Abuse Books

Yes!
A very courageous stand against the pornographic "industry" & exploatation of a wonderful gift indeed..!

This book is an Eye-opener of how the Enormous pornographic industry today displays Pornography as "entertainment" on TV, DVD's, Magazines etc. & how it for sure violates the "laws" of sincere LOVE!!!
Not only that in many cases it is our times "slave trade" and in the absolute worst cases it is pure EVIL...

But...

Unfortunately the book lacks nuances when it concludes that most of the cruelty & evil we can see in todays societies derives from pornography itself.
Since we all are equipped with a free choice and the EGO prevails in the world; my opinion is that this is the REAL reason for cruelty and evil that's manifested in the world.
Pornography in its bad form is JUST ONE (But BIG) manifistation of the EGO's "side-tracked" choices.
Therefore, even though the book is on target how Sexual Cruelty Manifests it tends to miss the Real Reason for this...

Expressed with Love, Consent and Respect sexuality is the most sacred gift we have been blessed with.
I don't believe there is any shame in fully receiving and praising this "gift" to us all!
I also truly believe sex is one of the most grand ways to express gratitude to Love and to God (or as I prefer to call it "The Universal Power of Unconditional Love and Consciousness")..!

My Conclusion is that it is a very Important and True book in many ways.
However, it misses out on the Greater Perspective a bit and simplifies the issue and draw to far conclusions...

A wider perspective would give it 5 stars but the lack of a "birds-view" makes me hand it 4.

Sexuality with consent between people making love from their True Selves
- not violating the "law" of unconditional love I personally believe is not only OK but also one of our greatest joys and fulfillments - a sacred act not to be ashamed of...

Over the years public outcries have rightly exposed all manner of abuses: sexual, drug/alcohol, child/elderly, you name it. In A NEW MAN Luke Reynolds' discussion of pornography addiction and its degradation of women provides a service to humanity by exposing yet one more devastating affliction which some people must face. He provides a vehicle for men to explore their true masculinity---in fact their true selves---by being real, not the fantasy of Rambo or some other macho monster so prevalent in our culture today.

As a long-time school counselor, I've heard my share of sexual abuse stories perpetrated on children. I've seen teenagers dress provocatively for school, because that's what they view on every sitcom on TV. I've walked through corridors laced with foul language, and when questioned, the kids look blank as if to say, "What? What did I say?" That's how common lewd human behavior has become in society today. The proliferation of baring one's body, using crude mannerisms, and swearing has desensitized people to a reasonable standard of decency.

So if there's a book, a course, or TV program that brings to light one more act that mankind must clean up, then let's have it. Let's have it from every media outlet. So people know they don't have to suffer alone, in shame. Education is powerful, healing, and necessary to our well-being as humans. It's helped alleviate drunk driving, child molestation, untreated mental illness, as well as a host of other problems.

One small step for A NEW MAN, one giant leap for Luke Reynolds and the humanity he's trying to elevate.

A New Man opened my eyes to the pervasiveness of pornography in our culture. According to author Luke Reynolds, the industry grosses more money per year than the three largest media corporations combined. After explaining his own exposure to pornography at a young age, Reynolds tells of teaching a college class two days after a school shooting. When students begged his opinion about violence in society, he made a bold statement: "The more pornography a man views, the more violent and abusive he will become."

With the subtitle of Reclaiming Authentic Masculinity In A Culture Of Pornography, the book might be viewed as a heart-to-heart chat between Reynolds and his students. He discusses how, besides encouraging violence, pornography shatters relationships since fantasy experiences substitute for the real world. Reynolds not only confesses his own past involvement but shares how he overcame his weakness after receiving an ultimatum from his fiancée.

Reynolds sees pornography as a choice, not an illness. While discussing how men visit pornographic websites to watch women being abused, he writes: "Men cannot both use and love a person: the choice is one or the other."

The 113-page book is easily read in a sitting or two and contains an appendix "For Women," which includes the personal testimony of a woman who put up with her husband's pornography and abuse. In an attempt to preserve the marriage, she lost her self worth. The testimony of Reynolds' wife, Jennifer, offers hope to those distraught and confused about handling such situations.

This little book makes a big contribution toward helping Reynolds and his wife realize their dream to end the use and abuse of women through pornography. A New Man includes a valuable Resource List of books, documentaries, films and websites that address the topic.

Luke Reynolds begins this book by sharing an afternoon in his childhood in which he and his friend enjoyed typical boyhood games. Both their games and their innocence were shattered when they came, entirely by chance, upon a porn magazine buried in a woodpile. That single occurence began many years of addiction and spiritual illness in Reynold's life, proving in brutal reality how addictive the filth of porn really is.

Some have referred to porn's putrid attraction as a siren's call, but I'd call it more of a clarion call: all it offers is trash and the ruins of a person's soul, yet the seeds of hell sown in every heart since the betrayal of Eden answer it with a diseased hunger. I never fully realized how harmful pornography is until I read this book. I was drawn into Reynold's frank honesty and grueling story after just a few pages and couldn't put it down.

Luke Reynolds is a man who has escaped this death trap and fearlessly, thoroughly reveals all the snares and the damage that it does to the soul. In this book, he not only refutes pornography, but takes a deep exploration of a man's heart and how society, from porn to advertising, has distorted its true image. Reynolds explains the inflated macho image that the world has tried to paint of men: completely tough, needing no one, and dominator of women. This image is a false model of masculinity, robbing men of not only their human vulnerability, but their ability to truly connect with women. Only weak women like being dominated and only weak men will rule them; God, Reynolds explains, has a different design in mind.

