U Books

just that, a good pharmacy reference. It's a good addition to my other resources and is easy to use.

A great quick guide on drug information, perhaps, the best one. Full monographs of almost all of the drugs, including interactions. Much necessary to the pharmacists and other health professionals.

Excellent, concise, just the facts, ma'am, and easy to look up just what you need. Why wade through the Physicians Desk Reference when this handy gem has all that you really desire in drug information, presented efficiently by pharmacists. Boils it down to the facts. 2-3 pages per medication, in table form often. Once you buy this book, you'll ditch the PDR. Guaranteed.

this is a great resource. as a pharmacist, I use this quite often for basic questions.

Lexi-Comp's Drug Information Handbook is the bomb. No nagging adds like the PDR; just the facts, ma'am. More eye friendly than previous editions, and still packed with about a gillion tables in the appendix. Drug names are now in red. This is the cat's meow; I probably use it once a day in patient care. Shipping and price are much better through Amazon than through the publisher.

Being a bit of a nostalgia freak, I have more than a few books highlighting 50s and 60s pop culture. This is my second favorite, with only Populuxe rating higher. It's a memory-invoking rush of nostalgic nosh, with plenty for your mind to delightfully delight in. You'll treasure this book. Ton of full color pictures and lively appreciative writing makes you want to read this book again and again. Holy Nostalgia, Batman!

After hearing about this both the book and the CD, both by Hal Lifson, I just had to get these. I could not put this book down. I called my mother about it and thanked her for letting me born in such a cool year! I have always been a fanatic for that type of pop culture in the '60's. My sister once told me that I was born twenty years too late! After reading this book, I couldn't agree with her more! If you know someone who was born in 1966, and looking for a birthday gift for them, look no further than this book. This book rocks, and so does Hal Lifson!

What a groovy book, baby! I was only three years old in 1966 but I remember just about everything in this delightful scrapbook that's a time capsule for everything from that hip decade.

Hal Lifson has collected photos, ads, album covers, toys, etc. that brings back a very cool, swingin' period in American culture. The Beatles, Batman, James Bond, Playboy, Nancy Sinatra--they're all here!

Definitely a book for anyone alive at the time. Or anyone interested in what that was like.

Hal Lifson took me on a journey that was so exciting, I couldn't stand it! From Batman to The Monkees to the Beach Boys song "Wouldn't It Be Nice", I feel like I've relived my childhood all over again. Now if I only had my Batman utility belt again....

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take that journey, even if you weren't born yet!

"Hal Lifson's 1966" is, indeed, the ultimate time machine. It works on two distinct levels. First, having lived in the San Fernando Valley during that period, I found the book to be the most delightful, teary-eyed journey back to the old stomping grounds...who says you can't go back home?! To see a picture of the old Encino Bowl...the last time I even thought about it was when I was sneaking a smoke in the parking lot on the way back from ELEMENTARY school! Second, and more important (yes, important), "Hal Lifson's 1966" captures the innocence of the period...perhaps the last innocence the country enjoyed before it was forced to grow up during the Watergate hearings. Indeed, the lack of any political references keeps the journey a magical mystery tour. Honey West, Catwoman, NANCY SINATRA...many a 13-year-old boy lost his innocence "appreciating" these classically sexy women. Thanks, Hal.

Let not the unassuming title mislead you. This is not a simple introduction to Christianity but a bold philosophical treatise to the heart of Christianity. In this commentary on the Apostle's creed, Father Ratzinger first dissects what it means to assert, "We believe..." and continues to the conclusion on what (or rather who) is the essence of Christianity. Christianity is not a religion or a creed but a person. It is a challenge to the philosophies of men and their attempts to understand God outside the context of the Son.

Father Ratzinger draws on unlikely philosophers and theologians such as Nietzsche and Luther to make his point. He finds and reveals truth in the Lutheran martyr Bonhoeffer and his passion. But Father Ratzinger takes us beyond simply finding deep philosophical truths and guides us to a passion and adoration of the personification of truth in Jesus. Father Ratzinger seems to echo Francis Bacon who said, "A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion." Only, the religion of Father Ratzinger is not a thing but a person. The book ends with the hope that is contained in that person, "A salvation of the world does exist - that is the confidence that supports the Christian and that still makes it rewarding even today to be a Christian."

