Bernstein Books

There's one word to describe this book: depressing. That doesn't mean you shouldn't read The Lost Children of Wilder, but it's so upsetting that the story will stay with you long after you've finished reading the book. In some true stories, you have the expectation of hope, even a small sliver, that things will get better. Without giving away the very moving details of the rest of Shirley Wilder's story, let me say that the story on page one is nothing compared to how sad her life becomes later on in the book, and the outrage you'll feel reading the first few chapters will not prepare you for how sad and angry the rest of her story will make you feel.

The anger isn't at Shirley Wilder or her child. The anger is for a child welfare and foster care system that was hopelessly broken then and is a thousand times worse today.

Ultimately, despite the groundbreaking class-action lawsuit, nothing changed, not for the tragic life of Shirley Wilder and her son. The system is just as broken today as it was thirty years ago.

This book gives you the nuts and bolts of the Wilder case. It also gives marevelous insight into the lives of youth in Foster Care. If you think you know how it all "goes down" for youth in these circumstances- read this book. This is a complex social issue that requires understanding at the individual level.

This is also great book to read for those "thinking" about a career in social work, etc.

The Lost Children of Wilder is a historic account of a person's plight to make changes. This book haunts me, because thirty years after the 1973 lawsuit the foster care system still has many changes to be made and the system is still allowing children to fall through the cracks and die. I cry for Shirley Wilder and Lamont. I cry and pray that as a social worker, I can make a difference and not allow children to fall through the cracks.
I'm thankful to Nina Bernstein for dedicating herself to writing a book of this magnitude. With an average 4 ½ star rating, all that consider reading this book should take time away from their lives and read this heartbreaking, but truth be told, story of our nation's short falls.

Once read, it might behoove caring persons to consider whether foster care and orphanages are proper environments for children whose parents are living, and whether even extended relatives are preferable to "kennel care" offered to humans, must less "sentenced" to them. In a modern age, if society cannot cope with the problems and the harms that occur with unwanted children, it's possible that we have been traveling down the wrong social path for some time. Examining the extent to which these environments are necessary, and damaging to children, it might be possible that alternative perspectives might provide solutions that are more family friendly, and salvage responsible, rather than to subject children to these emotionally detached and wrenching environments. It's possible we have been delusional for far too long in recognition of the fact that children are not as resilient as we tend to think they are, and that they were provided with two parents for that reason, because they need the protection, love and nurturing of parents, not just adult strangers. If we consider that it is unhealthy for mental health patients to be warehoused (if we can avoid it), why do we do it with children?

Nina Bernstein's compelling account of the generations of children trapped in the child welfare system kept me up late turning pages...and gave me nightmares of the thousands and thousands of children who are still churning through an overtaxed foster care system that our society doesn't seem to care about. Still almost every week there's another horror story of an abused or neglected kid that fell through the cracks of the "system."
This is an absolutely amazing, and realistic account, of what long-term public interest litigation is like. The world needs more people like Marcia Robinson Lowry to fight on behalf of kids, and more journalists like Nina Bernstein, willing to put under bright light the shortcomings that our local governments would rather have swept under the rug.

I was in Tel Aviv, in Jerusalem... The raw material of this tale is of keen interest to any thoughtful person.

After reading the previous reviews here, it seems like a contradiction of purpose to say you are seeking true information on a historical quest for the real Jesus through a fictional piece of work. Yet fiction accounts are purported to have more true information than actual research? Since when? Please let's not confuse the two.

'The Bone Box' is OK as novels go, but none the less it IS fiction and should be kept in correct perspective. I recommend reading it for its intended purpose as a good entertaining piece of fiction. I give it 4 stars. I would have given it 5 stars but I had some problems with the author's sometimes amaturish use of phrases and writing, plus the author himself balked near the end and did not take a definitive stand regarding the Talpiot tomb authenticity.

A very well-written thriller which has as its central premise that Jesus lies buried at Talpiot (Israel). Suggest that one read it along with The Rozabal Line, a thrller which has as its central premise that Jesus lies buried at Rozabal-Kashmir (India). Both books use history and the quest for the historical Jesus to full advantage.

Bernstein's insightful analysis and research was extremely interesting. The book was mentioned to me by one of my law professor's as a good read for my summer away from school material.
He was right, Bone Box is awesome.

This book was very interesting. I have always been fascinated by biblical history and this book got to the crux of it.

