Average customer rating:
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- Wonderful, very moving....
- Inspiring
- Running With Angels: The Inspiring Jouney of a Women Who Turned Personal Tragedy into Triumph Over Obesity.
- very nice book
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Running With Angels: The Inspiring Journey of a Woman Who Turned Personal Tragedy into Triumph Over Obesity
Pamela H. Hansen
Manufacturer: Deseret Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Tanita BC554 Ironman Glass InnerScan Body Composition Monitor Elite Series
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Luna Bars, Nutz Over Chocolate, 1.69-Ounce Bars (Pack of 15)
ASIN: 1590383818 |
Book Description
The inspiring journey of a woman who turned personal tragedy into triumph over obesity
On a beautiful April morning in 2001, Pamela Hansen decided to do something she hadn't done for a very long time. She decided to walk. Fearful that she would not be able to take more than a few steps with her morbidly obese body, she was desperate to focus her attention on something other than the tragedies of her life - the death of an infant daughter, the cruel and debilitating autoimmune diseases that had attacked two other children, and finally the stillbirth of a son just a few weeks earlier. The first walk, which lasted just 10 minutes, was the beginning of an amazing journey that ultimately led to a 100-pound weight loss (without surgery or pills) and the fulfillment of her dream to run a marathon.
In Running with Angels, Pam shares both her struggles and her success, using the marathon race as a metaphor for facing life's challenges. She candidly discusses the pain of living with obesity and the hopelessness that accompanies it. More important, she offers practical suggestions for anyone trying to reach a goal, particularly a goal of weight loss, and shows how small steps over time can help you realize your dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Not so good.......2007-09-21
I picked up this book at the Library the other day. It is really terribly sad what this woman and her family has struggled through, however, I thought it was too much about her "loss" of children and not about her weight "loss". I really sympathize with her tragedies and wonder how one can truly hold it together while dealing with life. However, the reason I got the book was for its "journey of a woman struggling with obesity". While reading the back cover of the book it focuses and leads the reader to believe that the book is about trying to reach goals, particularly weight loss goals, and her struggles and successes with weight. I think this book is best as a self help book for families dealing with losses and not a weight loss book. The whole Mormon religion/blessings throughout the book was a bit too much for me as well. Pass.
Wonderful, very moving...........2007-03-09
Don't read this book without some tissues! Loved it, loved it, loved it!
Inspiring.......2006-09-21
To me this book was not so much about losing weight, grieving and running as about setting goals and doing your best to reach them even when it's hard. It's also about making time for yourself, prioritizing, having a postive self image, and just doing the best that you can. I enjoyed the book all except after she lost 50 pounds, it stopped telling the story and started talking for a long time about random stories of how she felt when people looked at her, etc. It seemed out of place and too long but that may be because I don't have those kind of feelings. I'm sure a lot of other people would relate to the stories. Over all it's very good and inspiring and I would recommend it to any woman even if they weren't struggling with weight.
Running With Angels: The Inspiring Jouney of a Women Who Turned Personal Tragedy into Triumph Over Obesity........2006-07-31
This was a wonderful book. I could'nt put it down.
very nice book.......2006-06-15
I read the book that Pamela Hansen has written, Running with Angels, and I thought that it was a very beautiful book. We are in a book club at our church and we read it for that. I felt it pull my heartstrings because I am a very obese person myself. I have started walking with my children. They are still young, so they can go a long way. I do struggle everyday, just like Pam did. It was a lovely book, I suggest it a must to read to anyone. 5 stars!
Average customer rating:
- Good Start
- Greg Campbell - You're a great writer
- A good quick read on the Balkans
- No thanks
- Clear, well organized, and to the point.
