T Books

This is an awsome book. IT had great detail and kept your mind on the book. It was like Vestal was your best friend sitting next to you telling you her life story. I read it as a Vestal fan but, it's great forany reader of any age Christian or not this book will show you Vestal's life(much like ours)hasn't been filled with mountian top expierances it will make you look at her in a totally differnt way weather you love Vestal or just love to read you will enjoy this book.Happy Reading!

This is one of the best books I have ever read.It is very hard to put down.

I have read Vestal! three times now, and find more things each time I read it. This book can uplift you when you are at your lowest point. Vestal's experiences and the things that she has gone through was enough to bring even the strongest man down without the faith and belief in God that she possesses. She is not afraid to let the readers know that without God and strong faith and belief she would have survived her journey. She is an inspiration to everyone in her book and in person.

I have admired Vestal Goodman for years, especially because of her former hairstyles. I read this book and could not put it down. I understood how her life had come up from bootstraps and how time and time again they were desolate and had nothing but the Goodman Family and faith. Vestal was honest and frank about several relationships and theology. She did not mince words on anything. Vestal wrote this book not to impress anyone but to honor God.

This is such a delightful, inspirational book that I chose to review it for a couple of the Round Table groups in our church. [These are groups of Christian women who meet monthly at a member's home for a book review, prayer-and-share time, food and fun.] I included a couple of video clips of her singing and praying. Vestal and her husband Howard (both recently deceased)led amazing lives full of faith and miracles as well as hardships and disappointments. They trusted God to meet their needs and he always did. They experienced miracles of all types, including physical healings. I "met" the Goodmans years ago on television and became "reacquainted" when they began appearing on the Gaither Gospel Concerts (live, video, tv) in 1991. Like the rest of Vestal's fans, I was attracted to her clear, strong, one-of-a-kind voice, and the sweet spirit that showed on her face with a special glow when she sang. I'm thankful to have been able to see and hear her in person in Dallas in 2003 just ten months before she died. Vestal always gave glory to God and Jesus when she sang. She was a spiritual advisor to hundreds of people including celebrities such as George Jones, and was known as a great Prayer Warrior. She had a wonderful sense of humor, and I laughed out loud at some of her stories. The book includes pictures of the Goodmans (and others) through the years. It's a special book that stays with you. I keep telling my friends about different stories from it!

Walking in Victory is a must read for any believer at any level of maturity. This book lays out some amazing truths from God's Word in a clear and easy to understand way. Mr. McCallum does an excellent job explaining how we can have victory day to day because as you will see in the book, Christ has already accomplished what we were never able to do. We have a new identity and learning about this new identity will change your life! This is also a great book to go through in a small group and study guides are available at [..].

Books like Walking in Victory are invaluable because they directly use and teach the Bible. This book is a guide to the crucial concepts in Romans 5-8, concepts that every Christian needs. The interpretation is accurate and the application contemporary. McCallum writes in an easy to follow, to-the-point style that is, as other reviewers have mentioned, very useful when trying to help a new Christian. On the other hand, because these concepts are straight from the Bible, long-time followers of Christ will be consistently challenged.

Years ago, studying this book clarified key areas of the Christian life, helping me to finally get my own walk with God and ministry going. Victory lies in a believer's full acceptance before God based on Christ's atoning work on the cross. It's by understanding and focusing on this truth that Christians are able to develop lives of zeal, ministry effectiveness, and slow growth toward true holiness. Aside from the Gospel message itself, this concept, my identity in Christ, has been the most important lesson I've ever learned, and I haven't found a more sound explanation of it than in Walking in Victory. Now, I rely heavily on this book in mentoring students, and I'm able to see in them the fruit that is born from an informed and enthusiastic grace-focus.
The content matter, perfect for the scholar or new convert, is masterfully presented and extremely useful. McCallum skillfully mixes careful Biblical exposition and interpretation with down-to-earth application and insightful observations of human nature to create a work that is both provocative and practical.
I highly recommend this book to all believers who want to begin their walks with God on the right foot, who wish to deepen their appreciation of their identity in Christ, and who seek to help ground others in the firm foundation of grace.

I really like this author's body of work. I've read all his non-fiction. He's very objective and can sound a little bit like notes from a lecture. But it is also emotionally productive, without the bells and whistles, unlike many Christian authors, and has genuine feeling and vulerability to appeal to anyone's subjective sensibilities. This book is my favorite from this author. He wrote that walking with God is about tranformation by the Spirit, not a change of behavior. The author makes points about principles and leaves the reader in charge of how to purpose God based on teachings from the Bible. This message is biblical and encouraging to anyone who has accepted Christ but doesn't know what to do next. This book is not a self-help book. It's not a method plan. Many Christians love the book of Romans and should really take a look at this book as extracurricular. This book is not a substitute for reading the Bible but a companion, conversation piece, the result of the word of God in the author's live - which the author states could happen to anyone who wants a personal relationship with God through Christ.

