Promises I Made My Mother By David Rensin

Amazon.com Review
Book Description
What would my mother say? How would she want me to handle this situation? How can I make this tough decision and stay true to myself?

What would my mother say?

Sam Haskell still asks himself these questions every day.

When Haskell was young, his devoted mother, Mary, instilled in her son the values of character, faith, and honor by setting an example and asking him to promise to live his life according to her lessons. He did, and those promises have served Haskell consistently from his Mississippi boyhood to his long career at the venerable William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills.

In this inspiring memoir full of touching stories and amusing anecdotes, Haskell reveals how he kept his pledge to his mother to live a decent life–even in the shark-infested waters of Hollywood, where he handled the hottest stars and packaged the highest-rated shows–by refusing to become the cliché of an amoral agent. Here is Haskell as a child in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), discovering the power of hope as he waits for an unlikely visit from the “Cheer Man” (a representative of the detergent company who gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand), learning humility after pursuing an eighth-grade “Good Citizenship” award he cockily assumed he’d win, confronting the complications of human character when a near-fatal car crash exposed his judgmental father’s true nature.

Years later, in Hollywood, Haskell would rely on his mother’s teachings–honesty, self-reliance, and belief in God–as he swiftly rose from the William Morris mailroom to eventually become the company’s Worldwide Head of Television. His capacity for friendship and his insistence on living his version of the Golden Rule (being “thoughtfully political”) allowed him to handle various client crises and the tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the last years of Everybody Loves Raymond and the entire existence of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Haskell has achieved success through self-respect, and from his story we learn how we, too, can maintain our dignity when faced with life’s challenges. This stirring memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in their sons the lasting values they need to become good men and devoted fathers.

A Look Inside Promises I Made My Mother

Click on thumbnails for larger images

Sam Haskell with Ray RomanoSam Haskell and his motherThe cast of Stars Over Mississippi

Review
“My friend Sam Haskell’s journey has taken him from rural Mississippi to the great cities of the world—including The White House and Buckingham Palace. This book will tell you exactly how he did it. He had an inspirational mother who taught him life’s lessons!”—Morgan Freeman

“My friend Sam Haskell’s Promises I Made My Mother is a portrait of character—something mothers and sons should read together while celebrating one of the greatest bonds that exist in the world today!”—Lily Tomlin

“Sam Haskell is an anomaly in Hollywood. He brings to this book his humor, his honor and his unique perspective on how to live life. He is a great friend.”—Leslie Moonves, President and Chief Executive Officer, CBS

“I’ve always wondered how Sam Haskell survived in Hollywood, a viper’s nest that would make any asp jealous! Sam always treated everyone with respect and behaved with honor. Now having read Promises I Made My Mother, I understand that Sam found success by being true to himself and keeping his promises to his mother. It’s all in the breeding, and for you, it’s all in the reading!”—Doris Roberts, actress, Everybody Loves Raymond

“My friend Sam Haskell has revealed aspects of his life that even I didn’t know…Promises I Made My Mother is an eye opening read for anyone who has the capacity to dream.”—Dolly Parton

“It has been over 30 years since I signed on as Sam’s first client right out of the mail room at the William Morris Agency. He has kept his promises to his beloved mother and to all the rest of us who owe him so much. This book is a must read for anyone who hopes to find ‘true’ success in any field…the kind that lasts forever.”—Kathie Lee Gifford

From the Hardcover edition. –This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Why Buy A Promises I Made My Mother By David Rensin?
Book Description What would my mother say? How would she want me to handle this situation? How can I make this tough decision and stay true to myself?

What would my mother say?

Sam Haskell still asks himself these questions every day.

When Haskell was young, his devoted mother, Mary, instilled in her son the values of character, faith, and honor by setting an example and asking him to promise to live his life according to her lessons. He did, and those promises have served Haskell consistently from his Mississippi boyhood to his long career at the venerable William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills.

