Beck Books

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.

I fell in love with Martha Beck when I read ADAM. What a depth experience that is and "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies." If she can take me to that light-filled place where ADAM lay, then I can trust her to take me to that light-filled place where JUDY can finally come forth. Happy Birthday, Judy (November lst)

It is a well written book that combines tongue in cheek humor with common sense to help anyone lose weight. The steps are easy and although sometimes silly, the author acknowledges the silliness. The amazing thing is that it works!!

Truly a tool of invoking personal change and transformation.

NOT 'Another Diet Book'.

I think this book has some wonderful ideas about re-wiring your brain to eat better and not be consumed by poor eating habits. I highly recommend!

Be aware, this is not a diet, this is a book on behavior modification so that the diet you choose has a fighting chance of working :) In this respect, I think it is great for anyone to read who has bad habits since the skills outlined in the book could be used for anything you do that you'd like to change.

Took Martha Beck's Four Day Win to a week-long writer's conference on the coast. After two days, I was getting so much from the book I ditched the conference and took to the beach. For five days I read and wrote and listened to the seagulls. The exercises in the book were easy, and her sly writing made me laugh out loud every paragraph or two. (Rather like a sunburned crazy bag-lady.) Came out of the week stepping light, feeling free, and writing like crazy.

I recommend everyone take Martha Beck on vacation (if even to the coffee shop). You will have fun, find peace, and come back a lighter person.

My words would not do justice to this book. All I can say is that it has been one of the most down to earth books I have red about Zen.
Would recommend it to people that practice and to those that don't ... yet.

Charlotte Joko Beck's teaching here is unmitigated wisdom. I do not sit regularly, but I do practice reflection on a daily basis (using a journal), and with regular writing forays. Perhaps the most useful lesson here is Beck's discussion of the "witness" experience, becoming an observer of moment-by-moment thoughts, emotions and bodily reactions. It is the closest thing to Zen in my experience, from what I can gather... so I am quite thankful for that... and for this book!

Anyone who has spent time reading and thinking about this stuff will know the term beginners mind. For those of you who do not and for those of you who do.... it is the idea that when you believe yourself to be an expert or to "know" you may be in deeper trouble then when you started. You have through gaining certain experiences closed your mind to the experience of the open mind of a beginner.

I am writing this because I take this book as someone would take a pill to get rid of a headache. I go back to it over and over again to start again or to get encouragement, or to settle down or to start over again and again or to dispel my experts mind.

To discourage anyone of whatever level of experience from possibly finding this book helpful in the relief of suffering, in response to the mundane trials of everyday life or the "existential crisis"..... would I think not be in the spirit of this life some have chosen to pursue.

The hardest thing sometimes for the expert to do is to let the beginner discover for themselves.

This very well written & appropriate for today's world is easy to read & very meaningful!! I bought a half dozen more for Christmas/Chanukah presents. It's been around a while, now I know why, can't wait to read it again & see what else can be gleaned now, & now, & now, etc. ;-)
It also has meaning to Martial Artists who exist in the moment!
Dr Dave

Very practical and accessible. I've read a lot of zen books and I like the simplicity and yet substantive approach to the subject. It's a really good read.

My therapist introduced this book to me several years ago, and it is uncannily accurate in pointing out which childhood experiences skew behaviors in our adult lives. Very highly recommended.

I keep some of these on my shelf for patients and they really enjoy reading it as an accompanyment to therapy. I even gave one to my teenager hoping she might avoid some of the relationship traps that I see in the clinic and to help her understand the behaviour of her friends. A good book for everyone.

I was recommended to buy this book as it deals with specifics that you can relate to. I'm in Australia and it is very hard to find any book about schemas. Sometimes you can get into the whole CBT thing but it's difficult to understand. I found this book to be quite easy to read and i have learnt alot about myself from reading it. Definatlely the book to read if you are familiar with CBT therapy and want to go further into specifics.

Somewhat useful but sometimes constricting on the human experience. Has some good back and forth dialog that is useful for therapists to get the hang of the applied theory.