If you've never understood God's acceptance and grace fully, this is a book you would definitely benefit from! McCallum obviously put a lot of thought into how he could make these deep truths easier to understand and apply. Personally, I love the tables sprinkled throughout this book. They do so much to make things clearer, and are a great resource for group bible studies!!

Some of the many tables found in this book:
<> Comparing Biblical and Modern Love
<> How the Means of Growth (Prayer, Word, Fellowship, Ministry) work together and affect one another.
<> Our Old Self (in Adam) vs. Our New Self (in Christ)
<> Living under the Law vs. Living in Grace

This is a wonderful, hilarious, moving account of how Dr. Vertosick progressed(or regressed?) from a mere mortal of a junior medical student to a god of Neurosurgery. It is filled with comedy and tragedy--both of which are chronicled by the author with uncompromising honesty and compassion. A great book for the non-medically-inclined reader!

The book starts out a little slow, but it does pick some speed. This is a narration of the life of a young (and naïve) neurosurgeon in residency. Frank Vertosick shares some profound experiences in this unsparing book, which will be particularly useful to those who want to know what residency entails - it's challenging and interesting points.

Among Vertosick's stories is one about a young man taken into the hospital with the then-unknown disease of AIDS. He became the first person reported to that particular health department with the strange new illness. We are also told heart-wrenching stories of human struggle, like the story of Shirley, who dies after numerous hours of fighting a damaged aorta and brain. There is also a touching story of Andy, who happens to have "trisomy 21" (Down syndrome), and is also deaf, blind, mute, and has a brain hemorrhage.

The book is quite shocking in some parts, and educational too. Where you imagine a triumphant ending, the unexpected (and sad) happens. It's a book of triumphant stories, and disappointing ones. The stories all move at a decent, likable pace. The book leaves you with the feeling that physicians are in fact very human as Vertosick tells the story of Charles, who has an uneventful aneurismal tear while in his hands. Not all is victory as a neurosurgeon. A surgeon often has to deal with death and mistakes.

Some parts were fictionalized to enhance the story, but still a good book nonetheless. Enlightening.

The author has an edgy, sleep-deprived, wisecrack-a-minute style that makes me glad some states, at least, have reduced the number of hours per week a medical resident must work, from one hundred to eighty. Neurosurgery is a very unforgiving craft, and not all of the stories in this book have a happy ending. Neurosurgeons must tackle some pretty hopeless cases, and the human brain is a very unforgiving operating theatre.

Nevertheless, "When the Air Hits Your Brain" is an unputdownable read. I've been through it twice now---once during a night where I couldn't sleep anyway. If you do intend to sleep, don't read it right before going to bed.

Here are the author's five rules for neurosurgery interns:

1. "You ain't never the same when the air hits your brain."
2. "The only minor operation is one that someone else is doing."
3. "If the patient isn't dead, you can always make him worse if you try hard enough."
4. "One look at the patient is better than a thousand phone calls from the nurse."
5. "Operating on the wrong patient or doing the wrong side of the body makes for a very bad day--always ask the patient what side their pain is on, which leg hurts, which hand is numb."

Emotionally, Dr. Vertosick's worst rotation was to the local Children's Hospital. A child who was born with an inoperable brain tumor is the focus of the chapter entitled "Rebecca."

A baby's brain is very hard to operate on: "At six weeks of age, the unmyelinated brain is thick soup which can be inadvertently vacuumed away by operative suctions. Moreover, nerves the thickness of pencil lead in adults are little more than a spider's web in a baby."

Dr. Vertosick doesn't spend the whole book wisecracking. He ends the chapter on Rebecca: "I am not particularly religious. In fact, the birth of children bearing cancers I find difficult to reconcile with a merciful God. Nevertheless, there must be someplace where Rebecca now laughs in the bright sunshine, finally free of her ventilator and gastrostomy."

Read how the author strays into the 'inferno of overconfidence' as a chief resident, and comes "perilously close to emotional incineration." Follow him into the operating room as a patient's brain oozes through his fingers, where he is squirted in the eye by an AIDS patient's spinal fluid, and where he cures a woman who was misdiagnosed as an Alzheimer's patient when what she really had was a brain tumor.

