United States Books

As a trained mental health professional, I wanted to read the book for purely academic and research reasons. However, I found myself going on a personal journey of exploration into the relationship between myself and my father with schizophrenia. This book was amazing to me on multiple levels.

Unfortunately, most readers of this book, as well as the author of the book, even if he is his son, are misinformed. I've spent a lot of time around mentally ill people who really do seem to have something dead wrong in their brain/body biochemistry, as well as imbalances of all sorts. Charles Lachenmeyer, the Outsider, was not crazy, except for the extremely stressful situations that he was forced into from OUTSIDE ( pun intended ) sources. He was no fool, he had a PhD in sociology and was a University professor of the same. A man doesn't just go from that kind of being to a homeless guy sleeping in a puddle of his own urine on a park bench in -0 degree weather. His books are still in the sociology section of Borders and Barnes n' Noble bookstores. What happened was that Charles came up with a multi-million dollar idea as to how to revolutionarily re-structure society in a much more efficient way. However, he refused to share his idea with his colleagues, thusly with the government. Charles wanted full credit for his own idea, and rightly so. So his colleagues teamed up with various government and probably military agencies to try to ruin his life, basically to torment him into sharing his breakthrough idea of sociology. Anyone who is naive enough to doubt that various agencies are well-versed in mind-control technology and psychological warfare, needs to seriously deprogram themselves from their own mental conditioning. MK ULTRA, MAJIC, OPERATION MIND CONTROL, etc. as well as other operations are no mere conspiracy stories, even the agencies themselves willingly admit that they did these operations now, being that so much time has passed. Unfortunately, Mr. Charles Lachenmeyer was subject to their torture devices. His embarrassing dreams at night were, in turn, reenacted the following days in braod daylight public view to humiliate him by " strangers ". His family life was sabotaged away from him, leaving him all alone except for his comanion, his dog. Of course, then, the dog was kidnapped away from him, leaving him emotionally bankrupt and spent. He was then subjected to the final part of the plan, which was to make him seem like some crazy " schizophrenic " spouting off conspiracy stories, and unfortunately, even his son Nathaniel, bought into this. The whole time Charles was homeless, he was writing, more and more he was expanding on his breakthrough, as well as exposing the mind-control that he was subjected to, probably naming important names in his book. Charles was ultimately killed, and " his papers were mysteriously lost in a flood in his apartment " ( how convenient to lose all of the evidence ) All in all I think Nathaniel did well to honor his dad in this book, and I do believe that his intentions were good. The book is excellent, and I read it back to back 3 times in a row. But .... Seem like he was simply a brilliant man that became schizophrenic? Well let me pat you on the back, that's exactly what they want you to think.

I found the Outsider to be a fascinating book, one that really opened my eyes to the problems encountered by those suffereing from mental illness and schizophrenia. The son's journey to understand the father and piece together the last few years of his life is heart-wrenching and the reader truly sympathizes with his pain and anguish. A terrific book that I heartily recommend.

THE OUTSIDER brought the pain and the struggles of Charles Lachenmeyer to life. Charles was a brillant sociology professor who gradually was transformed into a victim of paranoid schizophrenia. Even at his lowest points, he kept trying, and he kept believing in humanity. In one letter to the author, he wrote, "No matter how adverse the circumstances--and mine have been adverse--there is never any reason to give up . . ."

This book breathes life into a person with mental illness, and it brings understanding. It left me in tears and with a deep respect for Charles.

I truly believe this book should be read by everyone, not just people that are going into the mental health field. I was required to ready it for a Social Work class I am currently taking at the undergraduate level; however, I can say without a doubt it is by far the best book I have ever read! Lachenmeyer really brings home the stigma and heartache that is experienced by people and their loved ones suffering from such a debilitating mental illness. Most people are unaware of the devastating effects mental illness can have on a person and their family. This book highlights so many issues concerning mental health as to responsibilities of people in the system, stigma, prejudice, and the tolerance of society in general to someone suffering from mental illness. Moreover, this book was really an awakening that this could happen to anyone at any time. I wish everyone could read this book as it really teaches a lesson on humanity!!

Positive Pushing speaks to our times and the difficulties parents face when determining how much or how little to push their children to achieve success in life. We all want to motivate our kids to succeed in life, but how much is too much? When do we push and when do we back off? Dr. Taylor, through examples, research, and his own personal wisdom, walks this delicate line, showing the pitfalls and dangers of both sides, and leads us to creating a healthy, balanced and purposeful life for our young ones. In the highly competitive world we live in today, no home with children should be without this important work on their bookshelf.

