Editorial Review

This text emphasizes understanding over memorization to effectively present the "big picture" through the use of drug prototypes, large and small print, and special foundational chapters that cover principles related to each body system. At the end of each chapter, a summary of major nursing implications also helps you apply the material to real-world situations. The accompanying companion CD-ROM features audio and printable key points that you can download to a CD or MP3 player. The CD-ROM also features 700 NCLEX® examination-style multiple-choice review questions, animations depicting drug mechanisms and effects, flash cards, and numerous electronic calculators.

• UNIQUE! Summaries of Major Nursing Implications at the end of each chapter help you understand how to apply concepts to clinical practice in an easy-to-understand format.
• A prototype drug approach uses one drug within each drug family that characterizes all members of its group to give you the knowledge you need to learn not only about related drugs currently on the market, but also about those drugs that will be released once the student begins practice.
• Uses large print to identify essential "need-to-know" information and small print to identify "nice-to-know" information
• Concise drug summary tables present quick reference to detailed information on individual drugs, including class, generic and trade names, dosages, routes, and indications.
• End-of-chapter Key Points are summarized in a bulleted format to facilitate your review of the most important concepts in each chapter.
• Patient and family teaching content is highlighted to emphasize this key content and provide you with critical information to include in teaching patients about drugs and effects and stresses points for educating family members when they will be helping to care for the patient.
• Provides Anatomy and Physiology and Pathophysiology reviews at the beginning of chapters to help you understand the relationships pharmacology and the biologic systems that drugs influence.
• A comprehensive collection of appendixes includes a concise overview of Canadian drug information, gender-related drugs, drug administration techniques, normal laboratory values, and much more.
• Companion CD-ROM features 700 NCLEX examination-style multiple-choice review questions, animations depicting drug mechanisms and effects, flash cards, key points, and numerous electronic calculators.

• Includes numerous new drugs and formulations recently approved by the FDA to keep you current with today's drug therapy practice.
• Special Interest Topic boxes address late-breaking issues in pharmacology that have recently emerged in the media so you can learn the current events that may affect them in practice.
• Extensive revision to the Cancer Chemotherapy unit provides you with up-to-date information on new drug therapy in this complex and rapidly changing area of practice.
• Companion CD-ROM features audio and printable key points that you can download to a CD or MP3 player to listen to and review at their leisure.
• Additional full-color graphics illustrate how drugs work in the body and depict key pharmacologic principles.

Reviews

A Truly Outstanding Text, June 14, 2006
Lehne would win the favorite textbook award by acclamation at my nursing school. The text is clear, concise and incredibly well written. The author reviews relevent physiology, lays out the classes of drugs and explains how each works, usually by examining a prototypical drug in each class followed by briefer reviews of other similar drugs. Each chapter ends with a "Key Points" section which is probably the best chapter summary I have ever seen in a text. Then, a "Summary of Major Nursing Implications" puts it all into clinical practice.
If anyone had told me my favorite book in Nursing School would be my Pharmacology text, I wouldn't have believed them, but it's true. The author even has a sense of humor. If you have to study pharmacology this is THE text to use. Richard Lehne deserves an award, not to mention the undying gratitude of nursing students everywhere, for producing such a truly outstanding, useable and friendly text.

Awesome! A must have!, August 14, 2005
Although this book is made for nursing, I found it extremely insightful. I am a Physician Assistant & I would recommend it to ANY healthcare provider!

Unpretentious, concise and highly informative., July 14, 2006
I have read a lot of drug books in the course of my nursing (RN) education and this book helped me understand Pharmacology. The author, Lehne, is very concise in his presentation of pathophysiology and pharmacology i.e., mechanism of action, pharmacokinetics, adverse effects, interactions, etc. One thing that sets this book apart from the other drug books is the extensive but concise explanation of nursing implications related to each drug. At the end of each chapter, the author lists a summary of Major Nursing Implications which is very helpful and indispensable to students and practicing nurses.

When you know the diagnosis, but not the proper Rx, January 30, 2005
This is an excellent text when you may be unfamiliar with which meds should be prescribed for certain medical diagnoses or need to research which meds are available within a certain pharmaceutical class. For example, if you need to research available meds for central nervous system disorders, you would go to Section V. Then the section is further divided into Drugs for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Neurologic Drugs, Drugs for Pain, Psychotherapeutic Drugs, etc. etc.

Good Reference book, February 24, 2006
Good book to keep around even after you use it for class!

Best Pharm book I ever saw!!, January 7, 2005
I love this book. Very clearly written with basic explanation of disease processes too. It clearly explains why certain medications work as they do. It is easy to follow (you just have to read it and take your time). It will enhance your basic understanding. Even PA-students like the clarity of the writing.

Pharmacology for Nursing Care, February 26, 2006
This book is well written, has an easy-to-use index, and has informative additional topics throughout. Good buy, great for any nurse's library.

Wonderful!, January 5, 2006
Very to the point and no wording just to fill out pages.

necessary for all nursing students, professors pick this one, September 27, 2009
This book flows very nicely. It is easy to follow, and has some hidden humor in it. As anyone knows pharmacology is necessary for nursing, so pick this book! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Comparisons to Blink are inevitable
Lehrer takes aim squarely at Malcolm Gladwell's book, Blink, and, for my money, hits a home run. How We Decide is clearly and interestingly written, like Gladwell, but is more substantiated with recent neuroscience research. Lehrer's conclusion is also more nuanced, i.e., the best way to make a decision depends on different factors, and argues for the effectiveness and importance of monitoring our own thought process.

This is one talented young man. I read Lehrer's first book about Proust and neuroscience, and while I was super impressed with his intellect, it required serious effort to read and understand. How We Decide is a lighter read, but just as original and significant in its own way.

A brilliant analysis of "the power of the emotional brain"

With regard to neuroscience, I am the among non-scholars who have a keen interest in what the brain and mind are and how they function, and am especially interested in how decisions are made. In recent years, I have read a variety of books that have helped me to increase my knowledge in these specific areas. They include William Calvin's How Brains Think: Evolving Intelligence, Then and Now, Gerald Edelman's Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On The Matter Of The Mind, Guy Claxton's Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind: How Intelligence Increases When You Think Less, Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, Malcolm Gladwell's Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, and most recently, Torkel Klingberg's The Overflowing Brain: Information Overload and the Limits of Working Memory. I am grateful to these and other volumes for increasing my understanding of the decision-making process while realizing that is still so much more that I need to know. Hence my interest in Jonah Lehrer's book, How We Decide.

In the Introduction in which he shares an experience aboard a simulated flight landing at Tokyo Narita International Airport, Lehrer observes: "In the end, the difference between landing my plane in one piece and my dying in a fiery crash came down to a single decision made in the panicked moments after the engine fire...This book is about how we make decisions. It's about airline pilots, NFL quarterbacks, television directors, poker players, professional investors, and serial killers...[Ever since the ancient Greeks, assumptions about decision making have revolved around a single theme: humans are ration.] There's only one problem with this assumption of human rationality: It's not how the brain works...We can look inside the brain and see how humans think: the black box has been broken open. It turns out we weren't designed to be rational creatures...Whenever someone makes a decision, the brain is awash in feeling, driven by its inexplicable passions. Even when a person tries to be reasonable and restrained, these emotional impulses secretly influence judgment...Knowing how the mind [i.e. `a powerful biological machine'] works is useful knowledge, since it shows us how to get the most out of the machine. But the brain doesn't exist in a vacuum; all decisions are made in the context of the real world."

Then in the Coda, Lehrer re-visits the approach into the Tokyo airport that, we now realize, serves as the central metaphor in his book. "When the onboard computers and pilots properly interact, it's an ideal model for decision-making. The rational brain (the pilot) and the emotional brain (the cockpit computers) exist in perfect equilibrium, each system focusing on those areas in which it has a comparative advantage. The reason planes are so safe, areas in which it has a competitive advantage. The reason planes are so safe, even though both the pilot and the autopilot are fallible, is that both systems are constantly working to correct each other. Mistakes are fixed before they spiral out of control." The safe landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on January 15th offers a more recent example of what Lehrer calls "perfect equilibrium" between Captain Chesley ("Sully") Sullenberger and the computers aboard the Airbus A320.

There are many valuable insights within Lehrer's narrative. Here are several that caught my eye, albeit quoted out of context.

"The process of thinking requires feeling, for feelings are what let us understand all the information that we can't directly comprehend. Reason without emotion is impotent." (Page 26)

"Unless you experience the unpleasant symptoms of being wrong, your brain will never revise its models. Before your neurons can succeed, they must repeatedly fail. There are no shortcuts for this painstaking process." (Page 54)

"The ability to supervise itself, to exercise authority over its own decision-making process, is one of the most mysterious talents of the human brain. Such a mental maneuver is known as executive control, since thoughts are directed from the tip down, like a CEO issuing orders." (Page 116)

"As it happens, some of our most important decisions are about how to treat other people. The human being is a social animal, endowed with a brain that shapes social behavior. By understanding how the brain makes these decisions, we can gain insight into one of the most unique aspects of human nature: morality." (Page 166) Lehrer devotes all of Chapter 6, The Mortal Mind, to this important "aspect." For
example:

"At its core, moral decision-making is about sympathy. We abhor violence because we know violence hurts. We treat others fairly because we know what it feels like to be treated unfairly. We reject suffering because we can imagine what it's like to suffer. Our minds naturally bind us together, so we can't help but follow the advice of Luke: `And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Page 180)

Actually, I highlighted dozens of other passages but this review is already longer than I originally intended so I will quote no others. Because I think so highly of this book, I wanted to allow Lehrer sufficient opportunity to share at least a few of his thoughts with those who read this review. Credit him with a brilliant achievement: Enabling his readers to make better decisions by helping them to "see" themselves as they really are by carefully examining that is inside the "black box of the human brain." Only by doing so can we "honestly assess our flaws and talents, our strengths and shortcomings. For the first time [Lehrer claims], such a vision is possible. We finally have tools that can piece the mystery of the mind, revealing the intricate machinery that shapes our behavior. Now we need to put this knowledge."

I am unqualified to comment on Jonah Lehrer's claim that what he offers enables the aforementioned "vision" for the first time. However, he has certainly increased both my awareness and my understanding of what may be in my own "black box."

One of the best in the field of neuroscience
"If you're going to take one idea away from this book, take this one: Whenever you make a decision, be aware of the kind of decision you are making and the kind of thought process it requires."

If you think about a book on human behaviours, unexpected findings, and researches, you could probably think of a lot of them. If you add neuroscience to the mix, you would probably think of a few. But if you think of that kind of book with a practical and solid guideline for you to change how you live your life, I doubt you could find that many. And "How We Decide" by Jonah Lehrer falls in that category.

The book is about `decisions' and how they are made by rationality and emotions from you brain (there are lots of parts within the frontal cortex but I'm not sure which). This is another typical book of this genre but let me tell you why should you `decide' to get this book.

Contents

The Quarterback in the Pocket
The first story starts with the 2002 Super Bowl and how Tom Brady made the decision that led the team to victory. Lehrer moved onto stories of Plato and the very interesting one is the man who had a brain damage and lost emotions and eventually, he just could not `decide'. This chapter focuses on `emotion' and how it is crucial to decision making.

The Predictions of Dopamine
The chapter begins with the story of Lieutenant Commander Michael Riley who commanded a British destroyer and decided to do something vital during the Persian Gulf War (I'm not going to spoil the story). The author also wrote about Bill Robertie, a chess master, a widely respected poker expert, and a backgammon champion. By the way, this is not my field but Dopamine is the brain region (or cell, or neurons, or whatever) that links our emotion to expectations.

Fooled by a Feeling
Emotions cannot do everything. The author wrote about Ann Klinestiver, a Parkinson teacher who became a slot machine addict (and lost literally almost everything in life) AFTER her Parkinson's disease `treatment'. The chapter moves onto basketball player's hot hands, stock investment, and a game show `Deal or No Deal'. The epic part of this chapter is about credit card (I am personally moved by this part and it sent shiver down my spine). The core of this chapter that wild feelings or emotions can bring us down.

The Uses of Reason
The story of a firefighter who survive the thick wall of raging fire starts the chapter perfectly because it is about how reasons are crucial at certain times. There is also another heartfelt story about a young girl, Mary, who were a brilliant and bright girl with bright future but one day she became different and ruined her life drinking, sleeping around and became angry a lot. She was eventually infected by HIV because of her brain tumor! Another great story in this chapter is how Captain Al Haynes of the United Airlines Flight 232 could maneuver the plane without basically everything working except the thrust levers.

Choking on Thought
The chapter begins with the opera singer Renee Fleming and how her career went downhill. Likewise, Van de Velde, a golf pro, could not recover from the career slump because of their `thoughts'. There are numerous researches in this chapter along with the MRI machine that failed to treat back pain. The point of the chapter is that we can think too much because our brain is not designed to calculate, take into account, and make a decision of 10 choices with 20 factors each.

The Moral Mind
This is also one of my favourite chapters starting with John Wayne Gacy, a psychopath who murdered thirty-three boys. The crucial aspect is how he thought and decided to commit those `evil' (put your baddest word here) crimes without a wink. There are many researches including the one on war. There is also a very eye-opening story about `autism'.

The Brain Is An Argument
Within a decision, there are numerous parts of your brain working at the same time and you are likely to decide based on which part is winning be it choosing a political party candidate, shopping, or pundits. There is a story about decision-making failure during the 1973 war in the Middle East.

The Poker Hand
This chapter is mainly about Michael Binger, one of the world's best poker players and how he applied different tactics in each different round. The chapter ends with the simple guidelines (with explanations, of course)
SIMPLE PROBLEMS REQUIRE REASON
NOVEL PROBLEMS ALSO REQUIRE REASON
EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY
YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOU KNOW
THINK ABOUT THINKING

Coda
It's the conclusion with another great story

...
I'll compare "How We Decide" to an ideal business book in my personal opinion a book that is easy to understand, distinct, practical, reliable, insightful, and provides great reading experience.

Ease of Understanding: 9/10: From the briefing above, you will see that there are so many stories and they make it easy to understand the content and the way Jonah Lehrer wrote is a breath of fresh air. Each chapter has its core concept and the explanations are clear. The only confusion comes from the neuroscience. If you are not familiar with the brain parts, you might struggle a bit but that's minor.

Distinction: 6/10: What can I say? I have read some researches in the book from other books and this book is not the breakthrough of a major finding on neuroscience. However, this book is different in the aspect that it tells you why you did what you did and it tells you how should you do, which brings us to the next part.

Practicality: 9/10: When I first picked up "How We Decide", I did not have much hope in practicality but this book exceeds every expectation of mine. I might be biased but since I read the chapter on credit card, I really stopped using my credit card (except for online purchases) because the book told me what I thought and it was like a lightning struck on your head. The stories and researches will make you think of yourself and the world around you differently.

Credibility: 8/10: There is no need to not believe the book because of the tons of highly advanced scientific researches regarding the activity in your brain. Every explanation and analysis is written in plain language but scientific proofs are always there.

Insightful: 7/10: When I think of this book, I can think of so many stories (this is probably the book which has stories that I can recall most). I spent hours telling my friends about the stories in this book. There are lots of stories and lots of researches. Yes, it's pretty insightful.

Reading Experience: 10/10: I love the book. The book changes the way I spend and that alone is much great than the $25 price tag of the book. I changed the way I think of an unfortunate autistic person I know personally because in the past, I think of feeling and emotion for granted but this book says `don't, you don't have a clue'. Moreover, the book has (I said it for the millionth time) great stories that you will remember.

Overall: 8.2/10: I love the book. Bias? Possibly. "If you're going to take one idea away from this book, take this one: Whenever you make a decision, be aware of the kind of decision you are making and the kind of thought process it requires." And trust me that if you start from that idea, you'll get countless of invaluable ideas, for life.

Excellent introduction to the psychology of decision making
Lehrer is a superb science writer and this is an excellent non-technical introduction to the psychology of decision making. This is one of my favorite topics, so there was very little here that was new to me or particularly original other than Lehrer's smooth way of explaining the ideas and clever use of diverse examples.

I particularly like this book as a corrective to Gladwell's popular book "Blink" which introduces many of the same ideas but in a more biased way. The thing that makes this book so much better is that it doesn't use a cute spin to try to be original and provocative and socially relevant, he sticks to the science and as a result gets it closer to the truth I think.

Lehrer doesn't at all downplay emotions in decision making, "rapid cognition," and so on, in fact he demonstrates their power. He just makes the very important point that we should rely on our non-conscious decision making feelings in some situations more than others. The more experience we have accumulated in an area, the more we should go with our gut. The less experience we have in an area, the more we should use formal techniques to help structure and guide the decision process.

This isn't a magic bullet and it is probably fairly obvious to most people who have studied the subject and thought about it, so it won't catch on like the notion of the "miraculous power of the unconscious" periodically does, but it is very wise and well scientifically founded advice.

If you read lots of decision science book like I do, you don't need this one also, but if you are looking for your first book on decision science, this could well be one of your best choices. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A step-by-step guide to writing and managing the writer's life covers each portion of a written project, addresses such concerns as writer's block and getting published, and offers awareness and survival tips. Reprint. Tour. K. NYT. ... Read more

Reviews

Laughs and Lifelines!, December 27, 2000
This is not a how-to book. This is not a New Age manual for freeing your creativity in ethereal ways. This is Anne Lamott, for heaven's sake...and that means it's funny! As in, laugh- till-you-can't-read-the-words-through-the-tears-in-your-eyes funny. (Some call this therapy, and I'm inclined to agree.)

Though aimed at writers, this book is full of sage advice and razor-edged honesty for the average joe. If you're a writer--and I claim to be one--it's more than a few anecdotes and good advice; it's a lifeline in the thrashing seas of rough-draftdom, a foothold on the sands of jealousy and vain ambition. Anne makes it clear that writing must be pursued for something other than mere publication. (Though, to be honest, I know she's just trying to let the majority of us down easy.) Writing is about letting go, growing, facing truths, and holding on.

I'm hooked on Lamott. She slaps me in the face with her startling revelations, nudges me in the ribs with her unpredictable humor, and prods my frozen little writer's hands back into action with warm compassion. This book won't solve the mechanical aspects of my writing, or lead me on the path of structural excellence, but it will spark my creativity, free my characters to be true to themselves, and, ultimately, shake me from my doldrums back into the writing mode.

In a society addicted to mindless facts and information, "Bird by Bird" reminds us--writers or otherwise--that it's all about heart. Heart and mind and soul dancing together, even if they step all over each other's feet.

Funny, inspiring, & wise--but get your craft elsewhere, June 16, 2000
If there's a better book to read when you're doubting yourselfand your writing ability, I don't know what it is. IF YOU WANT TOWRITE by Brenda Ueland may be more profound, but it's not as funny... I don't think Lamott copied Ueland at all. Both books are wonders, Ueland's more spiritual or mystical--i.e. how to express your own unique self and write your truth--and Lamott's more worldy--how to get your rear in gear and start producing copy. Lamott's chapter on crumby first drafts lets you know you must start somewhere and can't do that if you're constantly criticizng and editing yourself. And she is so right--once you have a beginning, you can make it better..and better...and better. She doesn't really tell you how to do that in very specific terms, but for that there's great sourcebooks like SELF EDITING FOR FICTON WRITERS and ON WRITING WELL, which more than cover the job. Bird by Bird may be short on craft, but it's long on motivation, humor, and practical ways to get yourself writing.

Expert writing advice with a funny and easy style., April 26, 2001
This author is a new find for me, but I will surely read much more of her. She is fabulously funny, incredibly informative, and absolutely generous with her thoughts and feelings and expertise on writing. The book warmed me, and made me feel that I could continue my writing with a stronger and better perspective. For aspiring writer's everywhere, and for writers published and not, this book will take you on a journey and offer invaluable advice for your hard work. It will help you revive that natural urge to write and keep you plugging away at the keyboard during the very worst of slumps. You will also laugh with Anne Lamott, the author, who is hilarious and honest and very witty. The practical and real life advice will stay with you as you struggle to become the writer you already are.

A lovely experience of a painful process, January 30, 2006
BIRD BY BIRD: SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE by Anne Lamott is a lovely, lovely, lovely book! Of course it is about writing, but it is also about any kind of longterm endeavor that is challenging, that creates self-doubt, and that is a channel for self _expression and self actualization. Lamott's Christianity and general spirituality, which is expressed in this book as a side note to her writing focus, is warm and friendly, and her personality, humorous and inclusive and confident, is wonderful for the reader to share. I LOVED the process of reading this book, of being with it.

This book has a charming and engaging introduction and then is divided into parts on Writing (which includes chapters called "Getting Started," "Short Assignments," "Perfectionism," "False Starts," "Plot Treatment," and "How Do You Know When You're Done?"), The Writing Frame of Mind (with chapters like "The Moral Point of View," "Broccoli," "Radio Station KFKD," and "Jealousy"), Help Along the Way ("Index Cards," Calling Around," "Writing Groups," and "Someone to Read Your Drafts" and "Writer's Block"), and final sections called "Publication -- and Other Reasons to Write" and "The Last Class."

While I actually think the writing lessons of this book are secondary to the wonderful life lessons this book contains, I have found myself using these lessons. I love the idea that first drafts can be BAAAAAAAAAAD with no harm to anyone! It's incredibly liberating and freeing, and allows one to write whatever one has to write with self-permission to do a bad job the first time round because you know you'll correct it later on. If you write ANYTHING this book will give you practical, helpful advice to advance and improve.

I underlined in this book, which is something that as a librarian's daughter, I almost never do, but this book feels like a reference, a guide, in a way that other works do not. I underlined things like, "Hope is a revolutionary patience" on page xxiii and "Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything on earth" on page 15.

Lamott quotes from other wondrous writers, she writes about events in her own life that elevate her and that enervate her. But everything she writes is about taking lots of small steps in one direction. I literally laughed and cried while reading this wonderful and wondrous memoir about the process of writing and how life's pains and joys illustrate this process for Lamott ... I nearly wished I still taught freshman composition so I could use it as a text book. It is the most honest, charming, personable and true description of the painful and rewarding act of writing that I have ever read. I recommend it to anyone, writer or not, who is engaged in a longterm, or even lifelong endeavor. Anne Lamott will simultaneously soothe and inspire any reader of BIRD BY BIRD.

Funny, poignant, and powerful, September 28, 2001
I can honestly say that this is the best book on writing that I've ever read, and yes, it's also the only book on writing that I've ever read. But what a way to start. I've avoided the genre because I've wanted to figure things out on my own, but this book is more like a conversation with a writer than a tome on how to write. She's talks about how she started, what keeps her motivated, what she does when she gets stuck, and how she deals with various writer anxieties (re: publication, rejection, validation).

Above all, this is a very funny, laugh-out-loud book. Lamott has a quirky sense of humor and a refreshing, spot on ability to create memorable pictures. Despite writing of her own spirituality, Lamott doesn't get preachy or smug or self-righteous, and so her stories end up being truly inspiring. She talks about giving as a writer, and I found in her stories many gifts.

