A Boy Without Toys

Customer Reviews:

WWII and Model Train Enthusiasts Take Note:.......2000-05-31

Most toy-train collectors in Eastern Massachusetts (and many elsewhere) are familiar with the late Adolf Arnold, once owner and proprietor of the A & D Toy-Train Village & Railway Museum in Sharon and Middleboro Mass. However, I that many are aware of the historical details of Arnold's life. In "A Boy Without Toys," Arnold details his journey from childhood in Frankfurt, Germany during the Weimar Republic, through the perils of fighting in the German Army during World War II, life as a prisoner-of-war, difficult times in post-war Germany and Canada, and the final realization of the American Dream through hard work, good fortune, and more than a little help from his friends. The narrative is intensely personal, told strictly from eye level with an amazing clarity of memory. It is told almost completely in the first person, although in a rather naive writing style. Throughout the introduction and much of the first chapter, Arnold's unsophisticated composition and habit of repetition tend to make for difficult going. However, by the end of the first chapter, the story becomes absolutely engrossing. Arnold's unpretentious technique becomes an asset throughout much of the book, especially when describing the Second World War from a German foot-soldier's viewpoint. There are numerous memoirs written by American and Allied personnel about their WWII experiences, but this is the first I have run across that details the experience from the German side. One characteristic I found quite interesting is the change in Arnold's English usage as the book progresses. At the beginning, his construction is very strict, almost stilted. One can almost hear the German accent in his voice. As his tale progresses to Canada and then the United States, his English flows more freely; becomes more American, if you will, as Arnold makes himself at home in his adopted country. Toward the end, some parts of the narrative trail off into details of interest only to family and friends, but it is this contrast between the familiar details and the extraordinary events that give this chronicle its poignancy. Toy train enthusiasts will appreciate this book for the insight it gives into the personality of one of the hobby's most complex and enigmatic personalities, not to mention numerous photographs of his justifiably famous collection. World War II buffs will find it essential for the ground level description of the experience from the opposite side of the lines. In the final analysis, Adolf Arnold's life makes for an interesting story, if only because he has managed to convey to the reader his deep feeling and enthusiasm for the various aspects of an unusually busy life.

Customer Reviews:

Delightful book for young readers.......2000-08-31

If you go to Goat Island at Niagara Falls, you will see a statue of Nikola Tesla inventor of the AC polyphase system, the electrical power system put in 100 years ago at Niagara Falls which is essentially unchanged today. I wrote this book to explain to young readers and adults alike Tesla's precise role in the development of this great invention. Before this invention, electrical energy could only be transported about one mile and then only for lighting homes. Afterwards, electricity could be transported hundreds of miles, and not just for lighting, but also for running household appliances and industrial machinery in factories. In addition, unlike the polluting coal operating electrical plants of that day, Tesla's invention was a clean energy creation using a renewable source of power. Before Tesla's creation, all major factories had to be located by rivers and powerful streams. Now they could be located everywhere. For these reasons, Tesla was honored by LIFE MAGAZINE by being listed as one of the 100 most important individuals of the last 1,000 years. Tesla received the Edison Medal in 1917, he was nominated for a Nobel Prize in the 1930's and he was further honored by the world when in 1956, the electrical unit the "tesla" was named after him. (MRI's measure in "tesla" units.) Thus he could stand beside such other electrical giants as Ampere, Watt and Volta. The end chapter contains an outline of my doctoral dissertation which was a treatise on why Tesla's name disappeared from the history books. THE MAN WHO HARNESSED NIAGARA FALLS is beautifully illustrated with numerous photographs and drawings from Tesla's heyday, the turn of the century, and it also contains a photograph of the Goat Island statue designed by sculptor Franko Krisnic which was given to the people of New York by the people of Yugoslavia in 1976. You've read about Harry Potter, now read about a real live WIZARD! [...]

Customer Reviews:

Mayo clinic on Digestive .......2007-05-28

Excellent book on anything you need to know about any problem with the Didestive system. I read so many books about the topic due to finding out that I have LPR. This book was one of the best. I also found Renew your life and Gut solutions by B.Watson very good.

VERY USEFLUL.......2006-01-16

I FIND THIS BOOK USEFUL IN THE SENSE THAT IT ADDRESSES COMMON QUESTIONS MOST OF US TEND TO HAVE ABOUT FOOD, EATING, DIGESTIVE HAZARDS AND RELATED ILLNESS.

Average customer rating:

not necessarily utilitarian, but fun...

Attractive, but many items are neither basic nor essential!

