TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow

Amazon.com

TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow provides moderately interesting browsing material, and will help clarify a few buzzwords if you've missed a few newspaper science pages during the past 10 years. Illustrated essays on genetic therapies, microscopic robots, virtual and augmented reality, and novel sources of energy fill this book. There's plenty of marketing material, too, covering everything from the Segway scooter to Boeing private jets. Some of it's exciting, some of it's old news, and some of it's just weird (like one remarkable picture of a guy wearing scuba gear while hanging by a sort of jockstrap inside a giant plastic bag filled with water). In any case, the information on products and technologies has to be taken on its own level (again, that of a newspaper's science page) and some readers may wish for coverage of the social and ethical ideas that will surely influence the future as much as any electric hat.

Scanning this book--you don't really read it; it's too much like a magazine and has too many authorial voices for that--reminds you of looking at Wired magazine four or five years ago. So many technologies, so casually explained! So many people designated "futurists" and "visionaries" by fawning article writers! Sure, having a television screen built into your clothing seems like a hassle, but... maybe there's money to be made! That's the experience you'll find here. Nostalgia can be fun. --David Wall

Topics covered: Problems (like global warming and overpopulation) and solutions (like telemedicine and environmentally benign energy generators) that look like they have a chance of affecting the course of mankind in the future.

Book Description

From medicine to the movies, from computers to the climate, change is everywhere around us, transforming the way we will live, work, play, and learn. We will likely experience as much change in the next three decades than we have in the two previous centuries.

In such a world, how do we make sense of our future, and our place within it?

TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow offers an exciting glimpse at the new trends and technologies that will shape our lives, our society and our planet in the next 15-20 years. Nearly one hundred topics are showcased, in a clearly written and visually arresting style that provides an overview of current and future developments, with timelines, statistics, and pointers to online resources. Deeply researched and beautifully designed, TechTV's Catalog of Tomorrow is more than a book: it's a tool for thinking about the future.

Numerous futurists, visionaries, and technology commentators have added their insights and visions of the future to the book, including:

Paul Saffo, leading futurist and director of the Institute for the Future, Howard Rheingold, technology visionary and author, Craig Venter, co-decoder of the human genome, Jef Raskin, designer of the original Macintosh computer, Christine Peterson, expert on nanotechnology and president of the Foresight Institute, Nathan Shedroff, leading digital media designer, Stefano Marzano, CEO of Philips Design, Richard Garriott, legendary video game designer, Clement Bezold, president of Alternative Futures, Douglas Rushkoff, cultural critic, commentator, and author, William McDonough, architect and environmental champion, Alex Marshall, urban planning theorist, journalist, and author, Martin Siegel, professor of education and informatics at Indiana University, John Arquilla, leading military theorist on the future of war, Maurice Strong, Senior Advisor to the United Nations and World Bank and organizer of the Rio Earth Summit, Rory Stears, CEO of Freeplay, pioneers in human-powered devices, Frank Drake, astrophysicist and chairman of the SETI Institute

This book is edited by Andrew Zolli, a futurist working at the intersection of technology, design, innovation, and futures research.

This book encourages your participation in thinking about the future -- and in shaping your own. It is a book to ponder, argue with, revisit often, and use as a platform for your own speculation. It helps you stay connected to the coming changes in your world, and serves as a gateway to a world of infinite possibilities. The future is in your hands literally.

TechTV is the cable television network for those excited by and curious about all things related to technology. By using technology as a backdrop to entertain, amaze, and engage viewers, TechTV is the lifestyle network that showcases how the latest trends, products, and events enhance our lives. Check your local television for TechTV.

Customer Reviews:

Quite a wonderful cursory overview..........2005-08-06

Granted, the articles do not go into belaboring details about each and every possible future development. But that is perfectly acceptable, as this is not designed to be a technical manual. In fact is's simply a speculative set of ideas of what might be coming based upon current trends. Granted it's generalist, and there is perhaps a bit of fluff.

But to go into any significant detail would have required significantly more effort/research, would have made the book about 5x as thick and jacked up the price majorly. As it is, it's inexpensive and a wonderful read. The articles are short enough to keep your attention, with enough details and related links/articles to give you more areas/ways to research if you're not satisfied by a particular insight or article.

Being a cyberpunk genre fan, and having wanted an in to the genre when I thought of writing, I actually bought this as something of a future tech reference book. Anyone who wanted inspiratino to write further speculative fiction could all but flip to a page and use one of the articles to base 2-3 stories off of.