Ever wondered why you are never happy with anything you do? Why it is you always think you could have done something better? Ever wondered why your bosses always get angry when they don't get what they want, or why they can't accept `no' for an answer?
Now, I'm not one for self-help books. You're not likely to see me browsing the `self-help' section at my local book store. Not that I don't see their value. It's more that having studied Psychology for five years I reckon I should be able to work that stuff out for myself...

On a more serious note, I don't believe in quick fixes and magic seminars that sort out all your life's problems in one weekend. But I'm a great believer in empirically-based and research-driven frameworks to anything, including self-help.

And that's where this book is different. Unlike other self-help books, Reinventing Your Life is comprehensive. It doesn't just deal with depression or obsessive compulsive disorders; it deals with a wide range of personality problems.

OK, so now you're thinking, that sounds heavy, a book for real `nutters'. Well, no. Reinventing Your Life is suitable for all of us. It helps us figure out why we do the same things over and over again even though they're really bad for us (like falling for the wrong man, attracting friends who use and abuse us etc). Reinventing Your Life also helps us figure out why the people around us keep doing what they do, even though their actions and attitudes are bad for them!

The book's main premise is that the behaviours of most people are strongly, but unconsciously, influenced by lifetraps. Lifetraps are patterns that begin in our childhood and continue reverberating within us throughout our lives. When the lifetraps are really serious they result in personality disorders which require formal therapy. But here's the catch, even if they aren't that serious, they can still have a significant impact on our lives without us even knowing it!

What I like about this approach is that even though it's based on serious academic work, it's written in a very accessible style. Each chapter is dedicated to one of the eleven lifetraps and begins with a short `women's mag' type quiz. Don't let that fool you. These quizzes are serious and have rigorous validity and reliability. Each chapter then goes on to describe how the lifetrap presents in its more severe forms - reading this of course made me feel better because I could see even I'm not that bad! It also provides some good strategies for you to work on if this is your lifetrap.

And, if you think you are absolutely lifetrap-free, then read it to figure out why all the people around you are so crazy!

I just finished Glenn Beck's new novel, "The Christmas Sweater," having read it in two sittings. It is a compelling read and the ending is delightful. I think the thing that bothers me is the fact that I keep trying to get Beck to put an Evangelical (Biblical Christian) spin on his narrative. I find his novel to be more mystical than biblical and then I remember that he is Mormon and not a biblical Christian so, of course, he isn't going to go there. He comes in as ALMOST there...but not really what a Bible-believing Christian is expecting so we tend to read our own beliefs into what he's saying and it falls short. But, it's a really nice story, apparently descriptive of his life story and being that it is what it is, it was a very pleasant book. It leaves you with the warm fuzzies and that's always a plus.

This book really hit a chord. I see me. All of my resentment, fear, and anger was spelled out on these pages. Thanks for helping me get back to basics, Glenn......

LET'S SEE, WHAT'S MISSING FROM THIS SAPPY AND CRAPPY BOLD FRESH PIECE OF....OOPS, WRONG RIGHT WINGER. WHAT OTHER SAD EVENTS COULD MAR WHAT LITTLE NARRATIVE THERE IS? GRANDMA GETS MUGGED? ROVER HIT BY FREIGHT TRAIN? BLACK MAN ELECTED PRESIDENT? I WAS WILLING TO GIVE THE TYPIST THE BENEFIT OF A DOUBT WHEN A COLLEAGUE PASSED THIS BOOK ALONG TO ME. AFTER A FEW PAGES, I REALIZED THIS GUY (OR WHOEVER THE GHOST WRITER WAS) WAS SLAPPING THIS ALL TOGETHER ACCORDING TO A MAUDLIN FORMULA, PECKING AWAY WITH A $MIRK ON HIS FACE. MY DAUGHTER TOLD THE SAME TALE BETTER, WHEN SHE WAS EIGHT.

I found myself laughing out loud and crying as well as I read this book cover to cover in one night. I think that we can all relate to losing someone who meant the world to us and we didn't realize how much about life we had taken for granted. The things they touched with their hands and made for us become even more precious.
This is a coming of age story that reminds us we are always on the path if we allow ourselves to feel.

