I wish this book had been put together a long time ago. It's a very useful service to researchers. When doing research for my own book "Mr Jefferson's Academy, The Real Story Behind West Point" (now, "West Point"), I went through the books available on John Adams/Thomas Jefferson, but found I had to resort to the original documents. It took a massive amount of time. That's one of the reasons my book took several years to complete. This book could have saved a lot of time, and can do the same for any reader or researcher. It's not only comprehensive, but also, well written. If you're interested in an in-depth read on Thomas Jefferson, I recommend this book. (To get a closely packed distillation of Thomas Jefferson, my own book has a biographical chapter that has been distilled from what could easily have been hundreds of pages of opinion, interpretation, and speculation to 40 pages of facts. The rest of the book is gleaned from what he, himself, read!)

I agree with the reviewer who wrote the book about West Point who said this book is a service to researchers. Why it's a magnificent research tool. I'm using it copiously at this time for a scholarly work I'm on sabbatical to work on.

What a joy it is to read the correspondence between two of America's greatest founding fathers. Through this collection of letters we begin to get into the minds of men who created and shaped this nation. We read of their dreams, expectations and fears for this new nation as well as typical correspondence between friends. That is when they were talking to each other. When the two men weren't, Abigail continued to write Jefferson to try and heal the breach. My favorite letter is from John Adams to Jefferson to tell him to stop writing his wife. This is a book for anyone who loves the human side of history and enjoys getting to know the real people behind the legends. I first read it in college, and then spent ten years trying to find it again. Now that I have, it will never leave my bookshelf.

This book is by far the most concise yet informative and enlightening book on U.S. law I have seen so far.

While most other book require the reader to work through numerous cases, huge loads of legislative materials, or just endless prose, Professor Fine succinctly outlines the most relevant basic principles, legal institutions, and practical aspects of U.S. law. Whenever possible (which is almost always the case), she summarizes the information in charts, making it easy to understand and memorize without going through the ordeal of filtering little pertinent knowledge out of a vast continuous text. The books also takes account of the needs of everyday legal practice by focusing in large parts on procedural law.

I wish I knew about this book earlier. It would have saved me countless hours and would have made access to the U.S. legal system and to its practical application considerably easier.

For the purposes of foreign students, particularly those trained in a civil law jurisdiction and interested in gaining a first understanding or in filling their knowledge gaps of U.S. law, Professor Fine's book is truly unmatched by all other books I know.

BOOK COMMENTS

American Legal System: Most Valuable Navigator of American Law for Foreign Lawyers Liu Junhai "American Legal System: A Resource and Reference Guide", written by Prof. Toni M. Fine, is one of the most practical and concise guidebook for American and foreign lawyers, especially those civil law trained lawyers, who want to gain a clear picture of American legal system within short time. Prof. Fine finished this book not only on the basis of many years of teaching American legal system at prestigious NYU School of Law, but also on the basis of her over ten years of productive academic research in this field. As a Chinese lawyer, I personally have benefited greatly from reading this book. Therefore, I'd like to encourage other foreign lawyers to share the informative knowledge presented in this book.

It is true that you can find innumerable books on American legal system either in bookstores or libraries. However, most of the legal works focus on specific or even very narrow areas of law, so as to satisfy academic exploration requirements. And most commonly used approach for foreign lawyers to learn American legal system is to start from very detailed yet specific areas of law. Therefore, it is natural for readers of this sort of books take it for granted that, they have known American legal system. In fact, what they have learned is only a part of American legal system, not the American legal system as a whole. Almost every body knows exactly the story of Indian blind men, who touched deferent parts of the same elephant, and mistook elephant either as a wall, or as a big fan, etc. To avoid the stupid mistakes made by these poor blind men, Prof. Fine just worked out a very clear picture of American legal system in a condensed form. After reading this book, I found the orientation of American law without difficulties, and got very familiar with basic concepts of American jurisprudence, case law, statutes and legislative history, administrative and other executive law, civil litigation, appellate court review, basic legal citation form, preparation of interoffice memorandums, memorandums of law, and preparation of appellate briefs. In a sense, I'd like to call this book a navigator in the ocean of American law. Before I read this book, I had found no such sort of navigator.

