D Books

It doesn't go into great detail but provides a good overview. I was given some used baby bottles/nipples that looked in great condition but I wanted to boil them. The book briefly described that boiling them was not necessary in most cercumstances but didn't go the extra mile to say how long to boil them if I chose to do so. It seems to be a good reference guide but is a bit outdated in some controversal topics at this point.

I've used this book countless times and have given it as a gift to at least 3 new mothers. They still thank me for the book. It explains what caused the illness, when to seek medical attention, how the doctor will treat it, and how to prevent it. YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK!

I had purchased this book a few years ago and the recipient was so pleased with it she buys one for every baby shower she attends. I also bought one recently from Amazon which was a much better price. This recipient hasn't put it down yet. It is a great resource for mothers and fathers to be but also after birth. Just about every question you have will be answered. You'll save a lot of phone calls to the pediatrician.

Highly recommeneded!!!

I really like the center of the book that lists all illness and injuries that children of all ages can experience. It gives information about what it is, what you can do to treat it and signs and symptoms that you need to see a doctor.
This book is going to be a valuable resource to us for many years to come.

Having this book with three young kids is a must! Great reference for sick babies and also loads of interesting stuff about growth and development.

As many have already said, this book is fantastic. Not only does it cover a WIDE variety of information and topics but it also gets into the why of magick as well as the how. The author rights in both an intelligent yet somewhat casual and even entertaining manner at times and thusly manages to keep your attention throughout the book.
The only real quibbles I had were some of the correspondences in the index, in particular with the elemental rulership of the seven traditional planets. All in all, though, this is a very refreshing, informative, and invaluable tool that will help both the "armchair" and practicing magician, as well as anyone who just wants to read up on the subject and get a good comprehensive overview of Western occultism. I DEFINITELY recommend getting this book in conjunction with Donal Kraig's Modern Magick.

I'm just here to enforce the 5 star ratings that the other reviewers gave. This book along with Dave Griffin's "Ritual Magic Manual" are the few books that actually give us "step by step" instruction in PRACTICAL Golden Dawn Ritual Magick. Dave's book is for those that have time and patience for longer rituals (but it's still great) but this book has simpler, less time consuming rituals (but just as potent). In one email correspondence I had with the author J.M. Greer, he said that this (simplicity) is what he intended, and I'm glad he did because if I'm in a hurry and want to do a working then I can turn to this one and STILL do magick that's in-line with the Golden Dawn current!

This with "Paths of Wisdom" form a 'dynamic duo' in top notch cabalistic magick!!!

I highly recommend this author to seekers of wisdom!

This is a great book, it will become a Golden Dawn classic. Highly recommended reading after Israel Regardie, Pat Zalewski and Chic & Sandra Tabatha Cicero. Much needed for todays student of the GD.

Written by a true practicing magician, Circles of Power is a marvelous modern occult text full of practical advice and formulae based on the Golden Dawn tradition, founded on Cabalistic Magick.

Greer synthesizes the Golden Dawn system concisely and clearly into an outstanding modern Magickal Manual. It compares favorably to, if not better than, Kraig's Modern Magick or Frater U.D.'s High Magick, two excellent similar books.

Like those other books on Ceremonial Magick, Greer covers the basics from theory to practice and offers exercises to learn the systems. Unlike other books, however, he doesn't stop his book and suggest that you commit a month to some exercise before turning a page. Though regular work and experimentation will reward the practitioner, it's refreshing not to be asked by an author to stop reading a book in the middle of it.

Greer's excellent writing offers the reader no-nonsense, straight forward instruction like a well written text book. Never is the reader in doubt as to the writer's genuine knowledge of the material.

Greer's commitment to excellence is shown in his choice to edit out all the Enochian elements from the Golden Dawn Rituals he's presenting. Rather than just parrot what others have said, (including the GD itself), he refrains because he feels his understanding and experience of that part off the work is inadequate. The removal of these elements, by the way, detracts nothing from the rituals and work he presents. He substitutes Cabalistic elements skillfully and effectively in their stead. (I personally like the Enochian system and hope Greer eventaully delves into it and shares his insights.)