With the word "Christmas" in the title and knowing that Glenn is a spiritual man of great faith, I admit I sat down to read this book coming from a place of spiritual anticipation of a message of the true meaning of the atonement and redemption. Perhaps I placed too much expectation on the author to write a seasonally relevant story of his life that would tie into the ultimate "atonement" story. That may not have been Glenn's intention at all. Perhaps it was meant only as a pseudo-autobiographical sketch of the author and the personal insights he experienced in his life story. That in and of itself was beautifully penned in this book. So, either way, his story left me with an almost palpable feeling of sadness and longing. I wanted to scoop up little Eddie and just hold him. But then I would reflect on the truly admirable man the author has become; his courage, his principles, integrity and grace, and I was infused with the true spirit of Christmas which is hope in a saving grace. One thing I did have trouble with, from a theological standpoint was Glenn's definition of atonement. Caveat - Glenn never claimed to be trying to define atonement, and perhaps this is more of a "disagree/not divide" issue between believers. I have always believed the gift of the "atonement" was based on the fact that none of us are worthy, that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation, but that it is a free gift from God. We will be in heaven because of the atonement not because of anything we can ever do to earn it. Maybe I took this book down a path the author didn't intend for it to go, theologically speaking. But I admire Glenn's ability to paint such a vivid picture of loss and reconciliation. Between his radio, tv, painting and authorship, we have a true American Treasure on our hands, and a much needed voice in this time of uncertainty and trouble.

Just about as flawless as any procedural in any nation, gets! Amid 1968 Vietnam War Protests, in Weather-worn, Chilling December Stockholm and Suburbs, a mass murder in a night- time bus spreads horror and chills thruout Sweden. Eight Dead, including an off-duty cop, known to the entire force. And the criminal apparently loose amid minimal clues. Some great portraits of the police, including the huge, cynical no-nonsense one (name forgotten here), social and cultural commentary, outstanding detecting by just about all, makes this one first class all the way. The "Laughing Policeman" is given two direct references, and just figuring this out will keep you thinking, and detecting all the way to the very end! In truth, as good as it gets, and a trip into late 1960's Stockholm to boot!

In November 1968 there was a big demonstration by the American Embassy in Stockholm in spite of the pouring rain. Two policemen find a bus that went off the road. Eight bodies, one a detective, and a lot of shells. Detective Martin Beck is called from home for this mass murder. Chapter 8 has the press conference; little was known. Could a madman have planned this so carefully? When they question the girlfriend of the slain detective they learn he had been working hard on a secret investigation (Chapter 13). Martin Beck and the other detectives began questioning the people who knew the victims. The last victim mentioned a name before dying (Chapter 14). They identified the murder weapon: a Finnish Suomi Lahti from WW II (Chapter 18). Their psychologists wrote a profile on a mass murderer. Usually quite normal and polite until they suddenly erupt. (Is this profile right?)

Chapter 19 recapitulated what they know about the nine victims from the bus. They know detective Stenström was skilled at shadowing. How could he have been surprised? Following the leads results in the name of the unknown victim (Chapter 22). Another lead results in the arrest of narcotic dealers (Chapter 23). Martin Beck figures out the 16-year old unsolved murder that Stenström was investigating, the most hopeless case (Chapter 24). The police activity affected the underworld, they helped in the hunt. The investigation continued. Then there was a break on the identification of a car seen where a body was dumped 16 years ago (Chapter 28). Newly recovered facts point to a person on the list of suspects (Chapter 29). The solution to the crime occurs in Chapter 30. At the end Martin Beck received a telephone call from the detective who searched Stenström's apartment and found a name. Beck began to laugh.

This story seems implausible in having people killed in public when only one is a danger to a murderer. The authors have used a mass murder to create an unusual plot. Could over 60 shots be fired with no one hearing them?

