Complaints Books

After being witness to many of the incidents that happened in Panama, I am shocked to read that the items printed are written as being true. I think that this book can help alot of women who might actually have been sexually harassed but can not be a guide to the military's judicial process. False information can only be regarded as lies and should not give other military women cause to fear the system.

I am a retired US Army LTC--Military Police Corps and personal know Major Fischer. As a Lt., she worked for me at West Point. She was a bright, energetic and competent young officer with a future in the Army. Since my retirement, we have been in contact through cards and phone calls. Not until this year, did she ever mention to me that she had been sexual assualted by her supervisor. However, I can now related to several of her phone calls which requested information about individuals. After my retirement from the Army, I was Chief of Police at the University of Kentucky for 10 years. I am very familar with the area of sexual assualts and all the new titles we have attached to these situation. I believe Major Fischer's account of the incident. It took great courage on her part to report the incident and write this book. It appears that after all the Army's problems with this area, it final has taken some appropriate measures to address this area. My hope is that this book will help others and give hope to those who have had to deal with sexual assualts.

Linda Fisher's testimony brings hope, strength and inspiration. I will soon commission to be an officer in the US Army. Her testimony has given me a broader perspective of the reality of being a young, ambitious and a beautiful female in the military. It may be true that it is a male dominant force, but women have gained a greater respect in the military over time and throughout history.
Fisher exposes the reality of what can happen within the ranks of the military between males and females, superiors and subordinates. This type of incident is not new. Throughout history the same, if not similar situations have occurred. We have to understand and realize that this happens in the general society. In businesses and schools, to men and women of all ages in all types of professions. This book, can help anyone understand the adversity faced when put in this situation. It disturbs and affects both parties the harassed and the harasser. I have both witnessed and experienced sexual harassment incidents outside of the military and within the military, I understand the pain and the fear.
I am grateful to have read such a testimony that has given me the awareness of what goes on and how to deal with it. (...)

I have read ULTIMATE POWER:ENEMY WITHIN THE RANKS and urge anyone, who is shocked by the abuse that women receive, to read this terrific personal account by an army officer who lived this horrible situation. First of all, take the time to read the personal life of Linda Fischer and her climb to the rank of Major in a so called "mans world". Linda has shown how successful a young girl can become by setting a goal and then reaching that pinnacle of success. When you realize what a an enormously loving person she is and then read her account of this harassment, you wonder how these things can go on. The story is so intense and told in the first person, you can actually feel Lindas pain as she explains her own personal feelings and frustrations as the powers to be turn a deaf ear to her 'crys for Justice."..This may be Linda Fischers first attempt at writing, but you won't put this book down, as she allows you to come right with her in the days and events leading up to this atrosity and her frustrations in the months and years that follow. You don't have to be in the military or ever be harrassed, to feel her pain. All you need to understand what Linda went....and is going through, is be a human being .You will love her writing style and be shocked by her account of this true happening. What a fabulous person she must be.....first to live this experience and then to put it in terms that ALL of us can understand. Is this a 5 star book? Its a 10 Star......READ IT and you'll see why!!!!!

Ultimate Power, Enemy Within the Ranks is a must read for those of us who have suffered through the pain, humiliation and stigma associated with reporting sexual harassment within the U.S. Army. Although I am a civilian employee of the U.S. Army, who was the victim of sexual harassment by a supervisor, coincidentally, at the same Army post where Fischer now serves, it is utimately the Commanding Officer's within the command who make decisions about how the case is handled when harassment charges are brought against an accused harasser. The unspoken of policy of sweeping these cases under the carpet is the Army's way of dealing with harassment and just like the Fischer case, my harasser was allowed to quietly retire with full benefits. Fischer has brought to light the further victimization women must face when asserting their rights in sexual harassment cases. Reading this book brought back painful memories, but it also sparked a shimmer of hope that a meaninful life does exist after being sexually harassed within the U.S. Army. I now know I am not alone. I recommed it for all employees of the Armed Forces, military as well as civilian. Thank God we have women like Linda Fischer to step forward for what is right........

I purchased this because the entire family LOVED "Go to Sleep, Gecko!" so much. We were expecting a similar style, but different story.

This is basically the EXACT SAME story, only not done quite as well as Go to Sleep was done.

I still love the moral of this story, but you only need one or the other and Go to Sleep, Gecko is definitely the better choice.

