Average customer rating:
- A Doctor Becomes The Patient
- A question of perspective
- Journey of Healing.
- Quietly revolutionary
- on becoming a patient
|
A Leg to Stand On
Oliver Sacks
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Medical
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
| Cardiology
| Critical Care
| Endocrinology & Metabolism
| Gastroenterology
| General
| Hematology
| Hepatology
| Infectious Disease
| Nephrology
| Neurology
| Oncology
| Pulmonary
| Rheumatology
| Urology
Similar Items:
-
Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: AND OTHER CLINICAL TALES
-
Seeing Voices
-
An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
-
Awakenings
-
Migraine
ASIN: 0684853957 |
Book Description
Dr. Oliver Sacks's books Awakenings, An Anthropologist on Mars and the bestselling The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat have been acclaimed for their extraordinary compassion in the treatment of patients affected with profound disorders.
In A Leg to Stand On, it is Sacks himself who is the patient: an encounter with a bull on a desolate mountain in Norway has left him with a severely damaged leg. But what should be a routine recuperation is actually the beginning of a strange medical journey when he finds that his leg uncannily no longer feels part of his body. Sacks's brilliant description of his crisis and eventual recovery is not only an illuminating examination of the experience of patienthood and the inner nature of illness and health but also a fascinating exploration of the physical basis of identity.
Customer Reviews:
A Doctor Becomes The Patient.......2007-05-15
I'd not read any of Sacks' books before, so was unprepared for his writing style. The first chapter is perfect, detailing the frightening encounter with a bull in Norway. In his frenzy to elude it, Sacks terribly injures his leg. He describes his ordeal where he transports himself laboriously down the mountain using his two arms and one good leg.
Reappearance of the bull or getting trapped in the cold mountain area overnight would mean death. His rescue at the eleventh hour completes this part, which could stand alone as a short story.
His hospital stay puts the doctor in the role of patient, and not a very patient one. The impersonal setting, discovery of any lack of feeling or movement in his leg and his active mind dominate this section of the book. He vividly recalls his thoughts, actions and every nightmare from this time. It's a frightening experience to find one's leg insensate and alien to one's self.
I've been reading quite a few biographies about paralysis (Best Seat in the House, My Stroke of Luck, etc.) and this one is in a category by itself. It's extremely cerebral, literary and alternately fascinating and off-putting. At moments you feel his horror at the situation while at other times you think, "pull yourself together."
Since each reader brings their own perspective to reading a book, I still recommend it. See what you think.
A question of perspective.......2007-05-14
This book draws on Dr Sack's personal experience of trauma and recovery. It is an interesting perspective for the doctor to view things from the standpoint of the patient, and it drives home the point that apart from professional competency, excellent interpersonal skills are vital. One must never forget that in dealing with a patient, you relate to him/her as a person first, and as a doctor second. This insight is conveyed clearly here, and as obvious as it might seem, it is often relegated as being of a lesser importance by most medical professionals.
The experience recounted though is overtly detailed and can become rather heavy to digest and a challenge to get through at some parts of the book.
Journey of Healing........2004-02-14
I should stress from the start that this book is extremely well written. It requires a special talent to combine scientific, clinical prose with personal, emotional and philosophical insight. This book is remarkable on many counts, but its value lies in Sacks' honesty, uninhibited rendering of the personal, by and while incorporating his desire to see his profession, neurology and psycho neurology, evolve from a largely `veterinary business", the dualistic approach to the mind as `mental' or `physical', to a science combining both approaches, in what he would like to call the "neurology of identity". In his terms, he would like to see neurology take "a great jump - to jump from the mechanical model, the "classical" model, it has espoused for so long, to a totally personal, self-referential model of the brain and mind". (p.189) This text eloquently strives in this direction.
