Beginning PHP4 (Programmer to Programmer)

Amazon.com

Beginning PHP4 offers an almost ideal introductory tutorial to one of today's hotter scripting languages. This book really is everything that the novice needs to start building dynamic Web sites that are powered by PHP4, but old hands at programming also will find in it valuable information.

PHP, of course, is introduced in the book, but there's also an approachable and effective introduction to programming in general. The conscientious tutorial on basic concepts like variables, keywords, and flow control will give even beginners an understanding of the basics of writing programs. PHP, it turns out, is not only a great way to generate HTML dynamically, but a very marketable skill. Web fundamentals like HTTP, HTML form variables, and managing session information using no less than four different techniques are explained thoroughly and effectively. You also find out how to install PHP and other tools on your system, with the assistance of plenty of screen shots.

That's not to say that this book will cramp the style of more experienced developers. Some chapters delve into such important and advanced topics as database programming (with MySQL) and PHP's support for XML. One standout section demystifies the new support for objects and classes in PHP4. Basic topics like managing files and directories on the server, plus graphics processing, are addressed, of course, and a nifty sample program shows you how to build a Web-based text editor. Except for the final case study--a "URL directory manager" (akin to Yahoo!) that's rather specialized--the examples are right on, and illustrate everyday programming tasks. You'll learn also how to generate e-mail with PHP--certainly a valuable skill to have.

The appendix lists several hundred PHP functions in over 50 pages--a handy and useful feature. In all, Beginning PHP4 provides a strong choice for learning about one of today's most powerful and easy-to-use scripting languages; it's concise, fast moving, and thoroughly approachable. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

Introduction to PHP 4
Downloading and installing PHP
Basics of HTTP and Web pages
PHP as a scripting language
PHP data types
Constants and conversions
HTML primer
Form variables
Decision making in PHP
Loops and arrays
PHP functions
Error handling in PHP
Tips on writing more maintainable code
Debugging hints
Preserving state with hidden form variables

Query strings
Cookies and PHP4 native sessions
Using PHP objects
File and directory functions
PHP database programming
Installing and using MySQL
Tutorial for SQL syntax
Querying and updating records
XML "quickstart" for PHP users
Creating e-mail and electronic newsletters
PHP graphics processing (including image maps)
Case study for a URL directory manager
ODBC tutorial
PHP4 function reference

Book Description

What is this book about?

PHP is a rapidly growing web technology which enables web designers to build dynamic, interactive web applications, incorporating information from a host of databases, and including features such as e-mail integration and dynamically generated images. PHP4 added tons of features to make web application development even easier, and this book will show you how to make the most of the language's powerful capabilities.

This book is a complete tutorial in PHP's language features and functionality, beginning with the basics and building up to the design and construction of complex data-driven websites. Fully working examples in the book include a directory-style web search engine, a mailing list management system, a web-based file editor, and a graphical online shopping mall guidebook.

What does this book cover?

Here are just a few of the things you'll find covered in this book:

Complete tutorial in the PHP language
Installation guide and troubleshooting tips
Introduction to relational databases and MySQL
Practical worked examples throughout, including a detailed case study
All code written for both Windows and UNIX systems
Detailed language reference included

Who is this book for?

Anybody who knows HTML can use this book. If you've done any programming, that will be useful, but it's not a requirement. You can run all of the code on either a Windows or UNIX (e.g., Linux) system, and the book explains how to set up a web server and database in both of these environments.

Customer Reviews:

I went from Zero to Expert and this book was a big help.......2004-06-22

I like this book and highly recommend it. It is good for people who are new to PHP but not so good for people who are new to programming. I've done a lot of programming in other languages and needed to learn PHP in a big hurry for a project that I was about to take on. This book got me up to speed fast. I'm inclined to think that a lot of the negative reviews are from people without any programming background. I agree this book is not the right place to start if you are a non-programmer. I've also done a fair amount of html prior to reading this book, I found that it's html section and php techniques for generating forms was really excellent, I learned some really great things!

As far as depth goes, such as discussing details of the functions. Well, that's what the php manual is for (www.php.net). Initially I tried to learn the language from the php manual alone but didn't get very far, I couldn't see the forest because the trees were in the way, eg too much detail without a big picture. What this book does is to focus on the big picture of how and why to do something. It also shows multiple approachs to the same problem and compares them so that you get an idea of the alternatives and trade-offs.