Martin Beck and Lennart Kohlberg are playing chess. They are police officers assigned to the homicide squad. It is November 1967 in Solna, a suburb of Stockholm. The officers discover a double decker bus filled with dead people including a dead policeman. On that date there had been a demonstration at the American embassy protesting the War in Vietnam. The dead policeman was one of the officers assigned to the homicide unit, Ake Senstrom. His service-revolver is pulled out. Senstrom always kept his watch on the precise time and thus it is possible to measure the time of the assault accurately since the watch has stopped. The officers assume the attack on the bus was made by one man. The weapon is probably a submachine gun. The officers interview the family members and friends of the deceased persons. A clue emerges. The gun used may have been Finnish. The police have no Swedish precedents for mass murder. They have to use American cases as their models! The dead policeman, it seems, was good at shadowing. The dead policeman's girl friend tells the officers she believes that Ake was using her as a sort of guinea pig. It is determined that Senstrom was shadowing a blackmailer. The victim of the blackmail, the perpetrator of an unsolved murder, killed Senstrom and everyone else on the bus to maintain his cover. The solution to the crime is worked out winningly. The portraits of the officers and their families are interesting and charming.

George Santayana

On a rainy Stockholm night a gunman opens fire on Stockholm bus, killing eight passengers and critically wounding a ninth. The crime scene is bloody and chaotic. Critical clues may have been destroyed when the first police officers arrive on the scene and trample through the bus. Police Superintendent Martin Beck is placed in charge of the investigation. There appear to be no clues and no apparent motive. His task is the monumental one of taking this chaotic scene and imposing enough order on it so that clues may be found, leads followed, and the criminal or criminals brought to justice. The physical and mental burdens of the job are compounded by emotional burdens once Beck discovers that one of the victims happens to be a detective who worked in Martin Beck's unit. That is the plot that unfolds in the opening pages of Per Wahloo and Maj Sowall's remarkably well-crafted "The Laughing Policeman".

The Laughing Policeman, published in Sweden in 1968 and in the U.S. in 1971 (winner of that year's Edgar Award for Best Novel), was the fourth in a series of ten Martin Beck mysteries written by the Swedish, husband and wife team of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. The plot and structure of the four Beck mysteries I've read to date do not deviate from the standard format found in any well-written police procedural. However, what sets the Beck mysteries apart is their location and character development. Naturally enough, each book is a small window into Swedish life and culture in the 1960s and 1970s when the books were written. Further, as the series develops the character of Beck and his colleagues evolve and the reader slowly obtains a real feel for Beck and his fellow police officers. By the fourth book, the personalities of Martin Beck and his police colleagues have developed to the point where the reader almost has an instinct for how each will react to a given situation. At the same time the characters, especially Beck, remain far from predictable. However, they are already fully formed in the authors' minds and for that reason I suggest reading these books in order.

I do not think it appropriate to divulge any details about a police procedural such as this so I will leave it to the reader to see how Martin Beck and his crew slowly put together the pieces of the puzzle behind the killings. The authors are quite good at keeping the pot boiling. They don't reveal too much too early and they do not rely on Sherlock Holmes-like deductions to take the place of crafting a story. Additionally, the writing is filled with funny moments and asides. In its own way the Beck mysteries provide a very interesting glimpse into Swedish life and culture in the 1960s and 1970s. In the hands of Wahloo and Sjowall, Beck's conversations are filled with both blunt exchanges and very sly, sardonic comments that kept me chucking throughout. I was also impressed with how the authors have slowly continued to build up their protagonists back stories. By this volume in the series the reader has a pretty good idea as to the home lives and personal idiosyncrasies of all the major characters. They are free from stereotype and make reading the book a more enjoyable experience.

The Laughing Policeman was a good read, one of those books that you feel you must finish just one more chapter before heading off to bed or back to work. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig

The Laughing Policeman is the best known book of the multi-volume Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Despite the title there is little laughing in this grim and gloomy yet classic police procedural. The book is marked by the sparse dialogue and buttoned-down personalities of the Swedish characters. (The book was later made into a movie of the same name starring Walter Matthau and Bruce Dern, but set in San Francisco!)

The entire detective force of Sweden is assigned to solve the murder of 9 people on a Stockholm bus in 1968 (an anti-war - Vietnam that is - demonstration is the backdrop for the book's opening). One of the murdered is Ake Stenstrom, a Stockholm detective. His presence on the bus begins to unravel the mystery of this seemingly random and insane mass murder. Insane it may be, but never random.