I originally bought this book in a local store and loved filling it out - the prompts are great and thoughtful. It has many inspiring ideas and I love the sections for grandparents and other relatives. You can write by pregnancy progression, emotions, health or any way you please. Nothing is right or wrong. It has spaces for photos that are well-placed so as not to take over the book - its about your thoughts and feelings as you prepare to welcome baby. I miscarried my first, and immediately came here to order a new copy so that it would be ready when I conceived again. I agree with the other reviewers - get a copy for each pregnancy!

I bought this book for our first pregnancy/child and was told by my cousin (who is the last of 4 children) that I had to be sure to do the same for every subsequent child so as not to neglect anyone! I purchased this for my second (current) pregnancy and am enjoying writing in it again. It has some questions that might be better for a first pregnancy, but overall is a great journal. There are definitely pages/topics that I leave blank because they do not apply, but it doesn't detract from the rest of the journal. There is also plenty of space for adding your own topics. I enjoy reading the journal from my first pregnancy and look forward to sharing stories from both with my children when they are older.

I used this journal with my first pregnancy nearly 5 years ago. Great starters and lots of room for a variety of pictures and entries from other people, family and friends. The illustrations were hilarious and made me feel like I was always a little smaller than the cartoon figure, which was important to my self-esteem. I wish they had a version of a sibling journal. I'm having a tough time finding a second book with the same warm fuzzy non-judgemental topics and illustrations.

I looked at each book in the pregnancy book isle at Barnes and Nobles for the perfect journal. I found that many journals had facts about the different weeks, months or trimesters of the pregnancy but as excited as I've been, I've already bought and read up on what happens on a weekly basis. All the info and facts would be too repetitive. Also, the spaces were so little, I wouldn't be able to write everything I wanted. I was looking for a journal where I can write paragraphs at a time. Something that was organized towards the pregnancy but at the same time gave me room to plan the entries the way I wanted. I almost stopped looking when I saw this one. It was perfect!!

The format of the entries are letters to the baby from myself, my husband, and anyone else that is involved in our lives. The sections toward the front had topics but there was a larger back section for my own topics. Also, I loved reading the sample letters.

I love this journal. I will defintely get one as a gift for a girlfriend, a family member or for myself again for our 2nd baby.

When I found out I was pregnant with my first son I went out in search of a way to remember this event. I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! I had plenty of books to read about how my body was changing but this gave me somewhre to put all of my feelings, good and bad.
My husband also liked writing in it because the topics gave him a place to start and help him write about his feelings.
I gave this to my bestfriend for her first son and she loved it. This journal is the best and now I am buying it agin for baby #2.

Extremely thorough on the subject matter. Easy reading but full of a wealth, (no pun intended), of information. A must "read" for everyone, even "non-investors". This cleared up any misconceptions and filled the cracks of all the "rhetoric". Thanks Jake - Todd

Cool Book, buy it. Not just sound financial strategys but advice on Y2K, retaining your money through dodgey periods and investing within your monetary and risk limit.

Ths book will help you in heaps of ways, not just dollars.

Mr Bernsteins book answered many of my questions. This book was easy to read and hard to put down. I dont think it is a doom and gloom book..It is a well written book and very informative. I feel I will be prepared if there are any problems with the Y2K. I recommend this book to everyone..

With his usual innate common sense, ( a rare commodity in itself ), Jake Bernstein calmly analyzes the millennium market and offers some surprising predictions, along with quite a few sound assessments, and outlines what actions are needed to be taken by today's astute investor. It's the wise one who will read, absorb and note the reality of these possible trends in this unique market. Some of the news may seem unflinchingly bad, but taken like that *spoonful of medicine*, and acted upon, fortunes instead of losses may be made. Read it and heed ... and thanks, Jake Bernstein, for another classic bit of analysis. Many will be indebted to you for the uncanny foresight in the pages of "Beat The Millennium Crash".

Don't waste your money on this book. This guy has been preaching the proverbial doom and gloom scenario to anyone who will listen for as long as I can remember. His "financial meltdown" hyperbole is a complete scam, and the only thing that will suffer a crisis is this guy's reputation.

Former president Richard Nixon was often referred to as Tricksy Dick by his critics. Such a name is probably more appropriate for our current vice president, Dick Cheney. This book explores the personal and political history of Dick Cheney, beginning with his schoolboy days in Wyoming, and ending with his supposed involvement in the outing of Valerie Plame Wilson. The facts and interpretations put together in this book portray a stubborn, cunning man, the ultimate bureaucratic warrior who is always ten steps ahead of everyone else. Probably the most interesting part of the book is the number of individuals who reflect negatively on Cheney's personality, such as his vindictiveness, his dishonesty, his bullishness, his inability to compromise, and his fear-based hysteria. The overall portrait is of one scary man and probably not the best choice to pick for an elected official. Excellent book.