In order to enable readers operate and use the navigator easily and pleasantly, Prof. Fine tried her best in developing this book in a coherent, yet active and enabling way. The designation of the hierarchy of the whole structure of this book, including the headlines and sub-headlines, is very clear, concise and logical. The author also tends to guide the readers have the sight seeing from farther too nearer. For instance, the author introduced the basic concepts of stare decisis, court hierarchy, jurisdiction, dual court system, primary versus secondary authority at the very beginning of this book, and developed them further in details when readers proceed on exploring. Reading this book, is just like exploring a well-designed building group. To keep readers excited instead of tired while reading, the author used over sixty live and narrative charts, and avoided boring legal language. Therefore, almost each and every foreign lawyer or business people with basic English language skills could understand this book very well.

When I introduced this book to my colleagues in China, almost all of them think it necessary to translate this book into Chinese, and publish it in Chinese, so as to make it available to hundreds of thousands Chinese law students, lawyers, legal scholars, business people and general public, who have strong interest in American law. I could not imagine that Chinese students do not have this book as an indispensable refrence book if they want to study American law in the future. Although this book can not replace other American law books in specific areas of law, other books could be understood better and deeper with the assistance of this book as a navigator. I believe it is also true with the counterparts in other countries, especially the civil law countries. Of course, American law school students and business school students having interest in studding American law are also the suitable beneficiaries of this book. It is no wonder why this book has been printed for three times sine it was published in 1997. I sincerely hope and believe this book will be published in more foreign languages, and enable more foreign lawyers use this navigator in skillful and experienced way when they explore American law for either academic purpose or business purpose.

(The reviewer is Arbitrator, Beijing Arbitration Commission; Associate professor & Deputy Director, Department of Business Law & Economic Law, Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Email: junhai@public.east.cn.net; liujunhai_2000@yahoo.com)

If not for my enormous gratitude, I might be angry at Toni Fine for writing American Legal Systems. She has written a book anyone who has taught during law school orientation could and would -- given an enormous amount of time, patience, and intelligence - write. I wish I had. But at least now I can exploit Professor Fine's efforts.

Before each school year's orientation, I have a plan. I start digging through the previous year's notebooks and files, hoping to bring some order to the photocopies and notes I use to introduce new law students to American court systems, common law analysis, the roles of the lawyer, and basic legal skills. As anyone who teaches first-year knows, all this information is essential to the effective assimilation of the first-year curriculum. Yet we provide our students with, at best, a few lectures brushing on these topics before dropping them into the depths of case analysis. At least, however, we give them these few lectures and the handouts we have spent our careers cobbling together. The problem is that there is so much, and anyone who has spent years studying and practicing law knows that all this doctrine is so fundamental to thinking like a lawyer that describing it is almost as difficult as describing how we walk or breathe.

Professor Fine has done exactly that: she has put together in slightly more than one hundred pages a thorough, clear, and intelligent account of the fundamentals of the way we lawyers walk and breathe. Nothing in this book is unfamiliar - it sets forth exactly what I want and expect every new law student to know as soon as possible about American legal institutions and the interrelationships between those institutions and legal authorities. Moreover, it covers these basics without degenerating into cliché or cant. Professor Fine has spent the time and effort to give a thorough and honest account of what novices to the American legal system need to know.

The truly impressive quality of the book, however, is that it gives this! account in a manner both readable enough to serve as an introduction during orientation and also thorough enough to be a reliable resource through the early years of a lawyer's practice. Certainly I know I would have wanted something like this book to turn to when I was struggling during my first weeks of law school with the basics of stare decisis, statutory analysis, and what all this stuff had to do with being a lawyer. Or when, as a first-year associate, I was sent off to "draft a motion," not having the faintest idea what a "motion" was, much less that what I was actually supposed to do was draft a memorandum of law in support of a motion.

