Resources Books

A self-described "working class intellectual" with a passion for collecting jazz records and a "flunky gig" as a file clerk in a VA hospital, Harvey Pekar pioneered the literary comic genre. His long-running series American Splendor portrays not caped superheroes with bulging muscles, but the everyday life of an ordinary guy in Cleveland. Pekar's autobiographical vignettes are introspective, honest, and often funny, candidly revealing his flaws and failures as he pushes on heroically in pursuit of love, companionship, and creative fulfillment.

Pekar's realistic dialogue (the characters speak in different dialects, which helps you "hear" them in your head) accompanies a wide range of art styles by a number of comic artists, from the quirkiness of R. Crumb to the stark realism of Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm and the meticulous, photographic detail of Gerry Shamray.

For me, this book was a great introduction to an addictive series. Chock full of amusing anecdotes and musings on everything from race relations in Cleveland to the joy of a good pair of shoes, it's a slice of life in comic book form.

I've been a fan of Harvey Pekar's work for over fifteen years. The first time I ever read his self-published comix, American Splendor, I was impressed by its examination of everyday life. His self-effacing humor grows on those who want more than mainstream comics starring spandex-clad teens with superpowers. Compared with Pekar, Spidey has it easy.

I was happy when this movie tie-in release of his early collected work was published. The everyday brilliance of the real life interactions between Pekar and his friends, co-workers and loved ones merit more attention by discerning readers. It would behoove anyone who cares about the comix medium to claim a copy for their personal reading enjoyment. This volume is not for collectors, but for fans of alternative graphic literature who want more meat and potatoes rather than the visual eye candy of more mainstream publishers.

Pekar has been described as a "working class intellectual" (The Comics Journal), and this label is respectfully accurate. He comes from a generation who grew up devouring a culture that had more respect for intelligence than is common today. Instead of just mourning this trend, Pekar rebels from it in true beatnik fashion. His long-time association with R. Crumb (who drew the very first American Splendor story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story") attracted other artists within Cleveland as well as from other locations as the series has progressed.

The everyday heroism of Pekar working a civil service job in order to create his vision of the potential of graphic literature comes through in every page of this collection. I am glad that there are other collections and issues of American Splendor that are available. It would be grand if future generations of comix fans could gravitate around the work that Pekar has never tired from creating. Even at the worst of his lymphoma and chemo treatments, he has never quit observing and relating the drama of everyday life.

i own i think every american splendor collection book there is, and this one is my favorite. there's a few in particular that really blow me away (the one with pekar wondering around a park, reflecting on his past marriage, his present, and whether there is a God is spectacular). there are a wide variety of artists, from the goofy robert crumb drawings to more serious ones. there are certainly weak points IMO, but not as much as in the other collections. while "the quitter" is his most consistent i've read so far, there's no replacement for finding a really cool comic collection like this and reading through it, finding a bunch of random pekar stories and seeing which ones you enjoy best.

American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar is the largest published collection of the comic series, containing the complete text of American Splendor and More American Splendor. With an introduction by R. Crumb and art by Kevin Brown, Gregory Budgett, Sean Carroll, Sue Cavey, R. Crumb, Gary Drumm, Val Materick, and Gerry Shamray this is 320 pages of a classic American comic.

Pekar's work is a cerebral approach to the comic medium. Many of the panels have no dialog and only illustrate the external while the text reveals the thought stream of Pekar's mind. His ability to portray the inner workings of his thoughts, in a humorous and sympathetic manner, is the key to the success of his writings. The comic is a working class version of Seinfeld with a populist self-made intellectual as the leading character. Yet there is a Existentialist angst to this work that puts it in a class by itself.

This collection of Pekar writings from the 1970s and 80s was issued on the heels of the film "American Splendor," and it collects some of the best of Pekar's earlier work. Although not exclusively chronological, the presentation of the material gives a good idea of Pekar's life from his post-high school days through his meeting and marrying Joyce Brabner. (For a strictly chronological memoir, see Pekar's recent The Quitter.)

In the later Pekar work, the centerpiece of much of it is Pekar's obsessive-compulsive anxiety. But a lot of this work focuses on what might be described as Pekar's existential anxiety: his terrible loneliness, his anger and alienation, his dark reflections on the meaning of life, his desire for recognition, his regret over wasted opportunities and adolescent hubris, and his worries about future contingencies (financial security, illness and death, old age). The Pekar who comes through in these pages isn't the lovable crank of the film. Rather, the person who comes through is the outsider, a self-educated man, extremely knowledgeable in literature and music, who disdains a "normal" lifestyle and seeks freedom through nonconformity. Perhaps the finest single piece Pekar has ever written, "I'll be Forty-three on Friday (How I'm Living Now)" speaks to all this. The collection's lead story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story," in which Pekar winds up asking "Who IS Harvey Pekar?" is a perfect set-up.

