Works Books

I love that I can just skim through this book & find the information that I need. It is really basic - clearly written with great examples. After being away from work for 8 years & being out of school for almost 20, it was a great refresher! Besides, Max proves that even geeks can have a sense of humor!

As a student finishing my B.S. in Computer Science, I very badly needed something to liven up my CPU architecture and discrete math classes, which were horribly boring.

This book not only did a GREAT job of clarifying the finer points of boolean logic, but somehow managed make it interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to understand the nuts-and-bolts behind what makes your computer tick.

Maxfield's book is unique, both in format and in content. And I'm not just talking about the gumbo recipe at the end.

The first section, almost 150 pages, is "logic lite." It starts with transistors, both MOS and bipolar. From there it works its way up to simple latches and such, and scratches the surface of state machines, with side trips to boolean arithmetic and such. The breezy, informal style will work for people put off by more academic treatments, but the logic design content stops way short of what any other basic logic text would present.

The second, longer section covers material sorely missing from all other logic texts I know. It starts with the simpler parts of silicon fab process, then goes through all kinds of printed circuits and hybrid packages giving a fair tour of the basic printed curcuit (PC) processes that were current when the book was written (1995). It even goes into gutsy stuff like the copper patterns in PC processes that have to do with heat flow during soldering. All those real-world facts earned this book an extra star. The "far out technology" chapter at the end is an interesting read, too, with its discussions of nano, optical, and molecular computing.

The book's weaknesses are significant, though. It would work well with any of several companion texts that would cover what this misses. That includes more advanced logic techniques, like alternatives to gate-level implementation and all the fussy bits of state machines. A standard logic text (e.g. Katz) would fill in those blanks. Going in a different direction, it does only a little towards talking about how PC layout interacts with logic design. More about ground planes, guard rings, power decoupling, RF emissions, etc. would fit well with the detail presented here, espcially when you see how much time and effort it already spends on "vias" vs. "holes." The little bit of analog discussion from the front would help here - why inductive effects matter at high frequencies, why distributed capacitance is different from lumped, why you'd have a high-value and low-value capacitor in parallel, and why that ceramic cap near the power input has a saw cut in the edge. A third possible direction would be the way Wirth's book on circuit design for CS students went: into the higher levels of design, letting tools attend to the lower levels. The biggest flaw is in treating FPGAs as exotic, out-there technology - by 1995, they were well into the main stream, and have very nearly killed off discrete logic and ASICs in many areas.

If you just want a light-weight intro to logic design and to the physical circuits that carry it, this is OK. It could have been better in all directions and, at this 2005 writing, you should check it's sell-by date. I gave it the fourth star for addressing PCs and mounting at all, not for addressing them well.

//wiredweird

Considering this book deals with what I consider to be rocket science at best and black magic at worst I think it does a really good job of explaining things. I'm still working through it and it still makes my head hurt but I recommend this for anyone like me who wants to understand this stuff and has zero background to do so.

I grew up watching my neighbor, a mechanic, work on cars and it helped me pick up the basics. When I would try to take apart a transistor radio and figure out how it worked I was left with an assortment of colorful bits and no clues. This book is the remedy for my total ignorance of things electronic. Just how good it is I do not know due to my lack of knowledge in the field. I reccomend it to any interested beginners.

Another entertaining, stimulating and vibrant work from the inimitable Wodehouse. This book of short golf stories is the perfect gift for everyone who is a golfer, or aspires to be one. That is, if you can bear to part with such a brilliant piece of literature! Wodehouse rules!

It`s a nice hole in one , for all the 36 handicaps ! . Enjoy , read this book and your slices and hooks will be painless . Evem if you play with your wife/husband !!!

If you or someone you know likes golf,OR if you or someone you know likes P.G.Wodehouse,I promise you cant go wrong with this book. All of his golfing stories are here and they are all top notch. A keeper.

The manner in which Wodehouse has developed the characters in the stories is indeed amazing. One hilarius feature I noticed in many of the stories is the attempt made by the victim (listener) to escape from the oldest member's clutches whenever he begins to narrate a story.

Wodehouse is at the top of his form in this one. Die hard Wodehouse fans should not die without reading this one.

Great literature is supposed to bring you an appreciation of something you hadn't considered before. Wodehouse's golf stories did it for me like few others. None are terribly subtle--most are told by the Oldest Member, who on the first half-page collars a helpless younger golfer and tells him a story that turns out to be worth staying for. The narration is slightly sarcastic, and there are only two types of stories at heart: guy and girl made for each other get married because of golf, or guy uses golf to avoid girl unfit for him. There's always a subplot of a bad golfer breaking 100 or two longtime rivals in an 18 hole match, but nothing seems to get reused.