Reynolds proves, many times in this book, just how much porn tears both the male and the female soul apart. Sometimes it reduces a man to a wreck of a human being, while others it makes a monster of him; such was the case of Ted Bundy, Reynolds explains, whose entire sadistic bloodthirst actually began with a Playboy. After Bundy became addicted to the wanton images, he could never get enough: he developed an evil craving that grew with every image and ultimately demanded the horrid death of a woman to be sated. I had never come close to grasping the harm pornography does to a man's soul, in regards to his views of women, until reading this. Porn, spiritually speaking, spills a woman's blood and afflicts a man with the sadistic desire to consume it. In this book Reynolds proves, with Ted Bundy's horrific revelation, that porn opens a black hole in a man's soul: dark and cold, never satisfied, and constantly consuming and destroying everything in its path. Women are dealt a death blow of another kind: their spirits are crushed and their bodies, abused and disregarded, are dangled above these black holes to draw men into them. What porn does, in a nutshell, is completely destroy God's design of both men and women. No wonder men addicted to porn have a hunger that's never satisfied: a man naturally seeks a woman to complete him, a woman that is full and complete herself. Yet, all porn offers are the shells of women, the empty husks; men who seek these shells are never satisfied because what they're offered is only the hollow remains of what a woman used to be.

This book totally blew me away with its honesty and revelation. Luke Reynolds is a remarkable man who emerged from unbelievable depths to explore a serious evil that afflicts our world. I was shocked by how filthy and evil porn really is; this book drove it home like nothing before. I applaud Luke for his honesty and courage in sharing his experience and revealing what a true man is. I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you have either suffered from porn in the past or have been so removed from it that you've come to believe it's "not that big a deal".

Men in today's American society have a lot of insecurities that are finally coming to the fore front. In the Earlier years men needed to be the tough guy, the guy that didn't show emotion or express his feelings. To be a man you have to be the promiscuous girl chaser. Porn is the leader in this ideal and no one knew how influential porn was in the every day lives of men around the world and how negatively it impacts them. In Luke Reynolds memoir A New Man he shows how negatively porn affects men's lives all across the U.S.
Luke Reynolds shares with the world his struggles with pornography and in doing so connects with any man out there who have ever picked up a smut Magazine or orders pay-per-view porn on their TV's. He starts out his book recalling the first time he had ever seen a porno mag. He recalls exploring a river bed with his friend on a Saturday morning, when he came across an adult magazine next to a log. He passionately shares his mixture of intrigue and embarrassment at what he was seeing. He was only eight years old when he came upon the magazine. He then goes on to share that from then on he had a problem with watching pornography. As a man in my young stages of adulthood I can relate to his story. I remember my first time reading a girlie magazine and I recall sharing the same exact feelings that he portrays in his book. I remember being shocked at what I saw and still I couldn't stop turning the pages. I too regularly watch porn not realizing the negative effects that porn has not only on me but my relationships women and how I view them.
Not only does Luke Reynolds share his struggles with pornography, he also shows how it skews men's view of woman. He shows how porn degrades women; by the way they are treated in the magazines and films. He points out that the women in every porno film are in some way shape or form conquered by the man they are engaged in intercourse with. He also shows how porn films never have foreplay and that it effects the men watching it because they get the wrong idea what having a relationship pertains to. Because of this men don't know how to properly treat their women and it indirectly is the cause of why marriages go under.
Not only is his memoir about the negative effects of porn but it also shows the problem with our society's idea of what a man is. To aid his point he gives stories of men that act like a real man should versus the closed off loner that our society views a real man to be. He shows through this section called Authentic Strength how a real man is the person who looks out for others, can share his feelings, and treats the women in their lives the way they should be treated. I too have had trouble with relationship troubles because of what. I believed society wanted me to be. I was the womanizer, the guy who would never cry. Because of this I would cheat on girls who deserved to be treated the right way. They needed to be courted and treated like a human being. This book touched me as I read every word that Luke Reynolds wrote. This book has made me question myself as a man and made me realize that I was only insecure every time that I sat in front of the computer to watch porn. It showed me that I was taking the easy way out because it couldn't reject me, that it took away the sanctity between a woman and a man. This book helped me decide that I wanted to change my life and the first step was to not watch porn. Period. That is why this book is very important for other men to read because it will change their lives in a positive way. All it takes is looking to others for help and not sinking into the bottomless pit of insecurity that porn has created for us. By the bottomless pit I mean being closed off and thinking that we don't need help to get us past our addiction. If one man can do it any man can do it.

I am an inveterate reader and Omamori is without question one of the best books I have ever read - twice. It is a book that not only spans generations, it touches one's heart! A wonderful love story that bridges cultural differences and carries the message that each of us, regardless of our differences, wants the same things out of life. A wonderful, engrossing read!

This novel was written I believe in 1988. As it says in the back of the book, it took the author 7 years to write it. Much like Gone With The Wind, it came across to me as a once in a lifetime book and I guess this author has not written anything since. A real shame. As my title said, this was my second reading of this novel. The first perhaps at least 15 years ago. I think I even liked it more the second time. I read mostly at lunch time and while waiting for traffic to pass, so that I can get home as fast as possible. For this novel however, I kept on sneaking just another paragraph or two in between sales calls all day long and many times I had to reach for the hankerchief to wipe my eyes. I happen to love multi generational novels that take 30 to 100 years to play out such as Jeffrey Archer's "As the Crow Flies". This novel which starts in 1871 japan and goes to the end of WWII has everything that you would ever want in a novel. I would have to rate it as one of the best books that I have ever read. If you can find a copy buy it without haste.

This book was purchased for me by my DH. It is the best book I have ever read. The contents are historical and Richard must have done a tremendous amount of research in order to write this book. I could not put it down. I would highly recommend it.