The weakest part of the book is Llewellyn's publishing. Give them points for including an index, but, considering how excellent this book is, Llewellyn's decision to use pulp acid paper is tantamount to a crime. No one who reads this book, no practicing magician at any rate, would ever consider it disposable, but it will yellow and crumble over time. This is a sad state when one considers the publisher's short print runs and thinks how sought after this book will be in the second hand market when it falls out of print.

My advice; if you're new the art, or old to the art, or interested in the least, you should buy this book. It's excellent. Like Greer's other book in this series, Paths of Wisdom, Circles of Power is destined to be a classic. Buy it now while you can still afford it.

Probably Greer's best work to date. I have to say I'm a fan of Greer's even though I have disliked a couple of his other works but this book should be read and studied by those who're interested in working ritual magic. I say should be because every ceremonial magical text is generally suggested to be obtained and read by the novice if you take a look at the average website on this topic. Sadly though many of those sites don't mention this book and I'm not sure why.

The book is from a straightforward Golden Dawn approach to the Western Mystery Tradition & ritual magic. Oh I hear the groans now but let me say that the rites are pared down to their core and stripped of all that ballyhoo traditionally associated with the G.: D.: material! That alone is worth the time to read thru this manual. Also like Kraig's

"Modern Magick", "Circles of Power" is intended to be a manual used by the solitary practitioner though it can be adapted easily enough for group workings.

Is there anything in here that's not covered elsewhere? Not really and yet he does touch on some interesting aspects regarding the Telesmatic Imagery techniques usually only mentioned in other works. Also he does a nice job of explaining the rituals and why they're used instead of just saying "practice this three times a day for the next two years" and leave it at that.

One of the best things about this book is the simple language the author uses to express his views and understanding of the subject which in most cases one has to really struggle at first to get the gist of. Not so here. For instance, on page 109 under the heading of "Contemplation" Greer writes: "The central factor in contemplation, and the only aspect of it that can be called a 'technique' at all, is bare intention." Nicely said. Now if you read Israel Regardie's book on the Golden Dawn, it's not written as simply as that. Why? The style evoked by Regardie - and sadly other ceremonial magical authors - is one of the snooty scholar. "Either keep up with me or give it up" tends to be their way of weeding out those who aren't worthy of the "many petaled lotus". For a novice student, Greer's simple language is a God-send. Had I had this book back in 1988 when I started my inquiries into Ritual Magic and G.: D.: material, I think I'd have made a lot more progress.

One thing I wasn't happy about is the lack of detailed analysis of the Sephiroth's correspondences. For instance there's no mention of the scents listed for each sephira. So if you had only this book at your disposal, you wouldn't know that tobacco is the traditional scent used for the sephira of Geburah. I have to wonder if the author's intention was to use this book in conjunction with say Regardie's "Golden Dawn" manual.

Another oddity offered in the book is the line drawing of the magical sword. On page 206 a trident is shown but it is referred to as a sword. Why I haven't a clue. Perhaps the company made an error in line drawings, I don't know. The trident is normally used in ritual magic and is rarely mentioned outside of the Solomonic grimoires so its inclusion here leaves a mystery to be answered by the author.

In the chapter about Evocation under the heading of "Dealing With Spirits", the author provides some excellent advice on dealing with the Spirits. Pages 243-247 should be read several times before the novice runs off casting his circle of power to summon the Spirits of Riches and Wealth. Mind you Greer does not give you duck billed platitudes on ethics unlike some of the other authors on this subject, rather he gives you some good, solid, clear ideas to think about regarding dealing with the Spirits themselves.

Finally I give him five stars on this effort. This is a subject that is very difficult to digest into one simplified work as this but Greer has made some strides doing so. I highly recommend this book to all who're interested in the subjects of Ritual Magic, Evocation or the Golden Dawn.

