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Reviews Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Reviews
Millionaire Boy: The Adventures of a Game Show Contestant
Published in Paperback by Monkey Boy Publishing (2001-07-01)
Author: J.E. Matzer
List price: $10.95
Used price: $0.94
Collectible price: $11.99

Average review score:

Who Wants to Laugh Out Loud?
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-10-19
OK, so it was the title that got me since i was not a "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" fan. My friend loaned it to me and i had HAD to check it out. Then i had to have one of my own.

What a clever, funny book that was clearly written from the heart. What a fresh directive. I could almost hear the author talking to me. I could almost "see" the people and nearly experience what was going on, the desciptions were so clear.

I think Im now a Millionaire Fan..

Now i tape all the shows to find J.E.'s show and watch it. -THANKS ALOT -

All i need to know now is.....what's next Millionaire Boy?

I was so excited...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-15
about writing a review for this book, Millionaire Boy/The Adventures of a Game Show Contestant, that I forgot to rate it with stars. 5 STARS! 5 STARS! 5 STARS!

Loads of fun!
A very entertaining read!

this is a book for everybody!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2002-12-13
I wanted to read this book for several reasons. ONE because it was about one of my favorite tv programs, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and TWO because the author was from Montana.
I enjoyed this book thoroughly! It was well-written and very amusing.
The author has a very comfortable style. It is really like he is talking right to you. There are inner monolouges to let you know what he is thinking at key parts of the book.

This was a very visual book, because the author's descriptions of people, settings, and activities were superb!
I had read other reviews of "Millionaire Boy" and questioned if people were really laughing out loud as they claimed.
I can atest to the fact that this is a very funny book and, yes, I DID laugh out loud. SEVERAL times!
I have passed the book along to other fans of WWTBAM and they have enjoyed it as much as I did.
I too am looking forward to the author's next book.
I think he has a great future ahead of him.

Have a game show fan or a Regis Philbin fan on your gift list?
This is a book for them!
But like I said at the beginning, "Millionaire Boy" really is a book for everybody!

Lots and lots of FUN!!!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-14
This book was a lot of fun and much like several of the others who have written reviews of Millionaire Boy:The Adventures of a Game Show Contestant, I found myself laughing outloud several times.

The perfect sitting by the pool book!
If you like Dave Barry, you'll appreciate the humor in this book.

Anybody know if the author has written anything else?

Dave Barry eat your heart out...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-25
With all the wit of a Dave Barry read but better! Full of humor and trepidation about making a public appearance on national television. The true story of making your dreams a reality. A great book that is very difficult to read without pausing to go back and read parts out loud to who ever might be around to listen...friends, family, cats, pillows.

Reviews
Mtv'S The Real World New Orleans: Unmasked (Real World Series)
Published in Paperback by MTV (2000-11-01)
Author: Alison Pollet
List price: $16.00
New price: $0.29
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $16.00

Average review score:

Poor Layout for my favorite RW Season
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-01
New Orleans is my favorite season of Real World thus far, and i am a little disappointed in the contents and layout of this book in comparison to editions for later seasons (ie, chicago and las vegas). Instead of putting cast member information in an orderly fashion, they throw around the facts over various pages. castmember david's fact sheet is also suspiciously missing. I didn't like the rw reunion junk at the back of the book to pad its length. they should have included the floor plans of the house and more photos taken by the cast instead of this.

Lots of Info You DIDN'T Know!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-27
If you watched the Real World New Orleans, this is a great guide to what you didn't see. If you DIDN'T watch the show, well, then there's no reason to buy the book!
My favorite part about the book was the information about the Kelley/Danny and Melissa/Jamie "feud." With quotes from the sources themselves, it adds even more drama than was on the show! VERY interesting!

A must for fans of the real world
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2003-02-02
This book is amazing!! anything you ever wanted to know is answered!! It even goes into a bit of stuff from other seasons, with pictures of Rachel(S.F) and Sean's (boston)wedding! as well as tonnes of pictures what they're doing now etc....etc.....
You will really enjoy it!!

