader an in depth understanding of Kozol's writing style. He seems a very honest straightforward writer, who speaks the truth. Reading this book I was able to learn of the life of American schooling during the mid 1900's from a first hand witness. I learned of the horrors and unjust ways many less fortunate children had to endure. Savage Inequalities demonstrated the harsh life for poor children and the shocking truths to American school life.

5 out of 5 stars A sobering view of the American educational system.......2007-01-07

This book was a real eye-opener, exposing the wretched conditions of inner-city schools in America. I think it should be required reading for every person in this country, because it is an issue that receives little if any attention. I would never have known how bad the system is for some cities without reading this book.

Kozol is an appropriate author, detailing specific trips he has taken to inner city schools to directly observe the state of their schools in comparison to the affluent suburbs.

My only critique is that after awhile, the stories all seem to sound the same, but it just emphasizes how widespread this problem is and that something must be done about it.

5 out of 5 stars Don't read this at night ~ This book will turn you into an activist.......2006-12-10

You could use this book to beat bureaucrats over their collective heads.

The failure to educate the poorest and the youngest in this country is an abomination and Kozol shines a bright light on some of the corners of it (not all) so the bureaucrats are like filthy little cockroaches scrambling into new corners.

Read this book. You might have a few nightmares if it's at night. Pass it along to a friend and discuss it.

We are all obligated to all our children and enlightenment is a very good first step.

You also might rethink what drugs you buy when given the option. I personally have decided that those who have ruined St. Louis will not get my money.

5 out of 5 stars Nothing Changes.......2006-07-17

If George W. Bush could read - this is a book he should be made to read. As old as it may be - nothing has truly changed...so many children being 'left behind'. A devastating book. While we piss away billions abroad, TRUE Home Security (health education and proper employment) is ignored.
Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the 21st Century
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • not worth it
  • Indispensable for Execs, Mgrs, Invest. Pros, Mgmt Consultant
  • Great overview of main legal issues for managers
Managers and the Legal Environment: Strategies for the 21st Century
Constance E. Bagley , and Diane Savage
Manufacturer: South-Western College/West
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 032426951X

Book Description

Recognized and respected for both its inclusion of cutting edge material and for its strong strategic managerial approach, this is one of the most comprehensive and challenging, yet approachable and understandable legal environments texts on the market. It is equally suitable for students with substantial work experience as well as for those who are studying business for the first time. The text fully looks at the subject matter from the perspective of current and future business managers and leaders by providing an in-depth understanding of how law impacts daily management decisions and business strategies. Its integrated treatment of law and management presents a very strategic perspective, showing how the law provides ways for managers to minimize risk and create value, how to use the law to craft solutions to attain core business objectives, and how to spot legal issues before they become legal problems and effectively handle the inevitable legal disputes that arise in the course of doing business.

Customer Reviews:

1 out of 5 stars not worth it.......2002-08-12

There are many better books out there that are easier to follow and comprehend if you are not a law student. Not impressive.

5 out of 5 stars Indispensable for Execs, Mgrs, Invest. Pros, Mgmt Consultant.......2000-08-13

For the benefit of all the people who cannot take her course, Prof. Connie Bagley has written this book that has the same title as her course (she teaches a quarter each at the Stanford and Harvard Business Schools). It is an extremely very well thought out and well written book. Throughout the book Prof. Bagley has kept in mind the reader's background and organized and written content in a way that will be of maximum benefit to the reader.

This book is one of the best investments that any person can make. While almost everyone will benefit from this book, I feel this book will be indispensable to the following readers: 1. Any person in a Business Administration/Management role, especially Executives and Managers in large corporations, Investment Professionals and Management Consultants. 2. Professionals associated with legal matters who want a refresher and a quick reference book that covers key aspects of all the important laws. 3. Any person who wants to gain a knowledge of the legal environment, especially the environment in which business is conducted.

Unlike a law book intended for specialist lawyers, this book is readable by people who are not lawyers. After reading this book or using it as a reference one can get a good understanding of the legal process (how the entire legal system works) and several important areas of law such as Contracts, Torts, Product Liability, Intellectual Property, Labor, Environmental, Antitrust, Real Estate, Consumer protection, Securities, and International Business. The legal topics discussed are on the leading edge of business regulation. They include the World Trade Organization, employer liability for sexual harassment, compensation and liability act, and HIV in the workplace.