This story of one man's life journey, is a compelling read--couldn't put the book down and finished in two reads. His comfortable writing style draws you in and is emotionally evocative--found myself moved to tears at several points. Highly recommended!

Mark Hyde uses this book as a tool in which to deliver his heart and soul. In reading it, we see the incarnation of a genuine, loving and fearless spirit.

I loved this book, couldn't put it down. It was a moving and inspiring account of one person's struggle against invalidation and judgment. I so admire the author's courage and the strength it took for him to make some hard choices in order to live his truth. This is not about being gay or straight, black or white, male or female, so much as it is about being human and living your own truth. A great read that will inspire!!!!

This is truly an inspired book. Mark has captured the essence of how to be true to your real self and live your best life. Once you start this book you won't want to put it down. And after you have read, it you will know what it will take to live the rest of your life to the fullest with spirit. Gay or Straight this book is for everyone.

It only took me two evenings to finish this book. I didn't want to put it down. What an amazing life story. He has had a fare share of what life can give us. And to have so much intelligence and poise to become such a strong, warm and kind individual is admirable.
I came away with wanting to do everything I can to be a better person, for me.
This book really touched my heart!
Thank you Mark. Can't wait for your next book!!! :)

I took Corporate Tax and this book was very helpful in applying the concepts found in the book. My book Fundamentals of Corporate Taxation) has various problems but no answers so this book provided a multitude of examples containing thorough answers and gives a better understanding of the material. Highly recommended as a supplemental source for review. The book does not cover all the case law though and depending on professor and type of exam, so material may not be contained, though all the major points are covered.

The book is fantastic. Plain and simple. I have highlighted, written in the margins, on the covers, and in some way marked up almost every page of the book. Not only did I find it immensely useful for her class, but also used it in conjunction with Bittker & Eustice (the corp tax bible, but not for the faint of heart) for a corporate reorganization class. Using the last 1/3 of her book made slogging through the B&E book much less painful. Highly recommended.

While it does not go into as much detail as I will need to know for the exam this book is a great substitute for actually paying attention in class.

This is an excellent book to understand Subchapter C. The order it follows is methodical. It goes to explain all the tax issues that arise from formation of the corporation (incorporation and contributions) to midlife events (dividends, redemptions) to liquidation. It deals with taxable and non-taxable reorganizations and with such interesting issues as Section 304 transactions. It is not and cannot be a complete guide to corporate taxation. it would have to be several volumes, but it accomplishes perfectly what it is meant to do. Cheryl Block did a fantastic job. the example and explanations are very useful.

This volume reduces into terms capable of being readily absorbed the application of Subchapter C. The examples and explanations are basic while conveying the needed concepts of various treatments of contributed property, boot, distributions, attribution rules, etc.

The book was great: I agree with the previous reviewer's comparison of Wickert's book to a Grisham political thriller.

Frankly, however, that all takes a back seat to the guy who wrote the book. Check out the photo on the back cover. I'm in love.

Justine Burke, Petoskey, Michigan

As a reader of mostly non-fiction (especially biographies), I was pleasantly surprised on how Dark Redemption kept my attention. I started reading it about 6PM on a Friday and besides a few activities (mowing a yard and going to my nephew's birthday party on Saturday) I was finished by 9AM Sunday morning. It had the intensity of an early Grisham novel and the polish of a Clancy product. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants an intense, fast-paced and well-written novel.

I cannot stand predictable plots and run-of-the-mill endings. Dark Redemption has neither. It holds your attention from start to finish, gently weaving character after character into the storyline, while building a crescendo of suspense that culimates in one of the most surprising endings I've yet to come across in mainstream political/historical fiction. I even learned a lot about the Ku Klux Klan and the CIA! A real winner!