Starting from not knowing php to writing some very sophisticated programs... I learned it all with two books and the manual. The other book that I read is PHP Developers Cookbook. The two books are very complimentary, there is not that much overlap between them instead they fill each others gaps. Note that the "Cookbook" is more advanced and assumes that you already know a lot of php.

Okay, the one big gripe that I have is their lack of proof reading. They must have really rushed this to press. There are literally hundreds of errors and the errata sheet is incomplete. However it is easy to get past the errors as long as you don't make the assumption that the text is always correct. In other words, if something doesn't make sense then you should be suspicious of an error instead of always assuming that it's your lack of understanding.

The necessity of Rewriting the code examples is a little annoying, but the book can hardly be faulted for language changes that were made after the book was published. PHP is a rapidly moving target, no book will ever be current for very long. And besides, the best way to understand a program is to take it apart and rewrite it, that's why they are called "Examples". (most of the changes needed are trivial).

Mostly what you need to do is to change $varname to $_REQUEST['varname']

and that will fix it. If you are having trouble finding the correct variable then use

phpinfo();

to get a list of all of the available variables, then you just pick what you need from the list and put a $ in front of it.
(...)By the way, the code examples can be downloaded from their website which can save a lot of typing...

It Gets The Job Done, But It's Nothing Special.......2004-05-26

If you've been programming for a while, the pace of this book is too slow to read cover to cover. The best thing to do is read the first half of the book (through chapter 9) and then skip around to what interests you. As others have mentioned, you will have to modify the code in the examples to get them to work because of the use of globals. This is not impossible to overcome if you write the message board for the book at http://p2p.wrox.com. However, it is annoying. There are other errors too, but it doesn't take much in the way of trial and error to get around them. The three chapters on MySQL are the most useful. If you've worked with databases in other scripting languages, e.g. Perl, Python, or Ruby, it's simply a matter of looking up what you want to do. There are some good style examples on structuring PHP code - use of an "$action" variable to drive the behavior of the site from a single page. The book also stresses putting reusable code in include files. The author dismisses classes/objects as not really being useful in PHP, but the use of classes elimates the need for the "global" declarations in many of the common include files. All in all, this is an adequate book, but noting profound. If you have programming experience, this book will get you up and running quickly.

Warning: error in most code.......2004-04-19

This book is very well written, but you should know that the code in the book is written with "register_globals" turned on in the php engine. This makes the code insecure and should be turn off. You have to alter to make it work.

Look at the errata for more info: http://www.wrox.com/books/errata/0764543644_errata.shtml

Dissapointingly inconsistent book.......2003-12-02

This book was an alright general introduction to PHP4 let down by a great number of inconsistencies between authors. They didn't introduce functions adequately in the latter parts of the book, for example in chapter 10 they start using new functions without any explanation of what they do or their usage, and the different authors didn't collaborate sufficiently as they use different ways of writing the same commands without any explanation (e.g. the echo "" and echo("") statements) and they also contradicted each other, for example again in chapter 10 the author uses typecasting while in a previous chapter we had been told this was unnecessary, and again no explanation is given as to why the author did this.

The examples are also very tedious and in some places extremely repetitive (chapter 10 repeats the same example ten times with very little change).

Overall a great dissapointment and it is also out of date as new PHP security means most examples will not work without changing to a weaker security setting.

Not recommended, there must be more consistent books about for PHP.

Dissapointingly inconsistent book.......2003-12-02

The book is out of date as it covers PHP4 before security changes were made. It is also very inconsistant later on, as the various authors seem to believe in very different conventions, for example early on they claim type casting is unnecessary, then in Ch. 10 they use it loads - without any explanation, also in Ch. 10 they start introducing new functions without any explanation of how they work or even what they do (they explain some but not others) and the examples are really tedious due to similarity in some parts. The different authors also type the same commands differently (e.g echo ""; and echo(""); - again without explanation, and they obviously didn't collaborate enough to ensure consistency.

Book Description

This book assumes that the reader has read Beginning PHP 4 and he does not have much of a clue about databases (almost Zero Database Quotient). So this book should be able to teach the reader how to build robust database driven PHP web applications. Further, this book is kind of a 'getting-the reader-ready' for PHP5 which will have strong OO and PEAR DB focus. So we teach the Beginning PHP DB developer the best practices to be adopted when getting into active development.