In the early seventies, Sacks experienced a hiking accident that severely damaged his left leg. This near death experience (he was stranded alone on a mountain miles away from civilization) began a journey of a profound personal nature, existential, professional, philosophical, spiritual and physical, which changed his views about many things. The first chapter, `The Mountain', has all the suspense and narrative style of a well-written thriller. To a large extent, in the next chapter, "Becoming a Patient", has all the hallmarks of the familiar insensitive doctor as mere technician, evolving a more empathetic view of the patient, developing that essential `bedside manner' that can be so lacking, though essential, in the medical profession. Sacks describes his thoughts and feelings as a patient, having to relate his condition and feelings to his carer's, and the utter dread, loneliness, frustration, and alienation that comes with becoming ill and having to be institutionalized as a result. Anyone who has been ill and hospitalized will relate to this chapter.
The essential aspects of the text are the medical insights Sacks' gained as a result of his damaged leg. He experienced first-hand the phenomenon of intense loss of `body-image', that is the damaged leg became entirely `alienated' from his primary consciousness. This is more than just forgetting how to use one's leg after damage, but an actual vanishing of awareness of the limb itself. In his terms, a total collapse of memory/identity/space, "...an abyss or hole: a hole in memory/identity/space" of the limb. He goes on to write, "A Leg to Stand On is not just a story of a leg, but an account, from inside, of what primary consciousness is like; an account such as the experience of alienation..." (P.187)
This book is a splendid tale about the journey of healing. As all great philosophical writing does, it asks us to question ourselves, question our environment and attempt to see what has been right before our eyes from the beginning. It also affirms that human experience is a community affair, that we all share these experiences and can ultimately learn from them.
Quietly revolutionary.......2002-12-27
I must disagree with the reviewer who says Sacks is better when not writing about himself. His whole point in this book, it seems to me, is that we must speak from the "I" (the present consciousness) if we are to understand what he calls a neurology of the self. I think Sacks is one of the best writers working--he embodies the ideal of combining the humanities and the sciences in his eloquent, incisive prose. I found this book quietly revolutionary in its attempt to write a new kind of narrative of the self. I read it in 24 hours and could not put it down.
on becoming a patient.......2002-09-02
On one level, this is a doctor-becomes-patient story, with the many revelations that come to those in medicine who suddenly find themselves at the other end of the stethoscope. For anyone who's been a patient, there's some satisfaction in reading stories like this in which an ill or injured doctor finds out "what it's really like" to be in a hospital bed and more or less at the mercy of the medical profession.
I suppose Oliver Sacks isn't quite a likely candidate for this tables-turned scenario. In his books and TV interviews (e.g., "Glorious Accident"), and in Robin Williams' portrayal of him in "Awakenings," he comes across as anything but the stereotypical doctor. But he learns plenty from his experience anyway, and not just from the imperious surgeon who insists that there's nothing wrong with Sacks now that his leg has been repaired or the jolly hockey-stick nurse who is copeless when he does not respond to physical therapy.
He also learns first hand the terror of being injured, alone, and far from any other humans to rescue him. He experiences the helplessness that can overwhelm a person who not only loses the use of a limb, but as a "patient," loses his identity as an independent person. Sacks' descriptions of his feelings as a patient, sometimes soaring, sometimes despairing, are vividly told and are a reminder to any healthcare worker of the wild fluctuations of emotions that a patient can experience, even from one hour to the next.
Another fascinating aspect of the book is its account of the mystery of healing. Sacks describes in great detail the slow and unpredictable experience of recovering the ability to walk again. And he gives special consideration to the process of "re-entry," as he spends time in a sanatorium, among others who are healing, finally venturing out into the world on his own to rediscover himself and his lost independence.
Sacks is a vivid and analytical writer, with a rich gift of language. This is a slender book, but much is packed into it. It is a journey through the looking glass for any healthcare worker who has never been hospitalized with a serious and debilitating injury or illness, and should be required reading.
Book Description
Looking for a job is intimidating, especially when significant experience is the main thing a job hunter is lacking. In Getting Your Leg in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On, the author, a successful headhunter and job-hunting coach, shares insights and techniques that he learned from working with job hunters at all levels. He presents expert advice, case studies, and strategies for getting the interview, then demonstrating the qualities and skills most likely to convince an employer of one's abilities.
