P Books

This book, written by a credible physician who has done some serious research on this topic, and not written by another dime-a-dozen quack claiming to expose the insider secrets of modern medicine, provides remarkable insight into the logic behind cancer screening, and into a lot of the predicaments that medicine, science, and almost any field of scientific inquiry face.

If you find a cancer, and treat it (ie, surgically remove it) then you've "cured" the patient of cancer. But cancer is a judgement call by a pathologist looking at random slides under a microscope. Thus, since the cancer was removed, the patient "cured", we never would have known what the removed "cancer" would have done if it was never actually discovered, but it instead it lands into the success column in the statistics on the war against cancer. The treatment effectively decided the diagnosis, and since the mass is now gone, that diagnosis can never be second-guessed.

It's a remarkable dilemma that I've observed in various other realms of medicine. I've seen an ICU patient treated with narcotics for pain develop delirium and borderline hypotension. One doctor may treat him conservatively and expectantly. Another can treat aggressively, possibly intubate the patient if the mental status was particularly poor, and start the patient on antibiotics for suspected sepsis. Both physicians acted on reasonable clinical judgement, though in the second scenario the process of escalating treatment would have likely confirmed the diagnosis (or pseudodiagnosis, as Dr. Welch would say) in the clinicians' eyes--the patient was septic, he was intubated, was placed on pressors, and responded to antibiotics (or the narcotic effect simply wore off). The diagnosis would never be second-guessed, because the patient "responded" to the intervention. In the end, everyone thinks the doctor is doing wonderful life-saving work, but the reality he is fooling everyone including himself.

On the flip side, it may seem irresponsible to not excise the breast mass, or not aggressively treat the patient with suspected sepsis, but in doing so, all doubt is (inappropriately) removed. Dr. Welch provides very convincing data that it may be better leave certain things in the dark (like prostate cancer, for example).

Dr. Welch provides humorous and touching stories from his own patients that serve as very real anecdotes of the data he convincingly describes. The book is remarkable well written. I would recommend it to all my patients and colleague physicians as well.

This book is truly an eye opener. Millions of people are being screened for cancer every year, but is it really necessary? Is it really making a difference? Are people harmed by these tests in anyway?

Dr. Welch explains brilliantly, in my opinion, what these cancer screenings really mean. He argues that we are taking healthy symptom-free individuals and looking for cancer.

What most people do not know and I did not before reading his book is that:

1-There is no evidence that these screenings have actually saved lives. In fact despite increased detection of early stages of prostate cancer and breast cancer, the death rate for prostate cancer has stayed the same and the rate of late stage breast cancer has increased over a 25 year period.

2-Autopsies of people who have NOT died from cancer have shown cancer in the lungs, thyroid, kidney, etc. This means millions of people are living with cancer and die of other causes and not even know they had cancer.

3-If the screening finds cancer, it does not necessarily mean that it is the type that will grow rapidly.
a-It could regress on its own as our immune system eliminated abnormal cells, including cancers regularly.
b-It may stay the same for many years and never cause a problem
c-It may grow so slowly that cause no health problems and the person dies of something else before it does

4-Studies conducted by John Hopkins, Harvard, and others have shown that different pathologist give different diagnosis for the same tissues. They may look at the same tissue and some think it is cancer while others think it is not. Especially when it comes to the a few abnormal tissues found from screening a healthy individual.

5-Also between screenings it is possible to develop a fast growing cancer. So how often do we need to do mammograms and colonoscopies?

6-The statistics, such as the five year survival rate, are not always reliable and maybe calculated in a misleading manner.

So you have a mammogram, PSA test, colonoscopy, fecal occult test, etc done. This is what may happen:

1-You end up with a false positive, depending on the test, 10 percent false positive is the average.
2-You get the cancer scare unnecessarily.
3-This can begin a cycle of retesting, biopsies and other tests. Some can be very unpleasant and have side effects.
4-If they find an abnormal tissue, what does it mean it mean? May the pathologist made a mistake; maybe it has been there for many years; maybe it is a slow growing one; maybe it will go away on its own; maybe it is a fast growing one! Of course, your doctor can't take a chance with your health, and also does not want to get sued for malpractice, so most likely she recommends the most safest (which could be the most aggressive) course of action!

Here you were living a relatively healthy symptom-free life and now you are told you need surgery, radiation, and/or chemotherapy.

BUT once you or I know about they have found cancer, it is hard to know what to do, not to speak of the emotional toll. That's why Dr. Welch believes sometimes it is better not to know. However, as Dr. Welch cautions: If you have any unusual symptoms and your doctor recommends screening for cancer, make sure you are screened.

