Books about Epstein from Amazon.com

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William Golding's classic tale about a group of English schoolboys who are plane-wrecked on a deserted island is just as chilling and relevant today as when it was first published in 1954. At first, the stranded boys cooperate, attempting to gather food, make shelters, and maintain signal fires. Overseeing their efforts are Ralph, "the boy with fair hair," and Piggy, Ralph's chubby, wisdom-dispensing sidekick whose thick spectacles come in handy for lighting fires. Although Ralph tries to impose order and delegate responsibility, there are many in their number who would rather swim, play, or hunt the island's wild pig population. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored or challenged outright. His fiercest antagonist is Jack, the redheaded leader of the pig hunters, who manages to lure away many of the boys to join his band of painted savages. The situation deteriorates as the trappings of civilization continue to fall away, until Ralph discovers that instead of being hunters, he and Piggy have become the hunted: "He forgot his words, his hunger and thirst, and became fear; hopeless fear on flying feet." Golding's gripping novel explores the boundary between human reason and animal instinct, all on the brutal playing field of adolescent competition. --Jennifer Hubert.
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From the Author: What's New in The Lincolns, Portrait of a Marriage?

During the years I was researching and writing this book I was asked again and again: Have you found anything new, in facts or perspective?

The answer is yes, and yes again. Everything is new in the sense that when one puts aside the stereotypes associated with the Lincolns, a rich and complex married life emerges. The stereotypes are: Mary was crazy, and Abraham was a saint. The most popular myth is that Lincoln married a madwoman, and suffered patiently and heroically through twenty-two miserable years of marriage.

After my research, I reached two conclusions that shaped my portrait of the marriage. First, these two people loved each other deeply, from the time they met in Springfield in 1839, until his assassination in 1865. The second is that Mary was extremely interested in Abraham's career and speeches; whenever they could, the two of them talked about these things. She was a strong political partner for him.

The rest of my work has been a careful gathering of details. Here again, there is a lot that is new. First, this is the only book about the marriage that recounts the Springfield years (16 years out of 22) in as much detail as the White House years. In Springfield the family achieved a delicate balance that was destabilized in wartime Washington. The story that began as a romance turns to tragedy.

The Lincolns' courtship was stormy; he broke off their engagement in 1840, and they were not reconciled until 1842. New evidence indicates that Lincoln believed he had syphilis, and would not resume the courtship until he believed he was cured.

I discovered letters from Mary's brother-in-law that shed light on the courtship, and the abrupt reconciliation and marriage in 1842.

This is the first book to connect Lincoln's reading of The Niles Register (a news magazine of the time) with his speeches against the Mexican War during his term of congress in 1847-48. In their Washington boarding house in 1848, the Lincolns witnessed the abduction of a black servant who was buying his freedom. Using newspaper accounts of the time I was able to detail this terrifying incident.

Mary's physical abuse of her husband has mostly been a matter of rumor. In 1857 she is supposed to have hit her husband with a stick of firewood, injuring his nose. I was able to find store receipts for a gelatin plaster that Lincoln purchased on the date witnesses saw him wearing the plaster cast, on his nose, in court.

Much has been written about the plot to assassinate Lincoln on his way through Baltimore for the inauguration. This book is the first to describe the danger to which Mary and her sons were exposed en route to Baltimore while Lincoln passed secretly from Harrisburg to Washington. The Presidential train with Mary aboard served as a decoy, and the journey through "mob city" was a nightmare.

One of the most exciting moments of my research was in discovering a poem of Albert Laighton's that the Lincolns read together. It shaped the last lines of Lincolns' first inaugural address. Another was the discovery of a letter from a Washington physician describing Mrs. Lincoln's handling of a medical crisis in the White House (when her children had measles) that disproves the received opinion she was too unstable to handle such emergencies.

There's a lot more that is new, but I don't want to spoil it here. I felt honored to be entrusted with these materials, and to tell the Lincolns' story.

--Daniel Mark Epstein

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The U.S. government began standardizing and regulating financial reporting in 1929 when the stock market crash made it painfully clear that businesses often made absurd claims and that investors were either gullible, unable to verify information, or both. Now, financial reports are used by a company’s management to measure profitability (or lack of it), optimize operations and guide the company, by banks and other lenders to gauge the company’s financial health, and by institutional or individual investors interested in purchasing stock.

Unless you’re financially savvy, annual reports with all those figures, frustrating footnotes, and fine print are boring and intimidating. However, once you have a fundamental knowledge of finance and its basic terminology, you can find the juicy parts. Reading Financial Reports For Dummies by Lita Epstein, a teacher of online financial courses and author of Trading for Dummies, gets you up to speed so you can:

• Go past the prose that can maximize the positive and minimize the negative and get information in dollars and cents
• Get an overview from the big three—the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows
• Understand the lingo and read between the lines
• Calculate basics like PE, Dividend Payout Ratio, ROS, ROA, ROE, Operating Margin, and Net Margin

It pays for investors to be somewhat skeptical instead of gullible. Pressured to please Wall Street, companies are sometimes tempted to use “creative” accounting. You’ll discover how to:

• Detect red flags (that, unfortunately, aren’t emphasized in red) such as lawsuits, changes in accounting methods, and obligations to retirees and future retirees
• Understand the different reporting requirements for public companies and private companies with various types of business structures
• Analyze a company’s cash flow, a prime indicator of its financial health
• Scrutinize deals such as mergers, acquisitions, liquidations and other major changes in key assets

Organized so you can start where you’re comfortable and proceed at your own pace, Reading Financial Reports for Dummies helps managers prepare annual reports and use financial reporting to budget more efficiently and helps investors base their decisions on knowledge instead of hype. Whether you’re in business or in the stock market, knowledge is always an asset..
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Accurate and complete bookkeeping is crucial to any business owner, but it’s also important to those who work with the business, such as investors, financial institutions, and employees People both inside and outside the business all depend on a bookkeeper’s accurate recordings.

