Reviews (6)

A Loving and Brilliant Tribute
The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook is the most loving and complete biography available today.Mr. Schechter succeeds in revealing the TRUE Liza, an incredibly talented, charismatic legend in her own right.

Some Reviews by the Critics / Professional Reviews
Thanks to the Liza fans for all the kindness and support of the book.
Learning new things about Liza - even for longtime fan
Liza has shared her talent with the world - having performed almost everywhere on the planet that has a stage or a television or moviehouse or record / CD / DVD player or even a computer, and for five decades to boot.Scott Schechter's loving tribute book to Liza continues this passion by sharing with readers details on where and when Liza has performed what and how!
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Subjects:  1. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    2. Performing Arts    3. Reference    4. Trivia    5. Biography: film, television & music    6. Films, cinema   

Reviews (2)

Great
I thought this book was pretty good. It was VERY interesting, funny, and I learned a lot from it.

victor's review
Ripley is back with more wierd facts.Thereare the wierdest facts in this book.With only 8 chapters one might think they are not goingto learn alot.You'd be surprised about the information packed in 8 chapters.So you should read this book.If you also like books with many different characters get this book because it probloby has more than 100 characters.My opinion is that this book is a good book if you like books with wierd facts. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Curiosities & Wonders    2. Curiosities and wonders    3. Reference    4. Trivia   

Reviews (11)

What luck is all about!
Surely, this book about propability is written for the
CHANCE
This book covers alot of ground in discussing topics in probability without becoming too technical. The book is succinct, easy to read, and seems that is was meant to pique one's curiosity in probabilitiesteaching some interesting principles and ideas. These ideas could be further expanded with more of a specialized and more technical probability textbook.

Too many errors and not enough substance
This tiny book leaves one with the impression it was knocked off over a weekend. The topics chosen in the book are intriguing but are only mentioned in summary and nothing is dicussed in depth; most results are simply stated without adequate justification or proof. One feels like asking "where's the beef?".
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Subjects:  1. Chance    2. Curiosities & Wonders    3. Logic    4. Mathematical And Symbolic Logic    5. Mathematics    6. Probabilities    7. Probability & Statistics - General    8. Reference    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Mathematics / Statistics   

Reviews (1)

This book is fantastic!!!!
The best book I have ever read on the unexplained and paranormal. I haveowned this book since it first came out when I was a child, and it hasdazzled my mind every time that I have read throught it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Controversial Knowledge    2. Curiosities and wonders    3. New Age    4. New Age / Parapsychology   

Reviews (25)

Thought-provoking
This book was an unexpectedly compelling treatment of many varied aspects of what it is to be a human being and what each of us may be capable of. Being an artist in a left-brained civilization, I was especially interested in the final third of the book, which deals with the differences in left- and right-brained living and what we may have all sacrificed in the name of modern civilization. This book is a lively read and merges many disciplines in a fascinating narrative.

not just about history
Wilson has presented an interesting and plausible alternative account of the history of mankind on Earth, namely that humans have existed for much longer than orthodox academics are willing to believe, and that advanced civilizations had developed millennia before the Great Pyramids of Egypt.Most of this alternative view is based on ideas put forth previously by other researchers, and therefore if you have already read many other books on this topic you may not find a whole lot of new information here.Nevertheless, it is a decent summary of those previously proposed ideas, and thus this book serves as a good introduction to the subject.However, I feel that this summary may be too comprehensive - he tries to squeeze in so much information that it wasn't easy for me to remember everything he had said (especially all those people's names), and so the more I read the more I forgot, making it harder and harder to follow his writing. THOUGHTFUL AND EXCITING SUMMARY OF ALTERNATIVE IDEAS
Colin Wilson is both a prolific and talented writer, whose books always reflect a lot of serious research and thought. When I found a copy of From Atlantis to the Sphinx at a book sale, I grabbed it. But I soon found I was reading a summary of the views of the major alternative history writers, and I found myself skimming through material with which I was already familiar. He covers all my favorites -- Graham Hancock, Robery Bauval, John Anthony West, Zechariah Sitchen, Rand Flem-Ath, Cremo and Thompson, and such older luminaries as Velikoksky, Hapgood, Gurdjieff and many other authors who have put forth theories about the nature and history of mankind. Despite the rehash, Wilson's comments on these writers and their ideas make for interesting reading.Read more

Subjects:  1. Ancient - General    2. Ancient - Greece    3. Civilization, Ancient    4. Curiosities and wonders    5. History    6. History: World    7. Mythical Civilizations    8. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit   

