Rabu, 30 Desember 2009

The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition


The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition Summary:


By Richard B. Silverman Ph.D Organic Chemistry
Publisher:   Academic Press
Number Of Pages:   617
Publication Date:   2004-01-26
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0126437327
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780126437324


Product Description:


Standard medicinal chemistry courses and texts are organized by classes of drugs with an emphasis on descriptions of their biological and pharmacological effects. This book represents a new approach based on physical organic chemical principles and reaction mechanisms that rationalize drug action and allow the reader to extrapolate to many related classes of drug molecules.
The Second Edition reflects the significant changes in the drug industry over the past decade, and now includes color illustrations, chapter problems, and other elements that make concepts easier to understand. * Organic chemist's perspective of how drugs are designed and function * Teaches organic chemists and biochemists the fundamentals of drug design and drug action using drugs as examples * Extensive use of references to the primary and secondary literature for more in depth reading about all concepts * Extensive use of structures, schemes, and figures to illustrate points * Explanations of dual-acting drugs * Problem sets and answers for each topic * Casual writing style * Author has published over 200 articles in the areas of synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry, has been awarded 21 patents, and has invented a drug that is under consideration for commercialization.


Summary: Fantastic Book for chemists and medicinal chemists Rating: 5
Some books of this nature tend to focus on the synthesis of drug molecules and less about how they work and why. This book is just the opposite and walks the reader through a logical progression of drug discovery, design and target specificity. This book makes a great introduction to Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics which could be considered the bible of the subject.


Summary: Good book with few flaws Rating: 4
The book is great for understanding the title subject. But it has too many references which distracts the reader. Also, many times, the corresponding picture of a particular topic covered is not in the same page as the topic. This requires going back and forth between pages. The problems at the end of each chapter are really good and checks the understanding of the subject thoroughly.


Summary: Outstanding... Rating: 5
This is probably the best book of its kind in the vast and multidisciplinary field of drug design and action. Richard Silverman is an acclaimed chemistry Professor at Northwestern University, and in this book, he provides the most comprehensive and lucid exposition of the chemical basis of drug action that I have seen. No matter how complicated biological systems and their interactions are, at the basic level, it's all chemistry, and mostly organic chemistry. An organic chemist will find this book extremely illuminating in a way that would not have been made clear through his traditional education. The book opens with a short but clear discussion of drug discovery, combinatorial chemistry, and clinical testing and trials. Then it leads the reader through a variety of enzyme catalyzed reactions, with examples of major drugs studded all the way. Silverman shows us how nature is the master organic chemist, employing the familiar reactions of chemistry in an unsurpassed way. The chapter on enzyme inhibition is long and detailed, and it's breathtaking. Which is important because almost all major drugs act by inhibiting enzymes. The examples which Silverman chooses to illustrate are both important (including many bestselling anti-cancer, anti-viral, and antibiotic drugs to name a few), as well as very interesting. The last parts of the book deal with DNA binding drugs, and with pathways of drug metabolism and excretion. Along all the way, the emphasis is on the chemical reactions that drugs undergo, which after all is what controls their properties. The lucidity of the book is such that a beginning graduate well-versed with the basic principles of general and organic chemistry can easily understand all the contents. This book is so interesting and illuminating that it's one of the very few academic books which I have actually read from the first to the last page, with every word in between. In fact, it even makes great bedside reading! Truly a must-have book for all chemists and biologists of every kind, interested in how drugs work.


Summary: Excellent Rating: 4
This book is fantastic and covers a broad range of topics that fall into the category of rational drug design. The book goes in depth into topics dealing with each important aspect of how drugs are discovered and modified to produce better drugs: from effects of chirality to electronic effects. The structure of drugs, at the molecular level are covered in detail, reflecting every major aspect of drug structure. Then, interaction between drug (ligand) and enzyme, at the molecular level are covered. In my estimation, to benefit most from this book, the reader should have a working knowledge of organic chemistry and biochemistry (at least protein secondary and tertiary structure).


