Beck Books

I haven't liked Grisham's newer books or the ones he writes in partner with another author. I hadn't read his first book and was looking for some good old fashioned Grisham. Crime, suspense and justice. A Time to Kill delivers. The uncomfortable subject of race in the south is at the center of this story and Grisham doesn't shy away from it. His characters have to explore tough questions and pass judgment on themselves and others.

I never recieved the product, and when I wrote to complain they said that basically, it cost them more to ship it than they actually made, so they aren't going to do anything about it.

A Time to Kill is not for those with weak stomachs. In his first novel, John Grisham holds nothing back in describing man's inhumanity to man. If you like reading about violence that would make those with weak stomachs miss a meal, this is your book.

The premise of the book is a thought-provoking one: How would a Southern small town treat a crime by an African-American perpetrated with malice aforethought that it would have permitted a white southerner to get away with?

The book's best qualities are exploring the roots of racial prejudice.

For those who like legal thrillers where there's some action, this is far more than your usual courtroom drama. It comes closer to the kind of taut threat that permeated To Kill a Mockingbird. The only difference is that Grisham conjures up an intersection in time between the old and new South that never happened.

I found that the book was predictable in its over-the-top treatment of what would have made for good drama. But the extreme situations weakened the plot by making it seem unlikely. I suspect it was a writing method used to be sure that those who didn't know about the old South would appreciate the delicate nature of the emotions involved.

If you want to get a sense of how far Grisham has come, read this book and then The Client. Fortunately, Grisham learned how to back off from writing over the top and has become an excellent novelist.

You'll keep turning the pages of this book. I doubt if very many people put it down unfinished.

A Time to Kill is not for those with weak stomachs. In his first novel, John Grisham holds nothing back in describing man's inhumanity to man. If you like reading about violence that would make those with weak stomachs miss a meal, this is your book.

The premise of the book is a thought-provoking one: How would a Southern small town treat a crime by an African-American perpetrated with malice aforethought that it would have permitted a white southerner to get away with?

The book's best qualities are exploring the roots of racial prejudice.

For those who like legal thrillers where there's some action, this is far more than your usual courtroom drama. It comes closer to the kind of taut threat that permeated To Kill a Mockingbird. The only difference is that Grisham conjures up an intersection in time between the old and new South that never happened.

I found that the book was predictable in its over-the-top treatment of what would have made for good drama. But the extreme situations weakened the plot by making it seem unlikely. I suspect it was a writing method used to be sure that those who didn't know about the old South would appreciate the delicate nature of the emotions involved.

If you want to get a sense of how far Grisham has come, read this book and then The Client. Fortunately, Grisham learned how to back off from writing over the top and has become an excellent novelist.

You'll keep turning the pages of this book. I doubt if very many people put it down unfinished.

Gwen Hailey calls her husband Carl Lee at work, tells him their daughter, ten-year-old Tonya is missing. Carl Lee isn't all that worried though, because his wife tends to be, well a little protective. However when he gets home he's met with the news that Tonya has been raped by a pair of redneck types named Billy Ray Cobb and Pete Willard. Tonya had been left for dead and Carl Lee is seeing red. He's African American and does not believe the rapists are going to get what they deserve. Though they're arrested, Carl Lee knows how it goes in the South, so he goes to the courthouse and blows away those young good old boys, then he gets himself a lawyer.

Attorney Jake Brigance takes the case, which gets plenty of media attention right from the get go. It also draws the attention of the Clan, who do their best to intimidate both Jake (they burn a cross on his yard) and the jurors. Carl Lee is looking at the gas chamber if he's convicted and many want it so, however, there are many who believe Carl Lee had been justified. Tension is running high in the Mississippi town of Clanton. Jake's wife is afraid for their daughter Hannah. His secretary is afraid, too. The town doesn't need this, but it's got it.

And you may not need the tension in this book, nor the graphic scene detailing what happened to Tonya, but you should read this book. This is John Grisham's best work, it's his first novel, too. Everything John Grisham writes tops the bestseller lists and they should, but this book, well they need a whole new list for this book. John Grisham puts you in the South at a tense time and paints a picture so true it'll make your eyes bleed as you pour through the pages. He's written a book about a time in the South that the South would love to forget about. We were a different people then, thank the Lord we're changing. We're not their yet, but we're getting there.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

We all know that to make a good joke, you've got to exaggerate the right elements while ignoring what isn't funny. John Grisham creates a slapstick winner with a book about a bumbling young lawyer who isn't going to Wall Street . . . in fact, he has to declare bankruptcy before he passes the bar exam.

But don't confuse this book with a humorous book about the law. This novel would have to be toned down by about 60 degrees before that would be possible. This is a comic book version of a funny story about "what if" a law student didn't have a job, any money, or any connections after three years of torts and briefs.

Rudy Baylor is dragged by his professor to a meeting of senior citizens to give out free advice. He meets the meeting's hostess who wants to change her will to favor a television evangelist with her millions. Rudy also meets the parents of a young man who will die from leukemia because the insurance company wouldn't pay for a bone marrow transplant.

This all seems like a pleasant way to spend a few hours finishing a class until Rudy's promised job evaporates in a shotgun law firm merger. Now, he tries to trade off his leads into some cash and some work. The complications are unexpected, unrealistic, and slapstick funny. There's a sweetness to Rudy's character that you won't find in many real lawyers that makes the book work.

I found myself wondering what pratfalls John Grisham would foist on poor Rudy next. That was a major part of the attraction of the story.

If you hate lawyers and insurance companies, you'll find nothing to discourage either view in this jaundiced critique of the legal profession.