Each detective obsessively follows their own path and the paths lead into Stockholm's underworld. Could an old unsolved murder somehow be related to this insane bloodshed many years later? Mass murder so un-Swedish after all - the police don't even have any psychological profiles they can use. Can the always miserable Beck or his top-notch partner Lennart Kollberg crack the case?

Highly recommended for fans of detective stories with an international bent.

Highly recommended to anyone interested in this topic. Compulsary reading for all idealists, especially those who believe the end justifies the means. Also very interesting and I think accurate is his argument that excessively high self-esteem can be a cause of evil is completely lost on ideology driven Policy Makers in racial and other areas, yet in a way there has always been a folk understanding of this, expressions like "big-head" "conceited" suggest the person may be dangerous or should be avoided.

His definition of evil as violence and cruelty could be questioned, but separating it from evil intentions is an interesting and useful idea.

I thought perhaps it suffered a little from the sheer breadth of the topics covered but still a highly readable and hearting contribution to thinking about good and evil.

I have found this book to be very insightful on the topic it covers. It uses real life examples which can be very sad but it also proves the point it is trying to make.

The author, a social psychologist, explore in depth the concept of Evil, finding that is often a perception made than any else. He explain how "evil" perhaps is more a construction and, when analizing the perpetrators, what we see is not necessary evil. A broad analysis of the topic.

This remarkable book begins to give us a firm basis for hope, because it provides a deep and accurate understanding of evil. This well researched and well written book examines and discredits the "myth of pure evil", and instead rigorously examines the point of view of real perpetrators to understand the true causes of evil.

After adopting the simple definition of "intentional harm to other people", the author identifies the four roots of evil as greed, egotism, idealism, and sadism, and explores each of these in depth. He dispels the popular misunderstanding that low self-esteem is a major contributor to violent behavior. Instead his careful analysis establishes that people who have high self-esteem, but lack a firm basis for that belief, are especially prone to be violent. He describes how an ordinary person crosses the line into evil, how evil spreads, and how perpetrators deal with guilt. After examining the provocative question of "why is there not more evil" he describes the central role of self-control in preventing evil. He also describes how typical bystanders often unwittingly contribute to evil acts.

Central to the analysis is the principle he calls the "magnitude gap." This describes the discrepancy between the importance of an evil act to the perpetrator and the victim. This magnitude gap accounts for the rapid escalation of violence that is so typical in retaliation. The response chosen to avenge each provocation is amplified at each round to account for the victim's point of view.

Because lasting peace will come only from a profound understanding of violence, the analysis and insight this book provides is an important contribution toward a more peaceful world.

Important topic, promising approach, but the insights offered are too few and too shallow.

I bought this book partly on the strength of its readers' reviews here on Amazon, but found myself disappointed. The book's subtitle, "inside human violence and cruelty," promises much, but the author, I feel, has not really delivered.

A social psychologist, Baumeister avoids a philosophical and theological discussion of evil in favor of a psychological one, based on facts gleaned from history and experiment. This approach is attractive and promising, but somehow, in almost 400 long pages, not much seems to come of it. Too often I felt that the insights offered by Baumeister were mere banalities, such as that evil acts are experienced more strongly by victims than by their perpetrators--a point Baumeister repeats many, many times.

The author uses this observation to conclude that "evil is in the eye of the beholder"--and even launches the book with a clever anecdote about an event in which two people see each other as evildoers, despite no intentional act of harm being committed. But this is surely a special case, and not comparable to the operation of a system of death-camps, or hacking apart defenseless people huddling for safety in a church. Baumeister takes pains (repeatedly) to stress that he wants to see evil acts through the perpetrators' eyes, and not prejudge events from the perspective of victims, but the result is an uneasy or indecisive tone that wavers between a normal-sounding condemnation of evil and a moral relativism that really believes that evil is merely in the eye of the beholder--that is, there's no such thing as evil, as long as you're the one perpetrating it.

