Product Description
Morford and Lenardon's best-selling introduction to classical mythology is a comprehensive survey focusing on the literary tradition of Greek and Roman mythology. It offers extensive translations of original mythological sources as well as comparative and interpretive approaches to the myths. In this package, Classical Mythology, 6/e is bundled with the Oxford World's Classic The Odyssey. The first English prose translation of Homer's The Odyssey to appear in over thirty years, Shewring's translation comes as close to the spirit of the original Greek as our language will allow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Satisfied Customer
The book was very helpful in my mythology class and arrived the next day.I am very pleased with the timeliness of this arrival

Great Book
Very interesting and well thought out book on Classical Mythology. Provides a scientific discussion on mythology that really helps breakdown the meaning behind many of the myths.

Text Book Purchase
I was pleased with my purchase of a text book. I was especially pleased with the price this seller was offering. Instead of buying through my school bookstore, I saved alot of money without having to sacrifice quality. The seller was also very timely in delivering my order. I recommend this seller.

Communication?
Wrong version of product sent. No biggie, but I tried to communicate to get it straightened out, and it's been two weeks with no email. Wasn't a hard issue to solve. Oh well.

decent, but....
this is a decent textbook on the subject of Classical Myth. The myths of ancient Greece and to a lesser extent, Rome are covered.
There are a good deal of excerpts from the sources such as Homer, Hesiod, Ovid and so forth.The problem with this book, as i see it, is that is assumes too much of the reader. If often dives into the myths without giving a good framework of the myth itself first, an overview.This is a good textbook as long as one either already knows a little or as long as one uses a more basic source along side this one. ... Read more

Product Description
"Wise and forgiving . . . tough-minded and tender-hearted" (The New York Times), this delicious "coming of middle age" novel takes a lyrical, winsome, and genuinely side-splitting look at the heartbreak, aging, the search for home, and the madness of love between two mismatched men. "A stylish mix of humorous irony and realistic detail."--San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle.Amazon.com Review
Mark O'Donnell, the funniest writer you've never read, is theproud father of Getting Over Homer. In 193 pages percolatingwith wordplay, the book charts a romantic odyssey through the gaydemimonde of New York City. Your faithful narrator, Blue Monahan, is asongwriter and self-described "alien on Earth." (Actually,he's a Midwesterner in Manhattan, which is just as bad.) Monahan ekesout a living playing piano and writing doomed musicals, while his twinbrother, an actor, suckles Hollywood through a long-running sitcom.

The Homer of the title is a catty charmer with a shady past, aprofessional party-thrower who woos, screws, then "adieus"Blue. We follow the jilted through the healing process; it's painfullyhonest, but well leavened with wit. Getting Over Homer, endsmuch as it began: certain about love, uncertain about lovers, andthrough it all bravely funny. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Gay milieu gives rise to gentle humor
Perhaps it's a rite of passage. Mark O'Donnell's young protagonist seeks a meaningful relationship in New York City, and he seems always to fall for the wrong guy. His musing, his heartbreak and his courage evoke the reader's caring He may be gay, but his meanders through the users, the meaningless, the self-involved is familiar to all seekers of love.

Great Book by Overlooked Writer
After I first read this book, I couldn't believe Mark O'Donnell wasn't a more famous writer. He is truly gifted. The characters are hilariously real and the writing is just amazing--the similes and metaphors are to diefor. This book was a laugh riot from beginning to end. It's theme isuniversal--LOVE hurts but you survive it, even though you're dead sure youwon't.

inspiring first 100 pages
I was captivated by this book for the first 100 pages -- until it began to fizzle. O'Donnell certainly has a scintillating sense of humor and writestrenchantly about gay life in New York.The book's one set piece on FireIsland is hilarious, and I found myself reading bits of it to friends. Alas, the narrative seems to wane and lag after Homer exits, and whatfollows feels all too familiar and predictable.Don't get me wrong.Thereare original insights all the way through, particularly about being a twin.Indeed, that subject matter in and of itself might make for fascinatingnext-novel material.The other comment I want to make is that althoughmuch of the dialogue is delicious and bitchy and pointed, you have tosuspend disbelief a bit because you know that people can't really be thatwitty en passant.Obviously in writing one has to tred the dangerousground between banal and clever, but when characters are two clever theyrun the risk of sounding too much like the author.

C'mon Mark...let's get to know some of these characters...
Getting Over Homer is a sparsely written novel about Blue Monohan, yet ANOTHER character from Cleveland (I've been to Cleveland and it isn't nearly this interesting in real life, Mark).Blue has one foot in theBuckeye state and one in the big city life of New York.Unlike anotherCleveland-born character, Mary Ann Singleton, of Tales of the City fame,Blue's life remains somewhat centered in his Catholic white bread familylife in Cleveland and embraces his move to the city only half-heartedly. This is unfortunate.Ninety-percent of the interesting characters in thebook are Blue's family members!Oh, Mark...how I wish you'd let us get toknow some of them better.This book could have been twice as long andstill have held my interest.Even the main characters are underdeveloped. I found over and over again that I wanted to know some of the charactersmore.Mark writes hauntingly, however, and on more than one occassionprovides beautiful insight into the "normal" everyday life of agay man.That is why I chose to read this book, as I am also a middle agedman grappling with the fact that love sometimes leaves inexplicably. Finishing the book has made me want to read more of O'Donnell's offerings. I would recommend this book as light hearted reading, perfect for the trainor bus as the chapters are small.Maybe we should all date someone likeMark O'Donnell...

