The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard EditionBy J. K. Rowling
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Amazon.com Review The Tales of Beedle the Bard, Standard Edition
In December 2007, J.K. Rowling unveiled The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a very special book of five fairy tales illustrated by the bard herself, embellished with silver ornaments and mounted moonstones. Amazon was fortunate to come into possession of one of the original copies, and it was our privilege to share images and reviews of this incredible artifact. Now J.K. Rowling is giving millions of Harry Potter fans worldwide cause for celebration with a new edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, available December 4, 2008.
Offering the trademark wit and imagination familiar to Rowling's legions of readers--as well as Aesop's wisdom and the occasional darkness of the Brothers Grimm--each of these five tales reveals a lesson befitting children and parents alike: the strength gained with a trusted friendship, the redemptive power of love, and the true magic that exists in the hearts of all of us. Rowling's new introduction also comments on the personal lessons she has taken from the Tales, noting that the characters in Beedle's collection "take their fates into their own hands, rather than taking a prolonged nap or waiting for someone to return a lost shoe," and "that magic causes as much trouble as it cures."
But the true jewel of this new edition is the enlightening and comprehensive commentary (including extensive footnotes!) by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who brings his unique wizard's-eye perspective to the collection. Discovered "among the many papers which Dumbledore left in his will to the Hogwarts Archives," the venerable wizard's ruminations on the Tales allow today's readers to place them in the context of 16th century Muggle society, even allowing that "Beedle was somewhat out of step with his times in preaching a message of brotherly love for Muggles" during the era of witch hunts that would eventually drive the wizarding community into self-imposed exile. In fact, versions of the same stories told in wizarding households would shock many for their uncharitable treatment of their Muggle characters.
Professor Dumbledore also includes fascinating historical backstory, including tidbits such as the history and pursuit of magic wands, a brief comment on the Dark Arts and its practitioners, and the struggles with censorship that eventually led "a certain Beatrix Bloxam" to cleanse the Tales of "much of the darker themes that she found distasteful," forever altering the meaning of the stories for their Muggle audience. Dumbledore also allows us a glimpse of his personal relationship to the Tales, remarking that it was through "Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump" that "many of us [wizards] first discovered that magic could not bring back the dead."
Both a wise and delightful addition to the Harry Potter canon, this new translation of The Tales of Beedle the Bard is all that fans could hope for and more--and an essential volume for the libraries of Muggles, wizards, and witches, both young and old.
The Children's Voice Campaign The Tales of Beedle the Bard is published by The Children’s High Level Group (CHLG), registered charity number 1112575, a charity co-founded in 2005 by J.K. Rowling and Emma Nicholson MEP to make life better for vulnerable children.
All net proceeds from the sale will be donated to The Children's Voice campaign.
The Children's Voice campaign is run by CHLG. It campaigns for child rights across Europe, particularly in Eastern Europe where over a million children and teenagers are growing up in institutions, often in unacceptable conditions. In most cases they are without adequate human or emotional contact and stimulation, while many only just survive without life's basics such as adequate shelter and food.
CHLG's Children's Voice campaign helps around a quarter of a million children each year through education activities; outreach work in institutions; and a dedicated telephone and email help line.
Also Available: The Collector's Edition, Offered Exclusively by Amazon Amazon is thrilled to be the exclusive seller of the Collector's Edition of The Tales of Beedle the Bard featuring an exclusive reproduction of J.K. Rowling's handwritten introduction, 10 new illustrations, metalwork and clasp, replica gemstones, and tucked in its own case disguised as a wizarding textbook from the Hogwarts library. (Available in limited quantities)
Standard Edition Product Features: • All five fairy tales from the original The Tales of Beedle the Bard • A new introduction by J.K. Rowling • Illustrations reproduced from the original handcrafted book • Commentary on each of the tales by Professor Albus Dumbledore
Read this review and description in: Italian Korean Portuguese Russian Spanish [PDF]
Amazon Reviews the Original Handcrafted Edition of The Tales of Beedle the BardThe following is Amazon's original December 2007 review. Please note that the review and images below pertain to the handmade book purchased at auction:
There is no easy way to define the experience of seeing, holding, or reading J.K. Rowling's The Tales of Beedle the Bard, so let's just start with one word: "Whoa." The very fact of its existence (an artifact pulled straight out of a novel) is magical, not to mention the facts that only seven copies exist in all the world and each of the never-before-told tales is handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling herself (and it's quite clear from the first few pages that she has some skill as an artist). Rowling's handwriting is like the familiar scrawl of a favorite aunt--it's not hard to read, but it does require attention--allowing you to take it slow and savor the mystery of each next word.
So how do you review one of the most remarkable tomes you've ever had the pleasure of opening? You just turn each page and allow yourself to be swept away by each story. You soak up the simple tales that read like Aesop's fables and echo the themes of the series; you follow every dip and curve of Rowling's handwriting and revel in every detail that makes the book unique--a slight darkening of a letter here, a place where the writing nearly runs off the page there. You take all that and you try and bring it to life, knowing that you will never be able to do it justice. With that, let's dig in and begin at the beginning, shall we? --Daphne Durham

