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Reviews (3)

No real alternatives
Ok. Pimsleur won't get you very far, is expensive as hell, and is somewhat cumbersome to work with. So the rest of this review will be about how in hell did I get to giving it five stars. There are several ways to go about when wanting to learn a language in an audio-only manner. You can get the "Learn in your car" from Penton Overseas. You can get the audio-only course from Living Language. Or you can take Pimsleur. From the lot, Pimsleur would be the ONLY decent answer for the utter beginner, with the other options, you will find yourself replaying the tapes a couple of times. Does any language course that is a self learning course worth this kind of money? No. That's why we have the next paragraph. Pimsleur is the best
After trying manytape language series in several different languages over the years with minimal success I landed upon the Pimsleur Method. Absorbing the high cost of the comprehensive Ukrainian I eagerly began my lessons. It absolutely exceeded my expectations. I did supplement it with a dictionary and grammar book but those pale in comparison to the value I recieved from the tapes. The product must be diligently used in compliance to the prescribed regimen on a daily basis, if done, you will learn. My Ukrainian contacts were very pleasantly suprised by my grasp of the language and I am frequently complimented on my pronunciation. I wish that Pimsleur had a follow up course to this first level. You end up with only basic skills after the 30 days but fully confident that you can learn more. Ukrainian: Pimsleur Comprehensive
If Pimsleur can teach me a language, they can teach anyone. And, they are teaching me. Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Language    2. Audio Adult: Language    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Serbo-Croatian    5. Slavic Languages    6. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    7. Foreign Language Study / Slavic Languages   

Editorial Review

The life and times of Abraham Lincoln have been analyzed and dissected in countless books. Do we need another Lincoln biography? In Read more

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Reviews (204)

The Power of Patience
Lincoln has been the focus of seemingly endless analysis, yet Doris Kearns Goodwin offers a fresh and illuminating perspective.By focusing on the men around the president, Goodwin portrays Lincoln as a remarkable judge of human character, a consummate conciliator, and a man of remarkable wit.Goodwin obviously writes well, although her spotlight on so many players does confuse the reader a bit.She is a talented historian, and this is another solid piece of work.

Lincoln's strength in humility
Although at first I did not understand why writing about Lincoln's cabinet members was going to be revealing about Lincoln himself, I found myself pleasantly surprised.
WHEN THE MEN AND THE MOMENT MET
During this election cycle of 2006 I have been asking myself a question. When was the last time leftist could have unambiguously supported a Republican or Democratic Party candidate. As indicate below the clear choice is the Lincoln-Johnson ticket in 1864. By a happy coincidence Doris Kearn Goodwin's book under review here provides more than enough ammunition to confirm that opinion. Normally, my concerns as a fighter for socialism and hers as a fawning devotee of the New Deal, Fair Deal and New Frontier eras of the Democratic Party are miles apart. Here we can, at least for this moment, agree that Lincoln, as a man and politician was worthy of support by militants and those not so militant. Make no mistake Lincoln and his compatriots were big men who confronted big tasks. And did it. Underlining Goodwin's thesis is a belief that what passes for today's Republican leaders pale in contrast. Again we agree. Here's why.
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Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    2. Audio - Autobiography / Biography    3. Audiobooks    4. Biography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. General    8. Historical - U.S.    9. Political    10. Presidents    11. Presidents & Heads of State    12. U.S. Political History    13. U.S. President    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Features

• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Fiction/Suspense Thriller    2. Audiobooks    3. Bible - Biography - Old Testament    4. Bibles - King James    5. Religion    6. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    7. Philosophy & Spirituality   

Editorial Review

Well timed to coincide with Ken Burns's documentary (on which the author served as a consultant), this new biography doesn't aim to displace the many massive tomes about America's third president that already weigh down bookshelves. Instead, as suggested by the subtitle--"The Character of Thomas Jefferson"--Ellis searches for the "living, breathing person" underneath the icon and tries to elucidate his actual beliefs. Jefferson's most ardent admirers may find this perspective too critical, but Ellis's portrait of a complex, sometimes devious man who both sought and abhorred power has the ring of truth. ... Read more

