Books

Onions, Onions, Onions
Steam Cuisine
The New Bread Machine Book
Bloody Mary: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Complex Cocktail
Food for Friends: Simply Delicious Menus for Easy Entertaining
Indian Low Fat Cooking (Global Gourmet S.)
New Jewish Cooking (Global Gourmet S.)
The Modern Grill Pan Cookbook: Eighty Innovative Recipes for Modern Grilling
Whisky: The Water of Life
The Wines of Bordeaux
Muffins and Small Cakes
The Smoked Food Cookbook: Revolutionise Your Cooking with Over 100 Innovative Recipes
The Modern Pressure Cookbook: 100 Contemporary Recipes for Steam-pressured Cooking
The Wok Cookbook: 100 Fun and Fresh Recipes for the One Stop Cook
Diabetic Cookbook
Indian Home Cooking: Quick, Easy and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home
The Complete Book of Italian Cooking: Hundreds of Pizza, Pasta and Risotto Dishes, Perfectly Prepared
The Complete Book of Asian Cooking: Hundreds of Traditional an Inspiratinal Asian Dishes, Perfectly Prepared
Healthy Diabetic Cooking: 250 Easy and Delicious Recipes for a Nutritionally Balanced Diet
Healthy Vegetarian Cookbook: Over 150 Delicious, Colourful and Inspirational Recipes with the Minimum of Fuss
Pasta Cookbook: Classic and Innovative Flavourful Recipes Using This Versatile Ingredient
French Bistro and Cafe Cooking
Best American Beers
How to Avoid GM Food : Hundreds of Brands, Products and Ingredients to Avoid
Appetite

Average customer rating:

Great book
A great text type book for ASP.NET
An absolute must-read for ASP.NET developers!
The best ASP.NET book!
Very disorganized - strongly dislike it

Essential ASP.NET With Examples in C#
Fritz Onion
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Developing Web Applications with ASP.NET and C#
Essential ASP.NET 2.0
Windows Forms Programming in C#
Programming ASP.NET, 3rd Edition (Programming)
Programming C#: Building .NET Applications with C#

ASIN: 0201760401

Amazon.com

The Microsoft .NET Framework is exactly what its name implies: A general system onto which a lot of application-specific technologies are stuck. Essential ASP.NET With Examples in C# assumes you know something about the .NET way of doing things, and want to know more about how you can use its ASP.NET facet to implement robust and stylish Web applications. Fritz Onion, in a manner typical of this series, introduces key ASP.NET concepts logically, and with lots of code listings that make it clear how the concepts should be translated into reality. The truth be told, Onion excels at combining conceptual information with practical examples. This is unusual among writers of technical books, who tend to be good at (at best) one or the other.

Typically, the author approaches a capability of ASP.NET--validation of submitted form data, say--by presenting a quick summary of the problem and then attacking it (or components of it) with code. The code segments (which tend not to be too long, and so relatively easy to trace and comprehend) are then dissected, and special attention called to details of particular interest to the local problem. It's a great way to learn if you already have a grasp of the basics, as you can either go hands-on with your own system or absorb the author's wisdom through the book alone. --David Wall

Topics covered: How ASP.NET works, and how to write effective software with it. Detailed coverage goes to HtmlControls, WebControls, the web.config file, form-data validation, custom controls, and state management. There's also excellent coverage of the often confusing HTTP Pipeline.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2006-02-25

This is a good book, easy to understand and covers a lot of material.

A great text type book for ASP.NET.......2005-09-10

Clearly this is the best ASP.NET book I have ever read.

An absolute must-read for ASP.NET developers!.......2005-09-04

Essential ASP.NET is 100% to-the-point containing very useful information with no fluff included. I particularly enjoyed the HTTP pipeline chapter. The entire book contains info that every ASP.NET developer should know.

The best ASP.NET book!.......2005-08-29

I just finished reading this book, I'd say it's the best ASP.NET book! I highly recommend it!

Very disorganized - strongly dislike it.......2005-07-29

Recently there has been a decline in book quality as the rush to sell more and write faster increases and this book is a testament to this new trend.

The other disturbing fact here is that this book's rating on Amazon is at 4.5 stars and let me tell you, this book is not of that kind. Four and a half stars on Amazon used to mean classics, refer to Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming and Don Box's Essential COM, it is embarasing to bulk these together they are not even on the same rating system much less of same rating.

I could tell that this book was simply rushed to the market. It is completely disorganized, and in the intro it even says: read first two chapters then you can skip around. It sounds good, but makes no sense at all.

I am not some newby to web programming. I know most technologies from ASP to JSP, and have written ISAPI dlls.

The first chapter started off good, but then everything fell apart. There are moments of

I strongly dislike it.

-Disappointed

Homeland Insecurity: The Onion Complete News Archives, Volume 17 (Onion Ad Nauseam)

Average customer rating:

Tears (of Laughter) Will Develop in Your Eyes as You Peel the Layers (Turn the Pages) of the Onion
my sons love this book
well what the happened to all onions
Still the best, now with typos!
A 'must' for any public library's humor section.

Homeland Insecurity: The Onion Complete News Archives, Volume 17 (Onion Ad Nauseam)
Onion Editors
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Embedded in America: The Onion Complete News Archives Volume 16 (Onion Ad Nauseam)
Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source
Fanfare for the Area Man: The Onion Ad Nauseam Complete News Archives, Vol. 15
SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy from a Plane
The Onion Ad Nauseam: Complete News Archives, Volume 13

ASIN: 030733984X
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Book Description

Hot off the reprint presses!

Onion fans hear this! Homeland Insecurity is the largest collection of award-winning journalism from America’s Finest News Source ever released, and that means you must buy it! Featuring every brilliantly biting article printed in The Onion between November 2004 and December 2005, a time in our country’s history ripe for further examination by America’s Finest News Source, Homeland Insecurity collects all the news reporting you were too lazy to read when it first appeared, now delivered in a handy single volume that will fit perfectly on the bookshelf of your dorm, ward, or cell. Homeland Insecurity is Volume 17 in the always bestselling and always entertaining Onion series.