Slight but tremendously funny
Just what we need: yet another novel in which a youngish gay man searches wryly for true love in the Northeast. The streets that first-time novelist Mark O'Donnell treads are pretty well-worn, walked by Armistead Maupin, Stephen McCauley and a number of others. But O'Donnell brings remarkable freshness to his chronicle. He delivers a breathlessly funny novel that rewards the more careful reader, piling quip upon quip, precariously stacking clever puns and turns of phrase until they seem about to topple.

"I might as well tell you the whole arguably beautiful ordeal," his narrator sighs. "It's one of those coming-of-middle-age stories. A *bull-dung*-whatever. 'Lost Labors Loved.'" The narrator, Hans Christian Monahan (nicknamed Blue), was a child prodigy of sorts, writing a popular song (the sappy "Love Is the Answer") at age 11; since then he's slowly declined to become, in his 30s, a pianist and songwriter of less than great reknown, "a drowning, unaccompanied, pasty guy."

Still believing that love is indeed the answer ("I'm a beauty fool. A hope dope."), Blue searches New York for the perfect guy. What he finds is Homer, a dazzling party consultant of uncertain past and future, a man who turns out to be "ultimately more mirage than marriage." Blue describes his love life: "A few painful misfires, a few wonderful misfires, and then Homer. Homer, who cried with happiness when I carried him up to the roof of his own building he'd never even been on. Homer, who then left me alone with the ocean." He unsuccessfully seeks comfort from his 11 eccentric siblings, from friends, from television, from the Unhappy Hunting Grounds of gay bars. Listless and dispirited, "I was living in the world's dullest nightmare," he says.

And then he puts his plight into perspective: "One day I was watching this science-fiction movie on TV, waiting for the seasons to change, and the space victim was being lowered into boiling lava, and I said to myself, `Well, I'm heartbroken, but I'm not being lowered into boiling lav! a.' That's when I knew I was going to make it." Things begin looking up-"Love Is the Answer" is resurrected as a detergent jingle, and Blue turns his despondency into a new song ("Thank You from the Bottom of My Hurt") that's recorded and made a hit by a country singer. "I'd sued life for heartbreak and it settled out of court," Blue says.

Finally over Homer, Blue finds Teddy, an uncomplicated twentysomething who seems devoted to him, and things seem on the right track. But "any man in Eden is trespassing," Blue says, and sure enough, Teddy too proves fickle and unpredictable, rejecting him cruelly and capriciously. "I can see," Blue laments, "why gay partnerships are so unstable-with no children or family support to bind them in others' eyes, they're like trying to produce a long-running TV series without sponsors or an audience."

The scenes of conflict and breakup should be far more moving than they are-sometimes O'Donnell's one-liners turn frantic, short-circuiting the story's pathos. When Teddy calmly tells a desperate Blue, "At this moment, I hate you," he blurts out, "You can't mean that! It's puppy hate! You'll outgrow it!" This is very funny, and clever, but it shortchanges the reader's need for catharsis. This complaint is a small one, though. Against odds, the language and one-liners keep up their furious pace all the way to the end, maintaining its bittersweet tone while delivering a steady stream of laughs born of desperation and frustration. At 193 pages, "Getting Over Homer" seems, if anything, too short. Blue sums up his story: "Boy finds love, Boy loses love, Boy finds seemingly far truer love, Boy loses that, too. At this point, Boy isn't a boy anymore.... You want life to be a fable, or a legend, but it's an epic shaggy dog story. And I'm just one more grizzling spear carrier in that overproduced and unfocused Grand Opera Earth. ... Read more

Product Description
An Overview of Homer Laughlin Dinnerware covers a wide range of dates from the early 1900s until circa 1980. Most of these lines are unmarked. There are 1000s of pieces of dinnerware on the open market and many collectors aren’t aware they were made by Homer Laughlin. This book also includes lines from the 30s, 40s, & 50s. Some of the more popular lines discussed are Virginia Rose, Marigold, Fiesta, Harlequin, Coronet, Brittany, Tango, the Eggshell lines and many others. 100’s of color photos, descriptions, etc. Hardback, 259 Pages,8 ½ x 11", Includes: Markings, shapes, glazes, and much more! 2002-2003 Values ... Read more