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Reviews (115)

Jefferson Non Scio Vos
"American Sphinx" is not the place to begin a study of the life of Thomas Jefferson. In the introduction, Joseph Ellis comments that before joining the plethora of published analyses and biographies of Jefferson, the historian had better be prepared to bring some new insights to the life of this most revered of the Founders. Ellis chose for his subtitle, "The Character of Thomas Jefferson", and it is Jefferson's character that Ellis explores, in snippets that leap forward from scene to scene in Jefferson's life, as if Ellis were a time-traveler checking in periodically on his subject while Jefferson the man moves through a life that is now considered hallowed history. Ellis assumes that his reader is already familiar with the larger moments of Jefferson's life, as well as the surrounding history, and so skips over these. The reader who is new to Jefferson, therefore, should start elsewhere.
A Unique look at Jefferson
Prior to his Pulitzer Prize winning examination of the revolutionary generation in "Founding Brothers," Joseph Ellis tackled the biography of probably the most difficult member, Thomas Jefferson, in "American Sphinx." As Ellis points out in the beginning of the book Jefferson remains one of the most popular founders as well as one that has been adopted across the political spectrum. Ellis sets off to discover what Jefferson's actual beliefs were and how they changed during the course of his life. Rather then presenting a regular biography of Jefferson, the readers are presented with "snapshots" of Jefferson at various times in his life - in 1776 as he is preparing to write the Declaration of Independence, in the 1780s as the first United States minister to France, in the mid-1790s when he returns to Monticello after retiring as Secretary of State, in 1801 at his first inaugural and in the 1810s during his famous correspondence with John Adams. Each "snapshot" is not limited to a specific year but gives a survey of Jefferson's life during the period and how his political thought was evolving.
Vintage
This truly is vintage Joseph Ellis. I've enjoyed all of his books, particularly his writing. The fact you are reading this is proof you are interested in Jefferson, so you ought to get this book. Highest recommendation.
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Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Historical - U.S.    4. Political    5. Presidents & Heads of State    6. Unabridged Audio - Autobiography/Biography    7. United States - Revolutionary War   

Features

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Reviews (45)

FUN
I have just completed all three levels of the Pimsleur course and for me it was fun and I learned alot of Spanish. I think one of the main things when you are trying to learn a language is that whatever learning method you chose doesn't discourage you and the Pimsleur course kept my interest and made it fun and easy enough so that I continued and progressed. What good is a course if you become so discouraged, bored, or iritated with it that you give up? Most of the others are like that. I have listened to other CD series and in my opinion, Pimlseur is the best. The others invariably talk too fast, use words and phrases they haven't previously introduced, or just end up being a string of phrases or vocabulary with no context or story-line. I heartily recommend Pimsleur I,II, and III.

Bookchips are better
Bookchip version is better and easier to use, ( 3 bookchips compared to 52 cds) I bought bookchips and cds, send cds back. Buy Bookchip (Audiofy Bookchip) instead.

110 enjoyable lessons but "Hablo espanol solo un poco"
Plus I don't spell Spanish worth a diddle. Is it "kero" or "quiero"?
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Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Language    2. Foreign Language Study    3. Spanish    4. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    5. Foreign Language Study / Spanish   

Reviews (1)

Great collection of old-time radio's best detectives
This is a 20-CD set of ten of the best detective radio programs of the 1940's and 50's. There are four episodes for each of the programs (two per CD). This set also includes a small 32-page booklet that gives a brief history of each show and some info on each of the episodes included.Makes a nice companion to "Old Time Radio's Greatest Mysteries" (another 20 CD anthology from Radio Spirits).Here's a list of the programs and the included episodes and airdates:
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Subjects:  1. Radio - General    2. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction   

Reviews (7)

Das ist gut!
I have really enjoyed working through this book.It does focus a lot on the vocab you'll need if you are travelling to Germany.If you are looking for basic grammar, this tries to explain it, but may not be what you are looking for.The CDs help a lot, but you really need the book in front of you if you are listening to them, because they don't give the translation on the CDs.This forces you to follow along through the book.The phonetic spellings in the book are also very good to help improve your accent.