After reading the book I decided I do not need any screening. As long as I am symptom free and healthy, why put myself through tests that may or may not extend or save my life. I think as long as we don't do anything to harm our immune system, such as smoking, and do the things that enhance the immune system, such as exercise, there is no need to become a patient.

We all need to make the decision for cancer screening based on our priorities, family history of cancer, and other factors. Perhaps a good course of action is to read the book and consult your doctor for best options.

Thank you Dr.Welch for an excellent expose: Well researched and well written.

This is a great little book. In a little over 200 pages Welch reviews the science and data about cancer screening and concludes that it is not worth doing it. Cancer after cancer (prostate, skin, breast...) he shows that screening has very little benefit if at all in terms of life expectancy (I recently saw a scientific article defending mammography on the basis that it added 3 days of life to women having one regularly...) .
The main justification for cancer screening is the belief that a cancer caught early is not lethal. The problem is that a lethal cancer is in general not caught early. A lethal cancer is usually very aggressive and by screening time it has already spread (unless as Welch points out you are willing to be screened every other day...).
What screening is very good at is catch cancers (and Welch explains that the definition of cancer is not clear cut) that are growing slowly if at all and will probably never kill you... Have you noticed the epidemic of breast cancers or is it just me?
The only thing missing from the book is the broader implication of generalizing cancer screening. By devoting so much money to an irrational health policy the general population is deprived of many services that could really impact its health and improve the sorry health statistics of the United States.

Before reading this book, it had never occured to me that there were pros and cons re cancer testing. Welch has excellent credentials.He is on the staff of Dartmouth Medical College and writes articles for JAMA. In this book (which was also favorably reviewed in JAMA) Welch succinctly explains the perils of cancer testing in asymptomatic patients. He provides ample numerical data to support his contentions.The book is short and interesting and easy to read.

If I could give this book 10 stars, I would. This is possibly the most valuable book you will ever read regarding your health. Dr. Welch has impeccable bona fides, and his arguments are well-reasoned and well documented. He is a wonderful writer who makes sense of complicated, nuanced statistical analysis for the rest of us.

Of particular importance to this 53 year old woman is his detailed analysis of mammography and breast cancer. He completely debunks the hysterical coercion of women to have this test, and points out why declining to have one is a completely reasonable decision. This is of particular importance now in light of Elizabeth Edwards doing public penance for "letting down" the country and her family by skipping a mammogram! Elizabeth, honey, read this book! It is doubtful that mammography would have made any difference in your outcome.

Welch's dicsussion of DCIS, which is probably the most horribly overtreated fake "disease" in the history of modern medicine should be required reading for every woman over the age of 20.
Just buy it - I plan to give a copy to every person I love. It's that good.

I bought this book and The Smoothies Bible. The Smoothies Bible, I don't really recommend because it was too redundant and the recipes were too similar. This book is the best book if you want smoothies like you get at juice bars.

I purchased this book based on what I saw at Amazon.com. The book delivers what is promised. I really liked the history of and profiles of the juice and smoothie companies that contributed recipes. As for the recipes: yum! Now I'm the smoothie pro in my apartment complex and smoothie parties happen at my place all the time!

`Smoothies, The Original Smoothie Book' by Dan Titus is the sixth book on smoothies I am reviewing. These six fall into three different categories. The first, with titles such as `The Smoothies Bible' by Pat Crocker and `The Ultimate Smoothies Book' by Cherie Calbom claim to be `everything you wanted to know about smoothies. In this category, the first is far superior to the second. The next category, with titles such as `Ultimate Smoothies' by Donna Pliner Rodnitsky and `The Best 50 Smoothies' by Joanna White are quick references, presumably with a selection of the best recipes. Again, the first of these two titles is the better in this class.

Mr. Titus' book may seem to belong to the first category, but I think it really belongs in a third with `Smoothies for Life' by Daniella Chace and Maureen B. Keane, where these books claim to offer things which may not be in other books, without pretending to be a `complete' reference on the subject.

Dan Titus' angle is that his book includes recipes from six major smoothies and juice bar chains, with the claim that this means you can make them at home just the way they are made at these chains in your local mall. This `feature' has some serious shortcomings, as I describe below. Mr. Titus does give us something unusual in a little history of the smoothie and the leading smoothie franchise chains. He also gives us some rather nice tips on smoothie technique, including an explanation of the phenomenon of cavitation, so well known and loved by fans of the movie and novel `The Hunt for Red October'. While cavitation makes it easy to detect submarines by sonar, it spoils the action of a blender rotor, which, on close inspection, looks suspiciously like a submarine screw, hence, the common effect.