Despite using upper-crust characters in his stories, Wodehouse's work exhibits only a fake pretension. Plus there are cool names and recurring characters such as the golf champ Sandy McHoots. It's a bit more comprehensible than some Yoknapathawpa nonsense. A love triangle through three stories features a poet who(gasp) recites his poetry while people focus loses a golferess to a golfer, almost regains her, and then tries to learn golf courting her sister. Nobody is evil, although some people deserve--and get--a good comic socking.

But what makes Wodehouse appealing is how his characters are comically obsessed with golf. I have better things to be obsessed with, but I was able to connect with this and recognize how Wodehouse laughs at them. After I stopped laughing.

I've never read a collection of stories more insightful, easy to follow and enjoyable.

This is a fine book. All of the images make you suddenly forget they are dolls; you start feeling like watching models displaying designer clothes.
If you like Blythe, this is a must.
The edition is excellent.
Mint item...!

If you love Blythe dolls -- or dolls in general -- you will certainly love this book. It's got really creative photos of Blythe dolls. Very imaginative and well-done book!

This is an amazing book for someone in the fashion or design business. Not only the clothing is great but the styling is beautiful, witty and in perfect coordination with the spirit of the clothes.
I highly recommend this book.

This book shows photos of Blythe wearing creations from dozens of designers all over the world. It is full of inspiration for collectors who design and sew their own fashions for Blythe.

I own a Blythe doll, which just recently arrived here at home after a lot of research on my part. I know about face types ("superior and "radiant"), the different companies who are allowed to reproduce the dolls (which were originally released in 1972 for one year only, by Kenner), customization of Blythe dolls, and the best websites to read tutorials on that, and where to find outfits for my new, fantastic Blythe!

As you may have guessed by now I am a "reading-type" person! Because of this, I felt that it would be fun and important to also add the books which photographer Gina Garan had created, to my Blythe collection.

The way the story goes, Gina received an original Kenner Blythe doll as a gift from someone who felt that Blythe looked like Gina. Gina began taking her on photoshoots and practicing taking pictures using her as a model. Shortly Gina was never without her. Since that time Blythe has travelled the world with Gina, making each of them famous both in the fashion arena and in charity work as well. Many of the Blythes in this wonderful book are dressed by top couture designers, and were later shown off in Vogue Nippon magazine, ultimately to be auctioned off to support children's charities. How great! The introduction to this book explains how that came about and is written by Junko Wong, a lovely person who met up with Gina and really got much of the interest in the Blythe phenomenon to grow.

As a mother of two children with severe dsabilities (and five sons in total!), I am always gratified to read about events which raise money for children's charities of all sorts!
However, that is actually beside the point in one sense. This book stands on its own as an elegant testimonial to a fantastic, personality packed creation...the doll who is Blythe.

Blythe dolls have four different eye colors! What you do is pull a string on the back of her head to make her eyes click to a different color. She has two "straight ahead" colors, then there is one which looks off to the right, and one which looks off to the left. One of the "straight ahead" colors is what is called the "main color". In the case of my doll, it is described as a "mysterious purple" color. I love all of her eye colors and they do change her expression and personality. Add a collection of doll clothes, such as the great ones you can get through Gina's own website, www.thisisblythe.com, which I thoroughly recommend, and you will be having the time of your life dressing up your own doll, photographing her, if you enjoy that, or just..loving her.

If you don't want to spend the money on a doll, buy this book instead! Or consider this other book This is Blythe, by Gina as well, available here on Amazon.com . Gina has captured every expresssion, every mood, every situation you might imagine coming up in a doll's daily life. She has accomplished it in a thoroughly charming, beautifully photographed manner!

If you have never seen Paris, see it with Blythe as your companion! Feel like a day at the beach? Blythe does, too!

Quiet times, dress-up times, visits to foreign countries galore; you will have a ball with Blythe at your side. I totally recommend this book and would not be without it. I love my doll, and I love Gina Garan for rediscovering the treasure that is Blythe!

This is an entertaining, informative, and essential book for everyone with or without BOOBS. Elisabeth uses humor and practicality in addressing a subject matter that is Taboo and Inanimate to many. Read it. Laugh. Stop staring.....Get a clue about Boobs...