There is enough philosophical insight here to challenge the most theoretical thinkers. But Father Ratzinger does not stop at mere theory but goes on to the concrete implications to the Christian found in that theory. There is perhaps no more thorough "introduction" than this to a vibrant faith. Well worth the investment of reading and re-reading to plumb the depths of philosophical truths contained in that faith. Very highly recommended for every Christian.

Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) is a rare gem. He has a clear mind that cuts like a scalpel. Combine that with a stellar education, decades of painstaking and thorough study, and a gift for writing profoundly yet with simplicity. Introduction to Christianity is a fine example of his erudition and seemingly effortless intellectual elegance. His capacity to consider and master a vast array of histories, cultures, theologies and philosophies, and integrate them into his own penetrating thought, is remarkable.

Really good, but really hard. Not an "Introduction" in the way most of us understand the word. But it is B16, so it is well worth trying to understand.

Written 40 years ago by Ratzinger, this book still resonates with the times. In itself, this shows that Ratzinger is focused on what really matters in the Christian mystery - he nevers gets side tracked into going down blind and fruitless alleys. It is only on my second reading of this book that I began to see how important a book this is. This book is an important exploration of the nature of belief and of the articles of belief set down in the Apostles creed. I believe that in this book Ratzinger surpasses his mentors, namely De Lubac and von Balthasar. His analysis of the kenosis of Christ is particularly impressive, Christ "being from" and "being for".

Ratzinger first deals squarely with belief and points out that it is within the context of doubt that the theist and the atheist can enter into dialogue. After all, the Christian believes; he does not see. Likewise, the atheists "sees" what is optical and does not believe in what cannot be empirically verified. But, both the Christian and the atheist, if he is honest, must have doubts about the nature of his belief or non-belief. There must be times when the atheist says: "yet perhaps it is true (page 46).

For Ratzinger the word credo means:

"man does not regard seeing, hearing and touching as the totality of what concerns him, that he does not view the area of his world as marked off by what he can see and touch but seeks a second mode of access to reality, a mode he calls in fact belief, and in such a way that he finds in it the decisive enlargement of his whole view of the world" (page 50).

For Ratzinger the radicality of Christianity is that "God has come so near to us that we can kill him and that he thereby, so it seems, ceases to be God for us".

Ratzinger poses the question of whether "it would not have been much simpler to believe in the Mysterious Eternal... to leave us as at an infinite distance". (page 55)

Ratzinger notes that belief does not come "though the private search for truth but through a process of reception.. Faith cannot and should not be a mere product of reflection" (page 92). Faith demands unity and calls for the fellow believer; it is by nature related to a Church." (page 98).

On the nature of the Trinity, he noted that: "He is one, but at as the exceedingly great, entirely Other, he himself transcends the bounds of singular and plural; he lies beyond the" (page 125).

On the "I am who I am" scene in exodus, he notes that the words sound like a "rebuff","like a refusal to give a name than the pronouncement of a name (page 127) "I am" is as much as to say "I am here for you" " a Being-for". (page 129).

"The name is no longer merely a word, but a person: Jesus himself." (page 133) Ratzinger goes on to say that the meaning of a "name" is its invocability. God, by having a name, becomes accessible to me. "He is handing himself over to men in such a way that he can be called upon".

"And by doing this he enters into coexistence with them; he puts himself within reach; he is "there" for them". The name is no longer just a word at which we clutch; it is now flesh of our flesh, bone of our bone. God is one of us" (page 134/135).

Ratzinger notes the great saying by Tertullian: "Christ called himself truth, not custom". (page 141)

His thought then becomes even more metaphysical:

"Whoever looks thoroughly at matter will discover that it is being-thought objectivised thought. So it cannot be ultimate. All being is ultimately being-thought and can be traced back to

"Christian belief in God means that things are the being-thought of a creative consciousness of a creative freedom and that the creative conciousness that hears up all things has released what has been thought into the freedom of its own, independent existence". (page 137).


"The doctrine of the triune God, means at bottom renouncing any solution and remaining content with a mystery that cannot be plumbed by man (page 168)". "Faith consists of a series of contradictions held together by grace". (page 171).