Customer Reviews:
Your New Best Friend!.......2005-07-26
This book is a gem. Not only does it motivate you to market yourself effectively and put yourself "out there", it gives you all the pertinent tools needed to do just that! It has the ability to contextualise the entire job search process, whilst inspiring you to get on with it - assess your abilities, write your resume, write a supremely convincing cover letter, and nail the interview. It is an incredibly easy read that even has the ability to re-energize you when you get the feeling that it's all going nowhere. The advice and answers to tricky questions afforded in this excellent career book are by far the most practical and useful that I have found. Rob Sullivan makes the job search process seem alot less daunting and even fun! There is much to be gained from Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don't Have a Leg to Stand On.
A rising classic.......2005-02-07
Every time I pick up this book I am mystified as to why it hasn't found a broader audience. Yet, perhaps it's because, as Sullivan says in the intro, "you won't find shortcuts or easy answers". Unlike the narrow, often-unsatisfactory assessments that abound on the web or in career centers (interest inventories, personality typings, etc.), Sullivan's approach requires a greater level of responsibility and engagement on the part of the reader. But those willing to put in the time will find a bonanza of sound guidance to help them identify and credibly market their strengths, and hold onto their saddles while riding the interview circuit.
Solid training in advertising plus real world experience (at ad-world giant, Leo Burnett, and as a VP and Senior consultant for an executive recruiting firm) equip Sullivan with the means to define and craft the job search in marketing terms, as well as plenty of insider knowledge of interviewing techniques. Moreover, these recommendations are market-tested: Sullivan suffered through more than 80 interviews before writing the book and leveraging its methods to attain career success.
Sullivan's comparison of the job hunt to a product launch, with potential employer as consumer, orients the job seeker early on toward a realistic and research-driven self-assessment. Subsequent chapters prod the reader through the process of harvesting and quantifying details and variously combining the elements into persuasive, job-specific resumes and covers.
With well-selected quotes, honest field reports and a long, quirky bibliography, Sullivan reveals his humanity-a creative counterbalance to the book's stolid core. Scattered with gems such as the recommendation to keep a work journal of your ideas and contributions, and advice on how to handle time gaps, lateral moves and backward steps, Getting Your Foot in the Door is well-worth its modest price.
Great Information on How to Market Yourself.......2004-03-20
Rob's book is an easy read, and has good insights into how companies approach the recruitment process. It helped me create a very focused resume. I also liked the interview tips. A very concise and useful book.
A Must for Any Job Seeker.......2004-01-15
I was fortunate to have met Rob Sullivan, and in a forty-five minute seminar, he filled me with enough insight to transform my Monster.com resume from generating 1 call in 6 weeks to 5 calls in 4 days! The passion, enthusiasm, and insight I experienced with him personally, fill the pages of his book, which I found to be extremely valuable in my own job search.
Rob's book is interesting, fun, succinct, and filled with wisdom. I found his book much more relevant and useful to me than "What Color is Your Parachute." I highly recommend "Getting Your Foot in the Door" instead.
Not the typical dry "Parachute-like" book.......2003-09-10
What I LOVE about this book is that it's like having your best friend give you a big hug and say, "Don't worry. It's going to be alright. Here's what you need to do."
The case studies are great and really make Rob's points come to life. That, by itself, makes this book different because you can see the difference this approach makes. But don't kid yourself. It takes work. It took me a few weeks just to work through the self-assessment.
If you're looking for a quick fix, magic pill, you aren't likely to find it anywhere. You hold the key to your future. It's up to you to uncover the gold in your background. Thanks to Rob, I'm well on my way.
While this book is particularly valuable for career-changers and entry-level job hunters, I'd recommend this book to anyone.
Product Description
This special Quality Paperback Book Club Edition collects four superb books by Oliver Sacks that, as author says in his preface, "form a sort of series, or evolution,: They also form a canon of the most fascinating, enlightening, and inspiring medical writing of our age.