This is perhaps the most insightful book published so far of the Bush-Cheney era, and certainly the most in depth look into the exploits of a man who has been at the center of power and steered our country into more disasters than any man alive.

For seven years we've been blaming the man at the top when we should have been looking at the man pulling the puppet strings. One can not ignore a man whose political career has involved him in every war this country has been in since Viet Nam as advisor to Presidents, Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense, and planner and coordinator of our disaster in Iraq.

And lest we forget, former CEO of Halliburton, the only entity in the world to profit from that war.

Read this book and ask yourself the question why any sane person, Republican or Democrat, would want to inherit the Presidency in 2009.

"Vice", a perfect name for this book, confirms what so many of us have long thought about Dick Cheney...he's cold, secretive, ruthless, heartless and ultimately paranoid. Making the case against the Vice President with an astonishing narrative, authors Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein peel away the layers behind the throne's real power. If the emperor has no clothes, it's the work of his tailor.

As the authors point out, Cheney doesn't seek power so much as power seems to follow him. With incredible luck and skill, Cheney rose from being President Ford's Chief of Staff (the youngest in U.S. history) to a ten-year stint as Wyoming's only Congressman, to George H.W. Bush's Secretary of Defense to his current role in the White House. While not a meteoric rise, it followed the building blocks that Cheney so desired. He could not really have been disappointed that his brief thoughts of a run for the White House didn't pan out.....he's gotten his wish to be in charge.

To be fair, Dubose and Bernstein give Cheney some credit...he was well thought of as SecDef (contrast that one to Donald Rumsfeld's malfeasance!) and his crisis management on 9/11 was intact. But one angle that the authors argue is this...that Cheney's series of heart attacks may very well have made him a changed man...and not one for the better. Certainly his hatred of the CIA gets full coverage in "Vice" and we also receive a comprehensive look at Cheney's relationship with Halliburton. There's even a chapter on the dark one's dark partner, Lynne, titled "Lady MacCheney"...if you thought lowly of the Veep before, this chapter will seal the deal.

The scariest thing to be reminded about after reading "Vice" is that Cheney is still in power, although reading this book just after Scooter Libby's conviction adds an extra bit of interest... will the Vice President's power now begin to wane as he becomes the most reviled person to hold that office in history. Time will tell but in the meantime, read "Vice" and learn more about the enemy within. It puts you right in the thick of the swirling current surrounding Dick Cheney and is wonderfully written. I highly recommend it.

Whether you believe Dick Cheney is trying to protect our country by "fighting terrorism" or is simply unhinged by hubris (and perhaps ill health), you need to read this book. Don't be swayed by terms like "Torture Presidency" or "Lady MacCheney". Yes, the book has bias, but its reporting is too thorough for dismissal as a partisan hack job.

Anecdotal evidence suggests his influence is banking. Yet he bestrides this administration like a Claude Raines villain in an old Warners adventure movie, a guardian-chamberlain dominating Dubya, the cocksure, brittle dauphin on the throne. Fellow reviewer Robert D. Steele says Cheney should be placed in irons, and presents persuasive evidence crystallizing the themes of the book.

Vice documents how Dick Cheney and his long-time counsel David Addinhgton have put into action an authoritarian "unitary executive" theory to give the president unwaarranted powers, and have arrogated these powers to the vice president's office, accountable to no one.

It's all here: torture, signing statements, shadow governance in "the dark side, if you will," as Cheney puts it, eavesdropping on the White House staff, the lies leading to the Iraq War, the wiretapping, the seeret energy task force, sweetheart Halliburton contracts, the failure - almost surely deliberate - to reconstitute Congress in prospective post-attack plans. The 25 questions for Dick Cheney at the end (page 225 or thereabouts) should be at the top of Congress's list when Cheney and Addington get their subpoenas.

At the the same time, the book raises as many questions as it answers, largely due to the authors' lack of access, a largely absent paper trail (a tip learned from Cheney's mentor Don Rumsfeld) and the secretive nature of this enigmatic American version of Yuri Andropov. (An aside: The handling of the Texas hunting accident and subsequent reassignment of all the Secret Service agents had touches of Kremlin black comedy).