How refreshing that Elizabeth Squires speaks openly and honestly and humorously about bOObs! This is the ultimate guide and will hopefully change the tone of discourse about a body part that affects women throughout their lifetime and on so many levels. Thank you Elizabeth!!

Gail Konop Baker author of CANCER IS A BITCH Or, I'd Rather Be Having a Midlife Crisis

Elisabeth Squires knows her stuff and takes what could have been painfully clinical subject matter and made it into a clever, witty and un-put-downable book full of fun, factoids and frank information. Hats off (make that bras off!) to the author for her fine research and fantastic wit!

Boobs: a guide to your girls is funny, informative and just plain necessary! Elisabeth Squires makes the reader feel comfortable about all the questions one might have about one's boobs. This book is more than a guide, it's a self-esteem enhancer, it's a friend that is filled with answers to questions that are sometimes to embarrassing to ask. I loved this book and I don't even have boobs! Oh, and I saw Elisabeth talk about Boobs and she is a really smart, articulate woman who knows her facts but has an incredible sense of humor too!

This book is a great boob overview. It's chock full of information but it's not dry or boring. Elisabeth's playful and sassy approach makes "bOObs" a fun and easy read. She's constantly making boob puns which kept me smiling as I learned some new things about my boobs. One of my favorite things about this boob book is the collection of quotes she's got sprinkled throughout. She interviewed real, everyday, average women and shared their insights and anecdotes. I could relate to so many of them!

Even if you think you already know everything you need to know about boobs, buy this book. I guarantee you'll learn something new and have a good laugh along the way.

I don't think that this book should be just limited to mental health professionals.
It's very interesting, caught my attention, and can be used as a motivator but more important it makes sense to me.
It should be used by those who are uncertain of where to go and what to do.

Before reading this book, I thought the best I could do when my emotional buttons were pushed, was to recognize and interrupt the reaction. I never expected that I could possibly eliminate the buttons entirely.
I plan to apply this wisdom to my own life and share the lessons with my patients.

Button Therapy, a 'MUST HAVE' for any mental health professional and/or the lay person. I have found many insights in this book and I have recommended it to just about everyone I know. I think that Dr. Goodwin has hit the 'button on the head', and has loosened it's thread with his insightful, caring explanation of our 'buttons' and how to deal with them. I find myself referring to it regularly in my business. Thanks Lloyd, I am happier, my clients are happier and we all understand ourselves and others better now that we have read your book. We will all be looking forward to your next work!

Suzanne Osborne, Ph.D.,Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist,Forensic Psychologist, Criminal Profiler, Counselor

Dr. Goodwin says what other "Dr's." say in ways that make the information accessible, useful and helpful. Every one of us has felt the pushing of our buttons and not been aware of it or known what to do about it. This book heightened my own awareness from "what? feelings? bah!" to "hey, this is cool stuff, I can actually know what I'm doing with all this emotional stuff running amuck inside me."
Hey, it'll make life easier and better. So where can you spend a few bucks and get such a deal?

The Button Therapy Book has made an incredible difference in my attitude and my life. I am able to relax more and don't get as uptight or angry as I used to. I have always been a person who had my "buttons pushed" fairly easily and now I understand how to identify my buttons, address them in a calm and loving way and most importantly, get rid of them. I've also been able to take the information given in the book and pass it on to my children to help them overcome their "buttons." Dr. Goodwin gives the reader all the tools they need to live happier, healthier lives, starting immediately! I highly recommend this book, it is a must for any person who is interested in improving his/her quality of life and getting rid of those buttons!

"The Cactus Family" is a handsome and impressive publication which lists 1810 species of cacti. The first chapter, Distinctive Features of Cacti, considers what identifies the cactus. Chapter Two: Ethnobotany of Cacti, describes the various practical, religious and recreational uses of a number of cacti. Chapter Three considers the Conservation of Cacti and Chapter Four, the Cultivation of Cacti. Chapter Five discusses the Classification of Cacti. The alphabetically listing the The Cacti commences on page 105 and runs to page 681. The book concludes with Appendix One: MAPS, and Appendix Two: Botanic Gardens and Herbaria with Significant Collections of Cacti; a Glossary; Literature Cited; Index of Scientific Names and Index of Common Names.