In keeping with the Internet age, Prof. Bagley analyzes the implications of the Internet and Information Technology to several laws (such as copyright law in the cyberspace), and also gives several Internet sources for the reader to conduct further research.

It is remarkable that the book covers each of the topics perfectly to the extent required - nothing more and nothing less. The book has around 1050 pages and the time invested in each page is worth the rewards.

As Prof. Bagley says, the purpose of the book is to provide you a good understanding of the legal system, how the laws work, removal of any fear of laws, how to avoid legal mistakes, how to protect yourself, when to take what legal action and, most importantly, make you smart enough to know when to go to your lawyer. You cannot expect to practice law after reading this book but you definitely will know when to seek legal help, and how to communicate effectively with your legal advisors.

Prof. Bagley has also written another book "The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law". If only every entrepreneur read this book before starting out, the number of failures caused by legal blunders will be close to zero.

Both her books are extremely very well thought out and well written. I was fortunate to get into Prof. Connie Bagley's high demand "Managers and the Legal Environment" course at Stanford Graduate School of Business. The course is an absolute gem of a course. While this course is a high demand course, her other course "Legal Challenges in Entrepreneurship" is usually multiply over subscribed with around 150 students wanting to get into a class of 66! Prof. Bagley is a wonderful teacher and an amazing person. Her class was a wonderful learning experience for me and I thank her for that. I'm sure that after reading the book you too will thank her for having written this book.

4 out of 5 stars Great overview of main legal issues for managers.......1998-12-02

This book is amongst others used at the Stanford MBA course as an introduction to legal issues that may arise for managers in a variety of business situations. It is comprehensive and is well illustrated with landmark case studies and relevant hypotheticals. Constance Bagley takes out most of the cumbersome legalistic language and makes the complexities of US corporate and civil law understandable.
A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Chilling Masterpiece
  • Read it before you start a Mid-East War
  • Shines a light on insurgencies in the 20th century
  • Peering Into the Cesspit
  • Mirror For Our Times
A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962 (New York Review Books Classics)
Alistair Horne
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1590172183
Release Date: 2006-10-10

Book Description

The Algerian War lasted from 1954 to 1962. It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive torture.

Nearly a half century has passed since this savagely fought war ended in Algeria’s independence, and yet—as Alistair Horne argues in his new preface to his now-classic work of history—its repercussions continue to be felt not only in Algeria and France, but throughout the world. Indeed from today’s vantage point the Algerian War looks like a full-dress rehearsal for the sort of amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, from Beirut to Baghdad—struggles in which questions of religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism take on a new and increasingly lethal intensity.

A Savage War of Peace is the definitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. It is essential reading for our own violent times as well as a lasting monument to the historian’s art.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Chilling Masterpiece.......2007-09-26

I selected this book wishing to know more about the French war in Algeria. Mr. Horne more than satisfied my curiousity. He provides an in-depth, virtually blow-by-blow account of the eight year conflict, pulling no PC punches, and taking great care to remain as impartial as possible. This is no easy feat, given the intensity of the situation. He is very careful to present this as not a typical colonial war as much as a battle between 2 diametrically opposed visions for Algeria. On one side were the Pieds Noirs, whose families had lived in Algeria for generations, understandably saw Algeria as their home, and wanted to preserve "Algerie Francaise." On the other hand, you have the FLN (not the spokesman for most Algerians), with its demands for Algerian independence, sans the Pieds Noirs. What made this conflict a battle between extremes was the FLN's reign of terror against relative moderates among the Algerians (many of whom had advocated finding a "middle ground" in the conflict). This has the effect of presenting the FLN as France's only "negotiating" partner within Algeria. Moreover, it pushed many of the Pieds Noirs to support such hard-line groups as the OAS. Essentially, the FLN set up the conflict to end in its favor, as the war nearly tore France apart on several occasions (and nearly claimed the life of Charles De Gaulle on an equal number of occasions). Mr. Horne captures this story very nicely, weaving back and forth between Algeria and France. He demonstrates beyond all reasonable doubt that the conflict had very high stakes for the French. Also, he describes how the outcome of the conflict proved to not be France's finest hour, to put it very charitably.