Good buy
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-25
I liked this Real world book a lot in fact I like most of them, all except Seattle which was incredibly boring . But this book gives you a lot of insight into what the camera didn't show. Some of the things mentioned don't seem to make sense b/c when you see the reunions on tv they don't act towards each other they way that you would think w/some of the comments that they have made about each other in this book. Besides that it is well worth your money and time to read it.

The Truth Be Told
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-04-16
It's amazing how much is told in this book that wasn't revealed on the show. This book gives the show and the cast (which I think is the most interesting cast yet) more depth. The thing dealt with most in the book is something that wasn't hardly dealt with on the show, and that's Kelley and Danny's dislike of Melissa and Jamie. There's way more content than that, but that is what's focused on a bit. 'Unmasked' also put to rest the answer of some questions, such as "Why was Kelley not in the house a lot?" and "What did Matt really think of Julie the whole time she crushed on him?". All the cast members let out what they really thought about each other, and some of the results could be surprising. All in all, I found that this season and this book is the best ever. Can't wait until next season!

Reviews
Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat (PBS Kids)
Published in Hardcover by PBS (2003-01)
Author:
List price: $19.98

Average review score:

ENDEARING FELINE WHIMSEY
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-16
A WONDERFULLY TOLD CAT-TAIL! THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE LOVELY AND APPROPRIATE TO THE PLAYFUL THEME OF THE BOOK.

A home run for a Chinese native and a cat lover!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-16
This is a fantastic story. It sparks children and adults (I'm 53!) the imagination and creativity that will help make the world a more beautiful place. I hence started to write my own children's stories. Amy Tan is my inspiration, and I hope she becomes yours.

Sagwa
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-17
I am the mother of 2 boys and have little knowledge of "girl" books. I bought this book for 2 little girls ages 4 and 5. The parents of each girl said their daughters were thrilled with the book and asked that it be read to them twice the day the book arrived. I bought the book because I love Amy Tan's novels and assumed that a child's book would be just as engaging. Amy Tan's story and the beautiful illustrations did not let me down.

Siamese cat lovers....
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2004-01-11
The most exquisitely illustrated book I've ever owned! A fun, fictitious way to describe how white siamese kittens get their colors.
It's a bit long for a bed time story, but really fun! Kids ages 8 or 9 and up may be able to read it themselves, but the beginners may have a hard time.

Beautifully written and illustrated book!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-08
I've read Amy Tan's "Joy Luck Club" and "Kitchen God's Wife" and had no idea that she's a wonderful children's author as well. I learned about this book from watching the same titled PBS series. The series is cute for kids, but the book is a wonderful story, rich in history and beautifully illustrated. Tan is a gifted writer that children and adults can appreciate.

Reviews
The Ultimate French Verb Review and Practice (The Ultimate Verb Review and Practice Series)
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill (2006-03-08)
Authors: David M Stillman and Ronni L Gordon
List price: $12.95
New price: $7.64
Used price: $7.55

Average review score:

Verb Review
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-06
Used as a review tool for a college course after taking a year off in French. Very useful and helpful.