Summary: Check out the new edition of this book Rating: 5
There is a new considerably expanded and updated edition available of Silverman's already classic text as of Jan/04. ISBN is 0-12-643732-7. Check it out... price is comparable to the earlier edition.


Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software


Applied C++: Practical Techniques for Building Better Software Summary:
Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional | ISBN: 0321108949 | edition 2003 | CHM | 352 pages | 12,5 mb


This book takes C++ a step further from the books that describe specific features of C++. It provides concrete techniques and methods for delivering commercial-quality software; software that must be portable across many platforms, meet performance goals, and be maintainable and understandable both to customers and internal developers alike.
The authors include a simple image processing system to demonstrate the techniques of developing robust C++ software; it's a really fun and interesting system for programmers and developers. After reading the book, you will have an image processing framework that is useful for manipulating digital images and a practical toolkit of C++ utilities. This book is unique because it is about software development, not just programming. Sections like Reusable Code and Portability will get the reader thinking about more than trying to come up with the fastest way to code the solution to a problem.


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.NET Enterprise Design with Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000


.NET Enterprise Design with Visual Basic .NET and SQL Server 2000 Summary:
Publisher: Sams | ISBN: 0672322331 | edition 2001 | PDF | 384 pages | 10,5 mb


This book discusses factors and opinions developers should consider in order to create higher quality designs and applications. The author uses one large-scale business application throughout the book as the basis for all examples to clearly illustrate concepts being discussed.
Coverage also includes:

* a variety of aspects about design in the world of .NET;
* explanations of the business and data access layers of application design;
* solutions for problems such as code structure, solid error trapping, and how to build in debugging support;
* discussion of how to design larger projects with more robust systems and reusable components;
* comparison of component solutions to stored procedure solutions.


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Oil, gas, coal & electricity / Électricité, charbon, gaz & pétrole. 2009


Oil, gas, coal & electricity / Électricité, charbon, gaz & pétrole. 2009 Summary:
Quarterly statistics. Second quarter / Statistiques trimestrielles. Deuxième trimestre
IEA/OECD | Dec. 2009 | ISSN: 10259988 | 554 pages | PDF | 5 Mb


This publication provides up-to-date, detailed quarterly statistics on oil, coal, natural gas and electricity for the OECD countries.
Cette publication présente des statistiques actualisées, précises et détaillées sur le pétrole, le gaz naturel, le charbon et l’électricité pour les pays de l’OCDE.
• | •

Oil statistics cover production, trade, refinery intake and output, stock changes and consumption for crude oil, NGL and nine selected oil product groups. Statistics for electricity, natural gas and coal show supply and trade. 
Import and export data are reported by origin and destination. Moreover, oil and hard coal production are reported on a worldwide basis. Les statistiques du pétrole couvrent la production, les importations et les exportations, l’approvisionnement et la production des raffineries, les variations de stocks ainsi que la consommation de pétrole brut, de LGN et de neuf produits pétroliers sélectionnés. Les statistiques de l’électricité, du gaz naturel et du charbon concernent la production et les échanges. 
Les importations et exportations sont présentées par pays d’origine et de destination. De plus, les productions de pétrole et de charbon sont étendues à l’ensemble du monde.


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Consumer Credit Fundamentals, Second Edition


Consumer Credit Fundamentals, Second Edition Summary:


By Steven Finlay
Publisher:   Palgrave Macmillan
Number Of Pages:   256
Publication Date:   2009-02-15
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0230220150
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780230220157


Product Description:


This book provides a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary and practical introduction to consumer credit.
Consumer credit is prevalent across almost every aspect of our consumer orientated society, and today there are very few products or services that can't be bought on credit terms or retailers who don't provide for credit facilities. Yet, despite the importance of credit to individuals,
the economy and society, there are very few texts describing the operation of consumer credit markets anywhere in the world. Consumer Credit Fundamentals is the only book to provide a complete, cross-disciplinary and internationally focused introduction to a wide range of topics about consumer credit. The text has been substantially revised and updated with the launch of this second international edition. It covers everything the from the history of credit and the different types of credit available, through to how credit is granted and managed, the legal framework within which commercial lenders must operate as well as consumer and ethical issues. It is the perfect guide for anyone wanting to know more about this important subject.
List of Contents
Preface Introduction The History of Credit Products and Providers The Economics of Credit and its Marketing Credit Granting Decisions Credit Reference Agencies Credit Management Ethics in Lending Legislation and Consumer Rights Appendix I: The Calculation of Interest and APR Appendix II: A Brief Note on the Construction of Credit Scorecards


Author Biography
STEVEN FINLAY is an expert in consumer credit and credit risk management, with over fifteen years experience of working within the financial services industry and academia. During the course of his career he has worked on numerous projects in conjunction with almost every major credit granting institution in the UK. He is currently a research fellow at Lancaster University, UK.


Reviews
'A comprehensive, well researched and well written text, covering a wide range of consumer credit topics. Highly recommended as an introduction to the subject' - Simon Harben, Senior Vice President Global Analytics, Experian, UK 'This is a definitive guide to consumer credit " history, ethics, law, economics, the operation of credit reference agencies, credit scoring: An interesting, informative and very readable book that I would recommend to anyone who wants gain an insight into the different facets of this important subject' - Robert Fildes, Distinguished Professor, Lancaster University Centre for Forecasting, UK 'The second edition of this ground breaking book about consumer credit provides a huge breadth of interesting information about the role of credit and debt in modern society. Extremely informative, and an essential read for anyone looking for knowledge in this area - highly recommended' Adrian Lingard, Jaywing, UK 'A fascinating and well written guide to the world of consumer credit. No other book provides so much information about this central pillar of our consumer orientated society' - Nick Evans, Head of Risk and Analytics, Marks and Spencer Money, UK 'A must for senior managers in all consumer facing businesses. The practice and practicalities of consumer credit have a considerable influence on the way companies deal with their customers and this guide provides a complete overview of these, combined with an interesting history and social implications. Easily digested for such an involved subject' - Graham Price, Head of Risk. JD Williams & Co. Ltd., UK


Selasa, 29 Desember 2009

Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with XML (Pro-Developer)


Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with XML (Pro-Developer) Summary:
Publisher: Microsoft Press | ISBN: 0735613699 | edition 2001 | CHM | 277 pages | 10,7 mb


25-Word Description This title gives developers the expert guidance they need to build powerful, XML-enabled database applications for line-of-business, e-commerce, and the Web.

75-Word Description Extensible Markup Language (XML) is the lingua franca of business information exchange. This book gives developers the expert guidance they need to build powerful, XML-enabled database applications for line-of-business, e-commerce, and the Web. The author steps through the development of several real-world solutions, including enterprise knowledge-management systems and ultra-scalable electronic retail and business-to-business (B2B) solutions. The book includes code on a companion CD-ROM that readers can study and reuse in their own projects.


or

Java Foundations


Java Foundations Summary:
Publisher: Sybex | ISBN: 0782143733 | edition 2004 | CHM | 347 pages | 11,3 mb


While Java is the fastest-growing programming language, it can be a daunting topic for a beginner. This book demystifies the subject and gives aspiring Java programmers the solid foundation necessary to pursue more advanced Java training.
Java Foundations assumes no prior knowledge of programming and provides a solid introduction to the major topics involved, explaining the fundamentals of Java in simple terms with tangible examples. New Java programmers will enjoy this book’s straightforward approach and abundance of valuable information.