5 out of 5 stars Read it before you start a Mid-East War.......2007-09-21

What every President should know before getting seriously involved anywhere in the Mid-East or Muslim world. It would seem that we are damned if we do, and equally damned if we don't. It's not so much the book's details (although the book is magnificently detailed), as it is the portrayal of the depth of hatreds and the commitment to violence as the sole means to the proponents ends.

5 out of 5 stars Shines a light on insurgencies in the 20th century.......2007-08-19

Horne's classic book on Algeria is one of those rare works of history that breaks open the subject at hand to peer deep into the heart of an era. It details the entire Franco-Algerian war from its historical antecedents through the military and political struggles of the war itself and into the late 20th century, tracking the Algerian fight for independence and the wrestling of the French nation with redefinition after colonialism. The parallels to numerous other insurgencies in the 20th and early 21st centuries are obvious.

What is most tragic about Alistair Horne's tale from my perspective as a theologian, however, is the seeming inevitability of the whole Algerian tragedy. Though Horne highlights several points at which the confrontation might have taken a faster and more complete track toward reconciliation, it's difficult to see how the actors in the moment could have grasped these opportunities. The stage seems to have been set for years of violence sometime deep in the past, as pieds noirs became firmly Algerian and native Algerians became jaded at the empty rhetoric of their French occupiers. Plenty of blame can be spread around to perpetrators of horrible and inhuman acts during the seven and a half years of conflict, but it is difficult to see how any one actor or group could have decisively brought about a clearer peace.

The lessons of the Algerian conflict are ripe to be picked by anyone willing to study it. Many of Horne's insights about these types of confrontations carry over to the war in Iraq, civil war in numerous spots around the globe, and the struggle to combat terrorism around the world. Indeed, the book is being studied at the highest levels in Washington, according to news reports. One can only hope that the venerable chronicler of France's last years as a colonial power is being heeded.

4 out of 5 stars Peering Into the Cesspit.......2007-08-10

One of the things that perplexed and, frankly, disgusted me, throughout this book was the posturing of many key figures on the French side about "honour" and "grandeur". In pursuit of their honour, many of these people behaved in the most disgraceful and dishonourable manner.

They preened themselves on their honour and spoke volubly about "restoring the glory of France", but when the going got difficult, they mostly resigned their positions or simply abandoned their responsibilities - often to return later to repeat the whole disreputable process - or intrigue among themselves.

Perhaps a psychologist could shed more light on this cesspit of misplaced values than an historian.

But what of the other side - the Algerian independence movement? The alphabet soup of factions (FLN, CRUA, MTLD, UDMA etc etc) was liberally peopled by thugs, assassins, torturers and thieves. They squabbled among themselves, intrigued for office, occasionally betrayed each other, and terrorised their own people - all in the cause of Algerian independence.

Even after independence, members of the ruling clique continued to wage war upon each other and upon the Algerian people. The struggle continues to this day.

Ordinary Algerians on both sides were the victims of the war - as is ever the case. At its end, within months, almost all the "pied noir" population had fled the country in one of the great mass migrations of the post war era. Muslims who had worked and fought for the French and who were unable (or chose not) to flee were mercilessly hunted down.

I finished the book with a sense of disgust, of having been soiled by the mostly contemptible people shaping events on both sides. When one peers into a cesspit of struggling fanatics, one inevitably gets splashed.

However, readers should not be deterred from reading this book. "A Savage War of Peace" deserves to be read. Its lessons are equally valid today in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The book gives an excellent account of the war from both French and Muslim sides, but while the latter was adequately covered in a factual sense, that side of the story was somewhat dry and impersonal.

To a large extent this simply reflects the availability of sources - and those willing to talk freely and honestly. The author claims to have been hampered by the "traditional secretiveness and suspicion of the Algerian Arabs" - especially when the possibility of assassination was ever present for those critical of the Algerian leadership.

Within these limitations, Horne gives an objective account of the 8-year war, during which up to 600,000 French military personnel were stationed in Algeria. As the struggle went on, both sides resorted increasingly to torture and terror to achieve their aims.