Product Description
In this book, MacDonald argues that the author ofMark consciously emulated Homeric epic.He begins by describing the common Greco-Roman custom of teaching prose composition through mimesis (Greek) or imitatio (Latin) and by pointing out several examples of their practice in pagan, Jewish and later Christian texts.He then proceeds to make the controversial case that large portions of Mark draw either directly on the texts or indirectly on the topoi of Homer.The argument is compelling and meticulously constructed.Both of our readers agree that this is important, groundbreaking work that will revolutionize the study of the gospels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

A real eye opener.
The practice of mimesis, the reworking of ancient Greek literature, was a popular pedagogical method in the Greco-Roman world.When the Roman writer Livy composed the Aeneid, he not only created a sequel to Homer's Iliad, establishing the mythic lineage of Rome, but also wove Homeric themes and plot devices into his epic Latin poem. Not as obvious to the untrained reader, Mark's gospel is much subtler, yet richer in it's reworking of Homer's twin epics, the Iliad & the Odyssey.MacDonald does a thorough job, examining the ancient Greek texts, side by side with whole passages from Mark's gospel.The obvious parallels are stunning to say the least!

MacDonald's book can get very tedious towards the end where he recaps much of what was covered previously, however, the pure genius of his research warrants the repetition.My only other encounter with a similar concept regarding the gospels was the Stoic Seneca's reputed authorship of a drama-passion play of Jesus, possibly performed in Rome and possibly witnessed by the authors of the Synoptic gospels, Mark, Luke and Matthew.The theory of Senecan authorship of a Jesus play is very compelling, especially when you consider the similarities between Stoic and Christian morality.More fascinating is the analysis of the passion of Christ, as recorded in the Gospels, as specifically written for an ancient Roman stage production; Once again, it all becomes undeniably obvious that the passion of the Christ, is a mythical reworking of earlier Pagan sources.[..]

[...]

I highly recommend Dennis R. MacDonald's book and would also urge that readers would explore the Senecan theory as well.I recommended MacDonald's book to a fundie Christian friend but the title scared him off.I ended up mailing him a Noah's Ark coloring book which apparently got lost in the mail.Drats!

Putting This Book In Perspective
I found this book very interesting. I think this book is well written and researched. Dennis MacDonald makes a strong case that Mark uses a number of scenes from Homer's Odyssey and Iliad. But to assume that Mark is just writing an account of Jesus' ministry based on the Odyssey and Iliad is to misswhat the Gospel is really all about. I would recommend reading Horsley' book, "Understand Mark at Story" to understand what the Gospel is really all about.

MacDonald is kind of like Darwin
MacDonald's book on Mark and Homer recalls (to my mind) Darwin's "Origin of Species." How so? Well, just as Darwin used inductive reasoning based on observation to suggest family resemblences and lineages among species, MacDonald does the same with Mark and Homer. In other words, MacDonald suggests that Homer functions as a kind of literary South America to Mark's literary Galapogos. MacDonald is saying, in essence, that some of the "birds" (stories) on Mark's literary island evolved from some of Homer's "birds" (stories). MacDonald then takes the reader carefully through his evidence, noting family resemblences, and he does this thoroughly. It is an extremely impressive achievement. After reading MacDonald's book, I read the first ten chapters of the "Odyssey" to see ifI could imagine Mark really drawing on Homer in generating at least some of his stories about Jesus. I read Robert Fagles highly praised translation. I imagined myself as Mark living in a Greek city, meditating on news of the recent destruction of Jerusalem, and opening the Odyssey for solace or distraction. To my delight and surprise, I could see Jesus in the opening description of Odysseus and could imagine an author making connections and contrasts between the two characters. Odysseus is described in the opening of the Odyssey this way: ". . . many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea, fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home." And he is opposed by "blind fools" who might have escaped destruction if they had listened to him. Homer's poetic quality suggests (at least to me) a resonance with the Christian aspiration, and the author of Mark may have had a similar experience, provoking his imagination, and ultimately his pen. It certainly struck me, for example, that Penelope's suitors resemble the way Jesus' opponents talk. And Circe's dialogue with Odysseus recalls the Gadarene demoniac's dialogue with Jesus. Also, Auolus' bag of winds unleashing a storm could certainly have been Mark's inspiration for his own story about Jesus and his discples in a storm. Lastly, I noticed at least two places (in the first ten chapters of the Odyssey) where gods walk on water. There is certainly something going on between Mark and Homer, and MacDonald has done an admirable job teasing out relationships.

Very interesting perspective..
Very well written and totally unique perspective.
The reader would do well to brush up on Homer's Iliad and Oddysey before delving into this one (although the author does provide very brief summaries in the Appendix).

Good companion with The Jesus Puzzle and The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man.

Highly recommended.

Dense and Sequential
If we were to count all of the examples MacDonald gives to demonstrate that the author of Mark used Homeric epics as literary models, they'd number around 100. Explaining all of these instances away is, as the author demonstrates, hardly possible.

What I found particularly fascinating about this book is the way Homeric literary models explain characteristics of Mark that were otherwise enigmatic. For example, why did Jesus intend to pass his disciples by when he was walking on the water? For that matter, how did Jesus see his discples on the boat at night when he was on top of a mountain? Why did the Roman centurion call Jesus the son of God? MacDonald answers these questions and more.

