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Toward the end of the Age of Dinosaurs, during a time known as the Late Cretaceous, a new type of giant predator appeared along the southern coasts of North America.It was a huge species of crocodylian and is called Deinosuchus.Neither a crocodile nor an alligator, it was an ancestor of both modern groups, but it reached weights of many tons and it had some features unique to the species. This book is the biography of these giant beasts, including the long history of their discovery, new research about their makeup, and the first published evidence about their prey. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Just technical enough...
This is an all around interesting read for those who are somewhat familiar with more intensive scientific research. Professor Schwimmer is obviously an expert on Crocodylians,paleontology, as well as plaleo-environments. All the technical descriptions he does of the different aspects of body design,dentition, habitat,study of bone damage(bite markings) etc., all show the extensive amount of research involved to make definitive conclusions about the animals living habits and status in the ecosystem. There was just enough balance between the hypothetical story in the beginning, and all the other hard science in the rest of the book(that backed up the hypothetical story), to make for an enlightening read. This shows the laymen just how intricate and intensive reanimating prehistoric ecosystems and animals truly is. And of course being interested in giant dinosaur eating crocs doesn't hurt either!

King of the Crocodylians
King of the Crocodylians:The Paleobiology of Deinosuchus written by David R. Schwimmer is a book about the giant chrocdylians that used to inhabit the eastern and western gulf coastal plains of the interior seaway that ran through the North American continent in the late Cretaceous period, also up the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

This in modern times relates to the Gulf States of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida; and the Atlantic States of Georgia, South and North Carolina.The book explains that there were differences in size between the Western and Eastern species of Deinosuchas. And it is especially noteworthy that these Cretaceous crocodylians were animals reaching more than twice the body mass of any living Crocodylus or Alligator species.

A major focus of this book, besides the giant crocodylians themselves, is the unique ecosystems and conditions of these southern Late Cretaceous coastal habitats that enabled such crocodylian populations to develop and flourish for a significant amount of geological time.

This book is NOT hard reading, in fact, this book move right along as we read about the croc's diet, how it hunted and what it ate.There is a lot of anatomy in this book as we see skull fossil remains and teeth, while there is some comparative anatomy Deinosuchus was in a class by itself.

The contents of the book:The Life and Times of a Giant Crocodylian; The Early Paleontology of Deinosuchus; The Size of Deinosuchus; The Age of Deinosuchus; Deinosuchus Localities and Their Ancient Enviornments; How Many Deinosuchus Species Existed?; A Genealogy of Deinosuchus; and The Prey of Giants.

I found the book to be very informative, this is not light reading for children, but children from age 12 and older will be able to understand it.All in all, the life and times of a Giant Croc is the easiest way to explain this book.

Interesting but not perfect
An interesting book, certainly worth a look by those who, like myself, have been fascinated by the original 'supercroc' for a long time. Nevertheless if like me you are not a palaeontologist you might find this book a little on the dry side. An early hypothetical meeting of eastern Deinosuchus and dinosaur grips the attention but after that the book seems to become very obsessed with a few areas; mainly the lineage of Deinosuchus, the investigation of eastern and western Deinosuchus and whether they were related and a certain amount on its evolution and diet. To my mind the mixture of purely factual peer-reviewed paper and hypothetical drama wasn't an entirely happy one. I felt there could have been more about the life-cycle of Deinosuchus; the western animals predation on larger carnivores; and deeper investigation in to why such a large, successful predator (the largest heavier than both T-rex or Giganotosaurus!), which had suppressed the development of larger dinosaur predators on the east coast died out before the mass extinction. The ending is also distinctly anti-climactic, even Scientific American / New Scientist writers end their articles with a bit more of a bang! It's still a fascinating book. It's obvious that a lot of research has gone into and I don't regret buying it, but I think it could have been a couple of chapters longer and filled in a few more blanks about the life of Deinosuchus in general for the benefit of us lay enthusiasts.

Finally an informative book on the original "supercroc"
David Schwimmer's book stands as the most comprehensive look at the natural history of one of the largest crocodylians ever to roam the earth.