Most importantly for my purposes, since I began teaching I have wanted a book like American Legal Systems to give to my first-year and international students. I always thought I would have to write it. Now all I have to do is have the university's book store order it. While I will not enjoy the benefits of having produced this invaluable resource, I will have the benefit of a few more free days every August.

I've alread read it once and now twice, hi-liting for more emphasis. I run a very successful graphic design business, and consider this book a #1 resource. I recommend it to everyone in the design and freelance field. From starting out with minimal resources to planning the future and long-term success. Excellent strategies in pricing, sales, and working with clients. . .good and bad!

I am not even half-way through this book and I already realize it is one of the best books I've bought in the last five years! As a web designer looking to start my own business I am just devouring the pages which are full of wisdom based on experience.

This would be a great resource for anybody who owns their own business, wants to start a business, or wants to start freelancing. It also applies across disciplines: graphic design, illustration, writing, photography, web design, multimedia, etc.

This is not a fluffy book. Every page is a great resource. I cannot say enough good things about it! Buy it now!

I bought this book shortly after I started out on my own in '99 doing web site development, working from my apartment. Over the last several years I grew my biz out of my apartment, moved to an office space, hired a full-time employee, hired an intern, and switched from a sole proprietorship to an S-Corporation. Cameron Foote's book is a resource I have turned to again and again and continue to use to work through the short- and long-term scenarios of owning and operating a small business. It's simply a terrific resource. If you have questions about anything from profitability to creating estimates to dealing with difficult clients to health insurance -- buy this book. If you are looking for nuts-and-bolts info on running a small business, I don't think you can go wrong with this purchase...

This is THE most inspirational book I have ever read! It makes you appreciate your life every day and feel guilty for whining about silly things that happen. It is such a positive outlook on what could have been a very sad and hard situation. Hats off to Mr. Roloff. God Bless You!

At one level, Against Tall Odds is about overcoming the challenges of being a little person in a world built and inhabited largely by average-sized people. At a more basic level, it is about being human and learning to live a full and productive life no matter who you are or where you start from.

Matt Roloff, a highly-successful software and services developer and part-time real estate entrepreneur, started from a place that's hard to imagine even after you read his own account. As a diastrophic dwarf, Roloff spent a significant part of his early life in San Francisco's Shriner's Hospital. There, well-intentioned but ultimately ineffectual doctors subjected him to a battery of excruciating medical procedures designed to "straighten, twist and lengthen different parts of [his] body," and hospital staff enforced a strict visitation policy that limited family visits to 2 hours per week. During the long days and nights that he lay immobilized in a body cast, Roloff stared at the white ceiling tiles and dreamed. Later on, those dreams became the mainspring of an active, intriguing and inspiring life that revolves around his wife, their four young children, and their Disneyesque 35-acre farm/home that is the creative expression of his fertile mind.

Roloff's progression from the baby the doctors were afraid to tell his parents about to an accomplished, multi-talented adult is a fascinating and touching story, told against the background of an amazing family; of siblings whose physical infirmities and will to live rival his own; and of parents whose faith, humor, strength of character and unselfish love instilled in their children the curious notion--so evident throughout this book--that life is to be relished, not endured.

Against Tall Odds is an engaging book for readers of all ages. It should be required reading for every middle school student and is definitely a must-read for anyone who has ever excused himself for anything on the grounds that life isn't fair.

If this book doesn't teach you how to see past your problems and realize "Hey, I'm alive, I should start living!", nothing will!

A truly inspiring story. Matt is truly different from the rest of us in one remarkable way; he dwells on life's highlights, and figures out how to make them brighter. It's an ability we all have, but it's amazing how infrequently most of us practice it.

Buy this book and remind yourself how to live life to it's fullest. Thank you Matt!

I approached the book with the fear that this was another apologetic attempt by a Muslim intellectual to ignore the realities of the Muslim World and focus only on the ideals of Islam. But I found Khan willing to discuss the underbelly of the Muslim World. In the last chapter of the book -- An American Muslim Perspective of the Muslim World -- he examines the authoritarian regimes of the Muslim World and the failure of Muslims to reform their societies from within.

