Book Description
Adam Kahane spent years working in the world's hotspots, and came away with a new understanding of how to resolve conflict in a way that seems reasonable - and doable - to all parties. The result is Solving Tough Problems. Written in a relaxed, persuasive style, this is not a "how-to" book with glib answers, but rather, a very personal story of the author's progress from a young "expert" convinced of the need to provide cold, "correct" answers to an effective facilitator of positive change - by learning how to create environments that enable new ideas and creative solutions to emerge. The book explores the connection between individual learning and institutional change, and how leaders can move beyond politeness and formal statements, beyond routine debate and defensiveness, toward deeper and more productive dialogue. Both tough and inspiring, the book explores models, technologies, and examples that foster and facilitate "dialogues of the heart."
Customer Reviews:
Listening and generative dialogue.......2006-08-14
Adam Kahane (2004) said that a friend of his told him that the old "1960s slogan `If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem' actually misses the most important about effecting change. The slogan should be, he said, `If you're not part of the problem, you can't be part of the solution.' If we cannot see how what we are doing or not doing is contributing to things being the way that they are, then logically we have no basis at all, zero leverage, for changing the ways things are--except from the outside, by persuasion or force" (pp. 83-84).
Any problem is part of a system, in other words, and if we are experiencing the problem, then we must, by definition, be a part of the problem. This book explores this concept and provides many tools and examples to help resolve conflict through deep listening and generative dialogue.
Enables deeper connections across communities.......2006-07-11
Mr. Kahane's book is the tip of the iceberg - a great start for someone looking for reflective practice that provides the skills and methods for addressing difficult challenges - individually and organizationally. The perspectives in Solving Tough Problems are from the heart, and present a valuable contribution to the growing awareness of how social technologies can provide containers for creating new realities...definitely recommended!
Jerry's review on Solving Tough Problems.......2006-03-17
At last! An easy to read book true to Bohm's vision of dialogue that will begin moving the subject from an esoteric phenomenon to a practice attainable by many. This book should not be considered as a primer on dialogue that could replace works such as "On Dialogue" or "dialogue, the art and practice of thinking together", rather it presents the author's experience in practical application of many of the concepts and principles discussed in those earlier works.
Not sure what I was expecting .......2005-12-31
I was expecting much more from this book,at times it seemed to be the author's bio instead of giving/sharing the best practices of how to go through an approach in solving difficult issues.
Building bridges.......2005-08-12
In a world beset by problems, this book offers real hope. Adam Kahane shares the techniques he has used in many of the world's trouble spots to bridge differences, establish a genuine conversation among adversaries, and create a positive future. This is not an academic book. It's based on real experience. Wherever we are called to end conflict, heal differences, and build collaboration we can learn from its lessons.
Book Description
Collected together for the first time are Patricia C. Wrede's hilarious adventure stories about Cimorene, the princess who refuses to be proper. Every one of Cimorene's adventures is included in its paperback edition--Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons--in one handsome package that's perfect for gift giving.
Customer Reviews:
Great Princess to Grow Into.......2007-10-14
I am a parent of two girls and a boy who read Dealing with Dragons while looking for a good read-aloud. I was delighted to find a different type of princess that my kids will be able to enjoy as they outgrow the cartoon princesses that are so prevalent right now. I really enjoyed the attitude and "spunk" of this princess who did things that are "...just not done!" like volunteering to live with dragons and refusing to be rescued by handsome princes. I just bought the whole series for a young friend's ninth birthday and have asked her if I can borrow books 2-4 as she finishes them.
Whimsical and Humourous.......2007-09-12
these stories are wonderful. i laughed through half of the books, and then i had some of my elementary age cousins read the series as well. they were able to comprehend them easily, as well as finding them enchanting.
Great books for a wide range of ages.......2007-08-03
This is a great collection of books with a strong heroine and a good sense of humor. They are an excellent choice to read out loud due to the fun characters and the whimsical nature of the writing, and the recurrent message of non-conformity is carried out well without feeling too didactic.
Other reviewers have given capsule summaries, but I would recommend against reading them if you can resist. Part of what was delightful about reading these books for me was seeing the story and Patricia Wrede's pattern unfold.
That being said, I will immediately contradict myself, and note that the third book is, in my opinion, the weakest of lot. I think this is because when I read the books, I was reading out loud. The third book has more fractured conversations and irritating voices popping up all over the place, and the pattern gets in the way of the narrative. Additionally, compared to the other books, the ending is unsatisfying, merely setting up the action for the fourth book. For what it's worth, my wife (who also loved this series) recommends skipping the third book altogether and allowing the story of the fourth to slowly fill you in on what happened in the third.
One other note that I will add is that the vocabulary used in these books is advanced enough to make them a better pick for 10+ year olds, in my opinion. I mistakenly recommended them to the 8 year old daughter of a friend and she struggled to read the first couple paragraphs. The first couple of pages use: philosophers, fashionable, periodic, prosperous, etiquette, etc. Nothing unheard of, obviously, but these are probably better read out loud to early readers. These younger kids will still love the story and the characters, though I guess they may miss some of the humor.