The book raises, but cannot answer, Cheney's evident shift from an extreme, but pragmatic, right-wing Rpublican who said Saddam Hussein's downfall was not worth "very damn many" American lives, to the rigid, hell-bent-for-war authoritarian ideologue we see today. (Is it 9-11? Partly. The heart attacks? Perhaps. Cheney's onetime friends are baffled. But the authors can only raise the questions.)

So, if the final book has yet to be written, this one gives us a useful map. The surprise is that it has not received more notice; it is on par with - and in some ways superior to - the recent works of Suskind, Ricks, Isikoff, Woodward, Rich and Chandrasekaran, among others, who have tried to shed light on this administration's apparently endless dark corners.

EDITED 5 September 2007 to add ten links to other related books.

This book is vastly more detailed, and covers more high crimes and misdemeanors, than either State of Denial, which misunderstands Bush as being in charge, or Crossing the Rubicon, which focuses primarily on Cheney's role in first permitting 9-11, and then working assiduously to cover up his malicious malfeasance. See also Ron Susskind's book, "One Percent Doctrine," which crucifies Cheney, Rumseld, and Rice.

I take this book so seriously that I urge everyone to get the "Do It Yourself Impeachment" kit. He should be required to immediately resign or be impeached. He should not be allowed to serve another month in office.

For the sake of brevity, here is a list of impeachable offenses documented by this book:

1) Secret meetings in violation of the law to include exclusion of government experts
2) Refusal to honor demand from Congress for a list of participants
3) Lies to the public about Iraq, while holding maps of oil fields and already having in mind a US-only domination of those oilfields (he first focused on Iraqi oil while serving Secretary of Defense Brown)
4) Over-ruling of the Environmental Protection Agency on very important matters including its concern over Halliburton's reliance on hydraulic fracturing that uses chemicals that contaminate aquifers--Cheney personally ensured that the EPA's wording was replaced with Halliburton's wording.
5) Consistent and pervasive usurpation of Congressional authorities and consistent and maliciously deliberate avoidance of appropriate disclosure.
6) Fostered attacks on Sy Hersh, and considered authorizing a break-in on his home.
7) From the 1970's, see also Ron Susskind's One-Percent Doctrine, subverted the authority of the Vice President, Nelson Rockefeller, and teams with Justice Scalia (then an assistant attorney general) to increase executive privileges and push back reforms.
8) As a Congressman personally blew off Russian offer in 1983 for arms cuts, and subverted the authority of the President and the Secretary of State then serving.
9) As an extremist Republican, supported Ollie North and the White House in violating the Congressional prohibitions on aid to the Contras, and obstructed justice thereafter.
10) Page 78 has a lovely discussion of how Cheney and North were "in the zone" in deceiving the public and Congress during the televised hearings.
11) Adopted as his own the lunatic report by Khalizad (who is a very lazy scholar, see my review of his rotten RAND book on revolution) and Libby, on how the US as a superpower should be able to do ANYTHING.
12) Attempted to undermine due process and keep tactical nuclear weapons in the Army inventory.
13) Subverted the authority of the Secretary of State (Colin Powell) by allowing his daughter to overrule Ambassadors and meet privately with various heads of state.
13) Lied repeatedly to the public about his continuing financial equities with Halliburton, and was so involved in giving Halliburton up to 16 billion in no bid contracts.
14) Shut both foreign competitors and more cost-effective indigenous contracting solutions, severely harming the national security of the United States by fostering an environment of unproductive looting by Halliburton, Bechtel, and others.
15) Ignored his dual mandates on terrorism and intelligence. The book suggests that Bush was not briefed on Al Qaeda for the first eight months he was in office (the Vice President's priorities were energy and missile defense).
16) Personally impeded negotiations with North Korea after they proved amenable to diplomatic engagement.
17) Personally rejected Iranian overtures for negotiation conveyed by the Swiss in 2003
18) Personally reinforced Rumsfeld on use of torture, by-passing the President's more measured restrictions.
19) Conspired with Speaker Hastert to subordinate the House of Representatives, using a special office of his own (first time in history) so that Representatives could be brought to him rather than his calling on them.
20) Manipulated the President into numerous "signing statements" inconsistent with the will of Congress that ignored legislation then in force.
21) "Bureaucratically emasculated" the President (page 177--if the President has a friend that reads this review, PLEASE get the book and the review to the President--he really may have no idea his balls have been cut off)
22) Contemptuous and manipulative of the CIA, refusing to accept their best professional judgments based not only all source intelligence, but on a extraordinary effort by Charlie Allen in running line crossers into Iraq to document beyond a shadow of a doubt that there were no weapons of mass destruction there.
23) Lied repeatedly, over and over, to the public, to Congress, to the President, to foreign leaders, even after the lies were exposed he continued to repeat them.