Baumeister finds four basic psychological causes of evil: greed/lust/ambition, or evil as a means to an end; revenge for insulted egotism; ideological evil; and actual sadism--deriving pleasure from harming others. The author discusses each of these at length, but does not come up with many conclusions. He observes that crime, for the most part, does not pay as well as even the lowest-level jobs, and that people who commit crimes generally have a poor idea of the long-term consequences of their actions. This, to me, is another banal point, not an insight that requires much discussion.

Baumeister makes much of his conclusion that standard psychology is wrong when it attributes violent, bullying behavior to low self-esteem; he feels that the facts show that bullies and violent people in fact have high self-esteem, in the sense of high or even inflated regard for themselves. As an example, he points out that convicted, incarcerated rapists often think of themselves as "superachievers." Technically this might be called high self-esteem, but I would call it delusional, and I think there is a difference. Maybe I'm alone here, but I think of high self-esteem as being realistic and adaptive, not the fragile egotism of the narcissist. Baumeister spends much time trying to disprove the "low self-esteem" model of violent behavior, but I was never persuaded.

My overall impression is that there is length here, but not depth. I did not feel I got "inside" human violence and cruelty. Having read only the first chapter or so of James Waller's "Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing", I already feel that I am getting a much deeper and also more sympathetic view of how and why evil is committed, from a social-psychological perspective.

Abundance of information leads to scarcity of attention, the management of which is now the single most important determinant of business success - welcome to Attention Economy. After decades of focus on distribution and ubiquity of access to our modern information superhighways, a new focus is beginning to emerge: filters, agents, and personalization. "Attention Economy" is a great conversation starter, and a book that will force you to re-think many implicit assumptions - what is attention, how do we harness it, how do you get it, how do you keep it? Definitely a thought provoking read, and highly recommended.

The authors of this book see every business engine fueled by attention, defined as the focused mental engagement on a particular item of information. As the authors point out, during the industrial revolution, manpower drove the economy; in the information age, knowledge was power, in this business era, attention is the rare resource that powers companies. Companies need to recognize the value of attention, and lean how to direct it and manage it. The authors understand the broad spectrum of attention and have grouped them into "six units of attention currency." The six units are paired into opposites: Aversive-Attractive, Captive-Voluntary, Back-of-mind-Front-of-mind.

This is a fine book! It is clear and creative writing on a novel concept and promising area - The Attention Economy.

On page 20 the book defines attention as a "focused mental engagement on a particular item of information. Items come into our awareness, we attend to a particular item, and then we decide whether to act" (original italics). From this definition it follows that The Attention Economy is a system for managing the attention asset. And why manage attention? Because attention is an economic (scarce) resource. Like Joan Robinson is believed to have put it, "Scarce resources command a positive price." In this case the price of attention is attention, or as the authors suggest: to get attention one has to give attention. In other words, scarcity compels (rational) choices, and on the margin of decisions choices have opportunity costs as well as benefits. To say that attention is a "focused mental engagement" is to say that producing attention requires lowering the opportunity cost of producing attention by specializing on the basis of a comparative advantage. Standard economics.

The book argues that the study of attention is important because business success depends on attention and attention management, just as it does other resources. While the options theory of asset pricing seems to apply to the attention asset as well, a key difference is that the attention asset is a perishable intangible. Information designed to get attention often perishes into gluts that may lead to "organizational attention deficit disorder" and on to bankruptcy, suggesting a need for attention management.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5 are nuggets of gold both analytically and in terms of descriptive content. Chapter 3 deals with the measurement of attention - pay attention to pages 40-47. Chapter 4, on "the psychobiology of attention", outlines general hierarchical schemes for understanding human needs relevant to giving, getting, growing, and keeping the attention resource. Chapter 5 is particularly about how a business can get people (its employees, customers, and competitors) to pay attention to its attention. Among many examples: It can use attention technologies such as customizing solutions; it can avoid shoving its attention onto others; and it can use its people to keep the attention it already gets.

The sixth chapter of the book gives examples of industries where one would find the attention resource in practical uses. These include: advertising, movies, TV, and publishing. A defining characteristic of attention in these industries is "stickiness", i.e., paying and keeping attention (see p. 115ff).