Of course, there are also lighter moments in this collection. Mr. Boats (wonderfully illustrated by R. Crumb) appears here a couple of times, and he's always good for a bit of gently funny homespun wisdom. "Mrs. Roosevelt and the Young Queen of Greece" and "On the Corner: A Sequel, June 1976" are touching pieces about the bittersweetness of memory. And the penultimate story in the collection, "Common Sense," would make even a dyed-in-the-wool misanthrope love humanity.

Highly recommended.

I am a graduate student in the field of behavior analysis. I used this book as it is intended to be used from start to finish. I successfully designed an educational teaching program that taught students a lesson in geography. I was very excited about the results. The students learned the material very quickly and became extremely fluent. Even though I used the book to guide me through designing an educational program, I could certainly see how this book could be used in an organizational setting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning a technology of teaching that is extremely effective.

This book is a good example of a text that actually helps the reader get something done- namely, create and refine an instructional program for any setting or audience. Dr Bruce takes you from a blank page to a well designed, efficient training course in a step-by-step manner. What impressed me most was the skill with which Dr Bruce not only presents the critical ID concepts, but also shows in great detail how they can be applied.

Instructional Design Made Easy provides an insightful look into instructional design. After careful consideration of the material in this book, I considered using the concepts in an educational setting. A better use of this book would be in a business related setting, in which I have had some experience. The Efficient Design Checklists in each section is a great help in keeping users on track toward their objectives. I particularly like Exercise 2 which helps one to identify measureable results. The Performance Objective Template on page 53 of section 1 really helps translate ideas into action. This book is valuable to those who prefer a step by step approach, yet it is flexible enough to be useful to those who have experience in the fild of instructional design.

There isn't an easier way to learn about instructional design than by picking up a copy of Dr. Bruce's book. This book offers a step-by-step process for designing any training need whether it is business or education oriented. Each task within the design process is broken down and explained with clarity, allowing the reader to view specific examples and nonexamples for each component within this process. I have repeatedly used this book to improve the content and design of material for a distance learning course in behavior analysis. I have also used this book to design activities for business projects and education workshops. I highly recommend this book to those who are new to instructional design as well as to those who wish to improve their current practices.

This book practices what it preaches -- a rare commodity in the instructional design literature, indeed! It begins, early on, with presenting a pre-test to the reader (don't worry, you can check your answers!). Then, rather than concentrating on prose and commentary, which many instructional design books do, this book emphasizes practical exercises. You learn the "rules" of good instructional design by working through many examples, and importantly, nonexamples of design practices. While the book focuses on instructional design for computer-based instruction (the example illustrations are mainly of screen captures using the Precision Learning System), the principles you learn can be applied to any instructional system. Dr. Bruce has written an easy-to-follow, easy-to-use first-rate book on instructional design.

For several years I co-taught a series of workshops on Instructional Design with Dr. Bruce at the Association for Behavior Analysis conventions. The materials in these workshops, which were well-attended and highly rated, became some of what was used by Dr. Bruce in the development of his book. There is nothing like having a live audience to help shape development of your materials, and with this book Guy has produced a valuable tool whether you are in education, business, or otherwise interested in designing good instructional materials of your own! -- JE

Leigh Branham has done an admirable job writing a practical manual for keeping good employees. I believe any employer will find scores of proven tactics they can apply at once. As Joe Bosch of Pizza Hut says: "If a company implemented just four or five of these practices, they would be significantly better at retaining talent." Gee. Making more money because your employees are motivated. What a concept.

Doni Tamblyn is author of Laugh and Learn: 95 Ways to Use Humor for More Effective Teaching and Training and The Big Book of Humorous Training Games (Big Book of Business Games Series)

I read the book as part of an MBA mid-term project and would recommend this to any line manager or human resource practitioner who wants real, proven ideas and thoughts about attracting, retaining and developing quality employees. The book is very well structured and easy to read, yet a no-nonsense approach and in depth look at retaining valuable people.

Finally an employee retention resource from an outstanding consultant that combines practical step by step instructions with theory AND excellent examples from top companies. Keeping outstanding employees should be a top priority for every business, but unfortunately retention often runs a distant second to recruitment. Leigh Branham takes the mystery out of keeping top employees by providing business owners, managers and consultants proven retention tips. After introducing each retention practice, Leigh provides a questionnaire to evaluate your company's effectiveness. Plus the appendix is filled with surveys, checklists and evaluations you can start using today! As a consultant and coach, I am using Leigh's material with companies and individual clients and getting excellent feedback.

