Butler Books

Why are people so often disenchanted with presidential nominees? Probably because they don't really pick. According to Butler, who becomes a nominee comes down to four things: How much money can they raise? Can they manage the media? Can they win the respect of their party? And is their campaign well organized? If a candidate can't do these things, they are bound to lose the nomination. Butler also explains the three way primaries work out: a "Seven Dwarfs" scenario (no obvious nominee, a "Snow White" eventually emerges because of the four aforementioned reasons), a "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" scenario (an obvious nominee against others who don't have a chance of winning), and a "Clash of the Titans" scenario (the incumbent president or vice-president vs. an incredibly strong candidate who looks like he has a fighting chance - but the incumbent always wins anyway).

All of this is explained clearly, with lots of details that make it both interesting and easy to follow. At times Butler takes his metaphors a little too far, but when it comes to genuine political science, this book is top-notch.

Following in the tradition of Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels," the English novelist, essayist, and iconoclast Samuel Butler published "Erewhon" privately in 1872. The title is an anagram of "Nowhere," which is the literal translation of the word "Utopia," the title by which Thomas More's 1516 work has commonly become known. "Erewhon" is arguably the first anti-utopian or dystopian novel, anticipating the later and better known works such as Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and George Orwell's "1984." Whereas More and other utopianists are primarily interested in attacking society's ills and making the world a better place, the anti-utopians engage primarily in either satire of the society in which they live or in making dire predictions about the dismal fate that awaits humanity. Butler is most decidedly in the former category, since he proves in not only "Erewhon" but also his more famous work, the semi-autobiographical novel, "The Way of All Flesh," that his main concern is in attacking the complacency and hypocrisy he saw infecting Victorian society.

Like More's island of Utopia, Butler's Erewhon is a remote kingdom, not to be found on any map, which is discovered by the narrator of the novel (biographers of Butler have assumed it is modeled on a part of New Zealand, which anyone who has viewed the "Lord of the Rings" movies can attest has some spectacular landscapes). Cut off from the rest of the world, the citizens of Erewhon lives according to their own rules and dictates. Butler breaks from the tradition of creating an idealized world that goes back from More to Plato in favor of a more realistic society. In Butler's world there is still money, and both the rich and the poor still exist; there is even a monarchy in charge. It is when we notice strong parallels between Erewhon and the members of Victorian society that we start to see Butler's true purpose.

Hypocrisy is rampant in Erewhom, where citizens think nothing of agreeing with things they do not believe in and their friends know that they are doing so. While the citizens pretend to worship deities that are the personification of lofty human qualities such as love, justice, and hope, they really worship a goddess, Ydrgun, and the Church of England is transformed into the sytem of "Musical Banks." As Butler hits his stride in this novel he creates a topsy-turvy world where illness is treated as a crime (there are no physicians in the country) and criminal behavior, such as theft, are seen as minor weaknesses in character.

Unlike Francis Bacon's utopian work "The New Atlantis," where science was seen as the salvation of humanity that would correct all ills and provide all necessities, Butler's world has outlawed machinery because they might one day become the masters rather than the servants of humanity. Clearly Butler was no more enamored of the Industrial Revolution than he was of Victorian society. In many ways this is the section of "Erewhom" where Butler makes his most cogent arguments. It is also the point where the book's narrator, whose initial attitude of admiration turns to one of surprise, now beocmes one of condemnation as the eccentricities of the citizens of Erewhon are fully revealed. Ultimately, the shortcomings Butler sees in them are the same of which he accuses British society, politics, and religion.

Because Butler is satirizing Victorian society his value to modern readers remains inferior to that of Huxley and Orwell, not to mention Edward Bellamy ("Looking Backward 2000-1887") and Yevgeny Zamyatin ("We"). However, in many ways "Erewhon" is a pivotal novel in the history of utopian literature, not only because of how it follows and breaks away from More's original work and how it sets the stage for what other forgotten writers of dystopian fiction, such as Alexander Bogdanov ("Red Star") and even Jack London ("The Iron Heel"). "Erewhon" remains one of those novels where its historical significance outweighs its literary appeal.

The editors have really done a fantastic job of compiling psychopharm data into one reference. The reference covers medications by category and class using tons of tables and a standardized layout that allows one to contrast and compare. The "extra touches," such as tables of drug interactions, tables listing the effects of each med on specific neuroreceptors, and tables listing the freq of adverse reactions, make this reference a gem. Several other wonderful things have been thrown in as well--a section on ECT, a section on herbal products, and a patient information sheets that can be copied and passed on to patients. In summary, this reference provides a clear and concise view of psychotropic meds. A must buy!

Easy to read. Information content in this book is actualized every year. This work provides a excellent review to rapid consult and is specially usefull to "without time" students.

Once Kalyna et. al bring us a great quick reference book. This is the second edition of the Clinical handbook of psychotropic drugs for children and adolescents and it keeps the same up to date information on all the psychotropics used in this population.
This handbook is a "must have" book for every one that treats children and adolescent swho are on psychotropics. Nowadays there many of these drugs and their benefits are manytimes life-saving.
This is a great book!
I'm already looking forward for the next edition!

I am a private Equine veterinarian whom has been actively involved in Equine practice since I graduated in 1986. I have gone through this book in various places as I have not been able to own one for some unknown reason and my first impression of it was it is a must for every Equine Veterinarian. It contains alot of valuble information.Now thanks to the Distance Learning Programme in Equine Surgery, conducted by the Post-Graduate Foundation, University of Sdyney under Dr.Nick Kannegieter, I was able to get this book as it comes highly recommended in this programme.

This is a great gift book for someone just getting started on entertaining at home. The illstrations are mounth watering! I use this book everytime I entertain, sometimes I would add my own little twist to the receipes just to make it my own. Once you have purchased this book you are on your way to a good time! There are receipes for everyone even really good non-alcholic drinks for brunch or non drinkers.

Yeats' literary criticism demonstrates his tenets and poetics-his working notions of poetry and culture-far more immediately and accessibly in his essays than he does in the web of arcana expounded in A Vision (q.v.). Of essays gathered here, some are seminal not only to Yeats' poetics but also to interpretive approaches to literature. The most significant-"The Philosophy of Shelley's Poetry" (precursor to archetypal symbolism and to Jungian ideas of the collective unconscious), "The Symbolism of Poetry," "The Celtic Element in Literature," "Certain Noble Plays of Japan" (the model of Yeats' Noh plays), and "A General Introduction for My Work."

This is a great reprint of a great book, original in content, great in artwork, intelligent in writing. Looking for a standard "guy in tights" super hero book (keeping in mind, I love those books too...)? This ain't it, Larry. Looking for an original story line, full of quips, one liners, different takes, and martial arts mayhem? This is your baby.

CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE - UFO'S IN IRELAND
REALLY THE BEST PARANORMAL BOOK I'VE READ SO FAR (AND I HAVE A LIBRARY FULL OF THEM)
INTERVIEWS WITH MILITARY AND POLICE AS WELL AS LOCAL FOLK MAKE THIS A HIGHLY CREDIBLE READ.