Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith

Amazon.com

Through Anne Lamott's many books (including six novels, her bestselling parenting memoir, Operating Instructions, and her popular guide to writing, Bird by Bird) the subject she keeps returning to is her faith, her deeply personal--"erratic," she says--journey in Christianity. Her latest book, Grace (Eventually), is her third collection of her "thoughts on faith," and she took the time to answer a few of our questions.

Questions for Anne Lamott

Amazon.com: This is your third book on faith. How has your perspective changed since you wrote your first one?

Lamott: I wrote my first book on faith when Bill Clinton was president, and I was in a much better mood. I wrote Plan B during the run-up to war in Iraq, and the ensuing catastrophe, so I was very angry, but trying to reconcile that pain and hostility to Jesus's insistence that we are made of love, to love, and be loved, to forgive and be forgiven. Some days went better than others. Also, my son Sam was in his early teens, and that was a LOT easier than when he turned 16 and 17, his ages when I was writing the pieces in Grace (Eventually).

In general, I think Grace (Eventually) is a less angry book. I like how I'm aging, except that my back hurts more often, my knees crack like twigs when I squat, and my memory fails more frequently, in more public and therefore humiliating ways. But I think I complain less. As my best friend said when she was dying, and I was obsessing about my butt, "You just don't have that kind of time."

Amazon.com: What does grace mean for you? How can we better communicate it to each other?

Lamott: Grace is that extra bit of help when you think you are really doomed; also, not coincidentally, when you have finally run out of good ideas on how to proceed, and on how better to control the people or circumstances that are frustrating or defeating you. I experience Grace as a cool ribbon of fresh air when I feel spiritually claustrophobic. Sometimes I experience it as water-wings, something holding me up when I am afraid that I'm going down, or the tide is carrying me away. I know that Grace meets us whereever we are, but does not leave us where it found us. Sometimes it is so small--a couple of seconds relief here, several extra inches there. I wish it were big and obvious, like sky-writing. Oh, well. Grace is not something I DO, or can chase down; but it is something I can receive, when I stop trying to be in charge.

We communicate grace to one another by holding space for people when they are hurt or terrified, instead of trying to fix them, or manage their emotions for them. We offer ourselves as silent companionship, or gentle listening when someone feels very alone. We get people glasses of water when they are thirsty.

Amazon.com: Many of the essays in Grace (Eventually) first appeared in Salon, the online magazine, and that's the way that many readers first found you. How do you see the Internet changing the way people read and write?

Lamott: The Internet makes everything so immediate and spontaneous, which I totally love--UNLESS it has to do with the immediacy of people's negative response to me. Several of the Salon pieces in Grace--for instance, the story about the horrible fight with my son, and the piece about turning the other cheek while being ripped off by The Carpet Guy--generated a couple hundred letters, many of them extremely hostile. Perhaps "spewy" would be a better description. I also sometimes get knee-jerk responses to my mentions of Jesus in my Salon pieces that seem to lump me in the same tradition as Jerry Falwell. But for the most part, I love the populism and egalitarian nature of the Internet: everyone counts the same.

Amazon.com: What stories do people tell you, when they've read your books or know you are a writer?

Lamott: People tell me how relieved they are that I try to tell the truth about how hard it can be to be a mother, or a daughter, or an American in these times. They tell me stories about how awful their own teenagers can be, or how awful they themselves behaved towards their kids or parents; how hard it was to finally be able to adore their mothers, or to forgive their fathers. They tell me their sobriety dates. They whisper to me that they are Christians, too.

Also, they ask if I am able to read their manuscripts, and the name of my agent, and my e-mail address. They ask if we are going to survive the current political difficulties--and I promise them we are. They ask how old my son is now--17 and a half--and how he is doing, which is fantastically, after some of the hard months I wrote about in Grace.

Amazon.com:What lessons do you think you can pass on to others: to your readers, to your son? What lessons does it seem like people have to learn for themselves?

Lamott: All I have to offer is my own truth, my own experience, strength and hope. I can pass on the tool of a God Box, and how for 20 years I have been putting tiny notes in mine and promising God I will keep my sticky fingers off the controls until I hear God's wisdom: sometimes I get an answer because the phone rings, or the mail comes, but at any rate, during every single terrible problem and tragedy, I have been given enough guidance and stamina and even humor to bear up, and be transformed, for the good. I always tell Sam that if you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans. I tell Sam that if he listens to his best thinking, he will suffer: and to listen to his heart instead, to listen in the silence, and to seek wise counsel.

Amazon.com: You've written nearly a dozen books (including an incredibly popular guide to writing): does writing get any easier? Does it get harder?

Lamott: In a very important way, writing gets easier, because I've been doing it full time now for thirty-plus years, and just as you would get better and better if you practiced your scales on a piano, I've gotten better, and can try harder and harder pieces. But writing is always hard. It does not come naturally to me at all. I sit down at the same time every day, which lets my subconscious realize it's time to get to work. I give myself very short assignments, and let myself write really terrible first drafts. But I grapple with the exact same problems every writer does, which is having equal proportions of self-loathing and grandiosity. I sort of live by the Nike ads: Just Do It. So I sit down. I show up. I do it by pre-arrangement with myself, because I know I'll feel sad and terrible if I shirk on that days writing. I do it as a debt of honor, to myself, and to whatever it is that has given me this gift of being able to tell stories, and to make people laugh. Laughter is carbonated holiness. Other people's good writing is medicine for me, and I hope mine is too, for my readers.

Book Description

The sharp, funny, and heartfelt follow-up to her bestselling Plan B, Anne Lamott's newest collection is a personal exploration of the faith and grace all around us.

In Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith, Lamott examines the ways we're caught in life's most daunting predicaments: love, mothering, work, politics, and maybe toughest of all, evolving from who we are to who we were meant to be. This is a complicated process for most of us, and Lamott turns her wit and honesty inward to describe her own intimate, bumpy, and unconventional road to grace and faith.

"I wish grace and healing were more abracadabra kinds of things," she writes in one of her essays, "that delicate silver bells would ring to announce grace's arrival. But no, it's clog and slog and scootch, on the floor, in silence, in the dark."

Whether she's writing about her unsuccessful efforts to get her money back from an obstinate carpet salesman, grappling with the tectonic shifts in her relationship with her son as he matures, trying to maintain her faith and humor during politically challenging times, or helping a close friend die with dignity, Lamott seeks out both the divinity and the humanity in herself and everything around her. Throughout these essays, she writes of her struggle to find the essence of her faith, which she uncovers in the unlikeliest places. By turns insightful and hilarious, pointed and poignant, Grace (Eventually) is Anne Lamott at her perceptive and irreverent best.

Customer Reviews:

Funny and profound.......2007-08-12

Anne Lamott is honest and engaging. This book is a beautiful testament to a real life lived in faith and hope in the midst of inevitable disappointments and hardships.

Grace (Eventually) thoughts on Faith.......2007-08-08

I bought this book thinking I would get an inspiritial read. Instead I found that the title totally misrepresented the book. This is nothing but a self-centered, self-indulgent, whiny bunch of writings from a drug user/alcoholic, over age hippy, feeling (what?). Certainaly not faith!
Title should read "Poor Me, I can't Think Straight"

Not her best, but still brilliant.......2007-08-01

One of the most popular voices in contemporary spirituality, Anne Lamott has a remarkable gift at handling serious and unfunny topics - religion, motherhood, eating disorders, death - in a witty and disarming way.

Lamott's new book, "Grace Eventually: Further Thoughts On Faith," is a collection of essays, many of which Lamott wrote as a columnist for Salon.com. If you haven't read anything by Lamott before, the best places to start would be "Traveling Mercies" (her bestselling memoir), and "Bird by Bird," (one of the best guide to writing anywhere, another bestseller). But the two things you should know before reading Anne Lamott is that 1) she is an incredible prose artist, quirky and profound, with a style that seems all her own. And 2) she is almost completely neurotic.

"Grace Eventually," is a special book in that Lamott's description of ordinary events make them feel sacred. She is a writer with an ability to make the reader pay attention, feel present, and tune in to the story taking place around them. Although she refers to Jesus consistently, there is little that seems orthodox about Lamott's spiritual journey, and perhaps that is one of the reasons she has such a wide readership.

You'd have to be made out of granite not to find something that moves you in this unique collection of essays. You would also need to adhere to Lamott's precise and strident political positions not to find at least one portion of this book infuriating. Either way, "Grace Eventually" is a provocative and unique read, and any avid reader owes it to themselves to become familiar with one of the country's top writers.

No thank you, no good........2007-07-25

I read another one of Anne's books. The first one I did not like much, and really did not want to read this one, but when you already own it, you feel you must with 16 dollars into the book. It was some repeating of stories I really did not like in the first place, there were a few highlights or good moments, but not enough. I still feel bad for her, but most times I was like "get over it." Now I loved Donald Miller's book, which was along the same mindset, but he seemed deep or maybe just a man. Sorry Anne, you are twice if not more the writer that I am, but I was just not into the book.

She's the Best.......2007-07-25

Her words are equivalent to the phrase "A sight for sore eyes." My copy now has so many underlines and dog ears that I just don't know where to start with quotable quotes--

"IT FEELS AS IF SOMEONE FINALLY CRACKED OPEN A WINDOW THAT HAD BEEN JAMMED."
"...taught me a willingness to help clean up the mess we've made is a crucial part of adult living; that our scary, selfish, damging behavior litters the planet."
"...we get mad at each other, over and over, then we apologize, become friends again: I see how each time this is redemption. How amazing it is to share that."
"Joy is the best makeup."
"Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine."

I use this like a Bible when I need to be called to a higher place. It soothes me, calms me down, and calls me to a (much) higher place. Buy this, Bird By Bird, and the other two from this series. They are GIFTS.

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win

Average customer rating:

Become a Maverick
Stories to inspire - Lessons to Learn
Great book!
Gets the creative juices flowing
Describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium...

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win
William C. Taylor , and Polly G. Labarre
Manufacturer: William Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Small Is the New Big: and 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas
The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything
The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More

ASIN: 0060779616
Release Date: 2006-10-02

Book Description

In Mavericks at Work, Fast Company cofounder William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre, a longtime editor at the magazine, give you an inside look at the "most original minds in business" wherever they find them: from Procter & Gamble to Pixar, from gold mines to funky sandwich shops. Want to stop doing business as usual? Then take some lessons from the 32 maverick companies Taylor and LaBarre profile.

Questions for William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre

Amazon.com: Whom do you think this book will appeal to?

Taylor and LaBarre: This book should appeal to a wide "coalition" of business leaders and innovators--impatient, change-minded executives in big companies, senior leaders in smaller, entrepreneurial companies, young people with big dreams about their future and their careers. This book should inform and energize anyone and everyone who wants to do big things in business by shaking up the status quo and challenging the powers-that-be. One important point: We strongly believe that this book should appeal to women as well as men. It is not meant to be an uptight, starched-shirt type read--your typical all-male business book. The book doesn't target women executives per se, but we believe it will appeal to men and women alike.

Amazon.com: What's the story behind the book?

Taylor and LaBarre: In one sense, Mavericks at Work has been 18 months in the making. That's the amount of time that the two of us spent totally focused on the travel, research, interviewing, and writing to create Mavericks at Work. In another sense, this book reflects more than a decade's worth of learning, thinking, and writing about the best way to do business and the new cast of companies and individual leaders that represent the face of business at its best. First at that classic voice of the business establishment, Harvard Business Review, and then at the new-generation magazine that he cofounded, Fast Company, Bill Taylor has been traveling the world, visiting companies, and interviewing great business leaders. Much the same goes for Polly LaBarre--first at the venerable IndustryWeek magazine, and then as one of the original members of the Fast Company team, Polly has made it her speciality to discover, understand, and chronicle the most exciting and innovative leaders in business.

With respect to Mavericks, the book reflects our in-depth access to the 32 companies featured in the book. This is anything but an "armchair" business book. We logged tens of thousands of miles and spent countless hours visiting, conducting interviews at, and participating in meetings, training sessions, and events inside a wide variety organizations. We went deep inside these organizations, looking to understand the ideas they stand for and the ways they work. We participated in a filmmaking class at one of the world's most successful movie studios. We attended a closed-to-the-public awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall, where employees of what has to be the world's most entertaining bank sang, danced, and strutted their stuff. We sat in on a crucial monthly meeting (the 384th such consecutive meeting over the last 32 years) in which top executives and front-line managers of a $600-million employee-owned company share their most sensitive financial information and most valuable market secrets. We walked the corridors of a 120-year-old research facility where a team of change-minded R&D executives is transforming how one of the world's biggest companies develops new ideas for consumer products. We walked the streets of Manhattan with teams of employees from a hard-charging hedge fund, who were sizing up ideas about stock-market picks.

Amazon.com: What makes this book relevant today?

Taylor and LaBarre: We believe that this is the right book at the right time, with a set of messages and a collection of practices that will inspire business executives and entrepreneurs to bring out the best in their companies, their colleagues, and themselves. Why this book now? Because business needs a breath of fresh air. We are, after five long years, coming out of a dark and trying period in our economy and society--an era of slow growth and dashed expectations, of criminal wrongdoing and ethical misconduct at some of the world's best-known companies. But NASDAQ nuttiness already feels like time-capsule fodder, the white-collar perp walk has become as routine as an annual meeting, and the triumphant return of me-first moguls like Donald Trump feels like a bad nostalgia trip, the corporate equivalent of a hair-band reunion. We've seen the face of business at its worst, and it hasn't been a pretty sight. This book is intended to persuade readers of the power of business at its best.

Which speaks to one of our major goals for Mavericks at Work--to restore the promise of business as a force for innovation, satisfaction, and progress, rather than as a source of revulsion, remorse, and recrimination. Indeed, despite all the bleak headlines and blood-boiling scandals over the last five years, the economy has experienced a period of transformation and realignment, a power shift so profound that we're just beginning to appreciate what it means for the future of business—and for how all of us go about the business of building companies that work and doing work that matters.

In industry after industry, organizations and executives that were once dismissed as upstarts, as outliers, as wildcards, have achieved positions of financial prosperity and market leadership. There's a reason the young billionaires behind the most celebrated entrepreneurial success in recent memory began their initial public offering (IPO) of shares with a declaration of independence from business as usual. "Google is not a conventional company," read their Letter from the Founders. "We do not intend to become one."

Nor does the unconventional cast of characters readers will encounter in this book. From a culture-shaping television network with offices in sun-splashed Santa Monica, California, to a little-known office-furniture manufacturer rooted in the frozen tundra of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from glamorous fields such as advertising, fashion, and the Internet, to old-line industries such as construction, mining, and household products, they are winning big at business--attracting millions of customers, creating thousands of jobs, generating tens of billions of dollars of wealth--by rethinking the logic of how business gets done.

Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, put it memorably some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." We believe the companies, executives, and entrepreneurs you'll meet in the pages that follow are inventing a more exciting, more compelling, more rewarding future for business. They have devised provocative and instructive answers to four of the timeless challenges that face organizations of every size and leaders in every field: how you make strategy, how you unleash new ideas, how you connect with customers, how your best people achieve great results.

Amazon.com: Can you give us a brief summary of your book--in 250 words or less?

Taylor and LaBarre: This book is a report from the front lines of the future of business. It is not a book of best practices. It is a book of next practices--a set of insights and a collection of case studies that amount to a business plan for the 21st century, a new way to lead, compete, and succeed.

Our basic argument is as straightforward to explain as it is urgent to apply: When it comes to thriving in a hyper-competitive marketplace, "playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. In an economy defined by overcapacity, oversupply, and utter sensory overload--an economy in which everyone already has more than enough of whatever it is you're selling--the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your company and industry can and should be going. You can't do big things as a competitor if you're content with doing things a little better than the competition.

This book is devoted to the proposition that the best way to out-perform the competition is to out-think the competition. Maverick companies aren't always the largest in their field; maverick entrepreneurs don't always make the cover of the business magazines. But mavericks do the work that matters most--the work of originality, creativity, and experimentation. They demonstrate that you can build companies around high ideals and fierce competitive ambitions, that the most powerful way to create economic value is to embrace a set of values that go beyond just amassing power, and that business, at its best, is too exciting, too important, and too much fun to be left to the dead hand of business as usual.

Who are these mavericks? The core ideas in this book are rooted in the strategies, practices, and leadership styles of 32 organizations with vastly different histories, cultures, and business models. But all of them are business originals, based on the distinctiveness of their ideas and the power of their practices. They are rethinking competition, reinventing innovation, reconnecting with customers, and redesigning work. Together, they are creating a maverick agenda for business--an agenda from which every business can learn.

Book Description

In the last decade the business world has been dogged by bad leadership, CEO greed and the excesses of the dotcom craze. Now, as the authors of this lively new book suggest, companies and corporations are moving away from traditional methods of how to lead, manage and compete, towards a more 'maverick' management style that has proved highly successful.

Mavericks at Work is the first book to document this change – and to give readers a glimpse into the ideas and techniques behind fast–growing but unconventional companies such as Google, HBO, Lendlease and Southwest Airlines. It profiles some of the most exciting – and often eccentric – CEOs in the US, and details their strategies for success.

With its accessible tone, Mavericks at Work is both serious and fun; business 'edutainment' for a smart, ambitious readership.

Customer Reviews:

Become a Maverick.......2007-10-10

"Mavericks at Work" hit a home run for me. I love to think and act like a Maverick. I love to do "work that matters". This book introduced me to others who think like I do and have found business success. Thanks!

"Mavericks at Work" starts off with great a great introduction and keeps on going. I love the quote from Alan Kay (introduction): "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Why does business spend so much time trying to figure out what the competition will be bringing to the market place instead of trying to "invent the future"? Why not invent the market? Then you don't have any competition!

My favorite chapters were Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 10.

Chapter One - "Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy." This chapter does a great job of explaining why YOU need to create a Cause, not just a company. Causes make raving fans. Raving fans bring profits

Chapter Three - "Maverick Messages (1): Sizing Up Your Strategy". Take notes on this chapter, you will be glad you did. The authors give five questions every company should ask when sizing up your strategy.

Chapter Four - "Innovation Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business". Do you need some "innovative" ideas on how to get your company to embrace innovation as a way of life? This chapter shows you how. Don't be shy about putting some of these ideas to work.

Chapter Ten - "The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered". Great chapter on TALENT! Business today needs to put Talent at the top of the agenda for every strategy meeting, every business plan, every performance review, etc... All company's say that their people are their most important asset. Few prove it through their actions. This chapter shows some organizations that know and act as if People Matter and the payoff are increased profits.

Larry Kevin Adams
Author of "Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success".
theactionator.com

Stories to inspire - Lessons to Learn.......2007-08-10

Interesting stories and concrete examples are one of the most powerful ways to learn and be inspired. If you want to learn to succeed in the new world of work, then the collection of stories and examples in the book Mavericks at Work is a great starting point. The book profiles 32 remarkable US entrepreneurs who have battled bureaucracy and challenged the status quo, and won, while redefining success in their industries. The authors William Taylor, founding editor of Fast Company, and Polly LaBarre, a former writer for Fast Company, uncover some remarkable examples of how businesses are succeeding in hypercompetitive industries by being distinctively different.

Their findings are centered on 4 key themes:

1. Be different and pursue more than just money: Successful mavericks are fearless about breaking with outdated traditions and confining standards. Making money is only a small part of a bigger mission which they are deeply passionate about. Examples include Southwest Airlines, the company that pioneered low cost air travel and democratized the skies. The book highlights how Southwest saw it as their mission to make air travel accessible to all and by going after this wholeheartedly they innovated on different ways to save cost such as using second tier airports, not serving food and seating people on a first come first serve basis. Keeping this mission at the centre of the organisation has differentiated them from the competition and enabled them to consistently make profits is a loss making industry.

2. Tap other people's brains: The innovators of today rely on more than just their own insight and intelligence. They create systems to enable and encourage others to help them solve problems and come up with ingenious solutions. Examples include TopCoder Inc., a software development house for many large multinational organisations. They create competitions for technology geeks from all over the world to come up with solutions for software problems in return for lucrative prizes and prestigious ranking points. In this way they are able to use the wisdom of many to solve very specific software development challenges.

3. Connect deeply with customers: Connecting with customers is about a lot more than just traditional advertising, it is about really understanding what customers' value and connecting with that value system in a deep and meaningful way. Jones Soda asks customers to contribute photographs to be used on the labels of their cool drink bottles. Customers submit photos plus the story attached to each photo. Many photos are selected and placed on the bottles to be distributed in the region in which that customer lives. This creates a massive interest in the community as they discover "who is on the label?" and "what their story is?"

4. Partner with your employees: Maverick business enable employees to really understand what drives the business. They are given the opportunity to freely contribute to the overall mission of the business and be rewarded for doing so. At Cranium, a fast growing, innovative board game manufacturer in Seattle, the Chief Financial Officer holds companywide meetings on the company's numbers. He tutors the staff on cash flow and financial ratios, and every employee then assesses his or her own productivity. He recognizes that this helps keep the whole company focused on the right priorities

These are just a few of the many insightful, uplifting and inspiring examples that are highlighted in this energetic and well written book.

Great book!.......2007-07-25

This is one of the best business books I have read. Though it is written principally for managers and entrepreneurs, the book is truly inspiring for those starting up their own business. You will learn some very unconventional ways of managing your organization and innovating! "Playing it safe" is no longer playing it smart. The only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for a truly distinctive set of ideas about where your organization should be going.

Follow Southwest airlines' example by not hiring industry veterans in your organization. Industry veterans are harder to retrain, and come to your organization with preconceived ideas. Hiring people new to the industry fills your organization with fresh ideas.

Don't hesitate to fire your customers if they don't fit into your organization's culture. ING, a bank unlike others, does exactly that. ING also innovates by being different from other banks. They open on Sunday for example, and deposits are in a person's account within 24 hours (other banks take up to 3 business days). If groceries and malls can open on Sundays, why not banks?

Pixar Animation, unlike other companies in its industry (who hire on contract basis), hires full time crew. This creates a team atmosphere where everyone gets to know each other, and thus can be more productive.

Use open source. A Gold mining company in Canada did just that when it asked people from all over the world over the internet for their insight on where gold could be found. With worldwide expertise available, they found their answer! Cirque du Soleil similarly scouts the whole world for talent. Talent is everywhere, and you have to go everywhere to find it.

Any entrepreneur should be asking the following two questions: (a) If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why? (b) Why would people want to work for you?

Don't hire great people, or else you have to change your whole work environment into greatness. Hire good and smart people, but they don't have to be great. You have to be able to shun traditional ideas.

Finally, just in case some of you are wondering, Samuel Maverick, a Texan lawyer and politician, is the namesake of the eponym maverick, meaning an unbranded range animal. Gradually the term was enlarged to include anyone who could not be trusted to remain one of his group.

Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist, said some 35 years ago: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

Gets the creative juices flowing.......2007-07-05

A very inspiring book in helping think outside the box. Loads of real-world examples throughout. Starts with great energy and passion by the authors, and (maybe) runs out of steam in the end. Or maybe I just wasn't as interested in the subject covered. Anyway... I bought three more copies as gifts for clients.

Describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium..........2007-06-20

Like a host of the new "psychosocial" business books, Mavericks at Work describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium. The focus is not so much on the business styles of the 50's and 60's, as illustrated by the work of, say Peter Drucker, but rather it focuses on the new gestalt of branding through an intense devotion to customer service. By examining companies from the large scale of Proctor & Gamble and the World Bank, as well as new upstarts like Craigslist and ING Direct to open source communities like Wikipedia and TopCoder, authors William Taylor and Polly LaBarre take a new approach to finding out what the basis of the new energy and focus of companies who's products or services allow them to differentiate themselves and pull away from the pack. As veterans of the cutting edge business magazine Fast Company, the authors are well suited to have the inroads and knowledge in witnessing what works (and what doesn't) for the new breed of entrepreneurs or those within established enterprises trying to re-write the rules of business in the new world order. In addition, the pair operate one of the best follow-on websites we've seen featuring outtakes from the book, a blog, podcasts, interviews and information about their 'Mavericks Live' special events around the country [...]. A must for anyone thinking about Business 2.0. - Tim Devine

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness

Average customer rating:

An Unquiet Mind
superficial account of author's pretty nice life - not an in depth account
clarification
great book
Right on the money

An Unquiet Mind: A Memoir of Moods and Madness
Kay Redfield Jamison
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Depression | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Manic Depression | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Touched with Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament
The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide: What You and Your Family Need to Know
Brilliant Madness: Living with Manic Depressive Illness
Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness
Loving Someone With Bipolar Disorder

ASIN: 0679763309
Release Date: 1997-01-14

Amazon.com

In Touched with Fire, Kay Redfield Jamison, a psychiatrist, turned a mirror on the creativity so often associated with mental illness. In this book she turns that mirror on herself. With breathtaking honesty she tells of her own manic depression, the bitter costs of her illness, and its paradoxical benefits: "There is a particular kind of pain, elation, loneliness and terror involved in this kind of madness.... It will never end, for madness carves its own reality." This is one of the best scientific autobiographies ever written, a combination of clarity, truth, and insight into human character. "We are all, as Byron put it, differently organized," Jamison writes. "We each move within the restraints of our temperament and live up only partially to its possibilities." Jamison's ability to live fully within her limitations is an inspiration to her fellow mortals, whatever our particular burdens may be. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

As a founder of UCLA's Affective Disorder Clinic and a co-author of a standard medical text, Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison may be the foremost authority on manic-depressive illness. She is also one of its survivors. And it is this dual perspective -- as healer and healed -- that makes Jamison's memoir so lucid, learned, and profoundly affecting.

Even as she was pursuing her psychiatric training, Jamison found herself succumbing to the exhilarating highs and paralyzing lows that afflicted many of her patients. Though the disorder brought her seemingly boundless energy and mercurial creativity, it also propelled her into spending sprees, episodes of violence, and an attempt at suicide.

Powerfully candid, exceptionally wise, An Unquiet Mind is one of those rare books that has the power to transform lives -- and even save them.

Customer Reviews:

An Unquiet Mind.......2007-10-07

Jamison describes with utter passion and depth the horror of her disease to the point that you suffer for her and want to cry and reach out and give her support. However as the book continues it becomes less personal life instances, and more of a list of her life accomplishments and increasingly hard to comprehend where she had the time for the massive amounts of activities she is apparently involved with when seemingly absorbed by this overpowering mood disorder simultaneously.
Also it is difficult to feel at all sympathetic when she so stubbornly supports her inability to feel objectified by this disease. She writes as if she is begging for sympathy and compassion for manic-depressives but yet determinately supports its benefits and her overall gratitude to it in her life. She describes the disorder as if living with satan himself while she is tripping on acid and then states the phenomenal accomplishments she has accumulated while under his suicidal influence. It's hard to feel bad, and hard to believe. Not well written, she misses details as to her relationships and time periods when detailing her list of projects which makes it hard to gauge and follow not only periodically but developmentally. The feeling of reading a list of achievements one might include on a college application is the overall emotion I relate to this memoir.

superficial account of author's pretty nice life - not an in depth account.......2007-10-04

Ok, Kay Redfield Jamison has manic-depression. This is a horrible disease. However, she underscores time and time again its association with creative genius. The accounts of her highs and lows are superficial - it is mostly a memoir of her, her academic career, and her various boyfriends (and husbands)- all tall, or handsome, or wonderful dancers or artists. Dr Jamison appears smug, and not a little full of herself. The disease which she has is glamorized and sanitized, and minimized. The basic story is unremarkable. I am sorry I bought this book.

clarification.......2007-09-29

This is an informative, empathetic book.

I just wanted to clarify something in response to the review by "not to be mean but...talkinsmack":

While some psychiatric drugs should not be mixed with alcohol (for example, MAOI inhibitors cannot be mixed with fermented drinks, like wine and beer), this is not true of all or even most psychiatric drugs. Unless the patient taking them is an alcoholic or has other health issues, there is usually no reason why he or she cannot drink in moderation. Of course, individual patients' circumstances may differ.

To say that Kay Redfield Jamison belongs "inpatient" is ignorant and incorrect. If that's meant to be a joke, it isn't funny.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, but incorrect and sweeping generalizations like talkinsmack's about psychiatric drugs and the people who take them undermine the author's (excellent) work.

great book.......2007-09-10

I am bipolor and really appreciated this book. I will share it with my family.

Right on the money.......2007-09-10

If a bipolar patient needs to know that he/she is not alone in suffering, this is the book. I have had two close friends diagnosed as bipolar, and both said this book was amazing to them. It put into words what they were feeling when they felt no words described it.

I read the book as well, hoping to gain some understanding into their mental health issues and also felt it was very well written by someone that obviously knew what it was like.

Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men

Average customer rating:

Highly recommend it
great information
This Book Explained SO MUCH about abusive relationships
I don't understand why he treats me this way. He say he loves me.
important information for victims and advocates

Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men
Lundy Bancroft
Manufacturer: Berkley Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

The Verbally Abusive Relationship: How to Recognize it and How to Respond
The Emotionally Abused Woman : Overcoming Destructive Patterns and Reclaiming Yourself
Controlling People: How to Recognize, Understand, and Deal With People Who Try to Control You
When Dad Hurts Mom: Helping Your Children Heal the Wounds of Witnessing Abuse
The Emotionally Abusive Relationship: How to Stop Being Abused and How to Stop Abusing

ASIN: 0425191656
Release Date: 2003-09-02

Book Description

"He doesn't mean to hurt me-he just loses control."
"He can be sweet and gentle."
"He's scared me a few times, but he never hurts the children-he's a great father."
"He's had a really hard life..."

Women in abusive relationships tell themselves these things every day. Now they can see inside the minds of angry and controlling men-and change their own lives. In this groundbreaking book, a counselor shows how to improve, survive, or leave an abusive relationship, with:

Â€ The early warning signs
Â€ Nine abusive personality types
Â€ How to tell if an abuser can change, is changing, or ever will
Â€ The role of drugs and alcohol
Â€ What can be fixed, and what can't
Â€ How to leave a relationship safely

Customer Reviews:

Highly recommend it.......2007-10-13

I highly recommend this book, because the author makes it easy to understand the complex and painful dynamics of abusive relationships. Whether you personally have experienced one or more styles of abuse or are just curious about the subject, this book is the most informative and the best written one I have read.

I found this book by chance and the outcome makes me feel lucky.

great information.......2007-10-12

If this information sounds even a little familiar, run as far & as fast as you can. It has nothing to do with you & he will never change. There is nothing you can do that will ever be "good enough". I wasted 24 years trying. There are great suggestions in this book to help you plan. Save your energy for you. The best information of the many, many books I have read on this topic.

This Book Explained SO MUCH about abusive relationships.......2007-10-05

There were two messages that impacted me the most. First, that many things abusive men do to their partners are practically invisible due to the pervasive chauvinism and misogyny that is considered acceptable in our society. Second, the abusive and controling male needs to present himself as a puzzle that needs to be solved: it's a trick that keeps their partner occupied with guessing about what he'll do next instead of just leaving.

It was the hiding of their true agenda that kept me in a relationship with a couple of abusive males much longer than I should have stayed. I thought I could uncover what "really made them tick" by sticking it out with them. Then I figured that once I resolved the mystery of his disturbing, hostile and angry behavior we could live happily ever after.

This is the first book that helped me through my fantasy of believing I could "rescue" this kind of person from himself. I'd give it the highest rating for that alone. But there is so much more helpful information here that confirmed what I'd feared about them that I'd say this is a must-read for any woman confused about why she's not happy with her partner but feeling it's all her fault. Great as a gift!

I don't understand why he treats me this way. He say he loves me........2007-09-23

If you've ever asked that question, then this is a book for you. It is very comprehensive in covering the multitude of reasons and justifications employed by abusive, controlling men. These types of relationships are killers, and getting help is critical to your well being.

Emotional and verbal abuse were areas of great interest to me and includes degradation, humiliation, keeping in control in all situations, withholding information to maintain control, deliberately doing something to make the victim feel diminished or embarrassed, isolating the victim from friends and family, and employing great guilt to paralyze and immobilize the victim from acting in a healthy way.

The confusing and detrimental thing in my life was that the abuser worked in a capacity which protected the rights of victims. The hypocrisy of it had me in denial for sometime. Ultimately it took others to tell me I was living in a hell created by an animal who said he loved me several times everyday.

This book was a Godsend to me. If you even think you are in one of these relationships, read this book.

important information for victims and advocates.......2007-09-10

I work for a domestic violence provention and service program. I have given out hundreds of copies of this book. I refer to it often. One of the best books on the "why" that has been written

We Are Their Heaven: Why the Dead Never Leave Us

Average customer rating:

Help
We Are Not Their Heaven
Recommended this book in my book
Good book
We are their haven why the dead never leave us

We Are Their Heaven: Why the Dead Never Leave Us
Allison DuBois
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye
Hello from Heaven: A New Field of Research-After-Death Communication Confirms That Life and Love Are Eternal
Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality
The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death
Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life

ASIN: 0743291131

Book Description

What happens to our loved ones when they die?
Is there a heaven?

Is there a true connection and communication between the living and the dead?

Allison DuBois invites us into her world where she delivers messages from our lost loved ones. She convinces us that those who have passed away are constantly with us, providing comfort, love, and support. They are as eager to reach us as we are to stay connected with them.

But the dead have a language of their own. They communicate through signs, dreams, songs, coincidences, and messages delivered in unexpected ways. Allison takes us on an odyssey of these signs — how to recognise them, how to read them, and how to interpret them. In these pages, you will meet people who have had both heartbreaking and heartwarming communication with the other side, providing comforting proof that our deceased loved ones stay with us and continue to share in the joys of our lives.

Customer Reviews:

Help.......2007-10-10

I would like to have a reading with ms. DuBois however I do not know how to contact her for her readings (Author of book) Thank you in advance if you can help.

We Are Not Their Heaven.......2007-09-30

This book has helped three of my friends, I then bought the CD which three more of my friends and my husband listened to and all got something different but healing from the book. It is not meant to persuade the skeptics, but rather to give help to those who have lost loved ones. It did however change my engineer husbands mind, when she described how the experiments were set up. Great book, great person.

Recommended this book in my book.......2007-09-24

This is a comforting and easy-to-read book that is hard to put down. I read this book almost straight through. Allison is a brave and wonderful writer who does not attempt to be wordy or pretentious in her writing. I loved it so much that I recommended it to my readers in my book, "These Are My Final Wishes". I searched for a book like this since my mother passed in 1982. Thank you Allison DuBois.

Tamara Dunkel, author of "These Are My Final Wishes"

Good book.......2007-09-16

Allison still amazes me everytime she writes a new one. I just received her third one. I can't wait to get started on it.

We are their haven why the dead never leave us.......2007-09-06

This book really helped me alot get thru the pain of loosing my 26 yr old son to cancer. I know that he is with me alot in spirit and this book
helped me to understand that. Thank you Allison for putting this book out to help us when we loose a loved one.

This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind

Average customer rating:

Beautiful
Great American literature
An excellent read!!!
Strongly recommended
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind

This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind
Ivan Doig
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0156899825

Book Description

This work introduced a major modern author to the reading public. Doig’s life was formed among the sheepherders and other denizens of small-town saloons and valley ranches as he wandered beside his restless father. New Preface by the Author.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2007-10-14

This book was one of the few memoirs I have written when in the end I placed the book down and sighed "wow." What a wonderful story. The author rolled experiences together in western Montana with his dad and grandmother and turned it into a lovestory for fathers and grandmothers, for people of Montana, and all that using very little dialogue. (That gave the book a sense of truthfulness, as who can recite full conversations that took place years ago?)

The constant struggle with man against nature, man against man and man against himself come alive in these pages. Montana and its bittersweet closeness never leave the reader; its isolation and wide open sky are always in the background. Thus the title is so perfect for this beautiful memoir.

This was my first Doig book and I will definitely read more of him. I definitely consider this book one of the top ten in American 20th century writing.

Great American literature.......2007-01-09

This is my all time favorite book. Period. Beautifully written, thought-provoking. It will make you want to move to Montana. It will make you love open sky and a horizon that goes on forever and the importance of family.

An excellent read!!!.......2006-12-31

This was my first Ivan Doig book, and I loved it! As a result, I've read most of the rest of what Doig has written and thoroughly enjoy reading about (and remembering) the areas of Montana where I used to live.

Strongly recommended.......2006-11-27

As soon as I started reading This House of Sky, I fell into Ivan Doig's world. By the end I was so mesmerized by his wonderful language and vivid characters that I was wandering around the house with the book up to my nose, bumping into things, trying to do chores one-handed while reading. I would never have believed that a book that starts out with the gasping, hideous suffocating death of one of the author's parents and ends with the gasping, hideous suffocating death of the other one could contain such boundless love of family, such joy, and such beauty. Doig's vivid writing shades perilously close to poetry, and he has an eye for the perfect anecdote to illustrate his point. Doig evokes in the endless drudgery of Montana ranch life a heroic struggle, and turns his hardworking, mercurial father into one of the great figures of modern literature. As a chronicle of Doig's childhood and its end and of the Montana sheepherding life in the early parts of this century, This House of Sky is a spectacular success; but as a tribute to his beloved family and especially his father, the book is a powerfully moving classic.

This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind.......2005-08-27

The author "Ivan Doig" introduces Montana through his youthful eye and shares his rememberances of growing up in Montana. If you have yet to read any of Mr. Doig's excellent books or are already a fan; this book is not to be missed.

Average customer rating:

Plato, Socrates...and Woody Allen?
The value of a liberal education.
Necessary Questions
See Evan Sayet's analysis...
Nice Intro...

The Closing of the American Mind
Allan Bloom
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0671657151

Book Description

The Closing of the American Mind, a publishing phenomenon in hardcover, is now a paperback literary event. In this acclaimed number one national best-seller, one of our country's most distinguished political philosophers argues that the social/political crisis of 20th-century America is really an intellectual crisis. Allan Bloom's sweeping analysis is essential to understanding America today. It has fired the imagination of a public ripe for change.

Customer Reviews:

Plato, Socrates...and Woody Allen?.......2007-10-18

The Closing of the American Mind is a powerful, formidably intelligent book that sweeps across the state of humanities in modern education. It is marred, in places, however, by the author's prejudices and blind spots.

Bellow, great ally and friend of Bloom's at the University of Chicago kicks off with the intro, a rallying cry for the noble old humanities subjects, the 'submerged Atlantis' of a great books education. The value of such an education is to cultivate the higher mental life. Of course, Bellow was obsessed by this notion throughout his writing life. This culminated in the masterful 'Herzog', the story of a man who has nurtured the higher philosophical questions to an extreme yet has no clue how to master or even cope with the practicalities of modern life and is bankrupt and broken by the end.

Bloom himself was a formidable scholar, the inspiration for the character of Ravelstein in Bellow's final novel. A larger than life intellect, he was firmly of the view that reading Plato and Shakespeare is the most valuable thing you can do with your life. Far more useful and noble than studying MBAs, or how to reform the health service, or the natural sciences. No, the real ultimate education is philosophy - freewheeling, old style philosophy from Socrates, through Plato, through Aristotle and on to the Renaissance - Locke, Rousseau: the enlightenment, and modern democracy. Do students today appreciate all this? The hell they do! Modern life is a cultural desert, based on the notorious 'reforms' of the 60s when liberalization of university life destroyed much of what was good about education and turned it into a flaccid grab bag where you studied subjects that could be harnessed to useful ends, plus the odd paper that took your fancy.

Bloom's analysis is much deeper than this however and some of his specific diatribes are amongst the most powerful and funny parts of the book. Take music - rock music is all noise, not a patch on the noble constructions of Beethoven. Love - pah! The youth of today have no idea how to love, they haven't the chops for it, all they do is mope around whining about 'commitment' and 'relationships'. Actually, Bloom says very sound things about these 'lifestyles', not human lives worthy of the name. But his diagnosis is bizarre. He seems to think Woody Allen is responsible for a lot of this with his films just variations on what it is like to have no self (Zelig the worst culprit). C'mon Allan - surely you can see that the other Allen is fundamentally a humourist, not a philosopher, as he has reluctantly acknowledged himself. If you think Woody Allen is indicative of all that is wrong with modern life you have a pretty skewed view of things.

Still, delve deeply into this book, give it your concerted attention for a few weeks, and it will burrow deep into your marrow. Certainly Bloom makes a powerful case for reigniting the flame of philosophy in the Socratic sense in American Universities so students can discover the highest friendship and shared great moments, debating the ultimate questions through deep reading of the great philosophers that will last their whole lives.

I studied philosophy and politics myself at university, and it is true that the books that stuck with me the most were the great texts. The deep humanistic education that is vital to the cultivation of the soul, and the asking of that ultimate and most fundamental of questions - what is life for?

How many people these days would give you the glib answer of: '42'? And that is Bloom's point.

The value of a liberal education........2007-07-08

"Men may live more truly and fully in reading Plato and Shakespeare than at any other time, because they are participating in essential being and are forgetting their accidental lives. The fact that this kind of humanity exists or existed, and that we can somehow still touch it with the tips of our outstretched fingers, makes our imperfect humanity, which we can no longer bear, tolerable. The books in their objective beauty are still there, and we must help protect and cultivate the delicate tendrils reaching out toward them through the unfriendly soil of students' souls. Human nature, it seems, remains the same in our altered circumstances because we still face the same problems, if in different guises, and have the distinctively human need to solve them, even though our awareness and forces have become enfeebled" (p. 380).

Allan Bloom (1930-1992) was a professor of philosophy and political science at the University of Chicago, and the subject of Saul Bellow's final novel, Ravelstein (2000). In his bestselling book, The Closing of the American Mind (1987), Professor Bloom draws from his training as a philosophical thinker and his long career as a teacher to describe "how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today's students."

Summarizing Bloom's book in a short review is no easy task. He believes in "the good old Great Books approach" to education, and observes how students, in a culture of movies and rock music, have "lost the practice of and the taste for reading." He not only believes the high incidence of divorce has left students less critical in their thinking, but argues their lax sexual mores deprive students of what Plato described as the "erotic" element in education--the element of excitement, mystery, and longing inherent to a liberal education. Bloom believes the "openness" of cultural relativism--the practice of valuing the opinion of each person equally--undermines critical thinking with indifference, devalues the study of languages, philosophy, and science, and deprives students from searching for the truth that leads to a higher life. In his book, Bloom is concerned with nothing less than "the state of our souls."

Professor Bloom's argument is carefully reasoned, and reveals a great mind at work. The Closing of the American Mind is truly profound. Although it was published twenty years ago, it remains relevant nonetheless and should be considered essential reading in understanding the value of a liberal education in our society.

G. Merritt

Necessary Questions.......2007-05-22

This was the most difficult fun and knowledge seeking free time reading I have done in years. At times Dr. Bloom was speaking to me, freely articulating my own disappointment with the academy. His comments about the free fall of traditional inquiry and the current status of the social sciences and humanities was piercing. Since I was born in the 50s, the transformations he spoke of that became so apparent to him in the 80s were experienced in the public school and university careers of those of us born in the first decade or so after WWII.

In spite of the delight in reading Dr. Bloom's astute observations of those years, in no time, the next pages would lose and confuse me, forcing a re-read and consultation of other sources. Ironically, this exemplified the point he was making since those areas had to do with philosophy. (Plato is next.) Nonetheless, this is a marvelous work of incredible intellectual depth by a very scholarly man who was aware, and somewhat saddened, by the trends of his times.

The book is long, requires real dedication, but in my opinion it was well worth the read. The first two thirds of the book seem as if they are not related to one another, but then, by the last part, especially the chapter The Sixties, all the detail about the German School, Marcuse, Plato, converge. Although the 60s seemed groundbreaking and exciting to the youth of its time (including me), Bloom ventures to state, quite convincingly, that it was void of intellectual gravitas due a highly stylized, yet simplistic view of its philosophical and historical context.

Dr. Bloom also greatly delves into the role of the university and his founded fears of the compromise of the special status of inquiry in the academy being wedded to popular culture and politics. He repeatedly asserts that there's a lack of support, in his experience even among some professors, to uphold the bigger questions of existence, philosophy, religion, science, culture - what have you - that transcend popular culture and politics.

On the topic of politics, one might be tempted to state that Dr. Bloom took sides, and that his opus has left-right implications. It may have appeared a bit critical of what is commonly thought of as the left, but the notion of being "progressive", of throwing off tradition, of being less discriminate about what is good or evil, ugly or beautiful, right or wrong, tends to be the territory of the modern left. I never felt he was simply being opinionated, but that he just attributed his assessment of the late 20th century academia to certain movements and philosophies that permeated many areas of the university. Dr. Bloom greatly laments what the university has become because he clearly loved the institution and believed it was indispensable to the knowledge and mysteries of mankind.

See Evan Sayet's analysis..........2007-05-19

Evan says that Prof Bloom's book influenced him, but Evan has expanded on the reasons why Modern Liberals act like they do.

I recommend everyone watch Evan's talk.

You can find it at YouTube by searching on "Evan Sayet". Choose "How Modern Liberals Think". It's phenomenal.

Nice Intro..........2007-04-24

The best part about this book was the intro. In fact all you need to understand what the late Mr. Bloom was trying to put forth is in the introduction.

The rest of the book is a chore to read. The confusing and tedious writing style leads to a lot of re-reading of sentences to figure out the point the author is trying to make. Someone should have counseled Mr. Bloom that "Brevity is the soul of wit."

Average customer rating:

Behold a Pale Horse
Behold a pale horse
Too much chaff, not enough wheat
Informative
IN THE COLD

Behold a Pale Horse
William Cooper , and Milton William Cooper
Manufacturer: Light Technology Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0929385225

Book Description

The author, former U.S. Naval Intelligence Briefing Team Member, reveals information kept secret by our government since the 1940s. UFOs, the J.F.K.. assassination, the Secret Government, the war on drugs and more by the world's leading expert on UFOs.

Customer Reviews:

Behold a Pale Horse.......2007-09-15

Behold a Pale Horse is a book that will stop and make you think about much that is going on in the world today. You will never look at our political leaders the same again.

Behold a pale horse.......2007-08-29

i didnt like it. it was a bunch of nonsence. i dont even want to give it a star.

Too much chaff, not enough wheat.......2007-08-17

This is the kind of book that gives historical revisionists and truthseekers a bad name--specifically the "conspiracy nut" slur. While the author may or may not be sincere, a look at the cover is enough to give you a sense of how serious or not serious a presentation is contained within. Certainly there is much about history and society that we are routinely lied to about and historical facts that are suppressed so as to protect those with the power to pull the invisible strings fettering the world. This book documents much of that, but unfortunately delves into much disinformation and in the end will leave people confused--perhaps aware of several legitimate issues they had not known about before but also distracted by a series of unfounded claims muddying the waters. I put this in the same category as the works of David Icke, of reptilian shape-shifter fame...

Informative.......2007-08-13

William Cooper did an outstand job in writing this book. He has a wealth of knowledge that will assist the reader in researching other books that supports his claims.

IN THE COLD.......2007-07-21

Not a read for anyone who doesn't know or does know what others claim or wish to know. But if you read this book and it confirms what you did know or didn't know it may be worth the time reading. However, when you do buy this unknown known it will lead others to watch you over to see what else you know and what your planing to do with what you now know.....be careful buying it, the book will lead a cloud over you.

Extraterrestrial Contact: The Evidence and Implications

Average customer rating:

Not woth the $
Extraterrestrial Contact: The Evidence and Implications
I have been to a Greer "training"
All the stars in our Galaxy to you, Mr Greer. You have achieved wonders.
Review of "Exterrestrial Contact" by Steven Greer, M.D.

Extraterrestrial Contact: The Evidence and Implications
Steven M. Greer
Manufacturer: Crossing Point Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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UFO Briefing Document: The Best Available Evidence

ASIN: 0967323800

Book Description

Featured in the book:
-the best UFO/ET cases and the evidence for them.
-the best US and other official government smoking-gun documents
-remarkable close encounters of the Fifth kind
-thought-provoking overview of why ETs are here

Customer Reviews:

Not woth the $.......2007-05-22

The author of this book is a paranoid man with delusions of grandeur. Their books seem to spend more time talking about how amazing he is (making such claims as being able to levitate and summon ufo's on a whim) and doesn't actually give any real evidence. You are better off looking for interesting evidence with a google search, this book is not worth the money.

Extraterrestrial Contact: The Evidence and Implications.......2007-05-14

There is truth here which must be heard so all peoples will benefit.

I have been to a Greer "training".......2007-05-05

Like this book, the training was full of fantasy and imagination. Unlike this book, it was not full of extra-terrestial experiences. Rather, for me, the training was full of social-psychological phenomena. Some would call it "group think."

Greer, a dominating personality fascinated as much with himself, his thoughts and imagination as he is with ETs, seems to have a core group of followers, a majority of whom are single women. They are his resident "experts" at these trainings and report seeing what Greer suggests they will see. (We call it "priming" the crowd.) The group dynamics are incredible! Some of these women observe with their eyes shut or tightly "squinting" and report what they have seen as reality -- always ETs or avatars, of course. Greer approves and calls them experienced observers. Others, who see nothing, are told to stick with it and as they believe and practice, they, too will see. (Sort of like, if you read enough, believe enough, you will see Jesus.)

If you like science fantasy, this book could be entertaining though frustrating because of the remarkably juvenile, repetitious writing style. If you want facts, go elsewhere.

All the stars in our Galaxy to you, Mr Greer. You have achieved wonders........2007-05-04

Thank you for this book and all the enthusiasm and love you put into it. Thank you for opening my eyes and taking my fears away and doing the same for lots of others. Thank you for all your brave hard work. Every bit of your effort is opening doors to great miracles, waiting for too long to happen.
With admiration, Gabriela.

Review of "Exterrestrial Contact" by Steven Greer, M.D........2007-02-18

Let's start with the bottom line: This book should be taken very seriously.
Preamble: There are certain philosophical and moral foundations for investigations of reality, whether conventional or "far out." 1. An investigation should attempt to gather all of the facts that are pertinent to the subject. Leaving out essential facts can lead to erroneous conclusions. 2. The anlaysis of facts and evidence should be as thorough, complete, and valid as humanly possible. 3. The investigators should hold to an attitude of perfect impartiality; any bias is scientifically immoral. Even more immoral is deliberate concealment and lying to support a hidden agenda. 4. Investigators must often exhibit considerable courage to face and overcome opposition from those who oppose new facts, concepts, and conclusions.
How does Dr. Greer's investigation stack up with these principles? 1. The investigation has been extremely thorough, with an enormous body of evidence gathered. 2. The analysis of this evidence seems to be carefully done and valid. 3. No bias is evident in the investigator. In constrast, Dr. Greer has uncovered not only bias, but deliberate obstruction of the truth among many of the individuals and agencies investigated. 4. Dr.Greer has displayed a great deal of courage in confronting opposition to his totally justified right to investigate an important phenomenon.
In my opinion, Dr. Greer has reached a correct conclusion that there exists a "shadow government" that is more powerful than the visible one, and which has the money and resources to control information and suppress new technology in support of its own goals.

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Educational
If Think the Arts don't matter in school? You better think again!
A leading path

Arts With the Brain in Mind
Eric Jensen
Manufacturer: Association for Supervision & Curriculum Deve
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0871205149

Book Description

How do the arts stack up as a major discipline? What is their effect on the brain, learning, and human development? How might schools best implement and assess an arts program?? Eric Jensen answers these questions C and more C in this book. To push for higher standards of learning, many policymakers are eliminating arts programs. To Jensen, that's a mistake.

This book presents the definitive case, based on what we know about the brain and learning, for making arts a core part of the basic curriculum and thoughtfully integrating them into every subject. Separate chapters address musical, visual, and kinesthetic arts in ways that reveal their influence on learning.

What are the effects of a fully implemented arts program? The evidence points to the following:

$ Fewer dropouts $ Higher attendance $ Better team players $ An increased love of learning $ Greater student dignity $ Enhanced creativity $ A more prepared citizen for the workplace of tomorrow $ Greater cultural awareness as a bonus

To Jensen, it's not a matter of choosing, say, the musical arts over the kinesthetic. Rather, ask what kind of art makes sense for what purposes. How much time per day? What kind of music? Should the arts be required? How do we assess arts programs? In answering these real-world questions, Jensen provides dozens of practical, detailed suggestions for incorporating the arts into every classroom.

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"How do the arts stack up as a major discipline? What is their effect on the brain, learning, and human development? How might schools best implement and assess an arts program?" Eric Jensen answers these questions--and more--in this book. To push for higher standards of learning, many policymakers are eliminating arts programs. To Jensen, that's a mistake. This book presents the definitive case, based on what we know about the brain and learning, for making arts a core part of the basic curriculum and thoughtfully integrating them into every subject. Separate chapters address musical, visual, and kinesthetic arts in ways that reveal their influence on learning. What are the effects of a fully implemented arts program? The evidence points to the following: * Fewer dropouts * Higher attendance * Better team players * An increased love of learning * Greater student dignity * Enhanced creativity * A more prepared citizen for the workplace of tomorrow * Greater cultural awareness as a bonus To Jensen, it's not a matter of choosing, say, the musical arts over the kinesthetic. Rather, ask what kind of art makes sense for what purposes. How much time per day? At what ages? What kind of music? What kind of movement? Should the arts be required? How do we assess arts programs? In answering these real-world questions, Jensen provides dozens of practical, detailed suggestions for incorporating the arts into every classroom.

Customer Reviews:

Educational.......2007-03-07

Well, there was some things in there that were informative, the reading was clear. A bit boring and some what common sense stuff. I guess when I was reading it I felt like I was reading stuff I already knew, yet I never read about before. I don't know... you be the judge.

If Think the Arts don't matter in school? You better think again!.......2006-05-28

If you think the Arts don't matter anymore, I'm here to tell you to THINK again.

As a second grade teacher I find Jensen's work a must-read for every parent and educator. The Arts really do play an important part in education; whether the Arts fall under musical, visual, or in kinesthetic. The Arts will enhances the neurobiological system (Jensen, 2001, p. 116) or the brain, increasing a healthy responsive learning environment to other disciplines/subjects that are outside of the Arts.

Jenson discussed in-depth how each of the three Arts are important and why they should be part of every school's curriculum.

Simply a great book!

A leading path.......2005-10-23

With a sometimes harsh style sometimes subjective, Mr. Jensen provides us with a leading path to make a coherent relation between the brain an it's development and the education in arts. Not very detailed with the ideas and paradigms but effective to motivate our curiosity in the field. With the arts education in the middle of a crucial crisis in the U.S., the "new idea" (for the positivist people) of a direct effect of the arts education in the development of high cognitive skills, provide a solid fundamental for the importance of this matter. At least, is a very serious proposal, well supported by researchers in the field.

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