Keeping the best employees is a goal that is not often met in today's changing and fluid new economy. Leigh Branham introduces four key strategies designed to help an organization keep the employees it wants. These solid practices are designed to have a positive impact on an organization's best workers by increasing motivation, performance and satisfaction. These four key points are organized in parallel with an employee's life cycle in an organization:

Key #1: Be a company people want to work for.
The leadership of the organization must create an environment where three essential elements are put into place: adopt a "give and get back" philosophy, measure what counts and pay for it, inspire commitment to a clear vision and definite objectives.
Key #2: Select the right person in the first place.
Poor recruiting decisions today result in the poor performers of tomorrow. An organization must claim responsibility for recruiting to ensure it not only chooses the right candidate, but also stays connected to the external business community, and thereby having access to the full diversity of the talent pool.
Key #3: Get them off to a great start.
Knowing that between 50 and 60 percent of employees change jobs within the first seven months, it is seasoned experienced manager and leaders that focus on this critical period to the organization keeps its best employees. The keys elements during this period: communicate how their work is vital to success, get commitment to a performance agreement, and give autonomy and reward initiative.
Key #4: Coach and Reward to maintain commitment.
To sustain an employee's commitment to the organization, his relationship with his manager is a critical element. It is said that 50 percent of satisfaction at work is determined by an employee's relationship with his or her manager. Managers should: proactively manage the performance agreement, recognize results, and give employees tools to take charge of his or her career.

If at all possible, this book should be read in combination with Branham's subsequently published book, The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late, and preferably read first. That is desirable but not imperative. Either book can firmly stand on its own merits and both are "must reading" as competition for talent becomes increasingly more aggressive. That said, the subtitle of this earlier book correctly indicates what it provides: "24 ways to hang on to your most valuable talent." Branham carefully organizes his material within eleven chapters and focuses on four "Keys," providing with each several "retention practices." Too many business books are bloated with theory but wholly impoverished in terms of practicality. For that reason, I commend Branham on the fact that he devotes most of his attention to explaining HOW to establish and then increase the appeal of an organization that people want to work for, how to hire the right people in the first place, how to get new hires off to a great start, and how to use effective coaching and appropriate rewards to sustain their commitment. Well done!

This book is amazing. I have studied under and spoken with Jerry Cook on many occasions and he and his ministry and this book have changed my life and my own ministry, i highly suggest any and every Christian and or minister (as they are the same thing) purchase this book and read it, and read it again.

It brings to light everything that is simple and right about Christianity and the church, and how we as members of the body of Christ should be ministering and living our lives.

Jerry Cook puts into words my hearts cry!
He reminds me to hope and dream of what the Body of Christ could be.
I love this book so intensely it's looking rather worn.
After reading it over and over myself, I bought copies for my board and staff.
I even preached a sermon series inspired from its pages and encouraged my entire church to purchase and devour it!
If the people of God knew how to really love, accept and forgive, we would truly be Jesus with skin on.

PS...thank you Jerry Cook and Stanley C. Baldwin for letting the Holy Spirit use you to positively change THE church...

This book will ignite passion in you and equip you to do the work of the ministry. It's message expresses the heart and mind of our Heavenly Father and His desire and purposes for the church in the earth today. The church should be an active force in the world providing a place for the borken hearted to be healed and the captives to be set free.

I became familiar with this book back in the late 70's. This book has much to say to Christians who want to be actively and accurately involve in their Church and their faith. Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness lives up to its sub-title very well: Equipping the church to be truly Christian in a non-Christian world.

I sat down with this book and did not get up till I finished it. That is not amazing due to the few pages there are. The amazing part is how my faith, my worldview and my Chrisitanity was so radically changed by such a small book.

The Bible is the original text while this book if the Cliff Notes in applying the real Christianity.

I now see Jesus in the eyes of the homeless; the prisoner; the "pain in the neck" people and therefore my christian expression has changed.

Do Not read this book if you do not want to change your actions toward people.

First let me say that this book is very well written and easy to understand. It gives the reader wonderful info on MP3's and other music file formats as well as the comparsion from the standard CD format vs. MP3 format. Before reading this book, I had well above average knowledge of the various types of music files, playlist, jukeboxes, and MP3 and WMA and other music file formats. However, it did fill in some gaps that I had overlooked and I learned even more after reading the book. This is a very good reference book for the beginner. However, since it was written several years ago, it only touches on WMA's. Not that this book was written with more info on MP3 formats. Today we have in many Internet online stores the WMA/DRM (protected music). These types of music files need a newer MP3/WMA/DRM player that will handle the WMA/DRM music file format downloads, which many online music stores have. This is a great book, however, a bit historic. The MP3 players as described in this book (available at that time) came with only 64 meg flash drives and 64 meg flash cards. Now the norm is at least a 1 GIG flash player, and many MP3 players today have huge hard drives. However, this book still has good overall BASIC information. I highly recommend this book to a beginner just learning about MP3 music.