If you're living vicariously through the life of your child- step out of the way. In his book Positive Pushing, Dr. Jim Taylor teaches parents to step back and examine the root of their attitudes towards their child's successes and failures and provides a win-win model for positive encouragement. He teaches parents to equip their children with an internal compass to which they can gauge their own successes and failures, while always keeping focused on giving their personal best.

When it comes to literature on young achievers, Dr. Taylor's book stands out from the pack. Positive Pushing brings to light the oftentimes overlooked and misunderstood world of emotions, family dynamics, and external & internal expectations that young achievers face during their school years and beyond.

Taylor cuts to the chase when it comes to examining achievement and happiness, making the necessary distinction between external achievement and achievement that includes the internal experience of joy in the process. In so doing, Taylor details the type of guidance and support he encourages parents to provide in order to ensure their children experience success and happiness simultaneously.

Taylor pulls no punches as he cautions parents to examine their own motives, desires, and expectations. At the same time, he skillfully guides parents on how to navigate the terrain of ensuring their children grow into happy, resilient, confident, and successful adults. Taylor draws from his extensive professional experience as well as from current research in the fields of child development, sports psychology, and other disciplines. He provides examples in the areas of academics, sports, and the arts that every parent will quickly recognize as true-to-life. He even details red flags, along with accompanying advice on ways to respond to them.

Positive Pushing is a resource as practical as it is thought-provoking. It is a must-read for all interested in ensuring that our children are truly happy in their success.

Dr. Jim Taylor does a fabulous job clarifying a parent's role in his book, "Positive Pushing". He gives you a framework to guide decisions about children's activities, schedules and responsiblities. I don't feel the panic to join everything or the guilt about not letting them quit piano lessons. He taught me what is negotiable with my three boys and what isn't. I am more of an in-charge parent. We have a new house rule: "one sport, one music...no more, no less". It has worked beautifully for 3 years now. Everyone is trying new things but they are not overwhelmed because they are trying too many new things and they are not bored because they aren't trying anything new.

Dr. Taylor taught me to own my part of parenting and to let my boys own their part. They are proud of the "excellence" they achieve by always working as hard as they can. The word "perfect" has been removed from our vocabulary. Once you open your eyes to how imperfect everything is...you'll never put that pressure on yourself or children again. Dr. Taylor brought joy back to my parenting and, I hope, to my children's childhood again.

Every parent owes it to themselves to read this book! Thanks Dr. Taylor!

Jim Taylor is pushing too hard in trying to resolve various parenting and parenting/adult issues in one book. He probable knows a lot about achievement but he couldn't convince me about how positive pushing/control can be with kids--he starts with a promising argument but feters out in his style of discussion. He cites good research but his own ideas/interpretations are unoriginal and unconvincing. He is also inconsistent in his opinions (i.e., unconditional love does not exist then in next sentence he says that parents are to love their kids without condition). He also talks about achieving "balance" without real-life solutions. He does have lists of behavioral solutions in the end of the chapters but they seem disjointed and almost exhaustive, making me feel more like my kids and I would be more exhausted than "balanced". The tone of his book was bland and too distancing--I found myself skimming his chapter intros. He sounds more like a motivational speaker or academician than an experienced parent (he cites kids/families he's worked with but no personal stories about his own family). For a more "balanced" approach in parenting and easier read, I recommend "Hold on to Your Kids" by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate.

The book provides an inside view of Star Gate, the government's secret program of remote viewing. By the time Paul Smith wrote this book, most of the information he needed had been declassified, and the program allegedly shut down, if you believe that.

The book describes the structure of how they remote viewed a target, from the fundamental to specific gestalt, and how this could be taught to anyone, since everyone has this ability.

I'd consider this one of the better books I've read on Star Gate and remote viewing in general.

This book is a great reference and historical record of the emergence and use of remote viewing from inside the military machine. A great addition to all serious remote viewing researchers library, its well written and one of those hard to put down books. There are a few good books on remote viewing and this is so far the best in trying to create a historical overview of RV and address many of the inaccuracies of the previous historical overview book (The Secret History of America's Psychic Spies).

This is also a great reference tool for anyone trying to fathom the 89,000 pages of CIA remote viewing documents released through the Freedom of Information act.

