Book Description
"The following description is for the second edition of About Face. The 3rd Edtion, About Face 3 (ISBN 0470084111), is now available."
First published seven years ago-just before the World Wide Web exploded into dominance in the software world-About Face rapidly became a bestseller. While the ideas and principles in the original book remain as relevant as ever, the examples in About Face 2.0 are updated to reflect the evolution of the Web.
Interaction Design professionals are constantly seeking to ensure that software and software-enabled products are developed with the end-user's goals in mind, that is, to make them more powerful and enjoyable for people who use them. About Face 2.0 ensures that these objectives are met with the utmost ease and efficiency.
Alan Cooper (Palo Alto, CA) has spent a decade making high-tech products easier to use and less expensive to build-a practice known as "Interaction Design." Cooper is now the leader in this growing field. Mr. Cooper is also the author of two bestselling books that are widely considered indispensable texts. About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design, intro-duced the first comprehensive set of practical design principles. The Inmates Are Running the Asylum explains how talented people and companies continually create aggravating high-tech products that fail to meet customer expectations.
Robert Reimann has spent the past 15 years pushing the boundaries of digital products as a designer, writer, lecturer, and consultant. He has led dozens of interaction design projects in domains including e-commerce, portals, desktop productivity, authoring environments, medical and scientific instrumentation, wireless, and handheld devices for startups and Fortune 500 clients alike. Joining Cooper in 1996, Reimann led the development and refinement of many goal-directed design methods described in About Face 2.0. He has lectured on these methods at major universities and to international industry audiences. He is a member of the advisory board of the UC Berkeley Institute of Design.
Customer Reviews:
Alan Cooper is a genius.......2007-04-07
This book not only defines a "layman user" but also answers the question of how your application can educate a layman user step by step.
Designing of application.......2006-11-10
How to design a application from a designers perspective. Cannot say I agree with everything, but the writers are probably right.
Needs more examples!.......2006-05-16
I think this guy has a book about how the inmates are running the asylum...well this book suffers from what happens when the subject matter experts (SME) are allowed to write books. BORING!!! SME's always seem to forget to include compelling examples. Yes there are little screen shots, but IMO in order for a book to be compelling that has to do with design...it needs to show LOTS of examples of good design. The bulk of the book should be about breaking down those designs. I need to hear why a specific design is effective. Take a hint from Steve Krugs book "Don't Make me Think". That book is extremely effective without inundating the reader with jargon. Lots of examples with meaningful visual breakdowns. Afterall...isnt UI design a VISUAL communication form?
Not for experienced developers.......2006-03-05
I have 7 years experience and I wasn't able to get any value out of this book. Based on some of the reviews on this site I thought that the book would be worth buying but unless you are in school or right out of school then your $35 is better spent elsewhere.
I suggest that you put your $35 towards "The Usability Engineering Lifecycle" by Deborah J. Mayhew. Don't let the $64.95 price tag scare you away. This book is worth $100.
Good on concepts, weaker on examples.......2006-02-21
This follow up to About Face is a good overview of the critical concepts to improve software usability. Cooper and Reiman know their stuff. Reading this certainly provides you with the grounding you need to make good decisions. At a tactical level, the book could certainly do more to help with real-world examples.
For that, you may want to take a look instead at Jenifer Tidwell's Designing Interfaces : Patterns for Effective Interaction Design. Where About Face is strong on theory, Designing Interfaces is all about practical ideas, demonstrated through graphical examples.
If UI is an important part of your world, buy them both.
Average customer rating:
- Power Tips from two experts in the field...
|
Coaching Successfully (DK Essential Managers)
Robert Heller
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
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Essential Managers: Motivating People (Essential Managers Series)
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Dealing with Difficult People (Essential Managers Series)
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Essential Managers: Managing Teams
ASIN: 0789471477 |
Amazon.com
If most coaching guides look as if you'd need a coach just to get through them, you'll love this itty-bitty guide, which zooms in on the most important aspects of organizational-workplace coaching, from selecting an effective personal coaching style and preparing and shaping a coaching session to followup steps, dealing with barriers to coaching, troubleshooting, and more advanced coaching, such as team coaching, long-distance coaching, coaching plus appraising, and assessing your own coaching skills. On every page, boxed "power tips," quickie case studies and self-tests, to-do checklists, and easy-to-follow flowcharts demystify the process. Granted, if you're looking for specific or in-depth guidance, you may find this book too general in its approach. But if you're looking for a thumbnail guide to the basics, it'll do just fine.
It's worth mentioning that the book is also part of reference publisher Dorling-Kindersley's Essential Managers series--20 itty-bitty books on business and career topics ranging from communication, leadership, and decision-making to the management of time, budgets, change, meetings, people, projects, and teams. Combining the For Dummies series' talent for breaking down a lot of information into bite-sized bits and sidebars with Dorling-Kindersley's signature, crisp graphics on a gleaming white backdrop, they don't represent the cutting edge of business thinking and they don't necessarily reflect any unique individual perspective.
Instead, it's as though someone collated the best general thinking on these 20 topics and rolled them out into 72 brightly designed and easy-to-read pages, studded along the way with boxed tips, color shots of a multiracial cast of "coworkers" animatedly hashing through the workplace issues of the day, and a self-test of one's skills in the topic at hand on the last few pages of each volume. Again, they're not for anyone looking for in-depth or focused help on any of the subjects they cover, but they're perfect as a quickie general-interest reference... and let's face it, they're so cute, and look so smart in a neat little stack or row, that you'll probably want to buy a whole bunch to give to your entire department or staff. --Timothy Murphy
Book Description
Learn all you need to know about helping others to achieve their full potential. From defining performance targets to supporting staff as they progress, Coaching Successfully shows you how to motivate others to develop themselves, promoting initiative and self-responsibility. Find out how to adapt your coaching style to suit both teams and individuals, how to use delegation as a coaching tool, and how to overcome negative attitudes. Power tips help you to handle real-life situations and increase your effectiveness as a role model and confidant. The Essential Managers have sold more than 1.9 million copies worldwide! Experienced and novice managers alike can benefit from these compact guides that slip easily into a briefcase or a portfolio. The topics are relevant to every work environment, from large corporations to small businesses. Concise treatments of dozens of business techniques, skills, methods, and problems are presented with hundreds of photos, charts, and diagrams. It is the most exciting and accessible approach to business and self-improvement available.
Customer Reviews:
Power Tips from two experts in the field..........2001-05-08
John Eaton holds a doctorate in psychology and is a senior partner of Coaching solutions. They provide coaching and cultural change programs for managers and directors. Roy Johnson has extensive senior management experience and runs Pace, an award-winning training company. Together they also have written Business Applications of NLP.
If you want to learn all you need to know about helping people to achieve their full potential, then you will enjoy Coaching Successfully. This book will show you how to motivate others, promote initiative and help others to take responsibility.
Your coaching style will need to be adapted when dealing with a group and you will also enjoy reading about how to overcome negativity. There are power tips throughout the book which help you to handle real-life situations and increase your effectiveness.
In today's business environment, e-mail can also be used for coaching, however they advise you not to use it for "personal" coaching. At the end of the book, you can evaluate your own coaching skills.
"Raise your expectations and ask people to live up to them." -pg. 62 "Allow people to learn from their own mistakes." -pg. 63 "Motivate staff by linking their personal goals to the company's aims." -pg. 20
These power tips are very useful and there are so many great ideas contained in this mini book. It won't take a long time to read, but you will be able to be a more positive influence on others and will know how to bring out the best in those you work with.
Amazon.com
Written by Dr. Love, a sex therapist with an aptronym if ever there was one, Hot Monogamy is no contradiction in terms. Comedian Dave Barry may joke about his guide to "marriage and/or sex," but Dr. Love's book proves that becoming sensually and "sexually fluent" is a skill that can send flames soaring, no matter how long you've been a couple or how humdrum your sex life has become.
Hot Monogamy includes a nine-step program that starts with a self-quiz for each partner for determining "sexual style." This helps pinpoint which areas need to be worked on, such as resolving differences in desire--one of the most common problems among long-term couples. Communication is a big topic, but another painless quiz helps reveal romantic expectations both in and out of bed to help clarify exactly where overlooked problems may be festering.
Then comes technique. The chapter "Variety: How to Have More Fun in Bed" may prove the most useful, with discussions of sex toys, fantasy, sex games, and other forms of experimentation. Dr. Love is a firm believer in the G spot, and clearly explains how to make maximum fireworks with it. The book also includes contact information for sexual products that can be sent to you confidentially, as well as guidelines and resources for seeing a sex therapist.
Customer Reviews:
cheaper than a therapist.......2007-05-25
This is an awesome book and is cheaper than a marriage counselor or sex therapist. It has actual written and oral (no pun intended) exercises to help couples get back in touch with each other.
Better book to read is PASSION PLAY.......2004-08-13
by Felice Dunas. Patricia Love makes some good points when she says that a couple should address their sexual issues LONG BEFORE they decide to get into therapy.
Read Dunas's book also. While Dunas' book is very sexually explicit, dealing with the ancient Chinese approach to great sex- yin/yang energy moving - she is very practical she even has a sample monogamy agreement included for couples.
Too Hot!.......2003-03-04
After eight years of marriage, I found Dr. Love's book to be a truly practical, intellectual and stimulating (pun intended!) guide to a more passionate, intimate love relationship. Be sure to share this with all your friends!
Dr. "Love" Has No Clue About It.......2000-03-24
Only a woman who had a marriage end because of her own lack of interest of sex could have written a book like this. She writes that a lack of interest in sex does not mean a lack of love. I have discovered that only two groups of people feel this way: Men who have wives with a high level of sexual desire and who initiate sex on a regular basis, and women with a low level of sexual desire who probably lost a husband by saying "I don't care if I ever do it again."
A real saucy sizzler!.......1999-05-02
My bedroom hadnt seen any action since the Alomo however Dr Love's book sure got them beans a jumping for me and my wife. The techniques sexplored between the pages (or should I say sheets) of Dr Love's raunch manual are satisfying yet not too taxing on the old bones. I would thoroughly recomend this sauce fest to anyone who is lagging in the old sexual athletics. Ive gone from a three leegged race to an Olympian and its all thanks to Doc L.O.V.E. This book is the literary equivalent of a Barry White record. Buy it today and I garuantee you won't look back. I couldnt pick it up now I can't put it down(know what I mean ladies?).Thanks you DR.Love.
Book Description
Ask someone who works with horses how best to communicate with a balky colt and she will tell you that horses do not respond to human cajoling. To be successful the human must understand and work with, not against, the horse’s instincts, needs, and fears. When a trainer resorts to human teaching methods — reasoning, begging, bribing, even hugging and kissing — the horse will become confused and unable to respond appropriately. But if horses are treated respectfully with methods they understand, everyone involved — animal and human — will be happier, safer, and more productive.
Horse trainer and instructor Cherry Hill believes that every human/horse relationship benefits from a greater human understanding of what motivates horses, how they experience the world, what makes them happy, and what worries them. Journey through the equine mind with Hill as she explores all that makes a horse tick. How do his basic needs dictate his behavior and mood? What touches and tastes appeal to his senses? How does his “flight or fight” instinct dictate his response to sudden movements?
Hill offers interactive experiments — fun for both horse and human — that bear out her findings on horse behavior. And her final chapter presents simple training methods that draw from the insights and information presented throughout the book.
Customer Reviews:
Winifred's View.......2007-09-28
I have purchased many books on horses and riding, but Cherry Hill's "..Think Like a Horse" explained and reinforced so much more about what I was questioning and experiencing with my horse. It is certainly a wonderful resourse for "newbies" like myself who have discovered the wonders of horse at a late age, but I believe it also holds a lot of insights for the more experienced riders/owners who care about knowing their horses at least as well as they ride/show them. I was looking for something to explain a particular change in my horse's behavior (after eye exams, blood work etc turned up negative) and I believe I found it in Ms. Hill's book. Winnie and I thank her for sharing her knowledge and wisdom in a book packed with information.
If I were a horse.......2007-09-20
If I were a horse, I would want this author to be my "keeper." This book is written with keen insight and clearly communicated to anyone who owns a horse, rides a horse or has dreamed of galloping across a great meadow as free as the wind. I highly recommend this book along with another book that embraces horses: It's called On the Trail of the Pony Express and the book follows Cherokee author, Jerry Ellis, for 2,000 miles along the Pony Express Trail by foot, horse, covered wagon and canoe from Missouri to California.
Wonderful book!.......2007-07-15
This is a delightful book full of information and insight from an often under-appreciated trainer. Cherry Hill covers everything from development to grooming to behavior to training.
Information which is normally strewn across several horse books comes together in this single volume. This is a must-read for every horse enthusiast.
How to think like a horse.......2007-06-08
The book was very informative and easy to understand
How to think like a horse.......2007-05-29
Received the book in a very quick time....I love the book....finished it in 3 days....Thank You
Average customer rating:
- A book that works
- The Way to Go
- Cogent, clear, concise
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Essential Interviewing: A Programmed Approach to Effective Communication With Infotrac (Counseling)
David R. Evans ,
Margaret T. Hearn ,
Max R. Uhlemann , and
Allen E. Ivey
Manufacturer: Wadsworth Publishing
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Theory and Practice of Counseling & Psychotherapy w/ Website, Quiz Bk, + InfoTrac
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Business Mastery : A Guide for Creating a Fulfilling, Thriving Business and Keeping It Successful
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The Essential Counselor
ASIN: 0534558488 |
Book Description
This dynamic book defines the core communication skills essential to any interview, and vividly demonstrates how to use them effectively in a variety of situations. Based on Ivey's systematic method of interviewer, counselor, and therapist training, and Hearn's programmed learning application, the book's approach makes the interview clear and specific for beginners, helping them to master the complexities of the process. The authors of this "Twenty-Fifth Silver Anniversary Edition" help take the mystery out of the interviewing process through their emphasis on client Story (listening and helping clients tell their tales), Restory (helping clients think about their lives and the world in new ways), and Action (what needs to be done to make the story come to life).
Customer Reviews:
A book that works.......2007-06-19
I've been using this book for years in the MA program in counseling at NYU in our intro counseling skills course. I use this book to supplement the IPR video tapes by Kagan. My students have really enjoyed using the book. It allows real practice of counseling skills. Each counseling skill is broken into chapters: A client makes a statement and then there are three possible ways that the counselor can respond. It clearly explains why the one answer is correct and the other two are not. (I have my students cover the answers so they have to guess which one is correct.)
If you are looking for a book to practice counseling skills, I highly recommend this book.
The Way to Go.......2007-02-15
This book has some intense information on how to maximize an interviewing process. I will definately use it's techniques in my Naturopathic Consultation Practice.
Cogent, clear, concise.......2004-07-04
Cogent, lucid, concise, this book promises to be a fine choice for both psychology and business majors. The comprehensive evaluation of answers to interview questions in each chapter invites students to develop effective listening skills as well as help them perfect successful questioning techniques.
The chapters on attending behavior and questioning are especially well done, providing a wealth of applicable techniques. Also, the emphasis on ethics is an especially cogent addition, given our current cultural climate.
I highly recommend this book for any course in counseling techniques.
Kathleen Barlow, Ph. D.
Associate Professor of English and Communications
Chair of Academics
College of Professional Studies
Indiana Tech
Book Description
When it comes to communicating corporate information, the skills of the messenger can make or break a company's reputation in the eyes of shareholders, employees, and the media. Filled with practices, principles, and case studies, this essential guide helps HR professionals hone their skills at delivering information, managing crises, responding to queries, and more. Today's HR professionals work side by side with senior executives to devise a strategy for their organizations and to marshal the talent and resources to implement it. That means going beyond the traditional HR domain and mastering the fundamentals of all aspects of business and management. The Business Literacy for HR Professionals series, developed in partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management, covers essential areas such as negotiation, decision making, change management, finance, and more. These highly practical books help HR professionals achieve their goal to be true strategic partners who bring additional bottom-line value to their organizations.
Book Description
Essentials of Human Communication fills the need for a brief, interesting, but serious text that places a strong focus on skill development. In-text features and the text itself highlight the application of human communication skills to the real world and to the workplace. Self concept, perception, verbal and nonverbal messages, interpersonal relationships, small group communication, and public speaking preparation. Introductory human communication.
Customer Reviews:
Worst text book ever.......2005-05-18
I can't believe I was forced to buy this book from my school for an Oral Communications class. The book has almost no bearing on communication in an office or business setting. It's overrun with ethics, empathy, and bull about feedback. Even the glossary dosent give straight deffinitions. Instead of a deffinition it gives examples. I HATED THIS BOOK. I can say without exageration that I will use this book for kindling in my fireplace.
Communication style requires options.......2003-08-13
An earlier reviewer decries the liberal leanings of this text. A college introductory course introduces options in skills available for human communication. This text provides students exercises that help identify their current communication style, the answers to the questions then invite discovery and awareness. Once the reader is aware, the opportunity to examine the communication framework each individual uses and how new communication skills can be employed can begin. This text provides a wealth of information to the essential process of communication.
Book Description
Though it may not be obvious, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty are directly connected to the passion and energy of an organization's employees. In The Loyalty Advantage, readers will learn how to create a loyalty-driven company and how to direct company culture and leadership to develop widespread employee enthusiasm. The book demonstrates how in-house dedication to employees translates naturally into superior customer service, which then creates brand loyalty.
Filled with practical tips and proven strategies, the book shows readers how to:
* create an environment that inspires passion for the brand and company loyalty
* encourage employees to help craft and become invested in the company's vision and values
* translate organizational values into superior products, customer service, and corporate profits
Using proven methods, The Loyalty Advantage shows how to create allegiance and translate it into bottom-line results.
Customer Reviews:
Loyalty and The Loyalty Advantage are Invaluable.......2005-05-08
What is most amazing about The Loyalty Advantage is that through detailed explanations, real case studies, and recent examples from companies of all sizes, author Dianne Durkin shows readers that loyalty truly matters in business and that it can be obtained.
Readers gain insights into the workings of some of the most well branded companies in the nation, and learn how and why these brands have come to be household names. The Loyalty Advantage shows that how we each treat each other, from CEO to secretary to part-time sanitation engineer, really does matter and it is quantifiable in the companies' profitability. You reap what you sew.
The Loyalty Advantage gives a great overview of how branding came to be such an important force in American business. The first part of the book is incredibly enlightening and interesting in its explanation of loyalty's evolution within our social and business cultures. The book shows that the meaning of and concern for loyalty is different according to the generations. This is important to anyone who manages people of different ages.
Finally, as a small business owner, what I found most valuable about The Loyalty Advantage is that the book showed how companies turned problems into successes and gave step by step explanations that I can relate to my own business. I am going to test The Loyalty Advantage's 12-step brainstorming session and it's five-step crisis management plan in my company immediately.
Anyone who runs a business, manages employees, or works with clients or customers needs to read The Loyalty Advantage.
Excellent Resource - A MUST READ! .......2005-05-07
The Loyalty Advantage is an excellent resource for any company or individual looking to learn more about the value of loyalty in the business world. This book outlines the five essential steps to building the loyalty advantage process in order to create an environment that increases employee loyalty and customer loyalty, which then builds brand loyalty.
This book contains clear examples and captivating case studies from some of the most admired companies in America including Best Buy, Tiffany, Southwest Airlines and Whole Foods. With the most powerful form of marketing being positive word of mouth - who wouldn't want to increase the loyalty within their company? This book is a quick and easy MUST - READ! Fabulous advice!
The Loyalty Advantage.......2005-04-08
Bought the book "Loyalty Advantage" on Monday and finished it on Wednesday. This is a must read for owners that are concerned with employee turn over. I bought a second book for a friend that works for a major corporation, which should be a must read for them. Treating everyone with respect and honesty is a must. Great book which I had it 25 years ago to have my managers read it.
Average customer rating:
- What a wonderful approach!!!!!
- Was this for real?
- ma' RRow
- Review of the U.K. edition published in SOAS Magazine
- A witty, fun look at cats and their foibles.
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How to Speak Cat: The Essential Primer of Cat Language
Alexandra Sellers
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
At last, a Bold New Theory in the annals of human and animal communication -- a pioneering milestone of enormous scientific importance.
How to Speak Cat is the ultimate, comprehensive and authoritative guide to communicating with your cat in your cat's own language. Alexandra Sellers (who has mastered seven human languages) studied the language of Cat for many, many years and ultimately uncovered its secrets. Here, for the first time, this language -- complete with extensive vocabulary and proper grammar -- is revealed.
How to Speak Cat is the perfect primer for the serious beginner. In a short time, a devoted human can learn the basics of Cat -- including proper diction and pronunciation -- and be well on the way to full communication with felines, at the same time respecting them for what they are: a superior species.
Customer Reviews:
What a wonderful approach!!!!!.......2002-08-28
Alexandra Sellers has devoted most of her life to deciphering the mysterious and complicated cat language that - until now - only those mysterious felines have been able to use.
I am heartbroken at a certain review in which one user mentions "200 pages of garbage", "stupid pronunciation guide", and conveys a feeling of cats being animals with no language and a book by a fruitcake who wants money.
This is the wrong approach to this book. I have tested Sellers' theories by giving phrases to my cats. Their ears perk up, they always respond, and I know they understand. If you are a firm believer, as am I, that cats deserve to have their mysterious language recognized, I recommend this book over any.
I got it for X-mas and I hope to become fluent. I guarantee you will find familiar cat phrases in a couple of days. While the idea of a "cat language" seems stupid to some, and the notion that animals can speak may seem outrageous to you, cat lovers know that these creatures have a language not until a few years ago deciphered by the author.
But Sellers, through many, many, many, many, many years of research has found patterns that should not be undermined as "stupid" or "nonsense". If you have faith in human-to-feline communication, you cannot give into this cynicism, bigotry and criticism of a woman's lifetime work. She has written other books on Cat, and has studied 7 major human languages.
So why would we be so much more critical of her than of the Horse Whisperer? She, like he, has worked very hard and very long, not to create 200 pages of garbage, an elaborate joke, but to give what she has learned about Cat to the world.
Bottom line: if you don't give in to the jaded cynicism of people who say cats are stupid and can't talk, please, please, please consider buying How to Speak Cat. You will not be disappointed.
Was this for real?.......2001-09-07
I was introduced to this book while vacationing in London. I saw Sellers on some tv show 'talking' to a cat. Since I have 5 cats in my apartment, I found her claim she had learned Cat very interesting.
Upon embarking on this book, I had to wonder "Is she serious?!?!" Though I enjoyed the fact that there might actually be a Cat language, this book had me in hysterics. Cat lullabys, Cat apologies, Cat lies, a Cat God? Come on!
Sure, I tried it out on each of the cats in my life and each time I was met with a look that said, "What? Have you gone completely crazy?!?!"
ma' RRow.......1999-05-09
Finally! A comprehensive compilation of what we knew all along - that a cat's language is as unique and complex as their "personalities". Kudos to Sellers for breaking the code and allowing us to communicate more effectively with our beloved feline friends. Would have given the book 5 stars, if Sellers had dealt with the section on the subordinate connector more thoroughly. But still a great effort overall.
ma' RRow (translated "I am blessed")
Review of the U.K. edition published in SOAS Magazine.......1998-07-22
In England an expanded version of this book was published by Bellew Publishing under the title SPOKEN CAT AND RELEVANT FACTORS IN WORLDVIEW. This is a review we published recently.
Anyone who has more than a passing acquaintance with cats will quickly recognise the basic premise of this book -- the ironic counterpoint between, on the one hand, the anthropomorphising tendency to bestow human thoughts and emotions on animals which makes domestic pets such a comfort to those humans whose need for companionship finds fulfilment in a small, manageable and relatively undemanding form, and, on the other, the lurking paranoia which suggests that the balance of power is in fact entirely the other way, that the relationship exists entirely for the convenience of the animal, whose aim is to train the owner in the provision of its wants -- food, shelter, attention, exercise.
To say that Alexandra Sellers adopts the paranoia theory would be an absurdly simplistic view of a bo! ok which has resonances going far beyond the suggestion that, as far as feline pets are concerned, we are not the owners but the owned. SPOKEN CAT follows with rigorous correctness the format of a language primer -- the kind which readers of a certain age will recognise as having accompanied their first stumbling attempts to master French or German. Section one contains nine grammar lessons built around everyday situations, headed by a short narrative for study and accompanied by the requisite vocabulary. Section two concerns tonality -- Cat is primarily a tonal language, with tonal patterns one of the main carriers of meaning. Sections three and four -- supporting the notion that no language can be properly mastered without an understanding of the culture of its native speakers -- deal first with Cat myths and legends, and second, in the essay `Einstein's Cat', with the influence, both overt and covert which cats have had on human civilisation throughout its history. The tex! t is comprehensively footnoted and illustrated with items w! hich show an impressive range of erudition -- perhaps less surprising when one knows that the author's studies at SOAS brought her a First Class degree in Persian (the language, that is) and Religious Studies.
Supporters of the `pet as human companion' theory will see in the book the answer to their prayers -- a book which will allow them to enter into meaningful converse with their adored feline friends. Those who subscribe to the paranoia view will find in it confirmation of their worst fears -- proof, finally, that we are not masters of our destiny, Cats are. Those who can read it with a little more detachment will find far more valuable insights, into the limitations of the academic method, the nature of language, and the very structure of human thought. To reveal more would be to give the game away; suffice it to say that the book is multi-faceted, multi- levelled, and full of the kind of humour which turns one's thinking upside down. Buy it, enjoy it, and recommend it ! to your friends.
A witty, fun look at cats and their foibles........1998-07-10
A delightful book which can be enjoyed on a variety of levels: as a book for cat lovers, poking gentle fun at our beloved felines for their attitudes( which every cat 'owner' will instantly recognize); as a spoof of a scholarly research paper presenting new information, carefully collected and collated and painstakingly reported; or as a grammar book on Cat language - the vocabulary consisting only of words important, of course, to cats, such as 'pretty', 'lonely', 'hungry', 'food', and, most important, 'Higher Being', which all cat lovers will recognize as the obvious and only way to refer to a 'Cat Presence.' A few important things we learn about the cat language - there are no pronouns distinguishing 'you', 'he', 'she', 'it', etc., simply one word for Cat and one for Non-Cat; and there is no possessive word assigning ownership to any other being than a cat, the idea of this being 'offensive' to cats. The book is full of advice for practicing the language on your cat - 'your attitude should be humble', and 'offer tidbits when the cat responds to your attempts to communicate.' My cat-loving family like to pick this book up, find choice bits, and read them aloud for the amusement of guests and family. A great gift book for any cat lover.
Book Description
Here's the first practical, plain-English book targeted to minimize the legal exposure of trainers, speakers, and consultants. This easy-access resource gives you all the legal information and guidance you require to keep you, your company, and your clients out of court. Filled with sample contracts, checklists, and case studies, it helps you comply with all mandates on proper health and safety training... protect yourself from personal injury and negligence lawsuits..."bias-proof" training programs to avoid discrimination charges...avoid copyright infringement and safeguard your own work product...sidestep malpractice pitfalls whether clients do or do not take your advice ... honor all contract provisions and ensure your clients do as well...resolve conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas...create good documentation to "bomb-proof" yourself legally...minimize the disruption caused by unavoidable legal claims...and much more!
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