I originally wondered why this book costs so much. After reading it, it appears to me that there are at least two reasons. First, MacDonald's contributions are revolutionary. His research is no doubt extensive. In other words, this book is valuable. Second, perhaps charging $40+ limits the amount of people reading the book exclusively for the purpose of debunking it. I'm sure MacDonald is aware people will criticize his conclusions, but the price helps makes sure those people who are legitimately interested in New Testament scholarship--not just apologetics--will read it.

So if you're one of those people interested in New Testament scholarship, I don't think your view of Mark will be the same after reading this book. Don't miss it. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (22)

Informative, engaging and thought-provoking
I didn't want this book to end and perhaps, if I'm lucky, it won't, as it is the third in a series after The Keeper's Son and The Ambassadors Son.I'm glad I had already read the first two books, but the author weaves enough background into each story that doing so is not a necessity. The book traces the adventures, insights and unanswered questions of a cast of fictional but historically accurate characters during WWII in the islands of the South Pacific, as they deal with their personal struggles in the midst of the strange realities of war. I highly recommend each of these books, and look forward to reading more from Homer Hickam,

The Far Reaches
I was expecting something different from what I got from this book.The story started out like a WWII novel and than quickly changed into a unique tale that I wasn't expecting.I felt like I had been short-changed.

Hickam's Josh Thurlow series never disappoints me
This latest installment in the Josh Thurlow series opens with the little-known battle of Tarawa and there we see yet another facet of Josh's personality, clearly warped by the bloody battles of the South Pacific.You can smell the cordite, hot steel, and blood of the landing on that hot spit of sand.I've read a few non-fiction books about Tarawa but Hickam brings it home to his readers as if we are actually there which is, of course, the value of fiction.If you know of the battle, you'll recognize quite a few of the real people who were there.Hickam clearly likes to do that, including JFK, Nixon, and Michener in his very much underrated The Ambassador's Son.This is the first part of the novel.From there, Josh, desperately wounded and ill, is shanghaied by a nun to an idyllic south seas island group where her terrible secret awaits Josh, sidekick Ready O'Neil and some Marines, also shanghaied.The awful truth of the Sister is not what was expected.Partially, yes, but the real secret, the deeper one, no - for it plumbs the darker parts of the soul.I think you have to be open to it to realize what it actually was.The characters are colorful, the dialog spot-on, the adventure remarkable.No, it's not Rocket Boys.It's Josh Thurlow and, as Josh would say, that's for sartain!

Far from his best work
I still consider Rocket Boys one the best books I have ever read and as other reviewers had said -- I really wanted to like this book.That did not happen.The plot was thin and boringly obvious - you knew the "deepest secret"halfway through the book.I kept hoping that I was wrong and at the end I would be surprised - but that was not to be.

another Homer Hickam winner
This is a good adventure read in the Josh Thurlow series on a par with earlier tales. Set in the war in the Pacific islands. ... Read more

Product Description

“A highly readable and comprehensive reference to data access capabilities of the .NET Framework. Suitable for the newcomer and ‘guru’ alike.”

—Arpan Desai, program manager, System.Xml, Webdata XML Team, Microsoft Corporation

“This book goes beyond the typical API reference and goes in detail into why you would use each new feature, what scenarios they were designed for, and how things work from end to end. Great way of getting started with data access in .NET 2.0.”

—Pablo Castro, program manager, ADO.NET Team, Microsoft Corporation

“An insightful look at the XML features in version 2.0 of the .NET Framework v. 2.0 by one of the minds behind many of the innovations in the System.Xml namespace. Even though I was one of the Program Managers who worked on version 2.0 of System.Xml, Mark Fussell’s chapters still taught me a few things I didn’t know about working with XML in the .NET Framework. Truly an excellent work.”

—Dare Obasanjo, program manager, Communication Services Platform, Microsoft Corporation

ADO.NET 2.0 delivers dramatic improvements in relational data access and XML support, as well as outstanding integration with SQL Server 2005. Now’s the time to get a running start with ADO.NET and System.Xml v. 2.0—The Beta Version, the one book that delivers all the insights, best practices, and sample code you’ll need.

Customer Reviews (3)

Microsoft MVP 2005 - Visual C# recommended
There are numerous upgrades between .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0.Thankfully, this book focuses strictly on ADO.NET and how System.Xml is utilized with it.Not only do you learn about new capabilities, the authors do a good job of comparing new techniques/capabilities with those from .NET 1.1.

You'll want to carefully review the more simplistic methods for asynchronous database calls, XPathNavigator, and notifications..NET 2.0 is providing you with better and faster ways to work with data.You need to start getting familiar with them prior to the gold release this fall.