Paul Smith has produced a wonderful book here. It captures so much detailed information that it should make a wonderful documentary source. Yet, it is written so clearly that for those who have read other books on the subject (like me) it is very easy to skim to the parts that contain new information, insights, and details (and there's a whole lot of ALL of those throughout this book!) This book is a must for anyone who wants a more complete picture of the subject matter, as well as a feeling of greater familiarity with the fascinating and enjoyable personalities of the players involved.

I'd suggest Paul Smith's book to students of self discovery and military historians alike. Reading the Enemies Mind provides a concise and engaging history of our nation's remote viewing program. Those seeking to further advance their potential will discover many advanced concepts that have yet to reach mainstream society.

What I most enjoyed about this book was the author's optomistic view of the future of remote viewing. The abilities to tap this newly discovered area of human potential have yet to be fully explored. This newly discovered science holds great promise and may someday lead to a cure for disease, advanced education and furthering our intelligence and understanding. Perhaps someday our political and military leaders will use this potential to advance our civilization rather than simply using remote viewing as a military intelligence gathering tool.

While various forms of remote viewing have existed since the dawn of civilization, Paul Smith carefully documents the proven effectiveness and scientific reality that refutes serious critics and encourages those with a limited understanding. I'd recommend this book to anyone seeking a more advanced understanding of their human potential.

Reading the Enemy's Mind is a fascinating history of the Star Gate program. I've read accounts of a couple of other former Star Gate participants and they are either sensational and fictionalized (David Morehouse) or short on history (Dale Graff). Paul Smith's account is comprehensive and doesn't make wild claims. His tome is a level-headed treatment of the program. He's very upfront that for every success there are many failures.

Some of my favorite successful remote-viewing stories from Reading the Enemy's Mind include viewing Aldrich Ames - the CIA traitor, the USS Stark attack, and the capture of rogue DEA agent Charles Frank Jordan.

In 1987 Star Gate was tasked with finding the mole in US intelligence. CIA sources in the Soviet Union were disappearing or being executed and people wanted to know who was giving them away. Star Gate came up with a composite of the traitor. Among the details was that he drove a gray European car and was involved with a Columbian woman. While many of the other details were off, Smith wonders what might have happened had the Star Gate information been used:

"The fact of the car alone might have significantly narrowed the field of possible suspects in the CIA. How many CIA employees owned grey European luxury cars in 1987? Certainly some, but percentage-wise not that many. And how many CIA employees had a significant relationship with a Latin American woman, especially a Columbian?" (p. 340)

Smith remote viewed the "accidental" Iraqi missile attack on the US destroyer Stark 50 hours before it occurred. He described the colors of the attacking military ("tan uniforms with black belts and bits of red and green."), the unprofessional nature of the attackers ("they reminded me of a militia as opposed to a professional military"), and the explosion itself ("The structure/vessel shivers, shakes, quivers. 'There were a 'clang,' a 'screech,' and a 'metallic squeal...'").

A final story I'll share is that of the rogue DEA agent, Charles Frank Jordan. This agent had turned bad and escaped custody. The DEA was convinced he was in the Caribbean. A remote viewer thought he was in Wyoming. "This information was so out of line with where Jordan was thought to be, that at first the authorities were inclined to ignore it. Finally, one agent decided that it would do no harm to alert police in that part of Wyoming.(p. 384)" Jordan was apprehended shortly after that - in Wyoming!

I highly recommend Reading the Enemy's Mind.

The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright was first published in 1941, and though it was written many years ago, is as delightful now as it was then. It's a story about a family who loves each other, works hard and strives to do the right thing. How refreshing!

Mona (13), Rush (12), Miranda (10 ½), who is known as Randy, and Oliver (6) live in New Your City in a brownstone that is rather shabby, but has many floors and fits their lifestyle perfectly. The Melendy children's mother died, but their father and Cuffy, the beloved housekeeper, provide the love, attention and care the children need.

Each of the children has dreams and desires for their futures. Their interests are varied and they each are independent and inquisitive about life and their surroundings.

But while the Melendy children find life generally interesting, Saturdays can sometimes be just plain boring. The children form a club they call the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (I.S.A.A.C.). All of the children agree to pool their allowances and each child takes a Saturday with all the money to do something by themselves that they really want to do.

The Saturdays are exciting, not just because of the activities they choose, but because of the people they meet and the stories they hear. Well, Oliver does make one Saturday particularly memorable, but you'll have to read the book to learn about his adventure.

In the day of the novels that glamorize the worst society has to offer, The Saturdays is delightfully refreshing.

Armchair Interviews says: Read the series and enjoy!