"It now became clear that the dialogue, the relatio stands behind substance as an equally primordial form of being". I note here that Ratzinger preempts some of the philosophical work done by the great Jesuit Thomist, Norris Clarke and by the personalist, John F Crosby. "Father is purely a concept of relationship. Only in being for the other is he Father; in his own being in himself he is simply God". (page 183). "By calling the Lord "Son", John gives him a name that always points away from him and beyond him; he thus employs a term that denotes essentially a relatedness, He thereby puts his whole Christology into the context of the idea of relation" (page 185).

Moving on to focus of the office and nature of Christ, he notes that Christ "performs himself and gives himself; his work is the giving of himself" (page 204). "The person of Jesus is his teaching and his teaching is he himself" "message and person are identical" (page 206). "Jesus is his work" "His being is pure actualitas of "from" and "for"(page 228).

"For John, the picture of the pierced side forms the climax not only of the crucifixion scene but the whole story of Jesus... his existence is completely open. Now he is entirely "for"; now he is no longer a single individual but "Adam" from whose side, Eve, a new mankind is formed". (page 241) "The future of man hangs on the Criss - the redemption of Man is the Cross. And, he can only come to himself by letting the walls of his existence be broken down, by looking on him who has been pierced" (p242)

"Talk of original sin means no man can start from scratch any more (completely unimpaired by history" (page 249). "Last judgement, on the other hand is the answer to these collective entanglements" (page 249).

"Being a Christian means essentially changing over from being for oneself to being for one another". "Christ is the infinite self expenditure of God" (page 261).

"Love demands infinity, indestructibility; indeed it is, so to love demands, infinity, indestructibility; indeed, it is, so to speak, a call for infinity" (page 302).

Ratzinger's analysis of the resurrection and the Last judgement is deeply impressive, noting its deeply serious nature. Of hell, he notes that it "consists in man's being unwilling to receive anything, in his desire to be self sufficient. It is the expression of enclosure in one's own being alone."

Finally, on the Church, Ratzinger approaches the evil evident in the Church in a sober fashion. "At bottom there is always a hidden pride at work when criticism of the Church adopts that tone of rancorous bitterness which today is already becoming a fashionable habit"

He notes that Christ in his earthly ministry scandalised others; is is surprising that he does so again when he gives himself over to be broken sacramentally on his altars, ministered, at times, by deeply sinful ministers and consumed also by those whose lifes often contradict the gospel. Don't we all in our own way contradict the gospel in our daily lives?

Our Holy Father is great! He is so clear in his writing and conveying his ideas. He articulates and conveys theological ideas in ways that students can grasp, digest, and make their own. I know this was written long before he would even be considered for Pope- but it only goes to show that he has been doing the kind of work and prayer this work needs to be able to do for a long time. He is the kind of student who has done the work so well and sought such understanding as to teach well.

The book is well written and entertaining. The story was nicely presented around the letters of Mary Pringle. All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing. A nice reference chart showing the relationship of the characters should be included at the beginning of the book. Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder. It's hard for a Northerner to muster up a lot of sympathy for this family of slave owners. Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family. It's ironic that the South nearly destroyed our country in the 1860's, but is saving it today.

Mary's World helped me to understand life in the Antebellum South and the culture that thrived on slavery. But it also showed the North's response to winning the Civil War, which was anything but forgiving. It was a thrill to see the Miles Brewton House and the St. Michael's Cemetary on my recent visit to Charleston, and to feel the connection with the Mottes, Alstons, and Pringles.

In Mary's World Richard N. Cote has succeeded admirably where so many others have tried and yet missed the mark. With his succinct style and exceptional organizational skills he has laid bare the thoughts,emotions and lives of Mary Pringle, her family and their slaves, and done so in a way that has given us a book
that is informative as well as enjoyable. By putting their lives
into context with the times Mr Cote has given the reader not only the opportunity to learn what they thought and felt but the ability to understand why they thought and felt the way they
did. This book will appeal to historians and the average reader
alike.
It took me only 2 days to read Mary's World and I found myself
so absorbed that when interrupted I was momentarily confused to find I wasn't in 19th century Charleston.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN ANTEBELLUM CULTURE AND THE CIVIL WAR, THIS IS A MUST READ. EVEN FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T A STUDENT OF THE ERA, "MARY'S WORLD" IS STILL A FASCINATING GLIMPSE OF THE LIFE OF AN ELITE SOUTHERN PLANTER FAMILY. TAKEN FROM FAMILY PAPERS, THE STORY OF THE PRINGLES IS A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THEIR INNERMOST THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS.