But you'll have some smiles and chuckles along the way, neither of which would happen if there were any real lawyers around.

Plenty of plot reviews about this book -it's Grisham, so I won't go any further to describe it. The plot was thin, IMO, hardly much struggle (conflict), with not much of a climax. But it read so, so well! I was completely entertained on every page. I wanted to know what would happen next, and I can't even explain why. I just know I liked it!

The rainmaker was my second Grisham (after The Testament), my expectations from the book were very high (particularly after reading the so many five star reviews and knowing that it seems Grisham's most popular work). I found the book was entertaining, fun to read nevertheless lacked of something, for example in the beginning of the book Rudy faces an event which later in the book is not even mentionned, he is pursued by the police for suspicion of having burnt down a building, this makes a big fuss in the start of the book but then is completely forgotten? What happened there I don't know? Did Mr. Grisham forget to continue that part of the story...? Also a similar thing happens with Mrs. Birdy, a woman who seems the center of attention quiet regularly throughout the book, as she is a ''millionaire'' and the young Lawyer advices her a lot about her will and how she should share her money after her death, towards the end of the book it seemed to me at some point that the author barely gave any attention to her story and merely disclosed the affair by saying that she was after all not a millionaire but thought she was and actually had barely any money.. I found that a bit strange as well.

In the end the young Lawyer wins the case, but nothing much happens, he ends up leaving the town with the young girl he has met at the Hospital, the closing line being that he will not practice Law as a career but prefer to teach History (a simple life rather than a complicated one), ok fair enough but the decision seemed a bit sudden, and the final note of the book was also a bit suprising.

Entertaining, but I had found it dissapointing and most of all surprising that so many people praise the book so much.

This isn't a mystery, nor is it a thriller. There are no sadistic serial killers slinking through the night, no wondering who the killer is, no car chases, etc. Despite that, this is a suspenseful book that had me cheering for the little guy to prevail.

A newly minted lawyer in Memphis takes on a mega insurance company, represented by a pack of lawyers who have initials in front of their names and Roman numberals behind. And lest I forget, expensive clothes and haughty smirks. The issue: the insurance company arbitrarialy turned down coverage for a bone marrow transplant that would have saved the life of a young man with cancer. Every trick is used to reject coverage, to obfuscate, to delay. As an aside, I worked in insurance for over 26 years, and Mr. Grisham's version represents what I saw and sometimes did. I'm not proud of it.

Apparently some other reviewers read a different book from the one I read. One said that the characters were not well drawn. I thought they were excellent. Some doubted the plot. Don't doubt it. Grisham stacked the cards, but that's the nature of fiction. This book along with the movie "Sicko" give an accurate picture of how insurance companies often operate. Adjusters are not promoted for how fairly they settle claims by the terms of the policy but by how many claims they can deny or settle for a sum below what the policy promises. "We're on your side" and "good hands" are what all companies promise, one way or another, but they are promises that are not always delivered.

I've not always been fond of Grisham's novels, but this one is a winner. It also has some nice surprises, ones I certainly didn't expect. That added to the pleasure in reading this.

This is a can't-miss Grisham! This is one of his best books. Classic.

Who doesn't love a thriller with an underdog chasing the greedy and corrupt insurance company, to make them pay for cheating their customers? Especially one that is so dirty that they would rather lose a life than to pay out benefits. Great characters, story and ending. It was fast-paced but thorough in the story and development. Loved it!!

Horwitz is an incredible writer, researcher, realist, and humanitarian. I have not been able to put this book down. Often, it is absolutely HILARIOUS, but at the same time, well, a horror story. I have lived all over the US, but my family hails from the South and that is where my heart has a home (not to mention my heritage is FULL of Confederate veterans). Horwitz hits the nail on the head with the Southern attitude of the War not really being over. What makes this book so special is you get a view of ALL sides. I loved it! Cheers, Tony Horwitz!

I have to agree with the other one star commentors. This book is nothing more than a collection of anecdotes about eccentrics and trivia, sprinkled with disapproving comments about the South by the author. It leads nowhere and you learn nothing. The author's lack of knowledge about the war shows also. This book had an interesting premise, but the author failed to follow through. At least now I know I can make a quick buck writing about all the eccentric kooks I met while living up North. Don't waste your money or your time y'all.

Anyone interested in the civil war and the south will truely love this book. It is a unique look at reinactors and to the details they achieve for the simple passion they had for the war and soldiers that fought in battle. The author is a great story teller with wit and heart.

As will be the case with all my reviews, I'm going to record my reaction to the book, not summarize it. If you want to know what the book is all about, read a few of the longer reviews (which, at the time of this writing, numbered about 250.) Or better yet, buy it; it'll only cost you $10.17. Plus shipping, of course - and sales tax, if you live in Washington State.
I approached this book with a full head of righteous indignation. I was ready to be pissed off. I expected a hatchet job. How could anything written about the South by a self-proclaimed liberal, ex-union organizer named Tony be anything other than another perfunctory slap - if maybe a comical slap - at all those redneck, racist , reactionary, drawling good ole boys down there at the bottom of the country - who, moreover, have the temerity to vote Republican? (Full disclosure: I am white, retired, live in Washington State, and voted for Reagan. Twice.) Boy was I wrong! (About the book - not about Reagan.) Maybe I'm too old or dumb to deal with subtle innuendo, but on a quick first reading this book was fun, informative in a non-threatening way - and fair. Sure, the author talked to some people I'm happy I've never met, but heck, there are plenty of those right here in the Pacific Northwest, and I run into them all the time. This book introduced me to some interesting, even fascinating, people - Rob Hodges (on the cover) was worth the price of admission all by himself. Some advice to the potential reader: if you're looking for sober, closely reasoned political or psychological enlightenment, buy some other book - this one, while serious in places, is mainly just good, honest fun. And some advice to the author: Tony - stay out of biker bars. We want you around to write more books.