In the first chapter, American Muslims, Khan admonishes American Muslims for living in America yet remaining focussed on "home" which is no more their home. His ideas about how American Muslims should live and interact in America are revolutionary and liberating. I hope Muslims in Britian would also read Khan's book.

I was also impressed with his willingness to challenge the current understanding of Islamic laws that undermine women's rights. His scathing commentary on America is a treat to read. Khan is a wonderful writer and writes with a puishing logic as well as biting sense of humor as well as irony.

A treat and must read.

A courageous book that points to political and social directions for the American Muslim community, arguing at the same time, for the compassionate interpretation of faith. Topics discussed include the following: achieving political unity among Muslims, bigotry against Islam, American foreign policy and American Muslims, shura and democracy, the September 11th attacks and much more. The book points out the needs of American Muslims that the majority population must address and finally conveys a message of interfaith tolerance and understanding for everyone to practice.

This book is a very important and timely contribution to Islamic thought. It not only advances a genuinely compassionate understanding of islam but also provides a scathing critique of the wide spread authortarianism and growing extremism in some small pockets of the Muslim world. The book is a combination of Islamic philosophy and political analysis. It seeks to reinterpret Islam based on a rational approach to the Quran while providing excellent analysis of the politics of Islamic activism in the West and the Muslim World.

Three chapters stand out and deserve special mention:

The chapter on Islam and Democracy is an outstanding discussion of the compatibility of Islam and Democracy and provides a constitutional theory of the Islamic state.

The chapter on American Muslims is a passionate attmept to guide the American Muslim community in amore liberal direction.

The seventh chapter deals with the agonizing experience of September 11th. This chapter provides an understanding as well as critique of the radical tendency among some Muslims. It contrasts this tendency with the compassionate and peaceful dimensions of Islam and then advances a framework for a dialogue of civilizations between Islam and the West.

As John Esposito, the famous scholar of Islam says, this is a must read for Muslims and Non-Muslims alike.

I pray the Muqtedar Khan is rewarded in this life and the next for his bold and reflective, compassionate and passionate work.

Afzalunnisa Begum
Duluth, MN.

I remember Della Reese from back when she was a regular on Chico on the Man. Actually, I must remember her from before then, because I remember as a teenager the horror and disgust I felt when she was on Merv Griffin or some talk show like that talking about the glass door she walked through and needing 800 stitches; I remember because not long after that, I nearly walked through a screen door myself. (Mother decided at that point that perhaps I should be tested for eyeglasses; it was discovered that I was badly nearsighted...but I digress.)

Anyway, I recommend this book to anyone who wants a concrete example of how God guides a person if you let Him...there is a tendency to take what a celebrity says with a grain of salt, because of the nature of the business where people willingly lie to promote themselves...I feel this woman speaks the truth as she knows it. This is the first biography I've read in a long time where I had a hard time putting it down. It's written in straight, no-nonsense language, Della's language, and I applaud the choice of co-writer because she did an excellent job of staying out of the book; unfortunately she's not given much credit other than a line or two in the acknowledgement...but as an amateur editor I know that sometimes you can be so caught up in grammar and political correctness that you lose the spirit of the piece...not so here.

I wish Ms. Reese would write another book...one that sort of puts these and instructs the rest of us on how we might be as strong as she is...one that puts her ministry in writing for the benefit of those of us who cannot come to LA and study with her at her church!

I was led to read this book about Della because my husband and mother always spoke of how Della sang in the Paradise club in Idelwild, Michigan. My mother-in-law spoke of knowing Daddy Braggs and I was curious about how she would relate to or even mention those days. Upon reading her book I find those were some very important times in her life. I have always had a great respect for Della but I was able to piece those stories together and really appreciate a truly great lady. She struggled as so many others who had gone on before her and she was able to over come innumerable odds to arrive at the pennacle of her great success. After reading her book I was able to look back at the Angels in my life and praise God for every one of them. God bless Della and continued success with Touched by an Angel.