Tis book is a very fast paced and exciting political thriller. For a first time author, Mr. Wickert has done a very good job. As one reviewer commented, it would be interesting to see Hollywood make a movie of this book.
I look forward to Mr. Wickert's next novel.

Dark Redemption starts off slowely and the author builds the disparate characters into a well organized pastiche of the spy/terrorist genre. The book quickly becomes a "can't put it down" marathon. The final denouement is worthy of the best in its class. Its a good read!

James Feldman has been there, done that. In fact, he's highly experienced in being there...getting there. A veteran traveler and travel planner, he's learned the secrets that can turn a potential nightmare into an enjoyable journey. Readers will learn more travel tips than they could imagine even existed. Even the most seasoned traveler (I log between 100,000 and 200,000 miles each year) will benefit from what's in these pages.

Unlike some other books in this field, this one is funny, easy to read, and a real trip in itself. The design makes reading this volume a real pleasure. Take it on your next flight and watch your seatmate look over your shoulder.

Note: This book was written before 9/11/01, so travel has taken on a whole new dimension since its publication. Don't let that concern you. There is still an incredible amount of valuable information, advice, and insight in these pages.

Highly recommended.

The quotes are great and some of the stories hysterical. It does remind me somewhat of The Accidental Tourist with regard to the advice for life, not just for travel.

I am afraid to fly. I am afraid to travel outside my southern Illinois home town. This book helped me to understand the ups and downs of travel. The toll free phone numbers and web pages were a great help in planning the trip of a lifetime...to Hawaii. Thanks to Doctor Travel for his advice and counsel.

As a frequent traveler I thought I discovered all of the answers. Dr. Travel shows me that I was wrong. He has uncovered lots of solutions to problems that I thought were unsolveable. For anyone that is planning a trip...take the Doctor with you.

I travel over 200 days a year. I thought I knew it all until I read Doctor Travel's book. I love it. Filled with useful tips, humorous stories, and wonderful illustrations, I read the entire book on one flight. I could not put it down. If you are planning any trips, take the doctor with you.

I lost 20 lbs after reading Arnots books. He offers safe and effective advice for folks who want to live longer and healthier lives.

Dr. Bob's "Guide to Turning Back the Clock" is 100 percent accurate and a good motivational tool for both men and women. I had no idea that enriched flour ... is so bad for your body. He has some very good ideas on how to eat and "fuel" your body. I especially liked the sections on roller blading and cross country skiing. This is the "one" diet/fitness book to have at your side. Cousin Arnold is right: "Be the best you've ever been. Now is the time and this is the book!"

Very informative book. It contains a lot of useful information. I became bored with many parts of the book especially when Dr. Arnot went into long discussions on topics like which sports equipment to purchase. Overall the book contained very practical information. I found the diet information extremely useful, but a little hard to actually implement. For a short time after reading the book, I actually did follow Dr. Arnot's eating advice and felt better than I have in a long time.

Sensible and practical. No quick fixes, but collects a bunch of good tips into one place.

great book, very informative, talks about not only diet, but also the importance of exercise and mixing it up. Not just cardio but muscle building/strengthening as well. No BS in his book, everything makes sense. Oh yeah, Arnie recommends it.

I absolutly adored this book, and I can't come up with enough good things to say about it. It's great for absolutly any age (I'm 26) and I read the first three books in two days.

Wholeheartedly reccomended for girls, who will find a near perfect heroine and role model in Emma.

I loved this book,it was a great story.i cant wait till i get my hands on the third book.

I loved this story because there were more adventures and surprises, but the end made me sad until I read the next book, Once upon A Curse, and everything was better. I was hooked, I read one and I had to read them all!!!!!!!!!!