Subjects:  1. Animals    2. Animals - General    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Courtship    5. Courtship in animals    6. Curiosities & Wonders    7. General    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Juvenile literature    10. Life Sciences - Zoology - General    11. Males    12. Poetry    13. Non-Classifiable   

Editorial Review

Calling upon accounts of political intrigue and tales of life and death,author Simon Singh tells history's most fascinating story of deception andcunning: the science of cryptography--the encoding and decoding of privateinformation. Based on Read more

Reviews (4)

Fascinating. Started me on my cryptologic studies.
Reading this book gave me my start in my self study of cryptography, its science and its history. While I will not pretend to be anywhere near an expert on the subject, I found this book very insightful. It is an easy read, and not tedious in any way. It is meant as a "science for non-scientists" type book, and more of a history than anything else. (I have only managed to solve the first two cryptologic challenges at the end of this book, but am diligently working on the rest in my spare time.)

Delightful
The Code Book is a delightful treatment of the subject of cryptography.It is a nice combination of history, science, warfare and politics. A must read for anyone remotely interested in codes!
I have always been fascinated by codes and Singh has put together a comprehensive book on the history of codes.Having read many books on codes, Singh was still able to enthrall me with some historical stories that I had not come across.It's not just technical stuff, but is written with the novice in mind as well.But the book holds enough technical information to keep the enthusiast interested as well.The version I bought has a crypt contest in the back, which I enjoyed working on - I was only able to solve the first 3 or so puzzles, but it was a lot of fun. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Science    2. Children's Books/Young Adult Misc. Nonfiction    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Coding theory    5. Computers - General    6. Cryptography    7. Curiosities & Wonders    8. Juvenile Nonfiction    9. Science & Nature - General    10. Science & Technology - General    11. Juvenile Nonfiction / General   

Reviews (5)

The perfect offbeat travel guide for NJ
A great read for fans of Weird NJ, regional history and the offbeat in general, Peter Genovese's book is both entertaining and informative.Unlike Weird NJ, you won't find much about ghost stories, UFO sightings and urban myths in "New Jersey Curiosities"; instead, the focus is on real, specific locations that have down-to-earth yet interesting histories. a normal persons "weird NJ"
Being a fan of Weird NJ for several years, I recently decided to try out other books that chornicle the strange, unusual and the funny stuff that can be found within our borders. I found this to be a very decent, relatively comprehensive guide to those weird roadside items of the book's title. Wonderful New Jersey Fact Filled Book
Great book to find awhole lot of stuff about New Jersey.Would highly reccomend it to any Jersey person.Great to remember the weird quirks of Nj. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Curiosities and wonders    2. General    3. Guidebooks    4. Miscellanea    5. New Jersey    6. Travel    7. Travel - United States    8. United States - Mid Atlantic - New Jersey    9. United States - Midwest - General    10. United States - Northeast - New England (General)    11. Travel / United States / Midwest / General   

Reviews (2)

Very informative
This book touches all the basics.Symbolism is very important in our lives. I and my husband are people who study esoterics and are A nice coffee table book but very limited.
I purchased this book thinking that I was ordering a book to add to my resource collection of symbols.I was very disappointed.I will say that it does contain some good information along with beautiful artwork. If you are doing research, I would suggest checking this out at the library first.If you are looking for an interesting conversation piece for the coffee table, this might be what you are looking for. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Curiosities & Wonders    3. Popular Culture - General    4. Reference    5. Signs and symbols    6. Symbolism    7. NEW AGE - NEW AGE TRD HC    8. Reference / General   

Reviews (4)

Dated material
This book is interesting enough. It brings up lots of questions I had thought about before. More so, the book invoke interestng question I had never thought about before. It is geared towards an adult adience even though most children will find it interesting. Not for Children
Amazon has let me down!I have to take serious exception to this book being marketed to children as young as nine to twelve years old.On previewing the book before giving it as a gift, I discovered that in addition to some things a child might comprehend and be interested in, there are several that the parent of a nine year old trying to delay exposure to sex, violence and drugs would have major trouble with. I bought all her books for my child
Talk about an entertaining read for children! I have all of her books. This is great educational material for your children, and it should definitely be part of their library. At first, I thought this was just for kids. I landed up loving her books. It's very interesting. Less TV, and more of this stuff for children. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Grades 4-6    2. Curiosities & Wonders    3. Popular works    4. Reference    5. Science    6. Technology    7. Trivia    8. Popular science    9. Reference / General   

Reviews (3)

A much needed visual Source!!!
Thank you Duke Carter for cataloguing such amazing cool stuff.As a Tiki aficianado I'm so glad to have this book.