For Experts or people who want to become an Expert
This book is a worthy companion to Bob Beauchemin et al's First Look. And that is saying a lot.
David Sussman and Alex Homer have always written like they are trying to communicate rather than fill up another book. Mark Fussell joins the gang in an admirable way.
This book is not a fluffy introduction; it is a pretty dense explanation and reference of this new technology. There are plenty of detailed code examples that serve as a tutorial.
For a couple years now, Dare Obasanjo has been yelling from the mountain top - Use XPathNavigator! Use XPathNavigator. For that matter, so has Mark himself in his writings on the web.
Now with v.2 XPathNavigator is editable. And, as I now understand from reading this book, it is conceptually a `higher' object that the current Xml Dom. Now I get it! Few books will give the XPathNavigator its due as this one does.
Microsoft's Xml Schema objects are pretty complicated. This is so to a great extent because Microsoft sticks pretty close to modeling its objects after the w3 consortium's standards. Now, I understand this thanks to chapter 11. And I was able to do some things with schema that before I haven't known where to start.

There have been some changes to ADO.Net since the books release. Microsoft has wisely chosen do away with some new objects for connecting to the database in a stored procedure.
[...]
There have been other changes too where some new features were just too complicated (Table Value Functions).
This is a bummer, but still the value of this book's 528 pages far outweigh the 4 or 5 outdated pages.

SQL Server 2005 is an extraordinary product. Jump on board, get your seats! This book is your ticket.

deep integration of XML into ADO
This book shows how Microsoft supports XML as one of the core standards for interacting with its SQL Server database and with its entire .NET framework. The book divides into two parts. The first deals with pure ADO.NET improvements. Many of these. Perhaps the most tangible of which can lead to you writing less code, and hence [hopefully] more robust code.

It will depend a lot on the reader, but for me, I found the main thrust of the book to be in the second section. Which concentrates on showing how ADO.NET handles XML. You can see how it can publish relational data very naturally in an XML format. Indeed, the book shows how XML has the expressive power to also represent semistructured data that is inherently awkward to store in a relational database. (Except perhaps as a blob. But that just treats it as an opaque unitary entity, which is of limited use.)

A constant message in this part of the book is showing how System.XML is thoroughly integrated with ADO and with all of .NET. Professionally, if you are dealing with ADO or any other aspect of .NET, you need to bone up on System.XML. ... Read more

Product Description
Alex Homer is managing director of Stonebroom, Ltd., a software-development, consulting, and training organization. He was formerly lead technical author and reviewer for Wrox Press, specializing in Microsoft Web and database technologiesDave Sussman speaks frequently at Microsoft development conferences and has been writing about ASP since its earliest releases.Mark Fussell is a lead program manager at Microsoft, working on XML and Web service technologies. He designed the XML APIs in version 1.0 release of System.Xml in the .NET Framework and worked on the design of version 2.0 until the end of 2004. In this role, he helped define the future direction of XML and data access in the .NET Framework and within SQL Server 2005. Mark is now the program manager for the Web Services Enhancements (WSE) product, which enables developers to build advanced, secure, service-oriented applications within Visual Studio, based around the WS-* specifications. Fortunately, this still allows him to work with developers and the XML APIs in .NET, and to remain passionate about current and emerging XML technologies to integrate data across platforms--XML came, it saw, it integrated.Mark speaks regularly at conferences and can be contacted via his blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/mfussell. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Very Good First Look
This book attempts to look at the evolving technology of ADO .NET version 2.0 that will ship with SQL Server 2005 and Visual Studio .NET 2005. It does a very good job of looking at the major technologies and the uses of each of them.

I am looking forward to the ability to use asynchronous database connections and Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS). I can already see where it would make my current applications more performant.

I am also looking forward to the ability to store XML in SQL Server 2005 and use the XPath query engine to be able to select out the parts of the XML that I need. With the XML capabilities built into ADO .NET 2.0 and SQL Server 2005 it will be much easier to work with XML data.

I have recommended this book to serveral people. I think it is a must read for consultants and others who need to stay on the leading edge of technology.

Addison-Wesley does it again
With all of my rave reviews of this series, I probably sound like I work in their PR department, but seriously, I don't.Every single book in this series that I've read is just plain great.This book, as well as their ASP.NET 2.0 title are just more examples of the same killer material they are publishing.

The book splits itself about 60/40 ADO.NET 2.0 Per se and the XML.However, if you're familiar with ADO.NET, you'll know they are interdependent technologies in .NET (no, I'm not saying you can't use XML without ADO.NET but XML and ADO.NET are so intertwined in .NET,it's hard to talk about ADO without XML).

Anyway, there's little in the way of review for the way ADO.NET used to work, and Amen to that.This book is short and too the point and you don't need to undestand pervious versions of ADO.NET to understand what's going on.With that in mind, a long discussion of previous version would be a waste of space.Now, there's no doubt that this book emphasizes Yukon and SqlServer features of ADO.NET 2.0, but it's not in any way limited to that.The subject of Batch updates is very cool (I know I can't wait for 2.0 to be released) but it doesn't take a lot of explaining.MARS and ObjectSpaces get a lot more coverage, but those are the two coolest features that I've seen.Well, that's not entirely true, the bulk loading features and paging are pretty darnded cool too.