This is my favorite book of all time. I borrowed it from a friend and read it years ago. I absolutely loved it, but a good friend always returns borrowed books! When I tried to buy it myself, I was told it was out of print. I was thinking about it recently and realized that I could probably find it on this site. Duh!!! Well, I just ordered it and cannot wait to receive and read it all over again and lend it to people who I know will appreciate it.

It's not just a story about love, it's about family, honor, sacrifice, friendship, culture and of course WWII from many different perspectives. I learned a lot, I laughed, I loved and I cried and when I was finished with this book, even though the ending was as happy as it could have been, I felt like I was losing my best friend. I remember when I was finished, I just sat in my room holding the book, silent in thought for almost an hour. Strange. It is a must read!!

I am very picky about what I read and only "go" into a storyline if it will increase my knowledge and thoroughly entertain me. This book did an exceptional job of both. I read Omamori about 5 years ago and picked it up again because I was out of good things to read (imagine that!). I knew very little about the effects of the war on Japan and loved "being there".

Whenever someone tells me they are in a reading, author or genre slump, I suggest this book. It is the best time I have ever had reading.

Victor's talent for writing and impressive memory brings you right into his story. You feel as if you are there, witnessing it all. All the while, I became was his personal cheerleader in my mind, encouraging him to succeed, which he does. Victor has lead a tragic and exciting life, but most important, he became a survivor and a champion for all who are like him. Breaking the chain of abuse is a long hard road, but it is possible. I hope those who struggle with breaking that chain will hear his story and know it can be done.

We all grew up in dysfunctional families. But some might be called suicidal rather than dysfunctional. How does a child who starts being beaten when he is fifteen months old grow up to be even sane? How does a child grown up into manhood and break the only pattern he has seen while growing up?

Perhaps the answer comes when you see the photograph of the author first holding his own new born son in his arms. He says, "The moment I held Eli in my arms, I knew I could never hurt him the way that my father hurt me." The day you first hold your own new born is a kind of magic day in your life. I remember it well.

This is a story of great sadness. This is a story that happens all too often. And all too often the cycle of violence continues from one generation to another. This is also a story of great triumph as the author preports on how he managed to overcome a childhood from hell. This part of the story doesn't happen often enough, it's glorous when it does.

A PRIVATE FAMILY MATTER takes up the story of one of Hollywood's leading actors, whom you have seen in so many TV shows and movies, and strips off the surface to reveal that behind the handsome mask he wears, a nightmare of terror and horror will forever haunt Victor Rivas, as the demons that have haunted him since childhood keep whistling through his mind like witches on broomsticks. He never has had a day without reliving the traumas of his difficult youth, particularly standing in the shadow of an abusive Dad, whose beatings he endured on a regular basis. Sometimes the father seems so wound up he's unreal, but through the eyes of a child, evil often wears a human face, and all too often, as Mr. Rivas demonstrates, that evil is in the father.

I liked all the Cuban stuff, an area I know little about. The family left Cuba when Castro came to power, because his father's family occupied important positions in the cabinet of the corrupt dictator Bautista (still fondly remembered, it seems, by many anti-Communist Cuban Americans). When you read A PRIVATE FAMILY MATTER perhaps you, like I, flashed back to the great novel by Reinaldo Arenas, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS, with its odd mixture of a longing for indigenous culture and a fleeing from its misogynist and anti-child aspects. The smells and sounds come out at you in waves of sensuous description.

Most of all, however, you feel the boy's pain. His father was truly a monster, and his mother was completely cowed by what amounts to the abuse he meted out to whoever got in the way of his anger and machismo. Beyond that, Victor reveals what it took to get him to become a productive adult. There had to be a lot of repair work done on this man. Next time you see him in the movies, think of how much his acting talent comes from the resources it took for him to find the light in a dark world of abuse. And now he helps others who have suffered some of the same syndromic abuse. Highly recommended.

Victor Rivers is a handsome man. Movie star, college educated, Football player.
A big, strong, tough man who was reduced to weeping when taken back to his horrific childhood in countless nightmares. So terrifying, so brutal for his wife to endure, she could only cry as he fought the demons of domestic violence.
Countless women have told their stories. Hoping to save, `just one person.' Reliving their own personal hell with each word. You will relive Mr. Rivers personal hell. He takes the reader from a little boy to a full grown man, still fighting the little guys fight. He tells his story to help others. I believe it will.
If you know nothing of domestic violence, you will have a better understanding after you read this book. You may find it hard to comprehend. You will ask yourself, `How do people let this happen?' `Why not just leave?' Read on.
If you're a victim or a survivor, it is graphic. Mr. Rivers does not soften his story. He shouldn't. You will ask yourself how every domestic violence story can be so similar. You will cry many times. You will laugh a few times. You will love him when his son is born.
No one looks at Victor Rivers, with all of his successes, and thinks of domestic violence. He was a victim, he is a survivor. For all of these reasons I thank him, and his family, for telling his story. I respect him for wanting to help, `just one person.'

This is an incredibly well written book!! It's hard to believe anyone can survive such circumstances and even more impressive is the man Victor turned into. He has overcome terrible abuse to become a loving father and husband. If only everyone who experienced abuse could break the cycle! He goes on to become a national spokesman against violence to help other families and other children like himself.
There isn't a boring page in this book, very highly recommended!!

I am at a loss of words for this book. From the beginning, I had a hard time getting through this book. Nothing seemed to grab me and pull me in to the authors story. I would read a little, but then not pick up the book again for a week. I feel a bit in the minority having read a number of reviews for this book that just loved it. This is why I tell people reviews are a good beginning basis for a book, but it still is going to come down to whether YOU want to read it and if the subject grabs you. Even in my case...I didn't know I wouldn't enjoy it until I started reading it. Sometimes we choose right and sometimes wrong ( I have a few of books on my shelf like that).