With the discounted Amazon price, this box set is a lot of story for the dollar. I highly recommend it.
dealing with dragons review.......2007-04-19
I like this book because of the adventure. it was interesting, the dragons are cool.if you like dragons and olden time books then this is the book for you. I liked when the wizard made the parts of the clif disipear . I liked the partwhere cimorene ment the dragon.
decent fantasy.......2007-03-09
The Enchanted Forest Chronicles is a decent fantasy novel that turns everything upside down, and wrongside up, and will more than once make you laugh out loud. A good read for any dragon and wizard fan.
Book Description
Your project went off without a hitch--but somebody else got the credit...You averted a crisis brilliantly--but no one noticed...You came to the meeting with a sensational idea--but it was ignored until someone else said the same thing...
HOW CAN YOU GET CREDIT & GET AHEAD?
In her extraordinary international bestseller, You Just Don't Understand, Deborah Tannen transformed forever the way we look at intimate relationships between women and men. Now she turns her keen ear and observant eye toward the workplace--where the ways in which men and women communicate can determine who gets heard, who gets ahead, and what gets done.
An instant classic, Talking From 9 to 5 brilliantly explains women's and men's conversational rituals--and the language barriers we unintentionally erect in the business world. It is a unique and invaluable guide to recognizing the verbal power games and miscommunications that cause good work to be underappreciated or go unnoticed--an essential tool for promoting more positive and productive professional relationships among men and women.
Customer Reviews:
Learn how to get along........2007-02-28
This book provides a great information on how to get a long with others in the work places men or women, this book will give you skills needed for teamwork and a better working place enviornment.
A Must Read for Every Working Woman.......2007-01-02
I wish I would have read this book 20 years ago. It was an eye-opening experience. As a female executive working in a male-dominated profession, this book shed new light on interactions I've had with male colleages, bosses and employees where I felt something had been "lost in translation" but couldn't put my finger on why. Put another way, this book teaches you the other gender's "secret language."
In a dream world, this would be mandatory reading for all men in the workplace. Males who are not aware of these communication differences are likely not hiring or promoting talented female employees because they misconstrue their politeness for passiveness, or their humble remarks (or even self-degrading remarks) for lack of confidence, etc.
As a working woman, reading this book gave me an advantage. After reading it, I find myself using a different communication style now with males at work than I do with females at work. At least now I am aware of how the "female" communication style I naturally use is probably being heard by my male superiors. Likewise, as a boss I've put this book, along with "Who Moved My Cheese?", on the reading list for new hires.
Substantively, I felt the book could have used some major editing starting about half-way through where it became a bit tedious. But it's worth the read for the important lessons learned.
Lastly, others have criticized this book for not offering solutions to the problem. The solution is awareness. If both genders are aware of these communication differences, the problem is virtually eliminated.
interesting, however not useful.......2005-03-01
I listened to the audio book version of this book. At first, it seemed quite refreshing to know men and women were so different that you could explain in your work environment why people behaved like that. However, it just didn't give any solution and keep saying it over and over again in this book can bore anyone.
This book is more like a psychology paper rather than a practical handbook. The person who performed the book makes it more disturbing.
In one word, from this book, you will understand that people are so different that you can't expect others will think like you. Men are more hierachical and women are nice and think all men are equal. My understanding is that even if it is like this, you can only be yourself.
Interesting, but does not reflect all realities.......2004-11-21
The science of psycholinguistics is one of the hardest to write in, from what I see. For one, it's necessary to keep in mind that what may be the norm in a certain place for a certain time is not, de facto, what may apply to other places and periods. Also, the cultural influences on language happen to change fast, and the books that were relevant and up-to-date just a few years ago seem disappointingly irrelevant today.
Writing for a journal, where your research is given a proper time and place frame, is very different from writing popular versions made for the public at large. I recommend reading articles (Dr. Tannen has several that are excellent reads, among them _Gender in research on language - Researching gender-related patterns in classroom discourse_ Tesol Quarterly 30 (2): 341-344, from 1996) rather than books if you are truly interested in this topic.
As it is, and in spite of the good writing style, the book has far too many generalizations that do not apply to all places, nor do they apply to current times. I recommend "I Only Say This Because I Love You" instead, or even better, her articles.
A disappointment but still relevant book.......2004-06-08
I have read Deborah Tannen's first 2 books and I found them groudbreaking and very informative. This book however seems to be too much of a rehash of her first 2 books with a little bit of business communication stuck in the middle. I was disappointed by the book and believe there are better books out there than this one.