The opening chapter starts off a lot like Steve Alten's Meg. A hapless theropod winds up in the wrong place at the wrong time. While Meg's scenario was entirely fictitious (_Carcharocles megalodon_ was not around during the Cretaceous), Schwimmer's scenario is actually based off of some factual evidence. For the rest of the book, Schwimmerjustifes his scenario by presenting evidence for the size, habitats and prey of _Deinosuchus_.

Schwimmer breaks up each of the 8 chapters into different sections on _Deinosuchus_. Starting with the semi-fictitious intro, then going into its chaotic taxonomic origin, when, and where it appeared, how big it got, what creatures it was related to, and who was preying on whom back in the Late Cretaceous. All the evidence is viewed objectively, with the author's view stated at the end. Some highlights include an interesting section of the 2nd chapter, which showed some of the bias seen in non-dinosaur/non-mammalian work. More often than not, the reason we know as little as we do about other ancient reptiles, is because of a lack of interest in them. One prime quote from that chapter (pg 29) really sums this up:

"Holland (1909) reported that, upon recognizing the animal leaving all these big bone fragments was a huge crocodylian: 'Mr.Hatcher immediately lost interest in the material...""

Thankfully, this skewed point of view has been slowly changing. If it hadn't, then this book would never have been written.Schwimmer also deals with the infamously inaccurate skull reconstruction that used to be on display on the 4th floor of the AMNH. This reconstruction and numerous pictures based off it, has been used in popular and professional literature to estimate the size and dimensions of the animal. Schwimmer shows how this inaccurate restoration came to be, and exactly what was wrong with it.

Replacing this misinformation, is the most accurate, and up to date measurments of the animal. While the old measurements had _Deinosuchus_ hitting lengths of 50+ ft (based off that inaccurate skull), the newer measurements only shrink the crocodylian down by ~11ft and weighing in at 8.5 tonnes in the largest individuals. While showing off size, Schimmer also shows the readers that there were two different sized populations of this genus. Eastern populations were smaller (~26ft and 2.3 tonnes) and more numerous than western populations. Schwimmer even compares these new size measurements to other giants from the fossil record. In most cases _Deinosuchus_ comes out on top compared to most carnivores of its time, or of any time (to help put things in perspective, this crocodylian was a full 1.5 tonnes larger than _T.rex_).

The book alludes to an interesting trait of fossil "supercrocs." As Schwimmer describes other large crocodylians throughout prehistory (an apparent "trend" in this group), one notices that fossil supercrocs suffer from the exact opposite problem that most large vertebrate skeletons suffer. There tends to be really good skull material, but little, or no postcranial material.

_Deinosuchus_ anatomy is thoroughly discussed. Schwimmers shows just how important crocodylian osteoderms are, and using traits of these osteoderms, shows that erect walking (aka "high walking") was possible in even the largest _Deinosuchus_ specimen. Schwimmer also spends ample time on the unique dentition in _Deinosuchus_. Most of the teeth were short, blunt and rounded. According to Schwimmer this was originally evolved for turtle eating purposes, and was later exapted towards dinosaur eating in the species (especially the western pop). Schwimmer also gives mention to the incredible force exerted by the jaws of these animals and shows that _Deinosuchus_had the strongest jaws of any animal known to science regardless of time period.

Chapter 7 gives a fairly comprehensive rundown of the group of animals that lead to _Deinosuchus_. It is nice, for it shows just howtaxonomically confusing the crocodylotarsi group is, while also going a little farther to dispelling the myth that crocodylians have changed little in 200 million years on earth. Though there was no mention of pristichampsids, or _Stomatosuchus_, Schwimmer does mention _Malawisuchus_ and the new Madagascar crocodyliforme, which had teeth and body forms similar to herbivorous mammals and dinosaurs. With all this variation and diversity showcased, it is somewhat disappointing to hear Schwimmer state that he doesn't consider the crocodylotarsi group to be as derived from basal archosaurs as dinosaurs and birds are (something I completely disagree with). Overall though, this chapter really goes far in highlighting the many different bodyforms that lead to _Deinosuchus_.