Essential Kitchen: Basic Tools, Recipes, And Tips For A Complete Kitchen
Christine McFadden
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0756776813

Book Description

A must-have reference for those setting up their first kitchen, updating a kitchen, or just learning to cook, The Essential Kitchen provides expert guidance on topics such as the advantages of using copper, cast iron, or nonstick pots and pans; the purposes of different types of knives, and techniques for chopping herbs. As an added bonus, recipes from some of the world's best-known chefs are featured throughout. The plastic cover and wire binding make the format unique and practical for constant reference and guidance.

Customer Reviews:

not necessarily utilitarian, but fun..........2002-04-01

I don't know how appropriate the title is (or how "essential" many of these items are) but I had a lot of fun reading through this book--which I did in one seating, and read almost the entire contents--quite a rare feat for what is essentially a kitchen gadget guide/cookbook I would think! Now I find myself coveting pricey mandolins and Indian woks. And no longer a complete kitchen gadget neophyte, I'm able to identify the most obscure tools at, say, the well-stocked shelves of haughty culinary kitchen shops like Sur La Table. The design of this book is intriguing as well--I like how some pages unfold to reveal a double-sized page...and if you're one to appreciate lustrous thick paper and engaging text layout (you know who you are, DK/Eyewitness guidebook fans), this book will probably catch your fancy. The content is interesting as well, it is sort of like reading "Cook's" magazine. The only drawback to the book is that although there are some recipes included, they don't seem to have any theme to them, and furthermore, there isn't an index...so while you're casually browsing the book, you might happen upon a potential recipe, but then when you try to go back and find it later, you have to flip through each and every page to find it again! Overall though, a fun book to go back to as a reference and inspiration.

Attractive, but many items are neither basic nor essential!.......2001-05-02

Perhaps this book is aimed more at the gourmet cook with LOTS of space for storing all kinds of gadgets and tools! But I have been cooking from scratch for almost 25 years now, and I have not found a need for many of the tools this book claims are basic and necessary.

I did enjoy, however, looking through this book with its beautiful pictures. I also enjoyed learning about tools that I have never seen before! There are no doubt people who use tools such as the tomato press, nutmeg mill, bean slicer, and cheese dome, frequently and couldn't cook without them! Which gadgets a cook treasures is a very individual thing.

As for me, my favorite cooking gadgets are Kitchen Aid mixer (see my review of this on Amazon), garlic press, and a rotary grater for grating fresh parmesan cheese. My advice is to check out reviews of particular brands of cooking tools here on Amazon and on other cooking websites.

This book has many fold-out pages with pictures of MARVELOUS looking food! There are quite a few recipes and many have photos showing the various steps. Most of the recipes are on the gourmet-cooking end of the scale, rather than ones that would be easy to make and family-friendly.

My advice is to decide which tools you will need for YOUR style of cooking and then buy a quality product that will serve you well and will last a long time!

Please check out my other reviews - I've reviewed a number of cookbooks here on Amazon. Happy cooking!

Average customer rating:

Beginner's Guide To Beading On A Loom

Great starter book

Beginner's Guide to Beading on a Loom (Beginner's Guide to Series)
Alexandra Kidd
Manufacturer: Search Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Beadwork | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Jewelry | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Weaving | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Out On A Loom : Instructions and 15 Patterns for Loom Bead Weaving

Beading on a Loom (Beadwork How-to)

The Beader's Guide to Color

Big Book of Indian Beadwork Designs (Dover Needlework Series)

Indian Bead-Weaving Patterns: Chain-Weaving Designs and Bead Loom Weaving-An Illustrated "How-To" Guide

ASIN: 1903975875

Book Description

Beautifully woven beads have a wonder and texture all of their own and different shaped beads can be blended into an amazing selection of stunning bags, beautiful bracelets, elegant necklaces, earrings, wall hangings and much more. Alexandra Kidd sparkles with enthusiasm as she presents this step-by-step guide to creating a whole range of original bead projects for everyone. Beginners and more experienced beadworkers will welcome this easy-to-follow book which is packed with techniques, tips and inspiration.

Customer Reviews:

Beginner's Guide To Beading On A Loom.......2007-02-17

I learnt at least one thing on first opening the book, so I believe it is going to be very useful

Great starter book.......2005-12-12

Directions are clear. The photography is excellent. It's excellent for a loom beginner.

Beginner's Guide to Beading on a Loom (Beginner's Guide to Series)

Average customer rating:

Beginner's Guide to Beading on a Loom (Beginner's Guide to Series)
Alexandra Kidd
Manufacturer: Search Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QYBHLG

Book Description

The latest information on these garden favorites.

How to plant, water, feed, prune, and propagate these popular shrubs.

Up-to-date solutions for the most common pest and disease problems.