Average customer rating:
- More Than a Memoir
- Enlightening and Entertaining
- Excellent book, authentic author
- a different view of the Maya
- Interesting
|
Secrets of the Talking Jaguar
Martin Prechtel
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
| Adolescent Psychology
| Applied Psychology
| By Topic
| Child Psychology
| Clinical Psychology
| Cognitive
| Counseling
| Creativity & Genius
| Developmental Psychology
| Education & Training
| Ethnopsychology
| Experimental Psychology
| Forensic Psychology
| General
| History
| Hypnosis
| Industrial Psychology
| Logotherapy
| Medicine & Psychology
| Mental Illness
| Movements
| Neuropsychology
| Occupational & Organizational
| Pathologies
| Personality
| Philosophy of Psychology
| Physical Illness & Psychiatry
| Physiological Aspects
| Psychiatry
| Psychoanalysis
| Psychobiology
| Psychopharmacology
| Psychosomatic Medicine
| Psychotherapy, TA & NLP
| Reference
| Research
| Sexuality
| Social Psychology & Interactions
| Statistics
| Suicide
| Testing & Measurement
Cultural
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Anthropology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Long Life, Honey in the Heart
-
Stealing Benefacio's Roses: A Mayan Epic
-
Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun: A Mayan Tale of Ecstasy, Time, and Finding One's True Form
-
Secrets of the Talking Jaguar
-
The Andean Codex: Adventures and Initiations Among the Peruvian Shamans
ASIN: 0874779006 |
Book Description
Twenty-five years ago, a young musician and painter named Martn Prechtel wandered through the brilliant landscapes of Mexico and Guatemala. Little did he know he was traveling toward a destiny that would change his life forever. Arriving at a Tzutujil Mayan village on the breathtaking shores of Lake Atitlan, Prechtel was apprenticed to a powerful, ancient shaman, Chiviliu Tacaxoy. Ten years later, he had become a village chief and a famous shaman in his own right. Many books have been written about the ancient Mayans, but this is the first to provide an insider's view of the complex, joyous culture of contemporary Mayan village life, a culture that is fast disappearing in the wake of modernism. In Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, Martn Prechtel teaches us that all human beings possess within their souls an indigenous spirit that is natural, subtle, generous, and village-oriented. This spirit of wholeness and connection is never beyond our reach; we have only to move past the trappings of materialism and the modern world to hear that special song that is ours alone to sing. In a tale filled with enchantment, danger, rich cultural descriptions, shamanic rivalry, passion, and hope, Prechtel takes us into the heart of both untamed nature and community life, helping us find the secrets of our own hearts and souls. Ultimately, we learn, the shamans' power lies not in magic but in being fully aware and joyously alive as human beings.
Customer Reviews:
More Than a Memoir.......2005-08-29
Prechtel's journey into the heart of the Mayan culture makes for an interesting and informative read, though it would be a mistake to think (as one reviewer did) that this is the equivelant of a shamanic studies course. It is one man's experience of one aspect of an ancient shamanic culture (the Mayan culture) that has and continues to be diluted (one might even say poisoned) by the unconscious expansion of other cultures. But it is more than a memoir, as the author offers some important observations about the state of our planet and the nature of humanity. I would not get hung up on the idea of magic, gods, or Martin as a shaman, but rather enjoy beauty of the writing and the gift of the tale.
Enlightening and Entertaining.......2004-06-09
This review refers to "Secrets of the Talking Jaguar" by Martin Pretchel...
This book is a rare treat. It's a look at the Mayan culture as never revealed before and is told in a way that will keep you involved and entertained as you become enlightened by Martin Pretchel's remarkable story. The book is subtitled 'a mayan shaman's journey to the heart of the indigenous soul'..and what a journey it is...
Pretchel's own journeys of travel and self-discovery are the basis for the first part of the story. He'll keep you smiling(and maybe even chuckling out loud sometimes) with his wonderful sense of humor, as he describes his wanderings and the fantastick encounters along the way. He is down on his luck when out of the blue he is "found" by an old Shaman who tells him it's about time he arrived. The Shaman takes him to a remote Guatamalan village, that is not yet ravaged by modern civilazation. It becomes the home he has been searching for, the people he felt he belonged to, and while training to be the next Shaman of the village, learns the wonders of a deeply rich and rewarding life. The ways of the villagers may seem primitave, but everything they do and believe in has great meaning,and is never self-serving. Their sense of the earth and everything connected with nature is incredibly intuitive and complex. Pretchel's, vivid descriptions of the ceremonies, the costumes, the land and even the food will bring wonderful pictures of this world to your mind.The detalied description of his training to become a Shaman are amazing and adventurous.
This book was a wonderful journey to the "heart of the indigenous soul". It's a precious history of an important culture, that had to give way to the modern world. I could hardly put it down and wanted to start it over the minute I finished it. Pretchel's written account is an invaluable history lesson and a lovely tribute to all indigenous souls!
enjoy...Laurie
Excellent book, authentic author.......2003-04-14
This book is a beautiful journey into the indigenous spirit within us all. I have met the author, spent some time with him, and read about (and discussed with him) his background and it is obvious that he is quite authentic. Reviewer B. Ortiz (see below) has formed a very set and narrow opinion of Prechtel based on the most superficial judgements and "research." It is really unfortunate that she didn't take the time to check her "facts" before she attacked Prechtel. I suggest that you read the book, research Prechtel if you want to, go meet him if you can, and be prepared for a potentially life-changing experience.
a different view of the Maya.......2001-04-13
The events in this book take place mostly in Guatemala in the 1970's, where the author lived as part of a "traditional" Maya community. "called" by the local Shaman he was trained in the arts and responsiblities of a shaman, in order that he could save part of the "village Heart" on the old man's death.