All this material in the early part of the book gives the reader a good feeling that this is a worthwhile book. Especially interesting is Mr. Titus' scheme for rating smoothie recipes based on the freshness of ingredients and the extent to which they are prepared at the time one places an order.

Many of these recipes rely on juiced vegetables. This is a good thing, since vegetables contain some nutrients not found in most fruits, but I don't rank it too highly, as it means some of the recipes require a juicer, which narrows the suitable audience for the book.

I was pleased to see nutritional information on many of the recipes, but this effort is not as valuable as it could have been if the nutritional analysis was done for ALL the recipes, and, like Ms. Rodnitzky in `Ultimate Smoothies', put all the nutritional analyses at the same place on the page, so you could easily buzz through the pages to find a high potassium or low calorie recipe to fit your needs or whim of the moment.

Mr. Titus includes other worthy nutritional information, especially a no nonsense description of various important ingredients. The Appendix contains some good recipes for milk substitutes from rice and nuts. This is useful since I just discovered that soymilk is not as unalloyed a good thing as some make it out to be. This appendix also gives some quick guidelines on which smoothie ingredients are good to aid in treating which ailments. This is nice, but not nearly as good as Ms. Crocker's index of smoothie recipes by ailment in `The Smoothies Bible'.

Mr. Titus presents recipes by type, consistency, and by commercial originator. These recipes are missing my most important criteria for smoothie recipes, which are both English and metric units. I also give demerits for not including the nutritional analysis for many of the recipes and for not applying his very clever rating system for smoothies to these recipes. I also find some of the recipes to be almost worthless for the average reader as they include proprietary nutritional supplement ingredients marketed by some of the featured franchise operations. There are instructions for ordering these products but if you are put off by having to find a local GNC for protein powder, you will have no interest in spicing up your smoothies by something you need to order from the Internet.

This isn't a bad book. It just does not deserve five stars because there are several other books in the same price range, which are better. My overall favorite is `Ultimate Smoothies'. The most complete is `The Smoothies Bible'.

This book is one of the best, if not the best book on smoothies. Getting more fruit into our diets is something we all aspire to, but few achieve. Between having to shop for it, getting it home, and it spoils one day later, makes the recommended daily levels fruit consumption a lot more difficult to achieve. Then along came smoothies, and now we freeze our fruit. Chop it up into little squares as soon as you get it home, and place it in zip loc bags. Then the smoothie is always ready; no more spoilage.
My favorite is to take banannas, honeydew melon, cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries to make an all fruit shake. In this book you see a lot of varieties of the smoothies.
It's worth it just for the redipes. Highly recommended.

Now in a second printing, Smoothies!: The Original Smoothie Book by nutritional advocate and "smoothie" expert Dan Titus, is an excellent recipe guide for making smoothies that are just like those of such famous smoothie stores as "Jamba Juice" and "Smoothie King". Profiles of famous smoothie companies, basic "how to" instructions, detailed recipes for smoothies of every flavor, and a balance of quick-to-prepare recipes as well as recipes for more complex yet exotic tastes make for a first-rate guide for anyone who truly loves a smoothie. If you like smoothies, than you want to add Smoothies!: The Original Smoothie Book to your kitchen or barroom reference shelf.

I recenlty read this book and I must say it may be one of my new favorites.

I've read quite a few books written on the subject of Zen from many different authors, old and new, translated and in original English. This one was probably the most enjoyable and clearest for me. This was very amazing since the original text was written over 1000 yrs ago. The foot notes and introduction are interesting because they gave me an idea of what the translator was thinking as he was translating. This book would also be of interest to anyone exploring Adviata Vendanta, Taoism, or other mystical non-duel traditions.

Although I never considered myself a student of Zen Buddhism until I read this book along with Red Pine's Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma, I do now. Having been a student of Advaita Vedanta for years, I have crossed over. Originally I was drawn to Huang Po because of studying the Dr. David Hawkins's books who I highly respect. On the Map of Consciousness he devised, he calibrated Huang Po in the 900's which is extremely high on a scale ranging from 1-1000. Only the World Teachers like Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Zoroaster etc. calibrated higher. Although Zen has much in common with the nondualistic teachings of Advaita, the Teachings are, well, Zen! I can not begin to recommend this book highly enough for students ready to pierce the unadulterated Truth beyond words that comes with the tacit Understanding of One Mind or Universal Mind. Lying beyond the concepts of intellect, the wordless Transmission of Mind to Mind comes through the text of this book and teachings. Make no mistake, these are the highest teachings that have the Grace and Power to take the student beyond him/herself into Self or that Primordial Awareness of One Mind. Truly a Dharma Jewel in its undivided Shining Brillance. I love it!