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The Road to Kosovo: A Balkan Diary
Greg Campbell
Manufacturer: Westview Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0813337674 |
Amazon.com
In the summer of 1998, freelance journalist Greg Campbell got into a rental car in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, and drove across Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro into Kosovo, where Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic had recently begun stepping up an ongoing "ethnic cleansing" campaign against the ethnic Albanians who make up the majority of the region's population. Staying with local journalists--some of whom were also part of the underground Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)--Campbell was forced to confront the consequences of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
But, he notes, what happened in that region is equally, if not ultimately, the consequence of the ineffective "protection" offered by NATO forces, including American troops. Drawing on his observations from a 1996 trip to Bosnia, Campbell elaborates upon the unwillingness of those in command of the implementation (later known as stabilization) forces, or SFOR--particularly the American commanders--to do anything more than the bare minimum required by the 1995 Dayton peace accord. Consequently, many Serbian war criminals enjoyed continued liberty, civil unrest continued to flare, and SFOR blamed local authorities for not solving the problem. Under those conditions, Campbell argues, it was inevitable that Kosovo would become another Bosnia.
The Road to Kosovo provides valuable background on the conflict between the Serbs and the Kosovars and NATO's track record in keeping the peace in the Balkans. It is also filled with chilling images of the chaos and terror of modern war. The book should be read by anyone hoping to understand why the 1999 intervention by NATO could take place--and how it might have to differ from earlier actions in order to be judged a success. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
Updated with two new chapters from his most recent 1999 trip to Kosovo, the author observes the on-the-ground impact of the peace agreement with Milosevic and the NATO peacekeepers' efforts to repair the region
This first-person, on-the-road travel adventure takes us through one of the most dangerous and hate-filled regions on earth-the former republics of Yugoslavia-and into a land still reeling from months of brutal combat. Told in a fast-paced, rollicking style that's funny, sad, thoughtful, and at times horrifying, The Road to Kosovo shows us war and the struggle for peace through the eyes of a young journalist. Two new concluding chapters, written after the author's 1999 visit to Kosovo, provide a rare, on-the-ground assessment of the impact of the NATO peacekeeping mission and the peace agreement with Milosevic. The poignant scenes of death, confusion, and hopelessness that Campbell observes -not from media tents but from the homes of locals, in their bars, and on the side of the road-hearken ominously back to the first days of the peace mission in Bosnia. A vivid, uneasy picture emerges of a region resistant to lasting peace.
Customer Reviews:
Good Start.......2002-04-06
I think this book details why politicians and large political / military organizations like NATO have such a difficulty in successfully performing low level military conflicts like the peacekeeping effort in the Yugoslavia region. This book details by representing the destruction and ongoing fighting, just how ineffective the peacekeeping process was at the start due to a half-hearted commitment by the political leaders. The military in the conventional sense, is not a police force or social working group, the purpose of the military is to destroy the enemy. When asking this force to go about a job they are not designed for with one hand tied behind their back and the constant fear of every decision being second-guessed, is there any surprise that the effort did not work for some time.
I think this book provides one with a good start to understanding the civil war in Kosovo. I think one would need more details to have a better understanding of what will need to take place for this area to live in peace. A good follow up would be to read Waging Modern War by Wesley Clark.
Greg Campbell - You're a great writer.......2001-04-18
Well,first of all I must admit that I'm halfway the book now but I'm already able to recommend this book. I had a library copy at home when I bought this book and to be honest I was sorry I did that because I could read the book for free BUT in the very first pages thanks to the writing of Mr.Campbell I have congratulated this book for getting a place in the bookshelf of mine called "Only the best books I've ever read in my life". This book is so good as it tells things as they were.Mr.Campbell tells the truth and doesnt sympathise anybody except the justice. His writing is amazing and you wouldn't be surprise when you get transfered so easily into a strange world full of mysteries. I try to buy every single book about my country and I have plenty of those but "The Road to Kosovo" is the best one. I'll finish by saying -Even if you read 100 books in this subject you wont be able to find as much true information as in this one. And YOU'LL GET TO KNOW THE BOSNIA,KOSOVA AS YOU KNOW YOUR OWN COUNTRY - AND THAT'S ALL THANKS TO GREG CAMPBELL
A good quick read on the Balkans.......2000-05-15
The Road to Kosovo A Balkan Diary was a good fast read. I found his experiences similar to a "road trip" I had taken through the R.S. and Croatia with Bosniak License Plates while on vacation during my year working for the U.N. The book gives you a good feel for a foreigner's impression of the area.