They've done it again!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-06
Yes, David Stillman and Ronni Gordon have done it again. Years ago, when I bought The Ultimate French Review and Practice, I was certain that it was the most thorough French grammar book I had ever encountered. However, the newer Ultimate French Verbs Review and Practice carries coverage of the French language a step further. Don't be fooled by the title. To be sure, this is a book on French verbs, one which provides just about everything one might wish to know on the subject. But, it is also packed with up-to-date vocabulary such as computer and internet terms and a wealth of extra tidbits covering other aspects of usage and French language history and development. I took my first French class in 1961 in a high school language laboratory and have been captivated by the language ever since. I went on to study French in college for four years. Since that time, I have continued to read French and to use the French soundtrack on DVD movies as a means of experiencing the language on a regular basis. Living in West Virginia, I rarely get a chance to speak French. It's so nice to have the two Ultimate books to recall things I already know and to learn new things. One little gem I had never encountered before is the use of "vous autres" to emphasize the plural use of "vous." It is simply the French equivalent of "you all" or "you guys." I had always wondered if the French had a way of saying that. Now, I know. The French, however, go a step farther. They also have "nous autres" or "we all" to emphasize the inclusion of particular groups in the use of "we" as opposed to the generic "on" which is an all-inclusive non-particular "we" and is also rendered as "one, people, you, they, etc." I had come across "nous autres" in high school, but never "vous autres." I haven't nearly exhausted the comprehensiveness of this book. I am sixty years old. I will probably never need another French book in my lifetime. These two should do it quite well.

A Great Review
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-23
I already speak French but am rusty. This book is perfect for reviewing and getting back up to speed.. It wouldn't be much help for beginners as a lot of the fundamentals aren't gone over very carefully,

if you want to come over the intimidation of french verbs and tenses this book is for you.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-13
i hadn't believed when i read the reviews about this book,but when i purchased this book,it helped me a lot to learn about french tenses but most importantly french verbs.i think verbs are the real obstacle for learning french. if you want to discern french verbs and tenses you had better buy this book.the thing that made me frustrated about this book was how it badly published. the pages are easily torn apart. yet it is nothing besides how you easily and thoroughly learn a lot about french.

Get this.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-25
I have taken 2 years of French in college, but I have to say I wish I found this sooner (but still completely satisfied I have it now). It lays out in a clear and rule based form how to handle verbs, meanwhile explaining exceptions in a clear and non-intimidating manner. I love it, and for people who have gone through immersion programs (like me) it is nice - now that you have the basics - to go over everything from a clear and concise standpoint. I highly recommend this book as well as their Ultimate Grammar Review.

Reviews
Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2004 (Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever)
Published in Paperback by Gale Thorndike Press (2003-07)
Author:
List price: $24.95
New price: $5.00
Used price: $0.37
Collectible price: $25.00

Average review score:

Videohound: Best resource book ever
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-24
Love it! Someone asks "What was Casablanca's rating?" and the answer is at your fingertips! Looking at woofs is so funny, I reread them hundreds of times. Best book to read when you have finished the latest New York Times Bestseller and are waiting for your next book to be mailed. Fabulous!

Excellent!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-13
I love this book! I find myself agreeing with almost everything they have to say about a movie. (Unlike my experience with Maltin's guide-- can you believe he didn't like "Dead Again"?)

My only wish is that they'd put it out on CD-ROM!


Videohound's Golden Movie Retriever 2004 by Craddock
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-01
This guide covers movies, video and high quality DVD. Titles are set forth alphabetically with meaningful descriptions of each
movie/presentation. Samples of rated movies are as follows:

o Castle of the Living and Dead
o Diamonds Are Forever

This volume is updated each year to reflect new acquisitions.
It is a good value for the price charged.

Necessary for any movie buff.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-03
Since I am a movie buff, I LOVE this book, and read it in bed! It's a good read for anyone wanting to know what kind of movies they would like to see. It's a lot better than anything Leonard Maltin has ever done, and it's also better than Roger Ebert's I hated, I hated, I HATED this movie, which is good, but it contains mostly B-movies.

Best and most complete movie book ever.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-04
Anything you want to know about movies, awards and stars can be found in this book.

Reviews
Bones: The Official Companion (Bones)
Published in Paperback by Titan Books (2007-10-16)
Author: Paul Ruditis
List price: $14.95
New price: $8.81
Used price: $8.92

Average review score:

Must have for a BONES addict
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-21
Great recaps of the first season with brilliant photography, the best lines from each episode, and some fun behind the scenes info. I'm enough of a BONES junkie that I would buy one for each season!