A couple of gems that I've tucked away:

* One-inch picture frames: big ideas can engulf you; write about a moment in time, one short scene, something that would fit into a one-inch picture frame.
* Writing is putting down one word after another (the best advice for a writer is to...write).
* You have to give your best stuff to your current project (she references Annie Dillard for this idea) and not try to save it or hoard it; sort of a 'use it or lose it' attitude.
* The myth of publication: if you weren't enough before publication, you're not going to be enough after publication.

Lots to digest, and worth rereading.

Insightful and humorous, but also annoying, September 5, 2001
As some of the other reviewers have said, the actual writing advice in this book is slight and conceptual. I also found it inspirational, to a point.

The book's failing is in assuming that the author's reason for writing--to uncover the truth in her life experience--is the only important one. Lamott dismisses other writing (presumably commercial fiction) as "making candy."

This stance is elitist and annoying (it's the same one you get from most college writing instructors). The argument goes like this: you must aspire to uncover the Truth, because that is what literature is for. Writing that doesn't do this--writing that merely entertains, for example--is less than worthy (it's just "making candy," and candy rots your teeth). Lamott at least tells you that you probably won't be good enough, and probably won't make any money even if you are--but she still insists that you pursue Truth.

I don't buy it. Humans have a fundamental need for stories of all kinds. Creating a story and telling it well enough to be published is noble enough, without burdening yourself with the fear that you're not writing "truth," or that your writing is somehow less important than any other.

Bird by Bird, December 7, 2000
Anne Lamott makes her guide to writing, Bird by Bird, personal, effective, and endearing by sharing embarrassing stories--everything from her three and a half year old son's cussing habits to her own struggles with writing to her debilitating bout of jealousy after the tremendous success of a writer friend. From her unabashed openness, the audience comes away with a good sense of Lamott's personality, and her humor makes it easier for the reader to accept her advice. Lamott does an excellent job of keeping the writing style conversational, which reinforces the book's personal quality. The writing is eloquent but simple, insightful but interesting. "Me, I'm a nice Christian girl, and while I wish I could quote something kicky and inspirational that Jesus had to say about writing, the truth is that when students ask me for the best practical advice I know, I always pick up a piece of paper and pantomime scribbling away" (37). From the first line of Bird by Bird the reader can tell that Lamott's voice is consistent; she is a caring coach, comic, and expert who offers sage and useful guidance. Her wit and wisdom capture the reader's interest; her practical counsel and experience build the reader's ability and boost his motivation.

Most Helpful Book on Writing I Know, March 3, 2000
I've been a publishing fiction writer for over twenty years and been teaching fiction writing for almost twenty. When I discovered this book ten years ago, I seized on it as a work to use in class, but it's become increasingly important in my life and work as well. When I teach, I ask my students to read it the first week of class so that they can hear the things I want to tell them in a funnier and more congenial voice than I can muster, and we refer back to it all semester long. Whenever we talk about it, I'm reminded not only of the great lessons about writing Annie has enclosed, but about the truths about the writing life we find here: the act of writing is more important than publishing, and striving to be a good person is more important than either.

A Romp Through Anne Lamott's Writers Workshop, December 15, 1999
If you've ever thought of signing up for one of those writers workshops with some successful wordcrafter but were put off by the price or the possibility of somebody asking, "What are YOU doing here?" this is your chance to do a test-run on what it might really be like.

If Anne Lamott's workshops are anything like her book "Bird by Bird: Instructions on Writing and Life," then whatever the cost - dollars or pride - it will be worth the price of admission.

Lamotte is funny - poking fun at herself as well as doing a running, withering commentary on society and human nature. No thought is too important to permit a digression which is part of her style of writing (and speaking?). On the other hand, no thought is too trivial to put on a 3X5 card for possible intrusion (not a Freudian Slip, thank you!) in something she is writing or saying. Her philosophy of life and writing seems to be: If the shoe fits, it probably isn't yours, but wear it anyway. Whoever left it for you should have been more careful where they leave their shoes.

Besides the fun, no there's nothing besides fun in life - except despair and you don't want to go there - the fun in no way takes anything away from Lamott's sound advice for writers, especially those with low self-esteem, poverty status, lack of writing skills, and nagging in-laws who wonder why you don't get a REAL job.

Her practical advice includes: getting started (sit down everyday, same time, same place, quiet your mind, and start writing until you "get to that one long paragraph that was what you had in mind when you started, only you didn't know that, couldn't know that, until you got to it"); try doing short assignments ("...writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way." E. L. Doctorow); developing characters ("Just don't pretend you know more about your characters than they do, because you don't. Stay open to them. It's teatime and all the dolls are at the table. Listen. It's that simple."); and plot (Plot grows out of character. If you focus on who the people in your story are, if you sit and write about two people you know and are getting to know better day by day, something is bound to happen.").

One of my favorite chapters is "Broccoli" which begins with Mel Brooks' old routine in which a psychiatrist advises a patient, "Listen to your broccoli, and your broccoli will tell you how to eat it." Don't try to find out who that psychiatrist is - she's booked up 'til January 3000! Lamotte is affirming the shy attribute of intuition - trust it, tease it, test it, listen to it, get to know it. There is a gentle, tender, wondrous part of each of us that aches to be honored and invited to tea with our other toys, but like E.T., it has the right stuff to transform our lives and awaken the dolls.

"Bird by Bird" offers the pat on the back and kick in the pants every aspiring writer needs. Lamott does not think everybody who writes should publish . But she does believe everybody who wants to write should do it! There are characters in each of us just waiting to enter the stage of our minds and come to life. So, what are you waiting for? Get started all ready! They may not wait for ever.

Quietly inspiring, April 9, 2002
Anne Lamott has written the first openly honest book about the process of writing that I have read, and it was amazingly refreshing to have this perspective. She doesn't get all dewey-eyed about the wonder and the joy that is being a published author; in fact, she does quite the opposite. Without being overly-negative, Lamott points out the many pitfalls and false expectations so many of us aspiring authors are going to fall into. There's a bit that sums this up for me:

"But their fantasy of what it means to be published has very little to do with reality. So I tell them about my four-year-old son Sam, who goes to a little Christian preschool where he recently learned the story of Thanksgiving. A friend of his, who is also named Sam but who is twelve years old and very political, asked my Sam to tell him everything he knew about the holiday. So my Sam told him this lovely Christian-preschool version of Thanksgiving, with the pilgrims and the Native Americans and lots of lovely food and feelings. At which point Big Sam turned to me and said, somewhat bitterly, 'I guess he hasn't heard about the small-pox-infected blankets yet.' Now, maybe we weren't handing out those blankets yet; maybe we were still on our good behavior. But the point is that my students, who so want to be published, have not yet heard about the small-pox-infected blankets of getting published. So that's one of the things I tell them."

And so she does - she tells us about what torture it can be not only to try to get published, but to suffer through the writing process itself. Lamott is every bit as neurotics as the rest of us, and makes no bones about expressing her neuroses - she is as honest as we could possibly hope for. But even though she points out those booby traps that we have yet to experience, she still allows her love of writing to shine through, simultaneously encourages us all to Just Keep Writing while managing our expectations of what will come of it.

I'm intensely grateful for her voice of experience, and now I feel that I have distanced myself from a lot of the dreams of fame and glory I had about Publishing A Book - writing shouldn't be about that, it should be about writing "the truth as I see it," even if what I write is a work of complete fiction.

Lamott notes many of the mistakes new writers make, including assuming that everything which has happened to us is inherently interesting, making every character sound and feel the same, writing horrible dialogue, not letting characters determine their own destinies, and forcing a plot to do what we want it to do. She offers solid advice on how to get around these issues, and gives us examples of her writing as well as others' to guide us.

This is not a quick, light read by any standard - it's a two- or three-day investment in learning how to be a better writer. There are parts which are somewhat disheartening, but Lamott always manages to bring back a writer's enthusiasm for doing what we love - that's the whole point of the book.

Her writing style is very entertaining, no-nonsense, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny; if the reader cannot see him- or herself thinking or doing many of the same things Lamott does, I would be very surprised.

I really recommend this book to anyone who would like to become a published author, or for that matter, anyone who writes for any reason at all. Wonderful advice with a realistic edge. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Unfortunately, Reruns Are Already Starting!, November 4, 2009
Reinhart and Rogoff's book provides a quantitative history of financial crises derived from over 600 years and 66 nations. The basic message from all their data is that there are remarkable similarities in today's financial crises with experience from other countries and nations. The common theme is that excessive debt accumulation by government, banks, corporations, or consumers often brings great risk. It makes government look like it is providing greater growth than it is, inflates housing and stock prices beyond sustainable levels, and makes banks seem more stable and profitable than they really are. Large-scale debt buildups make an economy vulnerable to crises of confidence - especially when the debt is short-term and needs to be refinanced (the usual case).

Reinhart and Rogoff go on to conclude that most of these booms end badly. Outcomes include sovereign defaults (government fails to meet payments on its debt), banking crises (heavy investment losses, banking panics), exchange rate crises (Asia, Europe, Latin America in the 1990s), high inflation (a de facto default), and combinations of the preceding (1930s, today).

What did the authors learn from their data digging? Severe financial crises share three characteristics: 1)Declines in real housing prices average 35%, stretched out over six years, while equity prices fall an average 56% over 3.5 years. 2)The unemployment rate rises an average of 7 percentage points during the down phase (average length = four years). Output falls more than 9% over a two-year period. 3)Government debt tends to explode, an average 86% in real terms. The biggest driver of this debt explosion is the collapse in tax revenues; counter-cyclical fiscal policy efforts also contribute, as well as spiking interest rates.

Reinhart and Rogoff also identify what they find to be the best and worst (pronouncements from the Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury heads, and more than a few 'successful' academics and stock-pickers) early warning indicators of crises. Finally, the authors warn that premature self-congratulations on early successes in correcting a banking crisis may lead to complacency and an even worse state of affairs.

The 'good news' is that Reinhart and Rogoff have provided a detailed and credible accounting of past experiences. The 'bad news' is that despite the authors' scholarly and intense efforts, "This Time is Different" is not likely to sway many minds for two reasons. 1)The book is too much of a scholarly tome to become widely read, and there are too many self-serving 'think-tanks' offering contrarian opinions. Others, more data-driven, will point out that most of "This Time Is Different" is drawn from earlier days and non-U.S. nations, and thus of limited applicability to the U.S. today. 2)Despite recent disproof of claims that government has mastered the economic cycle via Federal Reserve fine-tuning and counter-cyclical government spending, and that 'the old rules of valuation no longer apply,' we're back blowing bubbles. Today's MSNBC headline reads 'New Market Bubble May be Brewing,' the 'Greenspan Put' (government will bail out falling markets, while allowing soaring ones) continues, no action has been taken to rein in Wall Street gambling and unwarranted bonuses, financial institutions believed 'too big to fail' are bigger than ever, and 2010 election pressures will undoubtedly auger for continued easy money, inflating ourselves out of debt, and increased debt at all levels.

Prodigious and full of gallows humor, October 3, 2009
Rogoff and Reinhart, two very substantive (and, I might add, earnest) economists, have produced a prodigious work which will be read and studied for years. They have gathered mountains of data from primary and secondary sources and reduced it to dozens of charts and graphs, a heroic work in its own right. Their intention, God bless 'em, is to lay out the follies that have led to economic/financial crises over the last eight centuries. Their findings: humans have not learned from past mistakes. The title is ironic and is worthy of Peter DeVries.

The authors say it is "almost comical" that no governments reveal their true financial condition today, nor have they done so in the past. The lack of transparency and the shenanigans that go on behind the curtains contribute, of course, to the human suffering that ensues in crisis after crisis.

One needs to find this book comical if one is not to slip into a permanent depression about the utter failure of national leaders to address shortcomings in national domestic and foreign economic policies in order to avoid systemic crises. No one has, from the 13th century onward, anywhere in the world.

The authors persist in saying that they hope their monumental effort will lead to an examination by policymakers of past mistakes and help them avoid future mistakes. I say, "Good luck with that." In my opinion, this book ranks with the complete works of Shakespeare in illuminating the human condition. Or Bruegel, or Beethoven. It will not bring about change, but it will entertain in a deeply satisfying way.

Explaining the Second Great Depresson and Its Potential Aftermath, October 24, 2009
Be prepared for a very sobering and complete review of eight centuries of financial crises, complete with charts and graphs that even those who fell asleep in the Macro 101 in college should be able to understand. This book is worth reading in its entirety, but chapters 13 to 17, in which the authors draw important lessons from the 800 years of financial folly for the present course of the "Second Great Contraction of 2007" and its aftermath, make this volume well worth the price.

Also, be prepared for some sobering analysis of the effectiveness of central banks and government policymakers in addressing economic crisis (yes, regrettably, still not very effective even with the benefit of 800 years of history and analysis to draw on). You will learn why This Time is Ultimately Not That Different in so many ways. Ken Rogoff worked at both the Fed and the IMF so he is in a unique position to evaluate the global scope of the 2nd Great Depression in modern history, and it is the very global nature of this event that leads him to conclude that the aftermath with be long-lasting and have profound effects on the global economy for many years to come.

While documenting the fiscal policy response to the Second Great Contraction of 2007, including the massive global government bailouts in the banking sector, Rogoff points out that the size and long-term impact of these measures, while profound, may be dwarfed by the effects on the U.S. national deficit and national debt of reduced Federal tax revenues during the global downturn. With such high levels of debt and limited means to reduce government expenditures to compensate for sharp reductions in tax revenues, the ultimate effect may be a debasing of the U.S. dollar by the Fed, producing a period of increased inflation or stagflation.

The earlier chapters describing periods of hyperinflation, bank and sovereign defaults throughout history are fascinating, leading up to the payoff in the final chapters, in which one can draw one's own conclusions about what course this most recent crisis will take and just as importantly, how policymakers are liable to miscalculate once again. The Federal money-printing presses around the world are in high gear once again, more automated and sophisticated than ancient regal sovereigns clipping coins and extracting gold and silver from the royal coinage to finance their realms.

Proving once again that history doesn't always repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

less than what I hoped for, November 15, 2009
I have little to add to previous reviews of book contents. However, my take away was different than that of prior reviewers. The book provided less than I expected. I had hoped for an attempt to relate the various crises in a holistic manner by considering interplay between banking, currency, internal and external political pressures including war, markets and flaws and excesses therein, debt, inflation, greed of the ruling class, competition between societal classes, etc. I expected to receive the benefit of the authors' experience, wisdom and insight. I imagine such an effort would have required focus on one or perhaps a few comparators for the present situation. That was not the purpose. Instead the book is a vehicle for showcasing an extensive new economic data set developed by the authors of 800 years of economic crises. One receives a birds-eye statistical analysis of that data.

That is not to say that the work was poorly written or uninformative. A number of insights were provided and supported through cogent argument and readable graphics. The text was quite readable though redundant in places. Good effort was made to provide two reading tracks - one for those who wanted to know details behind the analysis and one for those focused on findings and conclusions. Important, recurring themes were demonstrable through the data, and considerable useful and interesting information was certainly provided.

Nevertheless, only a few general and cursory allusions were provided to the "why and wherefore" factors noted above; i.e., context was studiously avoided. Absent consideration of the larger picture including motivations of significant players, the authors' concluding recommendations for avoiding future crises were produced with blinders and appear real-world unrealistic at best.

This is a readable economics text which provides historical economic data that are likely to be relevant to the course of the present crisis. Its weakness is that beyond statistical delineation of selected historical economic markers of risk (which were mostly intuitive in any case) it does not provide insight into the nature of past, present or future difficulty. Perhaps my expectations were misguided but I was not prepared for the measured, academic tone of the book with steadfast refusal to venture beyond the central data set. As such I was disappointed and found the effort sterile and overly long.

An Academic Abstract, December 9, 2009
When I purchased this book I was expecting to learn about the various financial crisis through out history and the psycholgy that lead up to the crisis. Instead I read a book that was mostly data. Half of the book consists of tables and graphs, another 25 percent explains how the data was collected, and the last 25 percent explains what the data means. The main points I took away from the book are the following:

1. Devaluing a currency is a form of default.
2. Countries in their initial and middle stages of development frequently default on their debt, while advance countries rarely, if ever default on debt, but if they do default they will devalue their currency, which will cause inflation.
3. Banking crisis are usually cased by large drops in home values.
4. It takes years for a country's economy to recover from a banking crisis.
5. During a banking crisis government debt will usually grow on average by 86 percent.

If you are an economics professor who loves to look at data you may enjoy this book, but the average reader will not.

an important and timely book held back by terrible, terrible graphics, December 30, 2009
Don't be fooled by the (suberb) Mad Men-style cover art -- this is essentially an academic text, descriptions of Reinhart and Rogoff's compilation of data on domestic and external debt defaults for dozens of countries over hundreds of years. The papers they have circulated and/or published based on this data have received extensive attention in the last year, and this book contains little that will be new to those who have read them. I think that Reinhart and Rogoff were, originally at least, most impressed with the data on domestic defaults but in the aftermath of the 2008/2009 "great contraction," the work on banking crises will probably be of interest to many readers as well.

The book is repetitive, which reflects its origin as a series of independent papers, but which can be viewed as an advantage in that it makes it easier to read (or assign to students) a single chapter, without reading all that has preceded it in the book. The book's great weakness is the terrible design of its numerous time series graphs. Many of these show multiple data series on a single set of axes, with no clear indication of which line represents which data series. I suspect that in whatever software Reinhart and Rogoff used in their original analysis, these lines had different colors, or perhaps one was dashed, but in the rush to publish these details were lost. They can be decoded through a close reading of the accompanying text but, if you can understand a graph only through a close reading of the text describing it, why have a graph at all? Perhaps this will be addressed in later editions.

The book is copiously footnoted, as you would expect for a work of this sort. It's not fun reading but it is authoritative and important. If you're not sure whether or not it will be of interest, google for a copy of one of Reinhart and Rogoff's recent papers on the same topic; several are available freely online. If the paper is interesting to you, the book probably will be too.

A must read, October 11, 2009
As Martin Wolf from Financial Times has written... "A MASTERPIECE"

One of the most interesting things about this books is that it combines a very rigorous research on the topic while keeping it accessible to a large audience. The book is self-contained, with definitions provided along the way, which makes it easy for people with no previous knowledge in economics to enjoy and understand it.

The authors also put together a database without precedents in the area which not only makes their statements much stronger, but also makes a great contribution to the field.

The empirical counter part to Kindleberger's Manias,Panics,and Crashes:A History of Financial Crises, October 4, 2009
The authors do a good job in demonstrating the highly repetitive,ergodic nature of financial crises over the last 800 hundred years.This book can be regarded as providing additional amounts of empirical support for the conclusions originally arrived at by Adam Smith in 1776 in his The Wealth of Nations (1776,pp.260-340 of the Modern Library (Cannan) edition with the foreward by Max Lerner) , by J M Keynes in 1936 in chapters 12,17,and 22 of his General Theory and by Kindleberger in his original 1978 book,titled Manias,Panics,and Crashes.Smith, Keynes and Kindleberger all concluded that private banker or financier financed/backed speculation was the major culprit in producing the standard process of a bubble,inflated bubble,mania,panic,crash,and then a recession,depression,or economic downturn.
The authors do acknowledge the role of speculation.However,they appear to be trying to downplay this cause while emphasizing the role of government, as far as apportioning blame for the great economic damages that result from allowing the speculative process to proceed unhindered.This makes sense only if it is first recognized that private interests often take control of the government regulatory apparatus.Rogoff is a past supporter of the efficient market hypothesis(EMH).The EMH,now completely rejected ,except by economists who have built their academic careers promoting this Ptolomaic type,artificially created,model , essentially concludes that bubbles are not possible.The EMH directly contradicts not only just the historical record of the last 800 hundred years,but of the last 3,500 years where the main source of speculation was in land and precious metals.

A reader,who has read any of the authors mentioned above, will not learn anything new.However, the additional technical analysis performed by the authors does allow one to conclude that the EMH is simply false,although this conclusion appears self evident from the historical record provided in past works other than this one.Only economists ,concentrated mainly in the economics and business departments at the University of Chicago,were able to delude themselves into believing that bubbles were impossible.The authors should have recognized the vast empirical work of Benoit Mandelbrot who had proven the EMH false back in the late 1950's-early 1960's.

One criticism of the book is that ,while Kindleberger is covered,neither Keynes,Smith ,or Mandelbrot is adequately acknowledged.Another is that the current ,severe theoretical shortcomings in financial economics should have been at least mentioned in the introduction,footnotes,or conclusion of the book.

A very timely reminder that no country is "too big to fail", October 29, 2009
When one reads the book, the first impression is the incredible amount of work the authors put into collecting the most comprehensive, as of today, dataset on financial crises and key economic variables for not only developed but also developing countries. This dataset will most definitely be at the heart of future empirical work on financial crises.

It will discipline economists to strive to build more realistic models that are able to reproduce the systematic trends and fluctuations of economic variables around the period of financial crises. As the authors admit to be surprised themselves, not only such systematic relationships abound across time but also across developed and developing countries.

The book is an important reminder that it is easy to live under the illusion that "this time is different" and that developed countries have outgrown severe financial crises. However, as the current financial crisis reminded us the more we lie to ourselves, the less vigilant we are as to potential worst case scenarios.

Finally, speaking of vigilance, the book is not only a thorough description of the past but also hints at a very serious problem many countries including the US would most likely face in the future; namely, the issuance of unsustainable levels of government debt which could have tremendous negative medium and long run effects at a global level.

Analyzing the Commonalities in Causes and Consequences of Centuries of Financial Crises., June 18, 2010
"This Time Is Different" presents a quantitative history of financial crises -debt crises, bank crises, currency crises, inflation crises- with an eye to commonalities in the run-ups and aftermaths of these crises. Of course the authors' point is the reverse of the book's title: this time is never different. Economists Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth B. Rogoff demonstrate that financial crises have a lot in common, regardless of when and where they take place, by showing us the data. The obvious conclusion would be that financial crises are predictable. Although they state that "it is beyond the scope of this book to engage in a full-fledged analysis of early warning systems," the authors present much of the information that would be required to develop a predictive model.

Whether it's predictive value is fool-proof or not, I was fascinated by the data and analyses. The authors have pulled together an unprecedented amount of data for various types of financial crises over a period of centuries. They found it particularly difficult to find reliable data on domestic debt, which they call "an exercise in archeology", but managed to uncover enough to claim that domestic debt is the vital piece of missing information in understanding debt intolerance. Reinhart and Rogoff use data on 66 countries that account for 90% of world GDP over nearly 8 centuries, with an emphasis on the past 2 centuries, for which they have the most data (and which had the most crises).

"This Time Is Different" has 6 parts but it effectively has 3 topics: sovereign and domestic debt and default, banking crises with some forays into inflation and currency crises, and the current global financial crisis, otherwise known as the Second Great Contraction. Looking at the charts, it's clear that serial default is historically the norm. And, though advanced economies may outgrow patterns of default, they never outgrow banking crises, which are surprisingly similar in their causes and duration in advanced and emerging market economies. Up to this point, the authors generally use data from the past 2 centuries. It is only in the chapter on default through debasement that they include the past 8 centuries.