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Accounting and Finance for the International Hospitality Industry


Accounting and Finance for the International Hospitality Industry Summary:


By Peter Harris
Publisher:   Butterworth-Heinemann
Number Of Pages:   352
Publication Date:   1998-02-12
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   075063586X
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780750635868


Product Description:


Top experts specializing in hospitality management have contributed articles to this new collection which explains recent developments in accounting and finance. The material is drawn from a combination of fieldwork and practical experience. The managerial emphasis means that the content is fully relevant internationally and not constrained by the legal framework of different countries.
Accounting and Finance provides an overview of: *analysis and evaluation of performance *planning methods and techniques *financial information and control *financial management. It also shows how operational analysis can be used as a management tool to improve performance. Techniques for predicting the financial success or failure of hotels are suggested. Research into hotel companies in the US and Europe demonstrates key performance indicators used by hotel managers and financial executives. Other contributors explore the interface between accounting and marketing and human resource management and there is thorough coverage of financial strategy formulation. Readers will also find helpful the section on statistics in the analysis and prediction of cost behaviour in hotels. Contributors: Raymond Schmidgall (Michigan State University, USA); Debra J. Adams (Bournemouth University, UK); Professor Elisa S. Moncarz (Florida International University, USA); Richard N. Kron (Kron Hospitality Consulting, USA); Angela Maher (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Peter J. Harris (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Geoff S. Parkinson (BDO Stoy Hayward Chartered Accountants, UK); Paul Fitz-John (Bournemouth University, UK); Paul Collier (University of Exeter, UK); Professor Alan Gregory (University of Glasgow, UK); Tracy A. Jones (Cheltenham and Gloucester College of Higher Education, UK); Jacqueline Brander Brown (The Manchester Metropolitan University, UK); Nina J. Downie (Oxford Brookes University, UK): Catherine L. Burgess (Oxford Brookes University, UK); Ian C. Graham (Holiday Inn Worldwide, Belgium); Howard M. Field (International Hotel and Leisure Associates, UK); Professor Paul Beals (Canisius College, USA); Frank J. Coston (Pannell Kerr Forster Associates, UK). Endorsed by the British Association of Hotel Accountants Articles contributed by the world's top experts in the field of hospitality management Edited by leading academic in accounting and finance for hospitality.


Beginning Access 2003 VBA (Programmer to Programmer)


Beginning Access 2003 VBA (Programmer to Programmer) Summary:
Publisher: Wrox | ISBN: 0764556592 | edition 2004 | PDF | 545 pages | 11,7 mb


Written by an Access programmer with more than 10 years of VBA experience, this is the perfect guide for Access users who are ready to take their databases to the next level, or for programmers who are new to Access or VBA.
Veteran Access developer Denise Gosnell shows readers the ins and outs of Access VBA and provides plenty of source code, and fully developed sample applications to guide you along the way.
Not only do readers learn to build “stand-alone” desktop applications, but readers also learn how to integrate Access applications with Web Services, and SQL Server.


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Advances in Biomedical Sensing, Measurements, Instrumentation and Systems (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 55)


Advances in Biomedical Sensing, Measurements, Instrumentation and Systems (Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering 55) Summary:
By Subhas Chandra Mukhopadhyay, Aimé Lay-Ekuakille
Publisher:   Springer
Number Of Pages:   358
Publication Date:   2009-12-17
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   3642051669
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9783642051661
Product Description:
Advances in technological devices unveil new architectures for instrumentation and improvements in measurement techniques. Sensing technology, related to biomedical aspects, plays a key role in nowadays applications; it promotes different advantages for:
healthcare, solving difficulties for elderly persons, clinical analysis, microbiological characterizations, etc.. This book intends to illustrate and to collect recent advances in biomedical measurements and sensing instrumentation, not as an encyclopedia but as clever support for scientists, students and researchers in other to stimulate exchange and discussions for further developments.




Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits, Volume 42


Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits, Volume 42 Summary:
583 pages | Academic Press; 1 edition (October 18, 2000) | 0120176424 | PDF | 38 Mb


"Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits provides an extensive overview of contemporary methods for statistical gene mapping."