This book is different in a good way. It is about 4 children who decide to put there allowences to a good use. Every Saturday the add up there allowence and one of the children gets to do any thing that they will always remember.
By,
Girl With A Plan

I had doubts for this book because it didn't sound very interesting but my Mom wanted me to read it so I did-I loved it. It's original and imaginative and above all easy to read for hours without getting bored. It's original and fun like the story of Mrs. Olifount being kidnapped by jypsies, or Isaac the dog saving the family from suffocating. It's a wonderful book I can't wait to read the sequils.

When I was nine years old I picked up a copy of Elizabeth Enright's "The Melendy Family" on sale for 25 cents at my school Christmas fair, donated by some eighth-grader who evidently felt she had "outgrown" it. I wonder, does anybody ever outgrow the Melendys? "The Melendy Family" was a three-in-one volume comprising "The Saturdays", "The Four Story Mistake", and "Then There were Five". Alas, "The Melendy Family" is no longer in print, but fifty years later, I still have my copy, read to shreds, patched and repatched with scotch tape, a book to be treasured forever and never thrown away. Fortunately, the books making up "The Melendy Family" have been reissued as individual volumes available to enchant yet another generation of young readers.

"The Saturdays", the first volume in the series, introduces us to the four Melendy children: Mona, age 13, Rush, age 12, Randy, who is ten-and-a-half, and Oliver, age 6. Each is given a distinct personality and Enright modeled them on children she had known in her own life, her own children or childhood friends. The result is four fictional characters so totally believable that for years after the books were published, Enright continued to get letters from readers wondering if the Melendys were "real".

The Melendy children's mother is deceased, but they are raised by a devoted, caring father and Cuffy, their beloved housekeeper, who stands in as nurse, cook, substitute mother, grandmother, and aunt, and generally rules the roost. The children are funny, refreshing and unspoiled. Mona has aspirations of being a famous actress and already at thirteen can recite "yards and yards of Shakespeare at the drop of a hat." Rush is the next to the oldest, a musical prodigy with a penchant for getting into and out of trouble. Randy at ten-and-a-half (the half is very important at that age) is an endearing mixture of grace and klutziness, a talented dancer and artist who keeps falling over her own feet when it comes to manual labor. And six-year-old Oliver is the baby of the family, placid and calm, very much his own person, as his story shows.

The story opens on a rainy Saturday which finds Randy and Rush monumentally bored with nothing to do. Randy wants to see a some French paintings. Rush wants to go to the opera. Mona wants to see a play. But in the early 1940s (the approximate time in which the story is set is revealed in the opening pages when Enright tells us that the long scars on the linoleum floor were made by Rush trying out a pair of ice skates on Christmas afternoon, 1939), fifty cents a week allowance was standard, and there wasn't a whole lot you could do with that. Randy has a brainstorm. Let's start a club, she says, and pool our allowances together each week so one of us can spend them on something we've always wanted to do. This idea is adopted enthusiastically by all the children (Oliver wants to contribute his ten cents, too), and thus the Independent Saturday Afternoon Adventure Club (ISAAC) is born.

Each following chapter describes an adventure that takes place on each child's Saturday. Randy goes to see an exhibition of French paintings, runs into an old family acquaintance, Mrs. Oliphant, and is treated to tea at the Plaza while she hears a delightful story of the time Mrs. Oliphant was kidnapped by gypsies during her childhood.

Rush goes to the opera, walks home in a snowstorm, and finds a lost puppy that becomes the family's devoted friend and companion from that day on.

Mona, tired of her long braids, goes to a beauty parlor and treats herself to a haircut and a manicure. The resulting uproar by her father and Cuffy seems a trifle overdone, but as Father later admits, it's hard for parents to realize that their children are growing up.

And Oliver, keeping his own counsel, sneaks out of the house when his Saturday comes and goes to the circus all by himself. An even greater adventure occurs when he is given a ride back home by a mounted policeman on a horse, after he gets lost leaving Madison Square Garden.

After Oliver's adventure the kids decide to spend their Saturdays as a group, but that doesn't stop them from having mishaps such as Randy falling overboard from a boat in Central Park, the family almost suffocating from coal gas when Rush forgets to shut the furnace door, and the storeroom catching fire. It all comes to an exciting conclusion when Mrs. Oliphant invites the children to spend the summer in her lighthouse in Long Island.