The original art in Gecko's Complaint is delightful and the retold folktale is perfect for preschool through third graders. Every youngster I know could benefit from the lesson in the story. Ann Martin Bowler has created a children's book all primary teachers should add to their library.

My 7 and 10 year old loved this book. We thought the jungles of Bali were beautifully illustrated. My sons thought the best picture was of the Rain's face. They also enjoyed the ending when Gecko no longer complained. This folktale is well written and it reinforces the importance of learning to live in peace with one another, to stop complaining, and to be content with what you have. Both children and adults will benefit from this important message.

Our family loves Ann Martin Bowler's delightful Indonesian tale of animals quick to blame others for their behavior. The gorgeous illustrations by I Gusti Made Sukanada make this retelling a sumptious glimpse of Bali and its enchanting folklore. You'll wish you could scamper up the banyon tree with Gecko and explore the lush jungle by the light of the fireflies.

Set on the beautiful island of Bali, Gecko's Complaint: A Balinese Folktale is an engaging picture book retold by Ann Martin Bowler about a gecko whose sleep is disturbed by hundreds of fireflies. He complains to the kindly lion who rules the jungle, and the lion's efforts to unravel the situation brings to light a host of complaints - can peace ever be restored to the jungle? An enjoyable read enhanced by soft, full-color artwork by I. Gusti Made Sukanada.

I've always loved the Bard's plays. Something moved me to pick up this copy of his early poems. Man! Really gets you thinking about the themes of love, jealousy, honor that surface throughout the plays! I recommend the introductory material, too -- gives lots of insights into how to ponder Will's motives in publishing early under his own name. But beware: it raises more questions than it answers.

"Venus and Adonis" is Shakespeare's first published work, 199 stanzas of sesta rima (a quatran with a couplet) with an ababcc rhyme scheme. Venus chases and detains Adonis to woo him but does not win his love. In fact, Adonis actually rejects her love. He goes off to hunt and is soon killed by a boar. The poem has eloquent set speeches and beautiful landscapes. "The Rape of Lucrece" is Shakespeare's epic poem in rhyme royal of the story of the rape of a Roman lady which led to the overthrow of Tarquin rule in Rome and the establishment of the Republic. "The Phoenix and the Turtle" is a short (67 lines) allegorical elegy. "The Passionate Pilgrim" is a collection of twenty poems, only five of which are clearly by Shakespeare (although a few others may be as well). Number XI is possibly by Bartholemew Griffin. Numbers VIII and XX are by Richard Barnefield (and possibly No. XIX). The well-known No. XIX is probably by Christopher Marlow. The last stanza to XIX is by Sir Walter Raleigh. "Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music" is the title to the second part of "The Passionate Pilgrim." And, "A Lover's Complaint" is a poem in rhyme-royal (ababbcc) about a maiden who complains of her seduction by an unworthy young man.

Another example of excellence from "The New Cambridge Shakespeare (NCS)". NOTE, however, that this volume presents exclusively what is usually lumped as "The narrative poems" - i.e., it does NOT include the full set of sonnets ( which appear in a separately edited volume of the NCS series). As a value to the student/customer, therefore is this tradeoff: NCS covers here a smaller portion of the Shakespeare canon than the alternative from Oxford (ed. by Colin Burron, 2002, ISBN 019281933X ), but NCS can therefore offer larger typeface; larger and better quality paper.

In this NCS edition, editor Roe provides helpful background material on each of the poems [Venus, Lucrece, Phoenix & Turtle, Lover's Complaint, and Passionate Pilgrim (*partially* attributable to Shakspeare) ]. The length and depth of discussion of each poem's introduction is not as great as one usually finds for an edition of, say, The Sonnets; but these poems have not stirred so much controversy or confusion either among the reading public or in academic analysis. The poems are (at least on the surface) much more readable and "accessible" to the general reader than are the sonnets. Roe's thorough annotations on each page of text clarify unusual or ambiguous words; they also raise intriguing issues about Shakespeare's art and agenda in suggestive writing with multiple levels of meaning.

Both this NCS edition by Roe and the Burrow Oxford edition were released too early to benefit from fascinating new insights into the ever-puzzling bantam of this flock: The Phoenix and the Turtle. For the compelling evidence that this long-locked enigma of the canon is an eulogy to two Elizabethan Catholic martyrs, the reader will need to turn to a Times Literary Supplement issue from April of this year.

For most of the controversies surrounding these poems, I'll risk claiming that there have been few critical revelations between the publication of this excellent 1993 NCS edition and now; so (excepting the 2003 TLS article mentioned above) it remains satisfyingly current. For reading pleasure and thoughtful study of these masterpieces, I think you'll be most pleased to own this Cambridge edtion.