—Alexandre A. Todorov for AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HUMAN GENETICS (July 2002) -- Review


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The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Second Edition

The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Second Edition Summary:
Publisher: Yale University Press | pages: 672 | 2006 | ISBN: 0300109032 | PDF | 16,9 mb


The second edition of The Nonprofit Sector provides a novel, comprehensive, cross-disciplinary perspective on nonprofit organizations and their role and function in society. This new, updated edition keeps pace with industry trends and advances as well as with the changing interests and needs of students, practitioners, and researchers.
As before, every chapter has been written to stand on its own, providing sufficient background for the reader to follow the argument without referring to other chapters—allowing readers to selectively choose those chapters that are most relevant to a particular course, interest, or issue.


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Corporate Governance and Firm Performance


Corporate Governance and Firm Performance Summary:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited | English | 2009-04-19 | ISBN: 1848555369 | 284 pages | PDF | 1,5 MB


While Advances continues to publish papers from any area of Finance, the focus of this issue is on corporate governance, broadly defined as the system of controls that helps corporations and other organizations effectively manage,
administer, and direct economic resources. Included in the volume are papers focusing on: the impact of deregulation and corporate structure on productive efficiency; the effectiveness of the fraud triangle and SAS; board monitoring and access to debt financing; institutional investors; and managerial stability and payout policy.


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Practical Essentials of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy 2nd Edition


Practical Essentials of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy 2nd Edition Summary:
By K.S. Clifford Chao, Smith Apisarnthanarax, Gokhan Ozyigit


Publisher:   Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Number Of Pages:   324
Publication Date:   2004-09-01
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0781752795
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780781752794


Product Description:


The primary objective of this book is to teach residents, fellows, and clinicians in radiation oncology how to incorporate intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) into their practice. IMRT has proven to be an extremely effective treatment modality for head and neck cancers.
It is now being used effectively in other sites, including, prostate, breast, lung, gynecological, the cervix, the central nervous system, and lymph nodes. The book will provide in a consistent format an overview of the natural course, lymph node spread, diagnostic criteria, and therapeutic options for each cancer subsite.
Summary: A must have Rating: 5
'Practical Essentials of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy' starts out with an introduction to IMRT, and terminology that is commonly encountered with IMRT. This book describes in detail the delineation of target volumes and normal tissues using ct and mri cross sectional color images. Standard dose prescriptions for IMRT for various sites are mentioned clearly. Each site ends with a review of results of IMRT treatment. For radation oncologists starting out on an IMRT program, this book is definitely a must have.


Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders


Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eating Disorders Summary:
324 pages | The Guilford Press; 1 edition (April 21, 2008) | 1593857098 | PDF | 1 Mb


This book provides the first comprehensive guide to the practice of "enhanced" cognitive behavior therapy (CBT-E), the latest version of the leading empirically supported treatment for eating disorders. Written with the practitioner in mind, the book demonstrates how this transdiagnostic approach can be used with the full range of eating disorders seen in clinical practice.
Christopher Fairburn and colleagues describe in detail how to tailor CBT-E to the needs of individual patients, and how to adapt it for adolescents and patients who require hospitalization. Also addressed are frequently encountered co-occurring disorders and how to manage them. Reproducible appendices feature the Eating Disorder Examination interview and questionnaire.


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Introducing Ubuntu: Desktop Linux


Introducing Ubuntu: Desktop Linux Summary:
Course Technology PTR | June 27, 2007 | ISBN: 1598634151 | 464 pages | PDF | 6 MB


Completely free and highly robust, Ubuntu has the power to bring the Linux desktop to the masses. Introducing Ubuntu: Desktop Linux is your key to learning this new, userfriendly, and free alternative to Windows. Think of it as a personal tutorial, a one-on-one class with an expert user of Ubuntu.
It begins by helping you choose the right Ubuntu for you (yes, there's more than one), and guides you through installing Ubuntu, managing the desktop, installing printers, and getting online. From there, the book moves on to describe how to perform everyday tasks under Ubuntu, such as sending and receiving e-mail, playing MP3s and movies, messaging with friends, working with digital images, and much more. There's plenty of information on how to use OpenOffice.org programs such as Writer, Calc, and Impress as well. While this is an excellent book for the general consumer, the book also addresses businessoriented users of Ubuntu for the small to mediumsized business (SMB) market through the use of sidebars. This is the only "up-and-running" guide to Ubuntu you will ever need.