The author has some valuable insights into values and a way of living that has been lost when modern "culture" over rides traditional indigenous cultures, proclaming all that they have as bad (or non-christian). I think he is right in saying we have all lost something valuable. Ways of living that can probabaly never truly be recaptured.
However, having looked up the author on the net, he seems heavily into the "new age" speeking circut today, despite all he was taught when he was younger. I wonder if the written word, despised by the Maya, will be his main legacy. And by his own admission you never get the whole story that way. Certinally, despite the wisdom in this book it is not the be-all answer for all of life's problems.
Interesting.......2000-12-31
Secrets of the Talking Jaguar is the story of the author's physical and spiritual journey from the southwestern US to the highlands of central America. There he becomes apprenticed to a local shaman who teaches Pretchel much about indigenous Mayan life, and about life in general.
Pretchel writes that we are all part of our indigenous, pre-industrial, "primitive" past, we only have to search to find our roots, as he has done. The story of his awakening awareness of the natural world around us to me was more interesting. Pretchel points out that something valuable has been lost though our lack of deep cultural and familial ties to the physical world. After reading this book, I am convinced he is right.
The book is an easy read, and while a little slow at first, it rapidly becomes more interesting as Pretchel becomes increasingly aware of his ties to the natural world, thanks to the assistance of his Mayan mentor, a shaman. As in life, the joy of this book is not so much in the ending, as in the journey itself.
Book Description
How do dealers price contemporary art in a world where objective criteria seem absent? Talking Prices is the first book to examine this question from a sociological perspective. On the basis of a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, including interviews with art dealers in New York and Amsterdam, Olav Velthuis shows how contemporary art galleries juggle the contradictory logics of art and economics. In doing so, they rely on a highly ritualized business repertoire. For instance, a sharp distinction between a gallery's museumlike front space and its businesslike back space safeguards the separation of art from commerce.
Velthuis shows that prices, far from being abstract numbers, convey rich meanings to trading partners that extend well beyond the works of art. A high price may indicate not only the quality of a work but also the identity of collectors who bought it before the artist's reputation was established. Such meanings are far from unequivocal. For some, a high price may be a symbol of status; for others, it is a symbol of fraud.
Whereas sociological thought has long viewed prices as reducing qualities to quantities, this pathbreaking and engagingly written book reveals the rich world behind these numerical values. Art dealers distinguish different types of prices and attach moral significance to them. Thus the price mechanism constitutes a symbolic system akin to language.
Customer Reviews:
Very enlightening.......2007-05-07
The book isn't easy reading, but it has some very useful information for artists regarding pricing of their work.
Intriguing economic analysis of how fine art is sold.......2007-02-09
Getting a handle on the economics of the art market is much like grabbing smoke. Dealers are loath to discuss the financial side of their business and the private nature of their transactions frustrates researchers. Even the ostensibly open world of auctions is full of slippery practices. None of that deterred Olav Velthuis, whose exhaustive research into the art market yields a fascinating economic analysis. He explores the anticommercial bias of dealers and even finds some tangible factors that influence art prices. While impressive, Velthuis' work would have benefited from a more conversational, less academic tone. His fascinating price study, for instance, focuses on "coefficients" and "t-values" rather than on actual prices. Still, we recommend this study for its ambitious and intriguing attempt to shed light on a little-known corner of the economy.
Customer Reviews:
A gift.......2003-01-20
Required reading not only for feminists - both men and women -but for writers and other artists. Valuable for all humans who have been silenced at some point in their lives. Since that includes most children, this book has much to offer all of us.
Her observations are wise. Her grasp of history is absolute. Her ideas stimulate intelligent and loving thought, conversation, and action. Read this book.
A New Way of Knowing.......2000-03-18
i'm one of those individuals who believes that frued was a fraud. and i might be indulging in some essentialist solopsism when i assert that there was never anything he said that would or could be of any value to this black man. but to the extent that i can function well in the world without any deference to freud's notions of mental health and self-regard, i might be onto something. i can say without a doubt that hooks and west were powerfully instrumental in helping me deal with my existential demons by contextualizing my struggle to be recognized as a thinking man who is black in american society. as the old gospel song says 'the burdens of my heart rolled away'.
there are many ways that i changed myself by changing my thinking. i was able to do so without discarding my background, which our society so often demands of african americans. this is something bell hooks was able to uniquely communicate to me in 'talking back: thinking feminist, thinking black'.
once upon a time in america, black children were not supposed to look at white adults eye to eye. we knew it was wrong, but we didn't know why and so we didn't say anything. hooks comes from all those places, and understands what's wrong with that and uses her considerable intellect to set our souls and our minds in balance. minds that were once shut down while our souls cried out can now work with the tools hooks crafts and put us sensibly back - clear eyed and straight up.
Average customer rating:
- ALWAYS be polite to dragons!
- Oh no a dragon
- SO much fun!
- any more on the way?