Just can't get enough of Bones? Here's more to love!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-13
ok, so I admit it, I am a diehard devoted fan to the Fox TV show Bones. This is an amazing guide/companion/keepsake book to the show. The quality is amazing, glossy full color pages all the way though and detailed glimpses into each episode and a breakdown of each season (season 1 and 2 so far). There's interviews and antidotes galore on the actors, creative behind the scenes of the making of the show. You can't go wrong by investing in the purchase of this book. It's inexpensive and high quality. I almost forgot to mention all those amazing photos of David Boreanaz also.

Great Companion!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-09
I bought this book, at first, just to read. But now I use it all the time when I'm watching Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD. It is very informative! A must-have for any Bones lover!

Bones the Companion and Season 2
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-08
Can't wait for Season 3 to be released. Great going Amazcon. Service as always fantastic.

Bones Companion Book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-27
For anyone who is a fan of the TV shows Bones, this book is a must. There are lots of little anecdotes about the actors as well as information on each of the season one and season two episodes.

Reviews
Clinical Review of Surgery - ABSITE Edition
Published in Paperback by Surgisphere Corporation (2008-02-01)
Author:
List price: $54.95
New price: $49.95

Average review score:

Bad marketing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-16
I haven't read this book, so I can't comment on its quality. However, there appears to be multiple fake reviews here giving it 5/5 stars, and then giving other similar ABSITE books 1/5 stars.

My theory is that the people financially interested in this book are creating fake reviews to help the marketing of the book.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm not.

Good ABSITE and Surgery Review
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-14
The Clinical Review of Surgery - ABSITE Edition is a great review for the ABSITE and surgery as a whole. Topics are well chosen and appropriate for residents at all stages of training. Difficult concepts are explained well and their is sufficient breadth and depth. Good coverage and easy to read. Plenty of tables and charts. Use with their online review course.

Concise, High-Yield Review Text and Course
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-12
The Clinical Review of Surgery is an excellent resource for surgery residents and interns - and even the sophisticated medical student completing their surgery clerkship. Every major topic in surgery is covered, and the book follows the exact outline produced by the American Board of Surgery. The topics are well selected and there is ample detail.

I joined their online review course after I purchased this textbook and am very glad that I did. Their online course is split into three sections. There is a great weekly reading course in surgery that goes through Sabiston's and Cameron's. It forces you to read about 20-30 pages a week and gives you a practice exam at the end of the week. I was able to compare my scores with other residents to see how I well (or poorly) I was doing.

The second section is specifically for junior residents getting ready for the junior ABSITE. I didn't look at this in too much detail as I am a PGY-4.

The third section was something I was interested in. This is a specific review for the senior ABSITE. They have something on the order of a thousand review questions and some great high-yield review presentations. The textbook I purchased on Amazon is reproduced in this snazzy electronic format so I can pull up the book in one window while I go through questions and the presentations in another window.

This is probably the most sophisticated review course I have ever seen. They make it easy to learn and do a great job with the material.

This material is ideal for residents and interns at all levels in surgery - and would probably serve established surgeons equally well as they prepare for their recertification exams. Having seen all of the other options out there, I highly recommend this product.

Great ABSITE book and review course
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-10
Clinical Review of Surgery - ABSITE Edition

This is the second year that I have come back to this resource. I used their review course last year to prepare for the ABSITE and had an excellent experience. This year, they have added a new weekly reading course in surgery that goes through major surgery concepts to help you prepare for the surgery boards. This book is the mainstay of the course and is an excellent resource.

The book covers all major topics in surgery and is an excellent, concise review for surgery. I have used all of the major review resources, including the new Hopkins manual, Fiser's book, and this one, and this rates a 10/10.

Complete Review for Surgery - Print and Online
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-18
Clinical Review of Surgery - ABSITE Edition

This is an outstanding and complete review of surgery - both the print textbook and the online review course. I use it with their weekly surgery reading course and have found it to be exactly what I needed as part of my training. I've told my friends about it, and they have also purchased the entire review course.