Della Reese, one of the stars of the hit TV series, Touched By an Angel, has written a delightful and inspiring book about her life and how her "angels" helped along the way.

I thought this was a very inspirational book on her life and her work. It was interesting to read about how various people or "angels" entered her life at the right moment to help her along her journey of life.

It helped me to stop and think for a bit about my own life, and how various "angels" come along and help me pursue my dream.

This book is a must-read, not only for Ms. Reese's fans, but for anyone who is looking for a role model or inspriational person.

The book is very easy to read and can get the reader engrossed pretty quickly.

My 5 year-old daughter has hundreds of books, but only a select few sit on the "special shelf" in her room, and this is one of them. I bought it for her a couple of years ago, and it has been my favorite ever since. Everything about this book is beautiful.... the illustrations, the story, and the message. I simply cannot read through this book without crying...........the second to the last page does me in every time!! This book is a lovely reminder to enjoy and appreciate the simple things that surround all of us. If you are looking for a special book that your children will love and you will treasure, this is the one.........BUY THIS BOOK! If I had to pick only one of my daughter's books to save forever, this would be it.

THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE GIFT BOOK TO GIVE TO A FAMILY WHEN A SECOND CHILD IS BORN. I AM A BUYER FOR A SPECIALTY TOY STORE WITH A LARGE CHILDRENS BOOK DEPARTMENT. I HAVE INSISTED MY ENTIRE STAFF READ THIS BOOK. EVERY TIME A PERSON COMES TO SHOP FOR A BABY GIFT FOR A FAMILY WHO ALREADY HAS OTHER CHILDREN WE SELL THEM THIS BOOK. EVERY PERSON BUYS IT ONCE THEY READ IT. IT IS SO LOVING AND TOUCHING

Adults and children both will identify with this story. It is especially powerful for any 5 - 9 yr. old boy who is adjusting to the idea of having a new baby sister.

His big-brother role is defined in a delightful way which enhances his esteem and belongingness to the basic family. He becomes "protector" and "teacher" for his new sibling just as he has been protected and taught since his own birth.

The beautiful paintings, which must be "read" along with the words, are masterpieces.

Cameron has done something special for all FTMs. He has given us the hope and the realization that we can do it. We can look at those that went before us and know that we can become the person we are meant to be. This book is an inspiration, and it's so beautiful. I've looked at it so many times, and I never fail to feel the hope it brings to me.

This is a great, detailed look into the world of female to male transexuals, and the only book of its kind I have found.

I'm a minority. I am very much outside this book's intended audience, to say the least. I am a straight bio-male. And I can say without any homosexual tension, that Mr. Cameron you are built like a god.

The photos border on Arbus-esque but offer a more compassionate less spectacle treatment of the subjects. I guess that's a point well demontsrated when the phographer spends as much time in front of the camera as well as behind. You are more inclined to look at these unusual subjects with reverence not repulsion. The book overall is beautifully put toether. Sparse and poignantly so.

Now the "green with envy" part. Even if Cameron is 5'3", for me to stand next to him would be totally emasculating. There aren't a lot of "real" men out there who are willing to go out to the gym to look that ripped. I feel so flabby.

Dolores French speaks to the reader as if she was having a coversation with you - OF COURSE THIS IS NO TYPICAL conversation - she tells you in her upfront bawdy way about her life and the many truths she has learned by living this way. I knew nothing about sex work or hookers after reading this book I can consider myself well informed

This smart, witty, and courageous autobiography shatters the stereotypes that most people have of prostitutes. Contrary to popular opinion, the majority of American prostitutes are not abused, exploited, drug-addicted, pimp-controlled street whores with low self-esteem who have turned to sex work in desperation after a lifetime of poverty and violence. Nor is it true that prostitutes are significant transmitters of STDs or responsible for the spread of Aids. Dolores French is refreshingly candid, passionate, possesses a deep sense of justice, and genuinely enjoys what she does for a living (and how many people can honestly say that about their jobs?). While acknowledging that prostitution--like any other profession--isn't for everyone, she argues convincingly that women should be free to choose prostitution as a career without having to fear stigmatization, discrimination, police harassment, arrest, and incarceration for doing something that would be perfectly le! gal if they didn't have the audacity to charge for it. Like other sex workers' rights activists, she favors decriminalization rather than legalization.