Wow!! I LOVED this book! After reading Frog Princess, I thought there couldn't be a better book in the world! But I was wrong! I loved this book even more than Frog Pricess! I love it so much, I finished it in a day. If you liked Frog Princess, READ THIS!!! If you didn't, you should still read this because it was GREAT!!! I read the third one too, and it was also great, I would recemend the series to anyone! Read them. You will LOVE them I promise!!!!!!:)

If you want to read "Dragon's Breath" I suggest you read "The Frog Princess" first so you can understand it better. In "Dragon's Breath" Emma and Eadric help Emma's Aunt Grassina, the current 'Green Wtich', turn her true love, Haywood, back into a person from a otter. After overhearing a wizard talking to the soul of her grandmother, who turned Haywood into an otter in the first place, Emma learns the things needed to turn him back. Hearing this she sets off to find the ingreddients with Eadric by her side. They find many weird 'things' along the way including dragons witch makes Emma's magic stronger. The neighboring kingdom chose this miment to attack. With Grassina distracted and Emma's magic out of controll it looks like Emma's father's army is going to lose untill something very strange happenes......

It's an old recipe. Cut a duck's neck and bleed it into the soup pot. The new version requires medical knowledge from a drug-addled doctor who cannot escape his ghosts or himself.

Dr. Rocky Van Slyke is head surgical resident at a Philadelphia inner city hospital where the dregs of society, medicine and the law meet and mingle. Son of a whoring mother and a military father, Rocky spins his story like a Quentin Tarantino film in short vignettes that careen dizzily at times from past to present and back again.

Long hours, grueling studies, an opportunistic hospital lawyer, and the demons of the present and the past drive Rocky from the arms of pharmaceuticals via Vince, the hospital lawyer, and his own prescription pad into a self-created hell.

Duck Blood Soup by Dr. Joseph Molea is Naked Lunch with a medical sensibility, clean pharmaceutical grade drugs, and a descent into oblivion without the psychedelic dreams. Dr. Molea writes from personal experience and tells a sordid tale that never raises its head from the sewers. Dark, sometimes endlessly whining, and blatantly unforgiving, Duck Blood Soup sheds a glaring operating room light on the lengths a broken soul will go to convince himself that he can climb from the depths of the pit of emotional hell and back into decency with a needle in his arm.

Addiction is an insidious disease which begins with the first pill, the first drink, the first whatever. It builds and it builds, taking over a person who soon becomes a slave to the addiction. Living for the addiction created within until death or intervention breaks the cycle. And even for those addicted that because of their training should know better, they are often just as powerless to stop their own addiction as the drug addict living beneath the bridge. They just use a better class of drugs.

For Dr. Rocky VanSlyke, resident of All Saints Hospital in Philadelphia, waking up after a seizure caused by drug use should have done the trick. But it didn't and his slide continues further into the nightmarish world of prescription drug addiction. His methods of choice being Demerol and Percocet. As he begins to lose control over both his personal life and his professional life, the reader is repeatedly taken back in time to his early childhood, teen years, and college life in a search for answers. There were numerous warning signs in every stage of his life, but like his seizure, he didn't see them coming or what they were.

As the pages pass, the reader is exposed to the joy of escape through addiction in the beginning, which soon morphs into a nightmare as the addition goes out of control. That time when addiction rules every second of every day and becomes subservient to everything else. The slow slide into madness continues throughout the work leaving the reader to wonder if this Rocky will get off the canvass one more time.

As a novel, this is an incredibly disturbing read, which will resonate in those with addiction problems. According to the cover, it is "Based on Actual Events" while in the intro the author asks " . . . to be judged, not as an autobiographer, but as a writer of fiction." One wonders where the line is because the work reads all too real from start to finish. For those who have never understood the power of addition over every fiber of a person, this dark and disturbing book is a must read. Afterwards, it might just be a little clearer for you.

Book Facts:

Duck Blood Soup: The Shocking Story of a Real Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
By Joseph Molea, MD
Mystery and Suspense Press (iUniverse)
www.iuniverse.com
2002
Large Trade Paperback
218 Pages
$16.95 US
$27.95 Canada
ISBN # 0-595-21843-1

Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

upon reading this Book i was feeling the many shifts&twists it took. some books hit you early&then venture off after a while but not this Book page after page it becomes a Jaw Dropping expeirence.a Must read&Very intense.