Each week, they introduce a new topic in surgery complete with reading material in this book, recommended reading topics in Sabiston's and Cameron's - it's the only review course of its kind. They have about a dozen questions in an online test to see what you know. The questions are good and similar to what you might find on the ABSITE or surgery boards.

This book also includes nearly a hundred practice questions, which I found to be similar to what I would see on the surgery boards. The topics are each clearly explained and go into sufficient detail. Major surgical topics are covered well and the book is very organized. They have several other books out there as well, but you can access all of their books online if you purchase the comprehensive review course.

All in all, this is a great review product for residents and those coming back to review for their surgery boards. I would also give it five stars for all medical students - it is simply the best surgery review guide out there.

Reviews
Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo
Published in Paperback by Chicago Review Press (2007-02-01)
Author: Ned Sublette
List price: $19.95
New price: $12.25
Used price: $12.25

Average review score:

what a fun read
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-21
informative and fun to read, this is a loving tribute to the music of Cuba and from whence it came. It's historical without being tedious and a real page turner. I love it and recommend it to anyone who digs this kind of music and culture.

There should be a Nobel Prize for musical scholarship!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-02
It's a first for me to review a book I haven't finished reading. I've been reading Cuba and Its Music for about a year, off and on, as I've read other books and material. What's prompting me to review it now is that this is simply a terrific, wonderful book and the word needs to get out. Full disclosure: despite being a musician all my life, I discovered Cuban music only about twenty years ago. The more I learned about it the more it took me over. This is not the place to go into the reasons, but I will make an outrageous blanket statement and say that what Bach is to classical music, Cuban music is to popular music.

Ned Sublette explains why in his marvelous book. I find myself pouring over passages, rereading and underlining and making notes to myself in the back. I can't take a lot of this at one time. I'll put the book down to pick it up a week later and end up rereading what I'd already read. The prospect of getting all the way to the end of it fills me with joy and dread at the same time. It's not that it's densely written: on the contrary, it's some of the clearest, easiest to read scholarly writing I've ever run across (and that's a lot, by the way).

The book is not for everyone. You have to like music, for starters. Then, it would be good if you enjoy learning about how musical styles originate, travel, and influence other styles. Cuba has been a true melting pot for many of the world's musical traditions, and most have made their way to this country, through New Orleans, through New York, and by other means, to the point that its influence is discernible in almost every popular American genre today. Sublette has traced these influences in the most careful and understandable way, and the result is enlightenment on every single page.

Now I hear that Sublette has another book out on the musical cultures and history of New Orleans. This is wonderful news even if it means I'll spend the next five years finishing both volumes. Amazon won't let me review a book twice, so I won't be able to comment on the latter parts of Cuba and Its Music here. Maybe I'll be able to mention it when I finally report on The World that Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square.

Quien sabe, sabe
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-12
Ned Sublette really knows his stuff. Although he quotes extensively from other authors, his own research and experience combine to make this a wonderfully solid piece of work, and one that is long overdue. Sublette takes us back to the very beginning, unravelling the potent mix of cultures and influences that have gone into what we call Cuban music today. His attention to detail will be appreciated by Cuban music afficionados, for whom many questions will be answered and mysteries revealed. Read this book, and look forward to the second volume!

El Unico
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-28
There is nothing written in English that compares to the scope and depth of this book on Cuban music. (Leymarie's Cuban Fire comes close in volume of information, but it lacks the cogent overview and insight that Sublette masterfully weaves into the details.) This is a history of Cuban music written by a musician (!) who understands the importance of credible research when defining context and cultural antecedents. Furthermore, he uses his perspective as an outsider--he is a North American--to our advantage. Coupled with his examinations of the complexity of a Cuban identity and aesthetic, our North American culture also becomes more transparent.