One of the Best Tiki Books Out There
If you're reading this and you're into Tiki, and you don't own this book, then buy it. It is loaded with pictures and it is a MUST HAVE TIKI BOOK!!!

The most comprehensive Tiki collection I've seen
This is a 193 page all-color coffee table book featuring one of the most comprehensive Tiki collections I've ever seen. The book is huge, and it's overfollowing with pictures of all kinds of Tiki collectables. The book focuses on mugs, with tons of great photos of an extensive selection, and is a must-have if you're an eBay Tiki collector as an unoffical collectors guide. Read more

Subjects:  1. Curiosities & Wonders    2. Reference   

Reviews (3)

A Great Book for Browsing
OK, I admit I am a big fan of quiz shows and such, so I like any book with a question-answer format.I also like the Bible, so this book was a natural for me.I like the way it is divided into different categories, also like that it has the answers on the flip side of the page, so they're easy to find.Some of the best and most amusing questions were in a section called "Curious Quotations," with some really quaint-sounding items from the King James Version.This would be a good book for pastors or teachers wanting a bit of amusing trivia or humor to launch into a sermon or lesson.

A Good Ice Breaker
A neat little book for trivia buffs.This book also comes in handy for teachers of Bible study classes who need ice breakers.Of course you can also learn something along the way, but don't expect deep profound truths.

Test your bible knowledge, or prepare to be on a game show
Mr Lang has written an excellent book that will truly test your bibleKnowledge."Bible triva" covers everything from the simple"What two cities of the plain were destroyed for theirwickedness?" To the difficult "whose mother was a widow namedZeruah?" to the suprising "what book is the only book in thebible to mention an apple tree?" (hint it's not Genisis) and"what woman is mentioned more often then any other in the bible?"(It's not either Mary). And then there is the just plain trvial "Whohad the first birthday party in the bible?" Bible triva also covers more then just what is in the standard protestant bible, It covers thingslike apocrapha, Bible versions and their history and bible movie questions,my favorite in this catagory: "Cecil B Demille's "The TenCommandments"(1956) was a remake of a 1923 silent film of the sametitle. Whatfamous director made the earlier film?" (Ans: at the endof the review) If there isa weakness in this book it's that the questionsare some times redundant, asking the same question in a slightly rewittenform. For example: "What King broke his own law when he called apon aspritualist to bring up the gohst of Samuel?" (PG 49) and "whatking disguised himself in order to consult with a spiritualist?" (pg107) As for who dircted the 1923 version of Ten Commandments"? ANS:Cecil B DeMille This along with many questions found in the book would makea great question for "Jeapordy" or "who wants to beMillionaire" ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bible    2. Bible - Reference - General    3. Examinations, questions, etc    4. General    5. Religion    6. Religion - Biblical Studies    7. Trivia    8. The Bible   

Editorial Review

In which two years did three different individuals serve aspresident of the United States? As a young law student, which presidentbroke into the dean's office at Duke University Law School? Who becamepresident of the United States without having been elected president orvice president? Who was nicknamed "Old Man Eloquent"? Fromthe arcane to the textbook, these 1,200 trivia questions are sure toentertain and educate. Broken into four sections--Life Before thePresidency, Executing the Office, Presidential Households, andPresidential Miscellanea--there are a few stumpers on each page, alongwith amazing, curious facts and figures. In all, Read more

Reviews (1)

Stumps even the greatest presidential experts
One of my favorite subjects has long been the presidents of the United States. I enjoy reading books on them and picked up many facts along the way. In high school, I participated in President's Bowl (a presidential trivia challenge) and won. My friends knew me as the guy who was hopelessly obsessed with presidential trivia. While visiting Florida I found this book and picked it up.
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Subjects:  1. History - General History    2. History - U.S.    3. History: American    4. Miscellanea    5. Presidents    6. Reference    7. Trivia    8. U.S. President    9. United States    10. United States - General    11. Reference / Trivia   