The Onion is the world’s most popular humor publication, with more than 3.8 million weekly visitors to its website (theonion.com) and a print circulation of more than 500,000. More than a million copies of its various books have been sold to date, beginning with Our Dumb Century, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Customer Reviews:

Tears (of Laughter) Will Develop in Your Eyes as You Peel the Layers (Turn the Pages) of the Onion.......2007-06-11

The excellent news parody The Onion has bound together another collection of their weekly newspaper, telling us their readers stories the main networks don't seem to want to tell us. The Onions inside are from the editions published online and in print between the 18th of November 2004 and the 14th December 2005. Some of the stories within are a bit shorter as they are incomplete than their original online format but the humour happens in what is there along with the headlines.

Whilst the Onion has a huge cult following, not everyone has heard of it. If you've enjoyed parody news TV shows such as CNNN or its still going spin off The Chaser then this is the book for you. Also if you're still unsure about buying this book you can just type in the onion dot com into your computer see the latest Onions and you'll know what your getting.

Other great parody fiction is out there but to name three you may be interested in if you enjoyed this book are Where's Bin Laden? by Daniel Lalic which is an excellent parody of the Where's Wally (Waldo in North America) series. 101 Places Not to Visit: Your Essential Guide to the World's Most Miserable, Ugly, Boring and Inbred Destinations by Adam Russ which is an excellent parody of those travel books that only mention the good things about destinations. The Self-Destruction Handbook: 8 Simple Steps to an Unhealthier You is an excellent and extremely funny parody of all those annoying self help books that want to make you a better you.

my sons love this book.......2007-04-01

my sons (and husband) have been fighting over the book since it arrived- they have been laughing a lot too....

well what the happened to all onions.......2007-03-21

the cookie monster here. HE ATE ALL MY ONIONS. SO I WAS HURGY SO I GO TO AMAZION.CON TO RODER AN ONION. BUT I SEARCH TRHIS ONION ANBD FIND NOTHING. I GET SILLY WILLY BOOKY INSTEAD. NO MENTINO OF PAPPY, OR HIS PLACE.
WILD HOGS.

Still the best, now with typos!.......2007-03-08

This volume features several spelling and layout errors... but I in no way regret buying it. :D And I'll keep buying them as the come out!! Too hilarious to pass up.

A 'must' for any public library's humor section........2007-02-09

The Onion is the nation's best satirical publication and here covers the headline news events from November 2004 through December 2005. HOMELAND INSECURITY offers funny editorials, news in brief, opinion polls and articles on all sides of pop and political culture, offering up its fare in a fake news form which comes complete with black and white photos throughout. A 'must' for any public library's humor section.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Average customer rating:

ASP.NET Expertise Required
Great ASP.NET 2.0 Book - Accurate and Concise
Not for VB.Net programmers
Web Parts and zones are good improvements

Essential ASP.NET 2.0
Fritz Onion , and Keith Brown
Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Professional
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Essential Windows Workflow Foundation (Microsoft .NET Development Series)
Essential C# 2.0 (Microsoft .NET Development Series)
Essential ASP.NET With Examples in C#
CLR via C#, Second Edition (Pro Developer)
Programming WCF Services (Programming)

ASIN: 0321237706

Book Description

"No one knows ASP.NET like Fritz Onion. And no one knows .NET security like Keith Brown. Combine the two and what do you get? The most comprehensive and enlightening book on ASP.NET 2.0 industrywide. I'm sure you'll find the book you're holding was worth every penny."

--Aaron Skonnard, member of technical staff and cofounder, Pluralsight

" Essential ASP.NET 2.0 gets under the hood and dismantles the engine before your eyes. Fritz and Keith understand that we as developers need to understand how it works and this book does exactly that. Their explanation of the ASP.NET 2.0 page event sequence is worth the price of the book alone."

--Shawn Wildermuth, Microsoft MVP (C#), "The ADO Guy"

" Essential ASP.NET 2.0 is an incredibly useful must-read for any developer.Many books drag you through theory and mindless detail, but this one actually sets up the problems you may encounter with ASP.NET 2.0 and rolls out the alternatives."

--Patrick Hynds, Microsoft Regional Director and President, CriticalSites

"This book is essential for any ASP.NET developer moving from version 1.x to 2.0. Onion and Brown not only cover the new features, but provide a wealth of insight and detail about how to use them effectively."

--Ron Petrusha, author of Visual Basic 2005: The Complete Reference

"Drawing on their deep technical knowledge and real-world experience, Fritz and Keith take the reader into some of the less explored and much improved areas of ASP.NET such as diagnostics and state management and performance. Readers will turn to this book over and over again."

--John Timney, Microsoft MVP, Senior Web Services Consultant,British Telecom

"Fritz and Keith, both established developers and writers in our industry, have succeeded again--enlightening us on the latest advancements found in ASP.NET 2.0. If you're new to ASP.NET or a seasoned veteran, you'll benefit tremendously from their overview, analysis, and sample code."

--Joe "MSJoe" Flanigen

"This book seeks not only to explain how to effectively build Web sites with ASP.NET, it also gives the reader an idea of how the process works. This insight is essential to creating applications that work with the infrastructure rather than fighting it."

--Justin Burtch, Vice President, Newbrook Solutions

Essential ASP.NET 2.0 is the Microsoft developer's definitive reference for ASP.NET 2.0 programming. It covers all you need to know to build robust, well-designed Web applications with ASP.NET 2.0, Visual Studio 2005, and .NET 2.0. ASP.NET MVP Fritz Onion and Developer Security MVP Keith Brown draw on their unparalleled experience working with ASP.NET 2.0 and teaching it to professional developers. From data binding to security, UIs to performance, they demystify ASP.NET 2.0's most difficult areas, and introduce little-known techniques for leveraging it to the fullest.