The final chapter of the book talks about what, exactly, _Deinosuchus_ was eating back then. Studying the dentition, habitats and evidence of predation, Schwimmer shows that turtles made up a large part of the diet for, at least, eastern _Deinosuchus_ populations. Schwimmer also shows that _Deinosuchus_ in both the western and eastern parts of North America, were not only eating dinosaurs, but were outcompeting the carnivorous theropods in the area (and occasionally eating them too). So, by the end of the book, one has come full circle.

Schimmer's writing style is reminiscent of my own. He doesn't dumb down the technical terms, but instead provides definitions for words and scenarios in parenthesis, or in an appendix (and occasionally goes off on parenthetical tangents like this one). The layout of the book allows one to either read it from cover to cover, or to just pick it up and look for a particular subject. If more info is mentioned later, or earlier in the book, the location is placed in parenthesis for easy reference.

If you're into ancient life, crocodylians, reptiles, or if you just liked National Geographic's: Supercroc special, then I highly recommend this book. _Sarcosuchus_ is cool, but _Deinosuchus_ is the supercroc that started it all. Kudos to David Schwimmer, James Farlow and all the other "Life of the Past" workers, for showing that dinosaurs weren't the only cool creatures alive millions of years ago :) ... Read more

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GOD, GIVE ME THE STRENGTH TO WRITE.IT IS POWERFUL.IT IS TRUE.SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, WILL LISTEN.

I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.I followed a path that always seemedclear, but that in reality was unseen.The path led me here...and now I must stray.Remain until my judgment.My body can travel on, and I can still laugh, but I cannot clear the dust from my feet.I may regret, but cannot repay in this life.If I still live, someday I will try.All that I now can do is write, write in agony for all who travel this way.They will not heed, but at least they will know where they are when they reach these flat lands.You see, there are no more hills to hide behind.I have flattened them all.

Danny is dead - who is speaking?

Danny's spirit.

The mind must 'die' before the spirit can live.

About a boy, written by himself and seen in the writing.

So wrote eighteen-year-old David Schwimmer in the waning months of his life.And all during his seventeen years David also brilliantly recorded - in his journals, poems, and stories - his agonizing struggles with his soul over his psychological and sexual dilemmas.

Through his journals, we also see David strive to become a writer, a long distance runner, an outdoorsman and a friend.We are with him as he begins toexperience his sexuality an we watch his spirituality flower beside it.We observe him wrestling with personal relationships in high school and college, see his efforts to question and direct his body, mind, and spirit, carefully nurturing his own conception of himself, while attempting to deal with his inner problems. We watch him work at practicing unconditional love.

This record of David's inner life has been compiled and edited by David' s father, George Schwimmer, Ph. D.It is a ritual journey through the mind and soul of David, in which David tries to search out who he is and why he is on Earth.This is the fundamental search that all human beings undertake during their life, to discover who they really are.Everyone who has read David's journals describes David's writing as deeply moving, touching all who experience it. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

A valuable book!
This is an awesome inside guide to what it takes to start a successful theatre company from the ground up. It is written through the lens of an actor with raw experience. Autobiographical,informative, and witty, this book gives us a backstage view into what it really takes to run a theatre company. It also speaks candidly and personally about getting a day job in a new city in order to survive, stay healthy, and network while you plan. The information to getting started are all in one place, which makes it a great detailed reference guide for people just getting started or who have already begun. A great book to have in your library if your'e thinking about venturing into non for profit theatre.