Shakespeare is at his best in this poem. At his best as for the subject : a raped virtuous wife who cannot go over the stain and cannot even utter the name of the rapist because she does not see his crime first, hence her vengeance second, but she only sees her crime first, hence her punishment second, and she commits suicide in front of everyone. At his best in the contradictions he brings in the treatment of his subject : Lucrece is not able to understand that rape is a crime on the side of the rapist, and not a fault on the side of the victim, but, and there Shakespeare is great, Roman society, and probably English society too, at the time but also today, will not accept her explanation if she does not consider herself as absolutely guilty of the crime she was the victim of. A woman is never accepted as clean and white if she is raped, she keeps some guilt in the eye of society, be it only to have « incited » or « caused » the rape by her being enticing, beautiful and desirable. In this society, the Roman society, but also ours, the woman is always, somewhere, even if she goes to court and gets the rapist in jail, the cause of the crime, hence the one responsible, at least partly, for the crime. Shakespeare does a pretty good job at showing this unescapable dilemma for a woman. And this appears clearly in the treatment of Tarquin's banishment in exactly one concluding line. What is banishment when compared to death in mental torture ? But Shakespeare is also at his best in his poetry, in his poetical style, in his brilliant use of the language to enchant us with music, the music of words, sounds, meanings, and all other musics you can imagine and find in this poem. I will suggest everyone to study in fine details the section going from line 925 to line 1035, what I call the « time » soliloquy. It is absolutely marvellous and brilliant, and what's more, it is extremely modern, even if it is fully Renaissance. On this subject, time, the Renaissance was particularly prolix, even verbose, but Shakespeare rises over time into some eternity by the way he composes the rhythm and the harmony of this brilliant piece. It becomes timeless and should be studied by all people to finally understand that time is cruel but that life is even more cruel if we do not accept to go along and away when necessary with time. Time becomes a friend in a way, and not an enemy because it knows how to liberate you from life, suffering and useless aging when aging does not bring anything any more except torture and humiliating degrading and ever increasing inferiority, declining and vacuity.

Dr Jacques CIOULARDEAU

I thought that this could be a bit better as far as Shakespeare books go.

I purchased this book to help me teach a customer service class. I teach workforce readiness classes in a woman's prison.

The book was a great addition to the class. I made a questionnaire packet for each topic in the book and alloted time for the women to read, discuss and review every day.

"Calming Upset Customers" is basically a workbook for dealing with difficult customers. It is not a deep text that delves into the psyche of customers and would be used in a college level business course. What it is is a basic workbook that explains the basics of why customer satisfaction is so important and the various things that can be done to convert an upset customer into a happy customer. This is front line stuff at the employee level. It is about solving basic problems at the employee level before they become major problems.

While manager level professionals should receive more advanced training in working with upset or difficult customers, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who has to deal directly with customers. The workbook format with various exercises throughout make this book an excellent training tool. It is a recommended read, but probably its best use would be to purchase a stack of them and hand it out to all new employees when they are hired. This is the minimum that every person involved in customer contact should know.

Morgan's book is practical and packed with workable strategies. With the US workplace seeing a rise in violence, this is a skill to develop and use as if your life depended on it. "Calming Upset Customers" is set up in seven easy-to-complete sections with questionnaires for analysis of coping strategies, hints on danger signal to watch for, and constructive suggestions on how to avoid "them fightin' words." The lessons focus on developing practical skills in dealing with customers, and working through this inter-active book will strengthen your ability to handle hassle. From knowing when to forget a customer, to what to do when a valued employee is in the wrong, this book will be valuable to managers creating an environment for customer satisfaction. This book is in the top ten best sellers for Crisp Publishers, and it has been translated into German, French, Italian, Spanish and Korean. Apparently the upset customer problem is not limited to the US workplace!

Overall I thought this was a very useful book. I think it would be most helpful as a resource for supervisors and others who are training about customer service, rather than giving it to an employee or group of employees, telling them to read it, and assuming they will be able to apply it to their situation.

For example, there is a short section (all the material is presented in relatively short, easy-to-read sections) that covers how to avoid crying in front of customers, and one reminding employees not to smoke in front of a customer. That might not be an issue for any employee in some work groups, but could be useful for others.