MP3's have become one of the hottest new things on the 'Net, to the delight of music lovers everywhere and most likely to the chagrin of the music industry. This book covers a wide variety of topics regarding MP3's, starting off with a brief description of how mp3's came to be, where to find and download mp3's, Internet radio stations, etc. The chapter on digital music and copyright law also contains useful information on just what it and is not legal with regards to having and/or downloading mp3's.

It also tells you what software and hardware is the best for playing mp3's and "ripping" your own mp3's. The descriptions of the software and hardware you can use are quite good. Next are three chapters describing in detail digital audio, along with MPEG audio. Then comes the section any mp3 "ripper" will be most interested in, ie converting music into mp3 form, by first converting it into a .wav format, then into mp3 and finally recording your own CD's.

The book's final chapters are a 'tutorial" on various mp3 software ripper programs like Audio Catalyst and Cool Edit. There's also some info about using WinAmp, which is one of the more popular mp3 players (and the one I use). There's also further information about related web sites, other books, even a glossary.

The future still looks bright for mp3. Not only is it a way for music lovers to download their favorite songs, it also is a way for new artists to "break through" by offering their music on various web sites in the form of mp3s.

This book offers quite a bit of good information about the MP3 phenemenon.

This is an outstanding book on Internet and personal computer audio with emphasis on the MP3 audio-encoding format. It covers the whole range of online audio from the Internet or CDs as well as streaming audio.

Starting with an overview of digital music and the Internet, the book explains why there's so much excitement over MP3 and online audio, discusses how to find music on the web, and reviews Internet Radio. The authors include the best discussion of digital music and copyright law I've seen anywhere.

The chapters on how to prepare your computer for digital audio discuss everything from what software is needed to what to watch for in selecting the best computer hardware, from CD drives, speakers, sound cards, and the cables that connect these things together or with your home entertainment system.

The portion of the book on understanding digital audio contains one of the best overall discussions of how sound and digital audio technology works anywhere. Especially valuable is the discussion of the tradeoffs involved in different selections of parameters in digital audio, such as bit-rates and sampling rates.

The book wraps-up with several excellent tutorials for basic computer tasks used for digital audio. In addition, there are tutorials for common tasks using several popular computer audio software programs.

Bruce Fries is a technology consultant & writer and an Associate member of the Audio Engineering Society. He also is the founder of TeamCom, a new media publishing company. Marty Fries is an audio engineer, technology consultant, and blues pianist. His audio engineering work includes designing and building studio sound equipment systems.

This is the best-written and edited book I've read on Internet audio and streaming audio to date. It's easy to read and explains complicated terms and concepts in terms anyone who can use a computer can understand.

Throughout the book are excellent links to additional resources, as well as an extensive index of websites on the topic of Internet audio. While the focus is on MP3 and audio files (vice streaming audio), much of the information applies to Internet radio as well.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in working with MP3 audio files, whether beginner or experienced "ripper." I also highly recommend it for anyone who is interested in how to improve the recording, playing, or streaming of audio files from their computer. Finally, I recommend this book for anyone concerned about what is and what isn't legal in working with digital audio files.

Review by Mike Powers, Internet Radio Guide, October 1999

I'm the author of the MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook and I've just finished a new book, Digital Audio Essentials, that has approximately twice as much information plus detailed chapters on editing audio, digitizing vintage records, and setting up an Internet radio station. It covers both Macs and PCs and has instructions for using iTunes, Musicmatch Jukebox, Media Jukebox, Sound Forge, and Peak.

... This book by Bruce and Marty Fries covers THE FOREST and THE TREES - concerning all things about MP3 music technology - equally well! In other words, you will no longer be lost in THE FOREST about all things MP3 because of THE TREES! The authors cover the OVERVIEW (The Forest) of all things MP3 just as well as they cover all the minor DETAILS (The Trees). ... The authors make EXCELLENT teachers: they KNOW their subject well, and they know how to PRESENT it to you so that you NEVER get lost or feel left behind! The book is VERY well ORGANIZED. It is layed-out logically and flows from one chapter to the next in a natural and easy-to-follow way. Reading this book is NOT HARD, and because it is so easy to understand, you will learn faster!

... I can't say that I knew NOTHING about MP3 music and technology BEFORE I read this book, but after having read it I feel like I REALLY understand everything I need to know to make the right choices about how to record, play, and listen to music in the MP3 format. Most importantly, the authors do not only tell you ABOUT MP3 technology, they tell you HOW to use it, DO things with it, and WHERE to go on the world wide web to get more INFO on whatever you might be interested in concerning all things MP3. The book is packed to the gills on almost every page - cover-to-cover - with web site URL addresses where the reader can further their search for information about MP3 technology!