The main section The Cacti lists the plants alphabetically by Genera and then species. Each Genera has a general introduction discussing its characteristics, habitat, taxonomy and discovery. The listing for each species includes its date of finding, common names and synonyms, a botanical description and additional relevant information such as comments regarding variation, uses or habitat. Many of the species are illustrated with the illustrations appearing on the same page spread, the majority seem to be of plants in their habitat. The size of the illustrations varies from about 5cm x 8cm (2" x 3") up to half-page. There are over 1,000 colour photographs in The Cacti section in addition to the many photographs of cacti and their associations in the other chapters.

The presentation is excellent, it is well laid out and the typography adds much to the clarity and understanding of the information; the result is a page which looks appealing and invites reading. The introductory chapters make interesting and informative reading. I was a little surprised that the chapter on cultivation is somewhat brief and prescriptive, and that it does not consider different growing environments enthusiasts have to contend with or availability of materials which must inevitably apply locally; it is nonetheless informative.

The obvious up to date comparison for "The Cactus Family" must be "The New Cactus Lexicon" complied and edited by members of the International Cactaceae Systematics Group. While the latter two volume work does not pretend to be more than a descriptive list of cacti, their being nothing to compare with the first five chapters of "the Cactus Family" it does boast more than twice the number of illustrations, again mostly in habitat. The two publications do not agree 100%; "The New Cactus Lexicon" lists 124 Genera, 1816 species, "The Cactus Family" 125 Genera and 1810 species; and the difference is probably greater as the latter lists some as a separate species which the former considers merely as a form of one variable species. However "The Cactus Family" is the more accessible and certainly the better typographically, "The New Cactus Lexicon" text pages are unappealing and confusing by comparison.

On its own or in comparison, this is a splendid tome and indispensable for any serious collector.

Wow !! What happened to this book .. a great cactus book gone out of print and now being offered at $280. used ?? Cactus are not the only things that bite .. the cactus sharks are out !!

I bought my copy at about $100. and it is a great work on cactus family but it is however not the most detailed work .. Lyman Benson's work is still by far the template for a true classic botanical work.

Unlike Benson's work this book cover all cactii and unlike Benson's work it does not have taxonomic keys which I feel limit this work from becoming a true classic.

It does have lots of color photographs but all to often the images lack taxonomic detail to make a solid identification .. looking for an unknown taxa is a bit of a task. At least a key to the genus level would of been much appreciated. Although photos are abundant detailed drawings are lacking. This puts this book in a semi pro classification .. in my humble opinion.

The index is well done .. the listing of synonyms is very useful but the binding of the book is a bit cheap .. my copy seems to be getting a bit old before it's time.

In general it's a great book at the original asking price of $100.. At $280. .. well it's to bad if you have to pay that much .. use the library copy and hope that Mr. Anderson is working on a true complete classic.

I do so hope that happens in my life time.

It's just not worth $280..

This is considered the 'Bible' for cactus collectors and researchers alike. Well worth the money for the information and photos.

I can start with the old line "I I had only one book on cacti....." Well, this would certainly be the one. I spend a great amount of time traveling and photographing flowering and interesting plants, cactus being among them. I also collect this type of plant. I have found this work to be almost absolutely necessary for identification purposes and it certainly enhances by hobby of collecting and attempting to raise. As one reviewer points out, this is not a simple book of pretty plants. This is the real thing. There is absolutely a wealth of information here. I never travel area where cacti grow without it. The text is quite readable. There are indeed many, many wonderful color plates. It makes by hobby much more interesting and enjoyable. Recommend this one highly.

Where do you start with a book of this magnitude? (well I had to borrow a review copy from an editor friend of mine, unfortunately he wanted it back). The author a Senior Research Botanist spent most of his lifetime amassing the information that forms this book and then sadly died only two weeks after publication. This is a book for the serious hobbyist. If you are looking for nice photographs of plants in pots, this is probably not the book for you. Having said that there are enough photographs in this book to satisfy even the most avid plant spotter (1016 colour plates.) "Is this plant an Acanthocalycium or an Echinopsis?" This book will give you the answer. In one form or another the book covers most of the Cactaceae family. It is certainly one of the first books to use the nomenclature of the IOS Consensus group. This is a big book 776 pages, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested" Francis Bacon 1561-1625. This book certainly falls into the latter category and it is a great shame that the author is not with us to take the acclaim he surely deserved, but what a legacy he has left. I would love to own this book and it will be one of the first things I order from Amazon after I've sorted everyone elses Christmas presents out.