At one point military victory seemed in sight, although one must suspect that, had the French "won" in a military sense, the price would have been some sort of partition of Algeria into French and Muslim zones, and the permanent military suppression of the latter. Sound familiar?

Another conclusion one can draw from the book is that the relentless pursuit of an ideology rarely, if ever, results in a better life for ordinary people who are to be "improved". This was true for Communism and will probably be proven true eventually for the various forms of Islamic fundamentalism currently destroying lives in many parts of the world - and true also for ideologues on the other side who fight them in the name of freedom and democracy - and who are equally convinced of their righteousness.





4 out of 5 stars Mirror For Our Times.......2007-08-09

Alistair Horne's seminal book on the Algerian War, A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962, is a thorough look at a war that closely resembles the current conflict in Iraq. I read a couple of really interesting articles on this book earlier and felt compelled to read it. Terrorism, civil war, torture: these things also took place in Algeria and it would seem that there are some lessons to learned, but it seems they have not been heeded. It was a very long and complicated book, but not without its rewards. Apparently it has been read by Bush and several of his advisors. I think it would have been more meaningful to me if had a better grasp of the conflict and French history since 1945 in general, but that being said there was a lot of interesting information about this conflict. Terrorism, de Gaulle, France, and other conflicts like those in South Africa, Ireland, and Indo China. I think this paragraph sums up the situation pretty astutely:

One is left with the controversial role of de Gaulle, criticized both for going too slow and too fast. As far as the latter reproach goes, in the last stages of negotiations he suffered from the lesson not learned by Kissinger in Vietnam, or perhaps by Israel vis-à-vis the Arab world, or by the South Africans; namely, that peoples who have been waiting for their independence for a centenary, fighting for it for a generation, can afford to sit out a presidential term, or a year or two in the life of an old man in a hurry; that he who last s the longest wins; that sadly, with the impatience of democracies and their volatile voters committed to electoral contortions every five or four years, the extremists generally triumphs over the moderate. Just keep on being obdurate, don't leave deviate from maximum terms, was the lesson handed down by the F.L.N. (Front de Liberation Nationale) and remains as grimly valid today-Northern Ireland or the Middle East or southern Africa. One after another de Gaulle saw his principles for peace eroded in the face of the F.L.N.'s refusal to compromise. As his disillusion grew, so did his resolve to liquidate the war with all the speed. In his final haste injustices were perpetrated, such as the exclusion from the peace talks of any representative Algerian faction (e.g. the M.N.A.-Mouvement Nationaliste Algerienne)) other than the F.L.N. Yet de Gaulle did liquidate that savage war.
Comprehensive Textbook of Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography
Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • One text cannot do it all, but this one tries.
Comprehensive Textbook of Intraoperative Transesophageal Echocardiography
Robert M Savage , Solomon Aronson , James D Thomas , Jack S Shanewise , and Stanton K Shernan
Manufacturer: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0781736226

Book Description

Written by more than 100 internationally recognized experts, this volume is the first definitive and comprehensive text/reference on intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. It features 1,000 full-color echocardiograms and covers every aspect of intraoperative TEE, from physics and "knobology," to specific studies of cardiac valves and arteries, to the use of TEE in cardiac and noncardiac surgeries. Major sections cover principles of echocardiography, intraoperative examination, critical care, coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, thoracic aortic disease, congestive heart failure, interventional cardiovascular medicine, and noncardiac surgery. The text focuses on uses of TEE in surgical decision-making--preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative--and includes specific clinical recommendations.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars One text cannot do it all, but this one tries........2006-02-26

The book seems to have two goals: Clinical use of TEE in the cardiac operating room; and passing the "Echo Exam."

When it comes to echocardiography I am a tyro. Thus the review of this work is not from the perspective of an expert in the field, but from that of someone who is trying to use this book as intended: as a textbook in transesophageal echocardiography. It is an excellent text for this.

Were it not for a curious omission, and for what I think an excessive number of errors (especially in one chapter) for a book of this importance and price, I would give it five stars.

Echocardiography is primarily a visual discipline, and this book is profusely, and for the most part well, illustrated. The publisher's web site claims "1,000 full-color echocardiograms" and I expect this is true.