THE READER GETS TO WATCH WILLIAM BULL AND MARY ALSTON PRINGLE'S CHILDREN GROW UP. BY THE END OF THE BOOK YOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAVE KNOWN THEM ALL. I DREADED FINISHING THE BOOK BECAUSE I FELT AS IF I WAS LEAVING OLD FRIENDS.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND MAKE TIME FOR THIS BOOK. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE AN "ANTEBELLUM-OPHILE" LIKE ME OR NOT, THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK.

I found this book in Charleston on vacation after touring this home. I loved this book! Now I want to visit again because I am so much more invested. I read this book for pure pleasure, and di it deliver! One doesn't need to visit the south to enjoy, the book takes you there. It gives such insight to the era and history the reader gets pulled right in.

If you want a very, very basic introduction to Economics, this book is a good one. However, as an Economics major in college, I was looking more for a reference book to refresh my fading knowledge. This book doesn't have that level of detail.

I gave it five stars, because it's not the book's fault that I wanted something different.

The text is excellent and is suitable for any type of introductary Ecnonomics class. It can be used in a tough course or an easy course, as it provides a great level of organization so that the instructor may choose the material at his discretion depending on his course lay out.

Among all the textbooks I have seen in economics, I have found Mankiw's to be the best. It is clear and concise, addressing all the important intermediate issues in macroeconomics. The description of concepts is simple, and the book benefits from a three pronged approach to teaching - graphical, mathematical, and anecdotal. The student is free to choose whichever one he feels most comfortable learning from.

I'd recommend this along w/ "The Economic Way of Thinking" by Heyne, as the two best Econ textbooks I've read. Mankiw's book is fair and balanced, he is not a frothing at the mouth partisan, and it is a straightforward explanation of basic economic terms. However, he establishes a handful of core truths that anyone who wishes to understand economics must accept, and if not accept, explain as to why these certain truths don't apply. For example, Mankiw establishes that 1.) free markets work better than regulated markets, 2.) private property and incentives are necessary for productivity 3.) trade makes everyone wealthier.

He does not explain these in a polemical way, but he calmly establishes a solid case for these (and other principles), and despite being fairly standard in economic circles, they are fairly contentious in the realm of political economics and discourse (particularly on the collegiete level, where English Major Marxists think they know more about the social order than those who study the social order). This makes the book more persuasive than a fire and brimstone screed from an Ann Coulter type. Books like this need to be read by all to improve the Economical I.Q. of the voting public.

As an instructor of introductory macroeconomics, I often rue the fact that we do not utilize this textbook. I borrow material from it INCESSANTLY and without shame.

It presents the "Keynesian" viewpoint on macroeconomics in an extraordinarily clear and interesting fashion. Frankly, I consider the introductory (read literally - first semester macro books) texts to be a waste of time. There is absolutely no reason this textbook should not be used for a first semester macroeconomics course (assuming one has already taken an introductory microeconomics course).

Suggested plan of study for those interested in a fairly serious study of macroeconomics (without an INSANE amount of mathematical preparation): this book and Barro's book with the same title. Barro's book presents the real business cycle theory approach in a clear manner (though the book is somewhat dull in comparison)...then decide for yourself which 'camp' is making the most sense.

I travelled the Mother Road in September 1960 in a 1956 Ford from Chicago to LA. The book refreshed many memories of this trip. I was quite happy to go through the pages and I will continue to do so.

I have really enjoyed this book, Route 66: The Mother Road..." It is very interesting and full of information that you probably have never known before. Also pictures of people along the way. I am not a collector of Route 66 things but we needed something for a Painting Reception and this fit in with our theme. I ordererd it and I'm so glad I did. I am planning to read it from cover to cover when our Show is over. The book was sent on time and packaged very well. All-in-all it was an excellent experience.