Duck Blood Soup is the rarest of novels, one that grabs you by the lapels on page one, shakes you back and forth in an increasingly frenzied manner as you frantically turn one page after another, and leaves you changed by the whole gripping experience. This is more than just a remarkably good read, however - it is a shocking warning about the dangers of addiction. Dr. Molea has devoted his life to helping medical doctors and other professionals deal with and overcome the deadly trap of addiction. Drug addiction among physicians is a subject I have never given a thought to, but it is easy to see how the insane pressures of such a job, particularly in its earliest stages, can lead to such a problem. Simply saying that drug addiction, especially among doctors, is a terrible, tragic thing makes the point but doesn't cause the true meaning of the words to resonate. What Molea does in Duck Blood Soup is lock the reader in a literary bear hug, take him on a harrowing descent into the maelstrom of addiction, and deliver a visceral lesson that is impossible to forget.

The novel draws from the author's personal experience as well as the experiences of others he has worked with, yet it is unequivocally a work of fiction. It tells the story of young Dr. Rocky VanSlyke, a resident surgeon with a terrible childhood behind him and a rosy future ahead of him - or so it would appear. It isn't an easy life by any means. Rocky has to deal with the incredibly long hours of a resident doctor, the pressure of holding people's lives in his hands every single day, and the stress that comes from dealing with other doctors, nurses, and younger med students; then there's his somewhat dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend Karla. Still, he might have made it through this period of his life okay, despite a natural proclivity toward addictive behavior - had he not met Vince. Vince Buddy holds some kind of vague legal consulting job with the hospital, and he and Rocky soon become pals. Vince has a problem, and he soon makes it Rocky's problem. It starts with a few Percocets here and there, something to take the edge off and keep him alert; before long, Rocky is injecting Demerol into his veins and becoming completely addicted, both physically and emotionally. Vince shows Rocky how easy it is to get the stuff; all it takes is a prescription from young Dr. VanSlyke himself, a judicious choice of pharmacies, and the syringes and paraphernalia Rocky has at his fingertips every day.

Things go downhill fast for Rocky, and you are right there with him for the deadly ride. Molea understands the mindset of the addict, and this is the source of this novel's incredible power. We see Rocky get deeper and deeper into trouble, watch his self-pledges to give it all up fall away into more and more drug use, shake our head as he continues to rationalize his drug use in the most irrational of manners, even when the cops are ready to pounce on him for his illicit activities and - most disturbingly of all - the very lives of his patients are threatened by his growing incapacity to perform his job. Even the life-threatening trauma of a Grand Mal seizure does nothing to help Rocky see the light. Vince is one slick fellow, engineering many an escape for himself and his friendly drug supplier, but the criminal trail of fake prescriptions and drug abuse these two leave behind them is glaringly obvious to all those who look their way with a critical eye.

Duck Blood Soup is not an uplifting or comforting read. Reading about someone, much less a doctor, injecting himself with a narcotic in different parts of his body, adding Percocet, cough syrup, and other drug concoctions to the deadly mix, working with gravely ill and completely vulnerable patients during times of artificial highs and even more frightening withdrawal-borne lows, and proving himself unable to save himself from the brink of absolute ruin makes for a harrowing, sometimes shocking, always disturbing reading experience. Blood Duck Soup takes you right inside the mind of an addict, and it makes for a read you won't soon forget. I would say that this novel is addictive in and of itself, but that does not seem apropos given the subject matter.

DUCK BLOOD SOUP by Joseph Molea MD
8/18/04

DUCK BLOOD SOUP by Joseph Molea, MD, took me by surprise. I was expecting a story filled with violence and gore, due to the title. And since I'm not familiar with the Polish culture, I was not aware of what Duck Blood soup was in the first place. This book is the story of a young medical resident who gets himself hooked on prescription drugs. Rocky Van Slyke is a young man who is on his way to becoming a doctor, but takes a detour courtesy of a shady lawyer, Vincent Buddy, who uses Rocky to get prescriptions filled for his own use.