In the beginning of his work, Tony lays down the question that the reader expects will guide the course of the book: why does the War remain so important and prominent in the consciousness of Americans, even, and especially, amongst persons who have no family connection? In consideration of the fact that the War primarily was fought south of the Mason-Dixon (Gettysburg and a few major exceptions aside), Tony plans an impressive survey of the Southern States. His journeys take him from North Carolina, which he amusingly relates as trapped between two prideful neighbors, to the Deep South states of Mississippi and Alabama, where Martin Luther King and the racial struggles are of recent memory. He does not visit all the Confederate states (Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and Texas are excluded) but he does manage forays into the border states of Kentucky and Maryland. A list of sites visited is impressive: Fort Sumter, Sharpsburg, Appomattox Court House, Chacellorsville, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Five Forks, Andersonville, Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, Shiloh, Manassas, the towns of the Shenadoah Valley. These are just a few that come to mind; there are many others.

Tony's approach for each state is consistent. He first goes to those cities or battlefields that are of known historical importance. Once there, he seeks historical societies or persons to whom he is referred. Two societies that continually appear in the work are the Sons of Confederate Veterans, and their female counterpart, the United Daughters of the Confederacy. He conducts informal interviews, and uses the information provided as a spring for further unplanned encounters in the environs. Inter-weaved with his solo treks are Tony's adventures with Rob Hodge, a "hardcore" re-enactor who crusades for the complete realization of Civil War realism, and who deplores modern intrusions.

I commend Tony Horwitz for attempting to dig beneath the surface, to make analogies and historical connections. He patiently listens to whom he calls neo-Confederates as they expatiate upon their views of the War, the meaning of flying the Confederate (Battle) Flag and how the official history of the war (written by the Northern invaders) distorts the truth behind the South's motives. He also shows that not all Southerners think alike on the War and on the flag issue. Some have little care for the heritage of the War, but have inherited and appropriated symbols of the Cause for their own cause: e.g. using the Confederate (Battle) Flag as a sign of rebellion against the status quo, or as a standard of white supremacy. Some Southerners go so far as to agree: The War is over. Let's get over it. The Southern blacks with whom Tony converses are preponderately opposed to the show of Confederate pride. Interestingly, at the end of the book, Tony relates of black schoolchildren who are just as cynical of Northern motives as they are those Southern. North or South, no difference, the leaders of both were white, i.e. racist against blacks. Even Abraham Lincoln does not escape criticism; the schoolchildren regard him as a "benevolent racist." (367)

Where Tony excels in his reporting, witticisms and the lucid, engaging tone that prevails throughout the work, there are several areas that significantly detract from the quality of an otherwise excellent piece of non-fiction. As the title of my review suggests, Tony understands the War as seen through the prism of the Civil Rights Movement. The two chapters that conclude the work, "I Had a Dream" and "Strike the Tent," in their contents serve as the interpretive crux of all the preceding chapters. In early chapters, Tony is cautious with his personal views, but finally he cannot hold them in any longer and lets loose (paralleling his explosive argument with Rose Sanders, a school teacher). He begins with a manifesto that, while in childhood the Civil War fancied his mind, it was the occurrences of the 1960's, in particular the Civil Rights Movement and the struggles that accompanied them, which developed his "political consciousness" (370). This is fine, except he conflates the racial issues of the 1960's with the issues of the War in the 1860's. Subsequent to this loose conflation, all manner of wild reflections are drawn. Race, segregation and discrimination, huge factors from the racial wars of the 1960's until today, become key issues in the War Between the States. Overcoming these issues would mean a unified country, where people believe and live alike, regardless of class, race or any other distinguishing characteristic. Great idealism, but were the historical motives of the War really of that ideal or to the extent that Tony imposes on it? Because what Tony sees in the South does not fully live up to his own ideal, he concludes wholesale rejection, rather than critical acceptance of what is good and rejection of that which is bad, as the best course of action. He facilely equates the traditional Southern view of the War as "propaganda," and he entertains the notion that the South would be better if it forgot its [War] history, since its history intrinsically relates to the racial strife and inequality of the 20th century. (376) "You Wear Your X, I'll Wear Mine" (in reference to Malcolm X and the design of the Confederate Flag respectively) is Tony's oft-repeated phrase of disgust, which also functions as his experience of the South as an entity: each side, Southern White and Southern Black, having its own history, but each of whose history is fueled by racial prejudices. Both must go.

In consequence on Tony's fixation on the issue of race, he cannot see the "States' Rights" argument as anything more than a concocted veneer to legitimatize darker motives: slavery and the assertion of racial superiority. Unfortunately, Tony does not even address the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which long before the Confederacy advocated states ' rights in the face of an oppressive federal government. Neither does he address the different views of the Founding Fathers regarding the union and whether it was an unbreakable union or one which the states made and from which they could secede under certain conditions.

In the end, Tony Horwitz's presentation of the South is amusing, if wanting at times, especially in the evaluative concluding chapters. After writing so well and humorously on re-enacting, it is disheartening and a sneer, even when taken as jest, for him to conclude of re-enactment activities as "childish things." (388) He makes mention of the "Irreconcibles," a group of Confederates and their descendants that remains to this day in Brazil; but Tony laments he could not visit them. This is a true tragedy. Had Tony visited, he may have gained some illumination as to the Confederacy and the motives behind the Confederacy, and its self-professed advocates of today. The Civil Rights Movement did not impact Brazil as it did the U.S., and the perspectives there would provide a unique complement.