The debut title of the newly launched publishing firm of PeachTreeHouse, "Pursuit Of Light: An Extraordinary Journey" by public speaker, therapist, coach and humanitarian Sandy Brewer blends autobiography with compassion, wit and wisdom with illustrative self-help advice and example. The result is a compelling memoir revealing profound 'life lessons' that are as inspired and inspiring as they are thoughtful and thought-provoking. "Pursuit Of Light" is an informed and informative work that is superbly written, creating an engaging read from first page to last -- and welcome, recommended addition to both community library Self-Help and American Biography collections, as well as personal self-improvement and inspirational reading lists.

We all have hard times, and we've all had some kind of challenges growing up. None compares to Sandy's experience. However, this book is not a "they done me wrong" or "my story's worse than yours" kind of book. Not at all. This book is about choices. It's about that no matter what you've gone through, today is a new today and today is filled with choices -- choices to make your life the life you truly desire. I highly recommend this book as a constant source of inspiration and a reminder that we owe it to oursleves to lead the joyful lives we want!

Sandy Brewer seamlessly writes from a child's perspective to the adult woman she has become. This book will touch, jab and prod every nerve in your body ultimately leaving you with the profound knowledge that we as individuals have "all" the power! Reading this book enlightened me to realize that whenever I have felt rejected in life I was really only rejecting myself. As simple as this concept sounds it really is a monumental theory to put your arms around. Everyone has a story in their lives that they are attached to. These stories are usually tangled up in pain. Sandy's journey and lessons in this book can help anyone untangle their lives and live pain free!!!! Now that's a great concept!

The moment I got this book in my hands I couldn't let go until I was done. A true testimony to the mysteries and resilience of the human spirit coupled with a burning desire to choose to follow a thin sliver of light to the source of something greater. The Talmud teaches "to save one life is as if you have saved the world." This electrifying story of a life saved has the potential to transform many lives; the material in this book is that important and timely. Here the road less taken, though profoundly difficult, makes all the difference not just to ourselves but all whose paths we cross. I urge you to take this journey and learn lessons of a lifetime. Bravo!

You can find a good summary-article of this book under the heading "The Origins and Diffusion of Patrism in Saharasia, c.4000 BCE: Evidence for a Worldwide, Climate-Linked Geographical Pattern in Human Behavior" by the same author free on the web. It's an introduction to the general thesis and recommended for anyone having problems with the size of this book. Regardless, it's some of the most rewarding reading I've ever done, both in terms of making sense of the world as a student of culture and personally. It would be difficult indeed to go closer to fundamentals than "Saharasia" without turning to religion and metaphysics, yet DeMeo remains true to the principles of science. Rare. Tell me if there are other works such as this.

I want to thank Amazon reviewer J Studebaker for connecting me with this book. It is an exciting read! It has been a long time since I felt impelled to underline and post-it the pages of a book. James DeMeo's Saharasia is full of sweeping, courageous and inspiring insights marred by jarring blind spots.

He says that the drying up of a wide swath of land from Africa through the Middle East to Central Asia caused continued forced migration and psychological desiccation. That led humanity away from the easy going, sex positive ways of the mother goddess to the male oriented warfare and cruelty now considered normal.

He painstakingly documents this theory, but his documentation is flawed. For one thing, the evidence for the previous state of "matrist" bliss is scanty, with much of it coming from very old data compiled by early anthropologists in small, now destroyed, communities in places like the Trobriand Islands. He himself points out that people told those anthropologists what they wanted them to know and what they were willing to disclose. The anthropologists also interpreted their data through their own prejudices.

One blind spot is DeMeo's lumping of homosexuality into the category of an effect of the "patrist" repression of "healthy" heterosexuality. Another is his worshipful attitude toward Wilhelm Reich. DeMeo gives Reich, originally a follower of Freud, credit where credit is due. He first outlined the process of human "armoring" in the face of prolonged trauma.

DeMeo is eager to point out that while Freud first pointed to the importance of the "pleasure principle", he was wrong late in his life, denying the reality of the child abuse reported by patients. When it comes to Reich however, DeMeo is defensive about everything Reich espoused, even the supposedly curative powers of "Orgone energy", a concept which derailed Reich's career late in his life. DeMeo blames the patrist "powers that be" for that.

I enjoyed this book most because it made me think. Although I would like to, I am not sure I agree that in a state of nature human beings are warm, nurturing and sexually permissive. Perhaps we are a complex mix of both open and armored traits and can go either way depending on conditions. In other words, we adapt and survive.

I am willing to accept that the change in the earth's climate that started approximately 6,000 years ago has led to the current cultural climate as well. That doesn't mean that we can go back to Eden. We need new solutions and we have to stop making our problems worse. Future generations will have to find a way to survive the global warming we are precipitating and all its attending climate changes. We ain't seen nothing yet!

This is probably the best researched book to date on how environmental destruction has affected society over the course of history. DeMeo shows with charts, maps and studies how we have systematically turned vast regions of the planet into desert wastelands. He then documents a disturbing pattern of cultural consequences for society across the world. DeMeo's decades of research help illuminate what is at stake for us in the struggle to heal the land.

--BG, author of "The Gardens of Their Dreams: Desertification and Culture in World History"

In a nutshell, DeMeo says that before around 4000 BCE, humans were democratic, egalitarian, sex-positive, pleasure-oriented, non-violent Goddess-worshiping "matrists." Over the next 10-20 generations, however, certain matrist groups morphed into "patrists": violent, sexually-repressive, misogynistic, sadistic, male-dominated high-god worshipers with painful and traumatic child rearing techniques.