I'm in the process of donating all of my books to the library that I know I won't read again. "When the Air Hits Your Brain" is not one of the donations.

Neurosurgeon Frank Vertsoick Jr.'s memoir opens with the five rules enumerated on his first day of a six year residency and never forgotten:
"Rule number one. You ain't never the same when the air hits your brain....It was built for performance, not for easy servicing.
"Rule number two: The only minor operation is one that someone else is doing.
"Rule number three. If the patient isn't dead, you can always make him worse if you try hard enough.
"Rule four: One look at the patient is better than a thousand phone calls from a nurse.
"Rule five: Operating on the wrong patient or doing the wrong side of the body makes for a very bad day."

These pretty much sum up the tone and gravity of Vertosick's rivetting, harrowing and touching book. The son of a steel worker, Vertosick came to neurosurgery almost by accident. His memoir focuses primarily on the years of training from medical student through chief resident.

Vertosick's first anecdote, from his first operating room observation, will have readers grabbing their throats - literally - in shock. His mentor, Gary (who becomes a familiar chain smoking, fast-talking irreverent character) picks up a drill. Vertosick asks how it knows when to stop before plunging through the skull into the brain and is told it has an automatic clutch mechanism. Only the mechanism fails. Those who continue reading once their heart rates return to normal will be hooked.

In an arrogant profession, Vertosick is an appealing narrator. He can also write. His descriptions of hospital routine and crisis, pecking orders and interdisciplinary rivalries are frenetic and often hilarious.

But his portraits of individual patients bring them to poignant life and often death. There are happy endings - the young, virile accident victim whose progressive paralysis indicated spinal damage, but who was saved by a risky diagnosis and fast surgery. But there are many others - the retarded man whose aneurysm became something worse through a slip of the knife,or the pregnant woman with a brain tumor who refused to abort her baby and therefore refused treatment in medicine's litigous atmosphere.

But Vertosick's memoir is not just a string of anecdotes. It's a portrait of his profession and its effect on a doctor's psyche. He first tasted "the intoxicant of power" after botching a routine procedure on a veteran and being thanked for it. "On the street, this would not be called a medical procedure but assault and battery - with witnesses, no less!"

There's the exhiliration of saving life. One of those was a man pronounced brain dead and delivered as an organ donor. Thanks to Vertosick and an observant junior, the man walked out of the hospital a week later and lived another two years.

While Vertosick's subject is inherently fascinating, it's the author's ability to convey his exuberance, fear, anguish and joy that leave the reader hoping he'll trade scalpel for word processor again.

This stands out in the field of medical literature. By definition, there are a very select number of people who could have written this book. Firstly, the number of brain surgeons is strictly limited (duh) for reasons that become apparent as the book progresses. Secondly, and most importantly, I think only a small minority of them can be as bloody good writers as Vertosick.

The book conveys pathos, humour and a dramatic shift in mindset experienced by our author as he is initiated into neurosurgery...from intern to surgical psychopath. This journey takes him several years and a number of lifetimes to complete. The lifetimes are those of the patients and their relatives that he (and we) are priviledged to be invited to share. Naturally, not all the stories have a happy ending and whilst it is clear that Vertosick cares, so, you will find, do you.

Beautifully written, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is also the product of very serious and exhaustive research. It is a magical and haunting book. It brings alive a period of Jewish women's history that is only now being written about in English. Travelling through pre-Holocaust Central Europe with Epstein is an amazing experience: the reader follows both the process of investigation of family history and the emotions this opens up for the writer.

I taught the book several times both in the US and Mexico in classes on Memory and Autobiography. My students loved the book. Many of them bought several copies to give to relatives and friends as gifts. My graduate students (in History and Literature) were impressed by the rigor of Epstein's research, and the skill with which she weaves historical information into her prose.

This is a fascinating chronicle of three generations of the author's female ancestors. It is probably the only book in English that tells the story of Jewish women in Prague in the the first half of the twentieth century. Helen Epstein has a special talent for recreating social history and bringing it alive.

This book was a beautiful personal tribute to the author's ancestors.

I was engrossed in this book from the first page...although it was a slow read for me, because I wanted to grasp the intensity of the generational saga, and grasp the historical facts, correctly. Epstein has more than proved herself in this dramatic memoir of family generations, identity, and history, weaving us through time, each piece of family fabric a part of the final tapestry. The reader is given remnants and squares of fabric in a familial tapestry, of sorts, through history and time, through the horrors of war, and how it affects all the generations, from past to present. From assimilating into society and racial and religous identity, to how one views themselves and what they identify with, Epstein manages to stitch a tapestry of her family, each stitch in time adding to the fabric of her own identity. Bravo for a wonderful read!