When I began reading the book is was skeptical to try Dr. Burn's methods but I was also desperate. I have been dealing with anxiety and depression for a year and nothing was working. I started using the triple column technique every day, recording my distorted thoughts, identifying the cognitive distortions, and giving a rational response. After just a few weeks, I began to notice a reduction in my anxiety and I wasn't as depressed. Even though I have a long way to go, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. I truly believe in the techniques presented in this book. I did begin to lose interest in the last few chapters as they go into detail about medications and I stopped reading them. However, the book is still excellent and I know there's a great resource on medications whenever I need it.

Excellent read!! It doesn't matter how young or old you are this book can help you see yourself and life differently. It has helped me reflect on my beliefs and my life. What a true gift it has given me. It helps form a new way of thinking about negative thoughts and gives valuable strategies on how to use positive thoughts to really feel better about yourself. I highly recommend this book. If you are ready to view yourself honestly and are open to real life changes, than this book is for you.

You do not have to suffer from full-blown depression to appreciate Dr. Burns insight into cognitive thoughts and how they affect your mood.
This book addresses every aspect of feelings that drive negative thoughts about ourselves, guilt, anger, sadness, perfectionism. I had spent years reinforcing negative thoughts based on situations out of my control. This book lifted me to a level of awareness of this spiraling behavior and gave me the tools I needed to change it. This will be a book that you need to read, and apply. Remember, it took years to condition yourself to think negatively, give this book a chance to reverse that process! I have bought several copies and given them to friends who have benefited from it's read as a result of facing sad or negative situations.

Can we convince ourselves that everything's swell and that we feel nice? Of course! People can convince themselves of all kinds of things that are objectively untrue. If you want to go through life believing things that are objectively untrue, cognitive behavioral therapy is for you. But does pretending to have a different reaction to circumstances beyond your control actually help in the long run? Because that's what CBT is all about: pretending, repressing, sticking your finger in the dike to hold the flood back a little longer. There is absolutely no scientific proof that it works, period. (Google "limits of cognitive behavioral therapy" and "why cognitive behavior therapy doesn't work".)
CBT is nonsense. Read some Schopenhauer and get a dose of reality; you'll be better off.

Este comentario va en castellano porque su máxima utilidad es para lectores no usamericanos.

El libro es bueno, muy bueno diria, pero el lector no usamericano debe hacer un trabajo constante para "desusamericanizarlo" pues el libro tiene muchas cosas que solo son razonables para alguien que tenga membresía en ese marco cultural.

En resumen: en medio de bastante ruido cultural hay buena información de caracter bastante "universal".

This book is beautiful, funny and absolutely moving. Martha Beck's writing really touches me. I found myself drawn to the unfolding events in the book. What a gift! What a journey!

I was primed for this book. Our third grandson, Adam, had just been born (August 5), when I visited a bookstore just down the street from the hospital. So the title, Expecting Adam, quite naturally practically leapt off the shelf into my hands. I originally thought, what a great gift for my daughter (the new mother), but when I read it was a story about having a child with Down Syndrome, I reconsidered. Our particular Adam, although a few weeks premature, seemed pretty much perfect, and I didn't want to needlessly upset the new mom. I needn't have worried. This is an absolutely wonderful book, told with humor, compassion, wit, wisdom and a nearly other-worldy sense of wonder. And did I mention humor? Because this woman is a very funny writer. The numerous references to invisible beings, whether she calls them angels or Bunraku puppeteers, and intercontinental telepathy are the kind of thing that would normally put me off, as I am a natural skeptic. But somehow Beck pulls it off. Probably because she believes it, she makes me believe it too - all of it. My wife wants to read it now. (She'd seen Martha Beck on Oprah some time ago, she tells me.) We will then pass the book along to our daughter to read. We know she will relate, and probably cry a little, when she reads Beck's perfect descriptions of a tiny foot the size of a man's thumb and a head the size of an orange. Babies. Ain't they just the grandest things?! I'll say it again. This is a wonderful book. - Tim Bazzett, author of the ReedCityBoy trilogy

Read this book if: you are struggling with the belief that you must be perfect to be loved. I have read other Beck books. I especially liked Leaving the Saints. And like some of the other reviewers here, I occasionally pause, scratch my head, and say "can all of this stuff really happen to one person?"and "is it possible she is taking literary license with some of the details? And then I look at my own life, and I think, NO. If all of us told the truth of our own existence, the late night thoughts, the dreams, the spiritual experiences, we'd all sound like lunatics. These are the things we must share with each other and these are the things we don't share because we are afraid some "reviewer" will skewer us or smirk or otherwise besmirch our integrity and sanity. I loved this book. It brought me back to the power of my dreams and my connection with the divine. I thank Martha and Adam for the inspiration and love shared.

This book was recommended by a writer-friend saying it was well written and an interesting read. I was sucked in by the writer for a few pages, but then decided to start listing all the inconsistencies and reality-defying events. By page 95, where I am now, I have 10 major ones listed. Then I remembered the lately discussion about Fake Memoirs and thought, hey lets see what the reviewers on Amazon say. I'm surprised at the large number of reviewers who believe this stuff actually happened as written. She might have gone to Harvard and might have a Down's syndrome kid, but after that, it pure fiction. Try imagine writing about what you had in the refrigerator on day 26 of vomiting 10 years later. But you have to give Ms. Beck credit for a vivid imagination; similar to a paranoid-compulsive nephew I know who can make up the most compelling fictitious event scenarios; way better than I can.