... The book is VERY thorough and detailed, with an easy-to-follow lay-out, easy-to-read text and design, and very helpful photographs and illustrations that make it almost impossible to NOT "get it"! After reading this book, if you don't know just about EVERYTHING concerning MP3, you just were not paying attention - because the authors have left NO STONE UNTURNED! ... The only regret I had was that they wrote the book (as they themselves confessed up-front!) for the IBM-compatible, PC crowd - and I am driving an APPLE iMac computer!!! ... I recently wrote to the authors about this, and they said that they are working right now on a revised edition that will have more information in the HOW TO SECTIONS for people using APPLE computers. This will be a welcome relief!

... Even so, there is a lot of helpful mention of places and products that concern the MAC CROWD (of which I'm one! : ), and they DO agree that the SOUNDJAM MP software by Cassidy & Greene "is one of the best for the Mac." (page 69). So, even if you're a Mac-man like me, you really can't go wrong reading this book because it covers all the bases. It's MORE than just an introduction. It's a great REFERENCE book to keep by your computer at all times - whether you're a consumer interested in LISTENING to MP3s or a musician who is interested in CREATING MP3s in order to upload onto musical web sites, over the Internet, on the world wide web so that ANYONE in the world can listen to and/or purchase one's music! ... My hat is off to the authors for a job well done! ALSO: this book is FUN to read! ..

It is a very useful reference book for anyone interested in power generation. It contains general mechanical and electrical theory, design approach, operation and maintenance concepts. It has practical value as it contains broad information about steam turbines, gas turbines and auxiliaries. It is a very valuable desk reference.

I think this is a great reference book. The book is very easy to read, and to understand. I have found the book's content to be highly relevant to the field and could be used every day for anyone interested (or working) in power generation.

Power Generation Handbook is very comprehensive, covering all aspects of steam and gas turbines and generators, combined cycles and many other topics. This is a very valuable desk reference.

P. Kiameh's "Power Generation Handbook" has been an invaluable addition to the materials I need to sucessfully execute my job. I work in the electrical power industry and Mr. Kiameh's simple and practical approach has provided that extra assistance that allows for easy solution to our every day problems. More importantly, Mr. Kiameh has managed to complile useful and important principles relating to the Power industry in one handbook. I highly recommend this book for technical personnel involved in the Power Generation Industry.

This is an excellent, practical handbook on power generation. It contains clear descriptions of how power generation components are constructed, how they work and how to maintain them. Points in the text are illustrated through numerous detailed photographs, drawings and graphs. Topics include steam turbines, governing systems, valves, lubrication systems, gas turbines, bearings, seals, combined cycles, cogeneration, electrical components, etc.

I have attended two courses taught by Philip Kiameh at the University of Toronto's Professional Development Centre, one on power generation equipment and the other on mechanical equipment. Philip was an excellent teacher and his text books are similarly excellent and I highly recommend them. This text book is a valuable reference to the power generation course material.

After reviewing several books on Strategic Execution, I was continuously left with the feeling that the authors had ommitted a key ingredient. This book has convinced me that that key ingredient was "Alignment".
This book was published 10 years ago (OK, I am embarrassed that I have only just got around to reading it) but it is as significant today as it was when it was first published. Probably more so considering the rapid state of change that most companies are faced with today.
It is a simple read, and the concepts are easy to follow. What I enjoyed most about the book is that the suggestions are practical and you can take them and implement them immediately within an organization.
I noticed that one of the readers who has reviewed the book said that the book was required reading for his MBA course. 10 years on, I still think it should be required reading for any business executive.

I'm always looking for visual ways of understanding critical elements of strategy. The Power of Alignment offers a very helpful way of thinking about four important ingredients in keeping the main thing, the main thing. Vertical alignment, the relationship between your strategy and the people on your team, "energizes...provides direction, and offers opportunity for involvement." Horizontal alignment refers to the connection between your processes and customers. Taken together the two measures provide some great insight into the development of genuine alignment.

One of the most interesting elements of the book is a 16 question diagnostic tool that is designed to provide a graphic view of your organization's alignment. Very helpful!

Great book! The basic premise is that once a business has a raison d'etre, or a 'main thing', that profits are maximized by the alignment of four key business areas: Strategy, Processes, People, and Customers. Built on this premise are actionalbe ways to build a self-aligning organization. I got the sense of discovering truth while I read this book. Leadership isn't really about power, it is about responsibility. This book shows a manager at any level how to align his area to the overall strategy of the company and to the end products of the company. It shows how processes should be designed and what factors should be used to reward, recognize and evaluate employees. Great food for thought and realistic to implement.