In this inspiring memoir full of touching stories and amusing anecdotes, Haskell reveals how he kept his pledge to his mother to live a decent life–even in the shark-infested waters of Hollywood, where he handled the hottest stars and packaged the highest-rated shows–by refusing to become the cliché of an amoral agent. Here is Haskell as a child in Amory, Mississippi (pop. 7,000), discovering the power of hope as he waits for an unlikely visit from the “Cheer Man” (a representative of the detergent company who gave ten dollars to anyone using the brand), learning humility after pursuing an eighth-grade “Good Citizenship” award he cockily assumed he’d win, confronting the complications of human character when a near-fatal car crash exposed his judgmental father’s true nature.

Years later, in Hollywood, Haskell would rely on his mother’s teachings–honesty, self-reliance, and belief in God–as he swiftly rose from the William Morris mailroom to eventually become the company’s Worldwide Head of Television. His capacity for friendship and his insistence on living his version of the Golden Rule (being “thoughtfully political”) allowed him to handle various client crises and the tense negotiations that nearly scuttled the last years of Everybody Loves Raymond and the entire existence of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Haskell has achieved success through self-respect, and from his story we learn how we, too, can maintain our dignity when faced with life’s challenges. This stirring memoir is a testament to mothers everywhere who instill in their sons the lasting values they need to become good men and devoted fathers.

A Look Inside Promises I Made My Mother Click on thumbnails for larger images

Sam Haskell with Ray Romano Sam Haskell and his mother The cast of Stars Over Mississippi

Customer Reviews & Opinions

THE GREATEST LOVE
I HAVE GREAT ADMIRATION FOR MARY! SHE HAD A SON WHO LIKED DIFFERENT THINGS THAN MOST BOYS HIS AGE WERE INTERESTED IN OR WOULD HAVE EVEN BEEN AWARE OF! HIS MOTHER NOT ONLY EMBRACED THESE DIFFERENCES BUT CELEBRATED THEM. SHE GAVE THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL AS SHE TAUGHT THROUGH HER LOVE TO ACCEPT, NUTURE AND BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING WAS POSSIBLE. IT’S A HEARTWARMING STORY, TO SEE THAT THE BOY CONTINUED HIS MOTHERS TEACHINGS AND IMPLEMENTED THE VERY SAME BASICS INTO HIS OWN ADULT LIFE IN A MUCH MORE “CLUTTERED” WORLD. IT IS AN EASY FAST READ AND AN IMPORTANT REMINDER THAT WHILE MOST OF OUR LIVES ARE NOT SIMPLE LIKE YESTERYEARS, WE CAN STILL HAVE SIMPLE VALUES.

Promises I Made My Mother by Sam Haskell
As a mom of two boys, a wife, Christian, big dreamer, a penny finder and, an entertainer who also has a strong love for my precious mom who raised 4 children pretty much alone…”Promises I Made My Mother” truly touched my life in so many ways. We have always raised our boys, now teens, to live with strong integrity and character and to follow and love God. We have always helped them to believe in their dreams and that their visions can become a reality when done for the right motives. Sam Haskell shares his dreams, his love for his incredible mother and the many lessons of life he endured to make it to where he is today. His life style and way of living speaks volumes in todays world where wrong seems right. He inspired me to keep going for my dreams and to continue to encourage our children to become all that they dream of! This book reminded me of how very special it is to be a “mother” and how important it is to live our lives in a way that influences our children in a positive way. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who needs encouragement,hope,good laughs,tears and motivation and wonderful uplifting quotes.

