"Manhattan is a machine, fuelled by the millions of people who pour through its streets and subways each day, many of them locked into an exhausting but addictive live style which makes anywhere else seem dull and slow."

Wow! The words touched an nerve. I have never seen such a succinct description of Manhattan as in this British guidebook written by Fiona Duncan and Leonie Glass.

I don't read New York City guidebooks. After all, I'm a New Yorker. I know all the places to go. I LIVE HERE. But a few weeks ago, when visiting my friend who runs a Bed and Breakfast, I picked up this little gem of a book.

Here it is. Neighborhood by neighborhood. Street by street. With the best architectural maps I have ever seen. All the basic New York City highlights are here too. But most of all, it really gets the flavor of this city that I love. And that's a big compliment.

Published in 1992, by Passport Books, it is of course a bit outdated. And there is no one book that can do it ALL, especially in a mere 144 pages. But for tourists and New Yorkers alike, this book is a treat.

I feel obliged to preface any comments on Painter's biography with a cautionary word. Reading this book without having read Proust's masterpiece A la Recherche du Temps Perdu, is like reading a history of Jazz, without having heard any.

That said, and disregarding Painter's introductory thesis that "Proust's novel cannot be fully undersood without a knowledge of his life", the life and times of Proust is a fascinating subject in itself. His genius for conversation, and the legacy it created for him, gives his biographer plenty to work with and Painter's skill as a writer comes to the fore as he recreates the events that shaped Proust's life.

The biography is written sequentially, beginning with a brief overview of late 17th centuary Paris, and culminating in Proust's death while still revising his masterpiece, in November 1922.

Footnotes a plenty, Painter avoids mythologising Proust and instead, sticks to the facts with an academic's eye for detail. He occasionally offers incisive insights into Proust's work and writes in a curious style which draws on Proust's own language and favourite metaphors. In the end though, Painter's raison d'etre is to identify the people and places that shaped Proust's writing. To this end, we meet the Barons, Dukes and Duchesses who populated the upper stratosphere of Parisian society in the early nineteen hundreds, and visit the small gardens of Illiers and Auteuil, which would eventually become the Combray of his famous novel, and marvel at the chuch spires he visited while reading Ruskin.

Not inerested? Well this book is not for you. For those of you who are interested in knowing from where Proust's inspiration sprang, there is no better book.

One for the fans.

This book was the guide for one of the courses of the Master of Estrategic Marketing Managament. I recomended this book.

I think everyone should read this book. The world is going the wrong way and the book tells which way it will end up if we let it. I hope more read this book and wake up.

WARNING: Although this is the 4th book in "The Road to Avonlea" series, the story takes place AFTER the 5th book, "Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's." Since it does matter somewhat to the telling of this particular tale, you will want to read the next book first.

Early on with the television series "Avonlea" the idea was clearly to adapt some of Lucy Maud Montgomery's better stories from the two "Chronicles of Avonlea" collections. While something was lost in the translation of "Old Lady Lloyd" from story to television, "The Materializing of Duncan McTavish" and "Quarantine at Alexander Abraham's" are superb adaptations. What they both share in common is that they used familiar figures in Avonlea from Sullivan Production's classic "Anne of Green Gables" movies: Marilla Cuthbert and Rachel Lynde, respectively.

Sara Stanley is not sure she is going to enjoy her first time at the Avonlea sewing circle, since she really does not know how to snow. But then something quite interesting happens. When all the ladies are talking about who had how many beaux way back when, Sara asks Marilla Cuthbert "Did you ever have a beau?" Having endured a lifetime of slurs because she never had a beau, Marilla defiantly declares "I had one once." In for a penny, in for a pound, Marilla weaves a fantasy about her beau whom she named Duncan, because it is her favorite name, and McTavish, because she sees an advertisement for McTavish Porous Plasters. Everyone is suitable shocked and Marilla cannot imagine what came over her. But as Marilla knows all too well, "if you do wrong, you will be punished for it sometime, somehow or somewhere." Who should arrive in town but Duncan McTavish, to sell his Porous Plasters, and Sara Stanley knows Fate has brought the two former lovers together again. Of course, this is news to the amazed and confounded Duncan McTavish.

I usually do not give 5 stars to a novelization, but Heather Conkie wrote both the teleplay and this storybook and she did a marvelous job of taking Montgomery's short story "The Materializing of Cecil" in the "Further Chronicles of Avonlea" and working it into the "Avonlea" series. Furthermore, any opportunity to have Colleen Dewhurst play Marilla again is to be cherished. "The Materializing of Duncan McTavish" was a first rate episode and Conkie proves in this novelization how well she understands the characters and the story.

I found this book brilliant. I've always had trouble interpreting ECGs but after reading this book, they make a lot more sense. I've read other books but have never fully understood electrocardiography. The author breaks the topics down into simple concepts, and the clinical hints in each section are very practical, as are the many examples shown. I am now more confident about interpreting ECGs and wish I'd had this book as a medical student and junior doctor. I can see it helping nurses, students, cardiac technicians and doctors wanting to improve their knowledge in the area. I thoroughly recommend it.

It made me scream, it made me cry, it made me feel good, and it made me feel all creepy inside! It almost gave me hope too.

This is Belton's third book in this series about two middle-class African-American girls in the 1950's. The girls are now 6th graders dealing with problems and fears that are common to any child in any decade. Lessons on how to deal with stage fright, family relationships, loyalty, friendship, exclusive clubs and Black History are all taught in a story form that holds the reader's interest. As an elementary school librarian I highly recommend this book and look forward to adding the next installment to our collection.

I read this book several years ago, and it still crosses my mind often. Dayton Duncan is a wonderful author, and you immediately are in the vehicle with him, sitting right along side him and experiencing all the highs and lows of this trip in 3-D. Soon after I read this book, I sought out and read everything else he'd written by then, each of which was a joy to read. If you enjoy road trip books and learning something about the nature of we Americans, you'll not go wrong by reading this book. I've read most other contemporary American road travel books, and this certainly ranks at the very top (along with Bill Bryson's "The Lost Continent"). Get both books, you'll have traveled the length and breath of the country by the time you've finished andyou'll have met some very interesting, fun companions along the way.