Customer Reviews:

A very worthwhile starter book for azaleas and camellias........2001-07-19

Thanks to this book, I have been able to grow many azaleas and some camellias, and they grow better than most others here. This book showed me the correct way to prune azaleas and when to do it. Because of this method, my azaleas filled out to large mounds that look like big drifts of color when they bloom. I had never grown azaleas or camellias before reading this book. I highly recommend it as a starter book for this subject. As mentioned in an earlier review, coffee grounds are an excellent fertilizer and a good addition to a compost bin.

good intro guide.......2001-06-28

I like this book as an intro to rhodie, etc. It has some good growing tips and good info about pests/disease. I do wish it showed a photo of each variety, instead of selected varieties. I also wish it talked about free/inexpensive fertalizer (coffee grounds) and the like. It's a great starter book on the subject of rhodies.

Average customer rating:

Azaleas and camellias
Fred C Galle
Manufacturer: Countryside Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006Y1824

Average customer rating:

Azaleas Rhododendrons Camellias

Manufacturer: Lane Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IFJAKS

Azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons. (Added feature: Evergreens) (Ortho picture guide)

Average customer rating:

Azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons. (Added feature: Evergreens) (Ortho picture guide)
Norvell Gillespie
Manufacturer: California Chemical Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007GRR12

Rhododendrons Azaleas Magnolias Camellia

Average customer rating:

Rhododendrons Azaleas Magnolias Camellia
A T Johnson
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UE13F2

Rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias, camellias & ornamental cherries

Average customer rating:

Rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias, camellias & ornamental cherries
A. T Johnson
Manufacturer: My Garden
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

All About Azaleas, Camellias & Rhododendrons

Average customer rating:

All About Azaleas, Camellias & Rhododendrons
Created and designed by the editorial staff of Ortho Books
Manufacturer: Ortho Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U0TIDA

Book Description

More Women Choosing Herbal Alternatives
Now, more than ever before, women are taking control of their own health and vitality by choosing herbal remedies as an alternative to traditional medicine. Because every year there are new research findings that women and their health providers need to know about, author Amanda McQuade Crawford, M.N.I.M.H, has used her clinical expertise to develop Herbal Remedies for Women.
“[Amanda] is not afraid to speak the truth about women’s health issues and how herbs can help,” said Deb Soule, author of The Roots of Healing: A Woman’s Book of Herbs. “Her words of wisdom and capacity for caring are a gift to women everywhere.”
Herbal medicine is, in fact, fast becoming the alternative medicine of choice. Included in Crawford’s book is a broad spectrum of herbal remedies for various ailments such as chasteberry seed for fibroids as well as dandelion root and leaf for endometriosis. Also included is an herbal glossary and information on herbal preparation which corrects many herbal myths.
Organized into six sections, Herbal Remedies for Women is designed to offer readers natural and effective therapies for an array of women’s issues including:
·Problem of Menses
·Healthy Reproduction
·Infections
·The Change of Life
Crawford also divides each chapter into subheads which cover: definition of the syndrome, symptoms and signs, cause, conventional medical care, herbal treatment, and nutrition.
Whether or not they have previous experience with herbal medicine, Herbal Remedies for Women provides readers with simple but effective remedies for self-healing.

Book Description

The first biography in English of the priapic pop genius, drawing on new interviews to capture the debauched heart of the chain-smoking French cultural icon.

Singer, songwriter, filmmaker, poet, and provocateur: Ten years after his death in 1991, Serge Gainsbourg--once known only for his heavy-breathing hit "Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus"--has emerged as "his nation's most beloved pop export since Piaf" (New York Times). His musical output encompassed a staggering variety of transformations: classical, chanson, jazz, baby pop, rock, reggae, disco, and hip-hop. His lyrics were mind-boggling exercises in Franglais triple-entendres. And his personal life was marked by a singular dedication to cigarettes, alcohol, and seduction.

In this, the first English biography to capture Gainsbourg in all his contradiction and gleeful outrageousness, Simmons tells the fascinating story of the Gallic star. Drawing on hours of new interviews with his intimates-among them Jane Birkin, Sly & Robbie, Marianne Faithfull, and celebrated producer Philippe Lerichomme-Simmons describes in crackling prose the scope of Gainsbourg's achievement while doing full justice to his complicated emotional life. Simmons's work will stand as the definitive take on a dizzying genius.

Customer Reviews:

Initials S.G........2002-10-17

If you can't read French and are interested in learning more about Serge Gainsbourg, by all means pick this up instead of Alan Clayson's "View From The Exterior". The simple reason being, Clayson can't write. "Exterior" is an unbearable read due to Clayson's self-satasfied pretentiousness. Simmons offers nothing of the kind. If anything, it's like reading an elaborate magazine article. No surprize, Simmons is a rock journalist. But where Clayson was more concerned with voicing his far-from-humble opinions, Simmons gets down to the business of Serge Gainsbourg. The good, the bad & the ugly.