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The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel (Oprah Book Club #62)By David Wroblewski
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Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm—and into Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires—spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes—the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain—create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.

Book Description
Born mute, speaking only in sign, Edgar Sawtelle leads an idyllic life with his parents on their farm in remote northern Wisconsin. For generations, the Sawtelles have raised and trained a fictional breed of dog whose thoughtful companionship is epitomized by Almondine, Edgar's lifelong friend and ally. But with the unexpected return of Claude, Edgar's paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles' once peaceful home. When Edgar's father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm--and into Edgar's mother's affections.
Grief-stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father's death, but his plan backfires--spectacularly. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. But his need to face his father's murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.
David Wroblewski is a master storyteller, and his breathtaking scenes--the elemental north woods, the sweep of seasons, an iconic American barn, a fateful vision rendered in the falling rain--create a riveting family saga, a brilliant exploration of the limits of language, and a compulsively readable modern classic.
Double Life, with Dogs: An Amazon Exclusive Essay by David Wroblewski
We write the stories we wish we could read. There's no other reason to do it, to spend years pacing around your basement, mumbling, pecking at a keyboard, turning your back on a world that offers such a feast of delicious fruits. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle came about because some time ago I wished I could read a novel about a boy and his dog, one that integrated our contemporary knowledge of canine behavior, cognition, and origins with my experience of living with dogs; if possible, something flavored with the uncynical Midwestern sense of heart and purpose so familiar from my childhood (and something which, in truth, I've spent much my adult life being slightly ashamed of, as if either heart or purpose were embarrassing attributes for a grown-up to display). I'd recently come to know a good dog, maybe the best dog I'd ever met, and the subject of people and dogs and ethics and character suddenly seemed urgent. But when I went looking for such a story, I had to go back almost a hundred years, back to Jack London's Call of the Wild. That was a surprise. A little while after that, an idea for a story came to me--not the whole thing, but enough to start.
Continue Reading Double Life, With Dogs
Praise from Stephen King
"I flat-out loved The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, and spent twelve happy evenings immersed in the world David Wroblewski has created. As I neared the end, I kept finding excuses to put the book aside for a little, not because I didn't like it, but because I liked it too much; I didn't want it to end. Dog-lovers in particular will find themselves riveted by this story, because the canine world has never been explored with such imagination and emotional resonance. Yet in the end, this isn't a novel about dogs or heartland America--although it is a deeply American work of literature. It's a novel about the human heart, and the mysteries that live there, understood but impossible to articulate. Yet in the person of Edgar Sawtelle, a mute boy who takes three of his dogs on a brave and dangerous odyssey, Wroblewski does articulate them, and splendidly. I closed the book with that regret readers feel only after experiencing the best stories: It's over, you think, and I won't read another one this good for a long, long time.
In truth, there's never been a book quite like The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. I thought of Hamlet when I was reading it, and Watership Down, and The Night of the Hunter, and The Life of Pi--but halfway through, I put all comparisons aside and let it just be itself.
I'm pretty sure this book is going to be a bestseller, but unlike some, it deserves to be. It's also going to be the subject of a great many reading groups, and when the members take up Edgar, I think they will be apt to stick to the book and forget the neighborhood gossip.
Wonderful, mysterious, long and satisfying: readers who pick up this novel are going to enter a richer world. I envy them the trip. I don't re-read many books, because life is too short. I will be re-reading this one."
From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. A literary thriller with commercial legs, this stunning debut is bound to be a bestseller. In the backwoods of Wisconsin, the Sawtelle family—Gar, Trudy and their young son, Edgar—carry on the family business of breeding and training dogs. Edgar, born mute, has developed a special relationship and a unique means of communicating with Almondine, one of the Sawtelle dogs, a fictional breed distinguished by personality, temperament and the dogs' ability to intuit commands and to make decisions. Raising them is an arduous life, but a satisfying one for the family until Gar's brother, Claude, a mystifying mixture of charm and menace, arrives. When Gar unexpectedly dies, mute Edgar cannot summon help via the telephone. His guilt and grief give way to the realization that his father was murdered; here, the resemblance to Hamlet resonates. After another gut-wrenching tragedy, Edgar goes on the run, accompanied by three loyal dogs. His quest for safety and succor provides a classic coming-of-age story with an ironic twist. Sustained by a momentum that has the crushing inevitability of fate, the propulsive narrative will have readers sucked in all the way through the breathtaking final scenes. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From The New Yorker Set in rural nineteen-seventies Wisconsin, this loose retelling of Hamlet focusses on Edgar, a boy born mute and with a preternatural ability to commune with the dogs whose breeding and training is his family’s business. Idyllic routine is threatened when Edgar’s ne’er-do-well uncle comes to live with the family, and the menace persists even after his sudden departure. Soon afterward, Edgar’s father dies of an apparent aneurysm; Edgar becomes convinced, but can’t prove, that his uncle—who soon inserts himself back into the family—is to blame. In this début novel, Wroblewski illustrates the relationship between man and canine (at times, from the dog’s point of view) in a way that is both lyrical and unsentimental, and demonstrates an ability to create a coherent, captivating fictional world in which even supernatural elements feel entirely persuasive. Copyright ©2008