The illustrations, for the most part, can only be called superb. But, reflecting of what I see as lack of editorial oversight, several chapters have illustrations which simply best illustrate that one cannot take Power-Point® slides and turn them into even barely acceptable book plates. Fortunately the chapters which took this approach are the most dispensable.

Sticking with lack of editorial cohesiveness for a moment, I personally found it disruptive that the text for multi-image figures in some chapters used the "A) ... Text", whilst that in others used "Text ... A)" formatting. Why yes, I am detail oriented, and, yes there are larger issues in the world: but there is no more reason for doing this than there would have been to have switched typefaces or fonts with each chapter.

In addition to the illustrations, each chapter has a well written, in-depth text, an extensive bibliography, and concludes with Echo Exam review questions. Truly the only subjects which I thought could have been better covered were the determination of IVRT and a more clear presentation of parachute mitral valve.

There are over a hundred contributing authors. This gives expert coverage in each area, but, inevitably, leads to duplication. Perhaps a bit too much duplication, especially of images. Truly, does the Cleveland Clinic have only one TEE frame of an Alfieri repair, or of the RUPV? The more you see, the more you see. Repeatedly viewing the same image simply does not help to broaden ones visual memory and range. Again, I think that more aggressive editing would have caught this, and would have presented the learner with an even wider range of images.

Leaving aside the very few, very short, fluff chapters, save for a single exception the chapters are of an optimal size to be studied in an evening. This is important, as it gives the student a sense of progress in a very complex subject which at times seems overwhelming. Concise, clear, small chapters also makes going back to review a particular point quite easy easier.

The exception is chapter 28 "Assessment in Mitral Valve Surgery" which, at 85 pages (excluding bibliography and questions), is simply too long. It could have, should have, been broken down into several separate chapters. It is notable that similar information on the lesser complexities of the aortic valve is presented in two comfortably sized chapters.

Also notable is the density of errors which appear in this oversized chapter. I do not know if the chapter editor was simply overwhelmed with the task, or if the chapter was turned in late. In any event, the errors are all of a nature that should have been caught and which do detract from the discussion of one of the most difficult and important areas in TEE.

Two examples will suffice. In table 28.2 the ME LAX MV views are mistakenly shown for the ME 2C MV (later correctly shown in Fig 28.31). This is simply an editorial mistake, as no knowledge of echocardiography is needed to see that the drawings are repeated. A more subtle error is found in Fig 28.70 where the derivation of a simplified ROA estimation drops the square of the radius from the equation. There are many others, many more than in the remaining chapters.

Yes, I do realize there will be mistakes in any text. I became painfully aware of this in the early 1980s when trying to learn i86 assembly language. Assembly language is the lowest level human readable programming language for a particular processor. All of the early texts had errors: fortunately no two had the same, so one could piece things together. This seems to be true of current echo texts as well.

I find learning echocardiography about as difficult as learning assembler, and, at my level, I do not recognize all of the errors in the texts. I expect that many other learners may be as confused as I by TEE's murky grey images overlaid with swirling bright colors. In such a complex field, I believe textbook editors should take special pains to insure accuracy.

All that aside, the MV assessment chapter (28) still has a wealth of well presented information. Indeed the single most valuable insight I gained from the book was on page 459 of this chapter. My epiphany was the realization that the mitral valve is oriented near vertically. Somehow I had missed this fact in all the reading, courses, dissections, videos, and actual echoes I have done. The "3D Imaging Plane View" illustrations on this page made the orientation obvious. For me this alone was truly worth the price of the book. Sadly, turning the page immediately brings one to the most egregious error in the work.

On the whole the book is tightly focused on developing the knowledge and skills to effectively use transesophageal echo in the cardiac operating room. I would have preferred a chapter on transthoracic echo to some of the surgical minutia and to the odd inclusion of a chapter on basic statistics. Though the latter is an exceptionally well written chapter, I was perplexed at its appearance in a book on TEE in the OR.

The twenty-nine page appendix also confounds me. Whilst a useful compendium of echocardiographic tables, the pages are perforated. Perhaps there are those who would rip out the pages in a two-hundred dollar book, but I am not among them. So, for me, it simply means I had to run tape along them to keep them from tearing loose on their own.