"The Saturdays" takes us back to a simpler time and to adventures that probably couldn't happen today (no parent in his right mind would allow a ten year old to go to a museum alone in the New York City nowadays), but kids are still kids, and the Melendys seem so real they could be anyone we knew when we were children, or wish we had known. The time frame may help children understand what a dollar could purchase back then (a wash, set and manicure, or admission to a museum with change to spare). The whole series is a gem for every child and every generation. I still marvel at the priceless find I picked up off a bookshelf at random fifty years ago for only twenty-five cents. It's paid me back a zillion-fold ever since.

Judy Lind

I wanted to respond to the reviews below that thought it was either implausible or dated for children aged 10-13 to wander around New York by themselves. I grew up in New York (in Manhattan, across the park from the Melendys) in the late 1980s. I turned 13, just Mona's age, in 1990. I started walking home from school alone in fourth grade (when I was nine, a year younger than Randy). Like Mr. Melendy and Cuffy, my parents' major worry was that I was careful crossing the street. (Reasonably enough, they feared that drivers would not be able to see a small child.) Many of my friends from elementary school walked or took the bus to school alone at the same age. By twelve (Rush's age), I was allowed to take the subway to visit friends from junior high school, and they took the subway to visit me. By fourteen our teachers assumed that we were competent to find the Metropolitan Museum of Art on our own for projects. None of these people were neglectful, and none of them were "horrified" at the idea of pre-adolescents wandering around the city alone. This was in the supposed "bad old days" when crime was theoretically much higher than it is now, and none of us ever suffered any accident. (Although a group of friends and I got lost coming back from the theater in eighth grade, and were pretty embarrassed that we looked like tourists.)

Anyone familiar with the geography of New York City knows that the Melendy children stay within a fairly small geographic area in THE SATURDAYS, and that the areas where most of their adventures take place are some of the richest and safest in the city. Most sensible New York parents would allow their children to wander there on Saturday afternoons with no more concern than the appropriate ones that Mr. Melendy shows. (Be careful of traffic, don't talk to strangers, and don't get lost.)

Ironically, this ties in with the review that says that Enright did not take enough "risks" with the book, by having her characters get kidnapped by gypsies or run away from home. The fact is, she wrote a fairly realistic description of the childhood of the middle and upper-middle classes of New York City....kids who come into CONTACT with a relatively diverse group of people who have had a variety of experiences, but who actually live in a fairly safe, and sheltered world.

As a New York City kid, I was thrilled to read a book that reflected MY real life experience, as opposed to yet another story about kids who lived in houses with back yards and rode a school bus, and generally had no relationship to my real life. I still love THE SATURDAYS for its loving description of a New York that has in some ways remained startingly the same, even though parts of it have disappeared (no more two way traffic on Fifth Avenue, and no double decker buses!). As other reviews have said, The Saturdays is a charming, well-written book for kids, that can also be enjoyed by adults. It's also one of the few accurate and positive stories about growing up in a great city. I would recommend it for all ages.

I recommend this book to all the people who are constantly firefighting everyday to make their mass production businesses better, faster, stronger and quicker. How many more words that end in "er" do you need to rally the troops in growing your businesses? Tom Wentz shares his real world management experience through his book and demonstrates with great logic how to change your mass production status quo and "CREATE" the structural changes you need to CREATE a mass customization powerhouse.
If you have an open mind and are ready to end the corporate frustration you experience today, I recommend that you read Tom's book and learn how to lead the necessary transformational change you need to become successful in today's business environment. Your employees and customer's will love you for it!!!

Written by the Thomas K. Wentz (President of Corporate Performance Systems Inc.), Transformational Change: How To Transform Mass Production Thinking To Meet The Challenge Of Mass Customization is a solid and deftly presented guide for adapting to the new and evolving demands and realities of a globalized marketplace where merely churning out vast quantities of a product is simply not enough to be profitable. Now, more and more, customers want goods and services uniquely tailored to their tastes, and they are willing to pay for it - so much so as to change the shape of international businesses worldwide. Learning how to incorporate customization for maximum consumer satisfaction and profit is a rocky road, but individual chapters of Transformational Change address a range of relevant problems including corporate restructuring, gathering appropriate intelligence, competitive advantages and disadvantages, and a great deal more. Transformational Change is a truly excellent resource and a highly motivational reading for business managers at all corporate levels of responsibility.

Tom Wentz is the quinessential change agent! His book, "Transformational Change" describes clearly the process of change from mass production to mass customization. While the book is an easy read, you'll want to revisit it many times because of the great depth it possesses.

Mr. Wentz shows that insanity truly is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. He likens it to those "hackers" out on the driving range who continually use the improper swing and expect a drive 275 yards straight down the middle.