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The Shack

The ShackBy William P. Young
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Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever. In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant "The Shack" wrestles with the timeless question, "Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?" The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!
Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #1 in Books
Published on: 2008-07-01
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
256 pages
Editorial Reviews
From AudioFile Mac is a grief-stricken father in mid-life about to have an extraordinary experience with God. His great sadness began four years ago on a weekend camping trip, when his 6-year-old daughter, Missy, was murdered. What he couldn't know then, but is about to learn, was God's purpose for Missy's death. Roger Mueller's clear, gentle voice characterizes Mac's family with high-spirited joy and laughter. His portrayal of Missy's animated excitement makes her especially believable. His polished performance of grief-stricken Mac brings tears. With empathy and sensitivity, Mueller captures the mysterious voices of those who have invited him to the now abandoned, yet transformed, cabin in the wilderness. This compelling fantasy explores themes of love, loss, and blame. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Review "The Shack" is a one of a kind invitation to journey to the very heart of God. Through my tears and cheers, I have been indeed transformed by the tender mercy with which William Paul Young opened the veil that too often separated me from God and from myself. With every page, the complicated do's and don't that distort a relationship into a religion were washed away as I understood Father, Son and Holy Spirit for the first time in my life. --Patrick M. Roddy, ABC News Emmy Award winning producerFinally! A guy-meets-God Novel that has literary integrity and spiritual daring. "The Shack" cuts through the cliches of both religion and bad writing to reveal something compelling and beautiful about life's integral dance with the Divine. This story reads like a prayer--like the best kind of prayer, filled with sweat and wonder and transparency and surprise. When I read it, I felt like I was fellowshipping with God. If you read one work of fiction this year, let this be it. --Mike Morrell, zoecarnate.comWhen the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of "The Shack." This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" did for his. It's that good! --Eugene Peterson, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, B.C.
About the Author William P. Young was born a Canadian and raised among a stone-age tribe by his missionary parents in the highlands of what was New Guinea. He suffered great loss as a child and young adult, and now enjoys the 'wastefulness of grace' with his family in the Pacific Northwest.
Customer Reviews
Meet you at The Shack I highly recommend this book. We have a book study with ten women at our church, and all of us are enjoying The Shack. Two of the women met the author, William Paul Young, at a book signing. They were very impressed with him. I would suggest you read and discuss this book with someone so that you will understand why the book was written. It was the author's purpose to write this book for his family only, but it caught on like a wildfire! Imagine what it would be like to meet the Trinity (God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit) in the Shack! Read the book and experience it for yourself!
Great book about God I had a tough decision to make regarding how to treat another person. A friend recommend I read this book before making my decision. This book looks at life from God's point of view, dealing with many of the issues people face daily. I will be buying more copies as Christmas presents.
Ugh! A friend loaned me this book and I knew I was in trouble when all of the glowing reports came from people working in the Christian community and none from a book reviewer. I am a non-Christian so the theology discussions other reviewers are having is meaningless to me. I read a lot of books on a lot of different subjects and this one had poor writing, poor plot developement and a dreadful ending. The author should have left the thesaurus on the shelf and written an essay.