No thanks.......2000-03-26
I have never read a more cynical writer than Campbell. He shows no restraint in his description of Kosovo,in his opinion,nothing more than ugly brown hills with "ragged" natives. He spends much of his time ridiculing albanians and where they live.I used to live in Kosovo,and i can assure you it wasn't that bad. As for the serbs,they get treated a bit differently. Apparently,the serbs aren't really bad people,just led by manipulative leaders. Utter nonsense. Serbs might not agree with Milosevic on most things,but they agreed with him on Kosovo. Blaming evil leaders is far too convenient.
Clear, well organized, and to the point........1999-07-06
I felt like I was there with Campbell as he tried to sort out the good guys from the bad guys without getting shot by either. His analysis of the Balkan quagmire, while presented in clear, logical language, does not give me much hope for a happy ending anytime soon over there. I understand Campbell is going back over there shortly. I look forward to reading what his take is on the changes that have occured since his last visit.
Average customer rating:
- Scenarios of better futures -- "democratically endorsed hope"
- A new paradigm for shaping our future
- Determinism dies another little death
- Determinism dies another little death
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Creating Better Futures: Scenario Planning As a Tool for A Better Tomorrow
James A. Ogilvy
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0195146115 |
Book Description
As a founder and managing director of Global Business Network, James Ogilvy helped develop the technique of scenario planning, which has become an integral part of strategic thinking in both business and government. Now Ogilvy shows how we can use this cutting-edge method for social change in our own neighborhoods. In Creating Better Futures, Ogilvy presents a profound new vision of how the world is changing--and how it can be changed for the better. Ogilvy argues that self-defined communities, rather than individuals or governments, have become the primary agents for social change. Towns, professional associations, and interest groups of all kinds help shape the future in all the ways that matter most, from schools and hospitals to urban development. The key to improvement is scenario planning--a process that draws on groups of people, both lay and expert, to draft narratives that spell out possible futures, some to avoid, some inspiring hope. Scenario planning has revolutionized both public and private planning, leading to everything from the diverse product lines that have revived the auto industry, to a timely decision by the state of Colorado to avoid pouring millions into an oil-shale industry that never materialized. But never before has anyone proposed that it be taken up by society as a whole. Drawing on years of experience in both academia and the private sector, where he developed both a keen sense of how businesses work best and an abiding passion for changing the world, James Ogilvy provides the tools we need to create better communities: better health, better education, better lives.
Customer Reviews:
Scenarios of better futures -- "democratically endorsed hope".......2006-05-17
Jay Ogilvy begins this book by observing that "There is nothing inevitable about better futures. We have to create them." This is a powerful early statement of his approach toward the yet-to-be, which repudiates a singular and predictive mode of knowing. That is, he argues, we co-author the future through our actions, and we must take responsibility for that process. The burden of the book is to explain how and why we can coherently do so.
So although it may seem at first to be a methodological work, this is more of a philosophical meditation on what lies behind the scenario planning methodology; an exposition of the worldview which informs and makes scenaric thinking, especially normative scenarios, viable. For detail on how to actually do scenario planning, we are referred to previous, more manual-like works by such authors as Kees van der Heijden and Peter Schwartz. Ogilvy's focus is different, and he shows how scenarios provide the catalyst for a conversation among communities about what they want to become. Rather than holding the perils of judgment or moral commitment at arm's length, then, as much academic work modeled on supposedly "hard" science wants to do, in this arena he argues for its importance. "World-weary pessimism seems so much more intellectually respectable than even the most educated hope. However, I would argue...that the fashionable face of all-knowing despair is finally immoral. Granted, the bubble-headed optimism of Pangloss and Polyanna are equally immoral. A refusal to look at poverty or oppression can contribute to their perpetuation; but so can a cynical commitment to their inevitability."
Ogilvy takes it upon himself to show how the practice of normative scenario planning anticipates a paradigm shift currently occurring in the "human sciences", by embracing an interpretive, relational, ethically pluralistic - but not shallowly relativistic - worldview. He situates this thinking in the broad currents of contemporary thought by reference to literary criticism, anthropology, psychology, sociology and other disciplines. Rather than claiming entirely original scholarship, then, here he joins "familiar dots in relatively unfamiliar ways". The book ranges across a vast and various intellectual territory in search of a sound basis for normative futures work. In my view he finds it, and presents it, extremely well. For example, he suggests an intriguing parallel between the trajectory of literary criticism and that of studying the future. In interpretation, the tendency has gradually shifted from an original emphasis on the author's intentions, to the text itself, and finally to the role of the reader in constructing her own meaning. Similarly, studying the future was long conceived as an attempt to reveal "God's intentions", after which it became mainly a scientific attempt to trace the story etched in the patterns of history, or reality itself; and finally it has emerged as a matter of creating worlds and meanings for our own purposes. (Rather than being merely "readers" of the world, though, we can now see ourselves of the authors of our own story, thereby closing the interpretive loop.)