The introduction to this book is a good overview and introduction to Zen for beginners.

The notes provided by the translator are very erudite and helpful.

This is an awsome text from a very enlightened Master. He continually refutes ceremony and intellectualism, pointing instead to the ineffable nature of Zen. Avoiding dualism and concentrating on immediacy, the Master says, reveals the path to follow the Way. This approach to "Reality" will be very foreign to the uninitiated Western mind. The book deserves to be read several times to allow its meaning to unfold.

Insights into transmission of understanding, intuitive knowledge and paradoxes. It contains stories of the Master's relations with his disciples and Q&A's where the Master explains the teaching of Buddha and Bodhidharma.

I found the book to have many incredible `one- line' insights that trigger streams of thought. Yet Po wants us to stop the needless thought and be empty, as when he writes : "Once every sort of mental process has ceased, not aparticle of Karma is formed. Then, even in this life, your minds and bodies become those of a being completely liberated."

He also preaches that there are no valid Dharma (Law of Existence or Universal Laws). "Mind and the object of (one's) search are one." And This "Mind" is the Buddha.

Very interesting.

The third book in the series and you know exactly what to expect. Yes, folks, it is every bit as entertaining as the first two, and that's probably all you need to know. But I'll go ahead and mention that he spends some time in the RAF during World War II, which we knew he would as the second book ended. I'll also mention that he and Helen have a baby, which you probably expected. One of the great joys of his writing is discovery, so I'd hate to screw that up with a spoiler, but these two tidbits are on the back cover anyway. Oh, and halfway through it, I predicted an ending in advance, and I only had to read 1000 pages by this guy before that happened. It's still great, great stuff, and you know you'll love it.

I read his books as a teen and loved them. Bought the whole set for my grandsons, [teens]. They laughed until they cried. [so did I].

If you like animals you will enjoy all James Herriot's books. This is one of a series of delightful books. Reading one will make you want to read the next one. I can read them over and over.

I have the complete series of All Creatures Great and Small books now. This was the last one and I loved it as much as I loved the others. He was a fantastic writer and having been born and raised on a farm I can appreciate a lot of what he talks about. I also have his cat and dog stories books and loved them just as much.

The books arrived so quickly that I got to take my time
wrapping the books.

While reading this book, it occured to me that I could have been sitting in the course - that's how verbatim the majority of the book was written. I certainly walked away with the concepts of EST but without the experience of people who have actually taken this course. For anyone who has taken The Landmark Forum (EST's predecessor), this is a great book to remind you of some of the exercises and concepts covered in that course.

...and was actually convinced never to go near est or any of its incarnations. I like to think I'd be one of the few who in the first session, upon being offered their money back, would go to the back of the room and claim it on my way out. I give this book five stars, but for the opposite reason that many reviewers did.

This book is the real deal. It's more hardcore than the Landmark Forum, but it does contain many of the distinctions that are at the core of what makes the Landmark Forum so effective. I am dismayed, however, by those reviews that use the context of a book review to opine on something they have no clue about. Landmark Education is a for-profit business; yes, it has programs to sell; no, it doesn't hide that fact. I can tell you that Landmark Education operates with the highest integrity. Yes, its representatives believe that its programs are the best. Many business professionals believe totally in what they sell. As for the guy who said that est and Werner ruined his life and his life, I say "BS." He ruined his own life, if he could only take some responsibility for his participation. As I wrote in a similar review, read the reviews and then make up your own mind.

The Book of est is like attending the Landmark forum. I found it to be a great reminder of what I got out of the course I attend in 1999. I got something different reading this book than attending the forum. It really can be stated from my experience that it is an opening, a clear slate, an observing viewpoint to experience and see events unfold and not be the at the controlling force of people or events.

You can review many of the topics of how you create your own experience of life, how to discover what is behind some issues that you struggle with and how to get beyond those issues or transform your approach to issues in your daily experience. You will still struggle with things in your life. This book does not fix you, you are not broken.

This is a must read for anyone that finds themselves stuck and is looking for a new point of view and breaking through self-imposed barriers.

Some people have problems with Landmark. I myself do not like the experience of the marketing but as they say "take what you get" what I got from the training I would have paid for it again.