As a child witness to domestic violence with a parent who was addicted to substance abuse, this book refreshed my spirit. So get this book and grab a ham sandwich and some chips and enjoy…(you will have to read the book to find out what the ham sandwich is all about)a great lesson in life for everyone! I not only read this book, I studied it…so thank you Sam for sharing your life story and your precious mother with all of us. Joyce Glenn WagsterPromises I Made My Mother

A Must Read for EVRYONE!
i applaud mr. haskell on a magical, memorable and wonderful book. he has taken the life lesson’s his darling mother expressed to him throughout his growing up years and truly put them to work–both in his personal life and his professional life. from the moment i began reading this incredible book, i regretted the closer i came to it’s end. very rarely do you find such a book about a man, his character and his faith that leaves one wanting just one more chapter…and then…just another! (wishful thinking)

mr. haskell has realized the american dream by “staying in his light” (living truthfully to himself)…he has had the most incredible exchanges with some of the most incredible people in the entertainment business over his years at william morris….and has kept them as friends! he has kept his faith at the center of his life in a town that God is often prayed to for “things” and then God is often forgotten about when Sunday rolls around. he honors his mother by keeping her lessons alive each and every day….all this while also honoring the “man in the mirror” and not losing sight of his dream, his potential nor his passion!

i have passed this book on to my youngest daughter, she will pass it on to my husband and then it will be sent to my wonderful parents….i have recently purchased three additional copies…one for each of our other two children and one for a dear friend who, i know, will be as touched with each page as i was!

do yourself a favor…RUN, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore, purchase this book and start reading….i think it will be the most discussed, thought about and heartwarming book you will read this summer!

Must Read for all Parents
Just finished reading “Promises I Made My Mother” and suggest it as a must read for ALL parents, grandparents, foster parents, step-parents and anyone touching the lives of children. It is a true testament to how wonderful Sam’s Mother was as an influence and inspiration to he and his brothers. It really shows “the power of words” and how they can influence a young person’s life. Sam and Mary have touched so many lives and they continue to do so. I was truely blessed to have attended one of the Stars Over Mississippi and see their influence in this small Mississippi town and how the whole town embrasssed this event to support scholarships in the area. May they continue to be guided by their faith as they are used by God to do good works and influence lives! I’m starting my second reading of the book now!

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The Last Song Of Dusk: A Novel By Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi

From Publishers Weekly
In his first novel, Bombay-born Shanghvi carves a magic realism–tinged niche for himself between Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy. In colonial India in the 1920s, Anuradha, a beautiful young bride, leaves her home in Udaipur and travels to Bombay to marry a man she has never met, the equally beautiful doctor, Vardhmaan. Shanghvis India is an elegant, epicurean place: on the day of her departure Anuradha is serenaded by an ostentation of peacocks that, just as the Marwar Express snorted its way out of Udaipur, unleashed their rain-beckoning cries of Megh-awuu, Megh-awuu…. The couple settles into Vardhmaans familial home, and as beautiful people tend to, they have a stunning child, Mohan. This is all, of course, the setup for a fall; Mohan dies, and Anuradha and Vardhmaan descend into sadness and longing. The gloom lifts briefly when Anuradha goes away to Udaipur and brings back a 14-year-old orphan, Nandini, who sparks riots with her lascivious attire—the mini sari—and emerges as a national figure so important that even Gandhi asks to meet her. Anuradha and Vardhmaan, however, never quite recover from their loss, even when a new son, Shloka, is born. While not exactly purple, Shanghvis prose can be a bit mauve: a simple necktie becomes a dignified sartorial adjunct. Still, this is a sensual, delectable debut.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From
The vibrant, lush, and sometimes chaotic backdrop of postcolonial India has become fertile ground for a burgeoning circle of Indian novelists that Shanghvi now joins. His first novel blends biting social commentary with a sprawling family saga, beginning with the marriage of the beautiful Anuradha and handsome Vardhmaan, who seem destined to lead a charmed life. But a hateful stepmother does what she can to interfere, and when their first child, Mohan, dies in a tragic accident, their lives take a downward spiral. Vardhmaan continues to be haunted by Mohans death for years, causing an emptiness that threatens to sever his relationship with Anuradha. Their house, which is filled with the wretched, infectious sadness of ancient memories of unrequited love, seems to take on a sinister life of its own when their second child nearly dies at birth. In a narrative laced with poetic imagery, Shanghvi juxtaposes political commentary with magical realism, Bollywoods excesses with Gandhis austerity. Part fairy tale, part satire, part love story–all come together in a marvelously inventive debut. Deborah Donovan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Why Buy A The Last Song Of Dusk: A Novel By Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi?
“Set in 1920s India, this magical debut novel tells the story of beautiful Anuradha, whose songs are spellbinding, but whose fate is troubled.”
–Elle