Expecting Adam is Martha Beck's engrossing memoir of her pregnancy with her second child, who has Down syndrome. She and her husband, John, both Ph.D. students at Harvard, decide to keep the baby, for reasons they can't at first articulate, and even though doing so goes against most of the values of their Ivy League community.

During the pregnancy, Martha and John experience deep transformations of their worldviews, values, and ambitions. Each also has numerous spiritual and paranormal experiences which they understand to be connected to their unborn child. Most of these experiences are so strange that for many months Martha and John don't even confide in each other.

The Harvard community Martha paints is bleak. Intellectual prestige and appearance are the supreme values. "Knowing a great deal is the norm and knowing everything is the goal, [but] appearing to know everything is considered an acceptable substitute." In order to survive in this culture, Martha consciously calls up a sort of alter ego, named Fang, before every visit to campus. Fang is fearless, aggressive, disdainful, and competitive.

Martha also paints a less than sympathetic view of the passionate feminists who apparently exist in large numbers at Harvard. After one public bout of morning sickness, Martha is approached by one such feminist, a stranger, who says, "I think it's time you stop kissing up to the enemy... This crap about -- what do they call it? -- morning sickness. You know it isn't real... All of those myths were made up to justify denying women access to decent jobs and positions in society... I don't care if you think you can help it or not... It makes us all look bad... Just stop it."

With the exception of a few amazingly supportive friends, this is the context and community in which Martha and John learn that the baby they are expecting has Down syndrome. Their community is often intolerant of healthy pregnancies, not to mention unhealthy ones. The Beck's are pressured on every side to abort -- by fellow grad students, professors, advisors, colleagues and medical professionals. Not to do so is considered both foolish and irresponsible.

These pressures are intensified by Martha's nearly constant "morning sickness" (actually an autoimmune disease not diagnosed until many years later), John's frequent absences due to consulting assignments in Asia, and the anxieties they both have about raising a mentally impaired child.

Martha and John find reassurance and strength in strange places. This is where the spiritual and paranormal experiences come in. They have visions, sometimes even "seeing" each other across continents. And they frequently sense the presence of spiritual beings who they believe speak to them, give them peace, orchestrate events in their favor, and in at least two instances save Martha from grave physical danger.

The ending of the story is never in doubt. Throughout her memoir Martha intersperses chapters about Adam after he is born. He is a beautiful child.

This book was an easy and engrossing read. I particularly enjoyed Martha's and John's transformation from a thin existence characterized by mindless striving, excessive individualism, emotional hunger, and disbelief in all things spiritual, to a thicker existence that was more human and allowed for (in fact, could not deny) a spiritual dimension to life.

I also appreciated Martha's instinctive sense of the vulnerability and humanity of her unborn child. At one point she describes an exchange between herself and her obstetrician, who pressures her to terminate her pregnancy:

"'I would not make the choice that you have made,' he went on steadily. 'I have never known anyone who would.' ...

'I don't know,' I mumbled. 'I guess I just... can't reject him.' It was a miserably inadequate statement. My real feeling, the one I couldn't articulate yet, was that my entire life hinged on knowing that there were people who would continue to love me unconditionally, even if I were damaged, even if I were sick. Such love was the only thing that had sustained me during the turmoil of the past months. If I eliminated my child because of his disability, if I put him out of my life, I would be violating the only thing that was keeping me alive. I'd be ripping the rug out from under my own feet."

In addition, I was touched by Martha's descriptions of life with Adam and the insights she gained because of him. For example: "I was afraid Adam would slow me down, and he has. Not because he has required more care and time than a 'normal' boy (he is the most helpful and least demanding of my children) but because the immediacy and joy with which he lives his life make rapacious achievement, Harvard-style, look a lot like quiet desperation." Another example: "[Adam] has taught me to look at things in themselves, not at the value a brutal and often senseless world assigns to them. As Adam's mother I have been able to see quite clearly that he is no less beautiful for being called ugly, no less wise for appearing dull, no less precious for being seen as worthless. And neither am I. Neither are you. Neither is any of us."

I had a few disappointments with the book. First, I grew tired of reading about Martha's sickness and her seeming neglect of her own medical needs. I began to wonder how, if she was so sick, she kept up with her doctoral studies, mothered her two-year-old daughter, and kept the voluminous journal that she said she relied on to write her memoir more than 10 years after the fact.

I was also disappointed by Martha's misunderstanding of, and opposition to, the pro-life movement, notwithstanding her own profound experiences. She expresses puzzlement that religious people who possess "a devout belief in the life of the spirit" and a "belief that life exists outside of mortal bounds" are the same people who are "so obsessed with a fetus's 'right to life' on this messy little planet." What she doesn't understand is that such people (I include myself) are not devoted to some belief about the nature of spiritual life, but to God himself, the Author of life, who creates humans in his own image. Because he is the Author, that life is sacred and created for his purposes, not our own.

I also found myself wanting to better understand Martha's and John's spiritual experiences. I hoped that these obviously significant experiences would lead somewhere coherent. But Martha and John seemed content not to question, categorize, or define their experiences. Martha simply called the visions the "Seeing Thing" and the spiritual beings the "Bunraku puppeteers" (after a Japanese puppet show). Perhaps their attitude is understandable in view of the highly structured Mormon faith in which they each were raised and each abandoned. Nevertheless, their spirituality seems to turn into a free floating, New Age-ish, therapeutic sort of thing. When they conceived Adam, it was as if a door cracked open providing a way out of a harsh philosophic reductionism, but the door never leads anywhere coherent.