I have taken the Forum and have had many additional breakthroughs from reading this book. This book is much more focused on opening up to your experiences the the Forum was. This re-creation of an EST event is more harsh then the Forum with the leader addressing people as A-Hole directly. I had a racket (Est/Landmark jargan) about this at first but then I got the distinction made in the book. An A-Hole is someone who thinks he/she is not a machine (more Est/Forum jargan) and resists in the name of their so called freedom. They do not take responsibility for their experience and this keeps them small. A non-A-Hole is someone who gets they are a machine, accepts it, rolls with it, observs it, and is free as a result. When the arguments between participants and the leader were recreated I felt like I was back in my forum all over again. One of the most powerful breakthroughs for me when reading this book was that I stop resisting and I Take What I Get and I Don't Take What I Don't Get. I was no longer resisting. Resisting what you may ask? Feelings, stories, experiences, being present to others, etc... By not resisting and taking what I get, I feel so much lighter. This is such an important concept as for one, what you resist will persist and number two, if you experience something to its fullest, it will disapear and that is a very freeing feeling. Concepts from the Landmark Advanced course are also covered yet with a different spin, such as the Ultimate test for knowing what is Real. The Forum states that Physicallness is the ultimate test for reality yet the focus in this EST book is that experience is really what reality is. It is all how you experience it. One quick example from the book is if you are hit by a bus and you don't know its a bus because your eyes were closed, AND (big "and" here) you experience it as being run over by GOD, then to you it was "really" GOD that hit you. You created your experience and it was real for you. Incedentally, since you create your own experience and are responsible for creating all of your experiences, this makes you a God as well. The paradox that is pointed out in this book is that not only are you a God but you are also a machine as you are not in controll of your thoughts all of the time. Simply close your eyes and try to think of nothing for over 3 minutes and you will probably find this imposible. No matter how much you will it, want it, try for it, controll it, thoughts will still pop up and so you are not in controll. What you are left with is the power to Choose freely. Often, I have found myself having to put this book down so I can apply what I have read to my life or just observe the distinctions created happening out in my life. It is definitly a different flavor of the Forum so if you have taken the Forum and want to get a wider scope of freeing and enlightening perspectives, this book is well worth the price.

I've done Callanetics off and on for years. Of course, like most people, I get sidetracked and stop exercising for whatever reason, but I always come back to Callanetics because it WORKS! No, you won't lose massive amounts of weight, but if you are relatively normal weight for you, and you just need to tone up and get everything back where nature originally put it, this is the one for you. I would advise a cardio session a couple of times a week to compliment this program. If you are still skeptical, I would simply invest in the book and look at the pic of the hourly transormation of the one woman throughout her 19 classes. It is simply amazing. then if you aren't convinced, resell the book here or on ebay.

Still the best excercise plan for women over 50 that has ever been written! Re-marketed (?) on late night TV under a new name 'Fluidity', the concept and execution of these exercises is timeless. Opening the package was like saying 'Hello!' again to an old friend.

One thing the other reviews don't quite emphasize enough- these exercises are just plain ol' unpleasant to do. It is not fun to sit in a lunge with one leg held out to the side and slowly move it up and down a few inches 50-100 times. The only justification for this torture is that it works. I don't have any interest in exercise per se, just in being strong and looking as good as possible. (And not limping around like Quasimodo the first three hours of the day) I have been doing these exercises for three months. I have lost 5 pounds, and look like I have lost 20. I do 50 repetitions rather than 100 and do it 4-5 times a week, as it is less boring for me to do less more often. It helps to memorize the sets and then review the book or video every once in a while to make sure one is doing it correctly and not dropping any of the exercises. Read the instructions carefully initially so you don't hurt yourself doing it wrong.

I bought the DVD's 10 years younger and super callanetics here on Amazon. I am not ready for super callanetics (although I have heard it works amazingly). I am on my 3rd hour of Callanetics. My stomache is already flatter. I look better, I feel better. I also run and/or hike and bike a few days a week for added cardio. I got the book because of my job, I travel a lot and do not always have access to a DVD player. I am trying to download the DVD onto my Ipod video, but am having difficulties (I blame Apple, not the makers of the DVD). This book is great! I love all the before and after photos and written instructions. I already have a good idea of the exercises from the DVD so the book is nice when I don't have a DVD player handy. I HIGHLY recommend this exercise program. I feel great and energized after (and my sex drive is improved! nice little added benefit :) I recently started doing some yoga shoulderstands and some old school yoga/breathing stomache exercises to supplement this as well. I have been unhappy with my cellulite and stomache for years..... I think I may have found the answer. Be warned, It is hard! I can't finish all the exercises, but, all in due time....