When the astonishingly lovely Anuradha moves to Bombay to marry Vardhmaan, a charming young doctor, their life together has all the makings of a fairy tale. But when their firstborn son dies in a terrible accident, tragedy transforms their marriage into a bleak landscape. As the pair starts fresh in a heartbroken old villa by the sea, they are joined by Nandini, a dazzling and devious artist with a trace of leopard blood in her veins. While Nandini flamboyantly takes on Bombay’s art scene, the couple attempts to mend their marriage, eventually discovering that real love, mercurial and many-hued, is given and received in silence. Sensuous and electric, achingly moving and wickedly funny, The Last Song of Dusk is a tale of fate that will haunt your heart like an old and beloved song.

“A cornucopia of life at full tilt and high color . . . Shanghvi–who’s been compared to Arundhati Roy, Zadie Smith, and Vikram Seth–combines ribald humor with prose poetry.”
–Sunday Oregonian

“Few first novelists achieve such perfection, such control, in their performance.”
–India Today

“A gorgeous novel . . . written with a youthful twinkling eye.”
–Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Lush, witty . . . sassy prose . . . moves like a carnival ride.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

Customer Reviews & Opinions

Profound, haunting, inspiring
Music sings its way through evil, tragedy, and immense passions. I copied the last page and reread it frequently. All the events, all the characters, all the emotions, and all the magic hit a magnificent chord that transports me again and again to a place where I feel life most deeply.

Metaphors and Metamorphoses
Story of a perennially happy damsel with magical charm transformed into a chronically depressed woman in an immobile state. Story of a hopelessly lovestruck husband transformed into an abjectly indifferent house mate. Story of Utopian arranged marriage charged with sensual exchanges transformed to twisted and sombre erotica featuring children, threesomes, animals and lesbians. This is a story of the metamorphoses of happy sweet-nothings to melodramatic tragedy.

Never judge a book by its cover. Judge it by its metaphors. The metaphors in the last song of dusk (the title itself) are original and inventive. They range from snappy wit to profound wisdom, yet never contrived. The character of Nandini is the richest source of humor and savoir faire.

The story is written with a passion that can only be the result of parallel personal experiences and an immensely fertile mind. Like all good tragedies, the wretchedness of this story does not offer any obvious escape in terms of blame allocation. Shanghavi’s recipe has the right pinch of magic realism to engage the Indian senses and sensibilities.

This is a story of transitions but the sudden twists are sometimes hard for the reader to reconcile. In order to create the element of unpleasant surprises, the author leaves much to the readers’ discretion. If Shanghavi had filled these gaps with his beautiful writing and made it 50% thicker, it would also be that much better off.

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Second Nature: A Gardeners Education By Michael Pollan

From Publishers Weekly
This isnt so much a how-to on gardening as a how-to on thinking about gardening. It follows the course of the natural year, from spring through winter, as [Pollan], an editor at Harpers , chronicles his growth as a gardener in Connecticuts rocky Housatonic Valley. Starting out as a child of Thoreau, [Pollan] soon realized that societys concept of culture as the enemy of nature would get him a bumper crop of weeds and well-fed woodchucks but no vegetables to eat. Far more serviceable materially and philosophically, he now finds, is the metaphor of a garden, where nature and culture form a harmonious whole. [Pollan] finds ample time for musing on how his own tasks fit in with the overall scheme of existence; thus, there are chapters titled Compost and Its Moral Imperatives and The Idea of a Garden. Although serious in import, the writing is never ponderous; [Pollan]s wit flashes throughout, and particularly in anecdotes about his youth: one memorable incident has his father mowing his initials in the front yard after being reproached by a suburban neighbor about his overgrown lawn.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Pollan, executive editor of Harpers and self-proclaimed amateur gardener, has written a book that is by turns charming and annoying, insightful and shallow, droll and banal. His collection of a dozen essays arranged by season is based on his experiences over a seven-year period in his Connecticut garden, along with vignettes from garden history. Unfortunately, Pollans text is characterized by dubious and unsupported generalities, self-conscious humor, and extended, labored metaphors, and his lack of gardening authority dooms the book to superficiality. Experienced gardeners and devotees of garden literature will find little here that is original. Only for comprehensive gardening collections.
- Richard Shotwell, Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, Mass.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Why Buy A Second Nature: A Gardeners Education By Michael Pollan?
Eight years ago, Harpers Magazine editor Michael Pollan bought an old Connecticut dairy farm. He planted a garden and attempted to follow Thoreaus example: do not impose your will upon the wilderness, the woodchucks, or the weeds. That ethic did not, of course, work. But neither did pesticides or firebombing the woodchuck burrow. So Michael Pollan began to think about the troubled borders between nature and contemporary life.