Five Stars

Quite simply, this book was one of the best business management and leadership books I have ever read. It was well-written and expertly balanced management and leadership concepts with real-world examples of effectively aligned organizations, such as Federal Express and Southwest Airlines. This book should be read and discussed by leaders and managers at all levels, especially by mid- to senior-level executives.

In brief, alignment deals with the relationships among the people, processes, strategy, and customers of an organization relative to that organization's purpose, or what the authors called "the main thing." Alignment is both a noun, a state of being, and a verb, a set of actions. Vertical alignment connects organizational strategy with the people responsible for transforming that strategy into meaningful work. Horizontal alignment deals with understanding your customers' wants and then creating processes to deliver what your customers want, when and how they want it. Effective leadership nurtures the organizational culture that is built around and upon "the main thing," and it is this culture and leadership combination that drives and sustains self-aligning organizations in turbulent times.

The authors' analogy of landing a plane helped me to visualize the dynamics involved with organizational alignment. To land a plane, a pilot must adjust and react to multiple simultaneous factors and conditions (i.e. air speed, altitude, angle of approach, wind speed and direction, etc.) and then understand how a change in one will affect the others. Likewise, to align an organization, a leader must adjust and react to feedback about his people, processes, strategy, and customers, and then understand how a change in one will affect the others.

The authors clearly and thoroughly explained the alignment factors and conditions throughout the book. They followed their explanations with incisive questions for readers to ask about themselves and their organizations to assess their degree of alignment. Those questions were definitely a highlight of the book for they really helped to stimulate my thinking and should help inspire organizational progress to alignment. Another highlight was the appendices that contained examples of actual tools and products used and created by some of the aligned organizations studied by the authors.

The inside back cover jacket sums up why I give the book my highest recommendation: "Essential reading for all managers and executives, "The Power of Alignment" offers a new way to reestablish focus and sustained energy, and is a dynamic approach for staying balanced and achieving extraordinary levels of performance."

I found this book easy reading, concise, and presented it's basic premise well with specific examples and good suggestions for creation and implementation.

Working as a Director in Managed Care for several pharmaceutical companies, it creates a focus for any organization and a roadmap for the future(physician, health plan, pharmaceutical company) to avoid many of the mistakes and pitfalls that have already been experienced in an attempt to align with the ever changing healthcare landscape.

For those who do account management, it provides a construct and roadmap to use to optimize alignment with internal customers and maximize resources to create value and return with the external customers (....and their customers.) As the authors point, alignment is a continuing process, not a single event in time. Many companies become quickly aligned with the past, and misaligned with the present & future, and can not sustain the competitive edge because they forget this basic premise that the authors reinforce.

The concepts are basic and fundamental, but usually overlooked and forgotten in the day to day business of rapidly growing companies and changing environments.

This book does a great job capturing how depression really does feel and effect a family. I've gone through depression myself, and I've never been able to find the words to express how it feels or how it effects anyone, but the author seems to be able to do a good job of doing so. I don't think you can ever know how it feels or what it's like until you go through it yourself, but if you read this book, you can possibly start to see it through a sufferer's eyes.

Thank you so much for sending me the book you wrote about your family's journey through depression. It was a wonderful book, and one that I believe can help many. I think it gives parents a real tool for understanding and moving through a child's experience with depression.

I believe that your son Tom does give one of the best descriptions of depression I have ever heard - 'It is like being beaten from the inside'. Your additional description of that does it justice: `Take a moment and let that sink in. Recall a picture you've seen of a person who has been severely beaten. Sometimes the bruising and swelling are so bad that the victim's features are grotesquely contorted. The bruises, cuts, and scrapes on the outside scream the agony the beaten soul must suffer from deep within. Every bone in their body aches, every muscle throbs. Maybe it even hurts to be touched.'

That is how it is. The pain of depression hurts so bad, so much on the inside, you become numb and the person you are becomes distorted. And then you do whatever they can to actually feel something to get rid of it (including drinking, self-mutilation, drugs, eating disorders, sex, and more). It gives a temporary high to an endless despair.

I encourage parents to read this book, as not only do you provide insight and ideas on how to work with children that are dealing with depression, it gives validation.

I commend you on providing a very useful tool that can help so many.

In A Relentless Hope: Surviving the Storm of Teen Depression, Gary Nelson offers to teens and their parents what he has learned from walking closely with his son through prolonged depression, and from counseling many struggling teens and their families. His book testifies that God is at work in our world, offering hope and new possibilities that can transcend even life-threatening mental illness. One of this book's strengths is its warm and empathetic approach to suffering teens and their parents. Recognizing how much stress the illness of one of its members places on the whole family, he cautions parents against turning frustration with the illness into anger toward the teen. He encourages parents above all to "just keep loving them."