A few months ago I was clearing up my attic and found the old book. I love fitness, and have done it for ages, but my arms and legs invariably DO bulk, whatever the experts say and whatever method I use! Must be genetics, I have very strong musculature.
I always ended up a lot fitter, but not fitting my dresses and blouses anymore... So I started Callanetics again, and the results are great! Also, I'm no longer bored with the exercises, as I was long ago!
Is Callan P. still active, do any of you know that?? I'd love a new DVD!

A Christmas Carol

It was my goal this December to read to my children, ages seven, nine and 14, the Christmas Carol story by Dickens so that they would know the original before seeing the movie. I also thought this would be an accessible way for them to get oriented to English literature and prepare them for further reading.

The requirements of the Christmas Carol book to be purchased were that a) it be new as opposed to a ragged used copy, b) it be unabridged, c) it have good drawings; and d) if possible it be inexpensive. I first looked in the library, but their book was checked out, and anyway I was looking to start a family tradition of reading the story every year with our own copy if possible. The Candlewick Press edition with illustrations by P.J. Lynch appeared to fill the bill; I bought it; and it delivered the goods. The book is nice and readable-sized, the illustrations good, the type pleasing. Thirteen bucks. I was immensely satisfied with the purchase.

As to the fate of the reading, we handled one chapter per evening, there being five chapters; each took an hour or so to read. I found Dickens to be sometimes heavy going for the younger TV and video-generation kids to get a sense of what is going on. I did not recollect Dickens to be so when I read some of his works as a younger person, but apparently it's something you have to be exposed to and get to understand. Anyway I was happy to provide my children with the chance to get started. It gave me a measure of the gap between the reading preparation of today's youth versus my pre-Cambrian elementary and middle school days. On Christmas Day I showed them the George C. Scott version of the movie, and they all liked it. But all knew the basics from the book, which was my goal, even if the mid-1800s prose obscured many of the action points to the younger ones in their Sponge Bob and Hannah Montana mindsets.

So the effort was a success, and this edition of the book did what I had hoped by delivering up an excellent presentation at a very low cost.

Dan of Arlington

If you are looking to purchase a copy of "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, then I believe that this would be a excellent choice for you. The book is very well bound and of excellent quality. The illustrations are wonderful and very well detailed. The pages are slightly thicker than normal so you are probably less likely to tear them. If you purchase this book, you will not be disappointed.

I purchased this book as a gift for myself so that I could enjoy this timeless Christmas tale over the holidays. This edition of A Christmas Carol was a wonderful purchase. The illustrations added to the enjoyment of the story and allowed me to visit another time and place while relaxing with this holiday classic.

I would highly recommend this book to young and old alike.

I think we have yet to experience the definitive film version of "A Christmas Carol", but we now have the definitive book version! Masterful illustrations complement the unedited text. Oh, and EVERYONE who purchases this book, PLEASE take off the dust cover and let this one age without it! WONDERFUL cover, perfect!

This book is beautiful! The pictures are amazing and held my children (6 and 4) captive while I read to them. I would recommend reading this story every year at Christmastime as a family.

I absolutely loved this book. It would be a five star review, except for the fact that I've already read the two follow-ups. They betray the fact that RAW burned through all his best ideas on the first book. What appear in EWS as great set-ups for subsequent books turned out to be one-shots, left to die on the vine in the rest of the series. The Widow's Son is also a good book, but RAW spent too much time on farcical footnotes and not enough on character and plot development. So some of the genius of The Earth Will Shake is ruined by lack of cultivation.

Still, I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in historical fiction, conspiracies and using the arts to help liberate mankind.

Anything by Robert Anton Wilson is worth reading. His Illuminati stuff is doubly so. The original Illuminatus Trilogy is one of the greatest scifi, horror, thriller, political, historical, adventure and pornographic novels ever written. All of the Historical Illuminatus books are equally well done, equally fun to read, and equally true historically.