Editorial Review

What's in a breast? That depends on who's asking, says Marilyn Yalom, author of this scholarly, illustrated treatise on the breast in Western society. "Babies see food. Men see sex. Doctors see disease. Businesspeople see dollar signs." Breasts have been denounced as wanton, or idealized as givers of power or life in images of Egyptian goddess Isis nursing pharoahs; sturdy, maternal Mother Russia; or the more eroticized, bare-breasted symbol of republican ideals in France. Psychologists, religious leaders, advertisers, and pornographers have rhapsodized over, vilified, and used breasts to sell everything from war to Cadillacs. And, finally, women have seen in them pleasure, power, sustenance, fear, or failure to measure up. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Fabulous
With a wonderful blend of serious history and modern humor where appropriate, the author presents a thought provoking run down on the history over25 centuries and the photos of Annie Sprinkles Bosom Ballet on page268 made the purchase worth every cent. A Wonderful Work of Social History
Marilyn Yalom (her latest work, History of the Wife, is spectacular) shows her characteristic style of humor and scholarship in history of the breast.Relying on both art and personal accounts, Yalom goes era by era detailing various Western cultures' attitudes toward the female body and specifically the breast.She spends a great deal of effort detailing modern concerns like breast cancer treatment and breastfeeding controversies and with the background in the first half of the book, the reader is easily able to see how current attitudes have been shaped throughout history.An excellent book for the social historian, women's studies person, or art historian.

Easy to read
Marilyn Yalom has a fascinating way of blending history, culture and personal stories in her new book. It reminds me of what Ken Burns has done in some of his documentaries, where you learn as much about life in the times as you do about the specific topic. The book is a wonderful and easy way to learn about the wife in different times, cultures and religions, and also the possibilities of what it might mean to be a wife in the future. Excellent reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Breast    3. Breast in art    4. Curiosities & Wonders    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health Care Issues    7. Health/Fitness    8. History    9. History: World    10. Social aspects    11. Sociology    12. Reference / Curiosities & Wonders   

Reviews (4)

What Makes Flamingo's Pink?
This is a wonderful, fun, & informative book. I have sent it to a couple of friends, that have truely enjoyed it. They keep it in thier bathroom for easy & fun reading material.I hate to read, but this book makes reading fun. You can't put it down, & you get educated @ the same time. Highly recommended for all ages!!! Enjoy!!!

Lots of fun facts
I really enjoyed this book.It has fun facts, interesting stories, and hints on where to find information on the Internet.
Who, What, When, Where, Why?
The book "What Makes Flamingos Pink?" tells about facts and figures and events.It tells some of the most strange events, and also some you may not have even heard of.I learned many things from reading this book. I have also noticed things that make me wonder "What makes it do that?" or "Why does that thing do that?" Nearly all my questions were answered in this book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Curiosities & Wonders    2. Questions & Answers    3. Reference    4. Trivia    5. Reference / Trivia   

Reviews (18)

Oh, the conspiracy theorists will hate this!
Kusche does a fairly well-detailed book, chronicling the best-known of the "mysteries" dealing with the Bermuda Triangle.It's a decent list, and it is essentially a debunker's textbook. a light of truth in the darkness of hype
Until I moved to the Bay Area of California in 1972, I had never heard of the Bermuda Triangle. This is significant because for the ten years previous I had lived in Indialantic, Florida, fished regularly in the Gulf Stream and had made a few passages to the Bahamas. What those of us who actually lived in the area and sailed the waters did not know was that some creative people had been generating a sensation, and a good bit of revenue, by spinning a wild myth out of misinformation and a few isolated disappearances. And let's face it, in the age before geolocators and satellite systems, there were several disappearances at sea every year. Actually, there still are. The ocean is a big, deadly pace. Good Intro To Critical Thinking To Give to Young People
I was given this book as a young teenager by my father when I was interested in the Bermuda Triangle.I am very lucky he did.The book carefully goes through dozens of "cases" of missing craft and convincingly shows them to be either the victims of storms, mechanical failure and in several instances, simply made up.By far the profoundest impact of this book was the exposition of the lies and mendacity of the writers of such books - a young person needs to hear and be shown in a non-condesending way that just because something appears on TV or in book form doesn't mean its true.Larry Kusche's book started me on the road to critical thinking, to ask "What does this mean?" to any given statement.I went on to read a book or two more debunking UFOs and other peudoscience, but Kusche's book did the main trick by getting across to me the importance of checking sources, asking if other motives are involved (like making money out of decent but unsuspecting people).I also recommend the *VHS tape of Nova's show, The Bermuda Triangle,* which is a debunking tape and promoter of critical thinking.I also recommend Carl Sagan's book *The Demon-Haunted World* which goes into incredible detail (in a non-condescending way) about why some people need to believe in such things as alien-abduction (or in an earlier era, demonic possession), false memories, the techniques of frauds like Uri Geller, and considers how we can encourage critical thinking in our society. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bermuda Triangle    2. Controversial Knowledge    3. New Age    4. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    5. Unexplained Phenomena    6. Wonders And Curiosities    7. Atlantic Ocean   