In WHERE SHE CAME FROM, Cambridge, Massachusetts-based award-winning author Helen Epstein has penned a meticulously-researched memoir to the four generations of Czech and former Czechoslovak women in her extensive family, from her mother's side of the brood.

While today she associates her public persona to the proud and extensive line of former Czechoslovak Epsteins (see Ms. Epstein's fabulous Amazon Short available off of this site, SWIMMING AGAINST STEREOTYPE: The Story of a Twentieth Century Jewish Athlete), the writer stakes her claim to a noble and illustrious family line which once proudly sported famous Viennese and Prague-based surnames such as Rabinek, Solar, Weigert, Sachsel, Furcht, and Frucht.

Like an experienced batsman for a World Series-winning major-league baseball team, Epstein managed to hang in that old batter's box, waiting for just the right pitch to slug out of the ballpark. In the book world, the analogue was when all the right moments fortuitously transpired to assist Ms. Epstein in securing many essential clues of research which she utilized handily in crafting this excellent book's narrative. Even she'll tell you, the process was far from easy.

Thanks to a dedicated coterie of like-minded collaborators based in points all around the globe as you'll soon read (the former Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic, Israel, South America, and the United States), Ms. Epstein succeeded in cobbling together one of the most comprehensive Czech geneological histories on the public record.

The work is not only emotionally remunerative for Ms. Epstein, to the extent that those missing links in her family chain were finally sewn together, but it's additionally a fine account of several strong women, renowned in their various fields of endeavour, who persevered during the best of times and the absolute horrorific worst of the 20th century.

Starting with Helen's great-grandmother Therese Sachsel, nee Frucht (Furcht), who lived during the reign of Franz-Josef in the last of the Habsburg-ian thrones, passing through her grandmother Pepi's life story during the turbulent First World War and the First Czechoslovak Republic, and finally overlapping the history of her own mother Frances Epstein, Helen pored over hundreds (if not thousands) of archival sources in constructing this cogent tale.

Collectively, these three noble upstanding women belonging to the author's colourful past outlived the worst of the 20th century's ravages, passing fads, and tragic downfalls.

We swoon with Therese Sachsel during the euphoria of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's (TGM) storied first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), when all seemed possible for the Central European remant of the former Austria-Hungarian powerhouses of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia. Our hopes and dreams are temporarily crushed alongside her grandmother Pepi Rabinek as we witness the invasion and subsequent occupation of Prague by Nazi hordes, who sweep unchallenged through the former Czechoslovakia's borders after the West's perfidy of Munich. We agonize alongside Pepi's daughter, Frances Solar/Rabinek/Epstein, the paragon of the family and Helen's stalwart mother, as she is dispatched to the Teresienstadt (in modern-day Terezin, Czech Republic) concentration camp, or in the colloquial Czech, the "koncentrak." We also rejoice when Frances is extricated from the hellhole of Auschwitz, and tranported the West in wartime Germany as part of a labour brigade, towards the oncoming Allies from the West, liberated in Bergen-Belsen by British forces at the end of WWII. Finally, we are shocked to discover the insensitivity, sheer apathy, and in many instances -- outright hostility -- that Praguers demonstrated towards the surviving returnees from the Nazi camps, to which Frances and her future husband, famous former Czechoslovak Olympian swimmer, Kurt Epstein, counted themselves.

Helen Epstein's lines draw us inexorably into this story, and once you start you'll have a difficult time finding excuses to stop.

What staggered me as I made my way through this read was Ms. Epstein's formidable discipline. The sheer single-mindedness with which she approached the colossal task of the near-vertical climb to reach the bottom of her family's history. I read with awe how solace was found towards the end.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM will stand as one of the foremost examples of the self-researched memoir. If you need any reason at all to read this book, then let it be thanks to the iron-willed determination which the answers gracing its pages were unearthed by Ms. Epstein.

A book like this needs to be savoured for its significance, appreciated for its illumination, and respected for its purity. There isn't a single letter which graces these pages that wasn't typed, written, or transcribed in the absence of a labour which can only be termed love.

I sit back and wish we all had the staying power of Ms. Epstein. The book is laudatory in the extreme.

As if Ms. Epstein's family history were not enough, there are other benefits to this book too. For those with a keen interest in the past two centuries of life in Prague and the experiences of Bohemia's and Moravia's Jews and its Czech peasantry, WHERE SHE CAME FROM is chock-a-block with painstaking factoids and historical tidbits that'll nudge you gently towards further reading. It will also supply its readers with a glimpse towards the increasingly-distant Czechoslovak past, which, with the passing of the years and the keener integration of this country with the rest of the EU, slips further and further away from the grip of Czech youth.