The perfect companion to his previous classic, Essential ASP.NET with Examples in C#, Essential ASP.NET 2.0 offers hundreds of new C# examples that illuminate today's best Web development practices. (Both C# and VB 2005 versions of all code examples can be downloaded from the companion Web site.)

Topics explored in-depth include:

Application architecture
Code behind
Master pages
Themes and skins
Navigation controls
Data binding
State management
Security
Web Parts
Diagnostics
Performance optimization
Asynchronous tasks and pages

Simply put, if you want to design and build better ASP.NET 2.0 Web applications, Essential ASP.NET 2.0 delivers everything you need: insider's knowledge, proven best practices, and outstanding code samples.

Customer Reviews:

ASP.NET Expertise Required.......2007-05-13

This is a good book for somebody who is already quite familiar with ASP.NET and just wants to learn what is new with ASP.NET 2.0. I thought the material was sometimes too technical. For example, there is a lot of information on changing the provider database. You would probably find this book most useful if you needed to dig into the guts of ASP.NET 2.0.

However, "Essential ASP.NET 2.0" isn't a very good introduction to ASP.NET 2.0 because it does not provide simple explanations on how to use the new features in real world situations. I've read "ASP.NET 2.0 For Dummies" but found it went over too much familiar material on ASP.NET and left out many aspects of ASP.NET 2.0. Ideally you need a book that focuses just on the new features of ASP.NET 2.0 with an emphasis on practical usage.

I would most recommend this book if you needed in depth information on how to go beyond the typical use of the new features when you find yourself frustrated by some special considerations. If you need to use a MySQL database then the information on changing the provider database will be very useful.

Great ASP.NET 2.0 Book - Accurate and Concise.......2007-02-23

I really like Fritz and Keith's writing style, and found this book an excellent ASP.NET 2.0 read.

Unlike other books, this doesn't attempt to be a huge reference. Instead it offers a relatively quick and concise read that details how to use some of the most important new features in ASP.NET 2.0. The result is a very approachable book that provides a great way to learn ASP.NET 2.0 and how to immediately take advantage of it.

Not for VB.Net programmers.......2007-01-12

I purchased the book several months ago. All the code example in the book are in C#. The preface promises that VB versions of the code can be found at the cited web site. A few moths ago, the web site stated the samples would be available by 30 November. They weren't. The site now says they'll be there by 31 December. That date has come and gone, and still no VB code examples.

Web Parts and zones are good improvements.......2006-11-12

Hmm, the Foreword says the MySpace web pages are written in ASP.NET. One of the most heavily trafficked web sites in the world. An impressive paean to ASP, and no doubt the authors cite this to reassure any questioning readers about how ASP can scale up almost arbitrarily.

Most of the book seems dedicated to explaining the salient usages in the new version 2. Where these exist with an eye to improving the design of dynamic pages. Of the new features, Web Parts could be the most useful to some programmers. An extension of the SharePoint Services released in 2003. They are souped up UI widgets, for the making of portals. What Microsoft did was try to factor out the most common needs of many portals, and implement these for you, as much as possible. The Parts can still be modified by the programmer. But simply having them can save a lot of coding. Which reduces coding time and improves robustness.

Another nice aspect associated with Web Parts is the idea of a zone. This lets you demarcate a page into non-overlapping rectangular regions. In each, you can then separately lay out a set of Parts. Much more powerful than the default HTML layout abilities. Or, indeed, what Java gives you with its default Layout Managers, that JSP programmers might have to use. As a Java programmer myself, I have often found its Layout Managers to be frustratingly too limited; a view shared by many other programmers. Zones are a big improvement.

Average customer rating:

The Book Has Some Great Lines
The Meaning Of Guilt
A Treasure
Moving Narrative about a Crime and it's aftermath
EXCELLENT READ - SOME OF THE BEST IN THIS GENRA

The Onion Field
Joseph Wambaugh
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Choirboys (Crime Masterworks)
The Blue Knight
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Fire Lover

ASIN: 0440173507
Release Date: 1987-03-10

Book Description

This is the frighteningly true story of two young cops and two young robbers whose separate destinies fatally cross one march night in a bizarre execution in a deserted Los Angeles field.

Customer Reviews:

The Book Has Some Great Lines.......2007-06-19

This book has some great lines about prison. One has stayed in my mind ever since I read the book 25 years ago. Jimmy Smith: "Powell was a punk in the gym in Vacaville. They bent him over a workout bar and browned em."

The Meaning Of Guilt.......2006-10-27

The two cops didn't expect anything life-altering when they pulled over the car with the busted taillight in Hollywood that Saturday night in 1963. But that was what they got. Before the night was over, one officer was dead and the other would never be the same.

Joseph Wambaugh's 1973 true-crime account of the killing is perhaps his best-known and most celebrated work, made into a memorable movie and a kind of calling card for Wambaugh's critical yet sensitive way of writing about crime and police work. "The Onion Field" may be based on a true story, but it reads like a novel, much like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" would have had Capote been as interested in the crime itself as in the problem of capital punishment.

Like "In Cold Blood," you have one killer who is gay and unreasonably violent, another who is a hardened tag-along. Unlike "In Cold Blood," Wambaugh wastes little sympathy for either, especially as they and their attorneys work the system to preserve their lives while the surviving cop is left roasting on a spit, forced to relive the experience that night in the lonely onion field where his partner was killed as the rest of his life spirals out of control.

There are sections where "The Onion Field" is hard to put down and others where it lulls you to sleep. Wambaugh finds everything in this case too fascinating to keep to himself, whether it's a juror with a persecution complex or a defense attorney who objects to everything in hope of getting a mistrial. The first 50 pages may be the dullest in the book, as the "before" lives of several key participants are examined to great mundane length.