The next five chapters stress e-commerce, leadership, strategies, changes of organizational structure, and information and knowledge management, all in the attention economy. The last chapter looks to the future, especially to the challenges and prospects the attention economy presents.

This is a good book, and the first five chapters are especially good. Some of the last chapters sound more like the revolutions we heard so much about during the dotcom era. The revolutionaries then told us to completely forget the "old economy", and singularly embrace the "new economy". Such predictions turned out to be hoity-toity, mainly because revolutions rarely succeed; they are generally too destructive even for their own good. Many revolutions have failed because, whereas people dislike the effects of change, they hate the disruptions of revolutions. Having said all that, I would still recommend The Attention Economy as fine work and good reading.

Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465

The book reads like a magazine with a lot of anecdotes, which is a direct credit to its authors who are trying to make a textbook readable and capture the attention of mgmt audience with the baby face on its cover. Perhaps this has given the impression that it's not a serious book. But it is.

As we get deluged with more information each day, each piece of information is fighting for our attention. An example would be the recent reverse trend by companies to have precise "smartbomb" placement of ads targeted at specific audience rather than pay-per-click ads in websites. The attention on Attention Management would increase in the next decade ahead. Already, organisations are talking about employee engagement instead of staff satisfaction to measure productivity and workplace morale.

Good read for management, marketeers, KM, OD and comms practitioners. Don's miss the AttentionScape in the book :)

If only I could buy some time... Surely you must have felt this way. However, this book would convince you that you should have rather said: if I could buy some more attention... Overall, I found the book to be quite thought provoking. Here's why:

As the name of the book suggests we deal here with economy, and the study of economy essentially is about the management of scarce resources. In the more traditional economic perspective this scarce resource is money. However, the authors define an economy where the scarcity is attention. They explicitly disconnect attention management from time management.

The concept they introduce seem quite intuitive -- we have experienced it in marketing activities for a long-long time. Chapter 6 deals with lessons from the attention industries: advertising, movies, television, and publishing.

Thinking about anything we produce (in my world it would be computer software) as something that must compete for the scarce resource of attention surely opens up interesting avenues of thought. From a software perspective we need to develop soiftware that helps us manage our attention. At least 3 of the chapters deals with "stuff that should make information technology people think". Chapter 5 introduces attention technologies from 3 perspectives: attention-getting, attention-structuring and attention-protecting. Chapter 7 deals with e-commerce and attention, while Chapter 11 deals with Managing Information, Knowledge and Attention. It has the very apt chapter title "You've got (lots and lots of) mail".

Overall I found the book to be written in a very readable fashion. I first loaned it from somebodies desk which I was visiting and managed to read it in 3 evenings end-to-end. I found the thoughts in it ever so stimulating that I just had to buy a copy which I did.

If you like your thoughts to be provoked by looking at stuff in a new or different way, then this book will not let you down.

I first discovered Zen Buddhism from Ezra Bayda's teacher, Joko Beck, from her book Everyday Zen. That book changed my life. I decided to give her student's book a try and I am enjoying Being Zen very much. It clearly focuses on real life. I like that because I think a spritual practice is something that you have to have available at all times, and not something you go to a quiet space to access.

Ezra Bayda's writing is very readable and it has helped me with my own spiritual growth.

"being zen" is one of the best books i've ever read. ezra bayda takes life, as it is, and show us how to live it fully, in this moment. he deals with specific emotional reactions in life and how to use them to find out more about our deepest beliefs, the very beliefs that keep us from opening our heart to life and to people. you find yourself on every page. i gave this book to all of my friends because i think it will give them joy.

A very clear and concise understanding of meditation. It is a wonderful addition to any mindfulness library.It is a very real approach to a significant way of life.

This book along with FREE YOUR MIND (Sensei Anthony Stultz)and SWEET ZEN (Cheri Huber)represent the triumvirate of new presentations of the Dharma. So good!

I've been performing meditation and zen for the last 25 years. I still like to pick up books once in awhile just to enhance my practice. This book by Ezra Bayda has given me more help in staying in the present. Written simply, it contains useful advice for beginner or experienced practitioners.