What caused the morphing? More on that below. First, though, a word on DeMeo's research. This is not any old "armchair science" book. DeMeo backs up his theories - ten years in the making -- with some of the most solid and extensive interdisciplinary data I've ever seen. To present this data for our perusal took over 400 pages, in a large-scale format, of scores of maps, charts, diagrams, figures, tables, drawings, photographs, footnotes and appendices as well as ample data-driven text.

The majority of DeMeo's data are sterling. For example, working with class-A anthropological data (from the Human Relations Area Files, etc.) and meshing those with class-A geological data (from the Budyko-Lettau Dryness Ratio), DeMeo shows that (1) around 4000 BCE a broad ribbon of land across Africa, the Middle East and Asia began dying; 2) People living in this land became the most patriarchal on the planet; and, 3) the further one wanders from this ribbon of land, the less patriarchal people are. DeMeo calls this land "Saharasia." It's an area that covers hundreds of thousands of square miles on our planet.

DeMeo offers a fascinating analysis of how the hideous change from matrist to patrist occurred. He bases his arguments on current studies of starving peoples. The behavioral changes in starving groups are enormous and appalling. Starving people become consumed with eating and lose interest in all other pleasures, including sex. The old and young are abandoned to die. Brothers steal food from sisters, and in some cases parents eat their own children. For children who survive, bad diet leads to laundry lists of psychological and physical abnormalities down the road. The culture breaks down. Life bumps into chaos.

Although this starvation syndrome began in Saharasia ca 4000 BCE, it continued for generation after generation. Most of the crazed groups caught in the desertification process died out. In the few that survived (and why they survived is explained below), mentally-ill behaviors became institutionalized. Mental illness became their way of life; the loss of interest in pleasure; the glorification of the strong; the strong stealing from the weak - all these and more would have become fossilized into a new and actively promoted way of life - a set of behaviors "learned, shared, patterned and transmitted from generation to generation," as my anthropology texts used to define culture. It is at this point, when mental-illness becomes codified, that one witnesses the birth of the patriarchy.

DeMeo contends that the first response to desertification was for the agricultural matrists to abandon their land and become nomadic, riding horseback over rough terrain, frantically searching for food and water. In order to keep babies alive, loving matrist mothers would bind (swaddle) them tightly in cloth. Babies spent all day tied to their mother's backs, unable to move heads, hands, legs or feet. For the successful new patrist groups this swaddling became something glorified. One effect was severe skull deformation in both infants and adults.

DeMeo thinks that infant swaddling and head binding produces a deep-set rage in adults, especially toward mothers, women, and female deity. Hence one possible source of the misogyny and abandonment of female deity that became hallmarks of patriarchal cultures.

"The heads of ... children ... are pressed so tightly by means of a peculiar kind of ligature, that little by little the heads assume the shape of sugar-loaves. The pressure is so great that the noses of the children ... are constantly bleeding.... The child cries and turns black, and when the mother presses on its forehead, a white slimy fluid comes out its nose and ears...." (p. 112).

Fortunately, skull deformation has died out over the past several hundred years (p. 112). Swaddling, however, has not. Even today groups across, and on the edges of Saharasia retain this awful practice in, for example, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and China.

Although I don't agree with every theory in his book, I think DeMeo's basic premise - that ancient, widespread, continental desertification drove humans from their natural, healthy state into one of codified mental illness -- is a premise he proves almost beyond a shadow of a doubt.

And knowing that, once upon a time we actually *did* live in "The Garden of Eden," means there's hope we can get back there again.

~ Jeri Studebaker, author of Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future

Saharasia is one of the most profound works I've ever come across. Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, I could NOT put this book down. It is definitely a 5 star work!

Dr. James DeMeo details hard evidence of the origins of social violence, rape, genital mutilation, warfare, and the suppression of women, children, etc. With a detailed outline of the origins of this area of research, DeMeo proves Wilhelm Reich's sex-economic theory with dozens of maps, images, engaging history, and detailed, iron clad evidence. He shows us exactly how and why our society got the way it is, and how we can change it by ending sexual suppression--by giving our children the love and attention they need--and defeating indoctrinated beliefs.

Have no doubt that this book is HUGE, but don't let its size stray you away from this most fascinating read. A good portion of its size is due to the fact that he has so many maps and images. It took me about 12 days to read it from cover to cover. I normally read a book a week. However, I do recommend that those who wish a gentler introduction to this work, to read Reich's Invasion of Compulsory Sex-Morality, as a pre-requisite to this book.

DeMeo finds no need to sugarcoat truth and facts into deluded, bitesize tidbits. Those who think he pounds the information in too hard, disregard the fact that this book is all about getting to the truth.

Those who have doubted Reich's theories may doubt no more!

This book is probably one of the most important works of the last century, and DeMeo has certainly earned the title. May this book live through history and open minds as an accepted "Great Work"!

I'm adding DeMeo to my favorite authors list!

This is the perfect stocking stuffer or buddy gift for a business holiday exchange .... I have read all the Narcissist books out there but it is wonderful to have a book that covers the 5 biggest disorders...

So many people walk away from their jobs (or are fired) and their relationships, due to personality disorders on both ends of the spectrum. To have the knowledge that personality disorders "happen" and infiltrate all realms of lifestyles, is imperative to know....Once you are a victim, you will become more savvy dealing with people who are disordered. By now, I can spot them miles away.

This book will simply save your mind and quite possibly your life.....it's not you, IT'S THEM !!

Stan, Thank You !!!! You have given the world a fabulous gift and I recommend your book to everyone who crosses my path. Let's hope that our new found intelligence will guide us through the tough times ahead...

Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (8/08)

Ever wish you could erase certain people from your daily life? Does the thought of never seeing a certain relative again bring feelings of peace and serenity to mind? Aside from relocating or getting adopted into another family, consider taking some advice from Dr. Stan Kapuchinski's fascinating book, "Say Goodbye to your PDI (Personality Disordered Individual): Recognize People Who Make You Miserable and Eliminate Them from Your Life for Good!" What you read will stun you.

"Say Goodbye to your PDI" is an informational self-help book, meant to supply details on specific personality disorders so the reader can analyze their own reactions to these individuals. Kapuchinski highlights five disorders: Passive-Aggressive, Histrionic, Antisocial, Borderline, and Narcissistic with lists of self-descriptions and viewpoints from each one. He hopes to not only put the reader in each of these personality's shoes, but get them to recognize how they feel when interacting with one - whether swept away or at your wit's end. Kapuchinski stresses the importance of emotional intelligence when reacting to a PDI. Not only should you know *why* you feel or think a certain way but *how* that reaction is taken by the PDI.

"Say Goodbye to your PDI" is sensibly organized, intelligently written, and appropriate to many - if not most or all - types of people. It can assist professionals in dealing with a problematic patient or client, employees in dealing with one another, or families dealing with a difficult relative. Although Kapuchinski utilizes many absolutes in his descriptions, such as "...this person will never change...that person is always looking to control you..." I think it fits well in the overall message the book is conveying. Yes, absolute-type wording is normally frowned upon as it allows for no exceptions. However, Kapuchinski's intent is not to change the PDI. It's to change the reader's way of responding and in doing so, needs words like `never' and `always' to drive his message home...and he does so with a passionate sense of total and unconditional certainty.

Most people have `that one person' in their lives that gives them headaches and heartburn. Why continue to endure them when Dr. Stan Kapuchinski prescribes "stop your misery"? "Say Goodbye to your PDI" gives you Kapuchinski's 25+ years of experience in an easy-to-swallow format that's safe for all ages. Prognosis - a happier and mentally healthier you!

This book is amazing. Everyone who has worked or lived with someone who puts people down all of the time and makes you feel miserable should definitely read this book. It will help you understand it is not YOU!

The book is well written and easy to understand as well as entertaining. We all have to deal with individuals with that nagging Axis II Disorder and this book takes some of the edge of that ordeal. A great way to develop insight into how to deal more effectively with that annoying boss, coworker, in-law or acquaintance.

I have recently finished reading this book and all I can say is WOW! The author does an excellent job of keeping things simple, and gives many examples so that you are able to identify and eliminate these people from your life. I also liked the way he took the time to explain things in a way that made sense to me personally. I am 52 now, and feel that I have been victimized by at least a dozen of these types of people during my lifetime. It seems that I always blamed myself, but now because of this book I know better. Now I know: "when in doubt keep them out!" If you have people that are making your life miserable, get this book, it offers practical solutions for eliminating them from your life.

I took time to read this book after I put Allie down for a nap every afternoon a chore I didn't look forward to, by the way. But reading time has been scarce for me since we started taking care of this little girl and this became a time of day I looked forward to everyday and I anticipated reading through a chapter of Brian Jones' book every afternoon.

I have lived through the darkest year of my life and I've turned to books like this to help me put things in perspective. The simplicity of Jones' writing and very accessible wisdom have helped me do just that. This book is definitely worth your time. If you're a counselor or pastor or find yourself often comforting others, this book is a must read.

This book is wonderfully funny and enlightning. It makes you look inward and see what need re-aligning.

While looking for materials to teach a spirituality class during the summer of 2008, Fate handed me a gem when I came across SGG. Brian's writing style was instantly engaging, combining theology and practical application in an easy-to-read format that I finished in a week's train ride into work.

While the product description offers the question "Why does God allow bad things to happen," that is not what Brian directly addresses. What he superbly does instead is examine the following: where God is when life is full of struggle; what is God doing in the midst of our pain; and how to hang on to God's promises to be with us.

SGG lends itself well to an in-class format. Brian uses his own faith journey as a roadmap to impart spiritual recovery options that we all can follow, such as getting help from mentors, friends and family, and knowing that God is working upstream. SGG has the "right" mix of applicable Christian and secular references as well as personal and pastoral stories. From the silly to the serious, we laughed and cried along with Brian and those he met on his journey. Pastor Brian's revelation that he had faith challenges too surprised some. Yet, it was exactly that imperfect human aspect that gave them the OK to admit, and thereby work through, theirs.

The class and I debated about my struggle with the book title. The American Heritage dictionary says to "second guess" is to "To criticize or correct after an outcome is known." Brian did not criticize God for doing x or y or ask why God did it, IMHO. Instead, he cried out against what appeared to be God's unfairness and worked through his doubt leaving us with his vision of Heaven and many ways to restore our faith in difficult times.

All in all, a great read and very effective book.

I saw this book on someone's wish list and was immediately intrigued by the title and decided to buy it. I am glad that I did. I have a deep respect for pastors, or anyone for that matter, that can share their short comings and their long findings about themself. It's like, "hey those shoes look familiar.... I think I walked in those just the other day!"

The last thing that I want to hear from a pastor is how they were brought up in a Christian home and yada yada yada.... had a supergodly clean life.

Not only is Brian Jones a man after my own soul, but I really dig his writing style. He will have a lump in my throat the size of a Jerusalem artichoke and the next second have me lauging out loud.

Lemme share a part of the book. At one point in his life, while he was second guessing God, he is talking to a friend and says his life is much like standing on the beach and the waves are taking the sand from under his feet, and that scares him.

