New York Reviews

Narcissus Ascending: A Novel

Published in Hardcover by Picador (2002-06-01)

Author: Karen McKinnon

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Average review score:

What a revelation.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-05

This is a well-crafted, very modern story about the joys and sorrows of friendship. Cant wait to read more from McKinnon.

Not the same old thing.

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-31

I loved this book. It dares, which is more than I can say for most of the novels I've read in the last few years. Fiction has become all the same thing, seemingly meant to make both writer and read feel good about themselves. This novel isn't about that. McKinnon's writing is alive, her characters are vivid and her story is wickedly fun. Reading the other reviews, it is clear that the author's refusal to tell the reader what to think has [upset] some readers and perplexed others; the smart ones, though, know that she purposely encloses you in the suffocating point of view of a narcissist--here's what it's like to live in the skin of a vain, short-sighted, self-glorifying young woman 24/7--as if to say you'd better watch out, world, or this is what we'll all become. But Becky is not a mouthpiece, she is a character whom McKinnon embodies fully and without flinching. I can't wait to see who and what she'll take on next.

A breath of fresh air

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-18

Recently, we've been bombarded by the fiction publishing industry with woman characters that are ambivalent about their independence and obsessed with the desire to be all things to everyone (especially to men). The women of Narcissus Ascending cannot be reduced to these banal caricatures. Instead, Karen McKinnon, in her darkly ironical first novel, gives us two rivalrous characters - Becky and Callie - whose complex, obsessive, self-delusional personalities jumps off the page. The seeming authenticity of these characters makes them fascinating to read about. This is a unique and wonderful book that I highly recommend.

More than you might expect...

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-27

Narcissus Ascending, the initial novel offering by transplanted New York psychologist and writer Karen McKinnon is exactly what you expect it to be when you first see it on the bookstore shelf. And it is things you never expected it to be.

The title of the work and its modest size (214 pages) may lead you to believe it contains the usual dose of pretentious self-indulgence that often accompany a first novel, which this one does. Two of the first four words in the opening paragraph are "I" and unless you are among the most voracious and academic of readers, not a few times will you find yourself reaching for the Roget's to get a handle on the sometimes reachng vocabulary. But don't let that keep you from picking it up. This look at the relationships between a group of late twenty-something friends that don't spend their lives huddled in a New York City coffeehouse immediately grabs hold of your interest and rarely lets go.

Written in a unique "diary-like" narrative from the perspective of the main character, Becky, McKinnon's writing structure here is perfect for the subject matter and is a large part of what makes this such an enjoyable read. The lack of dialogue punctuation and the often combined thoughts and sentences make the reader have to work a little harder, but helps to stay atuned to the story line and each of its subjects.

The story is centered around four friends wrapped up in the melieu of New York's East Village who, aside from the day-to-day travails of Manhattan life are each dealing with the mental residue deposited by a fifth character, Callie, whom, though we don't actually meet until the last 80 pages of the book, we come to know and loathe...and fear, but are anxious to meet. The setting is well written and through the interaction and thoughts of each character, we are given a look into four distinct lives and points of view; neurosis, desire, ambition and all. McKinnon walks us through their relationships, individually and collectively, and as we progress, have no choice but to make comparisons with our own lives. Their private thoughts, personal battles and betrayals and the rationalizing of sexual indiscretions and desires are upfront and honest, to the point we are left to wonder how many of the characters and experiences are autobiographical or if the writer is just this good.

McKinnon does deserve a little slap for not reaching further into the character Dahlia and how her life as an incest survivor fuels her thoughts and actions, but should be highly praised for her research into modernist artist Becky. If we didn't know the writer was a psychologist, her depth of detail regarding her artist's struggle for professional self-definition and the art world itself would have us looking forward to her next show at the MoMA.

The storyline focuses largely on the angst and fears of its main players and their shallow, adolescent need to acquire revenge for past deeds done them by the protragonist Callie. But there is an unspoken subtext you can not help but delve into, questions about the foundative solvency in today's society you can not help but ask. Because most of the character development is so thorough and well defined, we can't help but wonder if present-day adults are really this [messed] up and whether we fall into one of two categories; those as equally disfucntional and in need of therapy as the characters we're reading about or those who are fortunate enough to have grown up.