Review
I am a native German speaker who used this for a continuing education course at the local community college.I chose it because it did seem at first to be perfect.However, some things I found were:
NOT for beginners...
Do NOT buy this book if you are a beginner in German.It starts somewhere in level two or three and goes on from there. The basics are never really explained. It's more of a complete immersion, than a learn from scratch method. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Conversation and phrase books    2. English    3. Foreign Language Study    4. German    5. German language    6. Language    7. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    8. Foreign Language Study / German    9. Language self-study & phrasebooks   

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Language    2. English    3. Spanish    4. Spanish language    5. Specimens    6. Talking books    7. Text-books for foreign speakers    8. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    9. Language self-study & phrasebooks    10. Non-Classifiable   

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Reviews (13)

Spoken Chinese, the possible way
I'm enjoying this method every day, I'm at the end of volume II by now. I also have ended the first year of the China Academy in Brussels and volume one has certainly helped me to be the first of my class.
Addictive, and great results to boot
I wrote a good review of volume I. Now I'm on the last lesson of volume II (and I treated myself to volume III for Father's Day). Pimsleur Mandarin is wonderful in the way it teaches you sentence structure. You will need another source to accumulate vocabulary (perhaps Rosetta Stone, which I completed and is strong on vocab but weak on grammar).
If you think the script is too spartan...
To comment on the people who are calling the script predictable and not varied enough, Come on, If you are serious about learning a language with this incredible system, you should have had a good Mandarin to English and back again dictionary since halfway through Mandarin I.The Pmslr CDs teach you the language by giving you an understanding of the sentence structure and the ability to recognize and replicate the tonal system that is the single biggest hurdle to learning Mandarin for an English speaker.
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Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Language    2. Chinese    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    5. Foreign Language Study / Chinese   

Editorial Review

Look ma, no textbooks! The Learn in Your Car series treats you like a child--in the best possible way--starting with one-word phrases ("please," "good-by"), counting exercises, and simple nouns ("bus," "train") designed to imitate a child's learning process. First you hear the words in English, then they are repeated slowly in clear, unaccented pronunciations. The method is extremely effective for those who don't know a thing, or for those who want to brush up by testing themselves when the English words are spoken. The tapes emphasize the building blocks of communicating in a foreign country rather than rote phrases that only apply on the tape and not in real-life exchanges. Level 1 painlessly covers basic verb forms, essential prepositions, near future and past tenses, as well as shopping, hotel reservations, and other travel-related situations.The series includes French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish in three levels that can be purchased individually or in boxed sets. Each individual level contains two 90-minute cassettes (or CDs) and an accompanying booklet (not for use behind the wheel) with helpful explanations and scripts for the lessons. ... Read more

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Reviews (25)

Save your money!
This is probably the worst set of tapes I have ever listened to. It's no more than a list of words on one set of tapes and some verb conjugations on the other set. While I couldn't bring myself to complete the tapes they were so boring, I don't think they ever used the words in context. I bought the advanced level and it was anything but that. At least a third of the vocabulary were cognates that any beginner or intermediate student would recognize anyway. This is a huge waste of anyone's money.

I ordered CDs, not tapes!!!
Dear Amazon.com:
Dollar for Dollar One of the Best
As the editor of the Learning Spanish Products Reviews (LearningSpanishProductsReviews) site, one of my responsibilities is to review Spanish courses that are listed on Amazon. I am also a native Spanish speaker of Argentina and a professional private Spanish instructor.
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Subjects:  1. Audio - Language    2. Audio Adult: Language    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Self-instruction    5. Sound recordings for English speakers    6. Spanish    7. Spanish language    8. Spanish: Adult Nonfiction    9. Spoken Spanish    10. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    11. Language teaching & learning material & coursework    12. Language teaching theory & methods   

Reviews (13)

Great Course!
As others have mentioned this book does not have pictures, games, puzzles and all that worthless junk like some other products that entertain you but don't teach you much.This book is text which means it is dense with information for learning the language which is what you want right?This one along with the advanced version goes through all of the pertinent grammar that you will need to get around in German speaking countries without an escort.The practice dialogues are contemporary and challenging.The eight hours audio is clear as a bell.In a nut shell if you need pictures and funny dialogues and other entainment gimicks to keep your attention then I would suggest you go back to grade school.Learning another language is not easy an endeavor not for light weights.