"Working" is a perfect blend of engrossing autobiographical storytelling (Dolores has worked as an escort, in brothels, out of apartments, and on the street; she has worked in the U.S., the Carribbean, and in Europe--and she has plenty of fascinating tales to tell) and facts & stats about prostitution. This book is essential reading for anyone who's ever wanted to know what it's really like to work as a prostitute, and it should be required for individuals who are making and debating laws and policies pertaining to prostitution.

Amongs the best real-life accounts of the prostitution business I have read next to the excellent Sydney Biddle Barrows, 'Mayflower Madam'.

Delores French is an 'ordinary woman' with a zest for life, who chooses an extraordinary lifestyle.

Delores happens to be a woman who enjoys her job: entertaining men in numerous ways..from the conversational to the carnal.

She is independent, gutsy, quick-witted and terribly sensible.
Ms French also has a killer sense of humour.

She has been a professional prostitute in the USA and several other countries.

Because she is a bit of a bright-spark she takes the opportunity to explore all levels of the job...from high class courtesan to street walker.

When she susses out the workings of a scene she moves on to pastures green and adapts to her new surroundings.

Rivetting, amazing, shocking ...but highly educational too.
I learnt a hell of a lot from Dolores- THANK YOU BIG-TIME GIRL!

If you are not a prostitute you need to read it to get an insight into what men 'really' want; if you are a prostitute read it to discover how to be a better one.

If you've ever topped a drive off the first tee or missed a three-footer on 18 while trying record your career low round, you'll be able to identify with Charles Slack's golf game. When it comes to writing, though, he's scratch. One brief example will suffice. Describing the contrast between the front and back nines at the Ponce De Leon course in St. Augustine Florida, he says, "The back nine plunges into the jungle with the suddenness of a Disney ride, into a lush, dark, secretive world of mangrove swamps and ponds curving tantalizingly like lost lagoons. Moving from the ninght to the tenth holes is like putting down a volume of P.G. Wodehouse and picking up Heart of Darkness, all in one morning."

The book is filled with wonderful insights like that one and reminds us on nearly every page of the real reasons why golfers love this sometimes maddening, often magical, game. For those of us who never will have the pleasure of sharing a round with Charles Slack, this book is a delightful substitute.

Blue Fairways is thoroughly enjoyable. Slack's sense of humor, coupled with his self-deprecating writing style, make this a must read -- golfer or not. I laughed out loud and also cringed as he described some less-than-stellar golf moments. For those of us who do golf, who couldn't identify with The Look of Pity? Non-golfers will enjoy the way Slack captures what most of us will never have a chance to witness first hand -- the essence of what remains of small towns and hospitality as they teeter on the brink of chain restaurants and cynicism.

We should all be grateful to Barbara Slack for permitting her husband to take an extended leave from family to indulge in a golfing odyssey that starts at the top of Route 1 in northern Maine and finishes in the Florida keys. His gift for describing the pleasures and perils afforded by public courses and their denizens fills the pages with rich humor, colorful stories, and canny insights. Slack is the Everyman golfer, scattering too many 8's and an occasional birdie on scorecards wherever he goes, but never giving up on his hopeless quest to get one round below 80. His blackest throes and most transcendent exultations are so well expressed that they capture thoughtscapes that you will swear you have experienced after selected shots. His descriptions of the courses and the scenery that line Route 1 are vivid and engaging. In its modest way, this book is an apotheosis to the democratization of golf that marks the end of our century. Even as John Updike strides the luxurious fairways of his Myopia Hunt Club in relative seclusion, Slack introduces us to boisterous companions wandering among the dry divots of Dyker Beach, Cobb's Creek and Pohick Bay. A great holiday gift for the public golfer, and one that will make the country club member reconsider the humanity he may have forsaken when he entered Shangri-La.