A quick-paced, cozy-up-on-the-sofa-for-an-evening novel, Narcissus Ascending is a fun read that takes an naked, revealing look into the self-centered aspects of the human condition we all enjoy...or suffer from. But don't believe for a second that after you close the cover, it won't have you thinking.

Perhaps more than you'd like to.

Who needs friends!

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-28

I came across this debut novel recently and on cracking open the cover I didn't look up until I had finished all 200 plus pages several hours later. McKinnon's style of writing is impressive and her ability to render the novel's characters into flesh and blood is mind-whirling. The examination of the complexity of friendships that form when self-absorbed people (and aren't we surrounded more and more by them) find each other is sobering...and, I hate to admit it (and so will you), familiar. I can't wait to read more of her writing.

New York Atlas and Gazetteer (New York State Atlas and Gazetteer)

Published in Paperback by DeLorme Publishing (2000)

Author: Delorme

List price: $19.95

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Average review score:

Good job

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-30

The product came on time, well packaged, and exactly as described. A great shopping experience.

I love maps

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-06

Already have an Atlas, topo CD set of Northeast, Garmin GPS Vista with topo/street maps. Once I found these Gazetteers, I bought one for every state in New England and New York. Each of the above provide different levels of information and alternative routes and access to various locations, often places with no direct road or trails. The gazatteers provide fast detail access to areas in question over the GPS or atlas and are invaluable to me while in the vehical. Although, the GPS is my lifeline away from the vehical, the gazatteers are large and not weather resistant.

Alabama Atlas & Gazeteer

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-27

I currently own CO, TX, TN, VA and now AL atlas & Gaz.
all are useful for home hunting, trying to locate a key area, etc.
don't count on this for in depth directions. but a good look at contours and gps this works.
this one isn't as good as the TX or TN version.

Alabama Atlas & Gazetteer

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-01

These are fantastic maps! I have several others, and use them quite often. I don't know of another one that will be better than this one.

Good detailed maps!

Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-23

I wanted to get this atlas, especially to help us find places to go camping and hiking.. It's not always easy to find campgrounds or primitive campsites (since they're not always located in clearly identified campgrounds), so having these detailed maps is very useful for that. We recently used the atlas when we camped in the Catskill Mountains region, and I was glad we had these maps to help us out.

O Holy Cow

Published in Paperback by Harper Paperbacks (1997-04-01)

Authors: Phil Rizzuto, Hart Seely, and Tom Peyer

List price: $11.00

New price: $8.78
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Average review score:

who knew?

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-15

In the late 1970s, when the Mets really hit the skids and the Yankees got good again, it became necessary, if you were a kid in the Tri- State
area, to at least watch the Yankees, perhaps even to grudgingly root for them. Forced into this spiritually untenable position, I chose to only
root for the scrubs, which made Cliff Johnson my favorite player. I'll never forget the game where he tagged a pitch and Phil Rizzuto started
screaming that : "That one's outta here", bringing joy to the heart of every Heatchliff fan, only to have his towering popup caught by the
second baseman.

"The Scooter" was easy to laugh at, with his myriad phobias, his propensity for saying unintentionally offensive things about minorities, his
tendency to leave the ballpark early when the Yankees were home, etc. But then there began appearing in The Village Voice a most
remarkable feature : verbatim text from Scooter's broadcasts rendered as poetry. We were suddenly confronted with the frightening prospect
that Scooter was not only making sense, but serving up literature, even profundity. Consider the wisdom, about baseball and about life [....]

As it turns out, this kind of exercise even has a name, it's called "found poetry." The Rizzuto poems are as good as any I've seen[...].

At any rate, this book is a hoot and once you read it you'll never again think of Rizzuto as just a good glove man, nor listen to a baseball
broadcast without noticing the frequently poetic nature of the announcer's line of patter.

GRADE : A

Keats, Byron, and now, Rizzuto

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-20

This literary gem is destined to be handed down from parent to child for generations to come.