- A Truly Enchanting and Wonderful Read.
|
Talking to Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Four
Patricia C. Wrede
Manufacturer: Magic Carpet Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Dragons
| Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths
| Literature
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Wrede, Patricia
| ( W )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Dragons
| Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
| Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror
| Literature
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
( W )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
| Weber, David
| Weis, Margaret
| Wells, H.G.
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Calling on Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Three
-
Searching for Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book Two
-
Dealing with Dragons: The Enchanted Forest Chronicles, Book One
-
Book of Enchantments
-
Mairelon the Magician (The Magician)
ASIN: 0152046917 |
Book Description
One day, Daystar's mom, Cimorene, hands him a magic sword and kicks him out of the house. Daystar doesn't know what he is supposed to do with the magic sword, but knowing Cimorene, he's sure it must involve a dragon or two!
Customer Reviews:
ALWAYS be polite to dragons!.......2007-06-23
My daughters often read the four books from the Enchanted Forest series by Patricia C. Wrede. They came across the books a couple years back. They seem to check out the books and audio tapes every couple months. Over the last year I have listened to bits and pieces of the series.
Talking to Dragons is was the first book published, but it is really the fourth in the series. The hero of the story is a 16 year old boy by the name of Daystar. For the first 16 years of his life he lived on the edge of the Enchanted Forest with his mother. Then one day his mother gives him a sword and sends him out into Enchanted Forest. His mother tells him he has a mission, but won't tell him what the mission is.
Fairly quickly Daystar bumps into a fire-witch. They are both in trouble with wizards, and decide to stick together. Daystar was taught to always be polite to dragons. They come across a young dragon. Daystar is very polite and the dragon joins the group. Near the end of the book Daystar finally figures out his mission and helps save the day.
This is a fun book. It moves along well. I stayed up till midnight to finish it. If your children like fantasy, you might have them try this book.
Oh no a dragon.......2007-02-09
Talking To Dragons Jane Yolen Books,
Patricia C. Wrede ISBN 0-15-284247-0
Talking to Dragons is a great book about kings, princes, princesses, dragons, and wizards by Patricia C. Wrede. It takes place in Enchanted Forest. The narrator of the book is the main character, Daystar.
One day Daystar's mom tells him to go on a quest that he knows nothing about. He started out on a quest and meets new creatures and people, some of them become his companions and some his enemies.
His companions, a young fire witch named Shiara and a young dragon, become really good friends with him. They help him on his quest. After a while he started to figure out that the sword his mom gave him was important because everybody wanted it. People called it "The Sword of the Sleeping King." All he knew is that he needed to go through a cave to be where he was supposed to.
At the end he found the Sleeping King and everybody was reunited. I recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy and also a happy ending. I recommend reading the first three books Dealing With Dragons, Searching For Dragons and Calling for Dragons.
PR28
SO much fun!.......2006-09-25
All the Enchanted Forest Chronicles are so much fun! Definitely at my top of Harry Potter fan recommendations. They're just such an amusing read; I even teach with them. Don't forget to read "The Frying Pan of Doom."
any more on the way?.......2006-09-19
Written first, this is actually the final book in the series (so far, at least). This story features the son of Mendanbar and Cimorene: Daystar. Daystar has been reared on the edge of the Enchanted Forest without any knowledge of who he is or how he and his mother came to be there. Shortly after a wizard appears on their doorstep, he watches his mother melt the wizard and he is sent on his way into the Enchanted Forest with a sword and instructions from his mother to always be polite, especially to dragons, and NEVER agree to a favor until you know what it is. Almost immediately Daystar gains a companion, Shiara, who happens to be a fire witch. Together they follow the sword wherever it leads them, which brings us back to some familiar characters. In the end Daystar realizes many things, including what he is to do and how he is to do it - but not without a lot of help and teamwork from many friends and companions. This was an interesting finale as it definitely left an opening for novels of the next generation of the Enchanted Forest.
A Truly Enchanting and Wonderful Read........2006-06-20
I stumbled upon this book first - it's the 4th in a series by Wrede. It is really at least as much fun and imaginative as Harry Potter with more logic and a fun side without the dark side. A great read for kids or adults. Truly magical and special.
Book Description
This multivoiced collection of essays and images presents the perspectives of activists, scholars, artists, and curators from a broad range of constituencies. Challenging traditional disciplinary and cultural boundaries, the book moves beyond any unified feminist historical narrative to present a "relational" feminism of diverse communities, affiliations, and practices. The texts/images partake of many genres: reflective essay, testimonial dialogue, performance piece, digital collage, prose poem, and photomontage. Forging connections between usually compartmentalized areas of knowledge and of activism, the volume helps us to envision alternative epistemologies and imaginative alliances.
Copublished with the New Museum of Contemporary Art.
Customer Reviews:
Feminist foreign policy for the new century.......2003-06-06
Technically this work (like many other women's studies collections) is sociologically based, but attempts to be interdisciplinary for appearances sake. After using this book for a previous semester, I also venture public policy is an entirely accurate additional field for this work.