Lastly, as I hinted above, I had some doubts about the author's credibility. I wondered how a memoir like this, chock-full of details and verbatim dialogues, could be written so many years after the fact, even with the aid of a journal. I also began to wonder if Martha was prone to exaggeration and caricature. And I questioned the sheer number of strange voices, visions, presences, and events that she describes. After reading the book, I found some biographical information about Martha that, unfortunately, only added to my doubts about her credibility.

Nevertheless, this story was engrossing, moving, and enjoyable.

What is better? Replacing delegations with inheritance or replacing inheritance with delegation?

The answer is the ultimate answer to most software engineering decisions: DEPENDS, there is always a trade-off that has to be analyzed according to the context! This book addresses those trade-offs very well.

Moreover, I like the examples in the book, good to use in class when teaching. They generate interesting discussions.

Refactoring is the process of changing a software system in such a way that it does not alter the external behavior of the code yet improves its internal structure. It is a disciplined way to clean up code that minimizes the chances of introducing bugs. In essence when you refractor you are improving the design of the code after it has been written.

When I first got this hardcover in December 2000, there were no integrated development environments (IDE) that would have easily allowed applying refactorings like Extract Method or Inline Method. Now, in 2008, any IDE like Delphi allows to refactor in one click. So now this book is even more valuable than it was at a time of first publication.

This book is just a real easy read, with lots of good information. You can pretty much flip to any page in the book, read, and learn something. You don't have to read chapter by chapter - it's just real easy to jump into.

Lots of tips seem self-evident, but I doubt they would be to rookie programmers. It's definitely a book new programmers should get their hands on early.

I was referred to this book from a colleague after a quick discussion on "Replace temp with Query" in our projects code base.

I thought I knew it all as a software developer, but reading this book, I soon came to realize that as a software developer I was leaving a legacy of code that was not at the standard it should be.

This book opened my eyes to some really simple concepts, for example, when trying to understand code someone else has written (or yourself in some cases) take the time to re-factor the code (i.e. Extract Method) so that the code is understandable, since most of the work is spent in trying to understand the code in the first place. This concept of modifying code as you understand it is superb.

I must say I was skeptical at first but the benefits are really starting to show. This book is written with the knowledge of Martin Fowler, and as such is written with experience of what it is like to be a developer in a commercial environment, for example, trying to explain to management the trade-offs of re-factoring first instead of "tacking on" that new feature. Something that is difficult in any environment.

This book will by no means solve your problems, but it will empower you with a new found love to make the IT project(s) you work on better (i.e. not thinking of the now but the future) practice some of the smaller concepts this book presents on a daily basis and the rewards are well worth it, break those bad habits today.

This book is required reading for anyone who is serious about software development. If you want to go from good to great then do yourself a favor and get this book.

This book offered me so much insight based off of the examination of my own life. There are workbook sections that help you pinpoint exactly where you are off your path. It helps identify the resistance and blockages in your life and it then leads you to discover exactly what you are here to do. There is a formula that Martha Beck uses as she is extremely talented as a life coach. She works from the soul and she will offer you tools and techniques to guide you to work from yours.

I think this is an essential part of realizing your potential and living a peaceful life. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in a life's journey full of passion, enthusiasm and, ultimately, triumph. Martha Beck's lessons will inspire you to reach for the stars. Good luck.

Book in good shape, but so many underlined passages and the underlines distract from my enjoyment of reading the book. I underline my books that I do not intend to sell. I wish I'd known the book I chose to purchase had so many underlined passages. I would have bought another one.

I see myself and just about everyone I know in this book. It is a good read, interesting, insightful and has a lot of exercises to help understand what's going on in your life and how you can change the things that feel wrong. Martha Beck is just plain wonderful!

Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Liveis a life changing book. Beck's examples are all ones we can relate to no matter where we are in life.

Her humor and intelligence amaze me with every book I read of hers. I'm a big fan. This is a timely book for me as I try to sell my business, raise 2 young boys and figure out my next career move. I share the main points of this book with all of my friends. There is a reason why Oprah publishes her work every month in her magazine. Martha Beck speaks to me a lot in this book and I am listening.

If you're searching for another diet book, this isn't it. Most of us already could name the calories, fat grams and carbohydrates of nearly any food on the menu. Judith Beck doesn't even espouse a diet. In fact, she lets you choose your own. What she does do is hold your hand and walk you through why you eat as you do and how to change your ways. This is a six week...or longer program. Each day you will read another chapter and try one more small step. By the end of the six weeks, you will have a new frame of mind towards your body and what you put into it.

I found several particular steps to be helpful. One is writing out the response cards. Why you do what you do. If you get into a certain situation, such as eating out, how will you plan ahead what you are going to do? One exercise I was really dreading was to go hungry, actually to miss a meal, most likely lunch. I had quite some angst over this as I've experienced low blood sugar in the past. I wasn't sure how I would be able to handle missing lunch. In fact, it was easy. My stomach growled a couple of times, then I just got over it. This was probably one of the most eye-opening exercises for me as I realized that I do not have to feel full, that I can be hungry and still survive, that I have control over my body and what I put into it.

Other exercises I found helpful was to name some role models and ask myself what they would do or eat under certain circumstances. Also, to anticipate food pushers or situations where I am likely to be faced with an abundance of food.

This is not a diet book but it is a new approach to dieting and changing eating habits. I think many people would benefit by reading this book and following its simple program.