I used it as resource material for training about working with internal customers, since some employees seem to deal far better with strangers than with co-workers and those in other offices or sections. This text, especially some of the re-phrasing exercises, reminded me of ways to present that training more effectively. Overall this is an easily understood, basic guide with interactive material.

This is a very simple, short book, and that's good--unlike most business books, it doesn't fill its pages with unnecessary fluff to pad the page count. The exercises are fun and easy, and this book is highly recommended for anyone that has to deal with customers.

This book is easy to read, easy to understand and easy to put into action.

I had this book on the shelf for quite a while before I suddenly had to use it. I had a convoluted series of unfortunate mechanical events on my motorcycle and could have been hurt
badly, if not killed, and my complaint letter needed to get
good results, financially and otherwise. I read the whole book and followed the advice to a "T", using pieces of various sample
letters. I had a response from this company within 24 hours and
the results I wanted within 10 days. I am grateful to this book.

This book gets right to the point! It clearly identifies the things every successful complaint letter should contain. I found the sample complaint letters very helpful and was thrilled with the list of addresses for agencies, federal & state, that take complaints against companies. Also, the list of addresses for most major companies was a wonderful resource. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for results!

One of the most clearly wtitten legal books I have read..And for it being a legal reference book thats saying alot!!!

Having to go to court several times, this book proved to be a valuable resource. It taught me what to expect from the legal system in a step by step form. It covers how to choose an attorney to all the trial procedures. It makes the whole idea of going to court a lot easier.

The authors give honest information on every part of the trial and the trial process. You will learn how to file a complaint to answering a complaint. It gives real information on the process of the trial from filing motions, seeking discovery and settling your case. It caps with judgments and appeals.

I like how the authors make everything easy to understand and the advice is completely useable. This can be used if this is you first time in court or your tenth.

Footnote: Nolo press is the best company that produces law books for the common person. They are always easy to read and pact with good advice.


Enjoy

This is a very useful guide to achieving and maintaining optimal health.

Most of us, even those without a major illness, have some sort of health challenge - skin problems, poor digestion, insomnia, etc. Dr. Rona discusses many of these conditions, their possible causes, and how to use lifestyle changes and self-treatment (diet, exercise, vitamins, herbs) to relieve the symptoms and improve overall health. He also encourages readers to see an MD for conventional treatment when necessary. The suggestions are very comprehensive and practical, and I like the focus on nutrition. The recipes in the back (by Jeanne Marie Martin) are simple and tasty.

The tone of the book is also appreciated. It's nice to see an MD who, while evidently an expert in his field, leaves room for individual differences and doesn't talk as if he has all the answers. It's a pleasant contrast to doctors such as the aforementioned Andrew Weil, whose books firmly exhort some practices and "pooh-pooh" others, then have to change their tune when new information comes out (such as the research showing that beta-carotene supplements might not be such a good idea).

When you're addressing the great mysteries of health and the body, a little humility is much appreciated!

Dear Amazon, Today (14 June 96) I will send you a review of Returnto the Joy of Health by Dr. Bob Sager; the review was emailed to me by Dr. Rona who informs me that the review is in the PUBLIC DOMAIN. Cordially, Brent Rooney (whatsup@vcn.bc.ca)

The book is easy to follow, informative, and demonstrates helpful information about content and purpose.

I have 2 books: one at home and one at work. I've been using them a lot especially when I needed to write letters to different companies or people. My letters always worked. It's a great book!

When I picked up this book, I thought it was going to be about gangsters in the 1930s. This is not what the book is about. It's still pretty good, with many funny descriptions of sex, sexual neuroses, sexual frustration, sexual mishaps, sexual acts, sexual regrets, sexual descriptions, etc. The level of Alexander Portnoy's introspection and self-awareness makes for a compelling read. The fact that there were no gangsters (as I had expected) did not, in the end, make me too sad, nor did it makes me regret reading this book.

Philip Roth's 'Portnoy's Complaint' offers the reader a fresh take on the Novel while never forgetting the tradition of the great writers that came before him.

Porntoy's complaint is a character study in the form of a monologue made by Alexander Portnoy, a successfull Jew. However, Alex suffers from an inner conflict that is dividing and tormenting him. On one hand he loves his family, and he serves his community dutifully. On the other hand he is tormented by his childhood and his overbearing mother. He's also a bit of a sexual deviant, and feels guilty for indulging in a number of sexual fetishes.


The book is incredibly funny. You'll laugh out loud at the Alex's recollection of his childhood, masterbating in the bathroom while his mom calls into him, "Don't flush Alex! I want to see what's in your stool!"