Long before there was politics, or correctness, there was Phil Rizzuto. Rizzuto ably scoops up the essense of morality and ethics and fires to first with more deftness than Shakespeare, or that guy from Ireland (I can't remember his name--not Joyce, though; it was somebody else.) The poem we always relate and remember around the old campfire--when we go camping, and we have a fire, is the story Scooter tells in the honored oral tradition of Homer: of live-trapping squirrels in his attic and then letting them loose somewhere over by Yogi's house.

No doubt Rizzuto will forever be linked to the other great American Poets: Frost, Angelou, and Walden.

can gorillas swim?

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-29

Some people are good at laying down sacrifice bunts, and some people are good at poetry. But nowadays so few people excel at both. Phil Rizzuto is that rare double-threat, and that's why this book is essential for anyone who likes bunts or poems.

My only complaint is that the editors have left out my all-time favorite Rizzuto moment, which was the time circa 1980 when Rizzuto and Frank Messer spent part of a day game discussing whether or not gorillas can swim. The answer proved elusive, but I have since learned that they can.

Fun, for a while.

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-26

Even though it's a short book, a little bit goes a long way with this kind of thing. Use in moderation.

Plus, I miss Bill White's good-natured chuckling.

Still, these "poems" are pretty good at bringing back long-gone hot summer nights.

A Wonderful Tribute

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 1998-12-03

For me, nothing better epitomizes my age of baseball innocence than falling in love with the WPIX broadcasts of Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and Bill White during the late 1970s. This offbeat collection of the Scooter's unintentional poetry in his broadcasts is a graphic illustration of why Rizzuto was a true joy in the broadcast booth even if he wasn't a professional in the Mel Allen-Red Barber mold. I loved the format so much that I've actually reviewed the hundreds of old Yankee radio and telecast tapes in my collection searching for supplements to the collected verse of the Scooter and have found enough that could fill a sequel volume. Thanks to Seely and Pyer for this wonderful collection that no Yankee fan should be without.

On Your Own in El Salvador, 2nd Edition

Published in Paperback by On Your Own Publications (2001-10-01)

Authors: Hank Weiss and Bea Weiss

List price: $17.95

New price: $14.75
Used price: $12.02

Average review score:

This book is the best

Helpful Votes: 12 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-21

I'm Salvadoran and I'm married to a Jewish-American woman. She bought this book for us to take a tour in El Salvador. Let me tell you, this is the best guide book I've ever read. It's so easy to use and it has ALL the information about this little beautiful country that you need. I even used some of the information on my website, of course with the permission from the authors. Thank you Jeff, Julian and Veronica for making this possible.

The Best Book On El Salvador Travel Ever!

Helpful Votes: 13 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2000-03-22

For years I looked for a book that would cover travel to El Salvador. I have been married to a Salvadorena for 16 years and have made five trips to the country since 1991. I love El Salvador, its beauty and its wonderful people. You can't travel there without this book! Buy it today!

A Great Help for a Native Absent for 20 Years

Helpful Votes: 15 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2002-06-10

I found this book quite helpful. I'm a native from El Salvador who had been out of the country for 20 years. I found it a good supplement to other sources of information (e.g., local phone books in El Salvador, people and friends). Although some of the directory information may be dated, most of the facts and directions still hold. It's best to cross-reference the book with a local phone book for more accuracy. Yet, the book is a great trip planning tool. It allows you to pick and chose places and things to do at a pace that not even locals can keep up. It's clear that a lot of good work went into making the book. The level of detail is beyond what any local can know all by himself (e.g., bus routes, mores, festivals, local rituals, etc.). I found the hand-drawn maps most helpful and the history/background informaiton information least helpful. Advisories should apply to all locations outside the central city or popular foreign tourist attractions. Also, the book does not address which locations are most ideal to visit depending on the small universe weather conditions, e.g., heavy rains or dry, hot to extremely hot temperatures. I recommend this book. I've found no other books as helpful as this one but feel that the book and its contents could be much improved, e.g., day-trips, sports events, local festivity schedules, shopping information, entertainment options, ground and non-ground recreational activities, specific coverage and related-activities regarding aviation, boatin, sailing, surfing, fishing, golf, lakes, rivers and bodies of water, etc. (perhaps on future editions, beyond the 2nd). I currently own both of the first two editions. They're both pretty much worn out and it's because they go with me and take me places each time I visit there. I just wish the book were more expansive and provide material for all the other sites that one encounters while going from place to place, yet this would make it too thick and heavy. Also, if you ever go to El Teleferico, please say Hi to Mr. Moon (a local cartoonist) there for me!