Bookkeeping For Dummies provides the easy and painless way to master this crucial art. You’ll be able to manage your own finances to save money and grow your business. This straightforward, no-nonsense guide shows you the basics of bookkeeping—from recording transactions to producing balance sheets and year-end reports. Discover how to:

• Outline your financial road map with a chart of accounts
• Keep journals of cash transactions
• Set up your computerized books
• Control your books, your records, and your money
• Buy and track your purchases
• Record sales returns and allowances
• Determine your employee [is “employee” necessary here?] staff’s net pay
• Maintain employee records
• Prepare your books for year’s end
• Report results and start over
• Produce an income statement
• Complete year-end payroll and reports

This guide features tips and tricks for managing your business cash with your books and also profiles important accounts for any bookkeeper. There’s no question that bookkeepers must be detail-oriented, meticulous, and accurate. Bookkeeping For Dummies shows you how to keep track of your business’s financial well-being and ensure future success!.
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The most practical, authoritative guide to GAAP
Wiley GAAP 2008 delivers the most recent professional standards developments, in addition to detailed analysis of all generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), explaining the original, highly technical pronouncements in easy-to-understand terms and providing battle-tested, real-world examples and implementation guidance. Wiley GAAP 2008 contains a host of completely updated examples.
This annual publication offers expert interpretation and explanation of all accounting principles currently effective or being deliberated in one single book. The authors provide clear, user-friendly guidance on every pronouncement including FASB Technical Bulletins, AcSEC Practice Bulletins, FASB Implementation Guides, AICPA Statements of Position, and AICPA Accounting Interpretations.
All pronouncements are explained with relevant terminology and practice-oriented real-world examples. Each chapter is composed of a discussion of perspectives and issue, sources of GAAP, a definition of terms, concepts, rules and examples, and for some chapters, specific appendices. Wiley GAAP 2008 contains a detailed index for easy reference use.
Barry J. Epstein (Chicago, IL) is a partner with Russell Novak & Company, LLP, where he specializes in technical consultation on accounting and auditing matters, litigation consulting, and corporate governance. Ralph Nach (Chicago, IL) is a partner in the National Office of Audit and Accounting of McGladrey & Pullen, LLP, where he specializes in technical consultation and continuing professional education. Steven M. Bragg (Centennial, CO) has been the chief financial officer or controller of four companies, as well as a consulting manager at Ernst & Young. He is the author of 27 books published by Wiley..
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Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, a re-imagining of the life of Pan Yuliang and her transformation from prostitute to post-Impressionist.

Down the muddy waters of the Yangtze River and into the seedy backrooms of "The Hall of Eternal Splendor," through the raucous glamour of prewar Shanghai and the bohemian splendor of 1920s Paris, and back to a China ripped apart by civil war and teetering on the brink of revolution: this novel tells the story of Pan Yuliang, one of the most talented—and provocative—Chinese artists of the twentieth century.

Jennifer Cody Epstein's epic brings to life the woman behind the lush, Cezannesque nude self-portraits, capturing with lavish detail her life in the brothel and then as a concubine to a Republican official who would ultimately help her find her way as an artist. Moving with the tide of historical events, The Painter from Shanghai celebrates a singularly daring painting style—one that led to fame, notoriety, and, ultimately, a devastating choice: between Pan's art and the one great love of her life..
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When people think of stock trading, they often think of the glory days of the Internet, when stocks just kept going up and everyone seemed to be making a fortune. Since the bubble burst, many people are scared of investing in the stock market. Sure, stocks are risky—just like any other investment—but with the right knowledge and tactics, there’s still money to be made.

Trading For Dummies isn’t about high-risk, fast-paced day trading. It’s a simple, straightforward guide to the ins and outs of stock investing that offers a measured, level-headed approach to trading. You’ll learn the basics of portfolio management, measuring stock value, market analysis, and much more—all with a focus on risk reduction and steady profits. Inside you’ll learn how to:

• Understand market cycles
• Choose a great broker
• Master technical analysis
• Manage your risk exposure
• Build a balanced portfolio

This friendly guide presents the kind of honest advice you won’t find in the typical get-rich-quick books on trading. Full of practical tips and tactics—as well as hardnosed insider advice—this handy resource shows you how to build a strong, balanced, and profitable portfolio. Whether you want to save up for your retirement or pay for college, Trading For Dummies will show you how to:

• Prepare yourself with the right tools and information
• Develop your own custom trading strategy
• Analyze companies and stocks
• Understand all the exchanges and markets
• Understand broker fee structures
• Analyze market behavior
• Decipher income statements, balance sheets, and ratios
• Read charts and graphs
• Spot trends and profit from them

This book has all the tools and honest advice novice stock traders need to get set-up quickly and safely. Basic strategies and stock valuation methodologies let you control your risk exposure and make wise decisions. Trading For Dummies includes everything new traders need with advice on every type of stock or derivative, every kind of trade, and every popular strategy..
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