Nelson's accessible theological reflection is another of the book's strong contributions. He argues that teens need both "a theology that works in the midst of the suffering" and "the opportunity for God to be present through our patient presence."

I wish that as a teen with depression I had had someone like Gary Nelson to lean on and offer hope, to help me understand what was happening to me and encourage me to extend myself some grace. I especially commend A Relentless Hope to parents and other adults who love someone with depression. While some teens may find the hope Nelson writes about through reading his book themselves, most teens with depression will benefit from companions who embody the acceptance and encouragement that Nelson fosters.

Teenagers are teenagers, aren't they? They are moody. They are always tired. They transform from happy well adjusted young adults to angry and lippy menaces in two seconds.

Not so, says the author of A Relentless Hope. He's seen a good number of these stereotypical teens in the families that he councils. He's also experienced it first hand with his own son.

To the outside world, the author's son Tom was the kid everyone wanted to have. He was a good student, an athlete, popular, polite, and just an all round nice guy. No one knew that Tom had to fight each morning to just get out of bed. That is, until his grades started slipping and his school absences began to outnumber his attendance days.

The culprit was clinical depression. Unfortunately, it's something that is all too common with teenagers. The really scary part is that what most of us take for granted as "just being a teenager" is actually the manifestation of this disease. So instead of getting the help they need, many teens turn to alcohol and drugs to self medicate.

A Relentless Hope: Surviving the
storm of teen depression
By Gary E. Nelson
A Review by Pat Sullivan, Editor Healing Magazine, www.kidspeace.org.

Gary Nelson chronicles his son's fight against depression and how they joined together as a family to bring Tom back. Gary is a minister turned pastoral counselor who provides interfaith counseling youth with problems very much like his son's, which makes he situation even more poignant as one reads about Tom's slide downward into a depression that nearly took the young man's life.

Gary wrote this wonderful little book for teens, parents, teachers, counselors and pastors in hopes of teaching them the signs and how to help them bring other youth from the brink of deep, deep depression.

Tom had been a normal kid who played baseball very well and had many friends. Around the time he entered high school, he started pulling away from the friends and activities he had previously loved and began feeling "sick" and unable to attend school. He spent more and more time in his room and literally days in bed, and he would have fits of rage during which he would throw things into his walls and ceiling, one day almost shattering his bedroom door. He left the baseball team in anger over criticism by the coach and withdrew from all of his friends. Eventually he came to realize that something was wrong, but he had no control over it. He described it to his parents as "feeling like he was being beaten
from the inside." His sleep patterns changed, he was irritable and angry a lot of the time and was unable to focus on schoolwork, sports or relationships with his friends and families. It was perhaps harder for Gary to watch considering that he was a counselor himself yet unable to reach his own son. Gary also became very concerned that Tom may turn to suicide to stop the pain he was experiencing.

He makes the point that parents need to work "with" their depressed children rather than trying to "fight it" with anger and recriminations. Gary strongly suggests asking your children if you can help them develop a plan for getting through it but not trying to pressure them into feeling better because they have no control over it and feel like greater failures if they cannot meet parent expectations. He also suggests trying to get them into counseling but make sure that you find someone to whom your child can relate and talk. In some cases, medication can help, but that is a big decision that must be made on an individual basis.

Gary and his wife were willing to try some creative and even risky ways of
helping Tom fight his depression and accompanying anxiety, allowing him
to start working at a young age and getting his GED rather than finishing a high school he just could not make himself attend. They bought him a car and encouraged his interest in music, even heavy metal if it made him feel that someone understood his pain.

There are so many strong and hopeful messages in this book to help families get through a child's depression in tact, still spending quality time with other children and not allowing this illness ruin a marriage. Tom is married and doing very well as an adult now, and Gary even describes the wedding that was moved at the last minute due to hurricanes. This wonderful little book speaks of faith and love and hope and a family's decisions to fight to help their child no matter what it took.
It is an inspiration and well worth reading if you have any contact youth who are debilitated by depression.
Copyright 2008 KidsPeace. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

This is the best book I have ever read on life and survival in human systems. I have been working with Barry's material for ten years and it has become the way I see the world. Seeing Systems captures the essence of his work in comprehensive, understandable and often humourous way.

This book provides an elegant framework for understanding our behavior in human systems. It is accessible and powerful.

A first rate professional book. It deals with complex issues in a clear, intelligent and original way. The book offers a lot of added value to both consultants and managers. I find myself leafing through it many times, never failing to find new insights. The book contains both a thorough theoretical analysis and practical tools and concrete tips for dealing with tough issues that impact organizations, such as power, accountability and the "positional trap" . The book is full of inpiring insights on the possibilities of making organizations more robust through empowering people. After reading the book, we cannot help it but seing systems in a new and refreshing way.