The result is a funny, profound, and beautifully written book in the finest tradition of American nature writing. It inspires thoughts on the war of the roses; sex and class conflict in the garden; virtuous composting; the American lawn; seed catalogs, and the politics of planting a tree. A blend of meditation, autobiography, and social history, Second Nature is ultimately a modern Walden: a true classic for our time.

Customer Reviews & Opinions

Should be on everyone’s to read list.
As has been the case with all of Michael Pollan’s books that I have read, he informs with humor and narrative that at times makes me laugh out loud. My all time favorite, however, is Omnivore’s Dilemma. I have changed the way I shop in our local market since reading it. This also is a MUST read.

philosopher of gardening
I loved this book. It is written in the spirit of earth that author obviously is in love with. The book is divided into four seasons: spring summer,fall and winter. Each of the seasons has it’s own unique characteristic that follows ancient tradition of preparing soil, sowing,cultivating, weeding, harvesting and winter nothingness.

However if reader looks for practical advises, he or she will not find it here. It is a wonderfull read for all the nature lovers.

From Napalm to Seed Catalogs
SECOND NATURE is not your normal gardening book. There aren’t a lot of “how to” instructions here for planting, nurturing and harvesting. There are, however, innumerable more important things here.

Pollan takes his reader on a journey of discovery, asking cogent questions about man’s relationship to nature, about the proper way to conserve wilderness, about the social strata of contemporary seed catalogs, about the best way to design a garden to achieve our spiritual goals (although his way of expressing it isn’t nearly as hokey-sounding as my wording), about the sexual metaphors of roses, about the quasi-religious movement of composting, and about the historical evolution in the way we have looked at trees.

His writing is often humorous as well as something most of us can relate to in our own experiences. In his early battles with garden-eating rodents, his ill-considered attempt to napalm a woodchuck makes for absolutely hilarious reading, and the story of his father’s rebellion against the neighbors’ edict that he mow his lawn is exhilarating. Throughout much of the book, we do, however, come to learn a serious lesson. The realistic gardener does not attempt to subdue nature nor to surrender to it, but to work with nature as a part of it, to be realistic in determining what can and cannot be accomplished, and to influence rather than conquer (especially since conquering is not really possible after all).

For both the neophyte and the experienced gardener, SECOND NATURE is probably more important and useful than a “how to” book for it will reveal the overarching philosophy that drives the gardener’s actions. For the suburbanite whose gardening is pretty much limited to manicuring his portion of The Great American Lawn and planting a few decorative shrubs here and there, it is utterly indispensable for it will reveal the shallow artificiality of such kowtowing to social “propriety.”

Pollan’s lessons are painless. He never preaches. He never rants. He never proselytizes. His writing is both humorous and instructive. It unveils historical trends in man’s relationship toward gardens, wildlands, and lawns that most readers, with our limited visions of life in the 17th and 18th centuries, never suspected. Most importantly, the reader finishes his book with a genuinely new appreciation of man’s place in nature, with an understanding that it is okay to make his mark upon nature (because he is part of it), and with the knowledge of how to make that mark positive, non-destructive, and productive.