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Microsoft Visual Basic: Game Programming for Teens, 2nd Edition


Microsoft Visual Basic: Game Programming for Teens, 2nd Edition Summary:
Course Technology PTR | September 25, 2007 | ISBN: 1598633902 | 432 pages | PDF | 9 MB


If you have basic programming experience, this book is your ideal guide for writing games using Visual Basic .NET and Managed DirectX 9. This Second Edition includes almost entirely new coverage.
While coverage of game design and 2D artwork remain, this edition includes more detailed coverage of the DirectX game code and utilizes the free Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition compiler. A true beginner's guide, this book covers each essential step for creating your own complete role playing game, including a character creation screen and a combat system. This book serves as a comprehensive introductory guide for readers who are new to programming or new to programming for games.


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Falling Man: A Novel


Falling Man: A Novel Summary:


By Don DeLillo Narrated by John Slattery Unabridged
Publisher:   Simon & Schuster Audio
Number Of Pages:  
Publication Date:   2007-05-15
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0743567188
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780743567183
Product Description:
There is September 11 and then there are the days after, and finally the years.


Falling Man is a magnificent, essential novel about the event that defines turn-of-the-century America. It begins in the smoke and ash of the burning towers and tracks the aftermath of this global tremor in the intimate lives of a few people.



First there is Keith, walking out of the rubble into a life that he'd always imagined belonged to everyone but him. Then Lianne, his es-tranged wife, memory-haunted, trying to reconcile two versions of the same shadowy man. And their small son Justin, standing at the window, scanning the sky for more planes.


These are lives choreographed by loss, grief and the enormous force of history.


Brave and brilliant, Falling Man traces the way the events of September 11 have reconfigured our emotional landscape, our memory and our perception of the world. It is cathartic, beautiful, heartbreaking.


Amazon.com Review:
The defining moment of turn-of-the-21st-century America is perfectly portrayed in National Book Award winner Don DeLillo's Falling Man. The book takes its title from the electrifying photograph of the man who jumped or fell from the North Tower on 9/11. It also refers to a performance artist who recreates the picture. The artist straps himself into a harness and in high visibility areas jumps from an elevated structure, such as a railway overpass or a balcony, startling passersby as he hangs in the horrifying pose of the falling man.


Keith Neudecker, a lawyer and survivor of the attack, arrives on his estranged wife Lianne's doorstep, covered with soot and blood, carrying someone else's briefcase. In the days and weeks that follow, moments of connection alternate with complete withdrawl from his wife and young son, Justin. He begins a desultory affair with the owner of the briefcase based only on their shared experience of surviving: "the timeless drift of the long spiral down." Justin uses his binoculars to scan the skies with his friends, looking for "Bill Lawton" (a misunderstood version of bin Laden) and more killing planes. Lianne suddenly sees Islam everywhere: in a postcard from a friend, in a neighbor's music--and is frightened and angered by its ubiquity. She is riveted by the Falling Man. Her mother Nina's response is to break up with her long-time German lover over his ancient politics. In short, the old ways and days are gone forever; a new reality has taken over everyone's consciousness. This new way is being tried on, and it doesn't fit. Keith and Lianne weave into reconciliation. Keith becomes a professional poker player and, when questioned by Lianne about the future of this enterprise, he thinks: "There was one final thing, too self-evident to need saying. She wanted to be safe in the world and he did not."