Product Description
Four of Oliver Sacks books inspiring medical writing
Average customer rating:
|
Two legs to stand on
John De Witt McKee
Manufacturer: Appleton-Century-Crofts
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Diseases
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
| AIDS & HIV
| Brain
| Cancer
| Cardiovascular
| Communicable
| Diabetes
| Digestive Organs
| Extremities
| General
| Psoriasis
| Viral
Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
| Cardiology
| Critical Care
| Endocrinology & Metabolism
| Gastroenterology
| General
| Hematology
| Hepatology
| Infectious Disease
| Nephrology
| Neurology
| Oncology
| Pulmonary
| Rheumatology
| Urology
ASIN: B0007E1BQG |
Product Description
Four books brought together in one edition.
Book Description
A fresh look at how Northern society mobilized to fight the first great modern war. From Gallman's analysis of continuity and change, it seems clear that the conflict was not the great watershed in political, economic, and social development that is often supposed. A concise, readable account....Gallman challenges some conventional wisdom while telling an important and dramatic story. --James M. McPherson. American Ways Series.
Book Description
Susan Sell's book reveals how power in international politics is increasingly exercised by private interests rather than governments. In 1994 the World Trade Organization (WTO) adopted the Agreement in Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), which dictated to states how they should regulate the protection of intellectual property. This book argues that TRIPS resulted from lobbying by powerful multinational corporations who wished to mould international law to protect their markets.
Customer Reviews:
Emergence of TRIPS.......2005-11-22
The purpose of the book is to explain the emergence of a more ambitious global intellectual property regime in the form of the TRIPS (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights) agreement - one of several agreements to emerge from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations. The main argument is that TRIPS emerged primarily as a result of good organization and transnational consensus building on the part of a small group of leaders of multinational corporations called the Intellectual Property Committee (IPC), and the coincidence of the perceived interests of that group with key governments such as that of the United States. In the last chapter, Susan Sell shows how these circumstances did not exist for other Uruguay Round agreements and that, as a result, those agreements were weaker. She also argues that the TRIPS agreement represents an overly aggressive interpretation of intellectual property rights to the advantage of multinational corporations and that a political backlash against this is already underway.
This is a real contribution to the field for the following reasons. There is a very good overview of the rationale behind the granting of intellectual property rights and a very careful analysis of who wins and loses with strict enforcement of laws protecting intellectual property rights. There is also an unusually detailed analysis of the slow evolution of intellectual property laws in the United States that set up the conditions for a change toward more extensive grants of rights in the last two decades. The analysis of the politics of negotiating the TRIPS agreement is an excellent and original contribution to the growing literature on the Uruguay Round. Finally, there is a very good theoretical discussion, relevant mainly to theorists of international relations, about the so-called "structure-agency" problem.
I would compare this book favorably with Wayne Sandholtz's excellent work, High Tech Europe. It also holds up well in comparison with Laura Tyson's Who's Bashing Whom? I don't think it is a blockbuster book, but rather a solid piece of scholarship in an important and somewhat neglected area and that it will represent a standard for future scholarly work on its subject.
Brilliant study of the politics of intellectual property.......2003-07-29
This is a very important and highly topical book, which shows in an accessible and persuasive manner how big business has played a decisive role in guiding the international regulation of intellectual property protection. It should be read not only by scholars and students of international politics, but by all those interested in how intellectual property relates to and impacts on international trade, the global expansion of the US entertainment, software and drug industries, and also the health needs of people in developing countries including those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
One of the book's strengths is that it is very well researched, being based on interviews with many of the key players. Another is that the author lets the facts speak for themselves rather than rams home a particular point of view. Nonetheless, the book is bound to make the reader feel indignant in the way that the global intellectual property regime seems to favour the interests of the rich and powerful over those of the poor and powerless.