As to the book's suitability for preparation for the PTEeXAM I cannot actually say, as I am still trying to figure out if I am eligible to sit for the exam, and, if so, which certification I might be eligible for. No more whining about this confusion here, there is enough of that at any echo conference. However, given that the many of the authors of the exam are also authors of this book I expect that time spent with this book would be repaid.

What is surprisingly missing from this text is an accompanying video disk. Given the importance of moving pictures to understanding echo and the low cost and ease with which a disk can be included in a book, this is a curious omission indeed. Sidebotham's very excellent "Practical Perioperative Transoesophageal Echocardiography" does include such and I would strongly recommend purchasing that text in addition too, or, if cost is an issue, instead of, this more comprehensive and expensive text. The addition of videos, in my opinion, more than makes up for the lesser coverage in Sidebotham.

It is possible that a disk was to have been included, as, when I came to this Amazon page to write the review under "Editorial Reviews" I saw it stated "An enclosed CD-ROM includes full-color TEE videos and multiple-choice questions and answers for self-assesment [sic] and exam preparation."

I purchased my volume directly from a Lippincott sales table at the ASA, and it is possible that I simply got one without a disk. However, the Lippincott web site makes no mention of such a disk in their description of the book. My suspicion is that this is something that was dropped at the last minute. I did write Lippincott and have asked, but have not yet had a reply.

You cannot go wrong by purchasing this book (with or without the mystery disk) as it gives an extensive, clear, in-depth introduction to transesophageal echo in the operating room.

Sadly though, when studying echo, one is left with the sense of mastering the horse and buggy (2D echo) whilst knowing the motorcar (3D) is just around the corner.

Bonne Chance.
Teaching in the Secondary School (6th Edition)
Average customer rating: Not rated
    Teaching in the Secondary School (6th Edition)
    Thomas V. Savage , Marsha K. Savage , and David G. Armstrong
    Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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    ASIN: 0131194410
    Los Detectives Salvajes/the Savage Detectives
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Am I missing something?
    • The ethereal journey.
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    Los Detectives Salvajes/the Savage Detectives
    Roberto Bolano
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    ASIN: 8433966634

    Product Description

    len a buscar las huellas de Cesarea Tinajero, la misteriosa escritoras desaparecida en Mexico en los anos posteriores a la Revolucion. Esa busqueda se prolonga a traves de multiples personajes y continentes, en una novela donde hay de todo: amores y muertes, asesinato sy fugas turisticas, manicomios y universidades, desapariciones y apariciones.

    Customer Reviews:

    3 out of 5 stars Am I missing something?.......2005-01-06

    Ever since this Bolaño fellow died--prematurely, as it happens--a couple of years ago, there's been quite a fuss about his work. I read _Los detectives salvajes_ to find out what all that fuss was about. Now, more than six hundred pages and hours of reading later, I'm still waiting to find out.

    First of all, some of the many folks--Amadeo Salvatierra, for one--in this long, polyphonic novel are annoying. Others--Ulises Lima comes to mind--are downright repulsive. For the the young Chilean Arturo Belano, the writer, strangely enough, seems to have some sympathy. The reader will find it difficult to do likewise.

    Second, there are descriptions of dreams. Not too many, but enough to grate. When will writers ever learn that the quickest way to lose readers is to describe dreams?

    Finally, not once, not once in almost seven hundred pages, did this book make me laugh. The only mildly funny thing about it is the way the "wild detectives" go about their ridiculous and immature undertakings with utter humorlessness. In fact, now that I think about it, the novel is probably about immaturity.

    But I did give the thing three stars, didn't I? And it does have some virtues. But they are mostly virtues of omission. There is, thank the Lord, no magic realism. There is little exoticism. Cities are described very succinctly (largely by listing names of streets; reading _Los detectives_ was in some ways like perusing the index to a city atlas). Bolaño doesn't use ostentatious tricks to prove he's a genuine postmodernist.

    On the whole, I'd say _Los detectives_ is somewhat inferior to Julio Ramón Ribeyro's _Los geniecillos dominicales_, another book with similar themes and a similar cast of characters.

    5 out of 5 stars The ethereal journey........2004-11-10

    I was there, I saw them walking on the street leaving the world behind. I was there when they left Mexico and when they came back. I was one of the few who remembers the chilean who saved the girl. I was there when Belano arrived to Africa. I've never understood their motives. I was a distant witness of a story thousands and thousands larger than mine. I was there, like a ghost.