DeLillo also tells the story of Hammad, one of the young men in flight training on the Gulf Coast, who says: "We are willing to die, they are not. This is our srength, to love death, to feel the claim of armed martyrdom." He also asks: "But does a man have to kill himself in order to accomplish something in the world?" His answer is that he is one of the hijackers on the plane that strikes the North Tower.


At the end of the book, De Lillo takes the reader into the Tower as the plane strikes the building. Through all the terror, fire and smoke, De Lillo's voice is steady as a metronome, recounting exactly what happens to Keith as he sees friends and co-workers maimed and dead, navigates the stairs and, ultimately, is saved. Though several post-9/11 novels have been written, not one of them is as compellingly true, faultlessly conceived, and beautifully written as Don De Lillo's Falling Man. --Valerie Ryan


Summary: Feelings, not facts Rating: 4
I'm not sure what I learned from this book but, sentence by sentence, I loved it. Stylistically, it reminded me more of Delillo's "Libra" than "White Noise," although as other readers have noted, "Falling Man" is somewhat light on plot. This is an atmospheric read. It is well-researched -- the book is firmly grounded in New York City geographically and sociologically, and the segments told from the point of view of nascent terrorist Hammad are convincing -- but not much happens to the characters. The September 11th scenes that bookend the novel are viscerally affecting and dreamlike. If you're looking for a timeline or a blow-by-blow account, this isn't it. Anyway, "Falling Man" places most of its emphasis on the emotional aftermath of the attack. Delillo concentrates on Keith, a lawyer who was in the south tower of the World Trade Center when it was hit, and his estranged wife Lianne, thoughtful upper-middle-class white people in their early forties, and follows them for about three years, along with some of the people with whom they come into contact -- relatives, neighbors, poker players and strangers like the woman whose briefcase Keith inadvertently rescues from the collapsing tower. There is no big satisfying emotional denouement for Kevin and Lianne. The satisfaction I felt after finishing had more to do with Delillo's use of language and tone than with where he left his characters. People seem to have very definite expectations for a novel about September 11th. This one isn't really about how or why the planes hit the towers. It's about what happens to two particular New Yorkers afterwards, and it is beautifully written.


Summary: Random Chaos Rating: 3
I've never been really able to get into a Don Delillo book after 'White Noise'. He is a brilliant author, but his terse prose, while definitely one of the trademarks of a wordsmith worth his salt, also tends to leave the reader (this reader, at least) struggling to keep up with the turns each character takes because so much is ellipted. The non-linear, stream-of-consciousness narrative confused me quite a bit. His focus on the effects of 9/11 on a middle class Manhattan family gave a very human angle to the macro-event, but somehow, I don't feel very engaged with the characters. And the 'Falling Man', a performance artist who appears all over town free-falling with nothing more than a safety harness after the catastrophe, is meant to be significant as some central motif, and represent the free fall and randomness of life, perhaps, but it felt too random. Maybe that was the whole point of it?


Summary: more than one "falling man" Rating: 4
This book opens with an apocalyptic-type scene where a man is walking through ash and debris. Three pages later we realize that the scene is New York on Sept. 11, 2001. Keith is a lawyer who escapes from the South Tower and goes home to his estranged wife Lianne and young son Justin. He brings with him a briefcase belonging to Florence Givens, who lost it during a fall in the stairwell. The book is about these 4 people, primarily Keith and Lianne, plus Hammad, one of the terrorists. The Falling Man is a performance artist who seems to re-enact the leaps from the burning towers by falling head first with a harness and a non-bungee-like tether. (My favorite image is that of the Falling Man as a Tarot card.) Symbolically, Keith is the falling man, though, as he has a brief affair with Florence and then becomes a full-time poker player--possibly in some kind of homage to his poker-night friends who died in the World Trade Center. DeLillo makes copious use of pronouns, so that it sometimes requires several paragraphs of reading to determine who is the antecedent of "he" or "she." This technique emphasizes the disconnectedness of the characters that is prevalent throughout the novel. The tragedy has caused them to become somewhat robotic and caused me to consider the lives of the survivors and their families. The inclusion of Hammad's story, brief and incomplete, seemed unnecessary to me, and he doesn't come to life nearly as well as the terrorists did in The Garden of Last Days by André Dubus III. As far as Keith and Lianne are concerned, DeLillo sums them up in what is probably the most quoted and most telling line in the novel: "She wanted to be safe in the world and he did not."