This book is more than just a reminder, it's a testament to a time which no longer exists. In that respect, it is now part of the permanent historical record.

WHERE SHE CAME FROM is written in a language at once accessible and magnetic. For all ages, for all backgrounds. I can't do anything less than award this superb work of history my highest rating of 5-stars.

I know you will too.

-- ADM in Prague

Although this book has a slow start with a lot of historical information, once you get to the Holocaust section, you will not be able to put this book down. I read it while in Vienna and after I visited Prague. I felt so connected to my surroundings and the author that I literally felt like I was in the book. Makes the enormity of the Holocaust personal and understandable. A MUST READ FOR EVERYONE!

I, a single, never married, man in my mid-30s, am only partially through this book and am amazed and changed by it. In today's society of lies about sex and relationships, if you are breathing you will be able to find aspects of yourself and people you know and your/their sexuality in this book. It's not whether it's an addiction but whether a particular 'use' is addictive. What a profound concept! Everyone has either done this, had it done to them, or heard about it at least once. It is all around us all the time. It is our culture, at least in the US. Broadening the addictive use of sex to include 'uses' of flirtation, provocativeness, submission/domination and sadism/masochism, fantasy, e-mails/IMing, masturbation, and pornography, as well as full on sex, is clear, effective, and true. If you are sexually active in your dating relationships and wonder why it's not working out (most singles), this applies to you. Use it to understand yourself, your friends, your children. There are a lot of examples involving full-blown addicts, but there is also a lot about sexually acting out in any of the above ways and to any extent, and you can find yourself somewhere among the pages -- men and women, guaranteed. We are all so trained by everything around us to behave in this way. It is sad and destructive. I have used and been used, and picked up this book after three very hurtful experiences with women I really cared about.

I sometimes work with people who are struggling with codependent behavior or sexual addictions. This is the book I most often recommend and I also think it is a great reference for professionals such as psychologists, personal coaches and psychiatrists.

In one very good book, Charlotte Kasl provides an excellent, easy to understand model for understanding these issues and how to overcome them. She illustrates these principles with just the right amount of relevant case histories and does it without using a lot of jargon.

This book is solid, but very readable and the author develops her topic with deep compassion. If you are only going to buy one book on this subject, I would go with this one. If you are looking for an uplifting book to compliment it that is not just a restatement of what many other books already say, then I also suggest AWAKENING IN TIME by Jacuelyn Small. She takes a very spiritual which is a synthesis of many schools of thought both East and West perspectives.

Freedom from Relationship/ Co-Dependency/ Sexual Addictions is the greatest asset to this book. I started reading it when my relationship ended with a man I cared for. My bad relationship triggered many unrealistic emotions inside myself that caused me a lot of self damage by acting out and dating guys that were all bad for me because of my low self image since the break-up.
I couldn't see it at the time but I had become Addicted.

Thanks to a friend and this book my healing began two years ago and I feel so much better about myself and about my relationships with others. This book is a MUST READ!

Study it, learn it, then be well...

All of the Amazon reader and newspaper reviews of this book (and I have used the Book Review Index to find all of the book reviews) fail to do justice to this book, and the explanation is to be found in the book itself. This book is one of the most original and most important books ever written on addictions. The reason appears on pages xii, 393, and 378-9 of the Tichnor & Fields hardcover First Edition:

This book began by request: Kasl started working with groups of women and found that some brought copies of marginally useful books on sex addiction to group. Seeing the need for a book, Kasl began writing something for her group and had it copied for them. Then the grassfire began. She handed out seven copies of her book bound in a red binding (hence her book's first title prior to commercial publication "The Red Book"). Several days later, forty women wanted copies and demand continued. A few months and a few bookstores later, thousands of copies were sold. Then the magic began: the groups changed her book and added to it because she listened to their voices.

I first got this book at a library and found that I had to buy a copy. Kasl says that her groups all found that the book is so packed with information that you want to read it a little at a time and think about it: not for nothing did so many women give Kasl feedback about her book.

I hope Kasl will publish future editions of this book with what used to be called in the nineteenth century an Analytical Table of Contents at the back of the book. Sally Vincent in her 25 May 1990 Psychology Today (page 36) book review entitled "Nymphos or Doormats" goes through the book adequately but an analytical table of contents would do a better job. And yes, as Vincent notes, about a third of the book deals with trying to readjust the self after all the abuse. But her review fails to convey the originality of the book and why it must be read.