I heartedly recommend SECOND NATRURE to everyone who has ever planted a garden (productively or otherwise), who has ever thought about planting a garden, who has ever mowed a lawn, who has ever wondered about the best methods of protecting wilderness areas, who has ever written a letter in support of or opposition to environmental activists, or who, though city-bound and surrounded by asphalt, has ever wondered about man’s proper place on the earth. SECOND NATURE has, if not universal, then at least very widespread appeal to all sorts of readers.

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The Pmp Exam: How To Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep Series) By Andy Crowe Pmp

Why Buy A The Pmp Exam: How To Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep Series) By Andy Crowe Pmp?
This self-study guide for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification exam from the Project Management Institute contains everything project managers need to pass the PMP Exam, including 44 processes, and 592 inputs, tools, and outputs. Exam topics are covered and insider secrets, complete explanations of all PMP subjects, test tricks and tips, hundreds of highly realistic sample questions, and exercises designed to strengthen understanding of PMP concepts and prepare managers for exam success on the first attempt are provided.

Customer Reviews & Opinions

Helps you understand and gets you through
The PMP Exam: How to Pass On Your First Try (Test Prep series)

Bought this book, read it for two weeks, used the one week online trial that came with the book and passed the PMP exam last night (June 25, 2009) in my first attempt.

The PMBOK was too dry for me to read and follow. I needed something that helped me explain how PMI thought of project management. I bought this book after doing some research and reading all those glowing reviews here. And my experience has not been any different. This book does exactly as promised. Helps you understand the PMI processes and knowledge areas. Almost everything becomes crystal clear when you read this book rather than just the PMBOK (I do recommend using PMBOK as a reference though). Very intuitively written and arranged. After studying this guide, you will be able to apply the concepts and do very well on the exam.

The questions included in the book and the website give a good idea of what you will be facing in the actual exam. However, there are quite a few on the real exam that are different. Some are very tricky and still some are tough. However, this book will help you get through them. And I believe that’s because it makes the understanding quite clear. So much so that more often than not, you will get the right answer.

Note that this review is for the third edition. The fourth edition will be in effect beginning of July. However, I would trust Andy Crowe with the newer edition too.

Only Source for Passing PMP
HOW I PASSED THE PMP

About 6 years ago in grad school I took an amazing project management class based on the UK standards for project management. I retained some stuff, but most was tucked away somewhere in my brain.

Fall 2008

Took project managmement class for the required PMP credit hours. The class did not have a textbook… only slides that were so disorganized they were basically useless.

May 2008

Read 1 chapter of the PMBOK and gave up. It’s like trying to learn English by reading the dictionary.

Early June 2008

Trolled the internet for study guide > bought the 3rd edition of this book. FYI the test is changing after July 1, 2009 so you will need the next version of this book.

Two Weeks Before Test

The book arrived and I took a Friday off work so I would have a long weekend to read as many chapters as possible. I also answered the questions at the end of each chapter and reviewed the answers to ensure I was getting them correct for the right reasons. I think I got through Chapter 6 at this point. Flashcards work for me… so as I read the chapter I made *hard* flash cards like “Name the 21 processes in the Planning process group”, “Define and describe all of the tools for X process”, etc.

***THIS BOOK IS VERY WELL ORGANIZED, HAS THE RIGHT LEVEL OF DETAIL, AND WAS MY *ONLY* SOURCE FOR PASSING THE EXAM.***

One Week Before Test

Continued reading, answering questions, and making flashcards each night after work.

Weekend Before Test

Took Friday off work and studied 10+ hours per day Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Re-read about some processes that just weren’t sinking in. Drilled the flash cards.

Night Before Test

Took the final exam at the back of the book. I got a 90% but be warned – I’m sorry to say I found the actual test harder. Be sure you are passing this test with flying colors. Read the answers so you know why are you getting things right/wrong.

Test Day

Took the exam and passed.