As a child my family traveled between Tucson and NW Missouri over a number of years to visit relatives. I vividly remember neon signs, interesting signs, gas stations and diners along the way. This book made those memories come alive. The author brings in the history behind place names and the stories of the colorful and interesting people who created the various attractions along Route 66. I don't know when I have enjoyed reading a book more than this one. Michael Wallis, thank you.

Everything you would like to know about Route 66. This book and it's author served as the main source of infromation & inspiration for the Disney/Pixar classic animated movie "Cars". A must have for the motoring history buff.

As we get older we appreciate memories from our youth more and more. I can remember riding in my parents car on trips along Route 66. This book is full of memories and interesting information about this historic road. We plan to take the Lincoln Highway from California to New York and come home on Route 66. We bought this book as our travel guide home and plan to visit many of the places listed in its pages. We also bought The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast for our guide book east. Both books are a must for the adventure we are planning; a cross country trip in our 1941 Oldsmobile street rod.

The episode about flying a Huey with food and ammo into the midst of my surrounded battalion, 2/12th Cav, just outside Hue brought back a lot of memories. We wouldn't have survived the day without that support. I describe what it was like on the ground, but it was just as bad in the air.[[ASIN:1591144345 Lost Battalion of Tet: The Breakout of 2/12th Cavalry at Hue Still, thanks to some brave and daring pilots and crews, we survived. I never could determine how many helicopters and crews were lost trying to help us. Whatever the case, they will never be forgotten by those who were there and survived.

I have read several good books by VietNam era helicopter pilots and this is the best so far. Mr. Johnson has a knack of putting the reader in the seat next to him and makes us realize just how dangerous his job was. I particularly enjoyed his use of flashbacks to his flight training days and how he worked them into the moment. It is a wonder that any of the Army helicopter crews survived a full tour. Heroes all. Highly recommended

It was 5 years ago since I was first introduced to the legendary helicopter named "Huey". She is a lovely aircraft which teachs you the helicopter flight and also forgiving one.

I like to thank Mr.Johnson because he had let me know why this helicopter which I am lucky enough to fly with is called legendary. As a military helicopter pilot I am thrilled to read every page, every line. Tom A. Johnson did a great job, he conveyed the past, he conveyed the priceless experience about emergencies. Furthermore, I felt as if I dated back to Vietnam Era and I was one of the pilot on his formation.

I sincerely hope to meet Vietnam Huey Pilots and I am so eager to listen their stories. Land safely Guys,whenever&wherever.

Cem KURKCU
FW&RW Army Pilot

An engrossing, fast moving story of a 1st CAV warrant officers experiences mid 1967-1968. Tom does a great job of explaining the elements of helicopter flight and flying tactics. The year he experienced had a high degree of combat, frequently against NVA, rather than VC. He writes well, has a story to tell, and tells it well.

I've read some other helicopter pilot's stories who served in the same III Corps AO I did in 1967 (with an assault helicopter unit, but not as an air crewman). The intensity level written about here is yet another level above what we were experiencing pre-Tet.

Like all the warrants I remember, he saw himself as a pilot rather than an officer, and measured others by their piloting skills rather than their rank. We enlisted men loved them for that. Officers with real skills (not surprisingly, the minimum AFTQ score - equivalent to an IQ score - for a WOC was higher than for an officer candidate).

I think you'll find this book a real page turner.

For me as a Combat vet, Vietnam 1966-68 101st Airborne grunt. I thought the book was great. I don't often read books about Nam, but this looked like a must. It brought back a lot good memories and not so good as well.Only Vietnam vets will have a true understand of this fine book.The UH-1H (AKA) HUEY was the best Helicpter ever built and I we all loved to see Charlie model UH-1C and the AH-1G Gun Ships too. Frank Allen

Torpedo Junction is a very educational and interesting book about German submarines destroying numerous ships and their cargos and many deaths. It is historically accurate and enlightening. Once you start this book, it is difficult to put down.

I recommended it to anyone interested in history, WWII and what happened on the East Coast of the U.S., particularly from New Jersey to North Carolina.

The U-boat war off America's coast "Operation Drumbeat" was merely one of Germany's U-boat operations. This book is an interesting read. I, like others, wasn't aware of the magnitude of U-boat operations off America's coast. It's a great account. It's limited to that operation. There's hardly anything beyond Operation Drumbeat...but that was the book's intent. It's a good account.