as good as you'll find -- but they need to update it

Helpful Votes: 16 out of 16 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-01

This is really the only comprehensive guidebook to El Salvador that is widely available. The Lonely Planet and Let's Go and other books have chapters on El Sal in their books on Central America, but none of them go into real detail. In fact, I've noticed that most of the guidebooks don't recommend going to El Salvador, or skipping it if you're short on time.

Well, you should go. There is a lot to see and do but it's important to realize that it's different from the other Latin American countries. It's maybe a little less pretty and the people are a bit more hardened from the long guerra civil. This book does a good job providing sociopolitical background and anecdotes from important periods in history. Other than that, it's your basic guidebook, going region by region in the country, detailing sights, hotels, transportation, all that stuff. There are also several pages of decent color photos.

The one problem is that the book is now nearly ten years old. While most of the things are still accurate, a lot has changed. Things like prices and bus routes especially. There are also many different sights, museums, roads and enormous Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises that did not exist when the book was published. Likewise, some things no longer exist. The only way to find out, unfortunately, is to go and discover these things for yourself.

El Sal is not the most tourist-friendly nation in the sense that the infrastructure is not really there to support a heavy flow of tourists. The people are _wonderful_, don't get me wrong (don't think for a second that it's the people's fault), but to give one example, some of the bus routes to tourist sites make absolutely no sense and can be very frustrating to navigate. This is the fault of the government. Likewise, the El Sal government tourism agency could do themselves a big favor by publishing or funding an up-to-date guide.

But this book is as good as it gets.

No Questions about it - buy the book!

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-17

If you are going to spend any time in the country and want to tool around, you'd be a fool not to get a copy of this book for your backpack. I just got home and gave my friend a hug for grabbing this book out the the bargain bin at Borders for me. In several cities I was able to pick it up and quickly flip through to find a map and make my way through the town. Or simply discover something interesting within or nearby my location. It's an absolute must for anybody going into the country. Well put together and concise - 5 stars for sure!

Peppe the Lamplighter

Published in Hardcover by Demco Media (1997-09)

Author: Elisa Bartone

List price:

Average review score:

Warm Feeling

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-15

My son is 5 and absolutely loves this book. It's a story about young boy and how he must help to care for his large Italian family that has come to America in hopes of having their dreams fulfilled. Disappointment of a father leads his young son to think his job is meager. But in the end one little boy does make a difference, for without his light the whole world is a dark place. The book just gives you a warm wonderful feeling when you finish reading it. The illustrations are beautifully drawn and give you the contact to really feel what Peppe and his family are feeling.

This Little Light of Mine...

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-20

A young boy of modest means seeks a job to contribute to the needs of his family. Initially, his father is disappointed in the lowly responsibility that his son fulfills. The young man takes inspiration from his sister's admiration of him and finds that his job as a humble lamplighter blesses others beyond his understanding. The breath-taking illustrations span the entire two-page spread. This is a beautiful story of how everyone has their important role in life and can embrace it with excellence and passion.

My 3 year old son loves it

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-09

I purchased this book for my husband for Father's Day (he's Italian American")--I didn't really think that our then 2.5 year old would really care for the book. But he loves it! It's a good story, although at times the messages can be a bit confusing for a very young child--but my son seems to enjoys the illustrations, the sounds of the Italian names, and of course the most elemental aspects of the story.

You are the light of the world

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-08-09

There's a whole genre of picture books that examine the working class members of American society throughout history. These stories are usually based on the lives of the relatives and ancestors of the authors. "Peppe the Lamplighter" is no exception. Loosely based on the grandfather of author Elisa Bartone, the book examines one boy's occupation and his struggle be accepted in the eyes of his father.