The book is also highly influential. Philip Roth has invented the "Self Loathing Jew". If you're at all a fan of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, then you simply MUST read this book. It's obvious that David got many of his comic ideas about Jewishness from directly from Roth.

If there's a complaint I have about the book it would be that the novel feels incomplete. I found myself hoping throughout that we'd get to hear Alex engage in some dialoge with his shrink. Instead the whole book is a monologue made by Alex, directed at his shrink. Sometimes this approaches on overwhellming, but the length of the novel and it's pacing and the variety and quality of the antecdotes from his past keep the reader intrueged.

What exactly does Alex tell his Shrink? Well, he spends most of the time talking about his overbearing Mother. He tells about his high school addiction to masterbation. He talks about his on again off again relationship with his girlfriend 'The Monkey'. As well as previous relationships he had durring college. Finally, he talks about his trip to Israel and his sexual exploits there.

Obviously influeced by Italo Svevo's ZENO'S CONSCIENCE and J.D. Salinger's THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, but far more bawdy and hilarious.

Roth is at his wildest here. Using the very singular point of view of Alexander Portnoy, a 33-year-old, sexually obsessed, guilt-ridden, nearly self-hating Jew who wants nothing more than to rid himself of his parents' overbearing influence, Roth channels a thousand different voices and skips back and forth in time to tell us Portnoy's life story. Mostly, we learn about his family life, romantic conquests and sexual proclivities -- which include the hilarious and unfortunate tale of a piece of raw liver!

The book reads like one long monologue and yet is never tiresome. By far the funniest work of literary fiction I've ever read. Ten stars! Don't miss this one.

I picked up Portnoy's Complaint expecting that it would not disappoint. More than one reader whom I respect a great deal told me that I should not neglect Portnoy's Complaint in my quest to understand how highly Roth is regarded in the literary world. For the most part, I loved Roth's American Pastoral. Save for one passage that made me laugh out loud and one passage about a neighborhood softball game, Portnoy's Complaint was a 287-page rant (I defy you to shuffle through the book randomly and find a page that isn't peppered with exclamation marks) that I suppose carried a great deal of shock value when it was published in the late sixties. Roth's Afterword is immensely more interesting than the novel.

Like so many things in this world: you either love them or hate them. This book would be one item added to that list.

The topics of this book can frustrate and upset countless readers. It is semi-autobiographical - which delivers mainly Jewish humor - about the sexual frustrations of the New Jersey raised Jewish boy of his just-before-the-baby-boomer generation. From that backdrop, you are then sent to read hundreds of pages about masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, and more. To some, no matter how well written, these topics are taboo and not for their enjoyment.

The style of this book is a stream of consciousness narrative, flowing in and out, jumping topics and times in truly narrative fashion, reflecting basically on sexual conquests and mores. It is like a very long session with a psychologist or psychiatrist. And, appropriately ends with, "So [said the doctor]. Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?"

Published when the play "Hair" was rocking the charts [1969], this book is as much about its time as it is about Jewish frustration. Having grown up in those times in a Jewish neighborhood, I liked this book - but did not love it. I loved some portions - his desecration of rabbis is unparalleled when he writes, "Oh God, oh Guh-ah-duh, if you're up there shining down your countenance, why not spare us from here on out the enunciation of the rabbis! Why not spare us rabbis themselves! Look, why not spare us religion, if only in the name of human dignity!" More of the times than of Jewish humor, yes?

Between the writing style and topics, may readers will be upset. The seemingly "private jokes" often utilizing Yiddish to accentuate their cynical zingers, really could be applied to other ethnicities, save the Yiddish terms. But, New York/New Jersey humor, even if about "clean" topics can be beyond reader's desired topics. Just not for this reader.

There are screaming times in this book when Roth shows that his comedic writing style is equal to the best stand up comics of his generation. He proves in this book, and perhaps "Goodnight Columbus", that he was a forerunner of the great cynical humor which pervaded movies and television from his generation forward. His style is copied throughout Norman Lear's mega-successful series, is perhaps what made Woody Allen a social hero in the 1970's, and may be the creator of other modern comics - including Howard Stern whose attempts to shock people about sexual innuendo today are no more revolutionary than what Roth provides in this novel.

For social importance, this is a great novel. For humor it is a great novel. As for comfort in reading, it is a good novel. I would not force this book upon any of those who may be insulted or shocked by its topics. Hence, I deliver my endorsement with caution.