Ultimately how good I like a book is if I'm committed to finish it. Torpedo Junction by Homer Hickman is a book I had to finish, but I was so interested in what it revealed I hardly wanted it to end. Many factors were at work here. First, Mr. Hickman's writing is so clear and linear that it belies the painstaking research such an easy to read factual narrative requires. Thank you Mr. Hickman for doing the work so I could both be reviled and astonished!

This little known yet very tragic part of World War II played out right at our doorstep. Because of Japan's audacity to hit us with one massive surprise salvo the even more insideous U-Boat war on the U.S. coastline played out largely unknown to the general public. For months that seemed to drag on and on the Germans sank boat after boat after boat. Maybe for our protection or maybe because we couldn't quite get a handle on how to stop the German U-Boat threat the mounting damage was kept quiet. It was a tremendous tragedy which caused great loss of life as well as massive destruction of resources. With Torpedo Junction we can finally see how close to home death truly came. Also, we get to know the true courage of those who protected our home shores so we could both support the war effort as well as keep that all important semblance of a "normal life" at home. To know the facts surrounding the North Atlantic U-Boat war helps to rectify those long years of not talking about it.

I recommend this book as both educational and entertaining. As with Rocket Boys I was pulled inside a time and place as if I was there. Storytelling really doesn't get better than this.

As the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Dione's lead soundman during period of Hickman's book I can attest that he did a wonderful job telling our story about some real hazardous duty. Homer's collaboration with our Radioman 1st, Swede Larson really paints the futility and danger of our sub chasing before and after convoys. I'm so glad Homer wrote about us. Now maybe we won't be forgotten.

Reads like a Clancy thriller. I recommend this book along with Michael Gannon's "Operation Drumbeat" so one can understand the havoc wreaked by German U boats along the Eastern seaboard against totally unprepared and in many cases complacent ships in the early days of World War II.

This book is a very interesting account from the Sub commander. The first hand accounts described by the writer are what makes the book a cut above most.

The man has done it all, i.e., fantastic submarine skipper, Medal of Honor Recipient, and writing skills to match. This book is a classic, and anyone interested in WWII submarine warfare absolutely must have this book in his shelf!

Outstanding read---puts you on the submarine, with all the tension and excitement---and yes, the inherent boredom. I'm a former submariner and my old CO (Dennis Oltraver, CAPT, USN---who went from E-1 to O-6---so quite a man in himself) knew O'Kane and copied much of his leadership style. In turn, I copied my CO---when I read Clear the Bridge, I was amazed at how I knew what O'Kane would do (particularly on personnel issues) before I read the next paragraph---I learned from someone who learned from him. Sadly, CAPT Oltraver died of cancer, or I would thank him for his legacy of leadership, some of which was learned from a master leader and legend, RADM Dick O'Kane. This book is as good as Ed Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep---and in some respects better---for his is a first person account. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. The fact that is was written by the Captain of the Submarine makes it that much more meaningful. I couldn't stop reading it, but my one complaint is that it is very technical and lacks some emotion. The author, being a "career navy man" uses abbreviations and phrases that don't mean much to the layperson (and the glossary doesn't help much in this regard) and there is an overall lack of "passion". There is very little discussion of his personal feelings or the mood on the ship. For example, he describes a depth charge attack (a crack and a boom and pressure through the hull) as something that made the men realize the training exercise did not approximate reality (or that the real thing was nothing like the Hollywood version). I thought a depth charge attack was one of the most terrifying ordeals in a submarine and as a result was very interested in reading what it was like by someone who was there first-hand, but it gets very little coverage.

However, knowing that the events were real and the people were real makes this book an excellent read. I recommend it.

O'Kane's the real deal, sailor, warrior, leader, survivor and writer.

This is his story and that of the USS Tang, one of the most successful submarines operating in the Pacific. O'Kane was one of a new breed of submarine skippers who traded caution for results with great success but at huge risks. One of the most effective tactics was to take the surfaced submarine into the middle of Japanese convoys at night, attacking multiple ships and then escaping to the depths.