Peppe lives with his sick father and seven sisters (not including the one in Naples) in the section of New York known as Little Italy. Taking place in what looks to be the 1910s, Peppe moves from store to store, attempting to find work. His father, is too sick to work himself, and all the children in the family must strive to find some kind of money. One day, old Domenico the lamplighter asks Peppe if he would light the lamps for him while he returns to Italy to fetch his wife. Peppe agrees readily and is delighted with the prospect. Delight slowly sours to shame, however, when his father is horrified by the job. Says he, "Did I come to America for my son to light the streetlamps?". As time goes by, Peppe's disenchantment with the job grows until he doesn't light the lamps at all. Only through the discovery of how important his job is to others can Peppe find the strength to return to lighting the lamps of New York City.

The pictures in this book are wonderfully rendered. Here we find the New York City tenements in all their filthy glory. At the same time, we see the strength of the people living in them. The first painting in the book shows Peppe and his family staring at the viewer as if they were posing for a formal family photograph. The light from a single latern lights them all, and illustrator Ted Lewin shows off his talents. In many ways, the book is similar to Chris K. Soentpiet's style (of "Molly Bannaky" fame). Reading this book is to actually find yourself in early New York itself. Crowds come alive and individuals display a wide range of emotions. The best picture in the whole book, to my mind, is the image of Peppe lifting his little sister so that she can light the lamp on the street herself. The light is above them, illuminating their faces with incredibly intensity. The two stare up at it, entranced.

The story itself if good, if not overwhelming. Peppe's father has a somewhat unbelievable change of heart towards the end of the tale. For a man who has harbored so much bitterness towards his son's chosen profession, he seems to come around to it mighty fast when the mood calls for it. Otherwise, it's lovely. Peppe compares the lighting of the lamps to the lighting of candles at Mass, and even goes so far as to say a small prayer for each. Small details like this truly bring the story to life.

The book celebrates one small boy who can, in his sister Assunta's words, "scare the dark away". It is a book about how every human being, if they've a mind to, can bring light into the world in their own humble fashion. Peppe may only be a lamplighter, but even his father recognizes by the end that this honest job gives safety and comfort to others. We should all be so lucky as to have jobs that do half as much.

Stunning artwork makes this book special

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2002-01-02

"Peppe the Lamplighter" combines a story by Elisa Bartone with illustrations by Ted Lewin. The story takes place "[a] long time ago when there was no electricity and the street lamps in Little Italy had to be lit by hand." The hero of the book is Peppe, who lives with his widowed father and sisters in a tenement. Peppe's decision to get a job as a lamplighter leads to conflict between Peppe and his father.

This is a good story that is greatly enhanced by Lewin's superb artwork. Most of the illustrations are two-page spreads that are packed full of energy and emotion. Lewin's realistic style is well-suited to capturing many colorful details: the sausages hanging in the butcher shop, a crowded street scene, the old-fashioned iron stove in Peppe's home, etc. Overall, a memorable celebration of Italian-American history.

A Plague on Your Houses: How New York Was Burned Down and National Public Health Crumbled (Haymarket)

Published in Hardcover by Verso (1999-02)

Authors: Deborah Wallace and Rodrick Wallace

List price: $30.00

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Average review score:

Groundbreaking study

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-12

This was as comprehensive a study as I can imagine possible on how New York City, under the guise of urban renewal, allowed certain poor areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan in the 1970's and 1980's to burn down, displacing huge numbers of people, and resulting in the spread of TB, and AIDS throughout New York City, the surrounding areas, and beyond.

A tad thick in places, but worth the read

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-26

Especially of interest in its detailed analysis of how and why New York's poorer neighborhoods were pushed over the cliff of decline thanks not only to the city, but to (who'd have guessed?) the RAND Corporation. "Urban renewal" will never look the same again. geocities.com/singlepayerweb