THINGS I WISH I’D KNOWN…

1) Make sure you read the PMI Code of Ethics before the exam. Trust me!

2) When I sat down at the computer to take the exam, the attendant hit a password to get into the computer and walked away. I started to write down a few formulas like everyone tells you to do. Well, I just happened to look up and was horrified because the computer screen said “If you don’t proceed to the next screen in 8 seconds your exam is over.” Naturally I freaked and scrambled to hit the next button. ***DO NOT WRITE DOWN ANY FORMULAS UNTIL YOU GET THE COMPUTER INTO THE TRAINING MODE.*** Otherwise your exam could be over before it starts.

Great Book
This book was extremely helpful and instrumental in helping me to achieve the PMP certification. It made the information in the PMBOK easier to understand. The first time I took the test I didn’t have Andy Crowe’s book and after not passing the first time I then decided to get this book. I would have like to see the book have at least 2 different final exams to test your PMBOK knowledge further more. Other than that I think is a great book. Also, from another review here I learned about the website www.pmstudy.com – this website offers PMP tests that are close enough to the real thing. This website was also extremely helpful.

I Passed! – Great Book – My Approach
I also highly recommend Crowe’s book. I spent about 65 hours of pretty intense study over the better part of a month to prepare. I carefully studied his book chapter by chapter, heavily marking the material and taking the exercises as I went. Then during the last week I did a complete review of his book and all my markings. I then took the full 200 question final exam at the back of the book, thoroughly reviewing the material in his book for those missed. To round out my testing experience I took another online test from pmstudy.com. That was a harder exam. After taking the exam you can review answers and explanations, which include page reference in the PMBOK. I had joined as a PMI member so was able to download the .pdf version of the PMBOK. I let the missed questions on the pmstudy.com test be my guide for reading relevant material in the PMBOK, and that was really helpful. I also read other areas of the PMBOK recommended by Crowe. All in all the strategy worked well and I passed with flying colors. (I did this with PMBOK version 3 materials. Now that the questions have changed as of July 1 be sure to use version 4 materials going forward.)

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Essentials Of Electronic Testing For Digital, Memory, And Mixed-Signal Vlsi Circuits (Frontiers In Electronic Testing Volume 17) By Vishwani Agrawal

Why Buy A Essentials Of Electronic Testing For Digital, Memory, And Mixed-Signal Vlsi Circuits (Frontiers In Electronic Testing Volume 17) By Vishwani Agrawal?
Todays electronic design and test engineers deal with several types of subsystems, namely, digital, memory, and mixed-signal, each requiring different test and design for testability methods. This book provides a careful selection of essential topics on all three types of circuits. The outcome of testing is product quality, which means `meeting the users needs at a minimum cost. The book includes test economics and techniques for determining the defect level of VLSI chips. Besides being a textbook for a course on testing, it is a complete testability guide for an engineer working on any kind of electronic device or system or a system-on-a-chip.

The book consists of:

Part I: Introduction, Test Process and ATE, Test Economics and Product Quality, Fault Modeling;

Part II: Logic and Fault Simulation, Testability Measures, Combinatorial ATPG, Sequential ATPG, Memory Test, DSP-Based Analog Test, Model-Based Analog Test, Delay Test, IDDQ Test;

Part III: DFT and Scan Design, BIST, Boundary Scan, Analog Test Bus, System Test and Core-Based Design, Future Testing;

Appendices: Cyclic Redundancy Code Theory, Primitive Polynomials, Books on Testing; Bibliography: over 700 entries.

Customer Reviews & Opinions

Excellent textbook for VLSI testing.
This book is, as far as I know, the most comprehensive texbook on VLSI testing available at the moment. It is based on current trends and techniques in the field. After all, the authors are pioneers in this area. A worthy successor to Abramovici’s earlier textbook, which, I think is beginning to look increasingly archaic. As a guy who’s taken a course in testing by the authors (we were the guinea pigs for the book, actually)and is currently working in the VLSI testing area, I strongly recommend it to anyone looking to build strong testing fundamentals.

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