After reading the book, developers will be fluent in database systems and how to take advantage of them in PHP applications.

Customer Reviews:

It really helped!!.......2003-01-19

Do not wish to use too many words. I can just say that this book was of great help to me. Though dabbling with PHP, I learnt a lot from the book, since it has dealt with lot of basic knowledge of databases. Was just the right one for a student like me who had very little knowledge of the databases. Kudos to the authors!!

Great book for newbies!!.......2002-11-13

I just got a copy of this book last week, and this was exactly the content that i was in search of - Getting upto speed with PHP and databases, to build robust database driven web applications.
Infact, this book manages to provide solutions to the large number of problems that newbie PHP programmers post on sites like phpbeginners.com,php.net and phpbuilder.
The approach to presenting a database agnostic solution, through the use of the most recommended PEAR::DB abstraction layer (i even found documentation about PEAR::DB, that i had spent ages figuring out for myself) sets this book in a class of its own.
The typos and grammar stand out at places, but who cares when you have gotten what you wanted.
I highly recommend this book to the BEGINNING/NEWBIE PHP Programmer.

Great!.......2002-11-07

This book aims to teach the skills necessary to develop any size web application with PHP, backed by a database. They start off with the now de facto PHP introduction and then jump head first into database fundamentals. Nearly half of this book is devoted to teaching database layout, design, and use. This is long over due in the PHP community. Too many PHP developers are creating database enabled applications that have absolutely no prior experience with databases! This book covers everything from elementary topics, such as table creation, selects, inserts, and deletes, to advanced database usage with joins, stored procedures, triggers, and cursors. While they did cover indexing, I feel that it was a bit lacking and could have used a more in depth exploration.

One pleasant surprise was that no one particular database is favored; in fact use of the database abstraction layer in PEAR is encouraged for code portability. I am encouraged by the use of PEAR in this book, as it can only help to bring the community together in its use and promote PEAR as a standard of sorts. The PEAR database abstraction layer is picked apart so that you may understand exactly how it works and be that much more efficient with using it.

At the end of this book, it offers two chapters dedicated to designing and implementing applications using a native XML database. The first of the two chapters concentrates on the fundamentals of native XML databases; what they are and how they work. The second chapter then presents a case study using Xindice.

I found this book to be very thorough and well put together. Cheers to Wrox for another fine book!

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Beginning PHP4

Manufacturer: FROMMERS (TWLD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

PHP | Programming | Web Development | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000GY550K

Book Description

This is the only book that describes the activities and duties of the financial officer or controller's job according to accepted industry standards, as set by the Financial Executive's Institute. This massive reference all the key responsibilities, including:

** banking and financial arrangements ** credit and collections ** mergers and acquisitions ** cash forecasting and long-term borrowing ** controlling the data processing system ** records retention, operational audits...and more

The book also supplies over 100 working tools -- checklists, forms, procedures, and report forms that help streamline the treasurer's or controller's job.

Customer Reviews:

Substance over form.......2001-12-07

I don't understand the reviewer who complained about the typewritten appearance of some forms in here. I care a lot more about thoroughness and accuracy than appearance. I used the first editions of this work with great success, so I immediately got this updated version.

This book covers e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g -- truly helpful for handling all that practical day-to-day stuff they didn't cover realistically in business school.

Disappointment.......2001-11-23

I am a CPA and Corporate Controller of a mid-size company and I was really disappointed with this book, I thought it would be a lot more thorough, accurate and detail oriented then it actually was. Instead, the majority of the book's illustrations seem to be over 20 years old, appear to be hand-typed, and I doubt accurate anymore in today's modern world. Some chapters consist of general remarks instead of a thourough and accurate description of the issue, background, and the solution. This book is probably helpful for a CEO or COO that would like to get an understanding of the financial environment of his company or for a new Controller that just started his career.

Company Finance.......2001-09-03

This books explains in detail what a controller does besides "maintains the financials" and tells people no. I used this book working with a small company. I had to invent the position on a daily basis. Very helpful were the forms and job descriptions. How to set up an accounting calendar? here is an example. What are some pitfalls of the job? risk management? more explinations. I wrote checks daily, that changed with knowledge from this book. Excellent checklist to establish outside relations, with whom and why.
As controller for a much larger company the principles remained the same. In my exp. few people really know what a controller does. The CFO (30 yrs +) didn't have a job description for me. Again the postion had to be invented and this book was invaulable. I never knew that the org chart was a controller function, after reading this book, it makes perfect sense. I would not take a controller position, in any company, without this book in my office.