This philosophical approach may sound specialized, but in fact it reads as a startlingly clarifying and accessible portrait of the best practice in thinking about possible futures; things that haven't happened yet. Rather than writing an instructional guide to scenario planning he takes the trouble to explain how and why the worldview underpinning this strategy makes sense, and how the whole philosophical current of the West of our age is tending in this direction. It is therefore suitable and relevant to a far broader possible audience. Ogilvy's philosophy experience allows him to understand complex writers and thinkers, but his business background has forced him to avoid the communicative obscurantism that accompanies them. He wants to use the ideas, but extracts these from their ugly and intimidating packaging for use in a purer and more potent form. He navigates us through the dilemma of relativism (anything goes) vs absolutism (My Way, My Tradition...) and comes out with a relational worldview and an endorsement of pluralist ethics.
Ogilvy describes the book as an "odd mix of philosophy and consulting". The book is indeed a rare hybrid, like its author, part-academic and part-consultant. And it may equally puzzle purist philosophers and dedicated profiteers. However, for anyone interested in being able to bridge the thought-worlds of academia and business (or thought and action; principles and profits), this combination is not only refreshing to read, it's a definite strength. Ogilvy has had a chance to "test in the marketplace" the ideas he picked up in philosophy, and the test has made them stronger. So, an odd mix it may be, but it's one pulled off so persuasively and elegantly that the book warrants the close attention of not only those already concerned with futures studies, but more broadly, anyone concerned about how quality thinking about the future ought to look. In this respect I am reminded of The Ecology of Commerce, by Paul Hawken, a former colleague of Ogilvy. (They were two thirds of the team that wrote Seven Tomorrows, an early scenarios book; the third musketeer was fellow GBN Peter Schwartz, who provides a brief but helpful foreword in this volume.)
Overall this is an excellent, erudite and very well written contribution to the thinking behind scenario planning, and is highly recommended to those in search of a comprehensive, theoretically informed account of that methodology, or indeed a broader sense of the importance and value of a normative orientation in discussing possible futures in any community.
A new paradigm for shaping our future.......2004-02-20
How do we achieve our futures? Is our future predetermined? How much of our future can we extrapolate from our past and our present? These are questions which James Ogilvy addresses in this book.
Ogilvy has an impressive background in both academia and the business world. Before co-founding the Global Business Network, he was a Professor of Philosophy at Yale and Williams, and a social researcher with the Stanford Research Institute (Values and Lifestyles Program). In Creating Better Futures he draws on all his experiences in these fields to outline what he sees as an emerging paradigm of how we view and shape society. This paradigm he calls the 'relational worldview': a view of the world which highlights relationships and interdependencies across and in spite of differences.
Ogilvy devotes a large part of the book to outlining his worldview - he identifies social structures which were dominant in the past & explains why they are no longer sufficient to provide us with the futures we want. Then he relates his argument for a new world view to shifts he sees in other social sciences, namely anthropology and literary criticism: the shift from objectivity to subjectivity, from things to symbols and relationships, from determinism to ambiguity and the existence of many different but equal possibilities which arise from meanings created and shared by and within groups.
Ogilvy points out that we already have at hand the essentials for creating a better tomorrow; the three key elements of players, values and tools we need are easily identified once we look at the world through the new paradigm of the relational worldview. He rejects the Religious Institutions of past eras, and the Governments and Marketplace of the modern era, as major players in future society. Placing individualist and collective societies at two opposite ends of the same spectrum of social organization, he identifies individuals within communities as the new actors in making decisions.