I found this book at our local library and thought it looked promising. I had been slowly but steadily gaining weight for the past few years and even though I am a former Weight Watcher's leader I could not seem to stick to the program. I stared working my way through Dr. Beck's book and realized that I needed to own the book since the behavior changes that I would be making would probably need reinforcement. At the time I started I hoped to lose 10 to 12 pounds and return to my lifetime member weight. Six months later I have lost more than 25 pounds and feel fantastic. Using Dr. Beck's techniques I was able to easily stay with my food plan (Weight Watchers Flex) and be satisfied. Thinking like a thin person makes all the difference. For instance I learned that feeling a little hungry doesn't mean I need to eat immediately. Actually feeling a little hungry for a couple of hours before a meal is completely normal. In this book I found strategies to help with all my personal challenges. I have developed good habits to replace detrimental ones. And I don't feel the list bit deprived because my food plan allows me choices. If you are ready to invest the time in learning a new way of thinking that will give you permanent results this book is certainly worth purchasing. Dr. Beck doesn't give you a quick fix nor does she recommend the specific diet plan you should follow. She does give you the tools to follow your plan and make the permanent changes you need to maintain your weight loss. Good luck.

Hopefully, you don't have a life, because if you do, it's going to be tough to stick to this plan. Between scheduling charts, diet notebooks, counting your "credits" and on and on and on, you're not going to have much time to do anything else. Maybe that's how the diet works, you're keeping your hands busy writing and you can't eat.

If you want to lose weight, I think there are better books out there.

Having been through many different weight loss programs, from soup diets to hypnosis since childhood, I lost 100 pounds at Weight Watchers about 20 years ago. The struggle is endless, and over the years I gained back as much as 50 of those pounds. At the point I discovered this book, which has changed my life, I was about 35 pounds over my goal weight.

Because this program works in conjunction with any diet program, it was easy to adapt to, and IT WORKS! I know my problems are emotional, and Dr, Beck went straight for the brain. Every rationalization I ever had was there in the book, and her answer for it was what I needed. I have trained myself through repetition and thinking the right thoughts, reading my cards over and over, and "rationalizing" the right way. I am on the right track now, and feel that I will never gain that weight back (the most confidence I've ever had with any program).

As part of the program, I found a "diet Coach" online (or as we like to call ourselves, diet buddies). We e-mail and discuss our eating, our struggles and successes, and menus every day - we have for over a year and a half now. We have both lost over 30 pounds and it has stayed off over a year and shows no signs of EVER returning. We still read and re-read the book, and refer to it often.

We both had the great fortune to be able to speak with Dr Beck a few weeks ago, and to ask questions and discuss diet issues. She is lovely, and I can't thank her enough for getting me (and my buddy) to the place I am today. I can't wait for the next book!

I'm on my 2nd 6-week focus. The book hit me hard and I found myself talking myself out of doing the daily assignments. Now, I'm re-reading the book and it's amazing how much I just ignored doing. The words are new to me! It's not easy .. however, the 1st reading allowed me to grasp some aspects that have stuck with me like: NO CHOICE.

The cards are really helping me even though it does seem weird. However, I am finding the words popping up in my head more and more.

I recommend this book for anyone who is an emotional eater. Just be prepared to have to re-read the book and do the exercises repeatedly over and over again. The more you practice them, the easier it gets. And it really does boil down to: eat less, exercise more, and deal with your sabotaging thoughts.

Robert Maupin Beck, AKA, Iceberg Slim, one of the immortals produced from the black man's expierience in america, reminds me of many (not all) black men in america. He made a choice from the few choices he had and pursued it. Mack man.The difference between his book "Pimp" and all others, is that he purged and bared his soul. He saw his faults late in life, but yet and still, faced them. and denounced them. If any of us were in the same situation, could or would we do so? If other choices and conditions in his life were different,I feel he would be a success in whatever he chose. A BRILLIANT,BRILLIANT writer, I truly respect the man. In the times and conditions he grew up in, would any of us did different? How many of us would be willing to write a book as graphic and title it, "..........." the story of my life?

Thanks Mr.Beck

This is a good book. Its written from the (hipsters) point of view. You take what you can from it.

a fascinating read, the ultimate anti hero. a copmelling insigth into a real life character that is both praised and vilified. the best feature is the sincerity of the storytelling and the portrayal of the life of the pimp as neither a positive nor necesarily a negative.

I just finished reading this book for the second time, cover to cover in 2 days this time, it is possibly one of the best books I have ever read and keeps you enthralled throughout the whole read.Everyone should read this book because it really gives an insight into a world that most will never see.I have read all of the man's books and this is by far his best work although Mama Black Widow and Trick Baby are up there as well they just don't equal this masterpiece.They only have a 5 star rating but if I could this book would rate 10 stars.

"Pimp" is a dark, ugly book. It's author Robert Beck, aka Iceberg Slim spent much of his life as a pimp. It's written to leave a bad taste in your mouth. That is the intent of the author. This is a chronicle of how he wasted twenty-five years of his life.

Maya Angelou's brother told her a pimp is one of two kinds of men. Either he hates women or he fears women. The process of encouraging, enforcing a woman to sell her body is neither sexy or romantic. The life of a hooker, especially one working the streets is harsh and degrading. A `good' pimp only cares about using his women until they have no more left to give. Only someone who hates or feels the need to control women would make a `good' pimp.

Iceberg Slim hated women.

His father deserted them while he was a baby. Bobby and his mother lead a hand-to-mouth existence for his early years. Early on he is sexually abused by his babysitter. Stability came into his life when his mother marries an older man who was a successful businessman. Young Bobby loved his stepfather. They lead a comfortable upper middle-class existence until his mother runs off with another man.