While I was lucky enough to live in Berkeley, the Cheeseboard was a legend in every sense of the word. The Cheeseboard is THE place by which I judge all other breads and baked goods. I made the scones and they were declared "f@%*ing amazing" by people who normally eschew "dry, brittle" scones. Next, I made my own sourdough starter and it's awesome. Afraid I'd screw it up, I emailed the coop to see if I could buy some of the Cheeseboard starter the next time I was in town. Their reply: "We offer starter as a neighbor would offer a cup of sugar." This is more than a business, it's a community project. These people are Berkeley at it's best. I never made it back to the Bay Area, but I did start my own as per their directions and it's really, really, really good. This book is awesome and everything I've made (scones, sourdough, focaccia) has exceeded expectations. It's well-written and contains excellent instructions for fool-proof bread. The only time my bread failed is when I struck out on my own. I make the City Bread on weekends and enjoy a slice every morning with some butter and jam. It is moist and lasts about 5 days without losing too much texture. The older it gets, the longer I toast it. I actually get cranky when I miss out on it. My thanks to Cheeseboard for writing this great book for those of us who are no longer able to walk to the "Gourmet Ghetto" but keep a place for it in our hearts.. and stomachs!

I bought this book at the original Cheeseboard while on vacation. It was an impulse purchase, but I one I'm glad I made. I've had a lot of failures with bread, but the directions and observations in this book have vastly improved my baking skills. The recipes seem to be fool-proof, and the results are excellent. Bread making is now a relaxing and enjoyable hobby.

This is an excellent source for beginning bakers. Making stellar bread isn't that difficult, and is actually a lot of fun. No more bread machine for me.

As someone who grew up in Berkeley and now only gets to visit a few times a year, I use this book whenever I get homesick for Cheeseboard goodness. Not only do I get raves for every single recipe from non-Berkeley-ites, but the recipes are dead-on in replicating the scones and breads I grew up with.

I love this book. I have been searching for the perfect scones for 25 years. I have found them in the Cheese Board's new book, along with myriad other phenomenal recipes (brioche, shortbread, pizza, etc.). The humor and affection of the bakers/writers for each other and the subject matter are also infectious.

I spent 6 years in Berkeley and I still go back occasionally. The one stop I always make is the Cheeseboard. Not only are they famous for wide cheese and olive selection, but their bakery is out of this world. I remember the days where I would get Brioche and munch on it on the way to class. Or getting the fresh baked sourdough baguettes on the way home from the market. This cookbook describes in detail how to work with the dough, measure out ingredients, and how to bake bread properly. I learned a great deal about baking from this book. I have made a few things (such as the shortbread, sourdough baguette, brioche, muffins, etc) from the book and was very satisfied. Now, this is not for the beginner bakers, I don't think. Also, this is not a speed baking book. I would rate this book as a medium skill book, but with a help of Kitchen Aid mixer and patience, you will be able to get the same great products you find at the Cheeseboard Collective. Definitely recommended for anybody and everybody.

Choose Your Life! is an amazing testament to our natural capabilities as human beings. Jim illustrates through facts as well as personal testimony the ways in which we can create the extraordinary life that we all want and deserve.

One of the most important aspects of this book is that it forces you to reflect on the life that you are living, and inspires you to take consistent action to improve upon it. Make sure you use the worksheets located in the back of the book, as these tools make it easier for you to anchor Mr. Huling's knowledge and insight. This unique feature helps us truly understand that we have the ability to choose the life we want.

If you want to be a better employer, employee, parent, or friend, this book is a must. As a soon-to-be father, this book has put into perspective the person I want to be in my personal and professional life. It really helps me prioritize my needs and the needs of those around me. This is the type of book I would want my employer, employees, parents, and child to read, so that they can have the same extraordinary life I am creating for myself.


Jesse Norton
Anthony Robbins Companies

Choose Your Life is the real deal and a must read for anyone who wants to improve their life. This is not a book of mere "feel good" platitudes. Instead, Choose Your Life is the first book I have read that effectively combines a number of truly inspirational messages combined with very practical, detailed and effective strategies and exercises. Jim Huling methodically explains his extraordinary vision of how to achieve true work-life meaning and balance. He also provides a holistic, very practical and achievable method of living a life of great meaning, joy, love and satisfaction. Jim's Business of Life Articles (many of which are reproduced in this book) are written from a real world perspective and are both poignant and helpful reminders of truly important issues. Choose Your Life combines these meaningful stories and presents an achievable strategy for self improvement with real world techniques that can work for any reader. Merely follow the detailed step-by-step process Jim Huling outlines, and a more meaning and enriched life is possible. This book is easy to read and enjoyable. While no one is too old to start using Jim Huling's effective strategies, this book also makes an excellent gift for college students and young adults who are prepared to start the process of living their lives to their full potential.