A Mentor at your fingertips.......2001-01-20

This book has been a significant "advisor" to me in establishing practical policies and procedures for the small corporation for which I am a CFO. I recommend this book highly to everyone working in any financial function in any size company as it will enhance your understanding of the financial processes for yourself and your colleagues. I believe that it will help the reader with better compliance in all areas that will ultimately increase shareholder value.

Treasurer's and Contoller's Desk Book.......2000-04-06

As a new controller that is basically needing to create the job as I go along, I am finding this book to be very helpful. It contains practical information that applies specificallly to the controller's position that is is difficult to find in other sources. One example of this is the information on a records retention policy. I wasn't able to find any information elsewhere. This book not only provided me with information, but also told me where to look for more information. Reading this book is like having a mentor available to me.

Controller's and Treasurer's Desk Reference

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Controller's and Treasurer's Desk Reference
Christopher R. Malburg
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Corporate Finance | Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

New Business Enterprises | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Discover Quick, Practical Solutions to Your Most Difficult Problems. Your work as a financial professional is never done. You will think you have one fire out, only to have it reignite the second you turn your back. Worse yet, time spent solving these problems is often disproportionate to the value of the solution received. You need a practical, easy-to-use reference that allows you to solve problems once and for all and return tot he valuable work of moving your company forward. Controller's and Treasurer's Desk Reference, CHristopher R. Malburg's user-friendly, quick access reference provides tactics to help you work better and faster. It includes steps to: streamline financial reporting; accelerate cash inflows and delay outflows; create a successful financial plan; design an efficient cash management system. You have never seen a book as practical, helpful and indispensable as Controller's and Treasurer's Desk Reference. Ready-to-copy worksheets and charts take you step-by-step through identifying and solving most any common problem you can identify. Make your workday smoother, and increase the value of your time spent at your desk, and order your own copy of this valuable book today!

Book Description

Contributions in the volume highlight the growth and changing contours of historiography with regard to the agrarian history of early India. The papers deal with aspects of rural settlements, the concept of village community, the problem of ownership of land, agrarian change, the structure of rural sociology and rural unrest.

Book Description

Hardbound. This book contains a compilation of papers presented during a satellite symposium to the 50th Annual Meeting of the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP), held in Zurich (Switzerland) in August 1999. The scientific programme was organised in association with the European Association of Animal Production Commission on Animal Physiology.

The papers included, present the latest advances in the field of pancreas development, of its secretions and of the role of these secretions in digestion and nutrient metabolism, with particular emphasis on domestic species used for animal production. Included are a variety of approaches to the biology of the pancreas, from the cellular aspects of pancreatic development and the mechanisms controlling its endocrine and exocrine secretions, including knowledge obtained in rodents, to the effect of pancreatic secretion on growth and performance in domestic species used for meat production.

In ge

Book Description

Given the established nature of geoscientific knowledge of the Kaapvaal craton compared to the Slave craton, and given the exciting new interdisciplinary results coming from the Kaapvaal Project and from Slave craton studies, scientists working on both cratons were brought together in a workshop to compare and contrast the nature of these two cratons. Of the 54 papers presented at the workshop, 24 are included in this volume.

There are clearly major similarities and differences between these two Archean cratons. The crust of both was predominantly formed in the Mesoarchean. Both contain crustal sections consisting of terranes of different ages welded together by Archean accretionary events. Both crustal sections are underlain by lithospheric mantle sections consisting of peridotites that experienced extensive partial melt extraction between 2.9 Ga and 3.2 Ga, but this is where the similarities between the cratons end. One of the most striking differences between the Slave and Kaapvaal cartons is the apparent seismic homogeneity of the Kaapvaal craton's SCLM whereas the Slave craton is seismically layered. The seismic layering in the centre of the craton correlates laterally and with depth with electrical layering and geochemical layering.

Taken together, these differences suggest that SCLM formation was different for the two cratons, implying that the search for a single causative formation process is bound to fail.

Reprinted from the journal Lithos Volume 71, numbers 2-4.