No, this work does not have the seemingly requisite tables and charts in so many more conventional public service books (of all subcategories) and the artwork interspersed throughout may throw people off who have arrived in search of intentionally more traditional academic graphic aids, but they enhance the book's overall presentation of very important (and difficult) issues.
Since it's inception, feminism has attempted to speak for women in general, but has instead too often inadvertently degenerated into self-promotion of relatively privileged white middle-class, heterosexual and non-disabled women who at least have one identification to attempt fallback onto when confronted with the painful reality of discrimination.
The majority of the world's women however do not have such protections, hence magnifying their struggles in unimaginable ways.
Unlike this Bridge Called my Back (1981) and other 'second wave' classics which inadvertently focused on American based women, this anthology also takes the further step of examining such communities outside of the United States and Western Europe.
Evidenced by the 1995 Fifth International UN women's conference in Beijing, real and permanent women's liberation only occurs when intended programs and laws are culturally sensitive and appropriate models as opposed to the 'one-size must fit all' models previously (and some would argue currently proposed) by other western feminists.
Specifically, Isabelle R. Gunning (pp. 203-224) argues Female Genital Mutilation is not simply a pattern of male-on-female violence designed to torture women for the fun of it, but often a procedure that other women and girls (despite the inevitable risks and complications) encourage each other to undergo for fear of isolation and stigmatization. Consequently, the best alternatives to eradicating these same procedures would both explain the health risks experienced by women are directly connected to FGM and search for alternative ceremonies that could be performed instead as a way of symbolizing those same women's transition into adulthood and imparting values of respect and monogamy (this time, explicitly for both genders).
Also intriguing (given the U.S.'s recent history of involvement in the region) is Mervat F. Hatem's (pp. 369-390) Middle Eastern feminism essay. Theoretically, both the increased racial consciousness of journalists (many of whom cut their proverbial teeth in the tumultuous sixties covering the emergent civil rights movement) and a general (if grudging recognition) of sexism prevents the occurrences, but 'liberal' westerners continue to freely engage in the binary portrayal of the Middle East as a totally backwards land for women, also conveniently overlooking the current U.S. Government's (when opposition was then spearheaded in 1998 by socially conservative Congressional Republicans) well-publicized internal hostility toward's women's expanded public sphere role via curtailment of reproductive and other previously won civil rights.
It's easy to point fingers at and condemn other nations for their actions when entire societies are conveniently unwilling to retrack and confess to their own deeply ingrained biases. Clashing deeply with still-publicly voiced ideals of 'democracy' and 'fairness' policy reality is difficult for America to collectively undergo itself.
Having read other 'multicultural feminist' anthologies prior to this course, I naively (and very incorrectly assumed the format would be effective, but totally interchangeable with what I already knew.
Because this was clearly not the case, I heartily encourage anybody interested in feminist public policymaking to get and HEAVILY read through this volume. WHATEVER the price you must pay to obtain a permanent copy will be well worth it!
Average customer rating:
- Must Read on Political Frames
- Fear of psychology
- The Sound of One Hand Clapping
- How to tilt public perceptions
- A book about the shadow, arguing for the importance of the substance
|
Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show
Manufacturer: PublicAffairs
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Communications
| Skills
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Political Parties
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Doctrines
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Conservatism
| Political Doctrines
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Linguistics
| Words & Language
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
All Deals
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Reference
| Blowout Books
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Whose Freedom?: The Battle over America's Most Important Idea
-
Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision
-
Going Nucular: Language, Politics. and Culture in Confrontational Times
-
WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR
-
The Way We Talk Now
ASIN: 1586483862 |
Book Description
A captivating and outraged account of "The Great Relabeling" of American language and thought, by the well-known "Fresh Air" commentator and author of Going Nucular
Geoffrey Nunberg breaks new ground with this fierce and funny narrative of how the political right has ushered in a new world order, aided unwittingly by the liberal media.
Democrats are well known for their "lousy bumper stickers," as Joe Klein puts it. As liberals wade through the semantics of "social security lockbox," "single payer," and other wonky locutions, the right has become harder, meaner and better at getting out the message: the estate tax became the more menacing "death tax" and a contentious education initiative was wrapped in the comforting (and memorable) blanket of "No Child Left Behind."
But Nunberg shows that the real story is more subtle than just a bumper sticker war. Conservatives' main goal wasn't to win voters over to their positions on healthcare, education, or the environment. They had a much more dramatic ambition. By changing the meaning of words like "values," "government," "liberal"; "faith," and "freedom," conservatives have shifted the political center of gravity of the language itself to the right. "Whatever our politics," Nunberg observes, "when we talk about politics nowadays, we can't help using language that embodies a conservative world-view."
Customer Reviews:
Must Read on Political Frames.......2007-01-05
This is a must read for anyone in America who cares about politics--which should be everyone! If you thought Lakoff insightful on the differences a frame can make, wait until you read Nunberg. I teach this stuff and know whereof I speak. Talking Right is one of those rare hybrids that's right for the classroom and right as a trade book for the typically older, post-college reader. I've ordered several copies for friends.