Choose Your Life! is a road map to living a great life balanced among the things that matter most to you filled with rich memories. It is generously sprinkled with what Huling calls "BFOs"--Blinding Flashes of the Obvious--morsels of Hulings insight, which kept me turning the pages. For me, the biggest BFO was in realizing that the tools and techniques of my own profession, the financial planning process, can be applied to my life and interpersonal relationships in order to achieve rewards on a human plane far greater than just financial goals--a deep sense of peace and fulfillment. Huling's `Life Planning Process' melds the logical decisions we make in our head by means of analysis with the creative choices we make in our heart, based on emotion. He embraces and integrates these two seemingly disparate perspectives into a remarkable synthesis of thinking, feeling, perceiving, and judging. Choose Your Life! is a touchy-feely book that will appeal to the pragmatist. Best of all, it provides a practical step by step guide and offers helpful examples and worksheets, which if followed, will assure success in the whole of your life.

Bruce A. Roth, author of No Time To Kill No Time To Kill

Inspiring! All too often we drive ourselves to do more both professionally and personally. Often we set a frantic, unhealthy pace for ourselves. This book reminds us that it is necessary to stop and look at the life we have created and see if it at all resembles the life we want. Jim Huling's book "Choose Your Life!" offers practical and inspirational advice for examining your life and for creating a path to the life you want for yourself - rather than what others choose for you. The author provides excellent worksheets to help readers keep track of their goals and to help readers chart a course for positive growth and change. The worksheets are an essential element of this book's impact.

This book is excellent at reminding you that you have the choice everyday of how you want to live. After all, we all have only one life and it's up to you to make it meaningful and happy for yourself.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants to make positive changes to their life.

Change starts from the moment of decision. So if you are undecided this book is probably not for you. I received this book as a Christmas gift and read it in a weekend. The author also has the worksheets downloadable on his website. This book is for so many of us who have read the gambit of books that promise us the "Secret" formula to the life we want. Mr. Huling simply offers us a formula for finding out what we want, what we are willing to do to get what we want and how to overcome the fear(s) associated with the journey. Excellent book for those who have read a lot of the other books out there and squeezed the useful information in those books and are now ready to do something about it in 5 steps you really can Choose Your Life! There are basically three categories of living: (1) Survival (2) Success and (3) Significant. If you are ready to Choose your Life Read this Book! I highly recommend this book!

I have had acne since I was 12 (I am now 21), and I have to say that following the regimen prescribed in this book has made the most significant change in my skin in comparison to anything else I have tried, including more 'serious' approaches and medications such as accutane.

I'll be honest, using as much benzoyl peroxide as Dan recommends sucks, mostly because of the mild to moderate burning sensation and the dry skin that it leaves after applying the cream for about 20 minutes afterward. But it is worth it if you have struggled as much as I have with my moderate acne. According to Dan, the burning sensation is not that bad for most people, and I have found that after the initial few weeks on the regimen, the buring became more mild every day and easier to handle, as well as the dry skin. Benzoyl Peroxide also stains clothing a little, though I have not had much of a problem with it. It can also stain or bleach hair, but it is very minimal, and I have only experienced a few of my eyebrow hairs going from dark brown to blond, and even then it can only be noticed when scrutinizing them a few inces from a mirror.

I have found a couple of things that have helped: find a mild cleanser, really moisturizing lotion, and be as gentle with your skin as possible! (I like cetaphil, but experiment to find your own, and Dan sells his own 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream online for a great price. he is not out to make huge amounts of money like others claiming to cure acne, such as ProActiv!) The difference between this acne regimen and others, such as Proactiv, is essentially the amount of benzoyld peroxide cream used and the elimination of manual and chemical exfoliation with AHA/BHA or salicylic acid products. Dan recommends applying about an ounce of bp cream each time, while most systems recommend only about a dime sized amount. (trust me, this is a drastic change!)

He explains exactly the reasoning and how to follow his guidelines in the book, so please(!) follow Dan's advice! Another point to keep in mind is almost everything in this book is online at acne.org for free, so please check out the site and it's great recommendations first before ordering the book! While this book and Dan's regimen offer relief for most acne sufferers, this is not a cure for acne but a way to manage it on a daily basis, and once under control, acne will most likely reappear if you stop the regimen and doing exactly what Dan tells you to do.