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Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)By Stephenie Meyer
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"Softly he brushed my cheek, then held my face between his marble hands. ''Be very still,'' he whispered, as if I wasn''t already frozen. Slowly, never moving his eyes from mine, he leaned toward me. Then abruptly, but very gently, he rested his cold cheek against the hollow at the base of my throat. " As Shakespeare knew, love burns high when thwarted by obstacles. In Twilight, an exquisite fantasy by Stephenie Meyer, readers discover a pair of lovers who are supremely star-crossed. Bella adores beautiful Edward, and he returns her love. But Edward is having a hard time controlling the blood lust she arouses in him, because--he''s a vampire. At any moment, the intensity of their passion could drive him to kill her, and he agonizes over the danger. But, Bella would rather be dead than part from Edward, so she risks her life to stay near him, and the novel burns with the erotic tension of their dangerous and necessarily chaste relationship.Meyer has achieved quite a feat by making this scenario completely human and believable. She begins with a familiar YA premise (the new kid in school), and lulls us into thinking this will be just another realistic young adult novel. Bella has come to the small town of Forks on the gloomy Olympic Peninsula to be with her father. At school, she wonders about a group of five remarkably beautiful teens, who sit together in the cafeteria but never eat. As she grows to know, and then love, Edward, she learns their secret. They are all rescued vampires, part of a family headed by saintly Carlisle, who has inspired them to renounce human prey. For Edward''s sake they welcome Bella, but when a roving group of tracker vampires fixates on her, the family is drawn into a desperate pursuit to protect the fragile human in their midst. The precision and delicacy of Meyer''s writing lifts this wonderful novel beyond the limitations of the horror genre to a place among the best of YA fiction. (Ages 12 and up)

Customer Reviews
expected more. i decided to read this book because there has been so much hype surrounding it. it was alright, nothing more nothing less. i think that i would enjoy the story a lot more if i understood why bella and edward were attracted to each other emotionally. she thinks he's hot and he wants her blood, but i just didn't feel anything else from them. why did they fall in love? i felt like i missed 5 chapters of build up or something cause they had a few conversations, he ignored her for a month, then all of a sudden they were in love. this book took me awhile to read because there was no real plot other than the love story until the last 100 pages or so. the end i enjoyed a lot more. i really liked the character james and the "action" part of the ending. i enjoy a good love story, but i just do not think this one was well written. there were too many cheesy lines and i just didn't feel their connection. i did enjoy jacob, he is a three dimensional character, and i really felt a spark between him and bella. i really liked bella's father charlie and the other cullens. i loved alice and jasper the most. carlisle was a great character too. i just wish there could have been more of the other cullens in the book and less descriptions of edward's beautiful face and body. i get it, he's hot. i am going to give 'new moon' a shot because i'm hoping that they story will get better. but if i don't enjoy, i'll just end my twilight experience there.
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The Best Vampire book Ever This was the best vampire book ever. It has everything romance, action. It is about a very normal looking girl who falls in love with a vampire Edward. Who loves her just as much. I couldn't put the books down. LOVE IT!