This is particularly true when it comes to dissecting the story that most conventional Western Hemisphere histories neglect-the profound cultural influence of West Africa. As Sublette notes, "the drum...what an African would call a drum-is conspicuously missing from European music before the sixteenth century." Was it the creolized cultures of the New World that finally gave Europeans license to return to the dance floor after centuries of Church proscription? Sublette presents a convincing case for this, while simultaneously providing an explanation for those among us who are rhythmically challenged...

Readers also benefit from the full spectrum Sublette's perspective--that of a musician who migrates comfortably between the music of the concert hall and the dance hall. "Dancing," he writes, "is an intense listening state. Dancing can be complex and it can be spiritual. African music is almost always music for dancing; and so is Cuban music, which is African music's grown-up child." No armchair scholar talks like that.

Furthermore, his writing is not of that academic ilk that is afraid to offer opinions, or reveal passions. (For starters, he states that he likes Cuban music because he "has good taste.") Nor does he shy away from connecting the dots or hazarding wide-reaching theories. He is the first author I have come across to point out that the geographical origins of the African slaves-those coming to North America from the Senegambia, those to the Caribbean from the coastal areas-largely explains the differences in the musical styles (melismatic vs. polyrhythmic) between these two regions of the Western Hemisphere. Shouldn't this information be part of our cultural literacy?

The subject of this book is huge and Sublette is certainly up to the task. (Did I mention the extensive index?) I have also found, thanks to this text, that I am listening to Cuban musicians (eg. Chano Pozo, Miguelito Valdes, Arsenio Rodriguez) with new ears. That's quite a gift. Chevere que chevere!

Filling a gap that I never knew
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-25
This is the finest book on the sociological basis of music I have ever read. Many good books will provide a new fact on each page or two, but I seem to learn three new bits of history on every single page of this extensive analysis of the origins of musical styles in Cuba. But this is more than about Cuba; it is about Al-Andalus/Sefarad and Renaissance Spain and the eary history of the United States, and about northwest and central African peoples, and about Renaissance Europe, and about the early history of Islam and Arabia. It is about differing social policy and its effect on the slave trade. It is about what gave New Orleans jazz the Latin tinge and makes that city a treasure. It is about the distinct origins of the polyrhythmic, polytonal structures of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian music and the recitative, glissando-embellished, monorhythmic music of the blues and later jazz. We learn about Louis Gottchalk's first use of the African drum in classical music [performed in Europe] and why such instruments were banned in England's continental colonies and the early United States since 1739. We learn how Moorish, that is, black, line dance style was once the rage of western Europeans, and led to England's Morris dances. These are among the smallest of factoids that you will encounter reading this highly readable yet scholarly book.

Because I admire and particularly enjoy multidisciplinary cultural histories, Sublette's book is a feast. His explorations are ours. You will be fascinated, and you will be delighted. The book is an education. Buy it.

Reviews
In the Freud Archives (New York Review Books Classics)
Published in Paperback by NYRB Classics (2002-11-30)
Author:
List price: $14.95
New price: $6.49
Used price: $3.38
Collectible price: $14.95

Average review score:

Fight over Freud
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-24
Very well written and captivating non-fiction story about the intrigues around the Sigmund Freud Archives. The character descriptions are interesting, and we are also given some insights into the history and concepts of psychoanalysis. This is done without the text becoming too theoretical. In the Freud Archives is not difficult to read. After reading the postscript I wondered a little about Janet Malcolms use of sources. She is not exactly kind towards Masson, and maybe she betrays him by putting into text words not intended to.I don't know, there was some controversy after the first publication. Anyway, the book is great.

Concise Primer on Freud's Theories -- and the people who fight over their legacy
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-23
Wow!

This concise primer on Freud's legacy details the evidence behind his theories, profiles three characters who fight over their origins and significance, and questions the wisdom of restricting access to the Freud archives. A brilliant work that fascinates, illuminates, and documents - and deserves to be read by all psychology students. Hint: Freud's conclusion that his female patients were fantasizing about sexual abuse seems more arrogant and less plausible than ever. Further, the decision to keep key source documents locked away in the Freud archives until 2102 emphasizes the lack of transparency and secretive, almost sect-like style of Freud in creating his new "scientific" discipline.