His friend says, and this is my new fave quote: "In spite of all of this, I promise you can count on one thing: when the last grain of sand is finally gone, you're going to discover that you're standing on a rock"

Peeps have to know this or they will never survive the firey darts of satan. It is my new prayer that I see people as Christ sees them and to have a compassionate heart for the lost.

For the longest time I thought that I had no future as I have not planned my life out well enough. But now, I realize that it was all His plan. I will use my own life as a testimony to others. God has given me talents that will give me an edge to help others.

Thank you to the one who open'd my eyes to this book.

"Zooming down Agape Blvd. with the top down!"

"Second Guessing God" by Brian Jones shows how to live a purpose driven life rather than tell how in "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren. Not that I am knocking Rick. However I read Rick's book just prior to Brian's. When reading "Purpose Driven" my wife got mad at me because I would leave her to go downstairs to read in the quiet. With "Second Guessing God" it didn't matter what else was on because it was so engaging. The detailed and funny stories have a purpose and have me wanting to do more to serve God.

I am not sure the title "Second Guessing God" has the pizazz this book deserves. The humble but upbeat style makes this book very engaging. While reading I felt privileged to know Brian from his sermons on Sundays and to have received hugs and handshakes from him.

Payton Skky Series2, very good book, love it's story, well written and leaves you satisfied to continue on to the next chapters. Highly recommended.

Mrs. Moore does it again. She has written another outstanding book in a series that makes you look forward to reading the next one. Originally I brought this book for my pre-teen daughter because she read all the books in the "Carmen Browne" pre-teen series. I read this book first and decided it was not for pre-teens. The story lines are too mature for her now. Because the stories are true to life and well written, I plan to save them for her to read later.

Mrs. Moore has an excellent way of addressing real life issues and demonstrating how young people can make God honoring choices in each situation. How refreshing to read a quality book.

I could totally relate to this book. Even mmore, because this takes place in the Georgia-S.Carolina area, anD that's where i live!!!!I just finished it today!!!!!! it was great. i wont spoil if for you but plz go out and read it. if your not sure then first read it from ur library(like i did!)

I gave 4.5/5 because there were some words/phrases I didnt quite understand, but that is probably because im 12. ;)

I cant wait to read Stephanie's other books

This book was even better than the first and I can't wait to get copies of the rest of the series. A great read for young christians and older ones as well. Buy it for your daughters...they will love it.

When I got the 1st book of the Payton Skky Series(was a gift!) I didn't read it right away, but when I did I was truly blessed and had to read them all! A lot of the choices Payton made were poor ones that could have easily been stopped if she used her head,for instance,telling Tad the truth about her date with Dakari to the prom. Tad truly had to have been sent from God because everytime she messed up he always forgave her.I really wish Stephanie Perry Moore wouldn't stop at book 5 of the series and continue ministering to my life because as Tad is a blessing to Payton she is a blessing to me!

Reviewed by Cherie Fisher for Reader Views (6/08)

This book is a thriller at its best. I picked up the book expecting to start reading a chapter or two before bedtime and I found myself having trouble putting it down. The author really knows how to capture his audience. I look forward to reading more of his stories in the future.

The story opens with a drink recipe "Mr's B's Strawberry Daiquiri." Mr. B is the person this book is dedicated to and the bartender on St. Barts in this story, who makes amazing drink concoctions. I bought fresh strawberries and plan to try it out with my friends this weekend. I would recommend getting the ingredients to the drink before reading the book, making a daiquiri and then start reading.

Danny Murtz, world-renowned music producer is the main protagonist. On outward appearance, he has it all, tons of money, fame and a life that most only dream about. But in reality, he is addicted to both alcohol and drugs and his life is in a downward spiral. During his blackouts he goes into blind rages and has killed and hurt several women. His attorney, Harvey Schwartz, is constantly cleaning up and covering up for Danny.

When Danny goes to St. Barts to work with one of his new bands, he takes his entourage with him. His assistant, Nancy, sets up interviews with A&E and with famous reporter Mick Sever. Unknowingly, someone from Danny's past who has been hurt by him follows him to bring him down. She contacts Sever's employer with information about the murders that Danny has committed, and begins sending threateningly letters to Danny. In his drug and alcohol-induced haze he begins to suspect everyone around him, even those closest to him.

Investigative reporting on his subjects is what Mick Sever does best. As he is drawn into this story his life is threatened as a series of murder attempts are made on him. He realizes that he has to get to the bottom of this story because he will never be safe again until he finds proof about who committed the murders and the attempts made on his life.

The story is a fast-paced thriller and will leave you surprised at the conclusion. I highly recommend "St. Barts Breakdown" for anyone who enjoys a great thriller, especially one in such a beautiful location.

Another seemingly effortless page-turner from Bruns! I really liked his previous novel STUFF TO DIE FOR, and now I have to go back and catch up on the other Mick Sever novels. He's created a fantastic foil for Sever in the supremely nasty Danny Murtz, a record producer who has a nasty habit of pistolwhipping people to death. Fortunately for him, he's alarmingly rich, so he gets away with it. The ever-cranky Sever shows up in the island paradise of St. Bart to interview Murtz, only to find things are not so paradisiacal. Threats are made, hotel rooms are ransacked, cars are blown up - and no one seems to care. When it comes down to the showdown between Sever and Murtz, Bruns ratchets things up to a fever pitch and the ending somehow manages to be both inevitable and surprising. Another win for Bruns.