But once the two felons, Jimmy Lee Smith and Gregory Powell, find each other, Wambaugh is at his best tracing their brief partnership of crime. Powell styles himself a trenchcoat-wearing mastermind, but his idea of strategy is a getaway car with a burnt clutch so there is no chance of pulling away from a job too quickly. As the pair drive around aimlessly, Powell waving his gun around, Smith wondering when he might ditch his pal and steal the loot for himself, "The Onion Field" is on a par with Wambaugh's best comedy. Then they meet their destiny and the two lawmen, and the bad guys' stupidity is no longer funny.

The other element this book really nails is the story of the surviving detective. Already wrestling with huge survivor's guilt, he is forced to endure much departmental second-guessing about how he allowed the crooks to take him alive. In time, he becomes such a mess he starts to steal, as if willing his own disgrace. Naturally, this gets brought up in court by an opportunistic defense attorney, who labels him a sociopath.

"He doesn't know the meaning of guilt," the lawyer says, ironically enough given by this point of the story guilt's all the guy does know.

I've found other Wambaugh books more compelling, especially "The Blooding," which has many of the same themes (pathology, the strain of police work) but also a better story and sharper focus. "Onion Field" is a memorable book, though, something to shake the most jaded reader into thinking about how many different ways we can find ourselves on the wrong side of the law.

A Treasure.......2006-07-08

I read this book many years ago. Last week, while I was browsing through used books in a Goodwill Store, I came across a hardbound copy in pristine condition. It was selling for $2.00. Needless to say, without hesitation, I bought it. I found myself an absolute treasure. Without a doubt in my mind, this is easily the finest non-fiction story of crime and retribution I have ever read, gripping and haunting thoughout. Only one other non-fiction crime story comes close to it, and that is SWORDFISH by David McClintick. If this book can be purchased, do so without hesitation. Jay Wickramasinghe, Citrus Heights, California

Moving Narrative about a Crime and it's aftermath.......2006-03-25

This gripping narrative describes the 1963 kidnapping and murder of Los Angeles police officer Ian Campbell (1931-1963) and the crime's lengthy aftermath. Campbell and his partner Karl Hettinger were kidnapped at gunpoint one night by two hoods during a routine traffic stop, and then driven into the country where Campbell was shot dead in an Onion field. Hettinger managed to flee to safety, but was left with psychological trauma and a crushing sense of guilt over his partner's death. The author details the lives of the two killers, their lengthy trials and appeals, and the aftermath for the traumatized Hettinger, who was blamed by many for allowing the tragedy to occur. Readers learn not only about the crime and its lengthy aftermath, but also about the victimization of survivors, and about our imperfect system of justice.

Author Joseph Wambaugh modeled this book after IN COLD BLOOD, Truman Capote's superb look at the 1959 murder of a Kansas farm family. Wambaugh didn't quite match Capote, but THE ONION FIELD makes excellent reading (it also became a pretty good movie). Readers might also like Wambaugh's THE BLOODING (about the first use of DNA testing) and ECHOES IN THE DARKNESS.

EXCELLENT READ - SOME OF THE BEST IN THIS GENRA.......2006-03-06

It has been some years since this one hit the shelves, but it is non the worse for wear. Actually, I have to agree with another reviewer in that I too, feel this is one of Wambaugh's best. A true sory, brought to light in a very readable story like format. It is rather unforgetable. The author does a very good job of not only telling us a story (Wambaugh is, after all, first and formost a great story teller), but gives us great insight into the thoughts and motivations of the killers. He gives us a wonderful profile of the oung officer who survived this horrible crime. I cannot in all truth say it is as good as "In Cold Blood," but it comes pretty close to the mark. Recommend this one highly.

Average customer rating:

buried onions by rm
Dreaming big, overcoming big obstacles
The Greatest book I've RED!!!
Violence, Sex and Girls
Buried Onions

Buried Onions
Gary Soto
Manufacturer: Harcourt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0152062653

Amazon.com

Eddie can always smell onions in the air--the sharp bitter odor of hopelessness and anger that haunts the poor side of Fresno. "I had a theory about those vapors, which were not released by the sun's heat but by a huge onion buried under the city. This onion made us cry. Tears leapt from our eyelashes and stained our faces." Eddie tries to escape from the poverty and gang society that surrounds him by taking vocational classes and staying away from his old "cholos," (gang friends). But when his cousin is killed, his aunt urges him to seek out and punish the murderer. To avoid the pressure building in his neighborhood, Eddie takes a landscaping job in an affluent suburb. But this too goes awry when his boss's truck is stolen while in his care. In the end, with his money gone and a dangerous gang member stalking him, Eddie's only choice is to join the military and hope that they can give him a better future than the one Fresno seems to offer.

There is no tidy closure--certainly no happy ending--to this bleak novel. But that is exactly what gives Buried Onions its strong, acidic flavor. Teens with a low tolerance for any type of pretense will appreciate Gary Soto's honesty in not trying to force a fairy-tale ending. In spare but always striking prose, Soto has written an unrelentingly grim story that teens will savor because it rings true. (Ages 13 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description

Eddie's father, two uncles, and best friend are all dead, and it's a struggle for him not to end up the same way. Violence makes Fresno wallow in tears, as if a huge onion were buried beneath the city. Making an effort to walk a straight line despite constant temptations and frustrations, Eddie searches for answers--and discovers that his closest friends may actually be his worst enemies.

Includes a reader's guide and a glossary of Spanish words and phrases.

Customer Reviews:

buried onions by rm.......2007-06-14

I can easily say that "Buried Onions" is one of the best books I've ever read in my entire life. This book was written by Gary Soto. This book to me was meant for people that like to read good books in a short period of time. WARNING the following paragraph may contain some sentences that might spoil your reading.
This book is about Eddie a young adult trying to find a good future for himself. He juggles with multiple ideas like going to the military, college, or he could just stay in the same life dragging himself to survive. I recommend this book to all people in general because this is such a good book everyone will like it. Thanks for reading this review and I hope to see you reading "Buried Onions" by Gary Soto in the future.