Wallace, or bravery

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2003-03-29

The significant feature of this magnificent book - the last shape taken by an ongoing series of studies into the results of neo-liberal public policy by Roderick and Deborah Wallace - is that the authors know what they are talking about. Their expertise in statistical studies, developped in a completely different field of study (zoology) is such that, when they first by chance found themselves reading the so-called statistical arguments for expenditure cuts in fire prevention and other services, they KNEW - not as bleeding-heart liberals, but as professional statisticians - that what they were reading was incompetent, pseudoscientific, ideologically motivated nonsense. Since then they have waged, in a string of devastating publications, a truly heroic struggle against the powers of prejudice, governmental meanness and big business-motivated press disinformation. If the the poor stupid general public that reads the newspapers and elects the politicians were ever allowed to know about the Wallaces and their battle for the truth, they would have long since been recognized as among the greatest names alive. Think about it: why did they take it upon themselves to fight this fight? Not, by any means, to advance their career: their career was in another field, and might even have been endangered by their taking controversial stances on public matters. Not for self-interest; and not for a thirst for fame - for they carried on for decades in spite of being completely ignored by the major media. They acted only out of pure civic passion and a sense of right and wrong. Therefore, known or unknown, the Wallaces are genuine living heroes, and their names deserves to ring as nobly as that of old Sir William of that ilk, who also fought for the downtrodden and ignored when there was nobody else to fight for them.

Fascinating

Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-16

The Wallaces document the effects of the reduction in fire service and planned strinkage of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, I would have liked to see statistics included in how many fire deaths (civilian and firefighter), major injuries, families left homeless, etc. Another not to be missed book is Report from Engine 82: written in a totally different style, but brimming with empathy for the inhabitants of the area, it's the memoir of a fireman who fought fires in the South Bronx during this era.

How public policies can destroy communities

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-19

This book gives a thorough analysis on how public policies were the catalysts for the socioeconomic destruction of low-income communities of color in New York City. Necessary reading for those who still do not realize that activism and organizing are important vehicles through which marginalized communities keep in check the forces that seek to further fragment and disenfranchise them.

Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research (S U N Y Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology)

Published in Hardcover by State University of New York Press (2000-07)

Author: Stanislav Grof

List price: $60.50

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Average review score:

An easy introduction to Grof

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-19

This was my introduction to stanislav's ideas. This book is almost a chapter by chapter introduction to all of Grof's different areas of research and writing. The written experiences of holotropic states are entertaining and informative. This book adds a needed understanding to psychology by examining consciousness around the time of birth. The author is obviously well versed on many topics, and presents sound logic and arguments throughout. Holotropic breathwork might be very useful for anyone suffering from their personality (especially to those that are fear based). This book is a relative easy introduction to Grof's ideas, and a welcomed step to combining science with unbiased spirituality.

Consciousness research on the cutting edge

Helpful Votes: 17 out of 19 total.
Review Date: 2003-09-12

I first encountered Stanislav Grof in the late 'seventies at a seminar held in Pacific Grove, California. He was a featured speaker, and to say that I was impressed would be an understatement.

In this book, he discusses transpersonal psychology, involving a shift in awareness. Our psychologists and psychiatrists need to engage themselves in this transformational system and get outside the accepted paradigm of the current model of reality that scientists work within today, accepting certain basic assumptions, and move on to the equivalent of the quantum theory of consciousness.

He points out in another of his books, Beyond the Brain, that the Newtonian/Cartesian paradigm (a system of thought based on the work of Isaac Newton and Rene Descartes) is still accepted and the orthodox foundation of precepts in use in psychiatry, psychology, anthropology and medicine. He points out that physics has moved on to a new paradigm: relativity and quantum theory and beyond, while the previously named sciences have languished, and opines that it is time for psychiatrists and psychologists to re-examine their fundamental belief structure as well.

Grof said, at the seminar, that he was originally--in Czechoslovakia where he originated--a dyed-in-the-wool Freudian, until he began to perceive difficulties with that approach. He grew from there. He was one of the original medical investigators to use d-lysergic acid diethylamide in serious psychiatric research, from which he derived some astonishing results.

Grof was formerly Chief of Psychiatric Research at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is no lightweight airhead, but rather is a highly qualified, credentialed and credible researcher. This and his other books are well worth your time, if you have the necessary vocabulary and the scientific background to benefit from them.

Grof makes a bold argument that understanding of the perinatal and transpersonal levels changes much of how we view both mental illness and mental health. His research in transpersonal experience evokes serious questions into such areas as reincarnation and the spritual side of the human being.