Kasl asks readers--both women and men (there is a chapter on men because the book was written for women)--to write to her regarding their reactions to her book. I hope that someone will submit a book review that adequately summarizes this book, because I do not think that one can be written which conveys how good this book is. I have two copies of this book and expect to have my first copy rebound soon because I have worn the binding out with use. I am sure that you will have the same experience. Consider purchasing extra copies to give to friends, as I have: they will appreciate it.

This book is amazing.
It has been extremely helpful in understanding relationship behaviors. I would recommend it to both men and women.
Easy read. Good advice. Great examples.
Buy a copy.

I can't say more than I love Jessica! I was first introduced to her back in 1998 at my step mother's college graduation. I was only 16 and fell in love with her style, her words inspired me in so many ways and she has been my idol ever since. I recently met her at a barbecue and I was for the first time in my life star struck. My admiration for Jessica is limitless and I am patiently waiting for her to write another book. Good Job Jess...

Jessica Care Moore is the best, I am a huge fan. Not only are both of her books awesome, but she is unbelievably down to earth person. I met her a few years back when she made one of her very few visits to SF. Both of her books are great buys, I have tremendous respect for her DIY spirit. The closed-minded mainstream was not publishing her so she started her own publishing company. Go Jessica!!:)

Thanks to everyone who supported this book and other work from jessica Care moore. The new book is coming soon, The Alphabet Verses The Ghetto!
The Words Don't Fit In My Mouth saved my life. If you enjoyed this read, I would suggest reading Fast Cities and Objects That Burn By Sharrif Simmons. Peace.

Moore blows up the spot with her poetry! She speaks her mind and speaks it well. Her nonchalant attitude towards political correctness makes her thoughts more outrageous and vivid. The next Sanchez is on her way, so move!!!

Pure Passion and Perfection. Jessica has her own
Poetic Perfection. As a fellow writer from the
midwest, I applaud Jessica's passion, perseverance,
reverence for her art and love for her people. She's
a ball of fire, and God made her that way! Her words
jump out at you, they fill your ears, they dance around
you, dare you to question them. Sounds like truth, her
truth and the truth of so many of us: Black folks, women
folks, women artists, passionate people, visionaries and love makers. From one poetess from the midwest to another, Jessica, may your life be long, fruitful and ever
exploding from your creative vision! One love

I just finished reading this book for the second time. At least one reviewer has complained of the Adkins writing style but I could not disagree more. I'm a very busy person and would not waste my time reading any book twice unless it was exceptional, and this book is just that.

The writing is clear and easy to follow, refreshingly honest and frankly the account is intensely interesting. Yes. there is a typo or two but you'll be way too involved in the amazing first hand account of A.Z. Adkins to notice. My grandfather was an infantry first lieutenant who saw similar duty and this book really helped me to understand a lot about his service.

These men withstood so much hardship one can not read this and not have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for what these men gave to us and the world.

Thank you A.Z. Adkins. For the book and more importantly for enduring incredible hardships and giving us the gift of freedom.

Andy Adkins Jr. was a Second Lieutenant and served in Company H, 80th Infantry Division during World War II: his regiment landed at Normandy in 1944 and fought they way on foot across France and into Germany. If you want a riveting, hard-hitting memoir which recreates the moment of a soldier's experience, the title says it all: YOU CAN'T GET MUCH CLOSER THAN THIS: COMBAT WITH COMPANY H, 317TH INFANTRY REGIMENT, 80TH DIVISION. First-person memories of war experience assume a 'you are there' atmosphere as the author speaks with comrades and experiences battles, rough conditions, and struggles.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is interesting first person account of World War Two from the perspective of a soldier from my area of Florida! That alone made the book a pleasant surprise. But besides that, I found this book a well written account of a young man taken from college to fight with the 80th Infantry division.

The book reads like a great war story rather than a war-time biography or diary. It's a quick, informative, read that does not overwhelm the reader with details. You really don't have to be a WWII historian to really enjoy this fine book.

What I think is unusual about the book is it mentions cities not normally mentioned in the history of other units and events not commonly written about. For example, the author goes into great detail regarding the use of motors in close action with the infantry. The fact the author received an absentee ballot for an election, voted and mailed it back home (that's a first in over 300 WWII history books I've read).

It also has an excellent short history of the 80th Infantry Division, including cities and counties it "visited" along with attached units and other statistics.