Dreaming big, overcoming big obstacles.......2007-04-26

Eddie's home in Fresno, California, is not exactly a happy place for him. At nineteen, he's dropped out of college, he has lost more friends than he can count to the violence that is abundant in his hometown, and his aunt is after him to avenge his cousin's death.

Eddie, unlike most of the kids he grew up with, is trying to earn an honest living, and maybe even get out of Fresno someday, and away from all of the violence that has been his life so far. But that's harder than it sounds, when you've got no money and very little education. No matter how hard Eddie struggles to change his life, people around him are always pulling him down--and there are few exceptions to that rule.

Buried Onions is a fairly quick read, but there's a lot to it, and it stays with you long after the last page.

Eddie in particular is one of a cast of three-dimensional, interesting characters whose lives are probably very different from that of most who read this powerful novel. The characters bring this sorrowful, hopeful story alive, as does Gary Soto's obvious talent for choosing just the right words to keep the reader interested in what he has to say and to get his point across eloquently.

Armchair Interviews says: Buried Onions is an honest, thought-provoking novel that should be a required reading for everyone.

The Greatest book I've RED!!!.......2006-05-08

In the book "Buried Onions", Gary Soto lets us wonder our minds and making us see how hard it is for a nineteen year old man, Eddie, trying to get away from all the violence that Fresno, California has to offer. Eddie with all the pain that he feels and all the sorrow that he feels also since his Father and his brother and now his cousin are all dead, He now wants a change in his life and with all the problems that he passed he finally reconsiders his coaches request for him to join the Marines.

Violence, Sex and Girls.......2005-12-09

Ana Garcia from Torrance, California

Have you ever wonder what the life of a Chicano youngster is? Do you know how hard it is for a 19 year old guy to try living a normal life when everything around him wants to turn him into a criminal? Do you enjoy action, guns, gangsters, gangster girls and sex in a book?
Well, if you answer yes to any of this question the book you should be reading is Buried Onions is just perfect for you. The book portraits the life of Eddie, a young guy, who only wants to work but everyone expects him to get revenge against the killer of his cousin, Jesus. Eddie had a really hard time. "To lay open my heart with all its problem, I could have gone to a priest with pleats of wisdom on his brow". This is a part of the book in which he really doesn't know what to do. All the advice the people are giving to him wont lead him to any good. Everyone around him wants to go and kill the killer of Jesus. It is so hard on Eddie that he cant even have sex with a girl when the named of his Eddie knows that violence will only lead him to more violence. You should read it to the end so you could find out the twist at the end of the book
This to me is a wonderful book. It is a book that once you started reading is almost impossible to let it go. The whole book will have you thinking what will happen next. You will get so into it that for moments you will forget that is a book, and you would think that it is real life. If you will ask me to rate this book from a scale o 1-10 I will with no doubt give it **10**.

Buried Onions.......2004-12-11

It's a sweltering summer and the streets of Fresno stink: like violence and onions. "This onion made us cry. Tears leapt from our eyelashes and stained our faces." Nineteen-year-old Eddie lives by himself in a decrepit apartment downtown where he is barely surviving the heat of the sun or his neighborhood. Simply living is enough to render him lethargic, but not just on account of the heat.
Having dropped out of City College, Eddie now makes a paltry living painting addresses on the curbs of rich Fresnons. There isn't much money left at the end of the day, so Eddie fills his stomach with little more than Top Ramen and cheap soda. Though he is doing his best to stay clean, trouble keeps seeking him out in his hood. Gang bangers want to jump him, a client thinks Eddie stole his truck, and his aunt wants him to knock off a cholo who supposedly killed Eddie's cousin. Growing violence and danger mixes with the heat and, in a state of near deliria, Eddie is forced to make a choice between staying in town and possibly being murdered, or escaping the only way he knows how.
Through the doubtful hero Eddie, Buried Onions depicts the narrow space between improving one's life and giving up completely. Author Gary Soto employs the setting of a highly Chicano-populated metropolis in order to illuminate the dangers and temptations waiting around every corner of the city to attack Chicano youth and drag them into disgrace-gangs, drugs, mindless sex, homicide. To Eddie, these menaces are like the vapors of a giant onion growing beneath the streets of the agricultural-oriented city, threatening to choke the city's population with hopelessness and hate.
Although Eddie often feels this sense of hopelessness in life, and although a great deal of unfair things happen to him, Eddie keeps struggling to overcome his lethargy and the rank of the onion. He hopes to separate himself from the foul fates of so many of his Chicano friends and neighbors.
Soto does not insult his readers with a blissfully happy ending. Indeed, Buried Onions proves a raw and difficult read. Yet, Buried Onions does give us a hopeful promise: free will. Soto illustrates that, even if our better option is not of the gilded Hollywood variety, even our smallest choices can give our lives direction.

Average customer rating:

This is from the back of the soft cover book!!!!
GREAT book!
Coping with adoption
Onion Tears

Onion Tears
Diana Kidd
Manufacturer: Orchard Books (NY)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Finding the Green Stone
Angel Child, Dragon Child (Reading Rainbow)

ASIN: 0531058700

Book Description

Nam-Huong is miserable living in a new country without her beloved family. Then why can't she cry?

Vietnamese Nam-Huong wants to adjust to her new life in Australia, but she can't. She misses her parents and her beloved grandfather too much, and she is haunted by her experiences as a refugee. When her clasmates try to make friends she rejects them, so they begin to tease and torment her. Soon, she doesn't talk at all.But with the help of her foster mother and her teacher, Nam-Huong slowly begin to trust and love again

Customer Reviews:

This is from the back of the soft cover book!!!!.......2002-10-15

The swallows are here again. They have come south looking for summer. Did they fly over my country? Did they see my mum amd dad? Did they see my little yellow canary?