In light of the events since September 11, 2001, Mr. Wentz expertly shows the need "not to defer the the experience of living today" and to become truly fulfilled at work, at home or in your communities.

This is must reading for anyone who wants to transform their existence.

Transformational change addresses the problem of how to deal with change when moving from a mass production oriented business to a customer centered customized production business. One of the truly unique perspectives of this book is that it discusses and details the process of such a change. Many similar books effectively argue the need for change but then provide no direction on how to make the change. Thomas Wentz' book provides detailed discussion and processes for creating that complete transformation of your business

In the past most businesses were based on a mass production focus. Success and management were evaluated on a numbers basis. How much has sales increased? How many items were produced during this period last year? This numbers orientation tends to cause people to work hard to meet the numbers as their primary focus. In this scenario employees typically don't go beyond what is expected of them. There is no motivation to create a unique world-class organization. Add to that the fact that times have changed and customers now require a solution or product that is customized to their specific needs. If you can't provide a customized solution or product then they will simply go to a competitor that can. Is this just another business direction change? Thomas Wentz argues that it is more than just a directional change, it requires a complete transformation of the business from one form to another completely different form.

A nice extra to the book are the numerous "Key points" scattered throughout the text. By summarizing the prior information in just one or two sentences and making it stand out from the text it is easy to quickly read over the key points of the book and refresh your memory on an ongoing basis. An excellent book on business and change that also has some applicability to personal change, it is a recommended read.

I have read Tom's book twice. The second time very carefully because I wanted to be sure that I was not being seduced by the obvious. I was not. This is an addition to the literature on leading change. Many of the terms are familiar but Tom has brought them together in a way that creates a new picture of the forces that change -- and don't change -- business.

I have become somewhat sceptical of all of the warnings of the dramatic shifts in paradigms that business must face to survive but Tom has succeeded in explaining the shift from mass production thinking to something new in a way that can be understood. I get a clear picture of what it means when there is a new context requiring new thinking. Not every business will face the same changes in context but every business needs to understand if and when its context changes.

I am distributing this book to the sixty CEOs in my CEO peer groups for them to read and discuss. I am also going to schedule an opportunity for them to participate in a simulation to experience first hand the limits that mass production thinking imposes on our search for solutions.

i LOVED jAMIES BOOK WANNABE I COULDNT PUT IT DOWN. I HOPE HE WRITES ANOTHER BOOK TO CONTINUE WHERE HE LEFT OFF. I TOLD ALL MY FRIENDS THEY HAVE TO READ IT THATS HAVE MUCH I ENJOYED THE BOOK.

I watched his show JKX for a few seasons and my wife and I found the show to be VERY funny. The best bits are the folks who apply for the paper delivery job and the skit with the driving instructor. In my opinion the all time best was when he had the mexican day laborers over for his birthday party.
Anyway, this book shows the struggles and nonsense that he went through before getting on TV. It is well written and doesn't really gloss over the nonsense he had to put up with.And there is a message in here but you'll have to read the book

I really enjoyed reading about Jamie Kennedy trying to make it in Hollywood, it was years of humiliating jobs, and lots of money down the drain on get famous quick scams, but he clawed his way to the middle, and planted his flag.

I have to admit, I wonder how truthful some of his stories really are, but I'm sure he told it as he really remembered it. I really admire him for having a dream, and making it happen.

He also spins some funny stories about his encounters with celebrities, my favorite was when he was working at Red Lobster, and Arsenio Hall came in, at first he didn't recognize him, and told him there were no tables available, and then recognized him, and got really excited, and then Arsenio asked if he had a table for him now, and Jamie said, "no". Funny stuff, definately worth a read.

Outstanding! What a life he has had so far. This book is not only hilarious, but it makes you believe that nothing is impossible no matter how many times you get knocked down.

Jamie Kennedy's show is what I know him best by. I'm so glad he wrote this book and gave us a little inside of his life. He's such an honest, and open book. What a fascinating character he is, in everything he does. I actually tend to look up to him and base my actions on him and others like him, never being afraid to show my inner self (read my profile here at Amazon if you don't believe me). Life is too short, and if you don't reach out and take Life, it won't be taken. That seems to be his "take on life."

I highly recommend this book and this lifestyle. It will truly rock your world!

MC White said: Check it out!!!