Fear of psychology.......2006-11-05
Well done for what it is, but Nunberg exhibits the classic fear of delving below the psychological surface. He seems to believe that the left will lose the common man even worse if it starts thinking psychologically about why it's losing him already. He disses Lakoff's look at policital metaphors and doesn't even bother to dis explanations that are even better, such as those of Alice Miller, Stephen Ducat, and Lloyd deMause. It frustrated me to no end as I read Nunberg advocate a return to the populist rhetoric of Truman and Clinton, hardly big winners. Truman's was a nortoriously narrow win, and Clinton's first election was a gimmie from a thrid-party candidate on the right. Nunberg seems to set his sights on the unlofty goal of 51% of the vote rather than a true strategy that will dismantle the psychological tricks the right plays on the populace like stroking their machismo, their fear, their weath fantasies, their need for scapegoats, etc.
Wake up and smell the psychological coffee, Nunberg. The right has.
The Sound of One Hand Clapping.......2006-11-04
We swim through words like fish swim through water. Metaphors are accepted as reality by many. Legends become gospil truth. This books was an informative and fun view at a very important (not just politically) subject. And now, at last, I know where the word "pinko" came from and what it means.
How to tilt public perceptions.......2006-10-22
"Talking Right" by Geoffrey Nunberg is a timely analysis of the lopsided and dysfunctional status of U.S. political discourse. Mr. Nunberg is a linguistics professor who explains how the Republican Party's privileged relationship with the media has helped to define the political narrative, which in turn has effectively tilted public perceptions to the political Right. However, by deconstructing the manner in which the Right's political language has been frequently served up as a smokescreen to obscure its radical neoconservative agenda, the author helps us understand how the political Left can present an alternative discourse that could resonate with the vast majority of Americans. Assiduously researched and cogently argued, this thoughtful, nuanced and highly readable text should interest a wide audience.
Mr. Nunberg presents a brief history of the neoconservative movement to recount how language has been deployed in order to associate particular words and phrases with politically-charged meanings. For example, the phrase 'cultural elite' was introduced by Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992 and succeeded in connecting Hollywood entertainment with sectors of the public who might have felt apprehension about social change. Indeed, Mr. Nunberg points out that since the 1960s the Republican Party has adroitly manufactured and magnified the importance of Pat Buchanan's 'culture war' in a way that has convinced large blocs of the working class to vote against its own material interests. Unfortunately, as liberals are reduced to a snobbish and out-of-touch caricature of the consumer culture imagination, Mr. Nunberg contends that the Democratic Party has failed to articulate a meaningful narrative of its own to inspire the faithful or to define the Party's mission.
Nonetheless, Mr. Nunberg believes that the Democrats can yet prevail if it dares to once again speak truth to power. Mr. Nunberg cites Bill Clinton's highly effective narrative about the powerless versus the powerful during the 1992 campaign as an example of how a message can resonate with an increasingly insecure working class beset with economic grievances. To that end, the author goes on to argue that in the wake of the Bush administration's disastrous policies (including preemptive war, fiscally irresponsible tax breaks and reckless environmental rollbacks), liberals have an excellent opportunity to articulate a new popular narrative of working-class struggle in the pursuit of economic justice and equality.
I highly recommend this important book to everyone, and especially to those interested in media and politics.
A book about the shadow, arguing for the importance of the substance.......2006-10-17
Government, John Dewey famously said, is the shadow cast by big business over society. And political language, Geoffrey Nunberg argues in Talking Right, is the shadow cast by government. Democrats, he points out, seem to think language has a talismanic power, that if only they can find the right catch phrase or slogan, they can pull people over to their side. "Liberal" must become "progressive", "family values" must become "valuing families". There's an intellectual cleverness to such stunts, and as a Berkeley linguist, Nunberg must want to believe in them. But he doesn't. The words, he explains, are just a side-effect of the larger political situation. Dewey explained that attempts to change the shadow will have no effect without a change in the substance, and Nunberg heartily agrees.
It's hard to see how it could be otherwise, but Democrats have suffered from a stubborn literalism in political discourse: thinking they can beat the charge of big government by launching programs cutting down on bureaucratic waste, thinking they can reclaim the issue of values by pointing to their love of tolerance and fairness, thinking they can dodge the charge of latte-sipping by donning a hunting cap and rifle. In reality, the issues go much deeper: big government is an attack on the notion that government can do good, values refers to a feeling of national morals run amok, and the latte-sipping charge is an attempt to distract voters from bigger issues of class. Nunberg even chastises his colleague George Lakoff for assuming that the current packages of political positions have any deeper meanings, rather than just being accidents of history.
Nunberg is an essayist--his commentaries for NPR's Fresh Air are a national treasure--and his style, while eminently readable, doesn't translate well to a long book, where his points get lost in a field of anecdotes. But beneath all the stories about how conservatives eat more brie and liberal used to be a mantle claimed by everyone, Nunberg's point is a familiar one: if the Democrats want to win, they must begin telling full-throated populist stories about how the economic elite are capturing the wealth of our country and how we need government to take it back. The point is no less true for being popular, and it's heartening to find that investigation from yet another perspective yields the same conclusions.