Similarly, the social values of this new paradigm are not found in the absolutism or determinism of religion, or the scientific objectivity of modernism. Nor are they found in the subjective relativism of postmodernism. Rather, values are found in the ethical pluralism of interrelated communities - an ongoing process whereby communities share their hopes and negotiate meanings as they try to get along with each other.
Recognizing that in an increasingly interdependent world there are a multiplicity of religions, races, standards, norms and values, Ogilvy's worldview identifies scenario-building as the tool best suited for creating better futures. Scenario-building is a process which provides a venue for a individuals and groups within a community to assess, articulate and negotiate its hopes and values for a better future. In the final chapters of the book Ogilvy gives a brief outline and some illustrations of the practice of scenario planning.
This is stimulating, though not easy, book to read. Adopting a new perspective is always challenging, and Ogilvy has included a lot of abstract philosophical, sociological and literary theories as he builds his case for a new worldview. However I chose this book because I wanted to read more than another "How to .." book - I wanted a book that would situate the technique of scenario-building in a wider social and global context. Ogilvy's well-considered paradigm provides a very good starting-point for us to contemplate as we try to negotiate our shrinking and increasingly interdependent world.
Determinism dies another little death.......2003-02-20
Compiled in part as a rebuttal to those who see the future through a dystopian lens (i.e. Orwell and company), Ogilvy offers this book as a refusal to accept either the notion that we are a doomed people, or that we must settle for "good enough" in contemplating progress and the future. He offers scenario building as the premiere tool for creating multiple, multicultural futures, based upon a "relational worldview". In doing so, Ogilvy tackles positivism and relativism, values and ethics, and the importance of true pluralism to creating better futures.
Ogilvy is well equipped for the task. With a doctorate in philosophy from Yale University, he has taught at that venerable institution, as well as at the University of Texas, and Williams College. He has been interested in the relationships between human values and consumer societies, and headed the "Values and Lifestyles" research project at the think tank, SRI International (formerly known as Stanford Research Institute). He worked in scenario building with Peter Schwartz for Royal Dutch/Shell, and later co-founded Global Business Network (GBN) with Schwartz and others. At GBN, he specializes in corporate scenario planning and research on futures in business environments. He has also authored, Living Without a Goal (1994), China's Futures (with Peter Schwartz - 2000), and Many Dimensional Man (1977), as well as numerous other publications through SRI.
Ogilvy fleshes out his relational worldview in the first part of the book, where he traces the move from mysticism to rationalism, and the evolving recognition of the inter-relatedness of the world today. Emphasizing the growth of elaborate networks of information and obviously competing visions of the future, Ogilvy constructs an extremely useful framework for beginning to consider potential futures in the world at large. He considers changing relations in religion, politics, and economics, in the struggle between individual and collectivist posturing and power, and weaves together multiple, shifting disciplinary views in the human sciences, and interprets these into a new view of the world that avoids the excesses of zealots and nihilists alike.
Ogilvy takes a chapter to discuss the application of particular features of this new world to normative scenario building. Recognizing the philosophical shift from things to symbols, the growing emphasis on relationships, the shift to narration from explanation, and the questionability of "timeless norms", Ogilvy cautions against wholesale subjective relativism, and instead holds out the possibility of what he calls the democratization of meaning, and paths towards ethical pluralism, that strives to unite the normal, or what exists, with the normative, what ought to be. In this model, ambiguity is always present, and the potential for multiple interpretations is rife - and a source of welcome creativity. Likewise, the idea of heterarchy, a sort of hyperlinkish anti-hierarchy, creates opportunities for multiplicity as well. Rather than trying to devise the One True Path based on immutable "laws" of nature, multiple paths are carved out that represent the shared hopes and dreams of community and communities.
By Part Four, entitled New Rules, New Tools, it is quite obvious how scenario building works hand in hand with the relational worldview and ethical pluralism Ogilvy has discussed. The rest of the book is devoted to the use of the scenario building tool, with examples of scenario building in action in first an educational context, and then a healthcare context. He closes by reiterating why even thinking about one best future is no more possible that thinking about one best way of being human, and encourages the visualization of a "rich ecology of species in the gardens of the sublime."