    Los Detectives Salvajes is the kind of book that you read to realize that you haven't read enough. This astounding novel takes you in a strange journey following the steps of two latinoamerican poets while they escape from an unknown past. It's a novel about the books that will never be written and the writers who were condemned to be their authors.

    I strongly recommend you this book. This is Bolaño's best, and Bolaño is, undoubtly, one of the best spanish-speaking writters of late 20th century.

    5 out of 5 stars The novel that all the next generation writters must read.......2004-08-12

    Enrique VilaMatas said about this book, "And historic Move on to Cortazar's Rayuela". Since then, and a year after Bolaño's death, I've hear all kind of opinions. The real fact is, that in despite of comparing the quality, the structure or the author, this book is a step over the latinamerican literature.

    In a time when all the american boom's writters had started to repeat each others, "Los detectives Salvajes" is proposing a new kind of literature. A literature that is easy to read (fluid) but hard to understand. As Carver, everything is a metaphore of something big, in an aparently common anecdote.

    Maybe you could like this book, maybe not. But it is a MUST if you want to keep in touch with the new literature.
    Liberalism is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions
    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
    • Make your teenager read this book,
    • Where Angels Fear to Tread
    • THE DOCTOR IS IN!!!
    • Savage is the man
    • Mental Liberals Respond HERE!
    Liberalism is a Mental Disorder: Savage Solutions
    Michael Savage
    Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 1595550062
    Release Date: 2005-04-12

    Book Description

    Dr. Savage, sage prophet of the airwaves, has been diagnosing liberal mental illness for more than a decade. Now, in his third and most insightful book, he strikes at the root of today's most desperate issues, providing a hefty dose of his unique conservative medicine, including:

  • Homeland security: "We need more Patton and less patent leather. . .Real homeland security begins when we arrest, interrogate, jail, or deport known operatives within our own borders. . .One dirty bomb can ruin your whole day."
  • The ACLU, National Lawyers Guild, and MoveOn.org: "I believe it's time for the heads of . . . left-wing agitation groups who are using the courts to impose their will on the sheeple to be prosecuted under the federal RICO statutes."
  • Illegal immigration: "I envision an Oil for Illegals program. . .The president should demand one barrel of oil from Mexico for every illegal alien that sneaks into our country."
  • The Doctor is in and the diagnosis is clear. Read Liberalism is a Mental Disorder and find out what you can do to treat it.

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Make your teenager read this book, .......2007-09-26

    This is one of the most important books in years. Why? because it is the truth. If you can not get your kid to read it download the Audio version on Itunes and make them listen to it. The Future of the West is at stake.

    5 out of 5 stars Where Angels Fear to Tread.......2007-08-31

    Reviewing any conservative book will yield almost automatic trashing. However, I recommend this book above all others to liberals, Democrats, and so-called SPs (social-progressives) because the arguments in this book should make you look in the mirror and consider just what it is about a "liberal" agenda that makes logical sense?

    The essence of Savage's argument (here and on the radio) is that the only explanation for modern liberalism is that liberals are too often swayed by their emotions, and not logical, rational analysis--from Global Warming to Earth Day. More recently, he has decried the morphing of classical liberalism (I disagree with you but would fight to the death for your right to say it) to what is essentially neo-liberalism (I will shout you down so that noone will hear what you have to say), characteristic of 21st century liberal politics.

    Savage decries, the only explanation for neo-liberalism is that is must be mental disorder--there can be no other explanation. Since he so often touts his two master's degrees and Ph.D. from the great American University, the University of California at Berkeley, perhaps he could come up with a deeper analysis. However, Savage himself would probably say that this wouldn't make for good talk radio, and above all things, he is a radio entertainer: a multidimensional space where each listener pulls up their chair to hear their "favorite uncle" dissect the issues of the day.

    Of course, he has produced what you need to back this up--Arbitron ratings that are through the roof even in "liberal strongholds" such as Portland, Oregon, 16 books on nutrition, and 4 consecutive NYT bestsellers, with almost no publicity given most authors on the Larry King and Fox News circuit.