With that said, this regimen has helped to keep my skin clearer than anything that I have tried. I have been on almost every acne medication that can be prescribed, including accutane, and while they helped clear my skin to a degree, you can't stay on drugs indefinitely, and once I stopped them my acne would either immediately or eventually reappear just as badly or worse than it was before I was on the medications. This system is what is helping me keep my skin under control on a long term basis without the side effects of oral drugs.

Dan's skin care regimen is the only thing that has worked for my acne - I tried everything from Proactiv to oral medications like Acutane. I've been caking on makeup for most of my life, since age 13, but now I finally can leave the house without it. Yes, I still break out a little before my monthly period, but otherwise, I'm all clear.
Dan Kern should win an award for his method, he is truly helping people, and not one of these Guthy Renker infomercial companies out for money. No celebrity endorsements needed; the clear skin regimen just works. I wish I had found it years ago.

Happily, Dan Kern is not a corporation looking for profit: he's just a guy who had bad skin and found a way to manage it. [...] I bought the book as a small thank you to Kern for being nice enough to provide the info for free. If you buy products thru his site, he gets a kick-back -- and if you don't, that's ok, too. For this reason, he deserves the support. Kind of like shareware for books. And his easy if not always fun regimen has been working so far, so kudos.

Dan's info is the only thing that has helped me get rid of my acne. Nothing else, incl. Proactiv, worked except the info in this book and it is very simple and easy to do what he suggests. But the previous reveiwer was write you can get all the info in this book on his website.

I didn't read the whole book. I just went to web site acne.org and followed the program. Acne is now gone. I suffered from Acne for over 20 years and tried many treatment programs from Accutane, Retin-A, Microdermabrasion and a few others. Dan Kern's treatment program was the first treatment program that actually work for me in the long run.

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"A late rose ravages the casual eye," writes Roethke in A Walk in Late Summer, "a blaze of being on a central stem." In such images we see the symbols of nature fully tapped in modern poetry -- and tapped in American English, in fresh, vivid language that overpowers the reader with its grace and presence. The poetry of Theodore Roethke is written by a man profoundly alive -- skirting the edge of suicide, losing his voice in the awe of love, reeling wildly in the throes of "the pure fury," and looking at last with calm eyes into infinity and his own undoing in the Far Field. Roethke was a true descendent of Whitman where the latter wrote "This is no book / Who touches this touches a man." But Roethke's poetry moves us as much by its lyrical language as by the power and wisdom of its experience. Roethke himself was, as represented by his art alone, a "blaze of being."

Among Roethke's contributions to literature are his poems that treat depression. Far from letting his manic episodes paralyze him, he used them to write some his most intense poetry. "In a Dark Time" is one of the immortal poems of the 20th century, worthy to be set aside a Van Gogh painting. Roethke was not alone in treating these subjects: two other Pulitzer Prize-winning poets of his time, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton, learned from him and wrote about similar themes. But Roethke's writing stands out in two ways from these poets and other poets the 50's and 60's.

One is the unity of his work and vision -- this Collected Poems traces a single spiritual journey beginning with his childhood memories of the greenhouse, and ending somewhere among "the windy cliffs of forever", last visions tragically cut short by his early death. Between those points are rendered all of the experiences of his life -- as he wrote in his first poem, "my heart keeps open-house." But he never fails to interpret these experiences and understand their significance in the larger picture of his life and poetry. Unlike so much of the poetry of Sylvia Plath and other Confessional poets, Roethke never demands that you read his biography to understand his symbolism. Rather, his symbols develop among his poems to form a kind of mythology: his recurring symbols include stones, fire, light, "the small," and the spirit.

The other difference between Roethke and other poets of his time is his technique. Roethke is never obscure; he always writes in fresh language, avoiding cliches, although his symbols are indeed personal and take time to understand. Roethke's craft is "strict and pure," such that even the staunchest defenders of Sylvia Plath have confessed that Roethke's writing is more disciplined. The Deep Image movement of poets like Robert Bly and James Wright is influenced by the kind of symbolism found throughout Roethke's poetry, and those writers have acknowledged their debt to him. Roethke retained rhyme and meter in a time when all the conventions of poetry were being ripped apart; and he did so with a consummate technical skill not to be found in the Beatniks or in the Black Mountain poets. Roethke's ear for poetry is much more sensitive than that of other poets of his time. We are gagged by the lyricism in lines like