Truly a remarkable book for what it is. I highly reccommend it. So long as you don't expect it to give you "step-by-step instructions on how to build a pocket-sized thermonuclear device" type material and detail, you probab;y won't be disappointed it's essentially a glossed over/abstracted down set of articles which are interesting and moderately informative.

Happy purchasing!

Chris Seibold MyMac.com Book Review.......2002-10-24

...The future, being what it is, is notoriously hard to predict. Ed Zolli realizes the inherent difficulty of predicting the future but still remains bold enough to edit together some well-informed guesses in "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow"...

"Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" has a well-ordered layout. First divided into very broad but related sections like "Our Tools" or "Our Society." The broad categories are winnowed down a bit to section titles like "Computing" or "Nanotechnology" followed finally by individual article with titles like "Broadband" and "Cyborgs." This makes the book easy to navigate and reference but saps some of the fun out of "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow". Since you always know exactly what's coming there's never one of those "Wow, look what I found" feeling you while thumbing through less organized futuristic looking tomes.

The real meat of the book is, of course, the individual articles. Each article is accompanied by a timeline for likely adoption of the topic at hand, two circles indicting relative risk and benefit, a color photograph or artists rendering and a few related links for those still curious after reading the article. It's visually pleasing format and very well laid out but the topics and prose are really what we're after. The topics for the articles run from utterly predictable "Gene Therapy" (already in use to a small extent) to the seemingly outlandish "Floating Cities"(a 4,500 foot boat). I prefer the more outlandish future predications but "Catalog of Tomorrow" keeps mostly to the rational. I suppose this is because the articles are well written and researched and not mere speculation that some authors are known to trot out. I would predict that "Catalog of Tomorrow" will probably fare better than average if reviewed for accuracy in a hundred years, still some groundless guessing would have been great for entertainment value.

No one book is going to make everyone happy and this was the case for me while reading "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow". It's not that I think it's a bad book, it's just not what I am used to when authors opine on the future...If you are partial to a more factual, logically sound bit of crystal gazing then "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" is for you.

Bottom Line: Nicely written, nicely illustrated, and even oversized. "Tech TV's Catalog of Tomorrow" is above average in every way.

MacMice Rating: 3 out of 5...

Looking ahead to a different and better future.......2002-10-13

While the advancement of computing technology gets most of the major headlines, there are an enormous number of other technical advances that will dramatically change our lives in the next decade. Some, like the development of extremely small machines, are major differences in kind from what we now have. However, many are simply the results of continued advances that have been proceeding at various speeds for decades. One example of this is the generation of electric power from wind. It was given a temporary boost in the late 70's as a consequence of what was then called the "energy crunch", but shortly after, fell out of favor. After two decades of low-velocity progress and rising utility rates, windmills are now economically viable alternatives to other types of power plants.
Both revolutionary and evolutionary advancements are covered in this book. I found some of the descriptions to be rather routine, but others were extremely interesting, really piquing my interests. A series of pointers to relevant web sites is included at the end of each section and I took advantage of many of them. The most fascinating of all the topics in the book is that of nanomachines, extremely small machines that can be programmed to repair or destroy things. While such machines could be a force for great achievement, they also pose a great danger and in fact may be the ultimate weapon of terror and blackmail. It is conceivable that nanomachines could be released into an area and activated by a coded message to destroy only selected people or structures.
None of the topics covered in this book was new to me, all appeared in the literature over a decade ago. Nevertheless, it was refreshing to read about them again and realize that, despite all of our problems and fears, we really are better off that we were a few decades ago. Technical progress continues at a rapid pace and offers us solutions to the difficulties that humans encounter and in some cases generate. It makes you optimistic about the future.

A dazzling dreambook!!.......2002-10-11

The book review from DingBat Magazine:
Here's a fab, futurist extravaganza-nearly 300 glossy illustrated pages of where we'll probably be tomorrow. The list of contributing visionaries is impressive (Howard Rheingold, Jef Raskin, Douglas Rushkoff, and others) and the illustrations superb. Just pop open the covers and you'll be sucked right into the vortex of spellbinding trends & cutting edges... like "Floating Cities" which includes plans for the "Freedom Ship" -a city on a boat a mile long, wide as two football fields, and high as a 25-story building! There's literally something for everyone here, with sections on cloning, biotech food, smart garments, digital paper, telemedicine, the future office, cryonics, biowarfare, deep sea exploration, and a whole lot more. It's more readable than WIRED and a lot more fun. A dazzling dreambook the whole family will enjoy.