The strengths of this book are many; it is an extremely enjoyable read, with just enough additional sources to round it up to a "scholarly" tome. In the best scenario building tradition, the thesis of the book is cohesive and plausible, and is an especially refreshing departure from much of the scenario building literature, that too frequently focuses on business applications and barely questioned assumptions defined by buzzwords. Ogilvy stresses the need for passion and pluralism to co-exist, reminds us of the true potential of communal/social creativity, and suggests the possibility of exhilaration in imaginations unfettered. Creating Better Futures is aptly named, and offers an "Etch-a-Sketch" blueprint to be used over and over to do just that.
Determinism dies another little death.......2003-02-20
Compiled in part as a rebuttal to those who see the future through a dystopian lens (i.e. Orwell and company), Ogilvy offers this book as a refusal to accept either the notion that we are a doomed people, or that we must settle for "good enough" in contemplating progress and the future. He offers scenario building as the premiere tool for creating multiple, multicultural futures, based upon a "relational worldview". In doing so, Ogilvy tackles positivism and relativism, values and ethics, and the importance of true pluralism to creating better futures.
Ogilvy is well equipped for the task. With a doctorate in philosophy from Yale University, he has taught at that venerable institution, as well as at the University of Texas, and Williams College. He has been interested in the relationships between human values and consumer societies, and headed the "Values and Lifestyles" research project at the think tank, SRI International (formerly known as Stanford Research Institute). He worked in scenario building with Peter Schwartz for Royal Dutch/Shell, and later co-founded Global Business Network (GBN) with Schwartz and others. At GBN, he specializes in corporate scenario planning and research on futures in business environments. He has also authored, Living Without a Goal (1994), China's Futures (with Peter Schwartz - 2000), and Many Dimensional Man (1977), as well as numerous other publications through SRI.
Ogilvy fleshes out his relational worldview in the first part of the book, where he traces the move from mysticism to rationalism, and the evolving recognition of the inter-relatedness of the world today. Emphasizing the growth of elaborate networks of information and obviously competing visions of the future, Ogilvy constructs an extremely useful framework for beginning to consider potential futures in the world at large. He considers changing relations in religion, politics, and economics, in the struggle between individual and collectivist posturing and power, and weaves together multiple, shifting disciplinary views in the human sciences, and interprets these into a new view of the world that avoids the excesses of zealots and nihilists alike.
Ogilvy takes a chapter to discuss the application of particular features of this new world to normative scenario building. Recognizing the philosophical shift from things to symbols, the growing emphasis on relationships, the shift to narration from explanation, and the questionability of "timeless norms", Ogilvy cautions against wholesale subjective relativism, and instead holds out the possibility of what he calls the democratization of meaning, and paths towards ethical pluralism, that strives to unite the normal, or what exists, with the normative, what ought to be. In this model, ambiguity is always present, and the potential for multiple interpretations is rife - and a source of welcome creativity. Likewise, the idea of heterarchy, a sort of hyperlinkish anti-hierarchy, creates opportunities for multiplicity as well. Rather than trying to devise the One True Path based on immutable "laws" of nature, multiple paths are carved out that represent the shared hopes and dreams of community and communities.
By Part Four, entitled New Rules, New Tools, it is quite obvious how scenario building works hand in hand with the relational worldview and ethical pluralism Ogilvy has discussed. The rest of the book is devoted to the use of the scenario building tool, with examples of scenario building in action in first an educational context, and then a healthcare context. He closes by reiterating why even thinking about one best future is no more possible that thinking about one best way of being human, and encourages the visualization of a "rich ecology of species in the gardens of the sublime."
The strengths of this book are many; it is an extremely enjoyable read, with just enough additional sources to round it up to a "scholarly" tome. In the best scenario building tradition, the thesis of the book is cohesive and plausible, and is an especially refreshing departure from much of the scenario building literature, that too frequently focuses on business applications and barely questioned assumptions defined by buzzwords. Ogilvy stresses the need for passion and pluralism to co-exist, reminds us of the true potential of communal/social creativity, and suggests the possibility of exhilaration in imaginations unfettered. Creating Better Futures is aptly named, and offers an "Etch-a-Sketch" blueprint to be used over and over to do just that.
Average customer rating:
- durrell continues
- Aye-aye!