Rocky doesn't see Vince as anything more than a potential friend and the hospital's resident lawyer. Vince uses Rocky by enticing him with the drugs, and demonstrating that these drugs are an easy way of getting high. Being a doctor, it is easy for Rocky to get these drugs by writing up a prescription under false pretenses. Vince knows that once Rocky is hooked, he'll do anything to help Vince obtain the drugs.

The story opens with Rocky finding himself in a hospital and being told he just had a seizure. They hint to him that it is possibly the exposure to drugs. Thus our story begins. Rocky is the narrator of DUCK BLOOD SOUP. He goes back and forth in time, alternating the past with the present. He tells the story of his childhood: His father who was always away in the Army; his lonely mother who resorts to finding comfort in the arms of other men; and his life after his mother dies, in which he takes care of his dying crippled father. The story always returns to the present, with Rocky dealing with Vince and his drug habit, his fellow residents at the hospital, and his girlfriend Karla.

While at first the reader may not see where the story is headed, it becomes clear that Rocky's past has a lot to do with his present. Molea does a good job at creating this person, Rocky, and describing what makes him tick. It also becomes apparent what Vince the shady lawyer is doing to Rocky, and a few secrets come out at the end of the story about this lawyer, which will tie it all together. Vince's relationship with Rocky, at least to this reviewer, first appears to be innocent, but as the book progresses, it becomes obvious that their relationship is more akin to a parasite.

I am recommending DUCK BLOOD SOUP. It's well written all around, and I hope that Molea continues to write, as he shows he's got what it takes to write a good book. Excellent!

I think this book is terrific, however, I have ME AND Fibromyalgia. (chronic fatigue with chronic pain everywhere). Does anyone know of a great book on this subject?

Thank you, Cyn

I suffer from CFS and I find this book has helped me quite a lot. It's clearly and well written, gatherig all the main facts about this complex illness.

I was diagnosed with post-viral CFS in 1988. This book is an excellent description of living with CFS except for one thing: 3/4 of marriages affected by chronic illness break up, which means that most of us don't have the live-in support system she had.

Some disbelieving doctors like to attribute CFS to "secondary gain" or enablers who allow the patient to "enjoy the sick role". Unfortunately, for many CFS patients, there's no enabler and the only thing you gain is the stress of trying to make ends meet with no income.

Wall tells of having someone run her bath, gently wash her, dress her, and help her back to bed. That's a luxury most of us don't enjoy. If I'm not well enough to cook, I don't get dinner; if I cannot safely get in and out of the tub by myself, I don't bathe (on a cold winter day when I needed a bath to warm up, I got stuck in the tub for over an hour because I lacked the strength to boost myself up and out, and there was no one to call for help).

Wall's live-in support structure allowed her to do what those of us who live alone can't: use all her energy to write a book to explain to the rest of the world what it's like to be trapped in a body and brain that don't function.

I recommend this not only to patients, but to their friends and family as one of the best patient-written books I've read.

I have suffered from CFS since the late 70's although I was able to "push" through the majority of those years. I am now back in an accute phase and found Dorothy Wall's book fascinating , beautifully written and helpful. It helped make my illness real for me since I have never "looked" ill and have learned to doubt that what I have is real. I found it a story of the truth, which was most refreshing and inspiring.

I found this to be an excellent book on CFIDS. I too suffer from it and feel sometimes I am the only one in my corner of the world that has it. It is helpful to read about someone else who has the same symptoms so I realize I am not " losing it" and it is real. The author also provides comphrensive data relating to medical, historical, and social aspects of this troubling illness. I would highly suggest this to people who have CFIDS and those who want to learn more about it. It is a a very readable book that is packed with information and is not boring or dry.