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Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)

Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)By Stephenie Meyer
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When you loved the one who was killing you, it left you no options. How could you run, how could you fight, when doing so would hurt that beloved one? If your life was all you had to give, how could you not give it? If it was someone you truly loved?To be irrevocably in love with a vampire is both fantasy and nightmare woven into a dangerously heightened reality for Bella Swan. Pulled in one direction by her intense passion for Edward Cullen, and in another by her profound connection to werewolf Jacob Black, a tumultuous year of temptation, loss, and strife have led her to the ultimate turning point. Her imminent choice to either join the dark but seductive world of immortals or to pursue a fully human life has become the thread from which the fates of two tribes hangs.Now that Bella has made her decision, a startling chain of unprecedented events is about to unfold with potentially devastating, and unfathomable, consequences. Just when the frayed strands of Bella's life-first discovered in Twilight, then scattered and torn in New Moon and Eclipse-seem ready to heal and knit together, could they be destroyed... forever?The astonishing, breathlessly anticipated conclusion to the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn illuminates the secrets and mysteries of this spellbinding romantic epic that has entranced millions.

Customer Reviews
I'd like the blue pill, please It would be better if this book didn't even exist. After I read halfway through it, I wanted to put it down and pretend like I'd never read any of it. There were some good parts and plot twists, but other parts are too strange and simply unsettling to let go. This was NOT a good way to end the series. It should've been like the seventh Harry Potter book, with a battle of good vs. evil at the end with a few casualties on the side. It wasn't. It was a cop-out. I don't regret buying the book simply because I liked the wolf parts, but everything from the middle on was unbearable. I went from being the Switzerland of the Jake-Edward debate to being fully pro-Edward and feeling sorry for Jake. Stephenie Meyer ruined him. It was like she didn't even write the last book. Good ideas were twisted and mutilated into stupid and happy-go-lucky crap. Sorry, fans of this book. If you like Twilight, buy this book used. Save yourself some money. It's worth reading and keeping as a collector's item, but I wanted to go back and mark out all the idiotic parts. That would include blacking out all but maybe twenty or thirty pages.
Much better than Eclipse... I like books 1 & 2, didn't like Eclipse too well. *** Spoilers*** I thought Meyer did an excellent job of tying up loose ends in Breaking Dawn. There are a few things that bothered me...I did not like Jake imprinting on the baby, although I saw it coming as the book progressed. Why not Leah?? Couldn't he just want to protect Nessie because she is half human, that half being from the woman he loved? I also hated the name Reneesme...please?! And i did feel some compassion for Rose.. For those that love the other books, I don't think you will be disappointed. If you were barely holding on with Eclipse, then some of what goes down in this installment will probably have you rolling your eyes..a LOT.
i love this book even though i just read the sample iloved it it is really hard for me to find books i like but i@lovedthis on and all my friends loved this book to

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The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of LifeBy Alice Schroeder
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Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world’s richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term “simple.”When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.

Customer Reviews
Best book on Mr. Buffet. This is by far the best biography available on Mr. Buffett. I sincerely recommend it to anyone looking to have a more profound understanding of Mr. Buffett and the evolution of his investment style and life, covering a time period back to his ancesters to this date. This book is not just reserved for business/investing oriented persons, but they should be encouraged to read it further. In my opinion, anyone can apply the lessons in the book to their own reality. In a "think it, learn it, do it" way of thinking, this book and all available info on Mr. Buffett, his mentors, transcripts,etc; covers the "learn it" part. The rest of course is up to you. As a final remark, I think that if investing is your business, happen to read this book thorughly and have done your homework by studiying the complete version of all his annual shareholders letters and reports (even the ones of the Graham-Newman partnership, Ben Graham himself, Charles Munger's mind set, Phil Fisher's approach and several other documents about "value-growth investing"), you belong to your game and for sure, you'll be pretty close to know Mr. Buffett's way of thinking when it comes to money making and life as well; and of course, you'll end up making profits.
The authorized biography This is not only the best book on Warren Buffett (there are over 30) it is one of the best biographies I've ever read. Some reviewers are complaining about the girth of the book and the lengthy stories that are major chapters of Buffett's life. I am a huge Buffett fan and the more info and insight I can get the better! Any true Buffett fan will appreciate the detail and full examination of different times in his life. What this book explains that "Buffett: Making of an American Capitalist" doesn't is the rational behind many Buffett investments, especially the ones early in his career. Buffett would find "cigar butts" and usually build a controlling interest. For example, he would look at companies like 21st Century Holding today (TCHC). It is a $35 million micro-cap selling at 30% of bookvalue that consists almost entirely of cash and bonds. It also has a 17% dividend. However, it will be overlook and undervalued because big investors, like Buffett today, have too much money to invest in these small companies. These stocks are where Buffett built his investment experience and he got 31% annual returns for his investment partners during the late 1950s and 1960s. Later, with the influence of Munger, he would invest in companies with competitive advantages, but still sold at prices that gave him a significant margin of safety (American Express, Washington Post, etc.). He even started paying "fair" prices for great companies like Coca-Cola that had great growth potential. In this book you will learn that Warren Buffett is one of the most selective investors in the world. He will not buy something unless the value is screaming at him. His discipline to spend most of his day reading a plethora of periodicals and financial reports is what made him successful early in his career. Buffett shows hard work, a good investment philosophy, and discipline pays off--big time.
A meandering snowball Simply put...the book needs an editor's pencil. There are too many twists and turns in the search for the real Warren Buffett.