Then the book discusses Yukon and the only complaint I have here is that I can't get a copy of it!You'll need Whidbey to compile the examples, but I've found getting a copy of Yukon to be quite elusive so that is somewhat limiting. However, that's not the author's fault in any way.(However, if they want to include a copy of it with the next release of the book, it'd certainly be a nice touch).

After that it moves into the XML realm and it's very very cool.No, it doesn't walk you through creating an XML document.The focus is heavy on data extraction with XML, XPath, XQuery, XmlReader, XmlAdapter taking up the focus of the discussion.Trust me, you'll be dying to play with this stuff by the time you get through the first discussion on it.

All in all, it looks like ADO.NET 2.0 is a larger evolution from previous versions than ADO.NET was to ADO (although ADO.NET is a totally different technology than ADO).If you want to take advantage of these features, you're going to have some learning to do.However, all of the books examples are complete, concise and clear and most importantly, they all work.There's nothing worse than typos and broken code, but it's a lot worse when you are dealing with a technology this young.

Once again, another first rate job by A-W.

Merging SQL Server and XML under .NET
At the simplest level, this book has two parts. The part on ADO.NET refers to further enhancements to accessing MS SQL Server on the .NET platform, as well as sundry bug fixes.

The other part concerns how .NET handles XML data management. Here Microsoft has put in a ton of work to handle the latest XML standards, including XML Schema, XPath and XQuery. The entire XML field has been growing rapidly and this book shows how Microsoft is keeping pace. Very reassuring.

Also, as one might expect, Microsoft has added custom enhancements to XML. There are two standard XML parsers, DOM and SAX, each with its well known advantages and disadvantages. With the SAX parser, you essentially add one of your routines to it as a listener for events you specify. Then you run SAX on an XML object. Via the listener, it pushes instances of those events to you. GUI building follows this approach. But some developers find this very awkward and unnatural. To answer this, Microsoft has come up with an "XMLReader" that reads XML objects and pull data into your code in a more intuitive way. Interesting, and this may be useful to some who are new to XML.

The book is more than just two disjoint halves. Basically, Microsoft is weaving the SQL access of ADO every more closely with XML, where the latter can be used as a data viewing language into the SQL. What about the impedance mismatch? Considerable effort has been expended to subsume this into low level details that more developers can ignore.

So for all these reasons, if you are already using .NET and SQL Server, you may want to check out these details more fully. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Cato June, Rey Maualuga, Mark Gastineau, Buddy Burris, Homer Paine, Teddy Lehman, Dede Dorsey, Paul Smith, Justin Brown, Jim Spavital, J. D. Runnels, Derek Fine, David Baas, John Wesley Jones, Neill Armstrong, Clyde Leforce, Sean Mahan, Lorenzo Williams, Steve Fuller, Sonny Sixkiller, Sam Claphan, Ray Norton, Sherman Plunkett, Budge Garrett, Milt Simington, Emmett Mclemore, Walt Rankin, Donovan Woods, Justin Roland, Romby Bryant, Ben Aldridge, Byron Beams, Rayna Stewart, Jackie Shipp, Ed Meyer, D'juan Woods, Gordon Wilson, Mark Ingle, Darrell Tully, Randall Burks, Bill Newashe, John Shirk, Dean Prater, James Holt, Harold Akin, Anthony Griggs, Roger Taylor, Artie Smith, Hugh Mccullough, John Green, Charles Crawford, Peter Blackbear, Earl Bartlett, J. R. Boone, Tim Gordon, Mo Bassett, Ralph Schilling, Charlie Harper, Warren Livingston, Toy Ledbetter, Kevin Mclain, Robert Hardy, Gary Cutsinger, Quinn Grovey. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 212. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Cato Nnamdi June (born November 18, 1979 in Riverside, California, United States) is an American football linebacker who is currently a free agent. He was selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL Draft. A 2006 Pro Bowl choice, June was a member of the Super Bowl XLI champion Colts. During the Super Bowl championship season, June was the Colts' leading tackler. In addition to his tenure with the Colts, he played in the National Football League for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Before becoming a professional, he played college football at Michigan and was an outstanding athlete in high school football, basketball, track and field and baseball at Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C. As a senior, he was widely regarded to be the best high school football player in the Distri...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=3324556 ... Read more

Product Description
Allen Rogers Benner presents selections from twelve books of the Iliad both in Greek and English. Short summaries between books bridge the narrative and aid the student in gaining a comprehensive view of the Iliad as a work of literature and art. Invaluable resources include an extensive section of notes on the text, a short Homeric grammar, and a vocabulary and Greek index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION!!!
My review does not address the content but rather this edition. When they chose an old copy of Benner to make copies from they did not choose a clean txt. There is writing that is illegible and makes many of the words hard to read. Some pages (i.e. 32 and 33) are downright so horribly copied as to be useless. Those two pages are partially covered up by some blob and page 33 is totally slanted and some of it is oddly magnified, the same thing you see when you put a book on a copier and don't straighten it enough. This is really inexcusable. Few enough students attempt reading Homer as it is, don't chase them away by making them pay a lot of money for a "new" edition that is so poorly put together. Do yourself a favor and buy a used copy of an older edition.