The chapters dedicated to the US subprime crisis and Second Great Contraction draw on data since 1900 only. The authors attempt to develop benchmarks for gauging the severity and duration of a crisis based on data from past crises. This is the most opinionated section of the book, even though the authors' views are empirical. They present both sides of the argument for and against the housing boom and large US account deficits, but Reinhart and Rogoff conclude that rising asset prices, slowing productivity, large current account deficits, and sustained public and private debt build-ups create, if not a looming crisis, an accident waiting to happen. They admit, however, that it would have been difficult for policy makers to act in time even if they had seen it the current crisis coming.

"This Time Is Different" seems to have been written both for economists and interested laypeople. It's packed with data, easy to understand, but sometimes repetitive or more verbose than necessary. It looks like each part was intended to be relatively self-contained so that readers may study them separately, but this makes for repetition. I found this mildly annoying. Then again, the repetition may be helpful when I use the book as a reference later. The style is a quibble, but the information within is engrossing. I was not even tempted to give any of the graphs a quick glance. I was interested in every one. ... Read more

Editorial Review

When we published The Encyclopedia of Immaturity in 2007, we knew it would make a great gift for someone’s nephew. And, sure enough, people gave it to their nephews — but also to their grandparents, brothers-in-law and accountants. Soon we were flooded with letters, e-mails and calls sharing one common theme — ""More! More! More!""So here’s a second helping of skills, activities, and secret knowledge — suitable only for those whose maturity stopped developing around the age of 12. In addition to thought-provoking topics like What We Talk About When We Talk About Wedgies, the book includes detailed directions for how to: fake a cold, slide down a banister, balance a ping pong ball on your nose, send a toiletgram, throw a sloshie, and more. It’s all new and all hopelessly goofy. You can imagine our delight as we looked over the sales figures for the first volume of this encyclopedia. For years we’ve felt like the only kids at the grown-up table. Now it turns out the world is populated by a lot more people who are lot less mature than they look. Well, duh! ... Read more

Reviews

Best Yet! Approved by Kids and Adults Alike!, August 10, 2009
I originally purchased the Encyclopedia of Immaturity V1 for my nephew but it was such a hit with both adults and kids that it ended up making the rounds instead. When Volume 2 came up for sale I knew I had to get it but wasn't sure if it would "make the cut". So often it seems the first volume is the best and the rest is just added on to ride on the fame of the original. No so with this one!

First, the thin page problem mentioned by many reviewers in the first volume is fixed in this one. Pages are substantially thicker - although that leads to fewer total tips. However the quality of the tips is as good - if not better - than the original. Same silly jokes, fun but young "tricks" and an abundance of totally meaningless activiites sure to delight everyone.

Cover is the same material as the first, very nice and thick. Pages are thicker with glossy sheen made to last longer and wording is in keeping with all the Klutz products (of which we have purchased several including the airplanes, art-rageous projects, museum in a book, Do Not Open this Book, Maze, Bubbles and many others! Each and every one is a huge hit with everyone!).

My younger brother (nearly 40) loved this as did our nephew, 11 year old neighbor and everyone in between. Fun stuff! Perfect gift for younger siblings of any age or kids over for a visit.

woo hoo!!!!, February 14, 2008
Kiwi Magazine Review:
The first Encyclopedia of Immaturity was stellar, we're not sure how Klutz managed to come up with even more antics, anecdotes and advice. For example, some people subtly adjust to fix a wedgie, but this book encourages everyone to fly their underwear flag and discuss the wild world of wedgies (self-inflicted or from a naughty brother). I thought of dozens of people who would really appreciate this book and I wished something this important had been published in my childhood so I could have been informed about the right way to convince my mom that I was really too sick for school. Every. Single. Monday. Shenanigans are the new manners. The age range for the book is a complete farce (it says 9-12); I can think of numerous 50+ males who will have root beer coming out of their noses when they read this.

Good for kids, January 14, 2010
I bought Volumes 1 and 2 for my niece. She had briefly flipped through Vol. 1 months before and hadn't stopped talking about it. She apparently loves it, as does my step-daughter; they are both 10. I found it to be trite and rather silly, but I suppose that's why it's the Encyclopedia of "Immaturity." I usually am able to bond with their goofiness, but I don't quite get it this time. But I am definitely happy to see the kids having a positive experience with a book in their hand, and it does incite amusing conversations.

Way Too Much Fun for Kids, January 1, 2010
My 10 year old son already had Encyclopedia of Immaturity (Klutz)Volume 1 and loved it. We purchased that one at a Scholastic sale so unfortunately it did not have the spiral binding. This is important because there are pages that need to be photocopied or scanned and printed and the book binding does not lend itself to this.

When he found out that a new version was available, he was thrilled. This version comes with a wrap around hard cover and wire binding.

There is enough stuff in each of these books to keep kids entertained for hours. Some are practical jokes, others are strange facts.

It consists of primarily one page tidbits like "How to Make and Throw a Sloshie" (with water and toilet paper), the Physics of a Cannonball in the Water, How to Play Tabletop Hockey, and one of my son's favorites, How to Hypnotize a Chicken.

A few things are mischievous, others are old fashioned and fun.

They are all harmless and a real draw for young boys and girls.

A Blast., November 17, 2009
This book is a blast. It is full of father-sons kind of pranks and projects. What dad wouldn't enjoy making the "world's best paper airplane," along with his son? It is peppered with jokes and beginner magic projects. I read a lot with my 8 year old son, but this book is far and away the one he enjoys most. Buy it. You'll be glad you did. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Sometime about 30,000 years ago, somebody stuck a sharp rock into a split stick—and presto! The axe was born. Our inquisitive species just loves tinkering, testing, and pushing the limits, and this delightfully different book is a freewheeling reference to hundreds of customs, notions, and inventions that reflect human ingenuity throughout history.

From hand tools to holidays to weapons to washing machines, An Uncommon History of Common Things features hundreds of colorful illustrations, timelines, sidebars, and more as it explores just about every subject under the sun. Who knew that indoor plumbing has been around for 4,600 years, but punctuation, capital letters, and the handy spaces between written words only date back to the Dark Ages? Or that ancient soldiers baked a kind of pizza on their shields—when they weren’t busy flying kites to frighten their foes?

Every page of this quirky compendium catalogs something fascinating, surprising, or serendipitous. A lively, incomparably browsable read for history buffs, pop culture lovers, and anyone who relishes the odd and extraordinary details hidden in the everyday, it will inform, amuse, astonish—and alter the way you think about the clever creatures we call humans. ... Read more

Reviews

Uncommon History of Common Things, February 1, 2010
Great book! Alot of fun to read! Bought for husband as Christmas present. Lots of interesting and facts and antedotes in this book, worth the money. Will read myself when he gets done!

good for both 11 year olds and 63 year olds, February 10, 2010
I gave this as a gift to my goddaughter and my husband. Both are thoroughly enjoying the trivia and tales. It makes for a lot of "Did you know?" conversations that are both fun and engaging.

Interesting!, February 11, 2010
If you are a fan of trivia, you'll enjoy knowing the background behind these everyday things. Makes great dinner party conversation!

Great review of unusual things, January 24, 2010
Full of fun facts about common things you never knew and can use to impress your friends! Easy reading in sections that make reading in short periods very easy. Quality product, prompt shippiing.

History Lover, January 7, 2010
This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read. One would never expect the origins of some of the things we use every day.

how things work, February 3, 2010
this book has a lot of information, easy to understand on common things of daily living, when they were invented, by whom, etc.

book, June 4, 2010
This book is a gift for my dad--it sounds interesting, I hope he likes it!

Uncommom History book, November 24, 2009
This is for a gift and I think it will be enjoyed very much. Thank you. ... Read more

Editorial Review

“I rehabilitate dogs. I train people.” —Cesar Millan

There are at least 68 million dogs in America, and their owners lavish billions of dollars on them every year. So why do so many pampered pets have problems? In this definitive and accessible guide, Cesar Millan—star of National Geographic Channel’s hit show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan—reveals what dogs truly need to live a happy and fulfilled life.

From his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show to his roster of celebrity clients to his reality television series, Cesar Millan is America’s most sought-after dog-behavior expert. But Cesar is not a trainer in the traditional sense—his expertise lies in his unique ability to comprehend dog psychology. Tracing his own amazing journey from a clay-walled farm in Mexico to the celebrity palaces of Los Angeles, Cesar recounts how he learned what makes dogs tick. In Cesar’s Way, he shares this wisdom, laying the groundwork for you to have stronger, more satisfying relationships with your canine companions.

Cesar’s formula for a contented and balanced dog seems impossibly simple: exercise, discipline, and affection, in that order. Taking readers through the basics of dog psychology and behavior, Cesar shares the inside details of some of his most fascinating cases, using them to illustrate how common behavior issues develop and, more important, how they can be corrected.

Whether you’re having issues with your dog or just want to make a good bond even stronger,this book will give you a deeper appreciation of how your dog sees the world, and it will help make your relationship with your beloved pet a richer and more rewarding one.


Learn what goes on inside your dog’s mind and develop a positive, fulfilling relationship with your best friend

In Cesar’s Way, Cesar Millan—nationally recognized dog expert and star of National Geographic Channel’s hit show Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan—helps you see the world through the eyes of your dog so you can finally eliminate problem behaviors. You’ll learn:

• What your dog really needs may not be what you’re giving him

• Why a dog’s natural pack instincts are the key to your happy relationship

• How to relate to your dog on a canine level

• There are no “problem breeds,” just problem owners

• Why every dog needs a job

• How to choose a dog who’s right for you and your family

• The difference between discipline and punishment

• And much more!

Filled with fascinating anecdotes about Cesar’s longtime clients, and including forewords by the president of the International Association of Canine Professionals and Jada Pinkett Smith, this is the only book you’ll need to forge a new, more rewarding connection with your four-legged companion.




Also available as a Random House AudioBook


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Reviews

Cesar says dogs need exercise, discipline and affection in that order! Read and you'll know why., April 12, 2006
This is a wonderful reference book and makes for good reading as well. I bought the book to give as a gift to a young couple whose dog needs some behavior modification. I planned to quickly scan through it to get an idea of its contents, wrap it up, and give it away. However, I ended up reading it word for word and will add it to our library! (I can think of several dog owners and parents who could use the concepts in this book for raising both dogs and children. I'll probably end up buying several copies as gifts.)

I notice that one reviewer complained about the frequent reference to the pack leader concept Cesar writes about. Perhaps that reader is unaware that in a reference book clarification in the form of repetition is needed for those who are looking up only one or two segments at a time, such as "Rules, Boundaries, and Limitations," or "Dominance Aggression." I found Cesar's personal history and anecdotal material about him and others (Oprah Winfrey has a whole section on the relationship between her and her dog, Sophie) very interesting and enlightening. The book is clearly and concisely written. It is easy to see that Melissa Jo Peltier's writing abilities were very helpful to Cesar.

Cesar was born in Culiacan, Mexico, and came here in 1990. He is now applying for U.S. citizenship. He has quite a story to tell about his childhood and his special relationship with dogs from the time he was a small boy. When he came here he noticed with dismay that American dogs had a number of "issues" related primarily to the fact that we Americans view our dogs as "four-legged humans" instead of dogs (animals). Our dogs need us to be calm-assertive pack leaders and to provide them with exercise, discipline and affection in that order. Cesar gives many illustrations of how this concept works and the fact that dogs use smell and the sixth sense of energy to evaluate other dogs and animals, including humans.

I highly recommend this book to dog owners and, as mentioned earlier, to those contemplating having children or who already have children who need help. In a nation with increasing numbers of obese children, I was struck by the #1 need of dogs as stated by Cesar: EXERCISE. Perhaps, we might consider the same order of needs for our children: exercise, discipline, and affection in order to grow happy, healthy, productive human adults.

Carolyn Rowe Hill

Common sense makes sense....., June 18, 2006
I have read the negative reviews of all the "spoiled-sports" who disagree with Cesar Millan's philosophy of the dog-human relationship. I feel they are merely jealous of the fact that he has become a "media idol" in the dog-training arena and is now pulling in the big bucks.

As a dog rescuer who has taken in and re-homed over a thousand dogs over the past 10 years, I just wish Cesar had been around back when I first became so deeply involved in "pack mentality." I'm sure that I could have made some better decisions, saved even more dogs' lives, and dealt more effectively with some behavior issues.

Of course, time breeds experience, and by the time I first saw Cesar on the National Geographic Channel last year, I realized to my great pleasure that many of the things I had learned and was now utilizing myself were based on the very premise Cesar promotes.

Cesar's philosophy is based on common sense: humans are human and dogs are dogs. Most dog owners become oblivious to any common sense they may have possessed prior to adding a dog to the household when they bring their "new baby" home.

There is nothing wrong with a "calm and assertive" approach with dogs, and nothing equally wrong with the dog being "calm and submissive." This does not mean that you will have a frightened dog that will submissively urinate, cower in the corner or become a fear-biter.

As the supposedly more intelligent and sensitive being, you have to approach your relationship with your dog in a common sense manner and tempered with consideration for the natural temperament of the particular dog. But I do share and support the premise that dogs are much happier when they know that their human is the one "in charge." They are relaxed, content and much more prone to "be good."

I'm sure there are many other well-qualified dog trainers across the country, some of whom have written good dog-training books, utilizing equally-effective methods of training. There is and never will be "one" form only, but to trash Cesar Millan's methods is to me nothing more than an undeserved "cheap shot."

It just works, April 4, 2006
I have owned purebred field Springer Spaniels and a pure bred Border Collie. I didn't believe in yelling or punishment myself. I found that my dogs paid more attention to my talking quietly and to a quiet rebuke than yelling ever did. It worked well for me in the past and some arrogance on my part assumed that I knew it all. I didn't.

When the last of my dogs died this year, I decided I wanted to have another Border Collie as my last dog before I died. This dog I would find, would be my ultimate challenge though. At 12 weeks of age I excused his behavior because I'm told he is a Taurus. A few months later he began to attack his food dish in what I can only describe as "rabid". Shortly after that he bit me when I walked by him while he was eating.

I was at a loss to what to do. He was a puppy. ...But a puppy like this you don't want to grow into a dog I thought. Then I saw a show called the Dog Whisperer. It made sense to me (hell I was brought up English! - if not for me why not the dog?) I was really worried that I might have to put this dog down until then.

I tried it Cesar's way. I started walking and running the dog in my backfield for at least 45 minutes. What a charmer he became! I added some new rules "no couch" and he got even better. If my husband would stop letting him into his lap he would be much better I am sure!

Finally, I would like to add that as much as I worried about my dog (which I no longer worry about) at least one dog owner I know gave up on his once. He regretted his decision. Thanks to Cesar I don't have to make that same decision.

Cesar's Way Works, September 30, 2006
I have been a dog parent for years and have consistently had a pack of dogs (3, 4, 5 at a time). I have tried positive reinforcement alone and it doesn't work with dogs that have any tendency towards being stubborn, willful, or independent. When you have a pack of dogs you have to be the pack leader otherwise chaos will reign in your household. Before I began using Cesar's methods my dogs tended to misbehave. They are much happier and better behaved with me being the pack leader.

No Cesar's methods are not new, but that doesn't mean they aren't the correct methods. Just as our society has coddled our children to the point they have become spoiled brats, we have coddled our pets so they run a muck in our houses. Dogs are not humans, and we need to work with their innate behavior. Treating them as if they think like humans is a waste of time and is deterimental to their happiness.

People who critize Cesar's methods really don't undertand them. They are not about fear or pain. Tapping your dog with your foot, correcting it with a collar, getting its attention with a unique noise is not about fear or pain. Dogs, like children, must have "boundaries and limitations" and dogs are much happier when their human is in charge and makes them feel calm, secure, and safe.

Cesar does not say that you cannot use positive reinforcement for training. Cesar's methods are not for training, they are for creating a foundation for a stong and peaceful relationship with your dog(s).

Your Dog Is Talking To You, August 5, 2006
I've had dogs all my life, but this book gave me a whole new perspective.

Cesar Millan's methods are based on the behavior of dogs living within packs. Packs are organised to the extent that there are pack leaders and followers. Instinctively, dogs need packs for survival, so they naturally follow the strongest and most stable dog and weed out weak, unstable dogs who threaten the effectiveness of the pack. When dogs are removed from their natural state, their pack instincts must be compensated or they become unstable.

The root of most dog problems that Millan is asked to correct originate not with the dogs, but with their owners who often view their dogs as furry little people. Even those dog owners who recognise that dogs are not people, use human psychology on their dogs. This often takes the form of affection and is often given to soothe the dog when it is acting stressed. But, affection given at the wrong time, when the dog is stressed, rewards the dog's behavior and makes matters worse.

Millan has several formulas that he applies to different situations. If you accept that dogs are pack animals, it all makes sense. If you want to control your dog, you have to become the pack leader. As pack leader, you cannot be unstable. You must be calm and assertive or the dog will dismiss you as the leader, though he might be fearful. As pack leader, you need to give the dog what he needs: exercise (dogs roam all day), discipline (packs are organised and the leader sets the rules, boundaries, and limitations) and affection, in that order. People often mess-up their dogs by giving affection and not much else. This results in the dog assuming, in it's mind, the role of pack leader. Every pack needs a leader and if you are not it, the dog will be.

Millan says that he rehabilitates dogs and trains people. Many of the situations he encounters are amusing, because some neuroses can be funny. But, once you get it (understand what you're seeing and why it's happening), the causes of the neuroses, along with the cures, become clear. Much of the cure for dog problems is in understanding what your dog's movements are telling you and immediately acting to short circuit escalating behaviors. They telegraph virtually everything if you are attentive and understand the signals. Bad behavior can by stopped immediately by snapping them out of a state of mind that will lead, often within a second or two, to unwanted behavior.

I think Millan's book is a practical and useful how-to guide and it gives you a basic understanding for building a mutually rewarding relationship with our flop-eared, furry friends.

Cesar saved me and my dog, May 13, 2006
Four and half years ago, before Cesar had a book or a show, and after I had been told by numerous dog trainers in LA that my dog would never be social with other dogs, I contacted Cesar Milan. It was the best thing I could have ever done for me and my beloved but extremely dog-aggressive 85lb male pit bull. 6 years before this, I had rescued/stole this full grown, abused, fighting pit bull and made him my pet. He had been starved, fought over and over, fed hot sauce and gun powder to make him mean and was a mess. With my care, he turned out to be the best behaved, sweetest, most loving dog except for one major problem.....he could not be near another dog without trying to kill it. He listened and obeyed everthing else I wanted him to do except control his urge to maul other dogs. I was told over and over that I would never be able to change his "pit bull" behavior. Cesar was the only person that told me that he could rehabilitate my dog so I could take him to dog parks and not have to walk him with a muzzle in fear that around the corner we would run into another dog and disaster would strike. He kept my dog at his facility in South Central for 5 weeks and allowed me to be a part of his pack walks and trips to the beach. I learned so much from him and so did my dog. Is Cesar rough? Yes, somewhat. But I would never allow my dog to be hurt or abused and when you are dealing with dominant aggressive pit bulls that can kill another dog in a matter of seconds, I think you need to be a little rough. No other trainers would touch my dog, and Cesar did without hesitation. He taught me so much with his persistant calmness and extreme kindness and that will always be appreciated by me. My beloved pit bull recently passed away at a ripe old age of 14. His last 4 years were spent socializing with other dogs and enjoying being at the off leash park in Runyon Canyon. Cesar rehabilitated my 8 year old pit bull and made it possible for me live peacefully in a dog-friendly apartment complex. I can tell you from my experience that Cesar's methods work. His help made my dog and me alot happier and able to enjoy our last years together in a much richer way than if I had never met him. Kudos to Cesar!

Want a Happier Dog?, May 5, 2006
We adopted a dog from an abusive home that was destined to be put to sleep. Thinking that we knew how to handle her we struggled for weeks, without success, using 'tried and true' methods of other trainers. While we made some progress her behavior was still unsatisfactory. Then, we bought this book and started watching Dog Whisperer. What a change.

Within two weeks we were able to change her into a very different animal. Now she walks by our side - doesn't lunge or pull, and she's a much happier dog than we've seen before. I can't believe the change in this dog. Her behavior at home is greatly improved also - she's quieter, more affectionate, and pays attention when we speak to her.

While she still has many of the 'fears' aquired in her previous abusive home, one by one we're working through those also.

The basis of Cesar's training is three-fold. Exercise, discipline and affection - in that order. He teaches that a dog is a pack animal that needs a leader. If you're not the pack leader then the dog will take on that role with the disasterous results you're probably seeing in your own dog. This is the key and that's where most dog-owners run into trouble.

Before ANY training can start the dog needs to be exercised. 30-45 minutes, twice a day. Cesar details HOW to walk a dog. It's amazing how few owners know how to walk their dog. In a pack the leader is always in front, and your dog should always be next to you or at heel - never in front.

Once the dog has expended that excess energy he's ready to accept training. It's so simple that it was hard for us to accept at first. And after the exercise and training, the dog needs affection - Cesar recommends quiet massage. The sequence of these three leaves the dog quiet, submissive and happy. At your next training session he will have retained that memory of a pleasurable experience, and will respond even better.

The book gives details about how you, as the pack leader, must present yourself to the dog; not weak, intimidated, excited or angry, but assertive and strong. If you really pay attention to what he's saying and follow his guidance, you will have a much happier household.

Cesar's Way is a wonderful book that will yield amazing results - provided you read it carefully and pay attention to what he's saying.

A Great Read for Dog Owners, July 12, 2006
This book (1) provides a good though somewhat general overview of Cesar Milan's key approaches in what he calls "dog psychology and rehabilitation;" and (2) summarizes for his readers Milan's background and how he came to be so successful doing what he is doing today. On those two accounts, the book is a light, engaging, and thoroughly recommendable read.

I am a casual fan of Milan's show, but before reading the book was somewhat wary about all the hype surrounding it. Since finishing it, I've found that many of the criticisms thrown at it by other readers are unfair or unfounded.

Some readers have complained that the book, rather than being a thorough, step-by-step manual for dog training, focuses largely on "fluff" like details of Milan's life. However, Milan makes it clear throughout 'Cesar's Way' that the focus of his work is not dog training per se, but changing the pet-owner relationship by teaching the human basic proper ways of interaction and the right attitudes to adopt with the dog. With this fact in mind, I think Milan takes the right approach in focusing on making his ideas clear and easy to understand rather than providing a-to-z details on what exactly one should do in every possible situation.

Also, many of the people buying this book will be fans of his TV show who are curious to learn more about Milan's background, and I think the book balances these two different aims - autobiography and dog guide - well. Besides, Milan's story makes for a pretty good read: it's the classic hard-working immigrant rags-to-riches tale, and he tells it with humor and humility.

I also find it admirable that Cesar doesn't overstep the boundaries of his expertise, for example, when he explains the importance of displaying self-confidence around your pet, and then suggests to the reader that other sources (e.g., self-help books) would serve as good guides for developing a confident attitude. I mention this because there are many books that would go on to include an unnecessary chapter or two on developing your confidence, and Milan is smart enough to stick throughout the book to what he knows best, dogs.