The image of his stepfather crying in the street begging his mother to stay is repeated throughout the book. He took his hatred of his mother out on women - as a pimp.

Of course things go down hill for his mother. Eventually she gets her act together. But even though stability is restored in his life, Robert wants to be a pimp. Possessing a superior I.Q. (175), he was a straight-A student. In a time of blatant racial discrimination (the 1920s, 30s, 40s) he is given a college scholarship. But his path is set, the seeds of hatred planted years before take root and flourish.

For more details about his descent into depravity and his redemption - read the book.

His writing style is not polished. His language is not refined. But his imagery is stunning. He induces mood and feeling brilliantly. Mood and feeling are enhanced by his lack of polish.

The reader may have trouble with his slang. It's been out of style for 80 years. For example, "vines" means clothes. A woman "georgias" a man when she uses him for sexual gratification without paying. A "square" is a cigarette, etc.

I have noticed a disturbing trend. The black pimp is a role-model for some segments of society. Performers such as Ice-T extol the pimp lifestyle. Iceberg Slim is 'the man'. Whenever this book is discussed as a movie project, the gangsta rappers start lobbying for the part. These guys want to be like him. But not the man he became but the man he was - a depraved parasite. Some of them talk about this book as though it's the Bible.

While this is an excellent book, it is ugly. Richard Beck wanted it that way. He wanted to send a message against pimping and it's lifestyle.

Sometimes I wonder if these pimp wannbes can read.

The Dear America series of books are historical fiction, but the stories also have real facts interwoven into them. This can be confusing for readers but what needs to be kept in mind is that these books are great introductions to history for younger readers and the books do a good job of engaging readers and inculcating an interest in historical events.

In "My Secret War", 13-year-old Madeline Beck keeps a wartime diary as her father goes off to war in the Pacific. She befriends a local boy Johnny Vecchio and together they do what they can to support the war effort. A walk on the beach one night finds Madeline meeting a mysterious character and the rest of the story deals with what happens. Madeline's diary vividly evokes the uncertainties of the time and how people coped under duress.

There is a historical note at the end that briefly traces events of WW II and how the American people contributed to the war effort. There are also archival photographs of the time and even a recipe for "War Cake". All in all, another winner in the Dear America series.

"The navy regrets to tell you that our husband lieutenant commander David Beck has been critically wounded...we will furnish more details when available..." This was the telegram that Maddie Beck and her mother got from the U.S. navy. The K3F, her and her friends' war aid club, hadn't been enough to stop her dad's injury. The stress of being a tweenager with a father in World War Two was on Maddie's shoulders, and she managed to handle it. Though she had to leave her boyfriend and her life in Long Island, New York, Maddie's father was okay, and she later married her junior-high school sweetheart. Straight-forward and attention-grabbing, My Secret War was a great diary-form book to read.

It was pleasurable to be able to predict in part what was going to happen. Before the telegram reached Mrs. Hawkins's Mansion-by-the-Sea, I was anticipating that Maddie's father would die, and though he didn't, I was partly right because a telegram told them he was hurt. I also predicted that the "Coast Guard" who caught Maddie on the beach at night were really Nazis. It kept me on the edge of my seat, however, when Johnny told Maddie that he didn't really like Maxine, head of the Star Points-the popular girls-when I assumed that he liked her and not Maddie.

The author did an exquisite job of making Maddie look real through things like Maddie trying to break the habit of biting her nails or the feelings that she wrote in the diary. It was realistic that telling Johnny off would help her feel better, because people often feel that way when they are upset and blow off some steam on other people. Even when she kissed Johnny days before she left for California to see her dad, she needed a tissue and had to stop, which I found very real at the same time as humorous.

One component that made this book so effortless to read was the short chapters. Because they were usually only about a paragraph, you could read one in a spare minute, unlike other books whose chapters take at least ten minutes. Also, as well as the history, there was romance and drama so that the book wasn't completely obsolete and boring. The aspect of the book being the diary of a girl around the age of the book's targeted audience made you understand the way she was thinking so that you could understand and enjoy the book.

My Secret War allowed me to view history in a more nonchalant and less snore-intriguing way. The excellent unity between characters such as Johnny and Maddie, though their main topic of conversation was war, and the clever workings of the author's mind wove a magnificent story for its readers. Nazis working on Long Island were foiled by Johnny and Maddie, tin cans were collected left and right, and doggone it was the phrase of the day. It is definitely a five-star book.

I had to read this book, called My Secret War, for a US History book report. At first I chose this book because I noticed that is was on World War II. I have always been pretty interested in World War II because I know people that served in the army forces during it. As I began reading this book, it wasn't my very favorite. Once i got into it though, I thought that it was interesting and my opinion filp flopped. It is about a young teenage girl, and her life when her dad is sent to fight in the war as a Navy Commander, and how she and her mother deal with the compications of their lives. This book was written as a diary , and I found it easy to realate to because of the same age factor. I liked, and would recommend this book to any student around the ages twelve to about fourteen, because it is easy to understand due to the perspective that it is written in.

I let my children read these types of books for our unit studies. They bring them into history quite well.

I read the book My Secret War. This book is great. It is funny and exciting because you never know what's going to happen. I learned some interesting facts, and they are unbelieveable. I learned that all the contries fought in WWII. Madeline Beck's dad was in the war, but he got wounded in the war. I would recommend this book for three reasons. One is that you can look in the back of the book for amazing pictures. It's also interesting to read. The last one that you can learn about WWII. My Secret War is an amazing book.