Nam-Huong cries lots of onion tears...It's only when she laens to smile inside, andd finally laugh, that her tears fall like drops of dew.

GREAT book!.......2000-06-02

I loved this book; it shows a girl of great courage coping with grief. Even though it is sad in parts, it is about healing and is immensely positive. I highly recommend it.

Coping with adoption.......2000-01-19

I attempted to use this book as an intervention for a foster care child whose parental figures terminated parental rights as it was what I could find in the Muncie Public Library. This book has the potential for helping a child in Foster Care cope with his or her tragic situation. However, this book is fairly long and probably best read by the child instead of read to the child. So, the child needs to be higher functioning. Also, the setting of the story may be hard for a child in North America to relate to (a Vietnamese war orphan in Austrailia who spends sometime working in the restaurant owned by the foster parent.) Last, this story may be more appropriate for a girl to read or listen to. Nevertheless, it is a potential intervention that could be considered for kids who are either orphaned or legally orphaned to address bereavement.

Onion Tears.......1999-12-09

Onion tears is written by Diana Kidd and is about Nam - Hong who losses her family in war it is set in a restarant and a school The main characters are Nam-Hong ,Chin Min , Miss Lilly and Aunty. Nam-Hong has a bucket of feelings .She losses her family in war when she is very young and she lives with a lady she calls aunty .She has only ever cried onoin tears .Will she ever cry real tears? Onion Tears would be recomended for children aged 8 and over because of its realistic matters . Onion Tears is a sad and emoional book.

Onions: A Country Garden Cookbook (Country Garden Cookbooks)

Average customer rating:

Gorgeous series

Onions: A Country Garden Cookbook (Country Garden Cookbooks)
Jesse Ziff Cool
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Tomatoes (A country garden cookbook)
Herbs: Country Garden Cookbook
Potatoes: A Country Garden Cookbook (Country Garden Cookbooks)
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Corn: A Country Garden Cookbook (Country Garden Cookbooks)

ASIN: 0002554526

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous series.......2003-11-25

I own this and all the Country Garden series of cookbooks. They are all visually gorgeous, and all written by professional chefs. Each book surrounds a featured ingredient which is seasonal. I must admit that many of the recipes could be considered "chi-chi," but for cookbook collectors, this series is really wonderful. I'm sorry they stopped adding to these books, and very sorry that they are going out of print.

Average customer rating:

Advaita for everyone :)
Words can not describe the magnificence of this book.
If you fear truth don't read this book (or maybe you should)
A must read
Agony at Club Fed Leads to Filthy Lucre.

From Onions to Pearls
Satyam Nadeen
Manufacturer: Hay House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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From Seekers to Finders
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As It Is: The Open Secret to Living an Awakened Life
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Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer With "Sailor" Bob Adamson

ASIN: 156170587X

Book Description

A true story of one man's spiritual awakening under severely restrictive, sometimes violent, physical and intense emotional conditions.

Customer Reviews:

Advaita for everyone :).......2005-07-26

This is not heavy 'I Am That' Advaita, its a little bit more down to earth.

Its the interesting story about a man who had just about done it all on the spirtual merry go round and ended up finding his true nature in a prison.

An enjoyable read.

Words can not describe the magnificence of this book........2004-03-06

A stunning, truthful book on awakening.

If you fear truth don't read this book (or maybe you should).......2003-03-13

Please disregard any negative reviews of this book. Anyone discrediting what this man says obviously doesn't get it!
The anger that it appears to generate in some people speaks louder than any review. He cannot upset you. Only you can.
Ironicaly this is the limited type of thinking that Satyam is attempting to expose as a waste of time.
If you read this with your heart, you will see that he does not say that practice is a waste of time. Practice is the required method to soften the layers of human conditioning. The only time wasted is practicing while not realizing that you are the source of your own enlightenment. It is not a "thing" you need to seek because is is already in you.
If repetition bothers you, pretend the book is one long chanting session and let joy overflow every time he says "You are That".

A must read.......2001-09-17

I read this book back in February this year and it blew me away. As a personal development junkie I didn't like this message at all but it somehow rang true. Soon after I suddenly felt an enormous sense of relief as I realised there's nothing to do! I had been chasing my tail for years. Which was also great in a way!
Read this book for a wake up call but also consider reading works of Gangaji, Papaji and good old Tony Parsons (The Open Secret & As it is).

Agony at Club Fed Leads to Filthy Lucre........2001-02-19

This book came highly recommended so I overcame my aversion to the title to read it. The message is not new; it is a message offered in some niche of every path. I suppose the Christian equivalent is "God's will". If you read the author's word "Source" as "God" you will see this is a very old message of Fatalism. Nadeen as he now calls himself admits to having been a shopper for spirituality, but fails to realize that his "message" is yet another brick in the mall.

On the cynical side, not my cynicism but the author's, after he has trashed every system of spiritual work, we find a card in the back of the book advertising Nadeen's workshops, of all things!

By the way, Federal prisons are known as "Club Fed" for a good reason--they are nothing compared with state prisons for bleakness and repression. Lots of high level money manipulators and gentleman drug offenders wind up in Club Fed. Federal institutions are known for their "camp" style and don't have cells with bars, etc. but are more like dormitories--some better, some worse. I found it hard to swallow the author's description of his digs as being something like the black hole of Calcutta.

The author was using a lot of Ecstasy; his writing displays some of the conditioned consciousness of that drug--an explosive sense of well-being which is satisfied and unquestioning; what will happen to his head when he comes down from the trip?

Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source

Average customer rating:

Bought this for my husband....
One of the funniest books I have ever read, but you need to know some history
Why didn't I bring this to work today? I need a laugh...
HYSTERICALLY FUNNY, French Surrender
Perhaps not quite as good as others are saying...

Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source
The Onion , Scott Dikkers , and Mike Loew
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Dispatches from the Tenth Circle: The Best of the Onion
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The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

ASIN: 0609804618
Release Date: 1999-03-23

Amazon.com

Every Wednesday, work at Amazon.com--along with just about every other company connected to the fantastical "information superhighway" invented by Vice President Al Gore and actress Hedy Lamarr--grinds to a halt as employees hasten to read the latest issue of The Onion, America's most popular newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin. But most of the paper's fans have started reading it only within the last few years, and are sadly unaware of The Onion's mighty journalistic legacy. To combat this cultural illiteracy, Editor in Chief Scott Dikkers and his writing staff have assembled this collection of great front pages from the last hundred years. Here is just a sampling of the headlines:

A New Century Dawns! McKinley Ushers in Bold New "Coal Age"

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Boasts: "No Man Can Stop Me"

AWESOME! Nation Wowed by Tremendous Hindenburg Explosion

Martin Luther King: "I Had a Really Weird Dream Last Night"

Clinton Denies Lewinsky Allegations: "We Did Not Have Sex, We Made Love," He Says

And those are just the headlines; the stories themselves are all masterpieces of the journalist's trade. Of course, readers with delicate sensibilities may find some of these accounts a bit too risqué, and perhaps even tasteless. (Among the potential offenders: Rosa Parks's decision to "screw this bus shit" and take a cab.) But if you're looking for an antidote to all the 20th-century hoopla promulgated by stuffed shirts like Peter Jennings and Harold Evans--not to mention the best history book since 1066 and All That--then Our Dumb Century is the one for you. --Ron Hogan

Book Description

The Onion has quickly become the world's most popular humor publication, misinforming half a million readers a week with one-of-a-kind social satire both in print (on newsstands nationwide) and online from its remote office in Madison, Wisconsin.

Witness the march of history as Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers and The Onion's award-winning writing staff present the twentieth century like you've never seen it before.

Customer Reviews:

Bought this for my husband...........2007-02-09

The bathroom reader.
He did enjoy this book. Especially the short entries.

One of the funniest books I have ever read, but you need to know some history.......2006-08-30

This book contains the funniest satire that I have ever read. The Onion is a fictitious newspaper that contains satire of the news rather than news. The first page is dated January 1, 1900 and the last page January 1, 2000. A great deal of knowledge of history is necessary to appreciate some of the stories. For example, the headlines for August, 1914 are

*) British Croquet Mallets Prove Useless at Front
*) Belgian Forces Halt German Advance Using Cream-Topped Waffles: Huns No Match for Delicious Regional Confection
*) Infectious Diseases Celebrate Opening of Panama Canal

If you are unaware that this was the month that World War I started, then the headlines and stories will make little sense to you.
Each headline is then followed by a short story that is also satirical and I laughed through most of them. No historical figure or event of the times is immune to the satirical wit of the writers. The main headline of October 29 is "Allen Funt Lets President in on Hilarious `Cuban Missile Crisis' Prank." Funt was the host of the "Candid Camera" television show of the sixties where people were filmed in situations that were not what they appeared to be.
This is one of the top five funniest books that I have ever read. Nearly every major event and personality of the twentieth century is lampooned in some way.

Why didn't I bring this to work today? I need a laugh..........2006-07-28

As I sit here going on my 10th hour of work (more accurately, I'm waiting for some people to perform their jobs so I can finish mine), I'm wondering why I don't just keep my copy of this book in my desk.

The Onion's acerbic wit and sarcastic humor never fail to raise a fit of laughter out of me, and to have several hundred pages of it in one convenient parcel is one of God's little gifts to mankind.

This book is worth the full cover price for one moment. The often-hilarious left-column bullets (this is newspaper speak, people) provide much of the humor, and one in particular is an instant classic. Writing of the death of Jerry Garcia, the clever and near-palindromic line "Head Dead-Head Dead" initiated instant bits of laughter from me, especially because I realize what many people do not: The Grateful Dead were never that good.

This book is kind of like watching the tripe "news" stories Geraldo files incessantly, if only Geraldo didn't believe that he'd someday win a Pulitzer or Nobel Prize.

Every page yields multiple high points and for anyone who has ever chuckled at so-called legitimate news, this book is a must-have.

HYSTERICALLY FUNNY, French Surrender.......2005-11-28

The first real laugh I had after the 9-11 attacks came from The Onion. I saw an article with the headline, "9-11 Hijackers Surprised To Find Selves in Hell."
Huh?
It looked like a real newspaper article, which is part of the joy of reading The Onion. There usually isn't one false note, from the look to the language.
But the interviews of the demons in Hell who react to the arrival of the 9-11 terrorists was the first real laugh I needed after that national tragedy. (One demon is quoted as saying, "They actually looked surprised to be here, which is kind of strange considering how they got here. They kept asking about a garden and 72 virgins.")

OUR DUMB CENTURY has many laugh-out-loud headlines, photos and stories, covering "history" from 1900 to 2000.
I've never read it cover to cover. I think the best way to read it is to just pick it up, open it, and start reading somewhere.

(p.s. re: French Surrender: throughout the entire book, the subtitle for every single war--no matter when or where--is "France Surrenders". Hilarious!)

Perhaps not quite as good as others are saying..........2005-10-26

But still pretty damn good. The changing typefaces, grammar ("iced-creams" in 1920!!!) and parodies of the styles of the times, were absolutely brilliant. Notice how the banner motto changes from "THe Most Reliable Source of News-Worthy Items in our Great Republic" in 1900, to "America's Finest News Source" in 1990, to "America's News Source" in 1998!
I also love how the printing quality goes from extremely blurry in 1900 to sharp in 1970 to laser-printer style in 1998. How they researched all this I don't know.

I think the funniest part is the parody newspaper from the mid 1700s - complete with bizzare spelling and references to how filthy life was in that era ("my neighbor's Wife hath the Small-Pox and wakes me with her conftant Screaming...")