In short, the book is now the definitive guide to the politics of TRIPS, and I recommend it highly.
politics of TRIPS.......2003-07-25
This book provides a fascinating perspective on the politics underlying the TRIPS Agreement. It demonstrates the unique power that strong, well financed interest groups possess when legislative obligations are made at the international level. Anyone working specifically on international intellectual property issues would do well to read this book.
Two pages of content packed into just 188 pages!.......2003-07-11
There must be some value to this thesis, but I haven't found it. A two page summary of TRIPS would have sufficed.
Average customer rating:
|
Walking the Beach to Bellingham (Northwest Reprints)
Harvey Manning
Manufacturer: Oregon State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ecotourism
| Specialty Travel
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Washington
| States
| United States
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Beaches
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
North America
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Washington
| State & Local
| United States
| Americas
| History
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Insiders' Guide to Bellingham and Mount Baker (Insiders' Guide Series)
ASIN: 087071547X |
Book Description
"This is simply one of my favorite books." —Robert Michael Pyle
In this unique memoir, noted writer, environmental activist, and Pacific Northwest native Harvey Manning describes a memorable walk along the shoreline from Seattle to Bellingham—a 150-mile trek on which Manning covered nearly 3,000 foot-miles over a two-year period of walking routes in the lowlands and foothills of the Puget Basin.
Harvey Manning is the author of many Northwest trail guides, but this is no trail guide. It is a beautifully written tale of "low adventure," a personal account of Manning's experiences and thoughts during his long walk, mingled with memories of particular beaches over many decades and reflections on the area's natural history.
First published in 1986, "Walking the Beach to Bellingham" contains a message sure to resonate with readers today. Manning's local wanderings underscore his strong belief in staying put and exploring one's home place. "Generally, people should stay home," he writes. "Forget gaining a little knowledge about a lot and strive to learn a lot about a little."
Hikers who use and love Manning's popular trail guides will welcome this new edition of "Walking the Beach to Bellingham," as will environmentalists, serious walkers, readers of nature writing, and anyone who feels at home on the shores of Puget Sound.
"Harvey Manning is a life-long outdoorsman whose feelings for the natural world and passion for its preservation have been deeply imprinted upon the American consciousness." —Jim Whittaker, first American to climb Mount Everest
"This is simply one of my favorite books of all time. Harvey Manning, a devilishly sainted campaigner for the land and a great curmudgeonly wit, makes the best companion you could want for this odd and wondrous walk, this true Thoreauvian saunter. Between all the kipper snacks, high tides, and hellberries, 'Walking the Beach to Bellingham' strides with a fine literary reach, snapping and singing with wonder and whim." —Robert Michael Pyle, author of "Chasing Monarchs: Migrating with the Butterflies of Passage"
"What an exhilarating stride Harvey Manning hits in this remarkable hike along our inland sea." —Ivan Doig, author of "This House of Sky" and "Winter Brothers"
"This series of walks must have set a record for wetness—Manning slogged through sloughs, mud flats, flood deltas; he states that this is not a trail guide, but a personal reconnaissance of a beloved territory. For hikers and anyone with a sense of place." —Publishers Weekly
Books:
- A Memoir of Jane Austen: and Other Family Recollections (Oxford World's Classics)
- A Year in the Maine Woods
- American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880 - 1964
- Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey
- As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
- Bernadette Speaks: A Life of St. Bernadette Soubirous in Her Own Words
- Between God and Gangsta Rap: Bearing Witness to Black Culture
- Bismarck and the German Empire
- Broken Music: A Memoir
- But He Was Good to His Mother : The Lives and Crimes of Jewish Gangsters
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Undomestic Goddess
- The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror
- Tears of Pride
- Santa Fe Rules
- Silver Is For Secrets
- Natural Swimming Pools: Inspiration For Harmony With Nature
- Savage Summit: The Life and Death of the First Women of K2
- Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Work, Culture, and Education
- Nature Guide to the Mountains of Southern California by Car & Foot: Including: The San Gabriel,
- ABOUT KELP