Others have also complained that Cesar is a name-dropper. For example, in his foreward he thanks Jada Pinkett Smith and a slew of other celebrities, but can't remember the names of the owners of a dog grooming salon who gave him his first job sixteen years ago. Although he does mention a lot of celebrities throughout his book (and even very obviously dings Michael Eisner, though not by name), I never found the tone of his writing to be self-congratulatory or smug. Plus, given all the things he claimed Smith did to help him in his career, I think the gushing props in a semi-autobiographical work is not out of line. And as for those dog groomers, I have to admit that I can't remember the names of many casual acquaintances from sixteen years ago, either.

Finally, there are a few critics whose claims about Cesar's methodology are simply untrue. For example, some readers remarked about how harsh it seems that he never allows dogs to walk in front of their humans. This is in fact untrue; Milan writes that loosening the leash and allowing your dog to roam or wander in front of you for a little while is alright, as long as you first establish yourself as the leader by walking the dog alongside or behind you for at least a few minutes. Other claims of harshness also seem unsubstantiated.

In summary, Milan's down-to-earth, common sense approach to dog training is a welcome breath of fresh air in the sometimes kooky world of pet authorities (thankfully, "dog whisperer" is not an allusion to yet another pet psychic). I would wholly recommend this book to every dog owner as a general guide book for developing a healthy, well-functioning relationship with one's dog.

Discipline AND positive reinforcement, May 20, 2006
This book is different.

While I am a big fan of positive reinforcement (PR) in teaching new behavior to many creatures, including dogs and humans, it has its limits, especially where there are so many natural reinforcers in a dog's environment that are beyond the trainer's control.

Millan's methods are controversial among dog experts, because his emphasis is on the UN-conditioned behavior that dogs have evolved over thousands of years. Dogs hunt in packs, and coordination among the pack members depends on discipline and leadership. The successful pack needs a strong leader who commands unthinking and immediate obedience. Dogs are born understanding this. They are born to either lead or to follow; there is no middle way. There is no democracy in the dog world.

Cesar Millan capitalizes on this dog-nature to obtain quick results when dogs live among humans. Dogs are not equipped to lead humans; dogs cannot even open doors nor can they use the telephone. The proper role of a dog in human society is to follow, not to lead.

That is why Cesar teaches the human how to lead the pack, using mild aversive control when necessary. This is a problem for the loving dog owner who does not understand dog nature and wants to be just the dog's friend, not its leader. If the human will not lead, the dog must and will try to fill the leadership vacuum, with unfortunate results.

The best way to be your dog's friend is to first be its leader. Your dog will relax into the follower role and will, in fact be the happier for it.

So save the PR for teaching tricks and stunts. Love your dog, but buy this book!

Don't disparage this man & his techniques...they work!!, October 27, 2006
For 7 years I've dealt with a standard poodle with issues. Having had this breed for over 40 years, I certainly thought they were perfect. Living in Texas, I flew to CA to get that perfect puppy from a well known breeder. Well, believe me, she was unlike any poodles I'd ever owned before...right from the beginning. It was a shock to me as from my young years, I'd been able to befriend & work with any dog...aggressive or not.

Finally, exasperated, I had a trainer come to my home and she spent weeks working with my dog. She told me she'd only ever worked with one more difficult or stubborn than mine & he was half wolf. She did what she could & it seemed that was all I could do.

I'd groomed my own poodles in the past but there was no way I could with this girl.

We moved to a new state 3 months ago & I suddenly had the National Geographic channel & luckily spotted the show "Dog Whisperer" on my new tv lineup. That was the beginning of learning a whole new way of dealing with aggression in my dog & for the first time in years, I'm seeing much success.

I'm making progress bathing and grooming & the worst issue of nail trimming is bettering. By applying the methods I've learned (and learning), it's working!!

Cesar's methods while authoratative, are most certainly humane and some criticisms I read are ridiculous. Certainly others have a right to disagree with his methods...but to deliberately use abusive terms to describe those methods is not only false, but in my estimation, totally unfair!!!

Cesar's Way is a good basic book that can be used often...and it helps me to better understand the dog mind and how to deal with many issues.

Incidentally, I've shared my findings of Mr. Millan's methods with family & friends & they're finding answers to their own dog issues...which has been invaluable to them & changed forever the lives of their animals. One daughter kept her puppy kenneled constantly because he was so uncontrollable & tho she felt badly to do so, she felt she had no choice. After learning of Cesar Millan's methods, that's a thing of the past & she is able to deal with the issues in a way that is good for her and provides a "real" life for her puppy.

I hope those who read all feedback will be open to the honest appraisals that are included. Aggression, for one, is not pleasant to live with & for the first time, we're moving in the right direction & I hope others might find some solutions as well. ... Read more

Editorial Review

For marketers, The New Rules of Marketing and PR shows you how to leverage the potential that Web-based communication offers your business. Finally, you can speak directly to customers and buyers, establishing a personal link with the people who make your business work. This one-of-a-kind guide includes a step-by-step action plan for harnessing the power of the Internet to create compelling messages, get them in front of customers, and lead those customers into the buying process. ... Read more

Reviews

A to Z assistance for any business
More than anything, The New Rules of Marketing & PR ties things together. The book provides an easy to understand yet comprehensive view of the new online marketplace--a landscape that can appear quite bewildering, even to marketing specialists. With so many options at our fingertips (literally), where do we start? Blogs? Podcasts? Public relations? SEO? Paid search? Viral marketing? The list goes on. To make matters worse, technology is changing and new tools are developing almost every day.

In the early chapters, David takes a high altitude look at online marketing options, showing us how they developed, why they're important, how they work, and why they work. In later "Action Plan" chapters, he jumps into the trenches and shows us how to actually use the tools and implement programs. Throughout, he uses detailed case studies to illustrate not only the programs but the amazing results they can achieve.

But it isn't just the latest and greatest technologies that are crucially important. Public relations, for example, has been around since Gutenberg but for the first time is practical for a small company. Traditional PR was cost-prohibitive and dependent on unreachable key media contacts. But in the new world--

"...your primary audience is no longer just a handful of journalists. Your audience is millions of people with Internet connections and access to search engines and RSS readers." (Chapter 5)

Today, public relations may be the single most underutilized tool in the marketing arsenal.

Another "old" technology David brings us up to speed on is the corporate Web site. In fact, the three most important points I got out of The New Rules of Marketing & PR have enormous implications on traditional Web development.

Those key points are--

1. The most important New Rule is CONTENT. Design is important. Technology is important. But without extraordinary content, you're doomed.

2. Interruption marketing (think spam and pop-up ads) has given way to consumer-driven marketing. Yippee! "The Web is different. Instead of one-way interruption, Web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment that a buyer needs it." (Chapter 1)

3. The starting point for any New Rule program is to create customer personas. If you're going to have extraordinary content that motivates buyers to take action, you'd better know your customers inside-out.

David explains how these three principles should influence not only your corporate Web site, but every other online program you undertake.

Thankfully, David is understandable as well as instructive. One reason I've enjoyed his blog for over a year is his conversational, entertaining writing style. He makes learning easy (which is harder to do than you might think). Anyway, his book is just like his blog--illuminating and fun.

The New Rules of Marketing & PR presents the most complete picture of any book I've read. For the marketing specialist, it will fill in the gaps. For the generalist, it will open up a whole new world.

What a Wake-Up Call!
By embracing the strategies in this book , you will totally transform your business. David Meerman Scott shows you a multitude of ways to propel your company to a thought leadership position in your market and drive sales - all without a huge budget.

From my perspective, the best thing about this book is that everyone can gain value from it. There are so many places you can start applying these new rules of marketing and PR. For example, I'm an experienced blogger, considered an expert in my field and already have a strong online presence. Yet I'm immediately going to start applying the lessons in Chapter 14: How to Use News Releases to Reach Buyers Directly.

Here's what else I like about this book:

1. The author includes numerous examples from a variety of businesses in different industries & sizes that have all used these strategies for success.

2. The book shows you multiple venues to reach your buyers directly. This circumvents the high costs of mainstream media enabling firms who are running bootstrap operations to compete with the big boys.

3. The "how to" guidelines on leveraging news releases in a web-based world are excellent. You'll learn how to create news on a regular basis, capitalize on various distribution services, focus on key words/phrases in your writing that are used by your buyers, and incorporate social media tags.

4. The insights on optimizing a website's online media room for search engines is another easy-to-implement technique with high payback.

In summary, I guarantee you that your investment in this book will be paid back many times.

~ Jill Konrath, author of Selling to Big Companies

What everyone with a web site needs to know...in clear, simple language!
Waste of time for small business owners, this is more for bigger company that has millions of marketing budget. A lot of theory, but few practical stuff that I can actually do without money. Instead I would recommend Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz, I found it to be a lot more helpful for my business. There are things in there I can actually start doing right away to better my business.

Never pay for Marketing & PR again!
For those who read David's Web Ink Now blog [...], the themes of this book will be familiar. David released an eBook, the New Rules of PR, last year, focusing on direct-to-consumer press releases. That eBook, plus all of his experiences in viral marketing have led to this new book.

The book expands beyond PR to include online marketing, viral marketing and leveraging content. As David points out, in this new environment, these areas are all converging. A news release, posted to your website, simply becomes marketing content to the reader. As with his previous book, Cashing in With Content, Scott uses compelling real-world examples to demonstrate the benefits of these methods.

Roughly half the book is focused on putting these concepts to practice in your own environment. These ten chapters provide specific guidance for understanding buyer personas, using content to position your company as a thought leader and writing content that will resonate with your buyers. There are also hands-on chapters on blogging, podcasting and leveraging social networking sites.

The New Rules of Marketing and PR covers a lot of ground in less than 300 pages. For traditional marketers and executives, the book is an accessible guide to the emerging models. For those knee-deep in online marketing already, the New Rules serves as a useful checklist of tips and tools to ensure that your marketing, PR and content are working together to help you achieve your goals.

[...]

Excellent book for anyone doing business online
Sending a "dash and blast" press release to a reporter's already overflowing email inbox no longer cuts it.

To survive in today's "user generated content" world you have to join your buyers and customers in their world -- that is, online, where they are reading and commenting on discussion boards, updating Wiki entries, and writing blog posts.

Miss or ignore a negative post and you can potentially see millions of dollars drain from your corporate coffers.

What I liked about this book is that David explains how all the new techhologies and old media can work together -- RSS in media rooms, corporate blogs and PR, and podcasting and branding -- to help buyers find your company's products and services.

He gives practical advice on how to pitch the media (hint: don't spam them with untargeted press releases), how to monitor and respond to discussion forums, and how to monitor the blogosphere for "viral eruptions."

Whether you're a corporate PR pro or a small business owner, this book will help you navigate your way through the new methods of reaching your customers. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Completely updated to reflect April 2010 test plan changes

To become a registered nurse (RN) in the United States, nursing school graduates must pass the NCLEX-RN. Each year, nearly a quarter of a million nursing students take this exam.

Kaplan NCLEX-RN is the only book to combine its unique strategy guide with a comprehensive review designed to meet the challenges of this rigorous exam, including:

• Two practice tests (one in the book and one online)
• Detailed answer explanations
• In-depth analysis of NCLEX-RN question types
• Review of alternate question types

Strategies play an important role in passing the NCLEX-RN, which is a critical thinking test requiring students to go beyond simply recognizing facts. In this guide, test-takers will have access to the most effective methods available to guarantee a passing score.

With a bold, fresh user-friendly design and more of the most challenging questions, readers of Kaplan NCLEX-RN will be assured and confident on test day. ... Read more

Reviews

Key to success on the NCLEX, March 12, 2010
Coming from a newly registered nurse, this book was my saving grace on taking and passing the NCLEX on the first try. It helps you dissect the question to find out what it is really asking and offers very practical and useful strategies in how to look at the question. It even comes with a CD w/ many practice questions and rationales and has a paper version of the test in the back. Had I not used this book, I'm pretty sure I would have failed the NCLEX because the test tests more of your critical thinking skills than it does your knowledge of pathophysiology, pharmacology, etc.

There are better NCLEX review books on the market, June 4, 2010

Pretty good, but not complete, September 22, 2010

Excellent test preparation, September 16, 2010

Kaplan NCLEX-RN review book, September 2, 2010
This book is absolutely amazing. If you actually sit down and take the time to read it thoroughly, it is very helpful. It really makes you think about how to critically think, which is exactly what you have to do on the NCLEX. There are very many strategies in the book that help you to narrow down choices on the NCLEX and they really work! It also comes with a CD that has 1 test on it and this test helps you to see where you are and what you need to work on before the real test. This book is very good I would recommend it to anybody who is serious about passing the NCLEX on the first time.

I PASSED!, June 24, 2010
I waited to write my review until I knew that I passed or failed NCLEX. Yes, I passed in 75 questions, even while a fire-drill bell was going off in the building. In part, I credit this book. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, because it isn't a complete study program.

By no stretch of the imagination will this book totally prepare you for NCLEX. The new test is just, well, HARD! The real benefit to this book is the test-taking tips in the first couple of chapters. I wish I had been taught these things before starting nursing school, because those tips alone would have improved my test taking in school, when I needed to narrow down past the last two "good" answers.

The practice questions in this book, are far too easy to help you prepare for NCLEX. The questions in the Saunders book are too easy as well. What do I recommend? I took a computerized prep course with computerized testing that was DIFFICULT. I had the instructor "unlock" the rationales for me, so that I could see where my thinking was leading me astray. And, I used the techniques I learned from this book to hone-in on the correct answers. I also recommend doing as many "alternative format" questions as you can do, especially the "check all that apply." It seemed my test was nearly all of that style.

In the end,on the big day, I didn't get any drugs that I knew, and didn't get any of the diseases I had studied. It was all completely new, but armed with my rigorous OCD preparation, I was able to translate what I DID know, across to something I didn't know, and in part, I credit this book with helping me achieve my goal.

It's counterintuitive but, study hard, and if after the big day, you feel like you failed the hardest test in the world, and you knew nothing, you probably passed.

I wish you the very best of luck!

NCLEX-RN 2010-2011 - Great!, June 16, 2010

A must for student nurses, June 11, 2010
I am a registered nurse and I used the Kaplan NCLEX-RN as part of my study regime for the NCLEX exam. This is the latest edition. Kaplan is a must for nursing students. It not only provides the user with test questions in the book, but it also offers a test very similiar to the actual NCLEX on disk that can be installed on the computer and used over and over again. What makes Kaplan different from other NCLEX study guides? It not only provides hundreds of sample questions but it also gives the rationale for all the answer choices, so not only do you know why the correct answer is correct, you also are told why the other three options are not correct. If you take the time to read all the rationales, even on the questions you answered correctly, you will gain a wealth of information and will hone your NCLEX test-taking skills. Kaplan also offers an indepth tutorial on test taking strategies that will prove invaluable. The NCLEX is not like any other test you have ever taken. All of the answer choices could be correct for the topic the question is testing on, but only one answer will be the best answer. Kaplan will help you learn to look for what the question is really asking and to answer ONLY what the question is asking. I highly recommend getting this book as soon as possible, even if you are only in your first semester of nursing school. It will also help you improve on your grades in nursing school since most of those tests mimic the NCLEX style of question. This is the best use of your money for study guide material and if you can only afford one NCLEX study guide, buy this one. Good luck.

good book, May 27, 2010
I thought this was a good review book for the NCLEX. IT doesnt really focus on content, but it teaches you strategies to break down questions and goes through how the test is divided into different topics.

Looking to prep for the NCLEX-RN? Start here., August 24, 2010

Editorial Review

• leave decisions about schools to educators, not politicians or businessmen
• devise a truly national curriculum that sets out what children in every grade should be learning
• expect charter schools to educate the kids who need help the most, not to compete with public schools
• pay teachers a fair wage for their work, not “merit pay” based on deeply flawed and unreliable test scores
• encourage family involvement in education from an early age

Editorial Review

Reviews

Would give even more stars if I could
Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves' EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 2.0 provides a fine audio step-by-step program for increasing emotional intelligence using a step-by-step program. Listeners can help identify their EQ skills, and can use these strengths to pursue life goals. A top pick for any audio collection! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Richard Dawkins transformed our view of God in his blockbuster, The God Delusion, which sold more than 2 million copies in English alone. He revolutionized the way we see natural selection in the seminal bestseller The Selfish Gene. Now, he launches a fierce counterattack against proponents of "Intelligent Design" in his latest New York Times bestseller, The Greatest Show on Earth. "Intelligent Design" is being taught in our schools; educators are being asked to "teach the controversy" behind evolutionary theory. There is no controversy. Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence—from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics—to make the airtight case that "we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection." His unjaded passion for the natural world turns what might have been a negative argument, exposing the absurdities of the creationist position, into a positive offering to the reader: nothing less than a master’s vision of life, in all its splendor. ... Read more

Reviews

Not quite the book I expected, October 13, 2009
As a biologist (and evolutionist), I am one of those who did not need to be convinced by this book. I am already there. So, I was at somewhat of a disadvantage in trying to estimate how this book might affect the average creationist and IDer. One problem is that creationists come in several stripes----and I don't mean the usual division of creationists into young-Earth vs old-Earth etc. I mean the professional creationists such as some clergy (including TV evangelists) and foundation employees etc with a financial or power stake in maintaining creationism vs some people who have an ignorant, but honest, attachment to creationism for what might be called religious reasons (in spite of Dawkins and everything else) vs the hard-core religionists who care not a whit about evidence and who think that "faith" is faith, no matter what the evidence against it. Dawkins probably will not reach the first and third of these groups. Whether he is able to reach the second remains to be seen. Those people with an ignorant but honest attachment to creationism are largely unlikely to read (much less buy) a book such as this. I am at somewhat of a loss to know who this book targets. The Hell-fire and Damnation preachers will just ignore it and go on preaching---they have too much of a good thing in power and money flow to give it up by becoming honest. Dawkins needs to target the mainline Christian clergy. But then, who goes to church to listen to sermons on evolution?
As for the book itself, it took me a while to get used to the chatty style, mostly in first person, that characterizes Dawkin's later books. What Dawkins presents is only PART of "The Evidence for Evolution". He mentions once or twice that he had to jettison discussion on some point or another that would have added to the discussion (and to the length of the book). But if there is a lot of evidence, why not present all of it? He leaves out, for example, the embryologic evidence for skeletal homologies. Basically he only presents pictures of several skeletons and expects hard-core creationists to accept that bone X in a bat is homologous to bone X in a whale, etc. The creationist would say they these bones only appear to be homologous because are used in similar ways. Show the embryologic homologies and even the DNA evidence and the case is unassailable (to an honest mind). But Dawkins does not do this. Also, he does not present a detailed discussion of branchial arch homologies in fish and higher vertebrates. It may be mentioned (I don't recall), but a full discussion would have been unanswerable. Ditto for jaw and earbone homologies. Dawkins did not discuss retroviruses and missed a big opportunity there. Perhaps he thought that at some point he had reached overkill. I think the book is approximately a 90% effort, with too much good stuff left out.

Evolution is a Fact and Dawkins Proves it!, September 23, 2009
Usually authors will start out their writing careers making a general case on behalf of something, and then later deal with the specific objections as they arise. But not Richard Dawkins. As the leading prolific evolutionary author in our generation he finally got around to writing the book that many authors would've written first, this one. Since up until now he has not set forth the evidence for evolution as a whole, he calls this book "my missing link" in his chain of books, and it's long overdue.

Taking the title from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Dawkins begins by asking us to imagine what it would be like to be a European history teacher who is "continually faced with belligerent demands to give equal time" in his classes to Holocaust deniers. To him that would be what it's like to teach the scientific fact of evolution around the world, especially in America, where 40% of us deny that humans evolved from other animals and who claim instead we were all created as distinct species not more than 10,000 years ago. Just like the Holocaust deniers these people are "history-deniers" too. The antidote to that kind of ignorant thinking is this present work, which presents "the positive evidence that evolution is a fact" (p.6). Many bishops and theologians embrace evolution as a fact, even if some of them accept it begrudgingly.

Who is he trying to reach? The creationist "history-deniers" themselves, but more importantly those who find themselves inadequately prepared to argue the case for evolution (p. 8).

He claims: "Evolution is a fact. Beyond reasonable doubt, beyond serious doubt, beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt, beyond doubt evolution is a fact. The evidence for evolution is at least as strong as the evidence for the Holocaust, even allowing for eyewitnesses to the Holocaust. It is the plain truth that we are cousins of chimpanzees, somewhat more distant cousins of monkeys, more distant cousins still of aardvarks and manatees, yet more distant cousins of bananas and turnips...continue the list as long as desired...It didn't have to be true, but it is. We know this because a rising flood of evidence supports it. Evolution is a fact, and this book will demonstrate it. No reputable scientist disputes it, and no unbiased reader will close the book doubting it." (pp. 8-9).

These are very large claims he's making. Are they justified? Yes, I think so. I challenge the creationists to place this comprehensively argued book, which is illustrated by many diagrams and glossy full colored pictures, next to what a few ancient superstitious people wrote in the Bible and see which one makes the most sense. My bet is that if believers are truly interested in the facts they will see evolution is indeed a fact.

Dawkins knows how to communicate, he knows where to begin his case with dog breeding, and he knows science. It's practically all here within the pages of this book. The reason why we don't see evolutionary change is because it takes place slowly over generations, but dog breeders can do it quickly and efficiently. "Every breed of dog," Dawkins writes, "from dachshund to Dalmatian, from boxer to borzoi, from poodle to Pekinese, from Great Dane to Chihuahua, has been caved, chiseled, kneaded, moulded, not literally as flesh and bone but in its gene pool....The relevance to natural evolution is that, although the selecting agent is man and not nature, the process is otherwise the same." (p. 34).

With regard to flowers, birds and insects make these changes rather than humans, naturally, not artificially, just like the wind did before them: "Hummingbird eyes, hawk-moth eyes, butterfly eyes, hoverfly eyes, bee eyes are critically cast over wild flowers, generation after generation, shaping them, colouring them, swelling them, patterning and stippling them, in almost exactly the same way as human eyes later did with our garden varieties; and with dogs, cows, cabbages and corn." (p. 52). And he asks us: "If so much evolutionary change can be achieved in just a few centuries or even decades, just think what might be achieved in ten or a hundred million years?" (p. 37).

To believers who object that the earth isn't old enough Dawkins marshals overwhelming evidence that it is billions of years old, along with evidence piled upon still more evidence to show evolutionary development of life on earth is indeed the greatest show on earth, and he is clearly in awe of it.

There are a few great books on evolution but this is a superior book long overdue by today's leading communicator of science. You should get it and think through it, especially if you're a "history-denier." Face the evidence and then change your beliefs. It's the intellectually honest thing to do. Then you too will thank Dawkins like so many of us have for his writing in these areas.