The action is heartstopping and explains why the Navy pulled some of the more conservative older skippers out of their boats and replaced them with men like this. But the story is much more than simply tactics and bravery above all expectations, it is a story about true leadership. Young MBA's would do better asking themselves what characteristics of leadership did O'Kane and his officers utilize to achieve so much with so very little in tangible rewards to offer their crews. There were few rewards for the truly outstanding sub crews, congratuations, a sense of team and the dubious honor of being sent back out on patrol as soon as possible.

The description of various engagements may seem a little dry and technical to someone who has not been out on the sea on a dark night trying to make sense of faint shadows and movement. For fans of surface warfare who think subs are like hunting with poison gas the descriptions of night surface attacks in the middle of escorted convoys will fully dispell that image.

The book is a great reminder of the incredible courage of those who have gone to sea to defend our country for more than 220 and those who continue to do so today.

Julia Fox Garrison is one very ballsy broad with just the right kind of self-effacing and acid sense of humor and gutsy determination to see herself through a bad situation. Following a massive brain hemmorhage or stroke, whatever you want to call it, which very nearly kills her and leaves her whole left side flaccid and useless, she makes up her mind that she is going to come back from this, even if it kills her - which, if she'd listened to her doctors, could very well happen. For months she denies that she's in denial about a complete recovery, but after more than a year of rehabilitation, she is finally forced to admit that she'll probably never be perfect again, and begins to appreciate what faculties and skills she has recovered. Besides the obvious humor sprinkled throughout the book, there are also the awful moments, the incredibly sad ones. Like the time she realizes that even her 3 yr-old son recognizes her limitations and becomes used to getting all his support from his dad - the night she goes to him in the night when he is crying and tries to help, and Rory says: "I want Daddy, I don't want you ... No, you can't help me. You have your own problems. You fall down and you need help and you need someone to get you up."

Or when she makes a visit to her old office and endures the stares and the tentativeness of her old colleagues: "... because you simply don't look the way you looked the last time you were there. You are on industrial-strength doses of steroids as well as a cocktail of other drugs and your face is swollen and misshapen, like a pumpkin head."

Or when she and her husband, Jim, who has done everything for her since her stroke, make love for the first time in more than a year: "When you are done, you both cry a little and hold each other. 'Now we're a couple again,' Jim whispers."

In the end this is a book about not just determination and guts, but about love, and about a very supportive family (Julia's husband, parents and 8 brothers) who help her back to wellness. Anyone who has ever suffered a debilitating illness and struggled back to some semblance of health and dignity will appreciate this book, as will their friends and family members. It is quite simply a great story. - Tim Bazzett, author of Love, War & Polio

Julia Garrison Fox writes her experiences after suffering a stroke at the age of 37. This is a must read for all healthcare professionals especially those who work in the rehabilitation field. She pulls no punches and write candidly about what it feels like both physically and emotionally to go through a life altering incident. This is a wake-up call for all in the healthcare field, we are real good at treating the body but we sometimes forget the human spirit we are also caring for.

I really loved this book, and would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Although I've never suffered any of the physical impairments that the author has, her story is very easy to relate to. Not to mention that it serves as a reminder to all of us to never give up, and to never take anything for granted.

Ms. Garrison's persistance is to be admired, as is her sense of humor through ordeals that have broken the spirits of many. Kudos to you, Julia, and may you never lose your courage, love of life, and wonderful spirit!

I read the first two paragraphs, stopped, and read them again. I then got up from my comfy chair, found my husband and daughter and read the first two paragraphs aloud to them. We were all blown away. The rest of Julia Garrison's story is just as breathtaking. I couldn't put it down. I cried hard twice and laughed out loud too many times to count. When I finished, I just sat for a long while with the book in my hands, looking at the cover, wishing for more. I'm the same age the author was when, without warning, she had a massive stroke, and her life changed forever. So I keep imagining myself in her shoes, wondering if I possess the courage, determination, and positive attitude Julia has, wondering if I would survive...and then thrive. I don't know, but I know this: Her story inhabits me now. And I carry her messages of positive attitude, dignity, and hope with me. This book should be read by everyone who has ever been a patient, everyone who has ever faced overwhelming obstacles, every doctor, and definitely every medical student. Have I left anyone out?

I am a rehab nurse and I just couldn't put this book down.

Yes, all of the portraits are not flattering of folks in the healthcare profession. We must view patients as people, with all their likes, dislikes and quirks.

I found it to be a very funny, uplifting first person account.