Selections from Homer's Iliad
Allan Rogers Benner provides us with a wonderfully complete book that would allow anyone with at least a moderate knowledge of Attic Greek to explore the world of Homer in the original (as of 300-or-so BC) text.
The text is set up in such a way so as for a beginner in the Homeric language to work their way through without much trouble: the book starts with an enlightening commentary on the state of the language itself as we have it in addition to contextual and historical analysis. The text itself uses a font which is more than large enough to recognize all of the accents and breathing marks as well as the iota-subscript. He has selected passages from some of the more important parts of the epic, Books I, III, IX, XVIII,and XXII are all even contained in their entirety for example, and there are also passages from numerous other books. Additionally, Homeric hapaxes (words that only appear once) are glossed on the bottom of the page. After the text, there are almost 150 pages of notes to aid in the understanding of trickier passages, and there are also Attic equavilances of archaic Homeric forms. Benner also provides a very brief overview of Homeric language both morphologically and syntactically that is ideal for reference should one encounter an unfamiliar use of an optative, for example. And lastly, and most importantly, there is a complete glossary in the back to avoid the unfortunate shuffling between books often required of beginning classicists.
Overall this book is absolutely ideal for an introductory college-level course in the Homeric dialect, and very well deserves to become the standard such text used. This book is also perfect for someone who would like to work on their own on reading the Iliad in Greek, provided of course they have at least some background in Attic forms and syntax. Benner deserves high praise for his work and efforts, as he has truly produced one of the greatest texts for Greek students at the intermediate level.

Good resource
This is a good resource for all the books of the Iliad; however, someone just beginning to read Homer or any original text may need more help than Benner provides. Consider either Iliad I by Pamela Ann Draper or Iliad I by Simon Pulleyn. Draper is better on nuts and bolts grammar and has the vocabulary on the facing page. Pulleyn has the vocabulary in the back of the book, but is better on literary and historical issues. His introduction is excellent: wide-ranging but concise; written in clear, stylish, non-academic prose. These texts cover only Book I. This is a good thing since it allows both authors to limit the vocabularies and Pulleyn to provide a complete commentary on that one book.

Superseded by Willcock's work
I have a great sentimental attachment to Benner's Selections, as it was with this textbook that I first read Homer in Greek.I loved the selections, etc.!

However, as students have later come to me with their Homer reading projects, I've placed this side-by-side with the notes in M.M. Willcock's "Iliad of Homer: Books I-XII" and "Iliad of Homer: Books XIII-XXIV," and it just doesn't measure up.Willcock's work is fresher (1978/1984 vs. 1903), and he gives better and fuller help with Homer's language.(Also, he happens to be the more sensitive reader of Homer's poetry.)

If there's a reason to stick with Benner, it's that it's cheaper and gives excellently chosen selections (grammar overview + text + notes) in one volume, as opposed to Willcock's two-volume format covering the entire Iliad.Also, you've just got to love a book (=Benner) that begins, "This edition of the Iliad includes the books commonly required for admission to American colleges..."Also, Benner has a wonderfully written and complete glossary in the back, whereas with Willcock you need also to buy a good Homer lexicon (that is, Cunliffe's "Lexicon of the Homeric Dialect," which is much better than Autenrieth's brief work IMHO).

An Excellent Intermediate-level Text
This text is probably the best choice for those who have spent a year learning the basics of Homeric (or Attic) Greek and want to experience some payoff for all the hours spent conjugating second aorists and declining endless varieties of third-declension nouns. The selections consist of long excerpts (five books of the Iliad are included in their totality) of the best parts of the Iliad. As a whole, the selections comprise a sort of "Essential Iliad" inasmuch as they convey the scope of the entire poem from the wrath of Achilles to the burial of Hector.
My only gripe with the editors' choice of what to include is with the omission of Hera's deception of Zeus.

Along with the selections is a commentary which helps elucidate those words and phrases here and there that are likely to cause the relative beginner trouble in construing the sense. In general, the commentary is quite good, though it does let the reader down from time to time. It won't, for example, explain to you what the connective particle in line 8 of Book One means even though no beginner will know what to make of it. Thus, a bit more help could have been given, particularly in the area of particles.

In addition to the commentary, there is a vocabulary comprising all the words used in the excerpts. This is a real bonus, since rifling through big lexicons can be tedious, particularly for a relative beginner. Also, all hapax legomena (words used only once) are listed at the bottom of every page of text.