My uncle, Harry Goldsborough, served in CO. F, 2nd Battalion, and I had heard a few stories from my Mother about her brother's experiences in World War Two. The stories were few and and unpleasant, and I gather that he did not speak much of the war. The reading from this book gave a great insight to where my uncle was during his time in the 80th and what he probably went through. I found the reading very easy and it made me proud of his service to his country.

"You Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat with Company H, 317th Infantry Regiment, 80th Division" by Andrew Z. Adkins Jr. and A.Z.A. III represents a non-homogenized non-sterilized look at the Second World War from foxhole level. Nearly everything in this book comes from A.Z. Adkins Jr's wartime journal, and thus presents a view of the war from one individual's perspective. If you're looking for a 'bigger picture' tied into this story (somehow this reviewer thought that because A.Z. Adkins III brought his fathers journal to life he might provide some 'filler' to tie together items - no such luck). The book can be broken into four basic parts (not the chapters of the book though) representing four chronological periods that fall naturally along lines of major events in the ETO. The first period is the Normandy/bocage fighting period, the second is the Breakout, pursuit and initial West Wall (Siegfried Line) action, the third is the Battle of the Bulge and following action leading up to the Rhine crossing, and the forth is the Rhine crossing to V-E day. Of all these sections the third is by far the best in terms of visceral impact and readability. The other three sections unfortunately suffer from a dull prose that is only infrequently livened by an engaging story or writing style. Fortunately, Adkins and Adkins do not candy coat combat and in presenting an un-sanitized version of events do give the reader some less common in the genre. Still this positive does not sufficiently outweigh the negative of style (not to mention the numerous typos and other editorial issues).

As "You Can't Get Much Closer Than This" is one mans story of the Second World War with little of the 'bigger picture' woven in it is hard to review (positively or negatively) the historical value of the book, rather it seems appropriate to review it from the standpoint of whether it is a good read or not. Regarding this latter criteria this reviewer would have to break with the praise given in nearly all other reviews and say that this is a good 3.5 star read at best. The book is short enough to get through quickly, readers will get a truer picture of war than in most 'memoirs', but the reading will not always be easy or fully engaging and enjoyable. 3.5 Stars.

I have read about half the book so far.

One thing that irks me is all the footnotes. I have not counted them but they must total in the thousands. While I agree that it is important not to use somebody else's work without acknowledgement, this book seems to take it to the extreme. I can tell that the author(s) must be English majors because normal people would simply not use so many footnotes. It would have been better to use the "shotgun" approach - a statement something like "some statements in this book are not entirely those of the authors, other works have been used blah, blah, blah...."

As for the content of the book, there is the overwhelming hint of inside advertising for various companies. Examples are good, I agree, but I get the feeling there are many hidden advertisements for various companies.

A lot of the information is common sense. I thought this book would give me more insight into the way advertising works, so far I have been underwhelmed to the point of disappointment.

I can only hope the rest of the book will make up for a lackluster beginning.

If I had to choose one book as a survival book in the adfield, this would definitely be my weapon of choice.
It has down to earth and truthful advertising insights about how things work or don't in the advertising universe.

It really, really is a must have for all us who deal from the agency side or the marketing side of the ad business.
Better if any agency and client read this before to fully understand one another, in working better off as one team aiming to one vision.

This book details and focus everything from the psychological point of view.
This one is definitely a keeper!

I was introduced to this book several years ago when I was in the ad agency industry.
Since then, my issue has been read and re-read, referenced countless times.
My copy mysteriously disappeared (hey who could blame them??) so have just rebought the newest version of this book.
The book is brilliant because it gets behind the psychology of the buyer, allowing you to really and simply understand the thought process behind the buying decision.
Others who have touched on the subject of the psychology of reasons why we buy have made the content too heavy, too theoretical and let's face it - Boring with a capital "B" ... but not these authors.
It has great examples of ad campaigns throughout the book.
Personally this book has helped me design and write more responsive advertising campaigns as the many learnings from this book have stayed.
This is a must-read for anyone in an ad agency, students of marketing and advertising, and anyone in the marketing industry.
Buy this book, you won't regret it.

and you should read it. it keeps it's promise(advertising and the mind of the consumer:what works what doesn't and why).its all there in the book, explained, with plenty of examples and pretty complete. if you are interested in this field buy this book, and then consider other books if you really want to, but dont miss out on this book.simply a very good book. we should have more books like this.

The most clearly illustrated book about the once mysterious mechanics behind advertising. I wish I would have read it ten years ago when I joined the ad. industry.

Every quilter should have this book.Great for working out yardage for quilts. Lots of useful information.