Also, the benefit of hindsight allows brilliant skewering of myopic and racist attitudes of the time - like "The Machine - will it replace the Chinaman?" in the 1910s; or economists in 1929 saying "Buy Buy Buy! Stock Market Invincible!" before the stock market crash! And you've got to love how every trial from Fatty Arbuckle's to Michael Jackson's is called "Trial of the Century!"

If I have a problem with this publication, it's the high expectations I got from these reviews. But don't let that dissuade you! Buy Buy Buy!

Average customer rating:

Wholly depressing and utterly incomprehensible
Hard to put down
A Healing Book.
Sleepless in Seattle
The Scent of a Woman...

Peel My Love Like an Onion: A Novel
Ana Castillo
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 038549677X

Amazon.com

Ana Castillo's voice is one of self-confident, hypnotic melancholy. Peel My Love Like an Onion, her fifth book, often reads like a diary rather than a novel--full of dashed-off midnight eloquence but unformed. It's the story of Carmen Santos, a flamenco dancer whose right leg is shriveled from polio. Her family moved from Mexico to Chicago before she was born: "My first language was Spanish but I am not really Mexican. I guess I am Chicago-Mexican." Castillo sees the immigrant experience as a minefield of ironies. Carmen works at the Domino's in the airport as a way of being a productive American, thus gaining her father's respect. One morning on a "power walk" she realizes that the shoes she is wearing may have been made in a sweatshop by some distant relative from "somewhere... very foreign, like seaweed-and-black-fungus-in-French-Vietnamese-soup foreign."

As the book moves back and forth between Carmen's dreams of economic and emotional freedom and her erotic life (in which passion often feels as much like a trap as a release), Castillo's fluid style often lapses into carelessness. And there is a blurred quality to many of the images, like photographs taken from a moving car. Carmen's story is most engaging when she experiences isolated moments of independence: flamenco dancing, for instance, for the customers at a hair salon where she is working, dragging her bad leg around in front of the ladies under the hair dryers. The scene--a moment to relish--is almost heroic in its defiance of the exhausted world. --Emily White

Book Description

The seductive world of flamenco forms the backdrop for a classic tale of independence found, lost, and reclaimed. Like Bizet's legendary gypsy, Carmen "La Coja" (The Cripple) Santos is hilarious, passionate, triumphant, and mesmerizing. A renowned flamenco dancer in Chicago despite the legacy of childhood polio, Carmen has long enjoyed an affair with Agustín, the married director of her troupe--a romance that's now growing stale. When she begins a new, passionate liaison with Manolo, Agustín's grandson and a dancer of natural genius, an angry rivalry is sparked. Carmen finally makes her way back to happiness in this funny, fiery story that's equal parts soap opera, tragicomedy, and rhapsody.

Customer Reviews:

Wholly depressing and utterly incomprehensible.......2005-11-21

While there are many books that provide us with beautiful and harsh truths about our culture, this novel is not one of them. A chaotically written story that bounces around the life of the central character, combined with weak character development and far too many adjectives in every sentence, make this the worst book I have ever had the misfortune to read. The book is wholly depressing and utterly incomprehensible and Ana Castillo is the lazy man's Sandra Cisneros.

Hard to put down.......2005-08-15

Sandra Cisneros described it best in her review: this book is like a Chicana telenovela. Well, probably not the most melodramatic and tangled one, but a telenovela all the same. You have a crippled woman who rose above her disability to become a renowned flamenco dancer. You have her lover/mentor, a man who helped her get her bearings in the world of dance but runs around with other women--and runs back to his wife--but with whom she spends 17 years. You have the young, charismatic dancer who enthralls her--but who is the godson of her lover. You can probably guess how things can get so complicated, but you have to read this book to know that it's not merely about a love triangle.

A Healing Book........2004-03-16

My son gave me this book last year. Actually, he gave me the Spanish version, Carmen la Coja, which he picked up after spending a year in Spain and wanting to keep up with his Spanish. He is second generation madrileno growing up in New York. Our other connection with this book is that I suffered from polio as a child in Madrid. My parents moved to the United States when I recovered with my bout of illness in hopes of my getting better treatment here. This is not to review my life but Carmen la Coja's--brave, fierce and in touch (finally) with herself, with no advantages whatsoever. As I read, I asked myself, What would I have done if I had had such an insensitive mother as Carmen? What would I have done if I had no way to make my living but by my own wits and with the illness I personally knew and understood? Despite the many adjustments I had to make here in the States, I came to understand how fortunate I was all along. It is a courageous testimony to woman's strength. I am in the medical profession and I have recommended this book to many patients and colleagues. They have all thanked me for it later.

Sleepless in Seattle.......2004-03-16

Many years ago I remember reading an interview with Los Lobos, a group I have enjoyed for their diversity in music regardless of being labeled as a Chicano East L.A. Garage Band, where they were asked about their success with "La Bamba". They said they could have gone on recording pop hits cowtowing to the gringo public but have always enjoyed doing what they like to do best, playing music. Castillo's last novel came to mind with this recollection. She has never cowtowed to anyone but writes from the heart, from the gut. A truly complex and stylized writer. I have read her four novels, the first, The Mixquiahuala Letter was required reading when I was an undergrad. I read the rest on my own. All we went to know is when is she moving to Seattle so she can base one of her marvelous novels here!

The Scent of a Woman..........2004-03-16

I admit from the start, that sometimes as a man, I wonder what it would be like to be a beautiful woman--not the kind that Hollywood manufactures but the kind that moves her beauty from inside out. Reading this erotic, culturally and politically senstive made me imagine all these things and more. For instance, how it feels to be a man, truly loved by such a beautiful woman--complex, independent, ornery, gifted. My daughter gave me this book last year as a birthday gift. I was starting to play the guitar. It is a book about music, about timeless love set in modern times. Since reading this, I have purchased Castillo's earlier novels. They are all so different and all so fascinatingly different. I look forward to her next one.

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