Great Gift for Fathers.......2002-10-11

I loved this book. My father gave it to me and I'm fascinated. There are a lot of things in here that I had no idea about -- especially scientific developments that may have huge impacts on our society. The book makes its ideas very understandable, and I especially like that they provide links to places for more information. If my father hadn't given it to me, I would have given it to him.

Book Description

Presenting the most advanced thinking on the topic, this book covers the latest valuation models and techniques. It addresses essential topics such as the subtleties of fixed-income mathematics, new approaches to modeling term structures, and the applications of fixed-income valuation on credit risk, mortgages, munis, and indexed bonds.

Customer Reviews:

A good introduction.......2000-08-09

It's basically a collection of dumbed-down review articles on modern fixed income. There's not as much in here on option pricing as I would have wished, and if you consider yourself a reasonable technical person who's seen any fixed income trading before, it's not going to be that helpful to you.

It's a nice SUMMARY of the literature available for those who don't have the time to read it all first-hand. Since my primary interest is more towards equity exotics, the book was more than satisfactory for me. I'd say the target audience is non-fixed income exotics traders, quants without much background in fixed income, and academics.

The best article in the book is probably the one written by Das. He's one of my favorite authors and his chapter in this book is no exception.

My main complaint is that many portions of the book INSIST on using econometric models and pricing kernels rather than the DiffEq framework. For that reason, I like Paul Wilmott's presentaion of the math a little better. I find myself constantly referring back to "Derivatives" and translating what the guys in this book are trying to say.

As with most books in the field, it is also very poor at describing the implementation of the models presented.

Customer Reviews:

Discussions on Gun Prohibition.......2006-04-19

The 13 chapters and Appendix provide concise coverage on this topic. The right to keep and bear arms is a definition of democracy (Aristotle, Cicero, Machiavelli, James Madison). English Common Law regarded keeping arms as a human right. Against that human right were most despots and their apologists (Plato, Garry Wills). America's right to keep and bear arms goes back to the 17th century. The Bill of Rights was to guarantee the rights of the people against an oppressive state. Late in the 19th century as the corporate aristocracy gained power they sought to limit people's rights. First they attacked the "well-regulated militia" from 1877 to 1919. Then they started on "the right to keep and bear arms" from 1934 onwards. The militia was composed of all male citizens was replaced with a "select militia". This battle goes on today (Chapter I).

Chapter II discusses gun ownership. Many Americans today buy firearms from China or Russia because of their high-quality and lower cost than domestic products. Table 2.4 presents statistics from a polling organization. People in rural areas need firearms for hunting and vermin control. Overall, white males formed a majority. Chapter III summarizes firearms laws. The 1986 Gun Control Act made it legal to transport guns through jurisdictions (p.20). [Has the increase of gun laws gone in step with attacks on the economic well-being of citizens?] Since 1989 in Florida most states have passed a right-to-carry law. This reverses the gun banning from the WW I era. In the 18th and early 19th century people were required to own guns as part of militia duty. Chapter IV tells how the federal and state courts have handled "the right to bear arms". Does the Bill of Rights apply to the states (p.43)? Not always. Note how the judges will create a decision to back the politicians. Chapter V has many tables of figures relating guns to crime. "Many Americans believe they are safer at home" but 4 out of 10 murders were done by a family member or acquaintances. Children are safer in school than at home (pp.63-68).

Chapter VI covers the injuries and fatalities from firearms. Suicides account for half of the mortalities, homicides almost half. More than half of the deaths occur for those aged 15 to 54, next age 55 or older. Gun ownership correlates with wealth (white males), gun wounding correlates with poverty (black males). These economics are rarely mentioned. Victims mirror the perpetrators, by race and age. [Gun deaths seem to match the latitude, more in Galveston and Memphis, fewer in Seattle (p.82).] Gun use saves lives and prevents injuries; gun ownership prevents home invasions. There is a concerted effort to attack popular gun ownership disguised as a safety measure, but they do nothing to provide "good jobs at good wages" or less oppressive taxation. Hypocrisy or politics? Chapter VII discusses "Guns and Youths" and their social environment. The authors fail to mention the quality of the high schools involved. [There were no problems in high schools before the 1968 Gun Control Law.] They note that BB guns are not toys for children.

Chapter VIII starts with an example on how concealed guns work for self-protection. It reduces violent crime against persons, but increases crimes against property. The authors quote the discredited story of Kellermann and Reay (pp.105-108). Most suicides occur at home, most murders involve family and friends; your home isn't as safe as a shopping district however counter-intuitive this seems. [Popular entertainment often serves as propaganda for a point of view.] Look at the "public health researchers" for an example (p.111). Gun buy-backs result in increased homicides (p.113)! Chapter IX tells of Public Attitudes; "gun control" is low on the list (p.117). Public opinion polls exist to provide what the buyer wants (p.119). Questions are constructed to educe answers. Those against gun permits have more real-world knowledge and experience (manual workers, farmers, etc.) than those shielded (professional and clerical). Poll results vary according to the levels of propaganda (pp.123-127). Do you know who is paying for the poll results (p.129)?

Chapters X and XI provide short speeches for and against gun prohibition ("stricter gun laws"). You can read and compare. A knowledge of classical logic can help to spot the fallacies. Did banning "Saturday Night Specials" result in more crime for "lower income people" (p.142)? Chapter XII and XIII provide short speeches for and against banning the so-called "assault weapons". Can you detect the logical fallacies? Appeal to ignorance, appeal to emotion, appeal to authority (ipse dixit), etc. are all here. Did the "assault weapon ban" lead to a lower rate of suicides and murder, and a higher rate of prosperity and general welfare? Historically, "gun control" leads to oppression of the people, and is one sign of a republic that is becoming a tyranny.
(This is from the 1997 edition.)

student.......1999-04-20

this is really a good boo

student.......1999-04-20

this is really a good boo

GUN CONTROL: Restricting Rights or Protecting People? (Information Plus Reference Series)

Average customer rating:

Discussions on Gun Prohibition

GUN CONTROL: Restricting Rights or Protecting People? (Information Plus Reference Series)
Margaret Haerens
Manufacturer: Information Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0787690759

Customer Reviews:

Discussions on Gun Prohibition.......2006-04-19

Average customer rating:

Gun Control: Restricting Rights or Protecting People? (Information Plus Reference Series)
Sandra M. Alters
Manufacturer: Information Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil Law | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1414407556

Gun Control: Restricting Rights or Protecting People? (The Information Series on Current Topics)

Average customer rating:

i dont understand the question please rephrase it for someon

Gun Control: Restricting Rights or Protecting People? (The Information Series on Current Topics)

Manufacturer: Information Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1878623494

Customer Reviews:

i dont understand the question please rephrase it for someon.......1999-04-15

Hello my name is slim shady, as i walk through a valley i say no i dont want to scrub, dreamlover lift me up, and you bring me down , the more money we come across the mo problems we see!!

Information Plus (The Information Series on Current Topics): Gun Control, Restricting Rights or Protecting People?

Average customer rating:

Information Plus (The Information Series on Current Topics): Gun Control, Restricting Rights or Protecting People?

Manufacturer: Information Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Gun Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0936474882

Gun Control: Restricting Rights or Protecting People?

Average customer rating:

Gun Control: Restricting Rights or Protecting People?
Mark Siegal
Manufacturer: Information Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Gun Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1878623125

Book Description

Sound formulation is a vital aspect of microbial products used to protect plants from pests and diseases and to improve plant performance. Formulation of Microbial Biopesticides is an in-depth treatment of this vitally important subject. Written by experts and carefully edited, this important title brings together a huge wealth of information for the first time within the covers of one book.
The book is broadly divided into five sections, covering principles of formulation, organisms with peroral and contact modes of action, organisms with the power of search, and future trends. Each section contains comprehensive chapters written by internationally acknowledged experts in the areas covered; the book also includes three very useful appendices, cataloguing formulation additives, spray application criteria and terminology.
This outstanding book is a vitally important reference work for anyone involved in the formulation of microbial biopesticides and should find a place on the shelves of agriculture and plant scientists, microbiologists and entomologists working in academic and commercial agrochemical situations, and in the libraries of all research establishments and companies where this exciting subject is researched, studied or taught.

Book Description

"Double Fertilization" provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of this central event in the reproduction and development of flowering plants. Written by Val Raghavan, The Ohio State University, an acknowledged expert in plant developmental biology, the book vividly describes the molecular and cellular steps of the unique and complex fertilization process that culminates in the formation of embryo and endosperm, focusing on the latest results from the model plant Arabidopsis. The text is complemented by excellent illustrations, including 16 color plates.

Since embryo and endosperm constitute the edible parts of many seeds and grains widely used in human and animal nutrition, an understanding of the fertilization process has great relevance for genetic engineering aimed at improving the nutritional quality of crop plants. This book is ideally suited to researchers and graduate students seeking a coherent view of current perspectives on embryogenesis and endosperm development in flowering plants.

Book Description

Electromagnetic waves and their role in probing the earth are important for the exploration of the earth's deep crust. This book is not only for scientists in geophysics a useful source of information, but also for professionals in oil and gas exploration, geophysicists and engineers alike.

Electromagnetic Sounding Interpretation Data Over Three-Layer Earth (Ifi Data Base Library)

Average customer rating:

Electromagnetic Sounding Interpretation Data Over Three-Layer Earth (Ifi Data Base Library)
Rajni Verma
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Geophysics | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Prospecting & Mining | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior, Volume 40 (Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics)

Average customer rating:

Electromagnetic Sounding of the Earth's Interior, Volume 40 (Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics)

Manufacturer: Elsevier Science
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Geophysics | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Rivers | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Weather | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Outdoors & Nature | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Science | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0444529381

Book Description

Based on lectures given in the First Russian School-Seminar on electromagnetic soundings of the Earth held in Moscow on 15th November, 2003, this book acquaints scientists and technologists with the latest achievements in theory, techniques and practical applications of the methods of electromagnetic sounding. This three part text covers the methods considered for Earth electromagnetic sounding on a global, regional, and local scale; modern methods for solving forward and inverse problems of geoelectrics, particularily contemporary approaches to the EM data modeling and interpretation in the class of three-dimensional models; and the results of regional EM on-land and sea soundings

* Presents theoretical and methodological findings, as well as examples of applications of recently developed algorithms and software in solving practical problems
* Describes the practical importance of electromagnetic data through enabling discussions on a construction of a closed technological cycle, processing, analysis and three-dimensional interpretation
* Updates current findings in the field, especially with MT, magnetovariational and seismo-electriccal methods and the practice of 3D interpretaions

Master Tables for Electromagnetic Depth Sounding Interpretation (IFI data base library)

Average customer rating:

Master Tables for Electromagnetic Depth Sounding Interpretation (IFI data base library)
Rajni K. Verma
Manufacturer: Ifi/Plenum Data Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Advanced Theory of Deep Geomagnetic Sounding (Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics)

Average customer rating:

Advanced Theory of Deep Geomagnetic Sounding (Methods in Geochemistry and Geophysics)
Mark Naumovich Berdichevsky
Manufacturer: Elsevier Science Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Geophysics | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

An assessment of the ground-water resources of Kaho'olawe, Hawai'i using transient electromagnetic and Schlumberger soundings (SuDoc I 19.76:89-468)

Average customer rating:

An assessment of the ground-water resources of Kaho'olawe, Hawai'i using transient electromagnetic and Schlumberger soundings (SuDoc I 19.76:89-468)
James P. Kauahikaua
Manufacturer: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey [Books and Open-File Reports Section, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Water Supply & Land Use | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000103KX8

Audio-magnetotelluric geoelectric soundings in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (SuDoc I 19.76:95-239)

Average customer rating:

Audio-magnetotelluric geoelectric soundings in Jackson Hole, Wyoming (SuDoc I 19.76:95-239)
U.S. Geological Survey
Manufacturer: U.S. Geological Survey [Books and Open-File Reports Section, distributor]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010SBIW

Comparison of airborne electromagnetic induction and subsurface radaar sounding of freshwater bathymetry (Special report 93-7)

Average customer rating:

Comparison of airborne electromagnetic induction and subsurface radaar sounding of freshwater bathymetry (Special report 93-7)
Austin Kovacs
Manufacturer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006P1VLG

Comparison of airborne electromagnetic induction and subsurface radar sounding of freshwater bathymetry (SuDoc D 103.33/2:93-7)

Average customer rating:

Comparison of airborne electromagnetic induction and subsurface radar sounding of freshwater bathymetry (SuDoc D 103.33/2:93-7)
Austin Kovacs
Manufacturer: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions Research & Engineering Laboratory
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010KOZU

Electric and electromagnetic soundings near Charleston, South Carolina: A preliminary report (Professional paper - United States Geological Survey ; 1028-N)

Average customer rating:

Electric and electromagnetic soundings near Charleston, South Carolina: A preliminary report (Professional paper - United States Geological Survey ; 1028-N)
David L Campbell
Manufacturer: U.S. Govt. Print. Off
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

This is the third revised edition of the book originally published in 1991. It provides a complete description of the properties and applications of nonlinear crystals. In addition, it presents the most important equations for calculating the main parameters of nonlinear frequency converters. This comprehensive reference work is now updated and will be of great value to all scientists and engineers working in nonlinear optics, quantum electronics and laser physics.

Book Description

As the Bible thumpin', don't-you-dare-sass-me Sister Betty, Pat G'Orge Walker performs at churches, universities, writers' conferences, and on Chicago's WYCA radio. Now, she brings Sister Betty and her adventures to a wider audience with this uplifting collection of tales and spiritual teachings, straight from Pelzer, South Carolina and the Ain't Nobody Else Right But Us--All Others Goin' to Hell Church.

When God Calls, Sister Betty Answers

It was back on a Wednesday afternoon in 1984 when Sister Betty got a telephone call from God--and what He told her is the topic of the hilarious title story in this new collection. Introducing Sister Betty and her friends--snuff-taking, big-hearted Ma Cile, her two grandkids from up North, Lil Bit and June Bug, and neighbors including the gorgeous, red-haired Sister Connie Fuse--each of these seven tales serves up lessons about love and life, with a big helping of humor.

Rascals and reprobates such as flirtatious Deacon Laid Handz, man-hungry spinster Sister Carrie Onn, jealous choir director Brother Mythang, and scheming Reverend Knott Enuff Money hold a mirror up to everyone's shortcomings. The landmarks of the little town of Pelzer, such as the Homeboyz All-Nite-All-Day parking lot, provide comic relief. And yet for all the lightheartedness, each story ends with an important message about the gifts of God and the strength found in black church traditions.

As irrepressible as Sister Betty herself, Pat G'Orge Walker celebrates the gospel heritage and abiding faith of African Americans with her creation of an unforgettable character and her delightful comic sketches of modern life. Reading even one guarantees to bring a burst of laughter--and the sunshine of God's word--into your day.

Includes A Teaser Chapter For Pat G'orge Walker's New Book, Mother Eternal Ann Everlasting Is Dead

Customer Reviews:

Worth the time to read.......2006-03-02

While I initially found the character names silly, I have found this book entertaining. It has allowed me to escape into a world where I can giggle because some of the character's like Sister Ima Hellraiser are completely without common sense. Reverend Knott Enough Money's antics leave me giggling as well. Any time a novel allows me to laugh at the end of a grinding day, I think it has redeeming qualities so while this novel lacks the literary chops of Toni Morrison's or Alice Walker's work, it has the funny one finds in Tina McElroy Ansa's novels. So if you want to escape your daily drudgery and get a laugh, try this one.

Not Too Engaging!.......2006-02-13

Teachers in Touch had a difficult time discussing this book. Most of the members could not relate to the language used by the author and had a hard time finding the humor. One member actually liked the book and said she laughed through her reading. Overall, our ratings averaged 1.5, but we'll round up to a 2.

Couldnt finish it.......2005-04-29

I couldnt FORCE myself to read past chapter one. This is a horrible attempt at comedy. All the stupid names got on my nerves and the language was so juvenile. This is a pre-teen book. I will never read another book from this author again.I wish there was a rating less than 1 star, I wouldly surely give this book a negative 1 or less.

Novel, Amazing.......2005-01-22

What an amazing, ingenius and wonderfully enlightening read. It's wonderful to see comedy used in such a profound manner. If you are looking for rocket science this is not it. If you want to read about church folks, and maybe you, this is definitely it. This is not relegated to the Black church it's in most churches; I should know- I'm a white woman. Those who have a problem with its simplicity may see themselves :-)

Kudos to Ms. Walker. I also recommend Mother Eternal. It's a novel and superb. I will never take my Christian walk for granted.

So Sue Me.......2005-01-21

I am so sorry but this book was not good , funny or anything resembling the word GOOD. It was very silly and I thought juvenile for adult reading. This was a waste of ny precious time. I would not recommend anyone purchase this book.

Average customer rating:

Sister Betty! God's Calling You, Again!
Pat G'orge-Walker
Manufacturer: Dafina Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VGI546

Average customer rating:

Sister Betty! God's Calling You, Again!
Pat G'orge-walker
Manufacturer: Dafina Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N7A32A

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books