Book Description

This book is the definitive tutorial text and reference work on free electron lasers. Since the publication of the first edition in 1992 there has been a significant increase both in the number of free-electron lasers in use worldwide, and in the understanding of the various regimes for these devices. In order to maintain the position of this book as the most comprehensive and thorough reference and tutorial in the field, the authors have completely updated the book. In addition to updates and corrections to chapters in the first edition, new chapters have been added.

Amazon.com

Porno, Irvine Welsh's highly entertaining--though completely unnecessary--sequel to his cult classic, Trainspotting, reunites the gang as they pursue another big-payoff scheme. It's been 10 years since Mark Renton walked away with the cash from a drug sale perpetrated by himself and his mates, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson, Danny "Spud" Murphy, and Francis Begbie. The megalomaniacal Sick Boy has returned to Edinburgh, where stag film producer "Juice" Terry Lawson has given him the idea for a bold new scam: to locally produce a high-end adult film. Lawson introduces Sick Boy to the beautiful and egocentric Nikki Fuller-Smith, a student and aspiring star. Passivity and self-destructive tendencies have left well-meaning junkie Spud poor and alone, while time has only intensified the anger of the psychotic Begbie, who's fresh out of prison, back in Edinburgh, and obsessed with taking revenge on Renton. Sick Boy locates and persuades Renton, a successful club owner in Amsterdam, to help him steal money for his new production company. From the book's multiple points of view, it's soon clear that everyone's running their own scam, making conflicts--and long-awaited confrontations--inevitable.

Welsh's brutally honest prose and gallery of likeable ne'er-do-wells are in full display here, but the novel feels somewhat superfluous. Porno adds little insight into the characters or events of Trainspotting and fails to match its invention or sense of purpose. However, the author's obvious affection for these characters and dedication to authentically rendered dialogue and setting elevate Porno above mere slapdash reworking. As the novel builds momentum, Welsh wonderfully communicates the intense bravado driving his reckless characters. During such moments of vitality and humor, Porno is superficial but undeniably charming. --Ross Doll

Book Description

The Trainspotting lads are back...and in worse shape than ever.

In the last gasp of youth, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson is back in Edinburgh. He taps into one last great scam: directing and producing a porn film. To make it work, he needs bedfellows: the lovely Nikki Fuller-Smith, a student with ambition, ego, and troubles to rival his own; old pal Mark Renton; and a motley crew that includes the neighborhood's favorite ex-beverage salesman, "Juice" Terry.

In the world of Porno, however, even the cons are conned. Sick Boy and Renton jockey for top dog. The out-of-jail and in-for-revenge Begbie is on the loose. But it's the hapless, drug-addled Spud who may be spreading the most trouble.

Porno is a novel about the Trainspotting crew ten years further down the line: still scheming, still scamming, still fighting for the first-class seats as the train careens at high velocity with derailment looming around the next corner.

Customer Reviews:

These are real people - simply brilliant.......2007-05-10

Ditto to the all previous reviews.
Irvine Welsh is an extremely talented writer. He displays such finesse in putting several different personalities, mindsets and even gender to paper. I couldn't believe that it was one mind writing as the different characters.
The characters were tragically too real. The situations were tragically humorous and perverse. Just when you start to root for a character and think everything's going to be okay, something pulls him (or her) back down exposing that this is real life he's writing about here and not Pretty Woman.
Kudos to him.

Great Sequel.......2006-12-17

I found Irvine Welsh's Porno in a bookstore before I had ever heard a review or even learned of its existence. I'd only read Trainspotting, and was thrilled to discover that this book followed the same group of terrific characters--years later. Renton, Sickboy, Spud and Begbie return under a whole new set of circumstances. None of them are saints, but drugs are not the focus anymore. No, it's sex this time. The gang gets involved in making a porn film to hilarious outcome. Like Trainspotting before it, Porno goes with the first person perspective of several characters, divided by chapters. Welsh shows off his writing talents by making clear who we are reading in each chapter by the voice he uses for each of them. The book is laugh-out-loud funny, well drawn, and a true gift for fans of Trainspotting and the characters that inhabited it. Now if only they'd get Danny Boyle and the original cast to make this movie. Trainspotting made his and the actors' careers. Let's hope they realize that and give us a sequel on film. Great book. Synopsis available elsewhere.

this is not a waste of time.......2006-01-06

Irvine Welsh is one of the most brilliant writers I know, he has mannaged to create a sequell to "Trainspotting" which is not dissapointing as I expected it to be. in this book you get to know more about simon (sick boy), begbie and spud murphy from their one point of view , about severall characters who appear also in "Glue" ( Terry, rab birrell...) and to an interesting new female character (nikki).Welsh has an extraordinary talent of bringing his characters alive and making you feel as if they realy exist. the ending is just perfect. you must read this!