Thom Hartman uses a serious comic-book style to show the danger of giving up our freedoms, mega-corporate power, and having a corporate-controlled liar like G.W. Bush as President. Hartman shows a keen understanding of danerous historical trends, particularly the Alien-and-Sedition acts of the late 1790's, and the harmful stranglehold of railroads in the late 1800's. Now we have large corporations counting our votes on non-verifiable electronic machines - can you imagine a more evil scenario? Not that the author is 100 percent. His anti-NAFTA view seems foolish, and he lays off the egotistical jerk (Ralph Nader) that put Bush in office - no matter how much Nader denies it. Still, the rest of this book makes perfect sense and is surprisingly educational.

I enjoyed reading Thom Hartmann's WE THE PEOPLE: A CALL TO TAKE BACK AMERICA. The comic book style made reading interesting and fun, as Hartmann takes the reader through a brief history of the USA and exposes how our government is being hijacked by big corporations.

Neo-Conservatives might find the book leaning too far to the left, but I think Hartmann takes a centrist stand. He does a good job explaining "corporate personhood," a corporation that claims to be a person therefore entitled to legal protections like a real person, and how corporations have slowly started taking more and more control over our government.

One thing I wish he did would've been to describe certain events like the "Alien and Sedition Acts," which comes up in the book. But Hartmann does provide website addresses to find out more info.

Even though the book was written in 2004 it's still very relevant to what is going on today. The illustrations by Neil Cohn are fun too.

A copy of this book belongs in every library in America and in every home. If it was so widely distributed and read, America would not have come to the crossroads it has reached, and we would all know how to protect ourselves and our country.

This is a simplified version of Thom's political and historical insight. It's done in cartoon style making it entertaining and a valuable learning aid for children or even adults who can gain knowledge about our nations democracy.

At last, a succinct summary of what has gone wrong in the American experiment that anyone intelligent enough to vote can understand. This book should be required reading in high schools across the nation, while there is still time to reverse the dumbing down of history and civics that is threatening the future of democracy in America. Thom Hartmann's arguments that we must act now are based on sound historical reasoning. They will resonate with the true conservative, while offering hope to the progressive that together we can take back America.

And if you are not yet sold, perhaps the fact that it is written in the form of a comic will interest you. If not, it should interest your teenagers. If you don't get it for yourself, get it for them. Better yet, join me in encouraging the authors to make it available online.

Michael Lesy's Wisconsin Death Trip, originally a doctoral thesis, is one of the most touching, poetic, beautiful, harrowing, moving and dislocating works I have read. Basically a compendium of found glass plate negative photos taken by the (himself knock-knees odd) Charles Vam Schaik in and around the rural community of Black River Falls WI, and leavened by snippets taken from the Badger State Banner newspaper and the Mendota State Record Book (an insane asylum), as well as a few personal reminisces, the book instead is a commentary and an indictment of a brutal time of economic dislocation, social upheaval, religious confusion and obsession, and personal decay in a farming community. It is an endless repitition of suicide, madness, arson, children dying of disease, and of a mostly sternly religious people living the grimmest of lives of back breaking work in the country. The photos by their sheer repetition and some of the games played with them by the author, pound out a tattoo of strain, people only barely suppressing their madness, and a society truly on the edge of collapse. Hardly the bucolic paradise so often evoked in our time.

The afterword by the author provides some backstory and statistics backing the point up, and illustrating in numbers and facts what the pictures and excerpts made clear by anecdote, and is also well written.

This was something of a cult book in the mid 70s, a most unusual way of looking at local history, lifting up the rock under which society had crawled. It is haunting, tragic, striking. You will never forgot it.

Buying a classic again. This is the U of New Mexico Press version. The earlier publisher had the picture of the baby in a coffin on the cover. That was better, but the contents are the same.

This is an interesting and slightly macabre book which is strangely beautiful. My son, who is Sam Witt, the poet, told me about it because he had been so moved by it that he wrote a poem associated with it in his soon to be published book, SUNFLOWER BROTHER. The old photos are stunning from the horses to the dead children. I am hoping to get the dvd soon.

"Wisconsin death trip"is an accurate documentation,not only of "agrarian white"culture at the end of the 19th century but,in many ways,the whole of white culture in america at that time..Contrary to popular belief,the"good"old days were not really so good..Yes,they may well have been less complex,but infant mortality was very high,illnesses which today are highly treatable being killers not only of children but of adults as well,daily life being,for most,a drudgery,with little to show for one's efforts...There were few saftey nets,no antibiotics,no pensions to speak of,no recourse against the harshness life,or against a system that,like today,favors the wealthy..
Insanity was not understood,and "treatment"such as it was,often did little to help the afflicted...Wisconsin did not have a monopoly on such things,anymore than,say,los angles has a monopoly on street gangs,or newark has a monopoly on ghetto housing...
The novelty is perhaps in the seeing of the photographs and the documents all together in one volume,so that one can peruse the sorrowful aspects of that period as it affected one particular area...