    A "me too" book for conservatives, this is probably THE ONE to read if you are still trying to hold on (or are a newcomer to) to the idea that progressivism, not patriotism, is what we need to answer America's critics in the days of the flying Immams!

    A great read by a fine writer--and I know I'll only get a couple of "helpful" votes just by treading on Savage Nation turf...Savage also presents solutions to current socio-political problems, not simply a tome against the left, but few in places of power seem to pay them any mind, even though he won the "Freedom of Speech" award in 2007!

    5 out of 5 stars THE DOCTOR IS IN!!!.......2007-08-26

    The left loves to spew about how we conservatives hate. They never tell you why we hate. It's always vitriolic invective with an "Oh Yeah/Says You" approach. Yeah, they're right, I hate a lot. For instance, I hate child molesters! I hate rapists! I hate home invaders! I hate murderers! I hate car jackers! I hate able bodied native-born welfare recipients who reproduce at a geometric rate like a virus! I hate insane foreigners who spit on us once they come to our land! I hate the ACLU who trip over themselves to make cops feel like criminals! I hate the fact that the vote of a hard working, law abiding citizen is as much value as that of someone on welfare! I hate the diversity and multiculturalism which turned our country into a tower of babel! I hate the fact that English is not the only language on a voting card! I hate my fellow citizens who listen to the orchestra while the Titanic sinks who in turn label me as extreme because I want to survive instead of being soothed into my own death! I hate Hate Crimes legislation which makes it a crime for what I'm thinking instead of what I'm doing! I hate the fact that if I report suspiciuous behavior to the authorities in the post 9/11 era, that I'll be labeled as the criminal! I hate politicians and entertainers who while in the most luxurious of environments in the safest quarters of the world label our soldiers who endure in the most God awful privation far away from family and home as torturers and murderers! I hate the fact that the West acts like a battered woman while Islamo-fascists continue their march! I hate the very lefty establishment that calls the punishments of violent criminals in our country as cruel and unusual while they remain silent on adulterers in Iran who are being stoned to death! I hate the priviliged elites who live in guarded ivory towers who tell me that I have to understand them! I hate those same people in those guarded ivory towers who aim to take take my guns away to defend myself! I hate a pop culture that rips into the work ethic and propogates an anti-achievement attitude! To my critics who think I have issues: go back to your "American Idol", your up to the minute entertainment update on CNN, your indulgence of the luxury known as freedom while you scorn those very people who safeguard it for you! May you all get taken out in the next terrorist attack! At the rate we're going, it's coming...

    5 out of 5 stars Savage is the man.......2007-07-16

    I loved this book. God bless Dr. Savage, he sure knows his stuff inside and out.

    Its so nasty, and sad that there are all of these hate mongerors out there trying to inflict harm on those who disagree with their extremist ideals.

    Thesre radicals will lose, and the truth will set us all free.

    5 out of 5 stars Mental Liberals Respond HERE!.......2007-06-22

    The (progressives) LIBERALS respond by their reference to his real name (oh! it sounds Jewish). Then they use the words like, "obnoxious". I have always hated that word. Read the 1-Star reviews and then BUY the book, share it. They are the SCOUNDRELS!
    High Touch Selling: How to Make a Great Life While Making a Great Living
    Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
    • Review of High Touch Selling
    • God information for Insurance Salespeople
    High Touch Selling: How to Make a Great Life While Making a Great Living
    John Savage
    Manufacturer: Longman Trade/Caroline House
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover

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    ASIN: 0884626784

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Review of High Touch Selling.......2005-07-18

    John was an icon of the industry and a very down to earth fellow. The book is an easy read with some real gems, but can be a little verbose at times.

    5 out of 5 stars God information for Insurance Salespeople.......2003-01-17

    As an insurance professional I am disappointed at the lack of insurance industry specific material available. Mr. Savage is right up there with Ben Feldman and Jack and Garry Kinder in the insurance industry. Mr. Savage encourages simplicity in his presentations rather than the complicated 45 min - one hour sessions as taught by most major insurance companies. I find his material a great read, full of insight and information. His other books, Savage on Selling and It's Getting Easier" are also highly recommended. I am still looking for a copy of "The Easy Sale" if anyone finds one less than $$$ for the paperback.

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