All in all, then, Benner's Selections From The Iliad is a must-have for those who want to expand upon an elementary understanding of Homeric Greek. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: United Airlines Flight 93 Victims, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Leroy Homer, Jr., Lauren Grandcolas, Jeremy Glick, Todd Beamer. Excerpt: Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 September 11, 2001) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. He died at age 31 in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham attended Los Gatos High School. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also president of his fraternity, Chi Psi. In college, he played for the UC Berkeley rugby union team and helped them win a string of national championships. A large athlete at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 225 pounds (102 kg), he also played for the San Francisco Fog RFC, a rugby union team. In 2001 Most of the Fog were complete novices to the game, but Mark started showing up anyway. He coached, cajoled, and crashed through their practices, and played No. 8 in their first two friendly matches. He also played in their first tournament (where he promptly dislocated his shoulder). He taught his teammates his favorite rugby songs and made them feel like we were part of something bigger than themselves. That was early 2001. In May 2001, as a member of the Fog, he took part in the Washington DC Renegades Invitational Tournament. Although very few in number, most of the gay rugby teams extant at that time took part in the tournament. It was after the tournament that Gothams Scott Glaessgen, who had been inspired by the tournament and who had been friends with Mark since 1998, contacted Bingham about forming a gay rugby team in New York City. Mark had recently opened a second office of his successful public relations firm in NYC and was spending more time on the East... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19941 ... Read more

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Chapters: Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett, Leroy Homer, Jr., Lauren Grandcolas, Jeremy Glick, Todd Beamer. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 33. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Mark Kendall Bingham (May 22, 1970 September 11, 2001) was an American public relations executive who founded his own company, the Bingham Group. He died at age 31 in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on board United Airlines Flight 93. Bingham attended Los Gatos High School. He was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he was also president of his fraternity, Chi Psi. In college, he played for the UC Berkeley rugby union team and helped them win a string of national championships. A large athlete at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and 225 pounds (102 kg), he also played for the San Francisco Fog RFC, a rugby union team. In 2001 Most of the Fog were complete novices to the game, but Mark started showing up anyway. He coached, cajoled, and crashed through their practices, and played No. 8 in their first two friendly matches. He also played in their first tournament (where he promptly dislocated his shoulder). He taught his teammates his favorite rugby songs and made them feel like we were part of something bigger than themselves. That was early 2001. In May 2001, as a member of the Fog, he took part in the Washington DC Renegades Invitational Tournament. Although very few in number, most of the gay rugby teams extant at that time took part in the tournament. It was after the tournament that Gothams Scott Glaessgen, who had been inspired by the tournament and who had been friends with Mark since 1998, contacted Bingham about forming a gay rugby team in New York City. Mark had recently opened a second office of his successful public relations firm in NYC and was spending more time on the East Coas...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=19941 ... Read more

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The prophecy of Isaiah occupies a large place in the Old Testament canon of Scripture, not only from the viewpoint of its length, but also from the perspective of its significance. Second only to the psalms, it is the book most frequently quoted in the New Testament. Among the books of the prophets, it is quoted by Jesus and his apostles in support of the New Testament gospel of grace more frequently than all of the other prophets put together. In addition, Isaiah's vocabulary is richer than that of any other prophet, and even more comprehensive and diverse than that of the psalms. Why did Jesus and his apostles quote from Isaiah as often as they did? What did the author of this book see in the prophecy of Isaiah that made him concentrate much of his preaching on this book for some thirty years? The answer lies in the messianic characteristic of the book; Isaiah speaks of Christ. Sometimes the prophecy is indirect, vague, and difficult to understand. At other times clear, literal, and straightforward. In either case, Isaiah always speaks of the coming of the Messiah implying both the judgment of the wicked world and the salvation of Zion. The author of this book, Homer C. Hoeksema served as minister in the Protestant Reformed Church from 1947 to 1959 as a professor of Old Testament and Dogmatics in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches from 1959 until his death in 1989. Hoeksema loved the prophecy of Isaiah and preached on 125 different passages from this book. Redeemed with Judgment: Sermons on Isaiah is the transcribed and edited collection of these sermons. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on August 2, 2010. The length of the article is 980 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Hardy answers Ems' call to arms.(Baseball Ems)(Six strong innings from new lefty Mark Hardy and Rico Noel's two-run homer carry Eugene)
Author: Unavailable
Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: August 2, 2010
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: C13

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning ... Read more

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Copyright 2000 by Church of God School of MinistryPathway PressThe need for material that presents a practical approach to ministry is paramount That need is fulfilled in the pages of this book. Individuals eminently qualified to address these issues offer patterns and applications out of their experiences. The suggestions offered here are both Biblical and practical. Such important subjects as planning a worship service, administering the sacraments, conducting weddings and funerals, attending to the daily tasks that befall a pastor, and many other relevant matters ministers face every day are covered in this volume. For those just starting in the ministry, this is an invaluable resource. For those that are already actively involved in ministry, this book serves as a refresher course. Both groups can glean information that will enlarge their service for the Lord.This book is based on a video series bearing the same name. It's greatest value will come from reading it in conjunction with the videotapes. It is offered as part of the Certificate In Ministerial Studies program originated by the School of Ministry. ... Read more