I read this book back in the late 80's when it was printed by a mass-market publisher (Signet, I think) containing two abridged volumes; The Earth Will Shake and The Widow's Son. I loved it then and was never able to find Nature's God. Now I have all 3 books. After re-reading this edition, I've enjoyed it twice as much!! There is still yet an unpublished forth book, "The World Turned Upside Down" and we're all awaiting this gem to be published. Earth Will Shake is a coming of Age novel set in the enlightenment era where a murder happens in church during an Easter mass. From that point on it's a roller coster ride of wicked but serious fun. You are enlightened by the sheer weight of the subject matter that continues to this day. In these works you meet diverse characters who are historically real. I.e., the young Mozart, Count Cagliostro and Casanova, just to name a few. Dan Brown though entertaining, is comparatively an amateur hack when writing about the Illumniati (see for yourself and read this. You won't be disappointed). When the Da Vinci Code got ALL the attention, there was no mention of this work and I find that a sad reality though parr for the course in these "shaky" times. Remember, "reality is what you can get away with"...

In the early 1980's, I lived in San Francisco. I knew actual members of the OTO, mysterious avant garde musicians, punk rockers and performance artists, bicycle messengers, typesetters, cabinet makers and optical laser artists. My life was going to hell on drugs and alcohol. I regret not a moment of it, but several things got me through the bad time. One was a book by Robert Anton Wilson called THE COSMIC TRIGGER. He somehow manages to mix mysticism and skepticism and pragmatism and wit. This Robert Anton Wilson is a metaphysician, good for the angst that might take your very life.

He had also written the famous ILLUMINATI! trilogy, the Schrodinger's Cat series,but had not yet started the series that begins with this very book.

This book is a prequel to the Illuminatus trilogy, in exactly the same way that Neil Stephenson's QUICKSILVER preludes CRYPTONOMICON, only in a much more profound vein.

Meet Sigismundo Celine (obviously the ancestor of the pirate Hagbard Celine we meet in Wilson's earlier/later tale) he is Parsifal, and his tale begins with the death of his father, or not his father, but then he kills his own father. Get out your secret decoder ring, kids--Wilson was on a deeper plane here than either Dan Brown, the aforementioned Stephenson, or even George Lucas--yet mining much of the same territory.

Magic and Madness. Sin and Redemption. Conspiracies and Initiation. If you are smart enough to read this book--the next one is a real doozy--certainly the best book Wilson ever wrote.

Then there was a break of more than a decade. Every time I heard Wilson on the radio (KPFK in the dead of night--he has a fan base out here in California)I would call and beg him for the third book. When it did arrive it was excellent but had lost the wind, somehow. Possibly it was me. Readers are half the reading.

But these books are the REAL MAGILLA. If you understand what RAW is saying here--it will enter your mind like a virus and it will change you. This is not just fiction. You are warned.

Sixteen years ago I appeared in a play by Robert Anton Wilson called WILHELM REICH IN HELL. It was in a small nightclub in Long Beach--but I got to meet the great man. As Tim Leary once said of him, Wilson was glowingly sane. (or was that what wilson said of leary???) The proof is on the page, and this one waits for YOU.

(Robert Anton Wilson--if you read this review, please write us the fourth book. I have read nearly every word you have ever written, even magazine articles and this is the one to leave us gasping--if you can't, I understand. We face tomorrow unafraid and carry the meme of freedom. Persevere.

Robert Anton Wilson has proven to be capable of extraordinary talent with this series. Mixing fiction with non-fiction he weaves one of the most satisfying Masonic related tales to be discovered and published. The Earth Will Shake, The Widows Son and Natures God are a type of writing that I had previously not encountered through Wilson. This series can actually be very inspiring, and it's written in such a dramatic way I am convinced it would make an excellent movie. Yet, at the end of the series, the reader sees reference to the fourth book "The World Turned Upside Down", and alas, it is non-existant. Whatever reason Bob has for abandoning us devout readers of this series (I have read all three books three times and stolen much wit from them) I urge you, dear Bob, please don't leave us hanging, finish the fourth book! More! More! Your Friend, Joey

That's what we thought we should have printed on our next bumper stickers (those of us who have them) after several of us in our congregation read this book recently. Though the work will be hard, the inspiration that Lundgaard gives from Scripture makes you truly want to pursue with the Spirit the righteousness of God. This book, which is very accessible but with much depth, does not condemn, but it sure does challenge!

This is for anyone who has studied the various view points on who is the "I" in Romans 7:14-24.

For anyone who takes an unregenerate View on Romans 7 (Pious Jew; Adamic Humanity; etc). It would be helpful for you to know that the author grounds the thrust of this book on a regenerate view of Romans 7:14-24 viewing the "I" as a regenerate Believer (Either the Mature Christian; Struggling Christian; or Paul himself; etc.) who battles with indwelling sin.