Seeing Systems is a brilliant book; Dr. Oshry has here succeeded in
relating a set of practicable principles in a highly readable and
entertaining fashion. The particular charm of Seeing Systems -- what
distinguishes it from other books of its type -- is in its pedagogical
style; it is designed not only to describe, but to teach the theories
which are there presented for inspection. The teaching itself is
twofold; the first part (which Dr. Cummings seems to think should be
the only part) consists in explaining an abstract theoretical model
for systems thinking. The second part is phenomenological, in that it
seeks to help the reader identify and sympathize with a range of
experiences that occur in system life. To this end, Dr. Oshry employs
evocative description and sympathetic re-enactment to great effect.
The result is that the contents of the book are easiest to remember
when that of other books are easiest to forget -- that is, when one is
caught up in a whirlwind of intense experiences.

The phenomenological part of the book manifests itself in the
distinctive manner of phenomenology; as winding and discursive. There
is no remedy for it, other than to stop doing phenomenology. If it
were not phenomenological, Seeing Systems would be as Dr. Cummings has
described it -- a mere shadow of "Systems Thinking: managing chaos and
complexity". Its prosody would be direct, as direct as it was dull;
its illustrations quite businesslike, and forgettable. It would never
be lightened with something so childish and so right as a mob of black
dots at a committee meeting. It would be a primly respectable little
book, fit to grace an executive desktop and be charming until opened.
And I for one should not read it.

Thankfully, Seeing Systems is not such a shadow. It deigns to stay
charming even after it is opened. It is not like other books in the
same field; but those books have been written already, and by other
authors. It is a book unto itself, and is all the better for it.

I read this book about 6 years a go as a part of my graduate program on organizational learning. My reaction at that time was, "Wow! I feel as if I was blind and Now I See!." It was like I gained a secret lens through which the organizational behaviors were making more sense to me. I felt so enthralled with the book, I called the number on the back of the book to inquire how I could explore, experience and learn the Seeing Systems concepts further. I have not done that before or since. 6 years later, I still feel Barry Oshry's teachings are one of real gems in understanding organizations and their behavior mysteries. I have integrated these concepts into my own ways of thinking and being and use them to generate partnerships for impact. I most highly recommend this book to anyone who works with organizations including executives, organizational developers and change agents.

Finally a book that incorporates two powerful concepts: scorecards and six sigma. I have worked on various projects with the aim to achieve operational efficiency and at the same time I have been part of various meetings and discussions to find best ways to "empower" the staff to help them understand, align and achieve corporate goals. Both these efforts have largely been fragmented. The measurement tools to achieve both these goals have, at best, been mediocre. This book provides a comprehensive, more robust and practical approach to bringing the two concepts together.

This book gives a pragmatic approach to not just evaluating performance but also provides easy-to-use tools that help predict performance and profitability. This book provides a much needed scorecard methodology for the 'new' globalized world. A must-read for any business leader.

Praveen, I just have to buy you a cup of coffee or a drink one day. I am just finishing your book, "Six Sigma Business Scorecard " and have to say that I haven't been this riveted to a business book since "The Goal". Books like this for me have been far and few between.

I am writing to congratulate you for your outstanding work on the book you have written about the Six Sigma Business Scorecard. I have spent the past week reading it, and I've realized what a fantastic tool it is.

I am a Six Sigma Intern, and I work at Recofarma, a Concentrate Plant of the Coca Cola Company, located in Manaus, Amazonas - Brazil. I was trying to create a Massive Communication Plan for Six Sigma within the company and one of my ideas was to create a Scorecard for Six Sigma, then I looked for related material at Amazon.com and your book appeared on the top of the list. It surely was a great investment.

Finally, a pragmatic approach to developing a Business Scorecard that captures the profitability proposition through periodic measurement of critical performance. The critical thinking used to construct and evaluate each element of the hierachical measurement structure provides a keen insight into the contribution value of each functional area of the business. The concise step-by-step approach in building the overal Business Performance Index provides the guidance necessary for immediate implementation by small or large enterprizes.

I have read a few hundred "non-fictional" books over the years for my MBA, for quality, etc, but I have to tell you that this book about the use of balanced scorecards is the best business related book that I have ever read, and I feel that every CEO should completely absorb it to utilize its "pertinent" applications that are applicable to their business processes, thus institutionalizing the process metrics' continual improvement concepts of ISO/TS 16949:2002 and ISO 9001 in all types of firms, including those that are not automotive suppliers!- Bill Cooper, Global Quality Systems Senior Manager, Lear Corporation