Joseph (Joe) Pierre,

author of The Road to Damascus: Our Journey Through Eternity
and other books

Consciousness explorer

Helpful Votes: 17 out of 18 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-15

a wise, hopeful, enlightened work from a truly qualified scientific humanist who has helped many for so many years. When reading Stan Grof, one's mind is treated to elegant research, philosophic musings, and poetic, smoothly flowing language that proves entertaining in its own right.

Grof builds a carefully laid out tapestry of thought unlike any other writer. Boldly going into dimensions that the orthodoxy fears, Grof consistently shows us that the best findings are often the result of adventurous undertakings.

One must truly venture into uncharted territories in order to discover hidden, powerful forces in the world.

All of Grof's work makes for a rich intellectual and spiritual treasure that will be edifying humankind indefinitely.

an archaic revival

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-25

As our planet is threatened by wars, terrorism-violence environmental degredation, the only antidote is turning back to the roots individully or in groups and bringing back the archaic revival, bringing back the message of the ancient traditions. Stanislav Grof does this elegantly with the eyes of a scientist. This book will require the mainstream Psychiatrists to re-construct their worldview. It is a detailed exploration and a new explanation of the nature of human consciousness and the nature of reality

Excellent!

Helpful Votes: 5 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-25

In my opinion, Stanislav Grof is the best, or at least one of the best, in his field of study. I have read most of his books and participated in a Holotropic Breathwork seminar weekend in Vermont. I highly recommend any educated person to familiarize him/herself with Grof's work (all of his books very informative and really make one think) and try a Holotropic Breathwork session.

Radiant New York Beauties: 14 Paper-Pieced Quilt Projects

Published in Paperback by C&T Publishing (2003-05-01)

Author: Valori Wells

List price: $24.95

New price: $14.28
Used price: $13.44

Average review score:

Beautiful, One-of-a-Kind Art Quilts

Helpful Votes: 14 out of 15 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-24

The quilt projects in this book are gorgeous, original, and will inspire any quilter in new directions. Each section is interspersed with helpful mini lessons, paper patterns, quilting designs, and the author's photographs of nature and radial images that enrich the reader's understanding of the design process.

easy projects

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-22

I already own this book and have made a quilt. It is my favorite one so far. I purchased this book for a friend I like it so much.

a beauty

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-06

If you understand how to read and follow the pattern of this quilt you can not just make one . This is just such a great quilt book.

Great purchase

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-16

This is an excellent book and it was in excellent condition when it arrived.

Exciting Book.

Helpful Votes: 9 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2005-07-19

This is a wonderful book. I learned many new things. It got my creative juices really flowing. Awesome, creative stuff with the techniques to carry it out.

The Rise and Fall of the House of Barneys: A Family Tale of Chutzpah, Glory, and Greed

Published in Hardcover by William Morrow & Company (1999-04)

Author: Joshua Levine

List price: $25.00

New price: $1.92
Used price: $1.03
Collectible price: $25.00

Average review score:

How the third generation Pressmans blew their fortune.

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-05

This is a typical story of a rich family running the family business into the ground. Barney and Fred Pressman spent their entire lives building up their suit store. They spent all their hours nurturing this business and they turn it over to their two sons and two daughters. The grand children have grand plans of expanding the store nationwide along with opening a megastore on Madison Avenue. Cost overruns, and the market result in doing in the business. They took a Japanese outfit along for the ride causing them to lose several hundred million dollars.

Levine does a good job of detailing the rise and fall of this retail empire. Barneys did a lot for mens fashions. However arrogant and greedy grandchildren caused the fall of this store. Family owned businesses should read this story for the caution it may give to family members.

Why businesses don't succeed when passed to kids

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-27

A fascinating case study on the history of a well known American business. The behind the scenes look shows the evolution through 3 generations. Looking deeper, it says a lot about the values of each of the generations which explains some of the troubles in America today. Maybe we've become too soft.

I can't recommend this book enough if you enjoy shopping or business books. I continue to shop occasionally at NY and Beverly Hills. You can't go into the stores without better appreciating the history of the store. BUY THIS BOOK.