The boys (and one girl) are back in town........2005-11-20

"Porno" is a rambunctious, high-energy, coked-up and stressed-out sequel to the much bleaker (and much better) junkie opera "Trainspotting", a story of a gang of Scots trying to make ends meet- perpetual losers, screwups, abusers, junkies and sluts that they are- in despair-ridden urban Scotland. This time around, Welsh takes us on a globe-hopping trip through the bright-n'-happy streets of London to the decadent Red Light District in Amsterdam, all the way to a French film festival, letting these whacked-out sociopaths roam free in a guilt-free environment. This is one metaphor for the change in the book- gone is the heroin-addled pathos of "Trainspotting", "Porno" embraces a sillier, stranger tones with dollops of surreal humor and the same working-class Scottish dialect Welsh fans have come to know and love. There are still some moments of heartbreak and disgust, as with any Welsh novel, but ostensibly (as one reviewer described it) "Porno" is "Seinfeld" on hard drugs, let loose in the ghettoes of Scotland. Which might not be such a bad thing after all.

After a sizeable hiatus from his grime-ridden criminal roots, Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson returns to his hometown of Edinburgh to start up a pub. With business as slow as ever, and cocaine, ecstasy and birds taking up his every breathing moment, thus preventing our scheming hero from getting anything done, Sick Boy gets a flash of inspiration: make a porno film, build an empire and make tons of cash. Our sleazy chum starts recruiting nubile young stars for his film "Seven Holes for Seven Brothers", including fantastically endowed local drunk Juice Terry Lawson, student-type raver Rab Birrel and a pretty young thing named Nikki Fuller-Lawson, whom Simon strikes up an affair with. Sooner or later, however, problems arise when Mark Renton makes his way back onto the scene, with a cache full of the money he stole from Simon and his mates ten years prior. And yet, its Spud Murphy, that sweet-hearted, but essentially dimwitted smackhead, now an aspiring novelist, and the cold-blooded, sexually and verbally abusive sociopath Begbie, now fresh out of a prison sentence full of "poof's porn", that may be the ones to watch out for.

"Porno", like many other Welsh works, runs the gamut of emotions from sick humor to depraved desparation to keen political and social commentary- there's actually some rather witty satire on the status of labor unions, feminism and the adult film industry to be found here. Mostly though, it's a chance for Welsh to show off his well-honed skills in dialect and storytelling, including many riotous set pieces, not the least funny of which has a junked-out Spud desperately trying to fix a crying woman's dishwashing machine. And yet we find that sooner or later, these events dissolve into tragedy and sadness, as Mark Renton intends to make off with the money, Sick Boy uses and abuses those who work for him and Franco Begbie goes buck-wild with bloodthirsty, savage rage, personified in a chilling rape scene perpetrated on a street prostitute. All in all, "Porno" is about the friendship of that same old group of losers, propelling themselves with loving longing to the day that it would all go wrong, and ranting, raping and raving in the midst of the sick pleasure of it all. It may not be "Trainspotting", but it comes damn close.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooodddddd.......2005-07-07

If you loved trainspotting's ability to spin a good yarn and spill your mind at the same time, DEFINITELY buy this book.

The Main Point: The Life And Work of a Porno Film Maker (Boulevard Editions)

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The Main Point: The Life And Work of a Porno Film Maker (Boulevard Editions)
Bruno Phillips
Manufacturer: Erotic Print Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Genre Films | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Adult Fiction | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Pornography | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1904989217

Book Description

This is the fictional account of Berd Töst and his carreer as a porn-movie auteur is as colourful and strange as any in the history of pornography. When the subject came of age, the world was still in the grip of post-war austerity. Töst's extraordinary and original outlook was to influence the sexual revolution of the 1960s. He was one of the few people to make sense of his era's cultural and moral chaos. This erotic mock biography is the most fascinating exposé of the early porn industry and its players since Boogie Nights.