Good Info
Conversationally written, and filled with the author's experiences and recommendations. Time will tell about the true usefulness, but certainly have a better appreciation of the pitfalls and joys than before. ... Read more

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Weekly news and general interest magazine published between 2003 and 2007 and distributed by inclusion inside certain local newspapers on a nationwide basis. Also in this issue: 24 other movies your kids want to see. New, unread, newstand issue that does not have a mailing label. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Ian Mckellen, David Schwimmer, Carol Burnett, Back Stage Garland Awards, David Anders, Jacqueline Kim, Charles Hallahan, Camille Saviola, Patrick Bristow, Salome Jens, Eric Anderson. Excerpt:Back Stage Garland Awards The Back Stage Garland Awards also referred to simply as the Garland Awards , and known as the Back Stage West Garland Awards from 1998 to 2008 are bestowed by the entertainment-industry newspaper Back Stage , honoring excellence in Southern California theatre . The awards recognize many different types of contributors to theatre, including actors , directors , producers , prop makers , set designers , costume designers , and choreographers . Selection process Award winners are selected through a process voted on by theatre critics in the industry. Each Garland winner has appeared on at least three critics' "Best of" lists for the previous year. Critics are each allowed to name "up to five nominees for each category except performance, up to 10 nominees for performance in a musical production and up to 10 in straight productions." Each winner is presented with a "Garland statuette" in the year following their recognized production. History The first awards were presented on January 12, 1998, with eighty individuals recognized, and the next year's ceremony recognized one hundred and fifty people. The first ceremony was held at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, California , and awards in the following two years were presented in a ceremony at the Geffen Playhouse in Westwood, Los Angeles, California . Two hundred and seventy stage artists and theatre supporters attended the first annual awards. Awards categories in the first year included production, performance, ensemble cast, sound design, costume, lighting design, set design, musical score, and choreography. Pa... ... Read more

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Weekly news and general interest magazine published between 2003 and 2007 and distributed by inclusion inside certain local newspapers on a nationwide basis. New, unread, newstand issue that does not have a mailing label. ... Read more

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Reality is stranger than fiction when eight 1960's radicals refuse to behave in Judge Julius Hoffman's courtroom. Based on actual trial transcripts, this play centers on events following the protests and riots during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great blend of drama and reality.
Peter Goodchild's take on the events following the upheaval at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago masterfully mixes real life interviews with dramatic re-enactments from the courtroom. The actors portray the 60's "hippies" with passion and reverence. The interviewing ofhistorians and participants provides intriguing details into the events.Truly a great blend of drama and reality. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! David Lawrence Schwimmer (born November 2, 1966) is an American actor and director of television and film. Born in New York, he moved to Los Angeles at the age of two. Several years later, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Beverly Hills High School. In 1988, he graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and speech. After graduation, Schwimmer co-founded the Lookingglass Theatre Company. For much of the late-1980s, he lived in Los Angeles as a struggling, unemployed actor. He appeared in the television movie A Deadly Silence in 1989. He then appeared in a number of television roles, including L.A. Law, The Wonder Years, NYPD Blue, and Monty in the early-1990s. Schwimmer later gained worldwide recognition for playing Ross Geller in the situation comedy Friends. Aside from appearing in television, he starred in his first feature film The Pallbearer (1996), which was followed by roles in Kissing a Fool (1998), Six Days Seven Nights (1998), Apt Pupil, and Picking Up the Pieces (2000). ... Read more

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L.A. Theatre Works brings together the worlds greatest actors to perform classic and contemporary plays, recorded in state-of-the-art sound quality. They provide ideal listening for your home, in your car, or even at the gym. Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates turns her satiric eye to Tobias Harte, a man obsessed with perfection in everything from ethics to egg salad. Rollicking comedy ensues as Harte struggles with his highly imperfect family and friends. Including a daughter who satirizes him in a school play, a son who might be a rapist, an old friend with dubious business expenses and the town's resident feminist photographer who turns out to be disturbingly sexy. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (16)

Good One for a Mens Book Club
My men's book club read this book.It has a lot of "real men" stuff in it.Baseball, friendship, bonding, locker rooms,mortality, etc.The members of the club enjoyed it a lot.In fact, one of the members who had been reading it over and over since childhood shared that he had read it probably 25 times.

The plot is that Bruce, a third string catcher on the team, gets diagnosed with cancer and has a year to live.Star pitcher and author, Henry, takes it upon himself to make sure that Bruce doesn't get released from the team during his last year and that the last year is a good one.A movie of the book starred Robert Deniroas Bruce and Michael Moriarity as Henry.