Should be read by anyone with a FAMILY business

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-07-20

Don't be put off by what may appear to be a look at one business and one family's way of doing business. This book actually explores far deeper subjects and questions such as : Why is it that so many successful family businesses fail when passed on to heirs? Why do so many solid companies with loyal customers, proven merchandise and a promising future just fall by the wayside? To those who don't know Barneys, it was started by Barney Pressman, a smart, ambitious man who built his business into a thriving industry, selling more suits than anyone in the world by the 1960's.But what makes the book interesting is what happened to his business when his sons came into the picture and the intrigue, scandal and greed that tore apart the company. I can't help wondering: Why don't the patriarchs (or matriarchs) of family businesses teach their children to run the companies just as well? Is it possible to mix family and business and do it well? The Barney's sage, of course, is not yet over and the store is still in existence. So the end of this story remains to be seen.

Fascinating

Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-14

A very enjoyable book. You pull for the Pressmans when the snobs snub them in the beginning. You jeer at them when their position goes to their heads and they behave very, very badly. But the really interesting part of the book concerns how fashion and retailing REALLY work. They appear to be just an elaborate hoax on the consumer. This book should be read in conjunction with Teri Agin's "The End of Fashion" which shows the comsumers are getting more and more skeptical and dissects the public offerings of fashion stock (if you're fond of your money and want to keep it, don't buy). Hooray.

A Cautionary Tale for Expansionist Managements

Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-09-19

It seems everyone talks to Levine because as Barney Pressman once told Fred, "The Pressmans have no friends." What emerges is not only a morality play but also a case study on how not to raise your children and how not to expand your business. Hubris is a horrible thing. Time and again though during this decade, with Wall Street money plentiful, retail managements successful in one locale expand their businesses to places that don't want them. A concept that works in NY doesn't seem to play in Peoria, or with Barneys, in Texas. While with public companies, it's only money; with Barneys, privately held, it's family and lives. Maybe that's what makes the Barneys' tragedy a fascinating read.

Round About the Ballet

Published in Hardcover by Limelight Editions (2004-11-01)

Authors: William Cubberley and Joseph Carman

List price: $29.95

New price: $16.99
Used price: $16.62

Average review score:

Round About the Ballet

Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-04

This item was purchased for someone else, but she LOVED it. The book was in excellent condition.

A visual treat and an effort to capture the movements and artistry of ballet in photo book format

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-10

The stars of top New York City ballet companies have been selected by dance photography Roy Round for profile in Round About The Ballet, a visual treat and an effort to capture the movements and artistry of ballet in photo book format. But Round About The Ballet isn't just visuals alone: interviews with the dancers probe their achievements, lives, and dancing challenges alike, covering such diverse topics as how ballet competitions have changed their lives, how associations with particular companies have influenced their dancing styles, and both physical and psychological dancing challenges. A 'must' for any serious dancer, especially for fans of ballet.

Insightful interviews with top-tier dancers

Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-09

I've always been a fan of Roy Round's pictures. I never imagined text could rival their command of my attention, but these interviews are fabulous.

If you can't find out what you want to know about these dancers by chatting with them over lunch, reading these interviews is almost as good.

The best book about ballet

Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2005-02-04

I have been going to the ballet seriously for 35 years. Nothing gets into the heart and soul of dancers the way this book does. And the photographs of the fifteen individual dancers simply take the breath away -- especially the one on the cover.

Ballet Photography Extraordanaire!!

Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-03

This book is easily one of my favorite books. For the true Balletomane, this book is a MUST! And for the rest of the world I also highly reccommend it.
The Photographs by Roy Round are MAGNIFICENT! The grain, (clarity), is something seldom seen in the world of ballet photography where it is so diffucult to photograph the suject in a moving or semi-moving position or even in a "posed" photograph.
With all of his subjects, and he chooses several contemperary dancers including Nikolaj Hubbe, Julie Kent, Angel Corella, Wendy Whelan and my favorite in this book, Ethan Stiefel, the color saturation, (the natural look of color), is BEAUTIFUL!
My best advice to you, dear Reader, is run don't walk to Amazon to buy this GREAT book! The cover alone is worth the price of admission. And what follows between the boards will simply amaze you.
Gary R. Brown

New York Books