Average customer rating:

Expected more
Uneven but Worth Trying
Witty, stark, twisty, surreal

Salmonella Men on Planet Porno
Yasutaka Tsutsui
Manufacturer: Alma Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Japanese | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1846880165

Book Description

The folly of human desire is a central theme of all the author's stories. Most of his characters suffer awful fates as a result of their own foolishness, which usually takes the form of greed, desire or vanity. As such, we could posit the author as a Commentator on the Absurdity of Desire. His quirky imagination, his ability to construct new and striking realities, threaded with a dark-edged, menacing humour, make him a truly unique literary voice. He cites his influences as Darwin, Freud and the Marx Brothers, which in turn lead to a mixture of pathos, psychological insight and slapstick in his writing, shot through with Kafka-esque inventiveness.

Customer Reviews:

Expected more.......2007-08-04

I think this work might be better read in Japanese, I bought it while waiting for paprika to come out in theaters and was a little dissapointed. I highly recommend seeing paprika though, it is fantastic. There are some fun stories bit over all its a bit dry

Uneven but Worth Trying.......2007-06-11

Rather surprisingly, this collection represents the first appearance in English of the amazingly prolific Japanese author of some 30+ novels and 40+ short story collections. According to his web site, Tsutsu's major influences are Darwin, Freud, and the Marx Brothers -- all of which are well in evidence in the somewhat uneven mix of thirteen short stories.

The mix of surreal and slapstick can be exceedingly successful, such as "Rumors About Me," in which a typical salaryman wakes up one morning to discover he is the topic of a TV news report. As the week goes on, his daily life becomes the subject of a rapidly escalating wave of media hype, in a sly poke at shallow celebrity culture. Another fine story with a touch of cultural critique is "Commuter Army," in which a salesman for a Japanese weapons manufacturer is forced to go to the front lines of a decades-long border war between two fictional small Asian countries. The war has dragged on to the point where the army is trying to entice people to commute to the front on a daily basis and there's an especially funny scene in which the Japanese man is trying to catch the train to the front so he won't be late his first day. Easily the best story in the collection is "Hello, Hello, Hello", which features a mysterious customer service rep from a bank, who pops (literally) in and out of the life of a financially strapped couple, to dictate what they shouldn't buy. It's a hilarious and scathing attack on consumerism.

However the uneven nature of the collection is such that other stories with similar sensibilities are somewhat less successful. For example, in "The Dabba Dabba Tree," a houseplant/tree blurs the line between sexy dreams and reality, resulting in mounting social chaos. It's a somewhat funny conceit, but is never taken anywhere beyond the obvious. Another blah one is "The Very Edge of Happiness" in which an unhappily married couple attempt to head to the beach one weekend morning only to see their trip slowly morph into a surreal mimicry of lemming behavior. Here the social commentary is so obvious and overt that it reads like something from a freshman writing class. "The Last Smoker" is another rather clunky and unsubtle piece, taking the rise of the anti-smoking movement to it's extreme end, as smokers are beaten to death on the streets by mobs, and a lone writer survives as the titular character. "The World is Tilting" is an equally clunky tale, and it's hard to know if some of this might have seemed much sharper when it was originally written and published 25 years ago.

In the end, like most short story collections, there are some gems, some duds, and a lot in between. It's definitely worth checking out by anyone interested in modern Japanese fiction, and it definitely makes me curious to sample some of his other work, especially his novels. Kudos to Alma Books for giving the English-reading world a taste of Tsutsui, and it's worth mentioning that Andrew Driver's translation is exceedingly smooth and readable.

Witty, stark, twisty, surreal.......2007-05-19

I picked up this book after reading an article about literary trends in the new wave of Japanese magical realism authors. Unsure of what to expect, I was delighted to find that the author possesses both a sense of whimsy and a morbid sense of humor. I was occasionally reminded of O. Henry short stories -- there are similar "aha" moments regarding the bizarre fruits of blind desire and irrational drives. Still, it's often hard to see the twist coming, even when there is one. The first two stories are considerably more light than the rest of the collection, but the author's snappy characterization and witty turns of phrase keep even the depressing stories from collapsing under their own weight. I was delighted to come across such an unexpected gem, and am only sorry that there's not more of the author's work available in English.

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