Decent book, weak audio program
This product is better at teaching you the technicalities of the language than at teaching you to speak the language.I found the Pimsleur series both more engaging and far more effective at getting over that crucial barrier towards being able to actually use what one learns.The Ultimate text is decent, but rather dry and academic (even compared to my vintage high school german texts!).The audio program is simply ineffective; it is mostly vocabulary (a word in German, a word in English) and does little to teach one the use of the language. The book, however, uses a variety of approaches (blocks of text, exercises, diagrams and tables that document German forms, grammatical and cultural asides, etc.).I'd recommend buying the Pimsleur tapes, and complementing with this book/audio. The audio on the Ultimate German adds comparatively little, but is worth getting simply to help ensure you're correctly pronouncing the exercises in the book. Bottom line; the tape/cd is OK for pronunciation, but weak at teaching usage.

Not perfect, but probably the best bang for the buck!
I am taking German in college, and am in my 2nd semester now.I bought Ultimate German to supplement my college textbook.I agree with some of the other reviewers that the material is very 'bland'; however, for the money, it probably provides the best value.It comes with a set of CD's to use with the book, and another set that you can use w/o the book (ie. in your car).The material in the book, while no frills, appears to be accurate and gets straight to the point.The cultural notes are a nice, but the book could use some color and pictures.I've looked through several other 'inexpensive' german course, and I believe this one to be the best for the money.Sure there are probably better courses out there, but they are very expensive.The college textbook I am using is very good (its called "wie geht's", but the book alone was $107, and it only comes with a single CD.I would recommend Ultimate German to anyone who wants to learn German.I would recommend picking up some other reading, as you might get bored with only this course. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Language    2. Audio Adult: Language    3. Foreign Language Study    4. German    5. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    6. Foreign Language Study / German    7. Language learning: audio-visual & multimedia    8. Language self-study & phrasebooks   

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Career/Job    3. Careers - General    4. Documentary    5. Education    6. Video - Non-Fiction   

Editorial Review

In this upbeat look at a world that isn't as far removed from us as we might think, Sylvia Browne answers the big questions we all ask at one point or another: "What are angels?" "What happens when we die?" and "What are ghosts?" While Read more

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Reviews (191)

The Other Side And Back
I loved this book and all of Sylvia's other books. It has
Demonic? I think not!
I read this book.It's helped me understand my purpose and that we're not all here for the same reason. Keep an open mind...
Actually, I am in the process of listening to this book on tape and am getting a really good vibe from the actual author as she reads.She definately says "take what you can and leave the rest behind.Unfortunately, conservative Christians come off as "holier than thou" and bascially to me their concepts of the Bible detaches from everyday life.What good is a religion in my opinion if it doesn't teach you how to be a better human being.As far as the Bible goes, there has been edits made by those in position to do so to disempower the people for their own selfish means.Sylvia goes into this in speaking of reincarnation as an example of the corruptness of religious authoritarians.Remember slavery was deem appropriate by so called Christians at one time.However, Christianity isn't the disease, but those who interpret and misuse its teachings are the culprit of evil and that goes for any religious belief. I believe we have so much to learn about ourselves, life, the afterlife and the basic truth of all existence and to think there is only one way of thinking hinders us as human beings and our awarness of the eternity of life.When our beliefs limits our thinking or actions how great is that, I ask?I say stop preaching damnation and the wrath of God, and show by example the power of what it means to truly human and to love your fellow person. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Misc. Nonfiction    2. Audio - Nonfiction    3. Audio Adult: Other    4. Audiobooks    5. Conduct of life    6. Miscellanea    7. Parapsychology - General    8. Spiritualism    9. Spiritualism - General    10. Psychology & Psychiatry / General   

Editorial Review

Perhaps the most important Mozart biography ever written, this book is subtle, rich-textured, endlessly stimulating and provocative -- just like the man's music. ... Read more