Though only a 139 pages in length, FISTFUL OF GIGANTES is an honest, concise and informative document of a very complex personality. Interviews with the likes of Jane Birkin and those in the know, neither demonize nor deify. Simmons' style is informal to say the least, but she never let's it get in the way of her subject. In fact, it's far more intimate than many biographies I've read. What makes this so readable is the author's obvious curiousty for her subject. Her bare bones approach allows Gainsborg, rather than the author to be the sensationalist. So, if you failed all your French classes or never had the oppurtunity of being an exchange student, let FISTFUL OF GITANTES's act as your interpreter. She even translates the song titles for you. My only reservation is that it was over far too soon. As they say, "time flies"...

Thank you Ms. Simmons!.......2001-12-13

Must-read biography of one of the most fascinating men in 20th century music. I've not read the Clayson biography, but after reading A Fistful of Gitanes, I don't have any need to read another Gainsbourg biography (in English at least)! The writing is interesting and draws you in. Also many insights from interviews with Jane Birkin (Gainsbourg's ex-wife).

Also recommended are Evgenie Sokolov and Gilles Verlant's biography of Gainsbourg (in French).

*thumbs way way up!*

Average customer rating:
Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes
Sylvie Simmons
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSUVVG

Book Description

Leon (Judah Aryeh) Modena was a major intellectual figure of the early modern Italian Jewish community--a complex and intriguing personality who was famous among contemporary European Christians as well as Jews. Modena produced an autobiography that documents in poignant detail the turbulent life of his family in the Jewish ghetto of Venice. The text of this work is well known to Jewish scholars but has never before been translated from the original Hebrew, except in brief excerpts. This complete translation, based on Modena's autographic manuscript, makes available in English a wealth of historical material about Jewish family life of the period, religion in daily life, the plague of 1630-1631, crime and punishment, the influence of kabbalistic mysticisms, and a host of other subjects.

The introdctory essay by Mark R. Cohen and Theodore K. Rabb highlights the significance of the work for early modern Jewish and general European history. Howard E. Adelman presents an up-to-date biographical sketch of the author and points the way toward a new assessment of his place in Jewish history. Natalie Zemon Davis places Modena's work in the context of European autobiography, both Christian and Jewish, and especially explores the implications of the Jewish status as outsider for the privileged exploration of the self. A set of historical notes, compiled by Howard Adelman and Benjamin C.I. Ravid, elucidates the text.

Customer Reviews:

An inside look into the life of a great Italian Jewish Rabbi.......1998-07-17

The Autobiography Of A Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi is a unique and interesting book. It is unique in that it is one of the only autobiographies ever written by a rabbi of such stature. The book is very interesting due to the inside view it gives the reader into Jewish life in the Italian ghetto at that period in history. Not often do we find such a marvelous first hand account of history.

Aside from the holistic historic perspective it gives, the personal life of Leon De Modena is an amazing story of survival. His tragic life is reminiscent of the life of Job. The book also gives us a clue of Leon Modena's genius and talents as an author, scholar, playwright and poet.

The book contains two parts; one, the autobiography itself (highly recommended). The other part consists of various essays on the autobiography, the author and the historic outlook.

In the essays Leon de Modena was portrayed as a typical product of the renaissance period. Leon de Modena was by no means "typical".

The essays also describe his autobiography as a characterless, objective perspective. In fact the book is full of personal feelings and emotions.

The lame attempt in the essays to define and describe Leon Modena's character is an understatement of the largest scale, bordering the term 'insult'. Leon Modena's life was so colorful that no artist can paint the colors, no writer can read his limits, and no book can define his character.

A spectacular insight to Italian Jewry and gehtto life.......1998-01-15

The book contains two parts; one, the autobiography itself (which I highly recommend). The other part consists on various essays on the autobiography, the author and the historic outlook. In the essays Leon de Modena was portrayed as a typical product of the renaissance period. Leon de Modena was by no means "typical". Another flaw is the manner in which the essays portrayed his autobiography as a characterless perspective, when in fact the book is full of personal feelings and emotions. The lame attempt to define and describe Leon Modena's character which is found in the essays is an understatement of the largest scale, bordering the term 'insult'. Leon Modena's life was so colorful that no artist can paint the colors, no writer can read his limits, and no book can define his character.

For comments, contact: Eli Bernstein 6B Kobelke st. Dianella 6059 WA Australia

Average customer rating:
Leon Modena's Life of Judah; the Autobiography of a Seventeenth Century Venetian Rabbi
Leon Modena
Manufacturer: Princeton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000X6HCPM

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books