Reviews (5)

thought-provoking and entertaining
You wouldn't think a book of obituaries would be entertaining, but it is when the obits are well-written and celebrate the lives and characters of the 100+ people found in this collection.The subjects are most often unknown to the majority of us, but the various authors (including well-known NYT obituary author Robert McG. Thomas, Jr.) humanize each subject and inspire you to contemplate your own life.Most essays are a couple of pages long, and there is an introduction by Russell Baker.

Indeed, the Last Word on Obituary Writing
Rather than an ode to death, this book cherishes lives onced lived by all kinds of people. Whether brilliant or simple, rich or poor, actions great or discreet, each of the people written about contributed to society in a meaningful (and often surprising) way. Equally outstanding are the authors of these obituaries, whose writing talents manage to entertain, educate and move the reader deeply without being maudlin. Even more importantly, this book forces us to examine our own lives: what will people say about us when we've faced our Maker? For those of us who come up pitifully short, this book inspires even the common man to contribute to society, and strive for -- and hopefully, attain -- spiritual immortality.

A helluva book
I teach Memoir Writing to local seniors and I routinely use this book as an example of outstanding biography.It's one thing to write a 250 word bio but quite another, and much more demanding, to pen a few-hundred-wordlast goodbye to someone and do it with panache.The NY Times has threebooks of obituaries, this is the most recent.The quality of the writingis, in many cases, superior to anything in the rest of the newspaper(allthe obits here were published in the Times).I especially like the reviewsof Robert McG Thomas, who died within the past year at age 60.Hisobituaries deserved a Pulitzer.His obits are worth the price of the book.Everybody deserves a last word.These obits are not just about famouspeople but about average joes and janes who have been extraordinary humanbeings.I'd even recommend this book for spiritual reading because thelives here are inspirational.I teach writing and am always on the lookoutfor examples of prose that will knock my socks off.This is one helluvabook. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography And Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Curiosities & Wonders    7. General    8. Obituaries    9. Reference    10. United States    11. Reference works   

Reviews (5)

I just love useless facts!!!
I got this through the mail expecting to only look at the pictures, because reading anything other than historical romance isn't my thing (haha).But I spent two days reading this.It was so entertaining.I've seen the show LOTS of times, but reading all of these facts was a lot more fun.I've noticed the repeated fact that another reviewer wrote about.I also ordered the Guiness Book of World Records after Ripley's because now I've a new love...useless facts.I recommend this book to everyone, it's just pure fun all the way around.

Fun and Entertaining Read
I bought this book in lieu of the 2005 Guiness Book of World Records, and I don't regret the decision at all.
"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" was written by a German.
Not only that,the words to 'Danny Boy' were written by an Englishman,'Maggie' was written by a Canadian and 'I'll Take you Home Again Kathleen' was written in America, and was a promise to bring the writer's lover back from out west to New York;not from America back to Ireland.There is no end of the things that are not as they first might seem.One of my favorites is that 'The Birdman of Alcatraz,Robert Stroud,who did all that research on birds, while serving a life sentence for murder,did it in Leavenworth prison,not Alcatraz.
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Subjects:  1. Curiosities & Wonders    2. Curiosities and wonders    3. Reference   

Editorial Review

There may be a wide gap between uncritical belief and hard-line skepticism, but that doesn't mean many writers have chosen to explore this territory. Now science writer Peter James and archaeologist Dr. Nick Thorpe have teamed up again to examine Read more

Reviews (20)

Enlightening!
This book sees through several ancient mysteries, all well known to the literate public, from a very carefully open minded and neutral standpoint. Obviously well researched, you can find several theories backed by evidential information to each topic presented in the book; from the beginnings of the Atlantis legend, to the origin of Dracula. Perhaps the best book to obtain general information about a wide variety of ancient mysteries. If you are at all interested in reading this book, I recommend you find this book at your local bookstore to read the acknowledgement pages at the begining, as well as to compare your prices. You will see the kind of effort that was put into the exceptionally wide and enlightening perspective over the given topics the authors have to offer. The amount of information you can find for each topic in this book is amazing, even encyclopedic in scale. Judging by the author's insights towards other w