- Durrell has gotten old and it shows
- loquacious lemurs make good
- Aye-ayes are wonderful!
|
The Aye-Aye and I: A Rescue Journey to Save One of the World's Most Intriguing Creatures from Extinction
Gerald Durrell
Manufacturer: Touchstone
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My Family and Other Animals
ASIN: 0671884395 |
Book Description
Here is the riveting tale of Gerald Durrell's adventures and misadventures in the enchanted forests of Madagascar, in search of the elusive Aye-aye.
Once thought to be extinct, the Aye-aye, the beast with the magic finger, still lurks, though in fast dwindling numbers, in the forests of Madagascar. Durrell's mission to help save this strange creature turns into a madcap journey in which you will meet not only the enigmatic Aye-aye, but the catlike Fosa, the Flat-tailed tortoise, the Gentle lemurs of Lac Alaotra, and the Malagasy chameleons, among others. Truly nothing escapes Durrell's sharp eye, whether he is describing the great zoma (market), the village dances, the treacherous bridges and river crossings, the strange foods and stranger music, or the vagaries of local officialdom.
As the San Francisco Chronicle noted, "It is impossible for Gerald Durrell to write anything that is less than exuberant, eccentric, and amusing." And in his account of this "rescue mission", Durrell is, quite simply, at his superb best.
Customer Reviews:
durrell continues.......2006-10-29
This book is another interesting as well as entertaining product from Gerald Durrell, drawing on his lifetime as a collector and conservator of endangered and unusual wildlife. Well worth reading - several times!
Aye-aye!.......2003-12-08
With a career spanning decades and continents, and with a gift for writing witty and articulate accounts of his animal-catching adventures in so many different times & places, it seems predictable that the originality and enthusiasm which Gerald Durrell offers should vary from story to story or from book to book. And they do; some volumes are ecstatically joyous and quite fast-paced, while a few stories drag a bit or feature rather sarcastic caricatures of certain persons. Overall, however, I find Durrell's writing some of the most amusing and informative stuff that I've encountered in the last year. Therefore I have bought a copy of every Gerald Durrell title that I've located. It's quality stuff that I intend to keep long-term and reccomend to friends. "The AyeAye and I" is no exception, and I am pleased to have a hardcover edition. Thanks, Amazon!
Durrell has gotten old and it shows.......2003-11-20
I have always admired Gerald Durrell as a writer; his zoological/ecological achievements, while very noteworthy, have not been so important to me when reading his books.
From this standpoint, 'Aye-aye and I' was a great disappointment; the sparkling humor of 'Three Tickets to Adventure' and especially 'My Family and Other Animals' has all but disappeared. The author has gotten old and bitter and it really shows throughout the book. He keeps complaining about the degrading ecological state of Madagascar, his own health and other issues, and while his environmental concerns are undoubtedly valid, it makes the book a somewhat depressing read.
Now if you have actual interest in lemurs, Madagascar or Durrell's scientific work, by all means go ahead and by this book. However, if you are looking for something entertaining, skip it and get some of his older works instead.
loquacious lemurs make good.......2002-08-24
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, being already more than sold on the value proposition presented by lemurs of all shapes and sizes. I'm convinced that the lemur is destined to become the most popular primate of the millenium, and this book should be at the top of the charts for those wishing to catch the rising tide of lemur fanatics. The San Francisco Zoo's new Lipman Family Lemur Forest exhibit presents two of only twelve Aye-ayes in the United States, and having visited it recently I now plan to return next weekend to apply the newfound in-depth Aye-aye background I've gleaned from my reading of this book. Moreover, lemurs are but the tip of the iceberg here! Rife with hilarious descriptions of Giant Jumping rats, tortoises, and grubs of all shapes and sizes, Durrell's personal tone, dry wit, and entertaining presentation kept me amused and reading until the wee hours of the morn. I'll be seeking out more of his works, and would happily recommend this to anyone with an interest in lemurs, obscure regions of the world, travel, conservation, the Aye-aye, and furry or reptilian critters, period.
Aye-ayes are wonderful!.......2001-01-09
This book was absolutely fabulous. As a college student interested in someday studying aye-ayes in the forests of Madagascar, reading this book was sheer pleasure. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested at all in lemurs, Madagascar, or simply in animal anecdotes or conservation.
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