The book does not discuss the 9-11 situation and emerging findings that place the Vice President at the center of our deliberately inept response.

Two gems apart from the impeachable offenses:

1) The search for a Vice President was a complete fraud, he was picked from day one, and made a fool of every serious candidate, while also personally leaking to destroy Keating just to ensure the only real rival would not be considered at the last minute.

2) The discussion of Joe Lieberman's refusal to confront Cheney with all that was known to be wrong with him was explained at the time as "taking the high moral road." I am not so sure. I speculate that Lieberman is actually a neo-con and has been playing the Democrats for fools while minding the interests of his Wall Street masters.

On page 147 the authors discuss how Cheney accused Clinton and Gore of "extend[ing] our military commitments while depleting our military power." Lovely. And now?

The authors conclude that Dick Cheney is "nakedly amoral." I agree.

One final scary note: in the many doomsday drills that Cheney participated in across his career and inclusive of his Vice Presidency, they always failed to reconstitute Congress.

Dick Cheney has done more damage and is a greater threat to our Republic and others, than Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein combined.

The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
Debunking 9/11 Debunking: An Answer to Popular Mechanics and Other Defenders of the Official Conspiracy Theory
9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA, Fourth Edition
State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III
The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America
9/11 Mysteries Part 1: Demolitions
9/11: Press For Truth
9/11 - The Myth and the Reality
Aftermath: Unanswered Questions from 9/11

For those wondering why Congress failed to do its Article 1 job (hence all Members are impeachable for dereliction of duty as well):
Running on Empty: How the Democratic and Republican Parties Are Bankrupting Our Future and What Americans Can Do About It
The Broken Branch: How Congress Is Failing America and How to Get It Back on Track (Institutions of American Democracy)
Breach of Trust: How Washington Turns Outsiders Into Insiders

This book is similar to "Richistan" in nature in that it profiles many wealthy people and how they obtained and spend their wealth.
It's quite a bit more detailed in terms of comparisons, statistics, historical information than Richistan, however.
But again, if you are looking for explicit and detailed information of what you should and shouldn't do to obtain your own wealth you'll want to look elsewhere.
It does give examples of how some of the super rich got their money but that's a fairly small part of the book.
To summarize, the rich got rich by taking advantage of underserved markets by creating businesses, inheritance, finance deals, and sometimes just plain dumb luck.
If you want to know about other rich people and what you can do with your money once you have it then this is a good reference to have.

Very well written and researched. A good insight into the lives of the Forbes 400, how they got there and how they spend their money. Great book if you have a business that targets these people as customers!

I must say this book is also a lot better than those books about how to get rich, this book tells REAL stories. If you are thinking of buying this books have a look at the book RICHISTAN too. They go along very well together!

I have always been fascinated with wealth, and have enjoyed reading about the Forbes 400 for years. "All The Money In The World: How The Forbes 400 Make - And Spend - Their Fortunes" by Peter W. Bernstein and Annalyn Swan was an extremely fascinating and enjoyable read. If you are interested in the superrich, this book paints a revealing portrait of the wealthiest of the rich and shows how they succeed, how fortunes are made in various industries, and how, once made, they are saved, enhanced, and sometimes squandered.

This thoroughly researched book provides abundant anecdotes and insights as well as compiled data in illuminating tables, sidebars, and factoids. Did you know that Bill Gates comes in as the thirteenth richest American if you converted past riches into today's dollars? (Actually 2006 dollars when the book was being researched) John D. Rockefeller's wealth would be 305.3 billion dollars when converted to 2006 dollars. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett combined don't make a third of that. Did you know that in 2006 the average net worth of 400 members without a college degree exceeded the average net worth of those with a degree by a considerable margin - $2.8 billion? That's partly due, of course, to the Gates factor. Did you know there were 97 immigrants from 34 different countries that made the Forbes list over the last twenty-five years? The book is filled with so many interesting stories and facts.

The book also shows that money is not everything. The superrich have problems just like everyone else, and sometimes those problems are at a greater scale. So while this book describes those that may seem unobtainable to most, you also realize that they are still people just like everyone else. Well, maybe not like everyone else, but they are still people.