A good book, but didn't live up to its subtitle, September 28, 2009
This book is the latest among a long list of evolutionary texts by Dawkins. By his own admission, this book differs from his previous works. While his other books assume the truth of evolution, and thus, sought to answer specific and common criticisms against evolution (often espoused by creationists), this is the first time Dawkins has attempted to lay out the actual evidence for its acceptance by the scientific community.

His book was well written, articulated in a readable style, and quite enjoyable. In fact, I found it difficult to put the book down. Dawkins provides a good general view of why scientists accept evolution and a good case for the plausbility of natural selection as the vehicle for adaptive change. However, I do have some criticisms of his book, which prevented me from giving it 5 stars, especially if I view it from the mindset of a biblical literalist (a view I once shared many decades ago... and these are the people who need the most convincing).

My number one complaint is that he did not provide much in evidence, and where he did provide evidence it was short on detail. For instance, in Chapter 2, Dawkins mentions that all dog breeds are descended from the wolf. Similarly, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and other commonly distinct vegetables today are all descendants of the wild cabbage. While this might seem evident to the scientifically literate, if you don't accept evolution, you might need some convincing to show that this is true. But he doesn't provide evidence or even an explanation of how we know that dogs descended from wolves or broccoli from cabbage. He merely asserts this as evidence and then moves on to chapter 3, which concerns natural selction.

In chapter 3, he discusses flowers and insects (and birds) and presents this as evidence for evolution (specifically by natural selection). But he doesn't provide much explanation of how we know this to be true. For instance, why should we conclude that this arrangement between pollen producing flower and pollinating insect to be the result of co-evolution? How do we know that the pollen producing flower was not always the way it is and that the pollinating insect was not always the way it is and that these two merely "found" or discovered one another, in essence, falling into and exploiting a niche that was always present? [This might seem crazy, but this was actually used in an argument by a creationist]

Another criticism. He was careful to define the distinction between a scientific theory and a mere hypothesis or conjecture. Yet through much of the first few chapters of his book, he is short on evidence and long on speculation. For instance, he mentions the Heika japonica crab, with the resemblance of a samurai warrior on the back of its shell. While Carl Sagan states that this was the result of natural selection, Dawkins states it probably was not; it was likely coincidence. But this very case has often been cited as evidence for evolution (by selection). Is this evidence of evolution or not? And if not, then why is Dawkins' mentioning this in his book. If anything it calls into question how we determine that something is the result of evolution (and therefore qualified as evidence), as opposed to coincidence or something else? From this example, it seems almost arbitrary.

His review of the fossil record is compelling but rehashes the same information presented in other books. And he doesn't explain how we know that the discovered fossils represent a history of the same clad, as opposed to distinct, unrelated organisms. This is particularly important since we are often comparing fossils from different time periods, from different geographical locations, and don't have access to the entire skeletal remains (let alone genetic information) of the organisms that we are claiming are descended from one another. For example, how do we know that we aren't merely pattern seeking when we look at Pakicetus, Ambulocetus, and Basilosaurus? Or Australopithecus and Homo? Moreover, he spends most of the chapter on human evolution explaining why paleontologists feud over the specific genus (or species) of particular fossils and why such arguments would be predicted under evolution precisely because they represent intermediates. But his explanation could've been condensed into 1 paragraph. It would've been far better if he spent the time to present more evidence among the mountains of evidence that are claimed to exist.

His chapter, "You did it yourself in nine months", was spent explaining by analogy that matter is capable of self assembly from the bottom-up, rather than a top-down approach as espoused by creationists. He presents his hypothesis that this is possible via "local rules" and uses the analogies of the starling and origami as examples, but this is not evidence. In fact, while analogy can clarify and improve understanding, it does not constitute evidence. Dawkins forgets that the "local rules" are functioning from a template coded in our genome. Thus, can we truly say that it is the "local rules" that create the appearance of design when a recipe is necessary for determining these "local rules"? He needs to show that the genome is capable of self assembly by local rules and that a complex organism can be created from this base. While he implies that possibility during his discussion of viruses, he does not provide much detail. Thus, the reader is left unconvinced and with more questions. Thus, if you get to this point, you will have read 50% of the book and realize that much of the book has been devoted to explanation, speculation, hypotheses, and very few presentation of actual evidence. He uses computer models to illustrate or make his points. But once again, while these models may help explain concepts, they do not constitute evidence.

The last few chapters of the book are better (beginning around page 285), but by this time he's likely to have lost most of his readers, that is, those who have not already accepted evolution prior to reading this book.

My final criticism is in regard to his reference section. Most good books concerning scientific topics contain plenty of references to primary articles. But there are very few primary articles listed in this book. In fact, you'll find more scientific literature referenced in a pop diet book than here. And I am not joking! Go to a bookstore and look at the "Notes" section of Dawkins' book yourself. He does include a bibliography, but most of the entries represent secondary or tertiary sources. This doesn't mean the information is inaccurate, but it would've been nice to have citations to primary sources for those wanting to do further research.

There are some experiments mentioned in the book (rather clever ones too), but given the fact that evolutionists are always touting the volumes of evidence (and not just from fossils) for the fact of evolution, I was disappointed to find that only a handful are mentioned in the book. As mentioned earlier, most of the book is either providing background information (about rudimentary chemistry or biology), providing explanation, or tearing down common creationist arguments or criticisms against evolution, rather than focusing on positive evidence favoring evolution. Moreover, Dawkins practically ignores the evidence from molecular biology and glosses over genetics.

In short, Dawkins writes his book as if he is talking to a fellow evolutionist (preaching to the choir). But such a person does not need convincing or evidence of evolution. You can merely point or mention the "obvious" and expect the person to understand. You don't need to go into detail or explain much. On the other hand, if you do not accept evolution or require convincing, then you will likely find that Dawkins assumes too much and does not provide sufficient data or detail as to why evolution is the best explanation for the observations under discussion.

Needless to say, I was disappointed with the book since it failed to live up to its subtitle - "The Evidence for Evolution". A more apt title would've been "The Plausbility of Evolution". He makes a good case for the reasonableness of evolution but does not provide much compelling evidence. If you are a creationist contemplating whether there is sufficient evidence for evolution, you will not be convinced by reading this book. Two far superior books (that provide better and more compelling evidence) can be found in "Why Evolution is True" and "Making of the Fittest". It isn't that Dawkins' book is bad; it provides sufficient information (on a high level) to be useful and entertaining, but don't expect it to arm you for a debate with a creationist or use it as a reference. And don't expect your creationist friend to read it and walk away a convert.

Great tutorial on evolution, however there are superior arguments, November 19, 2009
Given the plethora of evolution books published recently, I argue it's imperative to consider this book's worthiness against these other recent publications.

Richard Dawkins' objective with TGSOE is to present his ". . . personal summary of the evidence that the `theory' of evolution is actually a fact - as incontrovertible a fact as any in science." [1st pg. of the Preface]. This appears to make this book an argument for evolution, especially considering the subtitle, "The Evidence for Evolution". This framing also matches exactly to the explicit motivation expressed by evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne in his book, Why Evolution Is True.

Having read both I'd recommend Coyne's book if one is looking for an optimal argument on why Science considers evolution a fact and why there are no remaining hypotheses able to challenge evolution as an explanatory model for the evidence or discredit the findings supportive of evolution. It's much more concise, sticks more closely to peer-accepted findings, is more transparent about hedging on explanations where confidence is not yet overwhelming, and presents its findings in a manner easier to understand to someone not well educated in biology.

However, given that I think even the Coyne book falls short on its argument I also recommend molecular biologist Daniel Fairbanks' Relics of Eden: The Powerful Evidence of Evolution in Human DNA to provide additional evidence contained within all of life's DNA that evolution is both true and convincingly falsifies all prior arguments made by creationists and intelligent design creationists. Coyne makes an arguable assertion on why he didn't include a specific chapter on the evidence in our DNA though he weaves it into other chapters; I think that missing chapter is why Coyne's book is not a masterpiece. I'll post the link to his argument in the comments section of this review.

What I like about TGSOE and why I still recommend purchasing it is Dawkins' skill as a teacher. I quickly left by the wayside that this book was an argument and instead treated it as a tutorial. What I especially liked about Dawkins' book which makes for a poor argument but a great tutorial is his use of analogies and thinking exercises. Dawkins provides examples not merely because they provide devastating arguments for evolution, but instead because they are teachable moments. His reporting on the guppy and the Lenski experiments were as effective as any of Coyne's examples as arguments. However, Dawkins' distinguishes himself in providing examples that allow the stories and principles to resonate well after having read them. He asks questions, and guides us to how the evidence answers those questions. This makes for a lengthier book than Coyne's, but also helps reinforce the topical matter. The numerous photographs in the book also helped reinforce his examples and were an unexpected surprise.

An example of a powerful teaching moment was that Dawkins starts with how hominids acted as an agent to evolve wolves into an astonishingly broad collection of domestic dog breeds in the blink of evolutionary time. At first I thought this was too simplistic; I was wrong. Dawkins' builds on that reportage by then showing how plants and animals' dependent on those plants each act as agents causing the other to evolve. This eases the beginner (which I'm not though I'm also not an expert) into better appreciating how natural selection works. This initial primer on natural selection is not where it ends, instead Dawkins' excels at teaching natural selection from several aspects in a manner that optimizes retention of the principles discovered and the evidence falsifies other proposed mechanisms. Given the fact this makes for a bigger book than Coyne's, Dawkins' book is superior at taking on topics at a more advanced level. Dawkins begins at an even more elementary level than Coyne does, but then uses chapter after chapter to build upon what was learned in the previous chapter to flesh-out our understanding of evolutionary topics, particularly natural selection, how the variation in our DNA provides a map to our ancestral heritage, and how an intelligent designer is a ludicrous notion once we've understand all the evidence collected to date which not only validates evolution but frequently falsifies the idea of a designer - where the score is an uncountable number of observations for Science to zero for design advocates (which is a primary reason they don't publish in relevant peer-reviewed journals).

Where Dawkins' book suffers is related to his own personal musings. As a tutorial these musings are often but not always instructive. Science is significantly about what to research next given we certainly don't know everything. Dawkins' allows us a peek into where the research is heading. In fact, if you enjoy the chapter about evolutionary development, than I highly recommend adding to your knowledge in this area given it too provides overwhelming evidence for evolution while falsifying creationist/IDC notions, the classic is still biologist Sean B. Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo. In addition, scientists as creative thinkers are often thought of as contradictory attributes when in fact it's a necessary element of framing your hypotheses or trying to create reasons to explain surprising data discoveries and then go off and attempt to validate these new notions. Science as a process actually yields more creativity than nearly all other thinking disciplines and Dawkins infers such in many of his musings.

One weakness I found is that Dawkins speculates in areas where the science is already being conducted, e.g., group selection, and the math regarding the number of planets where life could exist. So why waste pages speculating with zero data when he could have instead reported where the efforts were to date and extrapolated from there? In addition Mr. Dawkins can be a somewhat sloppy writer if this were treated like an argument rather than a teacher teaching; opening up opportunities for creationists to dishonestly quote-mine him where he is a preferred target of theirs, e.g., "the fact of our own existence is almost too surprising to bear" on pg. 425 and his other extraordinary reflections not shared by many of his peers.

Such rhetoric is sloppy because creationists often disingenuously attribute something one scientist states as personal opinion as that believed by all scientists. In a perfect world such intellectual dishonesty wouldn't occur and we wouldn't have to worry about how a great teacher's occasionally sloppy rhetoric is twisted to argue the opposite of what both the teacher and his discipline's adherents understand. So if you are a creationist looking to test your faith against what Science understands, the Coyne and Fairbanks' books are far sterner tests and provide less opportunities to avoid confronting the evidence that destroys that faith or at least requires modification if one is honest with oneself. If you want to actually learn and optimize the quality of the teaching where you forgive Dr. Dawkins occasionally lapsing into tangential topics, this book will resonate long after you've finished it and serve as a handy reference guide after your initial read.

I gave the book four rather than five stars primarily because I think he needs to use more research assistants to better footnote his book to more of the evidence he's reporting. While I've encountered nearly all his examples prior to my reading his book and know he's accurate in his reporting (with the exception of his possibly extending the findings in the Lenski experiment), books on controversial subjects should go over-board in citations. He also should have provided more examples from other scientists than his own musings, coupled to his musings not adding much, e.g., I found his zeal for computer programs extraneous to a book serving as a general review of the state of evolution. This adds up to the fact he needs a sterner editor. Given his success in selling prior books, it's not a surprise he was given so much latitude - to a fault I think.

If after the purchase of this book you remain excited about the topic and want to learn more, I recommend at least considering (I haven't read it yet but it's in my queue) getting Carl Zimmer's new book, The Tangled Bank: An Introduction to Evolution. Mr. Zimmer is one of our most trusted and respected science writers and is a brilliant communicator of evolution both in his prior books, periodical articles, and his blog. Tangled Bank is a text book focusing strictly on teaching evolution.

I THOUGHT I didn't need another book on evolution, but was WRONG!, November 30, 2009
About 20 years ago I started reading Stephen Jay Gould's essay collections. Then I discovered the work of Carl Zimmer and Neil Shubin and other evolutionary biologists. When this book came out I didn't intend to buy it as I have so many books on evolution and keep up with biology news. I went ahead and ordered it thinking that if there was nothing new in it I could always give it to a friend.

What a surprise! This book is a great overview of the subject - including very recent fossil discoveries in China as well as the standard subjects - radioactive dating, fossils, DNA evidence, etc. Somewhere along the way I had forgotten how the radioactive dating clock starts and Dawkins gives a very lucid explanation that will stay with me now. He also references other good books such as Shubin's "Your Inner Fish" and Coyne's "Why Evolution is True."

If you aren't teaching biology or natural history, this is a good refresher that will doubtless have some new info that you will find intriguing. If you don't know much about evolution and natural selection this book is the best one out there for an overview.

I'll be keeping this book.

"The Evidence for Evolution", December 21, 2009
I got interested in evolution because of my study of 19th century British intellectual history, which led me to Charles Darwin and the ramifications of his "Origin." Although my focus is the 19th century, I am always on the lookout for good books on evolutionary theory (and have reviewed several on Amazon), written for the non-scientist, and this is a very good and useful one. The author has engaged extensively in the "intelligent design" wars, but one thing I liked about this book is its more positive tone: what is the evidence for evolution? Not to say that Dawkins does not, from time to time, point out a fallacy in ID arguments, but that is not the primary goal of the book. In one 450 page treatment, the author covers about every conceivable point relating to evolution. Another bonus of the book is that Dawkins writes very well for the layman when discussing scientific terms, approaches, and studies. There was only one chapter (that dealing with how the human body develops from single cells) where I got a bit lost in his discussion.

Darwins develops his evidence for evolution in an interesting fashion. First he talks about what a scientific "theory" is, since this is a frequent point of contention with those who dispute evolution. Next, he focuses on dogs and cows, and other domestic animals, to argue that the multiplicity of canine breeds (all derived from the wolf) demonstrates how man has employed evolution--the so-called "artificial evolution." Natural evolution takes place without human intervention, in nature, and is not controlled by anyone or anything. An interesting chapter is devoted to methods of dating rocks and embedded fossils. Moreover, the author contends there are such things as "living fossils (e.g., guppies).

Dawkins rejects any suggestions that the fossil record is incomplete. In fact, he says we don't even need fossils to verify evolution; in any regard, more are being discoved all the time. Nor is there a human "missing" link, as he discusses the extensive human fossil record--quite a thorough but compact discussion with superb illustrations. The importance of tectonic plates and isolation is the subject of another chapter. Two later chapters I found particularly interesting: one on the vestiges of prior evolutionary stages left in animal and human bodies; the second on what Dawkins refers to as the "arms race"--how animals are in competition to survive and develop biologic weapons as part of the "survival of the fittest." The book includes extensive illustrations, including 32 pages of helpful full color illustrations: 6 pages of notes; and a 7-page bibliography (some of which sources are discussed in the text). An extremely helpful discussion of the topic by one of the best informed scientific students of evolution.

Another Excellent Explanation by Richard Dawkins, September 26, 2009

Many non-scientists, like me, have wondered, why do 99% of all scientists believe in evolution? Isn't it just a Theory? an opinion? How can the vote be so unanimous? 99% is a huge number.

I have been told that there is no evidence for evolution, it is a theory just made up by people who are angry at God and that it is stupid that people came from monkeys.

If you are like me and really want to understand the evidence for evolution honestly, and objectively, this is an excellent book.

Richard Dawkins's ability to lucidly explain complicated scientific information to anyone willing to take the time to listen and understand is impressive.

Once I started reading this book, I couldn't put it down.

Based on the mountain of evidence presented in this book, I now understand that the people telling me that evolution is stupid must be completely unaware of the evidence. I am thinking of giving this book as a Christmas gift for the members of my family that believe that there is no evidence for evolution.

Make this one of your top five to read this year., November 23, 2009
It is very sad that another book has to be written about such a subject, and yet I plan to read Jerry Coyne's book by the title "Why Evolution Is True," not just for the praise Dawkins gives it in this book, but because Coyne gets at least as much, if not more, praise for his effort on the same front. It is a tragedy that it is still difficult to convince people of the power of evolution by natural selection, but it is only so because so many people never bother to understand what is being propounded.

I know...I was once one of the fundamentalist Christians that rejected it. All I had to go on was the canned anti-intellectual responses of the religious right. I see many of my former compatriots giving one-star reviews to this book without even reading it, but that is the way it is with that group. I realize that most people that accept it do so without understanding it, as well. That was something I could not do, so I did read "On the Origin of Species" by Darwin, and many other books and articles on the subject since then. The real tragedy is that most people, accepting the science or not, never even care to try to understand the amazing way we developed into so many species out of likely only one.

Aside from having one of the most beautiful jackets I have ever seen, and some extraordinary color picture sections added for clarity, this book contains the following sections:

1. Only a theory?
2. Dogs, cows, and cabbages
3. The primrose path to macro-evolution
4. Silence and slow time
5. Before our very eyes
6. Missing link? What do you mean, 'missing'?
7. Missing persons? Missing no longer
8. You did it yourself in nine months
9. The ark of the continents
10. The tree of cousinship
11. History written all over us
12. Arms races and 'evolutionary theodicy'
13. There is grandeur in this view of life

Appendix: The history-deniers

The appendix could be read before or after the book, and is a general overview of polls that have been taken in the U.S. and Europe regarding the beliefs of the general population with regard to evolution and creationism. Needless to say, it is depressing, but what do you expect when you're talking about polls of the general population? As he points out, about 20% of the general population think the earth goes around the sun in a month, clearly having no idea what a year is. I'm sure a percentage would still think the earth was flat if the question was put forward.

I think most of the chapter headings speak for themselves. Chapter one discusses the nature of scientific theory, hypothesis, etc, because of the claim of so many that evolution is only a theory, forgetting all about little things such as gravitational theory, germ theory, etc. Chapter two and three slowly take us into the world of evolutionary change with examples we cannot deny. Chapter four discusses how we measure the age of the earth, strata, and fossils by means of geological clocks. Chapter five gives examples we can see in our lifetime, rather than just depending on the fossils of ages. Chapter six discusses the logical fallacy of missing links, while chapter seven goes specifically into transitional fossils within the human species. Chapter eight goes into the crucial subject of embryology, where most of the evolutionary changes to genes have the greatest effect. Chapter nine explains plate tectonics, formerly known as continental drift, and its importance to the spread of various early forms. Chapter ten discusses the common ancestry of all species, with many examples given of homologous structures. Chapter eleven covers the traces of historical evolutionary steps that can be seen in the modern forms that exist, such as vestigial organs. Chapter twelve talks about the pain and suffering inherent in the evolutionary view, and the problem that presents for many. Chapter thirteen goes deeply into Charles Darwin's famous quote at the end of "On the Origin of Species" and discusses it at length, breaking it up line by line.

Here is that quote, which is one of the most beautiful quotes concerning life:

"Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved."

There is another quote I would like to put down in this review, from the book being reviewed.

"Information on how to handle the present so as to survive into the future is necessarily gleaned from the past." -- Richard Dawkins, The Greatest Show on Earth, 2009, pg 406.

I think this book should have been more carefully argued, and in much more detail, which is why I still think "On the Origin of Species," first edition, is one of the best books one can read, since Darwin was such a careful and precise thinker -- but for a modern perspective, one cannot do much better than combining Darwin's work with Dawkins' work.

Dawkins does it again, September 22, 2009
Evolution is an inescapable fact, and we should celebrate its astonishing power, simplicity and beauty, as Richard Dawkins notes in this marvelously titled book, the latest addition to his already impressive list of books on evolution.

Do we really need yet another "evidence for evolution" book? Well, yes we do. If only because of the alarmingly large number of educated people (especially in the United States) who hold virulent anti-evolution sentiments and prefer a supernatural, "intelligent design" explanation for the key questions in biology. But will the "history-deniers" read Dawkins? Leaving creationists and ID proponents aside, many people misunderstand evolution as a long chain of events that shape simple forms into more complex ones, rather than the branching and extinction of lineages. Therefore, open-minded readers should welcome yet another popular book on evolutionary biology, particularly if it has such a breadth and is so very well written as Dawkins'. As a teacher and communicator of science, Dawkins remains unsurpassed.

The "Greatest Show on Earth" is an ambitiously large survey of evolutionary biology; more than 400 pages (plus many color photos) one long argument for why evolution is a firmly-based scientific explanation, a fact. Even for those who accept the evidence for evolution, Dawkins' book is a stimulating and refreshing read; not least because of its conversational yet authorative tone (although Dawkins can't help but to lash out at religion here and there, it certainly is not an anti-religion book like "The God Delusion"). As one reviewer noted: if Charles Darwin would want to know how his theory had fared in the 21th century, this is the book he should read. My own first recommendation, however, would be Jerry Coyne's Why Evolution Is True. The latter book is equally well written and informative, but more concise and focused. What's more, Coyne is less polemical than Dawkins (BTW, Dawkins praises Coyne's book in his first chapter).

Dawkins covers the science in a rather standard fashion. The Gal�pagos islands, transitional fossils, embryology, artificial breeding, anatomy, etc., it's all there. Which is fine, of course. But those who are looking for a primer on the latest insights into evolutionary biology won't find it here. I would have liked to see more emphasis on the awesome power of molecular genetics in demonstrating evolution as an established fact. After all, the evidence in molecular biology is even more compelling than the fossil record (but, admittedly, more difficult to explain to lay persons). As an accompanying book, I would therefore recommend Sean Carroll's The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution, which focuses on how DNA directs the evolutionary process.

I'm puzzled why Dawkins chose not to mention the new insights into the molecular evolution of the eye. He discussed eye evolution at length in "The Blind Watchmaker" - as did Darwin in "The Origin of Species" - and it remains a favorite topic of the ID crowd. But astounding genetic findings have revolutionized the eye evolution field: the animal eye, from fruitfly to man, was "invented" only once during evolution. Darwin would have been thrilled! Dawkins could have scored a strong point here. A missed opportunity.