I read this book over 16 years ago. It left a lasting impression that will stay with me forever. It may not have the same affect on others but reading some of the reviews posted here, I know that it has on most. You can't really ask somebody "did this really happen?" becuase they either died then or in the 100 years that have past. We have no perspective on these people, places and times other than to read books like this. If any of these folks were alive today and heard someone say, "those were the good old days." They might be inclined to give the speaker a quick education. This book will do it for them. I have pictures just like this in a family archive. You wonder how anybody lived into middle or old age. Disease, starvation, hypothermia, and farm accidents all took their toll. Winters are hard enough in the south. Why did these people decide to stop the wagon in Wisconsin or if they lived thru their first winter there, why didn't they head south? I went to a Brewers baseball game at the end of May some 25 years ago and wore a down parka and was cold. You can still see houses in small towns outside of Milwaukee that look like the houses in this book and you can feel the desolation, pain and suffering looking out at you thru 100 year old panes of glass.

The Rza is no ordinary rapper and this book proves it! While essential to the understanding of the CD "Enter the Wu-Tang", it offers the reader the unique opportinity to learn more about the unique members of the clan. A must for any Wu-Tang Clan fan!

I must admit I was surprised and a little skeptical when the RZA, whom I have always seen as a stoic hardened man, decided to assemble a collection of his favorite recipes from his childhood as well as a few exotic dishes from around the world. My skepticism quickly evaporated upon receiving this charming tome, however. The Wu-Tang Manual provides the reader with a wealth of quick and easy (and cheap!) dishes that will leave your mouth watering. Whether you're planning a quiet, intimate time for a couple to relax, or a lively group gathering for a shower, graduation, or holiday, there are recipes here for all occasions. You'll learn how to turn out perfect renditions of classics with a twist such as Brown Butter Pecan Muffins, Baked Banana French Toast, and Smoked Salmon Benedict on Potato Pancakes, as well as new dishes to add to your repertory such as Tea-Smoked Trout Salad, and Baked Eggs with Fresh Corn "Polenta" and Slow-Roasted Tomatoes.

Though only 26 pages from start to finish, The Wu-Tang Manual is a decadent feast of a read, with usually dry recipes spiced up with some personal cooking anecdotes from the RZA and friends from the Wu-Tang clan. One such tale about the RZA and Method Man's disastrous first attempt at a crab bisque literally had me laughing until I was in tearz.

With mouthwatering photos and sections on menus and sources, The Wu-Tang Manual is all you need to throw a stylish and sophisticated dinner that any chef would be proud of.

I loved this book, my brother loved this book and I thought the Rza did a great job.....its the Wu FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

if you like the wu this is for you. if you like hiphop its a good read. so many little fill ins for missing wu knowledge. the best bits will depend on where you come at hiphop from, as an mc i liked the annotated lyrics section. it is fairly comprehensive overview of the wu and well worth the price. buy it or stay a sucker mc forever.

I bought this book because I have been an avid fan of the Wu since high school. I had a feeling it would be good but little did I know that it would be in the tops of the bests books I've ever read in my life. If you've ever listened to a Wu song and wondered what this line meant, or what this word means, look no further. Who knew that there was actual rhyme and reason to ever since word picked for their lyrics.

If this is truely only a volume 1 out of many, I can't wait for the others. No matter what level of Wu fan you are, this will double it at least. Get this book.

excellant source for coin collectors just starting in. clear & consise with many interesting facts and stories regarding coins.

Hello , I am new to coin collecting so I needed a guide. I wanted some knowledge of the field I was about to enter. This book does that , not only price guide but much much more, full of information and nicely laid out in a easy to read format. Really good basic stuff.

Amazon advertised the latest, 2008 version of A Guidebook of US Coins, copywrite 2007, which I purchased. Two weeks later Amazon advertises the 2009 version. I firmly believe Amazon owes me the 2009 version & I go on record for such.

I ordered three books to give to clients as gifts. After I had ordered them I wondered if they would make it on time. They were here early. The books were exactly as described, brand new. The price was the cheapest on the net. The shipping was free. This product and service really deserve a 10.

This book accomplished just what i purchased it for. I needed to value my coin collection that was not reviewed for many years. The spiral bound edition was particularly useful when looking up many different coins.