"She came toward me in the flowing air,
A shape of change, encircled by its fire."
("The Dream")

"When all
My waterfall
Fancies sway away
From me, in the sea's silence..."
("Her Time")

"O love, you who hear
The slow tick of time
In your sea-buried ear..."
("Song")


The most exhilarating of all these are Roethke's love poems in "Words for the Wind", which justly won the Bollingen Prize and the National Book Award. These poems are unmatched for eloquence and spiritual intensity -- and it's a damn shame that modern anthologies do not reprint them, aside from the famous "I Knew a Woman." For it is in these love poems that Roethke's soul soars, and his poetic power is fully realized.

"She knew the grammar of least motion."
("The Dream")

"Light listened when she sang."
("Light Listened")

"I measure time by how a body sways."
("I Knew a Woman").


Theodore Roethke achieved greatness in art by having the courage to confront the most intense human experiences and the skill to craft them into some of the most eloquent poems of his time. If there is ONE modern poet you will read, let it be Roethke. His "Collected Poems" is a must for every poet and every lover of poetry.

I relished Roethke when I first read him in high school, along with Hart Crane, e.e. cummings, and the Beats. I still admired him in college, when I wrote poetry myself, and regarded most other "living" poets with suspicious disdain. Many poets I loved then have lost some of their charm for me (my loss, not theirs) but, forty five years later, I still read Roethke. Does that speak to you?

To My Sister; The Heron; No Bird; Elegy for Jane; She; Her Reticence; The Meadow Mouse; and of course, My Papa's Waltz--these are all some of the great poems that Theodore Roethke wrote. Roethke is one of our American masters. I found that when he was on his game (as he was in the poems above, among others) his poetry was phenomenal, but when he wasn't, his poetry could be awful. His earlier work is better than his later work, though he seems to have gotten most of his recognition for his later work. Still, for the poetry lover this is pretty much a required volume for your shelves.

At first, I was heitant to delve into this author's work simply because I'd never heard of him in all my wide readings of poetry, both modern and old.

Don't make the same mistake I did. Roethke WILL NOT disappoint you. "The Lost Son" has become my new favourite poem, and this book goes with me perpetually, and will until I finish every line in it.

Exquisite.

I love Roethke and I can't stop loving him. His words, phrases, rhythms, thoughts, feelings and meditations stick with me. I will go a year or two without reading his work, but he is still there shaping the way I see the world. His poetry occupies the same space in my mind as Brian Eno's transcendent work On Land. It's meditative, quiet, and joyful and yet, sweaty, ominous, and alarming, all at the same time.

The Far Field (North American Sequence) incarnates this feeling for me. Roethke meditates on his own mortality (don't all poets?) and finds a vast encompassing love for life. A love not only for the "growing rose," but also, seemingly for the summer heat and the stench of dead buffalo, "their damp fur drying in the sun." He sees beauty in nature but also "redolent disorder" and he calls life "This ambush, this silence."

I agree with him.

Roethke proclaims a love for life which is similar to Nietzsche's concept of the Eternal Recurring. That is, he has learned to love life, the good and the evil, to such an extent that he would have it recur again and again, eternally. This kind of love is not a love for evil, rather it is a willingness to sit behind the window of one's pain and still look out and see the beauty. This takes great courage.

Roethke's influences are obvious. What American poet could escape Whitman and his lineage, Thoreau, Henry Miller, etc.? I'm sure he read his fair share of Nietzsche. I also note, Roethke's style seems to have changed drastically towards the end of his life. I believe this was probably partly in reaction to the Beats. However, in my opinion he swallows the Beats whole and makes something new of them. Roethke's verse also periodically has the ring of Wallace Stevens, and sometimes Robert Frost. Some of his verses sound like bad seventies self-help schtick; "I long for the imperishable quiet at the heart of form," etc.

I only go into these criticisms so I can make a larger point. Roethke's metaphors are sometimes, seemingly, larger than their implication, sometimes they are derivative, sometimes clunky. But, his work, for me, has an almost Biblical air to it. By this I mean his work resonates on a mythological level. His ideas are broad and go to the heart without ignoring the blood and stench of life. At the same time, yes, his ideas are broad, however, his details, while often being merely enumerative, are true. By this I mean, they come from a real eye roving across a real landscape. He is, at once, strange and familiar.

I would hope that Academia would catch up with Roethke. It seems that he is being unfairly ignored.