Regardless of your view on the "I" in Romans 7, this book is EXCELLENT and it deals with a Believer's continual battle with sin. The author bring us the work of John Owen in a readable and applicable manner. If you don't hate your sin, pick up this book and hopefully it will help you in your continual pursuit of sanctification.

I would also highly recommend, Thomas Watson's "The Doctrine of Repentance" and "The Mischief of Sin".

I loved this book!!! I have been very frustrated and confused lately watching the behavior of Christians around me. This books helps explains some of what is going on. Instead of just blaming the devil and the world for our sin, he talks about another element...that battle we all have with the flesh.

I really appreciated his way of handling this battle..this is where our focus need to be for all our struggles. This is one of the best books I've read (besides "The Book") for the Christian walk.

Friends, if you are like me, you have looked at your Christian walk in this sex-saturated, me-first, convenience-oriented, I'm-OK-You're-OK world and wondered why you don't seem to have the faith or the purity of heart possessed by Paul or Timothy, Peter, James, or the other martyrs. If you're like me, you've grown content to have a less than obedient, less than satisfying, less than life-changing walk with Christ. And maybe at some point you've thought, "I am sick of sin and I want to know Christ better!" only to slip quietly back into your self-indulgent lifestyle. Worst of all, perhaps you've expected the Holy Spirit to sanctify you passively, so that you don't have to be involved or get your hands dirty.

If so, then this book may be the springboard for a changed life. Learn what sin is--how detestable it is to God, how powerful it is in each of us, how it quietly appeals to us and blinds us to what God really has intended for His children, and then discover tools you can use to change.

I know that my walk will not be the same after reading this book and doing the exercises. It is so easy to read and makes so much sense; I can't believe I was this blind to what sin really is. But now I see.

This book has to be one of the most outstanding books I have read in a long time. What a clear and well ilustrated book. I have used it's contents in my messages, in my counseling sessions and have given it as a reading assignment to my students. It has the makings of a classic.

Gavin Aitken
Professor of Biblical Counseling at Brazil's Word of LIfe Seminary

The whole idea of characters from legends and fairy tales living among us anonymously may not be completely original but these comics take the notion to a whole new level and they are great fun, part of which stems from trying to figure out who some of them are. Most are pretty easy but a few take a little thought. Flycatcher, for instance, turns out to be the Frog Prince. The characters have escaped from a conqueror known as The Adversary and now live in Fabletown, ruled by (who else) Old King Cole. His trusted assistant is Snow White (ex of Prince Charming), now involved with the sheriff, Bigby Wolf (the Big Bad Wolf). Violence, betrayal, graphic sex and a lot of seriously twisted humor abound and this series probably should get an "R" rating. Fun though.

In this volume the Fables are faced with thier worst fear, an invasion by the Advesary from the Homeland. In the story Snow White coordinates the defenses of Fabletown, reenforcements from the Farm are bought in and we see Beast really let loose in this volume. It truly is a great read and I can't stop praising the series I reccomand it to anybody who likes comics but, isn't crazy about superheroes.

This is a great volume in the Fables series because of the many turning points several of the characters make. You get to see a more in-depth, more personal, and more complicated side to Pinnochio, Boy Blue, Bigby, Snow White, and a few others. It's also a great lead-in for volumes to come.

I've discovered Bill Willingham's FABLES only recently and I've become an instant fan. And what's not to adore? Great premise. Great characters. Great writing. Super drawing.

While I've loved all the first four books in the FABLES series (I have already ordered 5-7 from Amazon), the third entry, fell just below the best volumes simply because the numbers contained too many arcs. This volume, however, ties all the individual issues together, even the beginning, which focuses on the final battle of the fables against the Adversary. The central story, or the A plot, concerns the near simultaneous arrival of Red Riding Hood and some mysterious fables who have utter disdain for all creatures that they like to refer to as "meat." They turn out to be the title characters of the story. The great battle for Fabletown that culminates the volume is both brilliantly written and drawn.

In future I think I will recommend the FABLES series above all others to people who are completely new to the world of adult comics. They are immediately accessible in a way that other masterpieces like the Sandman books are not (I'm not saying that Gaiman is inaccessible, but that they are better appreciated if they are not the first graphic novels one reads). And the blend of drama, comedy, fantasy, and action would appeal to anyone not blinded by an anti-intellectual disdain of "popular" art (the irony being that self-styled intellectuals who disdain graphic art do so by being amazingly close-minded).

A great entry to a great series. Can't wait for my next stack of books to arrive!

Again Willingham produces a phenomenal comic book, this time going into the Fables history with the Adversary. And the battle.