That being said, one can only hope that this book will convert at least some creationists and ID advocates; that the scales will fall from their religious eyes. But I have my doubts. To quote biologist Tom Tregenza: The fact that Darwin's theory makes so many predictions, none of which has ever been falsified, makes it easy to make a further prediction: it is only a matter of time before the ID proponents make it a fundamental tenet of their ideology that the pattern of life has been made that way specifically to fool biologists. In which case, evolutionists can take comfort in knowing that the creator specifically had THEM in mind at every step of the process.

More essential reading for people sceptical about evolution, December 20, 2009
There were already 100 5-star reviews posted when I started writing this, and there seems little point in repeating the many valuable points they make. The most obvious comparison is with Jerry Coyne's book on the same theme, Why Evolution is True, which was published earlier in the year. Both books are excellent, and both need to be read by anyone interested in the subject. The ideal thing would be for them to be carefully read by people who doubt the reality of evolution but are genuinely interested in knowing the truth, if any such people exist. Rather to my surprise, I like Jerry Coyne's book the better of the two, primarily because he sticks more to the topic and doesn't wander off into side issues so readily as Dawkins. Still, read both!

There are two points that both books make that are worth repeating even though others have already done so: the story of Tiktaalik (which I knew about already) and Richard Lenski's experiments breeding bacteria (which I didn't). Tiktaalik is important as an example of how evolutionary theory tells you where to look to find something no one has ever found before, but which ought to exist. Lenski's experiments are important as an illustration of how fast divergent evolution can proceed, even with cultures that are initially identical and are treated identically.

Now I shall follow the same plan as I did with Coyne's book, looking through the 1- and 2-star reviews to see if they say anything worth discussing. Again, unfortunately, the answer is no, and anyone who thought the negative reviews of Coyne were inane should take a look at these. They only good thing about them is that they stimulated some very good comments, so if you read these reviews read the comments as well.

One thing that appears to have particularly upset some of them is the idea that the evidence for evolution is at least as strong as the evidence for the Holocaust, as they seem to think that this makes Dawkins a Holocaust-denier. Others seem to think they are reviewing The God Delusion, as they attack a position that is barely present at all in The Greatest Show on Earth: "This man claiming there is no God is crazy to me. First of all in order to come to a conclusion like that you would have to search out the universe". When challenged as to whether she had actually read the book, the reviewer admitted that her "review" was a review of the title: "I read the title of the book. I would give it a 0 stars but there is none. I never said I read the whole book anyways Christians are not perfect." I'm not sure what she found atheistic about the title. Probably someone told her about The God Delusion (which she probably didn't read either) and she got the two books confused. There are, of course, authors who always write the same book (Dan Brown springs to mind), but Richard Dawkins is not one of them.

In fairness to her, she wasn't the only one to think the book was an atheist tract. We also have "His primary objective is to disprove the existence of God", "There is a special place reserved in Hell for Richard Dawkins. He does more to harm to obvious God created world than anyone since Darwin," as well as others who quite explicitly say "First, let me say I haven't read this book BUT ", or who think they are reviewing Amazon's efficiency for delivering books "I didn't receive the book until today, december 12, 2009, at 09:47 A.M. I have been waiting."

I also looked through the 5-star reviews to see if I can find any evidence that Dawkins had reached his target audience, the sort of readers who don't believe in evolution but are willing to examine the evidence in an honest way. Unfortunately there is little suggestion of that. Apart from one strange review posted a week ago that seems to be intended as a parody, all of them were written by people who already accepted the reality that Dawkins was trying to demonstrate. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Building on the tremendous success of Weber's Art of the Grill, Weber the world's best-known and most trusted grilling experts, return with the ultimate in barbeque cookbooks. Weber's Big Book of Grilling is the definitive guide to outdoor cooking. Packed with 350 recipes and hundreds of sure-fire tips and techniques, this one-stop cookbook is guaranteed to turn readers everywhere into backyard heroes. Using nearly 50 years of outdoor grilling wisdom, the experts at Weber have created an essential handbook destined to become a sauce-stained classic. So, for the chef who's barely flipped a burger or for the local grilling guru, here's all the advice they'll need to stretch their skills--and at the price that's red-hot as the coals! ... Read more

Reviews

We Refer To This Book As "The Bible"!, July 20, 2004
The first time I tasted grilled food, many years before Weber existed, I remember wondering why all meat was not cooked over charcoal. As I got older, I started grilling a bit but the recipes were the staples: burgers, steaks and chicken.

Then I purchased a Weber charcoal kettle, which came with some neat, out of the ordinary recipes. I started experimenting, and branched out into growing fresh herbs to season the food. There are now four Weber grills on my deck, including the little "Smokey Joe", for little projects and The Summit gas grille for the big ones.

As a result of a couple of major cooking projects I did for the neighborhood, I was given this book. I didn't know whether it was a thank you, or a subtle way of saying that my cooking needed improvement. What a horizon expanding book it is! If there is anything outside its covers that is needed to teach the novice or improve the good cook, I don't know what it is.

Recipes? Yep, and not a single loser out of 350. Grilling advice? Yep, everything from buying to using to maintaining your grill. There's a section on the uses of fresh herbs, including reduction formulas for the use of store bought seasoning. There are explanations as to why fresh ground black pepper and Kosher salt are preferred.

I have used this book exhaustively since I got it, and have given it as gifts to many, many friends, all of whom are as enthusiastic about it as I am. Simply put, if grilling means burning meat to you, save your money. But if you enjoy the looks of friends and family when you place a truly outstanding meal on the table, get this book.

Cooking seems to intimidate some guys. I don't know why. But Weber's book takes the fear out of cooking, and after a couple of successes, generates a bit of enthusiasm for the next time, both for the cook and the eaters.

100X better than the first book (and that's saying A LOT!), September 13, 2003
I can't say enough about this Weber book. I purchased this one, and the first one ("Art of the Grill") at the same time, fully expecting to like the first one more. Well, as it turns out, the Big Book of Grilling has been used upon every single grill day (at least 3 days/week) as apposed to the other one, which has only been used a few times.

The Art of the Grill (the first book) contains some very involved recipes that are very tasty, but not any of the practical cooking tips. The Big Book of Grilling, however, highlights the following:
* Tips on what to look for when selecting the best cuts of meat at the grocer/butcher.
* Explaining cooking tips such as when to use direct heat vs. indirect heat cooking, and how to make those cross-grill marks on your steak!
* A wide variety of homemade marinade recipes.
* Helpful charts at the end of the book which you can quickly reference when you quickly need to know how long to cook something no matter if it's a porterhouse steak or even a bunch of asparagus.
* Great side stories, like how to cook enough ham sandwiches for the town of Peoria, IL.

Just overall, this book has been a godsend when it comes to my grill. I have an older Weber 3-burner model that allows me to easily switch from direct to indirect heating, but the book also compensates for the charcoal users out there. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs a book full of great grilling ideas and suggestions, or who at least needs a great grilling reference book.

Big Followup to His First Grilled Effort, May 17, 2001
There must of been many of us who used Purviance's first effort "Weber's Art of the Grill" because here comes its successor.

Big describes the difference. Quality recipes, photos and grilling basic advice are all here, but now more of it. Also, more informal recipes I'm discovering which probably will allow its usage more than just the occasional weekend bbq blast.

So far, pigged out on Greek Garlic Chicken, Disappearing Tenderloins with Pico de Gallo, Grilling A Monster Fish, plus great side dishes of veggies and grilled fruits and desserts.

Worthy to become a classic standard! Next to my Weber all the time!

Happily Surprised, June 20, 2001
I was a bit skeptical when I saw that Weber was putting out a grilling cookbook. However, even though they promote thier products, the recipes are plentiful and fantastic. I also liked the instructions on how to use the grill one currently owns with simple instructions for novices like myself. Look past the Weber promotion if it bothers you and dig right into the "meat" of the book. The photos are quite appealing and summer is too short to pass this book up!

Well-done? Well written!, June 13, 2001
What a fun cookbook! Just expecting a few good grilling ideas and some Weber history, I first opened this book to the words "Are you still using lighter fluid? Say it ain't so. . . ." and I was hooked. This tome is packed with sumptuous pictures of everything from Cheesy Onion Quiche (yes, you can GRILL it!) to Teriyaki Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa. The recipes are tantalizing--but what really sets this cookbook apart is the snappy patter that accompanies the standard instructions. McRae, apparently the writer of the team, has peppered the text with barbecue history, anecdotes, and quotations that make reading half the fun of cooking. The directions--for example, preparing a rib roast--seem eloquently simple and are illustrated with drawings to reinforce your confidence. It's the chatter that I appreciate, however: "And then there's the precocious debutante of the poultry world, the Cornish game hen, which nowadays is neither Cornish nor game." Lots of enticing info you can relate to your guests as you serve up your next barbecue.

Another Great Book by Weber, July 10, 2002
I got a Weber Summit grill two years ago, then I went out looking for cookbooks, since I never had owned a grill before and had no idea what to do or where to start. Some cookbooks are strictly for charcoal grills; other cookbooks just didn't have the right kind of directions. It seems like some authors out there don't want to recognize the existence of gas grills. I really like the convenience of a gas grill. I discovered the Art of the Grill cookbook and it had the kind of directions I needed and understood. The recipes in that book are great. The salmon is a snap because you cook it on a sheet of foil, so it's easy, delicious and no cleanup. Even the strawberry pie was wonderful.
Then along came this latest book. It's even better with lots more recipes and great instructions. I hate grill books that don't have clear instructions on the heat you need, among other things. I have made the stuffed veal chops several times and the sea bass and the simple pork chops that you just marinate for 30 minutes. Vegetables are also easy to grill, and I think they always taste better grilled. The recipes always come out as promised. I have no been disappointed, and I am anxious to try many more recipes that I know will turn out. This is the ultimate grill cookbook.

"On The Web!", June 11, 2001
Weber's Big Book of Grilling

I got so involved in the book, I had to buy another. The arrangement is great-if you don't start with condiments, a rub, a marinade, a sauce, you're wasting a good fire. The assortment and explanations are prodigious, and the commentary is fun. This is a droll friend who just happens to be a great grill chef taking the novice and the "chef d'backyard cuisine" alike along a path of hot coals to a satisfying feast. Lots of Asian and Mexican influence, and fish is treated with familiarity, not like an afterthought. While I don't understand the photo on page 165, the photography like the commentary, feeds the soul as well as the body-- the dog stealing a steak--adds to the family, friends, fun essence of cookouts---the memory-searing seasoning that lasts long after you've licked your fingers clean. Wonderful Father's Day, birthday, hostess or Holiday gift. Turkey or a prime rib on the grill not only tastes great, it frees up the kitchen and gets the guys involved. This book gets you involved.

Jam-Packed Grilling Guide, August 27, 2001
From appetizers right through to desserts, you can go grill-crazy with this book absolutely jam-packed with recipes. How to's on barbecuing everything from the traditional beef, lamb and poultry to the less common rabbit, turkey and buffalo. Marinades and sauces are also included because, let's face it, a good piece of grilled meat just isn't complete if it's not smothered with a tasty sauce. So, get out the Weber and dive into this book. There are enough fantastic recipes for a barbecue a day to last a whole year, with some left over for next year.

THE grilling cookbook, June 27, 2002
Weber's BIG BOOK of Grilling is out of this world!! I purchased this book along with Weber's Art of The Grill and while they are both great I would pick this one over "Art" for an all around grilling cookbook. This was a VERY well thought out book, it is easy to find what you are looking for and offers great advice for beginners to grilling. It is broken down into food "groups" and then delves into each group with a nice assortment of recipes. The best thing about grilling with an actual Weber grill and using this cookbook is that if you follow the recipe you can't go wrong. It truly can take you from the "You burned the burgers Again!!" to "Wow these are great burgers". I really could go on and on about this book but I won't, just trust me and purchase it, you will not regret it.

Big fat book!, August 5, 2002
This is an all-around great cook book with nice big pictures, and error free recipes. I've tried several already, and they've all turned out great. I didn't believe I could get good tasting ribs from only 2 hours of cooking, but it really worked.

The only complaint I have is that I was looking for a standard, straightforward bbq book, and for the most part this is just that, however, certain recipes seem to veer off into the "exotic" realm. I'll use Steven Raichlen's BBQ Bible for crazy exotic BBQ.

But I guess I can't really complain. The Kansas City Ribs recipe is excellent, and Weber gives great advice on grilling and grilling techniques. Good thing I own a Weber grill.

A great book to have in your library. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Simple pleasures, October 11, 2010
If you are a LEGO builder like me, you have gotten pretty proficient at building what is called the System type of models. These are buildings and vehicles that are the scale of the minifigure and are the majority of the things that are built with LEGO elements.

However, there are other scales and other parts that are not the typical brick and plate. Once called Expert Models, these became the Technic theme, which are models that have working features, like working steering and gear systems. These are sets that are more complex, and as a result, are tough to explore building possibilities. With The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Simple Machines, using Technic parts becomes a much easier exercise.

As the first book in the LEGO Technic Idea book trilogy,Simple Machines explains the parts and their uses in a clear, easy-to-understand format. There are no words used in the diagrams: all ideas are explained with graphics and colorful photos of example models. This makes it really easy and fun to pick up on building. The simplicity of the photos and diagrams also allows the builder to adapt the model to his creations.

For the beginning builder this is a great guide to learning how to make working models. For the experienced builder, this is a good reference on building techniques. This book would also be useful for FIRST LEGO teams, as it explains how to use gears, which is useful for MINDSTORMS robot builders.

Thinking in LEGO -- where to find those pesky parts, November 8, 2010
There are hundreds of models in these books and, unless you've got a massive storehouse of LEGO Technic parts in your 10,000 square foot basement, you may not have all of the parts you need in order to build a particular model.

We want to help you find those parts. To that end, Yoshihito Isogawa has prepared a hyperlinked list of the more unique parts in the books to help you to find them at the Bricklink website. We can't post a direct link to that list here, but here's how to find it on our website:

(1) Go to the main No Starch Press website
(2) Search for the word "technic"
(3) Click the first search item that comes up ("LEGO Technic Idea Book Complete Set")
(4) When you reach that page, click the link that says "See the parts list for the books," which you'll see just underneath the red text that says "Buy the whole set and save . . ."

or, if you can read between the lines, try:

nostarch dot com /technic

Please remember that these are idea books; buying these books is not like buying a pre-packaged LEGO set. As such, you're encouraged to explore and invent with LEGO. Many of our readers draw considerable inspiration from the pictures of Isogawa's models alone and I hope that you will, too.

Sincerely,

William Pollock, Founder
No Starch Press

A Must-Have Resource for LEGO TECHNIC and NXT Builders, October 21, 2010
I just received a copy of this book today, and I am SO excited. Finally---a book of basic mechanisms that I can use in designing TECHNIC machines and NXT robots! This book---along with the other two volumes, The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Fantastic Contraptions and The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Wheeled Wonders, should be on the Christmas list of anyone who uses a LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Kit.

In addition, the photos and paper used in this book are of such high quality that I just want to sit and look through it. This (along with its reasonable price) make it an all-around best buy in my book.

If you've seen Yoshito's Japanese editions, you haven't seen anything like this. Its terrific!

Disappointing, November 5, 2010
I was very excited to get this book after many months of waiting but it turned out useless.
At first, the models look inspiring but when I wanted to start building with my son, we were missing many small parts although we do have an incredible amount of Lego pieces at home. For example, a special kind of Lego Technic gear or some pumps.
Worst, you can't buy the parts easily, since they are not for sale on the Lego website. After researching, I found out these parts are sold for schools so you may buy them at a special shop but they are only parts of sets, a few pieces here, a few parts there and they are not cheap, even by Lego standards.
I sent the book back to Amazon with the other two from the same author.

Great books to advance your LEGO building techniques :90 second video review, October 30, 2010
If you or someone you know is interested in expanding their LEGO building techniques or is seeking inspiration to build like a professional, this three book series is the answer.

I give the series of books five stars with a special commendation for the simple machines book because it covers a wide variety of advanced building techniques in an extremely simple manner.

Similar to the LEGO idea books from the 70's and 80's, these books are chock full of clever creations, but instead of specifically describing how to build things like houses, spaceships or vehicles, this series of books takes creativity to an even higher level by teaching the reader how to build foundational components that can be used to build practically anything.

Using full color photo illustrations and an intuitive icon-based index system, you can quickly find how to build mechanical walkers, automatic sliding doors, flexible vehicles, and much more. These books contain virtually no words beyond the first few pages, but this is no problem thanks to Isogawa's carefully arranged photographs that indicate where to place every piece.

Novice builders wishing to learn how to connect bricks in unique and interesting ways such as sideways, upside down or at angles will particularly enjoy the Simple Machines book, whereas Mindstorms robotics fans and LEGO Technic fans will enjoy the entire series due to the frequent use of gears and beams to achieve startling results.

Whereas the titles of these books aptly describe the bias towards technical creations, all three books should be on the shelf of every serious LEGO fan.

Be Creative with LEGO!, December 4, 2010
Most LEGO sets are purchased to build the item pictured on the front of the box, whether it's a house, a firetruck, a helicopter, or the Millenium Falcon. If one needs further inspiration for expanding one's repertoire, these books are a must. They include "Simple Machines," "Wheeled Wonders" and "Fantastic Contracptions," and can be purchased as a set as well as individually. The complexity of the models tend to increase as one works through the 3 books.

They really are idea books, rather than a list of instructions on how to build. They have no prose, but list color pictures taken from many angles to show the construction of the toy. Most of the projects are fairly simple in concept and construction, but often elucidate concepts that can be adapted to other models, and thus they encourage creativity. And for the young builder whose grasp of language and/or attention span may not be up to following a list of the 10 or 20 instructions required to build a model, the graphical approach will encourage focus and ultimately success.

If your house is like mine, you have a large box of LEGO parts from many different LEGO projects. You may not have all of the parts necessary to make these models. The publisher lists a website (referenced in the reviews for this product) that details the parts required for each model, including a reference to the merchant who can sell you the part. This is good, but it would be more helpful to have the merchant make up a set of parts that fulfill the requirements for building each model, or a set of parts for each book. Many people interested in this set of books will have interest in, or have already purchased a LEGO Mindstorms NXT set. Since the Mindstorms set already has a wide variety of parts, cross-referencing the requirements of the models in these books versus the parts content of the Mindstorms or other LEGO sets would also be of benefit. I deduct one star because of this deficiency, but the concept of an illustrated guide to the creative use of LEGO parts is a strength of the set. Highly recommended.

Fantastic, December 3, 2010
This set of books packs more ideas, techniques and solutions than any 10 other prose/project style LEGO books. The Technic system requires a totally different approach to building models than traditional LEGO bricks. One builds Technic more from the inside out than the bottom up, demanding new and different intuition about how to solve design problems. The wealth of ideas and inspiration here is fantastic. I fully expect to wear out (or enthusiastically give away) my copies and then buy more.

Excellent Lego Idea Book!!!, December 2, 2010
Now THIS is more like it!!!

I reviewed another one of Mr. Isogawa's LEGO Technic Idea Books recently and found it frustrating that there was such a lack of instruction, the problem being that the aforementioned book was too complicated for pictures alone. With 'The LEGO Technic Idea Book: Simple Machines', the pictures are enough to get the job done. Like other books in the line, this SCREAMS inspiration and in beautiful full color!!

Great for all LEGO Technics lovers, you will LOVE this book!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Not what you expect - Really bad for kids!!!, December 27, 2010
This was one of our son's worst Christmas gifts. He is 9 and LOVES legos. He can build legos designated for 12 year olds in just a couple of hours. He has gone to Lego Engineering camps and loved every project. I thought this would be perfect for my budding engineer, but even his father, who is an engineer, couldn't figure out this book.

Our biggest complaint is that there are hundreds of SIMPLE MACHINES pictured, but there is no parts list and no step by step diagrams. The "directions" are comprised of photos of the finished "machine" from a couple of different angles. The worst thing according to my son is that he has no idea what these machines are meant to do. Initially when we opened it, I thought it was showing us components to a bigger machine. Nope. A whole "machine" might be only 8 lego pieces, and have no discernible purpose.

I thought he would be taught to build pulleys or small cranes or ANYTHING that he could imagine playing with once built. Even some of the bigger "machines" gave no clue about what they were actually for.

I wish I could figure out how to post pictures of a few of the "Machines" so you could understand what I mean. If you go to "Search Inside this Book" and then "Surprise Me" you can go to pictures of the pages 89-93. This is a perfect example of what I am referring to. Each SEPARATE "MACHINE" is in a grey box. These are not separate steps to build something, these are each different "machines" and we have no idea what any of them might be built for.

nice book, December 16, 2010
This is a nice book. The photography is fantastic in showing how to build various models. I purchased it for my son. However, we did return it after looking through it. We do not have a lot of the technic bricks that were required for the models. Also, I was hoping for more of an explanation of how the gears work together, it is all pictures but really nice ones! If you have a load of technic legos this would be a great book for you. ... Read more

Editorial Review

ONCE IN NINE LIVES, SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY HAPPENS.
 
The last thing Gwen Cooper wanted was another cat. She already had two, not to mention a phenomenally underpaying job and a recently broken heart. Then Gwen’s veterinarian called with a story about a three-week-old eyeless kitten who’d been abandoned. It was love at first sight.

Everyone warned that Homer would always be an “underachiever.” But the kitten nobody believed in quickly grew into a three-pound dynamo with a giant heart who eagerly made friends with every human who crossed his path. Homer scaled seven-foot bookcases with ease, survived being trapped alone for days after 9/11 in an apartment near the World Trade Center, and even saved Gwen’s life when he chased off an intruder who broke into their home in the middle of the night. But it was Homer’s unswerving loyalty, his infinite capacity for love, and his joy in the face of all obstacles that transformed Gwen’s life. And by the time she met the man she would marry, she realized that Homer had taught her the most valuable lesson of all: Love isn’t something you see with your eyes. ... Read more

Reviews

An uplifting tale of adventure and love

Editorial Review

See inside every yoga pose! With clear, expert instruction and full-color, detailed anatomical drawings, Yoga Anatomy depicts the most common asanas to provide a deeper understanding of the structures and principles underlying each movement and of yoga itself.

From breathing to standing poses, see how each muscle is used, how slight alterations of a pose can enhance or reduce effectiveness, and how the spine, breathing, and body position are all fundamentally linked.

Whether you are just beginning your journey or have been practicing yoga for years, Yoga Anatomy will be an invaluable resource—one that allows you to see each movement in an entirely new light.

Author Leslie Kaminoff is a recognized expert and teacher in anatomy, breathing, and bodywork. He is the founder of The Breathing Project, New York City’s premiere yoga studio dedicated to the teaching of individualized, breath-centered yoga practice and therapy. ... Read more

Reviews

See "Inside" Your Yoga Poses, May 25, 2008
Yoga Anatomy is a book that gives the reader a look inside the human body as it is put in various yoga positions.

Chapter 1 covers the dynamics of breathing and actually covers some breathing physiology as well. Chapter 2 talks about the spine and gives some pretty detailed spinal information. Chapter 3 is short and covers the asanas.