The book isn't very long, and we found it a good vehicle for encouraging discussion.I recommend it.

Henry Wiggen: An American Man
Ok, I love baseball, and I love baseball books.But I don't think you need to be a baseball nut to love this story and Henry Wiggen.Who doesn't know Henry Wiggen?Sure, he's a Major League pitcher.But he just as easily could be a mechanic or a lawyer or a bartender.His job is not nearly as important as his personality.He is a guy who is supremely confident in what he does.More so, he is able to make his arrogance extremely likable.We want Henry to get what he wants.Now what could be American than that?And in this book Henry wants his cancer-stricken friend to stay on the team with him.He coaches him along.He becomes a better friend.He helps his friend focus on living instead of dying.A great book.

This book and the movie are special
From the sound of the spikes on the cement, the movie is authentic. From the opening lines to the end, the book is bittersweet in it's finest form. Running around the field at Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines in 1976, our shortstop, Vinnie Mallozzi from South Babylon Long Island and I, the second baseman would run and without prompting would hum or whistle "The Streets of Larado."The locker room, like the barracks or in our case, our ship, is a place for men, of lessons learned and friendships formed. Before The Natural, Fields of Dreams or Bull Durham, there were Mark Harris' novels and this movie with Robert DeNiro of all people as Bruce Pearson that showed men as they are and maybe more importantly of what they want to be. Don't play baseball much these days, but I still have a bat, a glove and a baseball. What I also do is hum Streets of Larado while on my runs, in rememberance.

Life Changing
My wife checked the book-on-tape version of this novel out for me from the public library, so that I could listen to it as I commuted to and from work.Wow!What a beautiful and powerful story.

We are, all of us, dying.But when we are confronted with that fact, it helps us to appreciate what time we have.Mark Harris weaves this simple idea into a stunning and unforgettable story.

5 stars to the book, and 5 stars for my very thoughtful wife!

When Baseball Was Still a Game
I first read Bang the Drum Slowly as a high school student and it stayed on my mind for several days after I finished it. In fact, it had such an impact on the way that I saw life that I was more than a little reluctant to read it again, fearing that my fond memories of the book would be spoiled. That kind of thing has happened to me several times in the past, but not this time. Bang the Drum Slowly is still the great book that I experienced the first time around.

In the era before free agency rules made millionaires out of very mediocre baseball players, even all-star left-handed pitchers had to find work in the off season. Henry Wiggin, star lefthander for what was probably the best team in baseball during the early 1950s, the New York Mammoths, was no exception. Henry took to selling life insurance and annuities to his fellow ball players and he became quite good at his sales job. One of Henry's customers was Bruce Pearson, a third-string Mammoth catcher who bought an insurance policy covering his life only to later discover that he was dying of Hodgkin's Lymphoma, a disease that was incurable in the 1950s.

Bang the Drum Slowly at its base is a realistic baseball novel told in the words (and with the spelling skills) of a small town boy born during the Depression who had the physical skills to become a major league baseball pitcher. It is an honest look at what goes on off the field and in the clubhouse when athletes spend more time on the road, and with each other, than they spend with their wives and children. There are racial tensions, drinking problems, womanizing and personality clashes that have to be dealt with by management, a baseball management generally interested only in the club's bottom line.

The heart of this story, however, is the bad break that fate has handed Bruce Pearson. He faces imminent death even in what turns out to be the best season of his career. Henry Wiggin, feeling protective of the naïve Pearson, does his best to keep Pearson's secret from team management and their teammates. But when word of Pearson's situation slowly begins to leak, amazing things begin to happen to the New York Mammoths and to Bruce Pearson.

Mark Harris, who passed away just a few weeks ago, will long be remembered for Bang the Drum Slowly, a book that was chosen by Sports Illustrated as one of the Top 100 sports books of all time. This book has something for baseball fans and non-sports fans alike and, even after such a long absence, I enjoyed spending time again with Henry Wiggin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great laughs!
I love watching these,, they are some of the funniest episodes.
Great to have if you are a Friends fan.
... Read more