Book Description
This powerful memoir of an American who was adopted by a shaman and allowed to study the secrets of a Tzutujil Mayan village in deepest Guatemala "offers readers a privileged and rare glimpse into [the village's] complex and spiritually rich life." (Rocky Mountain News)
Twenty-five years ago, a young musician and painter named Mart'n Prechtel wandered through the brilliant landscapes of Mexico and Guatemala. Arriving at Santiago Atitlan, a Tzutujil Mayan village on the breathtaking shores of Lake Atitlan, Prechtel met Nicolas Chiviliu Tacaxoy--perhaps the most famous shaman in Tzutujil history--who believed Prechtel was the new student he had asked the gods to provide. For the next thirteen years, Prechtel studied the ancient Tzutujil culture and became a village chief and a famous shaman in his own right.
In Secrets of the Talking Jaguar, Prechtel brings to vivid life the sights, sounds, scents, and colors of Santiago Atitlan: its magical personalities, its beauty, its material poverty and spiritual richness, its eight-hundred-year-old rituals juxtaposed with quintessential small-town gossip. The story of his education is a tale filled with enchantment, danger, passion, and hope.
"The picture [Prechtel] creates of idyllic Indian life is so beautifully drawn that his delight in their culture becomes contagious, as does his grief when civil war creates havoc in their village." --Publishers Weekly
Customer Reviews:
No Stars.......2007-04-12
If you liked Don Jaun, this is for you. A total fabrication. Even the references to geographic locations are wrong. A literary mess on top of that. Enough New Age drivel to go around. It will appeal to the same touristas that crowd Solala. No resposible anthropologist would touch this.
Secrets of What?.......2007-03-14
Martin Prechtel paints a magic world that we all at some points of the book wish we could live in. But I feel that the book is far from in the truth as any sci-fi book I have read in the past. The book outlays personal Spirits and ways in which we can find our indigenous soul. I worry that in Martin Prechtels search he lost sight of what he was looking for.
If you are looking for a book that will through you into a vivid world of imagination and full of exciting metaphors and mental illustrations this is the book for you.
However if the book details the beliefs of the Tzutujil people correctly I seriously doubt the fact of him publicizing about them. I find the book is in the wrong genre and if you want to know about the Tzutujil/Mayan people then read something else.
I LOVED THIS BOOK!.......2007-02-16
Martin is a great storyteller and transmitter of wisdom. I could not put this book down.
Secrets of the Talking Jaguar.......2006-03-20
This book is such a pleasure to read and reread.... lots of food for thought about modern culture and alternative ways of living, about aging, about wisdom, about Mayan culture, and about seeing the challenges of life in humorous ways!
beautiful & intelligent book.......2005-11-19
I give this book as a gift to everyone I know who has read Marlo Morgan's appalling book of lies about the Australian aborigines. Here is a story that actually HAPPENED, has none of the racial arrogance of many "new age" books where some rich whitey goes off and lives "with" the natives and grants them recognition. (Morgan's 'Mutant Message Downunder" has made +100 million, even though the woman made the whole thing up, stole a whole lot of religious symbols out of some anthropology journal that shouldn't have published them in the first place, stole the end sequence from a film called "Quigley Downunder", wrote absolutely absurd and stupid things about the Australian landscape and when the real aborigines demanded that she stop spreading lies and saying they want to die out and are no longer real aborigines, and to stop pretending she is the true guardian of their culture, she admitted the fraud, but her publishers sheltered her and told her to keep going.)
Prechtel's mother was a native american, and he suffered being brought up on a reservation. This book is a solid dose of reality, not sugarcoated with esoteric fantasy, but full of reality. Grief and beauty are in western culture (he says) seen as a side show attraction, but actually they are the right and left hand of the goddess of life.
It is really one of the most beautiful books I have ever read.
Books:
- Stokes Beginner's Guide to Birds: Eastern Region (Stokes Field Guide Series)
- Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership
- Team Rodent : How Disney Devours the World
- The 48 Laws of Power
- The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
- The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)
- The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children
- The Deliberative Practitioner: Encouraging Participatory Planning Processes
- The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politics, and the Miracles of Forgiveness
- The Foxfire Book: Hog Dressing, Log Cabin Building, Mountain Crafts and Foods, Planting by the Signs, Snake Lore, Hunting Tales, Faith Healing, Moonshining
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Ten Traits of Highly Effective Principals: From Good to Great Performance
- Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to the Nuclear Age
- Mrs. Ted Bliss
- Madame de Pompadour
- May It Please the Court! From Auto Accidents to Agent Orange: Building a Storefront Law Practice int
- Mathematics for Finance: An Introduction to Financial Engineering
- Projects for the Birder's Garden: Over 100 Easy Things That You can Make to Turn Your Yard and Garde
- Adventures of a Bystander
- Lay Taxes in England & Whales, 1188-1688
- Thutmosis III: 1490-1436 bce : First Conqueror of the Middle East, Artist & Multiculturalist
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society
Finding Our Way: Leadership for an Uncertain Time
Dialogue: The Art Of Thinking Together
Theory U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges
