Frank Scott Krueger Scott Krueger từ Bolton Abbey, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23, Vương Quốc Anh từ Bolton Abbey, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23, Vương Quốc Anh

Hoffer expands on two themes in this book. One, he uses funny and sad stories to show how easily we are influenced to take risks in the hope we will reap rewards in the short and long term. From the Gods we believe in (will I go to heaven) to the 401(k) plan I invest in (will I be able to retire at 55), Americans have intherited from the founding the nation this notion that life is a gamble and I can't win if I don't play. The other, sadder aspect of this book is how our government has tapped into the gambling cuture to take advantage of those desperate to give riches in the bottom of a slot machine till. Lotteries and Indian Casinos, once criminal, now are relied upon as a hidden form of taxation to run state governments are across the country.

Timothy Zahn's Star Wars novels were seen as a sort of "Tom Clancy in space" series. While they had some rather ridiculous plot elements they were required reading for over two decades. If a fan wanted to make sense of any Star Wars fiction published after 1991, they had to start by reading this series. While the books themselves were rather weak, they were important due to their primal influence on what became known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe. That influence came to a complete and welcome end when Disney pronounced the entirety of the Expanded Universe was non-canon. With that decision Zahn's novels are no longer essential - in fact I would recommended skipping them. Even when these books were relevant, the wackiness of some of the plot twists (like Luke's clone, Luuke. I wish I was joking) was acknowledged by most readers. The real strength of the series was supposedly the new characters Zahn introduced. Most fans didn't realize the beloved Mara Jade was lifted almost fully intact from Marvel Comics Star Wars series. Shira Brie, as she was known in the Marvel comic books, was sexed up a bit to increase her appeal to the target audience - teenage boys. Her character was heavily praised for her originality and freshness. In reality, Mara Jade was neither. Another new character who was heavily praised was Grand Admiral Thrawn, who was so prescient that he was practically omniscient. In retrospect, he was probably a Mary Sue for Timothy Zahn. He was nothing more than another example of author self-insertion, a practice so common - and tiresome - in sci-fi novels. The Thrawn "trilogy" is a single work that was broken into three novels. This was done to make fans fork over $20 three times instead of $30 once. They were later republished in an omnibus edition and I am only writing this single review for all three books. In conclusion, these books had their time and it has passed. If you have not read this series by now, you should probably not bother. In retrospect, Zahn's trilogy is actually a series of slightly embarrassing YA novels in the tradition of Dragonlance and it completely conflicts with the currently accepted timeline of the films. By themselves, they probably merit two stars. Seen as part of the Star Wars continuum, they rate only one.

Hard to stomach, but it's reality for some kids.