The rest of the book, Chapters 4 through 9, make up the "meat" of the book and contains most of the anatomy information most readers probably bought the book for- what muscles are used in what poses. The way the book gives you the information is quite handy- it has a section on standing poses, sitting poses, kneeling poses, on-your-stomach poses, on-your-back poses, and arm supported poses. Sooo, all you have to do is pick a position/pose, and there you'll find pictures of what muscles are involved (and let me say, they show you some great angles of the poses to make sure the reader can see ALL the muscles that are involved). In addition to learing what muscles are involved, the book also tells you what joint actions are involved, as well as what body parts are working AND which ones are lengthening- neat!

A great reference book, its simply perfect for the yoga enthusiast that has become acquainted over time with muscles they never knew they had- but will now after reading this book! Also recommend The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution if plantar fasciitis pain keeps you from doing your yoga.

Extremely Detailed, August 2, 2007
"Yoga Anatomy" by Leslie Kaminoff, is a must have book for yoga instructors and practitioners. Although there are a few books on yoga anatomy currently available to choose from, I was pleasantly surprised by Kaminoff's offering. First of all, the illustrations are absolutely crystal clear (the amazing artist, Sharon Ellis, is a medical illustrator). The drawings show exactly what your muscles and bones are doing in each pose. The coolest part is that we get to see some (not all) of these poses from interesting angles - not just the side view and front view - but also from the bottom and top, which really adds a lot (the author accomplished this by shooting pictures of the models from below, using a large sheet of plexiglass suspended by two ladders!). For example, imagine seeing "Bakasana" (Crane Pose) from underneath! You can see the Serratus Anterior and Iliacus at work - two things that may be difficult to view in traditional yoga anatomy books.

For each pose featured, Kaminoff provides information on the joint actions, what parts of the body are working, what is lengthening and what obstacles you may encounter. Sanskrit and English terms are provided along with pronunciations of the Sanskrit. The author also gives a very detailed chapter on the Dynamics of Breathing as well as a chapter on the Spine. These additions are invaluable and very clear. So much information is presented, it is almost overwhelming - but unlike other anatomy books, it doesn't feel dry or boring. This would be a great manual for any yoga teacher training program as well as for anyone who would like to "see" what is happening in each asana.

The book I've been waiting for, August 22, 2007
This book is a godsend for anyone who studies or teaches yoga. It reflects so much care and work and attentiveness to detail. It really is anatomy for yogis. I've been studying yoga for close to 40 years and have been exposed to a variety of corrective allignment forms of body work. So when I'm having trouble in a posture I often refer to standard anatomy books but they can be overwhelming and aren't geared towards helping me understand what is going on in a given posture. Despite taking several anatomy classes including a wondrous anatomy dissection class, I still don't have enough knowledge to translate what I read or see in an antomy text into what I'm doing and not doing in a given yoga posture. There are books that aim to be more inclusive, like Mel Robin's book on the physiology of yoga--but I just get overwhelmed by that much information. This book helps me see the main muscles working in a given posture and the main reasons I might be having difficulty with that posture. Of course I would like even more--how can I strengthen or lengthen the muscles that I'm needing to employ in a given posture. But that is asking for too much and I think really requires work with a well trained teacher. This book is just the right size, user friendly and chocked full of information. The illustrations are remarkable, showing postures from different angles and reflecting the author's extensive study of both anatomy and yoga. I highly recommend it.

Essential reference guide, August 11, 2007
As a yoga practioner and teacher, I have always been in search for an easily understandable anatomy book on yoga-- and Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff provides that. Each asana (pose) that is explained shows the following:

- a beautiful illustration of the pose showing the muscles and bones that are used in the pose (joints and organs are shown some asanas too)
- the English and Sanskit name (along with the pronouncitation)
- Classification and Level
- Joint Actions
- Working (muscles being used)
- Lengthening (muscles being stretched)
- Obstacles and Notes (mucscles, bones or joints that may hinder the yogi to coming into the pose, and provide helpful hints to overcoming that)
- Breathing (suggestions on how to use the breath and where to direct the focus of the breath)

Leslie Kaminoff explains many of the most commonly practiced asanas--including standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone and arm support poses. There is also a chapter on the breath and another on the spine.

My complaint is that the muscles mentioned in the text weren't completely identified in the illustration. For example, if there are 40 muscles involved in the pose, only 10 or less are pointed out in the illustration. This can get slightly frustrating because unless you are an anatomist or physical therapist, I do not memorize all the muscles, bones and joints and their placements. It may be asking too much to show each and every muscle mentioned into the drawings, so I refer to another book, Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain for reference (this book provides a breakdown of body parts and the muscle groups). But nevertheless, the illustrations are invaluable in providing a deeper understanding of the pose.

Overall, this is the best anatomy book on yoga I've read so far. I have read H. David Coulter's Anatomy of Hatha Yoga, and a book as thick as the bible is sure to overwhelm. Yoga Anatomy provides a fairly easy-to-understand format, however it is not for newbies. This book is more for serious yogis and teachers who already have a basic knowledge of anatomy and would like to learn more.

After the first two chapers, it's a great resource., January 26, 2008
This was assigned to me as a required resource for Shala (Yoga Teacher Training). Having no background in anatomy, I am really struggling to tie the written descriptions in the first two chapters to the illustrations. Perhaps there is an assumption by the author and illustrator of a certain level of anatomy knowlege that this reader doesn't posses. I find that the illustrations of the thoracic cavity (lungs, central tendon, diaphram) and the spinal column (discs, tendons, vertebrae) more confusing than helpful. I needed to consult with my Shala yoga instructors and 3 different anatomy books to understand what the author was trying to teach me. Chapter two is no better. The illustrations of the spine, tendons, discs are all superbly drawn, yet don't quite sync up with the written text if you're a newcomer like myself.

After these two chapters, it's a great resource. As the other reviewers have stated, the illustrations of the muscles used during different asanas are right on and quite helpful. This is a resource I'll keep and use again. However I'd like to see the first two chapters revised so the illustrations are presented better for the novice.

Yoga Anatomy for the Rest of Us!, October 25, 2007
Rest assured, you can relax and breathe easy as you meander through the pleasant pages of this book! Other great books connect yoga and anatomy, including the highly regarded titles, Anatomy of Yoga, by H. David Coulter, and The Key Muscles of Hatha Yoga, by Ray Long. However, Yoga Anatomy is so user-friendly even those of us who drift off during yoga anatomy workshops can enjoy absorbing the wisdom in this book.

There were no anatomy books specifically designed for yoga teachers when I studied anatomy at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco in the `70s. I was already overwhelmed just learning how to place my feet in Triangle Pose and could not get my head into the daunting standard anatomical textbooks used at the time. If this book had been available, I might not have gotten a D in anatomy!

The beautiful illustrations by award-winning medical illustrator Sharon Ellis are based on photographs of various models. As others have mentioned, some perspectives illustrated are quite unusual because they were shot from underneath. The book shows a photograph of a photo shoot where the model is balanced in Crow Pose, on a long piece of plexiglass secured between two ladders. The photographer is lying on his back on the floor, shooting the pose from below.

The sight of this photo prompted me to do something I have not done in 30 years of practicing Downward-Facing Dog. I placed a sturdy mirror, one foot wide and four feet long, in the center of my yoga mat. I went into downward-facing dog in such a way that my hands and feet were pressing on the mat, and I could see the pose reflected in the mirror. I turned to the book, and there was a picture of the view I had just seen in the mirror.

I am fond of telling my students to turn the pages of yoga books sideways and upside down so that they can better see the connection between the various poses. The views shown in Yoga Anatomy make this concept crystal clear and help you see yourself and your students with X-ray eyes. Yoga Anatomy is definitely an essential resource that will illuminate your practice for years to come!

Suza Francina, author, The New Yoga for Healthy Aging, The New Yoga for People Over 50, and other books. www.suzafrancina.com

a missing link has been found, August 23, 2007
excellent book... well-organized by asana. first book i have seen that applies so clearly and crisply per pose: alignment, detailed notes on anatomy involved, joint & limb actions, muscular actions, risks, levels of difficulty, notes, sanskrit translations, and crisp drawings based upon photographs from multiple angles. primary focus approached via breath and the spine. this is a treasure trove and not a million pages either - each pose is one to three pages - digestible in mini-sittings and at a glance.

Every yogi should have one, July 9, 2007
This is a great book, thorough & easy to read, with wonderful illustrations. Leslie Kaminoff has a wealth of knowledge to offer: knowledge of the body, of the dynamics of the breath, and of the asanas. This is the kind of book that instructors & practitioners alike should own for reference. The breadth & depth of the material is amazing.

An excellent work on yoga anatomy for a very reasonable price!, December 11, 2007
Yoga anatomy is a detailed work on how the various yoga asanas impact us at an anatomical level. For a variety of standing, sitting, kneeling, supine, prone and arm support yoga poses the key anatomical structures, joint and limb actions, working and lengthening of muscles and breathing involved in the pose are described. The obstacles to getting into the poses are also described. I found this to be extremely useful. The diagrams are detailed and by looking at it one would know what muscles and joints are involved in the yoga posture. Getting into a posture is not very difficult for many; but the question is if they are doing it the right way by involving the right muscles and joints. For example the book clearly mentions that in Uttanasana (standing forward bend) hip flexion is the main joint action but if the hamstrings are tight then spine flexes to compensate for it. By being aware of this fact, one can focus on flexing the hip and correctly get into the pose without flexing the spine much. By being aware of the correct muscles groups/ joints my yoga practice has benefitted immensely. My hip has opened easing pressure on my spinal muscles and my back pain has eased considerably because of that. For some poses, the book does not pictorically depict all the muscles mentioned in the description. The book talks about latissimus dorsi lengthening in Utkatasana but the illustration does not show that. Overall, this is a great book for a very reasonable price!

Yoga Anatomy, August 28, 2007
This book is a great tool for yoga teachers and anyone wanting to further their knowledge of yoga and anatomy. The drawings are incredible. The notes accompanying the drawings are exactly what I need to deepen my understanding of yoga anatomy. The layout for each asana is clear and easy to understand with everything I would want to know about that posture. The text about the Breath in general is thorough. The text about the breath in each posture is not something I have found in other texts. What an incredible resource!! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Revised and Expanded

With the same trademark compassion and erudition he brought to The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and how it affects the human condition. In Musicophilia, he shows us a variety of what he calls “musical misalignments.” Among them: a man struck by lightning who suddenly desires to become a pianist at the age of forty-two; an entire group of children with Williams syndrome, who are hypermusical from birth; people with “amusia,” to whom a symphony sounds like the clattering of pots and pans; and a man whose memory spans only seven seconds-for everything but music.

Illuminating, inspiring, and utterly unforgettable, Musicophilia is Oliver Sacks' latest masterpiece. ... Read more

Reviews

Extraordinary!, October 26, 2007
Musicophilia is an absolutely phenomenal book, and will be of interest to anyone fascinated by music, mysteries of the mind, and the human condition. Sacks covers 29 different topics, ranging from synesthesia, to musical hallucinations, to savants, and beyond. In each chapter, he introduces the topic through cases (his own and famous ones in the literature--neurological and classic fictional literature, that is!), always maintaining a deep engagement with the humanity of the subjects: what is it like for these individuals? how do they describe their talent or illness or condition? Sacks also speculates on the possible neurological bases for these fascinating scenarios. This is a real page-turner, beautifully and clearly written, and it will give readers a new respect for the special place of music in our psychology, as well as a deeper understanding of the range of what it is to be human. 20 stars!

Music and Science were never so interesting, November 5, 2007
Dr. Oliver Sacks is a British neurologist with a love of music and science. This book blends music and science together like no book I've ever read. There are some amazing stories here. I love the story of surgeon Tony Cicoria who developed a passion for listening and playing music after he was struck by lightning. The story of British conductor Clive Wearing is amazing too. He developed amnesia after his brain became inflammed. He has the the memory and ability to conduct and sing music, but he can't remember anything else. I also loved the story the research chemist named Salimah. Her shy personality was changed after she suffered a seizure. She suddenly had the desire to listen to music all the time. I also touched by the story of Woody Geist. He suffers from Alzheimers disease, but he still performs in an a cappella singing group. Leon Fleisher is a classical piano player who performed with one hand for many years because of a condition called dystonia which affected his right hand. I learned about a genetic disorder called Williams Syndrome in this book. Kids with Williams Syndrome have difficulty paying attention, but they often possess a love for music. I was entertained and informed by this book so much.

Music and its role in our lives, October 24, 2007
It is refreshing to see how a specialist still retains the ability to be marveled by the cases he sees in his office. Too often scientists get so blas� over their practice that they miss the finer human aspects of every case. Sacks leads the reader gently by hand, even while using neurological jargon, into amazing stories of patients who live through situation we would not have imagined. And they all involve music and how humans experience it.

I believe this book is a must for musicians, who will probably acquire new understandings regarding the dimensions of their music in relation to their own brains.

Needs editing, November 25, 2008
My wife thoughtfully purchased this book for me. I had read about it and was very excited to dive right in. Unfortunately I ended up really having to convince myself to finish it, as it became redundant fairly quickly. Sacks presents (too) many case studies regarding music and the brain, but the presentation feels random and somewhat unfocused. Had his editor suggested grouping the studies by themes or urged Sacks to provide more neurological background information it perhaps would have better kept my attention. It felt as if the reader had to do a lot of work to pull together some of the concepts.

As for the perceived redundancy, I kept waiting for the conclusion or wrap-up that would provide the overarching theme to all the seemingly disconnected patient stories, but to no avail. It almost felt as if the stories were starting to repeat themselves but with different patient names. The length too felt far too long, almost as if everything presented in the first half were just recycled for the second. Additionally, the writing style is very informal and easy to digest, which is not necessarily a positive. The book begins to feel as if the author were afraid to intelligently, academically, and thoroughly dissect the subject matter for fear of alienating too many readers. The result is a glossy feeling, like you're reading the U.S.A. Today version of something that could have really offered some insightful perspectives.

Promising topic, but presented without much organization, background information, or conclusion. I'm surprised that an editor would allow such breadth to be published without any true depth.

Outstanding!, November 15, 2007
In his latest book, Oliver Sacks continues to tell us stories that draw us in, engaging our minds and emotions. In each chapter he introduces different people, some sorely affected by neurological disease, who have strange and profound relationships with music. This is not a dry scientific treatise. Sacks describes these people in a highly personal way, so that we see and feel the human aspect of science. At the same time he teaches us about the science of the brain, and the wonderful ways that music and the mind are intertwined. The subject is inherently fascinating, and the author does not disappoint. Drawing upon case histories from his own practice, and some from literature, he delves into the mysteries of the human brain, how it produces music, and how it is profoundly affected by it.

Sacks writes in a clear and straightforward manner. It is wonderful to find medical writing that is so accessible. There is some material here from his prior books, but it does not detract from this work. This is a highly engaging and informative book. I took great pleasure in reading it. If you are interested in music or science, you will enjoy this new offering from Oliver Sacks.

Wired for Music, Humanness and the Musical Language, December 15, 2007
Dr. Sacks has written about brains for decades now. He's also a decent, enthusiastic amateur musician. In Musicophilia, the good Dr. brings the brain and music together to cover what can go wrong and also oh so right when music and the brain get together.

Dr. Sacks first covers the various problems when the mind either fails to process music "normally" or attaches a variety of extra sensory reactions to music. His experience is both anecdotal and academic as he relies both on his own experiences as a neurophysiologist who has known and treated musical illnesses, and also his training as a networked professional involved in the studies of varous types of amusia and hypermusicality. I was also very interested in the positive corrolation between the higher occurrences of absolute pitch in those populations which speak tonal languages (like Mandarin).

Of special interest to me were the closing chapters on various aspects of music therapy in geriatric patients, autistics, those who suffer various types of dementia, and the very interesting introduction (for me) to those people at the opposite end from the autistics, those who have Williams' syndrome.

Some criticize the book for offering more questions than answers, but even the questions offer patterns from which the thoughtful reader can see a certain wondrous calculus emerge, a uniquely human and late-appearing link between what it means to think and how music is inextricably linked to our humanness.

Musical Intuitions Grounded in Scientific Reasoning, November 26, 2007
As a person with a neurological disability who has been helped by music, I can relate to this book personally and thouogh yes, I found it entertaining (and incredibly informative), I find it a shame when people
think of Oliver Sack's books as amusing case studies as that is not his intent and his books, "Musicophillia" included are much richer than that in thought and retrospect. Understanding the intricate working of the brain is essential for all people and as well, many of the conditions detailed in this book such as Parkinson's, stroke, Alzheimer's can often be acquired in later life so these are experiences that may and often do happen to people later on in life to people they know or who are caregivers to (as is detailed). Most importantly, though music is an essential part of human life (would this site exist without it?) and of the social experience and the perception of sound and the world outside can be more easily interpreted through a fully understanding of people's interpretation of music. These are more than interesting stories about odd people whose brain functions differently. They are (in a figurative sense)portals into the thinking of everyone with or without neurological impairments. When you hear a song and say "that brings back memories" or find a song sticking in your head or don't know why or experience a feeling of sadness without knowing why when hearing music or turn on music(or more particulary a certain song) to relax, you may be experiencing in a more real world sense what the people described in this book are experiencing and it may bring a fully understanding of the phenomenon. And most importantly, its solid, intelligent, scientifically accurate but accessible writing by a top professional and expert in the field in a way that an average reader can comprehend.

Discovering the powers of the brain, November 6, 2007
This is a wonderful book on many levels. It is extremely well written. It is fully of compelling stories. And it helps us to look inside our remarkable instrument, the brain. If you have ever whistled a tune you might have wondered what others hear when they listen to music. Some hear nothing but noise. Some hear entire symphonies. Some hear music that won't stop. And others hear a stream of original music. Some can hear melodies but not rhythm. And some can hear rhythm but not melodies. I always thought it was remarkable that I could compose and hear complete symphonies in my dreams but not when I was awake. Well, I am not alone. You too have likely experienced some intriguing musical experience. You might find some insight into that experience in this remarkable book.

Sacks Writes Another Great Book -- But ..., January 25, 2008
... I was a little disappointed. 4.5 stars

I enjoy every book by Dr. Sacks. He's always insightful, empathetic, and a brilliant storyteller. All the things you like about Dr. Sacks' writing you will find in full in this book. I really like this book. Once again, Dr. Sacks makes the stories of his patients come alive and demonstrate brilliantly the relationship between our mental states and abilities and the physiological functioning of the brain. Bravo. If you like Sacks, you will like this book (very much I would say.)

But ... my but: With a title like Musicophilia ("the love of music") I was expecting much more about WHY we humans ENJOY music so much. Why are we the musical ape? This is only touched on tangentially in this book. I felt a bit of false advertising in the title. I've read Anthony Storr's book "Music and the Mind" and "Music, The Brain, And Ecstasy: How Music Captures Our Imagination" by Robert Jourdain (both are good.) With Dr. Sacks' title (and maybe it was chosen by his publisher, this often happens) I expected something more in that vein: the enjoyment of music. (And so, I still await further explorations ...)

All in all a great book. Enjoy.

Very interesting, November 21, 2007
This book is very interesting to me, as a music teacher. I teach over 500 students twice a week and sometimes their abilities and inabilities amaze me. I do ear training for 10 and 11 year-olds and the range of ability to hear and order pitches is all over the map. Sometimes it can be improved upon (usually) and occasionally I can't get them to ever actually hear and identify pitch. While this book does not suggest fixes, I am better able to understand and sympathize with my students. I have a few exceptionally gifted students also. As I am NOT one of them, it is fun to imagine how they conceive music. Great book - thanks. ... Read more

Editorial Review

"Long live the King" hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told. ... Read more

Reviews

Uncovering the Fossil
For the legions of Stephen King fans out there (which is to say a lot), the first third of the book containing his short memoir is truly a gift. One can't help wanting to read about his/her favorite writer after being transported to fantastic worlds countless times in Mr. King's prolific career. Some fans would have paid... gladly for the first 101 pages of the memoir ("C.V." he calls it), which includes heartfelt tidbits about his brother, mother and his long battles with alcohol and drug addiction.

The second part, "On Writing," is where the aspiring novelists will find inspiration. Assuming you're a serious writer (or wanting to be a published one), you'd no doubt would have read the countless manuals on the mechanics of writing. With Mr. King, you do get short lessons in the mechanics of prose here and there. What he mostly offers to the aspiring writer is the inspiration, the cheerleading, and as some have already suggested, after reading it makes you want to sit and write something. He actually allows you into his writing routine, when and where he writes, how many months it takes to write the first draft, and even how he goes about editing the second draft.

Some very original thoughts I found quite interesting:

1. Story is a fossil you find on the ground, and you gradually dig it out slowly.

2. He doesn't plot his stories. He puts "a group of characters in some sort of predicament and then watch them try to work themselves free." In fact he even goes as far as to say, "plot is shift, and best kept under house arrest."

3. Write first draft with the "door" closed, and the second draft with it open.

There are truly gems here for writers, simple, direct, to the point. As always, he doesn't talk down to you. There is even advice on finding agents.

The final section elaborates his near-death experience in summer of 1999, when he was hit by a van driven by Bryan Smith. The book is actually a sandwich: two slices of autobigraphy with the writing advice as the meat of the book.

Though the thin volume was not your edge-of-the-seat thriller or horror, I found myself reading the darn thing in one seating. A pretty good deal for a non-fiction book. This may sound funny, too, but I felt like the book became a good friend of mine. In a word, this is book is intimate. As a fan, and perhaps a writer, that might be worth something.

For writers and readers -- get inside King's mind
The cover shows an inviting scene, a country house with a warm light glowing in the living room window, a set of double doors leading down to the cellar, the house lined with pink and white flowers. "Come on in," the picture seems to say. "I have a story to tell."

It generally takes Stephen King about three months to finish the first draft of a book. He began "On Writing" at the end of 1997, but put it aside a few months later, unsure how to finish it. Over a year later, in mid-1999, King decided to spend the summer "finishing the damn writing book."

The events of late-June, 1999 interfered with those plans. King spent three weeks in the hospital after he was struck by a van. In late July he decided it was time to start writing again, and it was "On Writing" that he chose for his return to work. The finished product, "On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft" will be released by Scribner in early October, 2000.

It was a discussion with Amy Tan while on tour with the Rock Bottom Remainders that inspired King to write this book. "No one ever asks about the language," Tan said in response to King's query about the sorts of questions that she doesn't get at author appearances. "Serious" authors get asked that but they don't ask the popular novelists who, he says "care about language in our humble way, and care passionately about the art and craft of telling stories on paper."

King opens with a lengthy memoir that "attempted to show some of the incidents and life-situations which made me into the sort of writer I turned out to be." He calls this section "C.V," as in "curriculum vitae," his list of accomplishments and job skills. Some of the story is familiar, though many of the details are new. He works his way through his stages as a writer from childhood to novice to apprentice to worldwide success.