Reviews (27)

"An Accountant's Dream" or "Mozart on the Couch"
I read up to chapter twenty (about 300 pages) and stopped reading the book, realizing I had more important things to read.My major complaints are (1) that there is too much discussion of the Mozart family finances, which I'm sure would be fascinating to economists and accountants, however tedious to someone concerned about music; and (2) too much retroactive Freudian analysis of the subject, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.Think about this:Solomon uses an obsolete, and now debunked, system of psychoanalysis to describe a subject that cannot be interviewed.The best discussion of music is concerning the Salzburg serenade style in chapter eight.Other than that brief section (pp. 125-133), I was not impressed.Short of reading Mozart's letters and making your own analysis, I recommend Stanley Sadie's "Mozart: The Early Years, 1756-1781" for starters.

A Must Read!
A bit on the dry side but so well written and researched that this is the best book on Mozart at present.

Deep and thought-provoking
Solomon's books have obvious strengths--the depth of his research and his analysis of the music. What seems to divide readers is his use of psychoanalysis. I'm on his side, as his book created a thought-provoking examination of a great figure whose art was a tonic for the fraught relationship he had with his father. But Solomon also shows us that Mozart was neither an idiot savant nor a psychological mess--in his relationship with his wife and his ability to manage a successful career he was remarkably normal. Rather than the center of the book, the psychoanalysis is a useful contextual tool. This really is the best single book on Mozart. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Nonfiction (Unabridged)   

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Reviews (3)

Shootout - From class to book to TV to DVD
Delta brings Shootout to disc
Do Nothing BOOk
Peter Guber has no business telling people this take on Hollywood,His huge ego is present on every page.Several more harder working people in the business found him to be a foul mouth jerk who complained all the time.I would go so far as to say the movies he bankrolled are shallow pieces of trash, put together by someone who belongs in the garbage

A Very Interesting Hollywood Book
I enjoyed reading "Shoot Out". It is filled with behind the scenes stories of how movies were made. This is really how the business of movies really happens.Read more

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Fiction/Suspense Thriller    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Audiobooks    4. Business Aspects    5. Film & Video - History & Criticism    6. Motion picture industry    7. Motion pictures    8. Performing Arts    9. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction    10. United States   

Editorial Review

Think of it as Read more

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Reviews (347)

This book annoyed me.
Ok so when I first started reading the book I thought all right this is ok.And the book went along and I still thought it was ok good at times but just a decent book.Then I finished the book and I realized something.Nothing had happened really.There was nothing to tell you what the overall plot would be for the triolgy it was just them going from once place to the other.Its like oh there is a ghost we should follow it, yeah because that is such a smart thing to do.This book just annoyed me so much because nothing happend in it.I don't really understand why so many people love this book.This book is average at best and not much else.

For the fifth time...
I was first introduced to Dragonlance my senior year in high school.I had spent the previous summer reading many Forgotten Realms novels, while at the same time listening to my friends rave about the world of Dragonlance.Dragons of Autumn Twilight was actually my second Dragonlance novel I read (the first one being Kindred Spirits) and from beginning to end, I enjoyed it.Dragons of Autumn Twilight is a great start to a wonderful trilogy.It was unforgettable characters, unique landscapes, and powerful villains.
Might be good if written by a high school student
I would really like to know the average age of the reviewers who rated this book favorably.
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Subjects:  1. Audio - Science Fiction / Fantasy    2. Audio Adult: Books On Tape    3. Science Fiction - General    4. Non-Classifiable   

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Reviews (97)

Shakespeare is Full of Quotes
A careless reading of "Amusing Ourselves to Death" will reveal a string of cliches about the modern era of industry and sense of participation in it: that our politicians are image-focused, "news-of-the-day" is typically useless, and our preachers and teachers are entertainers primarily. This book is hack, if only in the sense that the ideas he presents were of grave concern to Plato. Postman takes that (1) truth is given form by rhetoric, (2) which is defined by the mode of expression, (3) and although historically authors were aware of the distinction between speech, image and text, with the rapi