This is the fourth entry in Don Bruns' series whose protagonist is Mick Sever, `rock and roll journalist' who writes `entertainment' articles for the Chicago Tribune. Now working as a freelance writer, he still gets calls from the Tribune from time to time, and has now been offered an assignment to interview music legend Danny Murtz, long-time successful producer of hit records going back many years, and a man with a nasty streak. A sub-text to the assignment is the investigation of rumored incidents in Murtz' past - women last seen in his company who had gone missing, these events being the subject of some anonymous letters received by the publication. The women in question had never been seen or heard from after `dates' with Danny Murtz, described as a `one-man wrecking crew' who `used his celebrity status to wreak havoc on everyone he touched.'

At the outset the reader is privy to the latest of Murtz' attacks, following which Harvey Schwartz, his attorney/manager/handler /cleaner-upper, tells Danny he will take care of the situation, and urges him to take a brief vacation at his villa in St. Barts [which he owns in addition to his mansion in Hollywood and townhouse in Chicago]. Danny is a man who occasionally doubts his own sanity, apparently with good reason, given his perpetually addled brain from the constant drugs, pills and booze in which he overindulges.

Mick Sever and Danny Murtz' lives, eerily, have many parallels - both Chicago natives, having come up in their professions at about the same time and both having attained different degrees of success and celebrity that each man covets while at times finding it an annoyance, both drinking too much [although in Danny everything took on exaggerated proportions] and both with failed relationships [although, again, Danny's have a much darker cause]. The music business is described as a "fantasy world, where money was everything and trust and honesty meant nothing." Danny must himself travel to St. Bart, where he finds his life in danger as he goes about his assignment in a place where fun, sun and rum are the raison d'etre, and murder and violence are not possible in this tourist-oriented world. Fast-paced, well-written, suspenseful, with considerable schadenfreude, this was a great read, and is recommended.

Finally: someone weirder than Phil Spector...Danny Murtz is a Spectorian record producer whose made a career of stealing other people's songs and turning them into piles of money, drugs and guns. In a haze, he's killed a girlfriend or three along the way, but he's always had his trusty attorney to make things better. The problem - the walls might be closing in. A girlfriend who got away, a cop with the missing persons bureau and an experienced music journalist are all getting close to taking him down. Set amidst the rotting-fruit humidity of the Caribbean island of St. Bart's, where money can make everything okay, Bruns has created a showdown where the devil has taken over the Garden of Eden and is causing all kinds of trouble. Bruns is always a capable guide through these locales, and he doesn't disappoint here.

Rock n' roll and mystery - a beautiful combination. Don Bruns, obviously a music aficionado in addition to a strong writer, rips through this yarn about the ugly things that happen in beautiful places with gusto. He's concocted Danny Murtz, an insane music producer with buckets of money and hits, along with a penchant for guns (sound familiar?) and placed him against Mick Sever, a journeyman rock journalist who's been around long enough to know a good story when he hears one. He's also been up to his bad knees in trouble, experience which stands him in good stead on the "perfect" island of St.Bart's, where "no murders happen." Unfortunately, as long as Murtz is on the island, that's not true, but his money insulates him from the law. Sever has to take on Murtz, his bulldog attorney, the island's laissez-faire attitude and his own demons to find the truth. Bruns has a way with quick, rising action and keeping those pages turning. Great stuff.

Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for ReviewYourBook.com 5/08

Breaking the cycle of abuse...
My heart aches for Debbie Williamson. Abuse was inherited in her family. Three generations of women were brutalized; I wonder if there were more. When a child is abused, her/his future is changed and their children's future is changed. Debbie's uncle raped her. There are no other words to describe what he did. He brutally raped her. He will have to live this that knowledge for eternity. She withdrew into herself and lost all self-esteem. Her husband Joe was an abusive husband and father. I wanted to cheer when she finally left him. Eventually Debbie came to terms with herself. She came to recognize that it was not her fault. While Debbi discusses the abuse, her focus is on the healing. She attended therapy and with great courage, she persevered. Stand was written in an effort to assist others. Williamson is to be applauded. Victims of abuse will benefit from the retelling of her journey.

- Very well written
- Even if you can't relate book with real life events, it makes you realize this kind of stuff goes on and we should all be grateful for the gifts in our lifes
- Highly recommended

Who a woman becomes is shaped by her early years. How a woman sees herself is a response to how people treat her, especially in her pubescence. Author, Debbie Williamson, relates the graphic depiction of how she saw herself when raped twice by her uncle at age nine: "be quiet, don't tell, go play, go to my bed, clean yourself up." One young man's selfish need catapulted this child into a life of growing awareness that abuse was a pattern in her mother line. Debbie determined to break the pattern of three generations, and she has done so!

However, this isn't a story about rape. Rather, this is a journey of inspiration. The message is follow your dream! Debbie shares the journey of how early abuse impacts a women's life choices in marriage, work, parenting, and love. Debbie chose to seek help and break the prison her uncle built, and owned it as her own; therein was her key to freedom. She found extraordinary courage to disclose the incident up to her mother, and together they attended counseling, faced the rapist uncle and reached a place of forgiveness with each other.

The message I took to heart is that Debbie developed an uncanny intuitive ability from the abuse experience. When she started listening to her inner strength, her life changed for the better. She always envisioned an image of her knight in shining armor, and when she met him, knew that God had answered her prayers for complete love in this life.

Her story is empowering and inspiring, humbling and eye-opening. I recommend this biography for men and women who seek insight into the resilience and soul of human strength as their are lessons for each of us.

I was drawn into the life of Debbie Williamson. I felt her pain and was rooting for her dreams to come true, to rise above the abuse and suffering. She shows others that you can walk away from generations of abuse and survive.
I think that this book will touch the hearts of many, wither they were abused, or not.
Truely inspiring.

I found this book to be a good read also. I couldn.t put the book down. It was sad, but it explained the road to self destruction and the long way back. I really enjoyed it.