For the first time in any detail, King addresses his battle with alcohol and drug abuse, when it started, how it evolved and how he eventually was forced to confront his problem. He reveals that he has little memory of writing "Cujo" ("I wish I could remember enjoying the good parts as I put them down on the page"), that he hadn't realized that when he was writing "The Shining" he was writing about himself, and how Annie Wilkes in "Misery" could well be seen as a symbol for coke and alcohol. "I decided I was tired of being Annie's pet writer," King says.

King is more revealing of his life in this book than ever before. He is frank in discussing the merits and deficiencies of many of his books. Of "Rose Madder" and "Insomnia" he says: "These are (much as I hate to admit it) stiff, trying-too-hard novels." He talks about how he reached a point in "The Stand" where he had to set the novel aside for several weeks until he could figure out how to go on. If he had written a couple of hundred pages less at that point he probably would have abandoned the book completely. Also described in some depth are the issues he had to deal with in writing "Carrie," "The Dead Zone" and "The Green Mile." He spends some time relating an event that inspired him to write the upcoming novel "From a Buick Eight" and the research required for the second draft that had to be deferred after his accident - a couple of weeks riding with the Pennsylvania State Police.

"But I'm not a writer," the prospective reader of "On Writing" might cry. "Why should I want to read this book?" While a substantial section of the book is about writing, King's approach to it and his advice to writers at all levels of the art, there is much here for the non-writer as well. King's success has made him a high-profile personality, more so than many other authors, and the level of public interest in his life is easily demonstrated by the overwhelming number of requests for updates on his condition received by his office and official web site in the weeks following his accident. Here is the opportunity to read King on King, and on his books. He describes the symbolism in many of his novels, rarely planted intentionally on the first draft but uncovered, as an archaeologist uncovers a ruin, during the writing of the second draft.

For writers, though, the book is chock full of advice, some of it common sense, some of it uniquely King's. His taboos of writing: adverbs (especially those in dialog attributes) and the passive voice. His description of the writer's toolbox: Common tools on the top shelf (vocabulary and grammar), elements of grammar and style on the second level, along with an understanding of the paragraph as the basic element in fiction, and a synthesis of all of these along with innate and developed skills at the bottom.

"If you want to be a writer," King says, "you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." King calls reading the creative center of a writer's life. He advocates reading in small sips as well as long drinks - in waiting rooms, in line at the theater, in the checkout line at the grocery store, on the treadmill at the gym and in the john.

When it comes to writing, though, King is more selective. "We do best in a place of our own," he advises. The most important feature of this place: a door that you can and are willing to shut. No TV, no phone and no video games. Curtains closed. Write first with the door closed. Write for yourself without worry about theme, symbolism or accuracy of details. Those are for the second draft, which is usually written with the door open, after he has sent the book to a select group of critical readers.

King includes examples of both good and bad writing, sometimes taken from his own work, sometimes taken from such writers as Elmore Leonard and John Katzenbach. The final chapter of the book is an annotated rewrite of his first draft of the opening section of "1408," one of the three stories in the recent "Blood and Smoke" audio release. This section should silence critics who suggest that King doesn't rewrite his work. It is an interesting look at the creative process and what an author should look for when editing his or her own material.

He also describes his approach to research. It's all about back story, he says. "What I'm looking for is nothing but a touch of verisimilitude, like the handful of spices you chuck into a really good spaghetti sauce to really finish her off."

Toward the end of the book, King tackles the subject of his accident. This section, called "On Living," is partly a bully platform for him to get his version of the story down, as well as his opinion about how the legal system handled the case of driver Bryan Smith. It also describes how an otherwise ideal day went wrong, the minute details of his injuries and some of the challenges of his recovery process. "Life isn't a support system for art - it's the other way around," he concludes.

Throughout the book, but especially in this chapter, King pays tribute to wife, Tabitha. She is King's "Ideal Reader," the person for whom he writes all of his books, the one who he wants to make laugh or cry through his writing. His love and admiration for her shines through, from a touching scene in their early courtship where he sits at her feet as she reads her poetry in a workshop, his hand on her calf, to her organization of a group intervention to make him confront his addiction problems, and all the way through to her support and encouragement of him during his convalescence.

At the end, King includes a list of nearly a hundred novels that he considers the best that he's read in the last three or four years. "A good many of these might show you some new ways of doing your work. Even if they don't, they're apt to entertain you," he concludes.

The same might be said of "On Writing."

Get out your notebooks, sharpen your pencils...and learn.
Though far from the definitive writer's guideline, this book shines a unique perspective on the craft. Stephen King lays down the law and then teaches it. He shares his techniques, his pet peeves, and his own personal horrific experiences - both as child and adult - and he does it all within the cerebral classroom of the printed page. He wraps a juicy filling of personal tragedy, growth and experience within a tight covering of his famous story telling style.

As a human, I was touched by his childhood anecdotes and often laughed with him about his insecurities. I am still in awe at what he has recently had to overcome physically. I mean, damn.

As a writer, I am grateful for a brief glimpse into his vocational world. I gained confidence from learning about things I have been doing right and have changed many bad habits (may the adverb rest in peace). I've read several tomes on the subject and believe his reigns as the most complete.

I've been a fan of King's since the seventh grade when I was given The Dead Zone and Cujo as an Easter present. A year later I had read every book he'd published (with the exception of the dreaded Limited Editions of which I could opine negatively for hours - suffice it to say that writing should be for everyone to read, not just the rich). I've read or listened to all his books since. I can honestly say, that this is my favorite.

Sometimes the coldest hands to wrap around your neck are the true ones.

The only bad thing I can say about this book is that it's too short, something one rarely has the opportunity to state regarding the beloved author.

A huge thank you to Mr. King for a brief indulgence into the life of a genius.

An Amazing Look Into The Mind Of An Amazing Author
Being a huge Stephen King fan I knew that I would enjoy this book. What surprised me was just how good this book was. It provides valuable insight not only into the mind of King but on the writing process itself. You will find yourself inspired to actually sit down at the computer yourself and finally put down those ideas that have been floating around in your head. However, King does make it clear that writing is a serious job and that it is not for anyone. His insight into the business side of the craft will prove to be valuable to any aspiring writer. I always enjoy the "note to the reader" section that King often includes in his novels. On Writing reads like one long "note to the reader" and is often funny and at other times quite touching. King is amazingly honest about his own troubles and faults and the section of the book detailing his accident and road to recovery are inspiring. Most of all the best thing about this book is that King's love of writing, reading and all things about books comes shining through. What an amazing man.

Climbing out of a pidgeon-hole.
First of all, I should probably mention that I had never read a Stephen King book in my entire life. I've never had much interest in horror or mystery or suspense. Naturally, I wasn't sure what to expect, and I was a little wary. Another motivation for picking up this book was the fact that I've been writing for the vast majority of my life, and I was curious to see if I was on the right track. I received 'On Writing' for Christmas and read it through a week in January.

I was absolutely stunned. Sure, I respected Mr. King as a successful novelist, and knew a little of his personal life; after this book, I felt like I'd known him personally for years. As many others have mentioned, this book is really divided into three parts: a short memoir, a manual of writing technique, and the now well-publicized accident.

The first part, "C.V.", was really glimpses into Mr. King's life, interesting little episodes that he considered life lessons or things that sparked his sense of humor. It also provides a very important part of a good writer: He grew up loving to read, and reading frequently. He also started writing and submitting his work at an early age. "C.V." paints the picture of a real-life struggling novelist: how he had to work at several different crummy (though interesting) jobs while supporting a family, a drug habit, and a hefty manuscript.

The second part was "On Writing". In this, Mr. King takes almost no credit for what he's saying. He constantly refers back to 'The Elements of Style' by Strunk & White. He also gives you, flat-out but not in a patronizing tone, what you need to succeed as a decent writer. The best way to summarize how I felt about the section as a whole is this: when he revealed that he taught high school English for several years before the success of 'Carrie', I was desperately jealous of those students. He'd teach an *awesome* class.

I was most impressed by the last section of the book, where he explores his painful memories of the accident and his slow road to recovery. It literally wrenched my heart when he talked of his wife setting up a table in the stuffy hall that he sat at to write for the first time. It was obvious that writing is more than just a business occupation--it's obvious Mr. King has a true passion for the craft.

I applaud him for it--such people come few and far between.

Read this book. You won't regret it.

A teacher who's actually done it.
I have never read Stephen King's work, but being an aspiring writer, I bought this one simply because the reviews were too good to ignore.

I'll add to this pile now.

The biographical first part is written in a smooth and flowing style that keeps you turning the pages late into the hours. It details King's journey to becoming a published author, as well as his battle with substance abuse. All the humour, heartbreak, and hardship shine through to inspire anyone who is unlucky enough to want to write.

The second part contains the truth about the craft. The work, sacrifice, and the suggestion that writing is something you just might *not* be able to do. In addition, it contains helpful sections pertaining to building good writing habits, things to avoid, exercises, etc. There are some things I don't agree with, such as avoiding adverbs if possible, but it takes nothing away. The information in this part of the book is something you'll be hard pressed to find anywhere else. To some, it'll be ugly, to those who really do want to write, it'll be comforting to know that everyone doing it is fighting the same battle.

The third part is King's view on his close brush with death and how it's affected his life.

The two "And Furthermore" sections at the end contain a fully corrected piece of fiction that is an invaluable lesson, and a recommended reading list.

If you want to be a writer, buy this book. Whether you read King's work or not.

Instant Classic
Stephen King has produced what I believe will long be considered one of the greatest instructional works on fiction writing. If you are an aspiring creative writer, there is no excuse - you need this book.

"On Writing" is divided into two sections. The first comprises a series of essays, relating everything from his childhood to the publication of Carrie. This is entertaining writing within and of itself, and really shows King's ability to engage a reader. In the second section King tells us what he's learned in a lifetime of being one of the world's top writers. This is what you're paying your money for.

Unlike the many other books of this sort I've read, "On Writing" doesn't pull any punches and isn't afraid to state it plainly. King has something that most other instructional writer's don't have - about 8 zillion sales to back up anything he writes - and therefore isn't afraid to tell us that "the road to hell is paved with adverbs" and "it's impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad one." There are several examples given of both good and bad writing, laced with King's observations on many of the authors he has read over the years.

I can't recommend "On Writing" high enough. This line alone was worth the price of the book - "...You must not come lightly to the page..." - and it's only a fraction of the wisdom you're sure to encounter. ... Read more

Editorial Review

With a surprising and fascinating new factoid on every page, this perennially bestselling calendar keeps trivia buffs entertained all year long. Sports stuff: Who are the only two baseball players to hit major league home runs both as teenagers and after they turned 40? Food stuff: The ingredients of what food product were the subject of the world's first consumer protection law?� History stuff: In what city will you find the only surviving home of founding father Benjamin Franklin? And politics-meets-entertainment stuff: Which sci-fi action movie includes a reference to an Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library? Got the answers?
... Read more

Reviews

The best calendar ever!, November 28, 2010
Do not think twice if you want to purchase this item here! This is a really fascinating calendar I have ever had. Packed with extremely interesting facts and you can learn many things! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Never before have we read such jarring headlines, distressing news analyses, or dire predictions concerning the world's financial future. The American housing market -- or, more sentimentally, the American dream -- began to collapse in 2006, taking with it large chunks of the global financial system. Millions of jobs worldwide have vanished forever. Did Bible prophecy predict this catastrophe? Are there biblical clues to how soon, if ever, a viable, long-term recovery can be sustained? Is the financial collapse just one of several signs that we are living in the final days of Earth's history In THE COMING ECONOMIC ARMAGEDDON, David Jeremiah says we can know the meaning behind what we see in the daily news -- and understand and prepare for living in the New Global Economy. ... Read more

Reviews

Completes Trilogy of Books on Recent Events, October 1, 2010
This third book in a recent series may form a trilogy of sorts. The other two recent books [What in the World is Going On? and Living with Confidence in a Chaotic World] spoke of current events and how to navigate through them as this book does. Essentially this book covers four areas: the coming New World Order, the President of the Order (AntiChrist), the coming collapse of currency and present financial system, and finally Biblical hopes to navigate through it. Not a book that pursues subjects to an extreme depth, but more a book that gives the most recent information (and some of it is very helpful and interesting) and when I finished I had a lot to think about and wanted to re-read the book. My understanding is David J. worked exceptionally long researching this book and it shows. Rarely lags. Carries some occasional familiar traditional evangelical endtime theology, but not to the point of interference, only making points. An excellent primer for those new to the subject as well as those wishing current information. David Jeremiah is never lost time when you read or listen to what he has to say.

Closer to home, October 4, 2010
Dr. Jeremiah does a fantastic job of unpacking how Bernie Madoff and other crooks like him set up the Global Economy for an armageddon. It is very sobering to realize the financial mess that we are in, and heart-breaking to realize how we got there. Wait until you learn about the 'Debt Iceberg' that has America crippled. It is unbelievable.

I know from reading the news that this stuff is too real. If there is a positive to come out of all this, I guess I am at least glad that Bible prophecy has spoken on these issues. It is comforting to know that God is ultimately in control.

Here are all the chapters in the book:
1. The Fall of the American Economy
2. The New World Order
3. The New Global Economy
4. From Crisis to Consolidation
5. Satan's CEO
6. The Mark of the Beast
7. Financial Signs of the End Times
8. The Collapse of the Global Financial Market
9. God's Ultimate New World Order
10. Keep Your Head in the Game and Your Hope in God

The Coming Economic Armageddon, October 5, 2010
Dr. Jeremiah writes from a wealth of research and Biblical knowledge. Although he presents facts not easily found in the traditional media, he does not write to scare but to inform the reader. The economic crisis in this country, in fact in this world, is frightening. It is a subject that I try to leave to those who truly understand the economy and give me tidbits of information that I can handle, or ignore. I was interested in what Dr. Jeremiah had to say because of his scholarly approach to the subject, and because without exception, every book that I have read by Dr. Jeremiah always speaks of hope, something that the economists of today don't seem to have. It is evident that there is unrest and fear in this country for many reasons, but the media would have us believe that the economy is one issue, a difficult issue, better left to the "experts", or to a two minute blurb on the evening news. I don't want to be an expert. I do want to be better informed, and I found that through reading this book, even I could understand some of the issues and know that there is a plan. More importantly, I felt that by having the information presented in this book, I now have a resource to encourage friends and family.

Incredible Resource, October 5, 2010
Dr. David Jeremiah's riveting book is an incredible resource to everyone--especially to families as we raise children during this economic crisis. His financial counsel teaches how to wisely manage our money and keep our homes in order for the difficult days ahead. Dr. Jeremiah's extensive research brings clarity to the news reports we hear/read every day, which helps us explain to our children what's happening in the world around us from a biblical perspective. He explains advanced technology that sets the stage for the One World Government predicted in the Bible so we are not caught unaware of the advancing threats to our society.

THE COMING ECONOMIC ARMAGEDDON gives crucial facts about present and future economic changes in our world that we need to understand from the Bible's perspective. Dr. Jeremiah's book powerfully reminds us that God is the only One to give shelter in this world's chaos, and He gives the biblical counsel we need to stand firm with our hope in God.

Sobering Analysis of Economic Conditions, October 4, 2010
Dr. Jeremiah is a good writer and does a great job of explaining, in sobering terms, how we ended up in the economic mess that we are in; and, more importantly, where we are going. He does so via the science/art of economics and, of course, by understanding God's infallible prophetic Word. My degree is in Business Management and I read a lot about economics (in fact, Peter Schiff's recent book entitled "Crash Proof 2.0" is a great book from a secular author that echoes much of what Jeremiah says--though I think Jeremiah's is better since it approaches the subject from a Christian worldview). I have also studied Bible prophecy for many years (and wrote a book that is becoming increasingly popular). I say that to hopefully explain that I especially enjoy the subjects of economics and Bible prophecy and, thus, can write with reasonable authority that David Jeremiah addresses both of those topics exceptionally well.

He explains how the world economy is more interrelated than ever. There is also a good presentation of how the Social Security System is, more or less, a grand "ponzi scheme" on the brink of collapse. He also explains how the economic health of a "superpower" can impact many other areas of a nation, such as it's international political and military influence. A good explanation of how debt at either an individual or national level eventually leads to serious financial problems and that pumping "fiat money" into an economy at the rate we have will lead to inflation is provided. We know that scenario (inflation, wherein it will take a day's wages just to buy food) is predicted to happen in the end times according to Revelation 6:6.

Further in the book Jeremiah turns to what he knows best: end times prophecy. As a result, the reader will find a rock solid discussion of how a "new world order" will play a role in the end times, how the Antichrist will be able to control who may buy and sell, the mark of the beast, and other important topics. Readers of his previous books, such as "What in the World is Going On?", will find a good bit of redundancy; but they will also see it being explained from a more economic angle. If you haven't read a previous book by Dr. Jeremiah, I think one could jump right into this one and not miss much and, thus, since this one is most current, I would say get this one.

In the end, Dr Jeremiah delivers a good book well worth reading and, once again, makes a valuable contribution to the idea that Christians should now, more than ever, learn as much as possible about end-times Bible prophecy given the times in which we live.


Jeffrey R. Camino, Author
Pray That You May Escape

###

Can This Really Happen To Us?, November 20, 2010
Most of us have difficulty imagining huge changes drastically altering our lives; those are what happen to someone else, not us. In this country we have been greatly blessed in that our lives have not been directly impacted by most of the major events that have changed the lives of people in other parts of the world.

As a boy I remember watching the newsreels about the Second World War and its impact on people in remote places like England, Japan, France and Germany. Although we had rationing and collected waste paper for the war effort we always had our homes, safe and secure from the ravages of war.

Dr. Jeremiah describes in this book a scenario in which that immunity from change no longer exists; people all over the world, including us, will be involved this time in events that will change the face of the globe forever. These events are too big to even imagine and are so far reaching that really nothing can be done to prevent them or even alleviate their impact on our lives.

This book is the story of the end of the world as we know it told from a Biblical, Christian perspective. As a Christian I found it both disturbing and inspiring; I long for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ and know that terrible things will have to happen first; it doesn't make the thought of those terrible things any less disturbing to know that they too will come to pass.

Because I have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, I believe I will be removed in an event called "the Rapture of the church" before the most serious events described take place. Dr. Jeremiah points out that this is the next event on God's prophetic calendar and could happen at any time. What the Lord does not tell His church is how bad it will get before the church is removed.

The Lord condemned the Pharisees for not knowing the signs of the times; this stands as a warning to us today to observe the signs of the times that are being manifested all around us. This book is an effort to describe events today and show how they fit in to the prophetic scenario described in the Bible for the end of the age.

The book points the reader to Christ as the answer. I join Dr. Jeremiah as I too believe there is no safety net that will deliver us out of the troubles that are coming; there is, however, a safety person, the Lord Jesus Christ, that can deliver believers through the events happening now and will deliver them from the judgments to come.

The book is an excellent warning that change is coming and now is the time to prepare! I recommend it to all who have a concern about what they see happening in the world today.

A Refresher for Some; a Must-Read For Others, December 1, 2010
Many prophetic scholars (including me, though I'm more of an armchair "scholar") have predicted a catastrophic financial meltdown for decades. Today, many observers inside and outside the Church are grudgingly admitting that we're not crackpots, after all. At least not for that prediction.

In fact, an astute observer who has never cracked a Bible open--but has merely made an honest effort to inform themselves despite the disinformation from government, media and popular culture--understands that the seed of economic destruction for America was planted long ago. That seed has been nurtured, sometimes by a trickle, and sometimes by great spurts. It has been slowed somewhat a couple times, but never stopped. The harvest is almost upon us.

Dr. Jeremiah, whose radio program I've partially caught from time-to-time, has written a book that repeats the warning about this pending harvest given 2,000 years ago.

The first part of the book presents samplings of evidence, from mostly secular sources, about the bitter pill we will soon be forced to swallow. His research has mined some very enlightening quotes to support his other evidence.I appreciated his courage in calling one particular skunk a skunk: Social Security has been transformed into a compulsory, government-run Ponzi Scheme. Politicians and most talking heads are far too cowardly to ever admit this out loud. But while Dr. Jeremiah explains what a Ponzi Scheme is, citing examples, the informed reader will likely come to the same conclusion about Social Security even before he ties it together in black & white. It's also refreshing that he diverges from the ubiquitous "prosperity preachers" in honestly admitting that inflation in particular, and man-made financial calamities in general, widen the chasm between rich and poor while decimating the middle class. Another nice nugget is his analysis of Joseph's management of the Egyptian economy. Some people use this story in Genesis to imply that government-controlled, centralized (socialist) economies are Biblical, effective, or resistant to disaster. David Jeremiah politely takes exception to that notion.

From there, The Coming Economic Armageddon takes us over familiar territory (for those who have read other books about prophecy). Nobody who reads Bible prophecy for themselves is likely to agree 100% with someone else's interpretations, and that was my experience here. But Dr. Jeremiah has a well-grounded education of the matter, in general, and doesn't try to expound upon aspects of end-times prophecy he doesn't yet understand. (Yes, others have, and do, including some of the "big name" prophecy teachers.) He concentrates on the financial aspect of the end times, and the thrust of this is intended as a warning for those who still fail to appreciate the magnitude of this coming disaster.

People who have never read a single verse from the Bible have heard of "the mark of the beast," and perhaps even some contextual speculation about a cashless society, bar codes, RFID chip implants, etc. But they don't appreciate how these developments were assumed 2,000+ years ago in the Bible, and like similar assumptions in Revelation and the other prophetic books, were scoffingly dismissed until the development of satellite communications, the Internet, 3G, streaming webcasts, podcasts, etc., etc., etc.

Perhaps the best treat in store for the prophetically literate is Dr. Jeremiah's chapter on the Millennium. I don't know about others, but I've never heard teaching on this subject, and never read more than perfunctory paragraphs here and there touching on it. It's a pity this period goes unnoticed by prophecy teachers. It is important, fascinating, and painfully revealing about human nature.

TCEA wraps up with a chapter about preparation for the rider of the black horse (look that one up, haha). Dr. J doesn't give investment advice, but advises practical application of the spiritual advice Jesus evidently considered more important than any earth-bound financial strategy.

For those who already have a grasp of end-time prophecy, this is like a review, with a few fresh tidbits thrown in. For those who don't, it's a must-read.

economic prophecy, October 13, 2010
Very good and comprehensive explaination of world view of United States and world economy and its relationship to biblical prophecy.

Highly Recommended, October 4, 2010
Dr. Jeremiah's most recent book is very well researched and relevant to the economic times we are living in.

Some of the questions that are answered are:
-How did we get to this place?
-Can the American economy really recover?
-Is a New World Order on the horizon?
-Are the last days of Earth's history fast approaching?
-How can we weather this storm with hope and confidence?

A FASCINATING BOOK, October 19, 2010
What a fascinating book and the information presented is up to date. I have never read any of the author's books but after reading this book, I will definitely read some of his other books. The book was easy to read and helped to explain the economic problems that we are all facing in our lives biblically. I really enjoyed the section of the book (Page 244) when he talks about comfort zones and how devastating it can be when we fall out of those zones.This is a must read to help you prepare for the future economically.(Reviewed by Eileen Melissa's mom.)
... Read more