This book is a great reference tool for any quilter. Highly recommended resource for your quilting reference book collection.

Really a great read. Concise,quick reference for me to use

This book takes a lot of the guess work out of how much fabric you need for various quilting projects. It has more information than I thought it would. For once I am looking forward to finishing up my projects.

Terriffic info, easily understood, with helpful illustrations. The authors have organized their combined expertise so any question is readily answered. The spiral binding allows it to remain open and lie flat during use. Whether you are a new quilter who wants accurate information all in one place and close to hand, or an aspiring quilt designer puzzling your way through yardage requirements and layout options, you'll be glad you own this book.

Claude Thomas' inspiring account of his hellish journey and his eventual path to personal growth is one of the most profound stories I've read. From a life that many would just as soon end, he found a tiny crease of light led him to take all that had transpired in his life and draw upon it as a basis for learning and growth. Truly admirable, with insights and practices well worth emulating.

It took me two attempts to finish this book and I am glad I did.

The book is somewhat disorganized and muddled. I gave up on it the first time because it was a little too preachy and the initial description of the author's suffering and frequent crying was a little surpising since he just told us Vietnam finally gave his life a purpose.

But then I gave it a second try. After learning later in the book more of his experience in vietnam, I had a better understanding of his pain. I realized what I'd been reading was a vivid account of his post traumatic stress disorder. This book is important and powerful because it shows a way the author found after 20 years of pure misery to alleviate his pain and suffering . Anyone who's troubled or depressed or plain just stressed out can benefit from his messages.

I bought 13 copies of this book from Amazon and gave the same gift to everyone this last christmas, and intend to do the same next year and from here on out. They sent me 4 of the 13 as autographed copies which was a nice surprise.

I am going to deliver the last one tonight to a friend who is having a difficult time right now.

This book has brought me a clearer understanding of myself, not by the cleverness of the author but through his simple bare humanity which he shares freely here. Sending this book out into this world can only make it a better place, creating small ripples that could affect and change a great many things over time.

Once a highly decorated war hero, Claude Thomas had been sexually abused as a child and carried the scars of this abuse to VietNam, where he commanded an elite helicopter unit for fourteen months at the height of the American incursion there. He wound up with a chestful of medals (27) and a burnt-out shell of a man, returning to the US, a girl spat on him. One thing led to another and Thomas began questioning his own claims to his life. It wasn't until he met the famous Vietnamese sage, Thich Nhat Hanh, that he began to get a clue as to his spiritual path. Through mindfulness he became aware that he was a victim of Vietnam just as we all were, and just as generations unborn during the war continue to suffer from its political and cultural fallout. Today he is a Zen priest and has written an interesting memoir.

Like Claude AnShin Thomas, when we saw Thich Nhat Hanh we burst into tears on the spot. And not because of any identification with his pain. I think I was just feeling emotional that day. Thomas has an amazing story to tell, but it is not all that well written, and has many Buddhist cliches that spoil the thrust of the tale for me.

And could they have picked a scarier looking portrait of Claude AnShin Thomas for the cover? I've seen him in person, he isn't that bad looking, he has sort of the look of Nelson Rockefeller, you know, not a matinee idol, but not a face from Creature Features either. I think Shambhala was definitelyu trying to go for the macho market here, making Thomas look like he was a serial killer come out of the shadows to slit your throat then creep away. We know that Buddhism can sometimes be a dangerous practice, for you're standing in the middle of the fire trying to confront the real, but enough is enough, and this is a kind of visual crime if you ask me.

"At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey from War to Peace," by Claude Anshin Thomas, is the memoir of a combat veteran of the Vietnam War who suffered great personal torment after returning from war. He ultimately found healing and hope in Buddhism and became a monk. This book recounts his spiritual, geographic, and emotional journeys.

Thomas writes about his military basic training, his combat time in Vietnam, and the serious personal problems he had afterwards. He writes how his life changed dramatically after he met Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. Thomas tells how he came to be ordained as a Buddhist monk. He also writes of his global travels, of a remarkable walking pilgrimage he took across the United States, and of his relationship with his son.

Along the way Thomas discusses teachings and practices that helped transform his life: meditation, the importance of community, the key concept of "mindfulness." He also discusses his commitment to nonviolence. Thomas' writing style is simple and clear, and often quite eloquent and moving. He notes, "Everyone has their Vietnam"--some source of great pain. The book contains some fascinating scenes from the author's journeys; I found the vignettes from his walk across the U.S. to be particularly resonant. This is a thought-provoking book, and a valuable addition to the canon of spiritual autobiographies.