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Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3)

Brisingr (Inheritance, Book 3)By Christopher Paolini :
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OATHS SWORN . . . loyalties tested . . . forces collide.Following the colossal battle against the Empire’s warriors on the Burning Plains, Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have narrowly escaped with their lives. Still there is more at hand for the Rider and his dragon, as Eragon finds himself bound by a tangle of promises he may not be able to keep.First is Eragon’s oath to his cousin Roran: to help rescue Roran’s beloved, Katrina, from King Galbatorix’s clutches. But Eragon owes his loyalty to others, too. The Varden are in desperate need of his talents and strength—as are the elves and dwarves. When unrest claims the rebels and danger strikes from every corner, Eragon must make choices— choices that take him across the Empire and beyond, choices that may lead to unimagined sacrifice.Eragon is the greatest hope to rid the land of tyranny. Can this once-simple farm boy unite the rebel forces and defeat the king?

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #2 in Books
Published on: 2008-09-20
Released on: 2008-09-20
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
784 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author Christopher Paolini’s abiding love of fantasy and science fiction inspired him to begin writing his debut novel, Eragon, when he graduated from high school at 15. He lives in Paradise Valley, Montana.
Customer Reviews
Not for children I loved this book, but this is not a children's book. As I read other reviews and people calling it a children's book, I am amazed. Yes, the story is fantasy, and a great concept for children, but there is way too much gory detail in these books. The opening of brisinger with the gory sacrifices to the Ra'zacs is not something I would want my child to hear. It would give them nightmares. The first book with the infant on the spear left a terrible image in my mind, and right then I quit reading the books to my kids and just read them myself. Once again,I love the books, but as a parent I want to warn other parents out there that these books are very bloody, and scary for children. Great for older teens and adults. NOT a children's book.
A huge disappointment If I had realized when I picked up this book that it wasn't the final installment, I wouldn't have bought it. I loved Paolini's first book, his second was a bore (but had a brief bright spot of action and conflict at the end), and this third installment was just as bad as the second. When I finished the final page of book three only to find out I have to wait for a book four to discover how it ends, I was extremely annoyed. In his acknowledgments, Paolini says he expanded the series to four books because Brisngr ended up being more complex than he expected. The truth is, he just needed a good editor. The story isn't as much complex as it is BORING. The author provides thousands of utterly useless facts, conversations, and actions. At one point in the book he points out that one of the characters is long winded. Unfortunately, it's true of the author himself. This could easily have been the final book (and should have been). The story does have a few, brief bright spots when the action heats up. And the author has some creative ideas. But there are only about 150 pages of worthwhile reading and they do not make up for the other 600 pages of drivel. If the author had used the other 600 pages to actually tell the story, then this book could have wrapped up the series. I feel like I've been cheated. I won't be buying the fourth book and I can't recommend this one.
A good read and a great installment in the series. I love the "Eragon" Series and am really satisfied with this installment. It has plenty of twist and turns and more than enough action. I suggest this book along with "Eldest" and "Eragon" However good this book is I do suggest you read the aforementioned books first in order to fallow the story properly.

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