Summary: Lesser DeLillo Rating: 3
DeLillo's 9/11 terrorists read like a weak echo of earlier DeLillo gangs - most notably, of the Moonies of Mao II who sit in their van, intensifying their all-excluding faith. "They looked through the windows and saw the faces of fallen-world people. It totalised their attachment to true father. Pray all night at times, all of them, chanting, shouting out, leaping up from prayer stance, lovely moaning prayers to Master, oh please, oh yes ..." Here is Hammad, similarly pitying of unbelievers, similarly tunnel-visioned: "This entire life, this world of lawns to water and hardware stacked on endless shelves, was total, forever, illusion. In the camp on the windy plain they were shaped into men. They fired weapons and set off explosives. They received instruction in the highest jihad, which is to make blood flow, their blood and that of others." There is a definite decline in the quality of the writing. The middle two sentences about the "windy plain" and "explosives" could come from an Andy McNab novel. A few years ago, DeLillo's weapons wouldn't have been merely "fired" nor his explosives "set off". This isn't seeing-saying, it is repeating. For the truth is that, in Mao II, DeLillo had already written his great 9/11 novel, long before the specific date and the event happened to come around. He even identified the target: "Out the south windows the Trade towers stood cut against the night, intensely massed and near. This is the word 'loomed' in all its prolonged and impending force."


Summary: This may be art, but it's dissatisfying Rating: 3
I don't doubt this writer's talent, but this novel is not engaging. In my view, a good novel will ponder the human condition, so my bias is that it should have realistic characters. And it doesn't matter to me if a character is from a remote time and place; if that character is sketched realisitically,I will be able to identify with his/her human element. In this novel, I felt no empathy for any character. (What parents refer to their child as "the kid"? That's so idiotic). I really feel as if only a handful of people who live in Manhattan, specifically, could relate to any character in this novel. Spare me the the diatribes about post-modernism and all that. I don't read novels to engage in an intellectural/theoretical activity. Novels engage me when real human nature is reflected in them and they express a truth about humanity that is so accurate that it's beautiful.


Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 24


Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 24 Summary:
By Peter J.B. Slater, Peter J.B. Slater, Jay S. Rosenblatt, Charles T. Snowdon, Manfred Milinski, Manfred Milinski


Publisher:   Academic Press
Number Of Pages:   372
Publication Date:   1995-07
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0120045249
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780120045242


Product Description:


Advances in the Study of Behavior continues to serve scientists across a wide spectrum of disciplines. Focusing on new theories and research developments with respect to behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology,
and comparative psychology, these volumes serve to foster cooperation and communication in these diverse fields.


Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 22


Advances in the Study of Behavior, Volume 22 Summary:
By Peter J.B. Slater, Peter J.B. Slater, Manfred Milinski, Manfred Milinski, Charles T. Snowdon, Charles T. Snowdon, Jay S. Rosenblatt
Publisher:   Academic Press
Number Of Pages:   330
Publication Date:   1993-03-10
ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0120045222
ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780120045228


Product Description:


Advances in the Study of Behavior is the leading series in its field. Each volume includes a variety of review essays by experts providing authoritative overviews of key areas of current interest that are invaluable to the teacher, student, and researcher in the field of behavior, whether psychologist or biologist.
This volume continues the tradition of excellence in the study of behavior by covering a whole range of biological and psychological research. Each of the chapters presents new ideas, with a particularly interesting approach to sexual coercion. The volume as a whole has a particular strength in the area of behavioral development, which is the main topic of the last three chapters.