A very entertaining, intellectual, and rather disturbing read for a breezy summer day!

In the Freud Archives
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-20
A great read and one that explicates the silence of the patriarchy yet again.

A drama of intelligent people who go over-the-top "for" Freud
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-10
Though under 150 pages in length, In the Freud Archives is so complex that, to serve the potential purchaser of this book, I want to confine my comments to the writer's craft, that is, to how Janet Malcolm constructed her tale, and to notions such as subtext (what the author does not or cannot say on the surface), and to how her book and its topic of the Sigmund Freud legacy might have changed since the book was first published in 1984.

There is clearly a central "character," a protagonist, in this book: Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. The opening pages of In the Freud Archives recount Masson's personal charm and dazzling intellect as he begins to appear at psychoanalytic conferences (which lead to his meeting with the most important of the four or five other "characters," Kurt Eissler, the Secretary or head of the Freud Archives). Note that throughout the book, author Malcolm gives more pages to Masson than to anyone else, the final pages of the book are Masson's words, and he is the only person Malcolm shows in the intimacy of his home with his family. Masson seems to be the perfect "main character" because of his internal conflicts (which he makes visible, as Malcolm recounts them). Very quickly, we find out that Masson's words and actions are uncivil, bad-tempered, and generally destructive of friendships; though other people in the book are also similarly flawed, they seem not to have redeeming qualities.

As the narrative progresses, its as though Malcolm realizes that Masson's situation makes the most compelling narrative and she wanted to record moments which "save" him; in other words, it seems to me that there is little to redeem Eissler, Peter Swales, or Anna Freud, but Malcolm gives Masson some moments of truth. For example, at the end of the book, in Jeff Masson's home with Denise, there is a bit of dialogue which Malcolm records that shows Masson does let someone (an intimate friend) question him about his manners. And at two points in the book, Malcolm records Masson saying that the results of psychoanalysis (the conclusions drawn by the analyst about the patient) don't matter as much as how the patient feels about his or her life. Masson asks, "What do you do with something like Auschwitz?" Masson asks this in the context of psychoanalysts' debates on the patient's "reality" versus "fantasy."

A great deal of what In the Freud Archives is about has to do with the current value of psychoanalysis, i.e., its efficacy in assisting the patient to recover happiness in life. If Masson was disgusted with psychoanalysts and their work, and this disgust led him to disgust with Freud and his legacy (thus leading to his being fired from the Archives job), then I wish Malcolm had written more about that point of disgust (at which Masson began to turn away). (However, she meant her book to show the relationship of everyone involved as Freud and his legacy mutated in the 1970s.) Clearly, to me, a key turning point in the narrative occurs when Masson says, "The business of analysis is to . . . get to the [patient's] pain and the sorrow. But they [the analysts] were arguing that there is no such thing as reality--that there is no single Auschwitz. That is the worst thing that analysis has left the world: the notion that there is no reality, that there are only individual experiences of it" (56-57). Be that as it may, or for what it's worth, other people in the book don't have moments of truth like this; Masson doesn't look as "bad" in this book as he thought back in 1984. It's unfortunate that he did not see that. Of course, slowly, but surely, In the Freud Archives is becoming fiction; sooner or later all nonfiction does.

Simply put, this book is a must read if you, the reader, want to be a student of life and of the era in which we live. Along those lines, it seems that because of the value of "pop psychology" and "self-help" books, the legacy of Freud and his archives are no longer worth fighting over because people in general see little at stake in Freud's interpretations of life or of our interpretations of his private life. For one thing, sexuality and the meaning of it doesn't bother people the way it did in the first half of the twentieth century. Today, the average person doesn't spend much time "interpreting" past actions, phobias, fears. If anything, we come to our conclusions about life very quickly, and we move on. Also, we live in the era of Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Stephen Covey, and Landmark Education, Inc.,of San Francisco; people interested in moving forward in live spend less time "interpreting" the past and more in conscious actions which bring them fulfillment. However, a general idea people might agree on is that Freud and his work came into being (in Europe) because the rising middle-class people had a sense of their own misery in an era of rapid industrial development and technological change. Analysis, or psycho-therapy or therapeutic counseling, or "self-help"--whatever you call it--responds to the basic human desire to have positive change in life--and to be at peace.

Given that happiness should be easier to find, it is sad--indeed tragic--that the intelligent people Janet Malcolm writes about should find it not only impossible to get along, but also escalate and perpetrate bad feeling. Another unfortunate situation is the tendency of "experts" like Eissler and Swales and Masson to protect their viewpoint at any cost, to the point of declaring people "wrong," people who as writers and thinkers might have something valuable to say. Malcolm's book is a chronicle of intellectual history, a tale of that specific time in the 1970s and `80s when such fights could take place. The copyright on Malcolm's "Afterword" for the NYRB edition is 1997--now ten years ago.

Delightful gossip.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-23

This small well written book is really nothing but a bit of fluffy gossip. But gossip that will delight anyone who has found themselves caught up in the now-venerable controversy surrounding both Jeffrey Masson's book: "The Assault on Truth: Freud's Suppression of the Seduction Theory" and the furor among Freud followers that resulted from it's publication. Through personal interviews, Ms.Malcolm gives us the lowdown on the brilliant but (to say the least) quirky Mr. Masson as well as most of the other surviving characters (as of 1983) involved in Masson's brief yet productive romance with the keepers of Freud's well guarded letters and library.

Perhaps the surprise here...or lack of surprise, is that those such as Masson, who attempt to push the understanding of any intellectual field beyond it's comfortable boundries will, perhaps out of necessity, find themselves snooping around its often dangerous edges. And perhaps because of the hornet's nest they may stir up, are often a bit on the edgy side themselves.

Malcolm does a fine job of exposing us to Masson's truly obnoxious character, and yet raises a larger unasked question. Does eccentricity alone invalidate an individual's research and ideas, or when one dares to take on the giants, is that same eccentricity a necessity?

Whatever the answer, the almost 25 year tandem printing history of these two volumes speaks to the apparent importance of the contentions reguarding Freud that the voracious Masson dared to raise.

And perhaps simply through daring to raise them, Masson finds his victory.



Reviews
Into Temptation
Published in Paperback by Headline Review (2006-07-03)
Author: Penny Vincenzi
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Into Temptation
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-25
This was the third is the Lytton Family Trilogy of books..
A page turner, as were the first 2 !! So well researched and written.
If you love long family stories you will love these books.
Even the ending of this, the third was just right!
A great read!

Into Temptation (Lytton Family Trilogy)
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-27
I just finished Into Temptation, No. 3 in this superior trilogy, and can honestly say this trilogy is the best thing I've read since Gone With The Wind! I'm 70 years old, an avid reader of anything British and am so thankful I found this series before it was too late! Quick, grab the first volume of this series pronto and stay with it until the very last word on the very last page of the very last volume. You'll never regret it!

Loved this trilogy!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-29
This was the best trilogy's I have ever read. I am sorry it's over now. I agree with all the other readers on how great these books were. I am also suprised most people have never heard of these books. I love the old English family saga's. I also loved Barbara Taylor Bradford's Woman of Substance.

Linnie
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-24
This was the book I enjoyed most in the trilogy. It is interesting from the beginning to the end and I was very sorry when I came to the last page. It is one book that I will read again maybe next year.

Excellent!
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-17
This is the 3rd book in the trilogy! I love it just as much as the other 2 books. I am going to be sad when I am finished with it. I have never enjoyed a trilogy as much as this one!


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