Chapters include:

Part One: What It Takes
1. Education, Intelligence, Drive
2. Risk
3. Luck - and Timing
4. Winning Is Everything

Part Two: Making It
5. Blue - collar Billionaires
6. West Coast Money
7. Entertainment and Media
8. Beyond Wall Street

Part Three: Spending It
9. Conspicuous Consumption
10. Heirs
11. Family Feuds
12. Giving It Away
13. Power and Politics

Afterword: Money and Happiness

Appendix: The Forbes 400, 1982-2006

This is a vastly entertaining behind the scenes look at the superrich. I found it fascinating to read about those billionaires I was familiar with, but also those extremely wealthy that you never really hear about. It made me feel good to read about the money these Forbes 400 members give away to help others, and then sometimes shake my head wondering when you see what some of these people spend money on. Forget about the enormous cost of purchasing a yacht, but think about the upkeep running into tens of millions of dollars a year and you may wonder as I did why Paul Allen wants to own two of the top ten U.S. owned yachts. Octopus at 414 feet is number two, and Tatoosh at 301 feet 8 inches is number four. If you are wondering, Larry Ellison's Rising Sun at 452 feet 8 inches is number 1, and no one knows who owns number seven's Laurel at 240 feet and number nine's charter yacht Reverie at 229 feet, seven inches.

If you want to read an extremely interesting and fascinating book about wealth and those that have accumulated the most of it, read "All The Money In The World." Besides being entertained, you just might learn some insights to help you accumulate more wealth yourself. After all, you will see that if these people can do, so can you or anyone else.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks and the dvds: Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking Essentials series and articles including a regular column on negotiation for The Montana Lawyer. Alain Also wrote a series of articles called Lessons From The Apprentice.

This was a satisfactory read, although if you are a diligent reader of Forbes and Fortune as well as WSJ and FT there probably won't be much in here you didn't already know. I did enjoy the sections on Family Feuds and Blue-collar Billionaires but got a bitter taste in my mouth while reading the Conspicuous Consumption section. All in all it was a decent book, and what you'll learn is that if you want to have billionaire status you need to have drive and determination as well as be a workaholic.

I was particularly interested in Part One; 'What it Takes'. A fantastic chapter on Education, Intelligence, Drive, Risk, Luck & Timing. The essence is that 1) if you don't inherit money, you have to take a lot of risk and 2) not everybody can become a billionaire, but a billionaire can come from everywhere. Particularly interesting is that Forbes 400 types have often a different perception of risk and often sink their money into deals that are the opposite of what conventional wisdom deems a prudent investment.

Astonishing 70% of the Forbes 400 list in 2006 were self-made. A lot to learn on financial success incl. people like myself who never ever aim at become a billionaire.

I have never thought that Gabriel Garcia Marquez deserved his 1982 Nobel Prize for literature. I think that it was manifestly an award given because of the politicized nature of the author's work. The three novels of his that I've read- Love In A Time Of Cholera, The General In His Labyrinth, and One Hundred Years Of Solitude- are examples of occasionally poetic phrases and images trying to tidy up nonexistent narratives, cardboard caricatures, and a puerile imagination and understanding of the world. In short, they are vapid interminable wordstreams with little deeper meaning. While no great fan of the also overrated Jorge Luis Borges there is little doubt that Borges was the more original and creative of the two writers. In short, without Borges there would have been no Marquez, and like all copies of things, the copies are always less clear and crisp than the originals. I say this merely to admit that I had a bias going into the reading of Marquez's Collected Stories, translated by Gregory Rabassa and J. S. Bernstein, and I'm afraid that my bias was accurate, and eerily prescient.

This is not to say that Marquez is a bad writer, merely that he is vastly overrated, and nowhere near a great writer. There are fleet moments of wonderful description and poetic phrasing, but these are the exceptions. Marquez tends to gizz at the mouth, and his descriptions become curlicues of superfluity. His politics tend to override his narrative and character development, he used heavy-handed and very obvious symbolism, and despite the cliché that anything with a good start and end cannot not be good, Marquez disproves that canard over and again, as many of his tales start and end well, but they have no core, no substantive middle. This book consists of twenty-six stories, culled from his three prior collections: Eyes of a Blue Dog, Big Mama's Funeral, and The Incredible And Sad Tale Of Innocent Eréndira And Her Heartless Grandmother....Marquez never quite gets his fiction into focus- there is something that remains forever blurry in the frame, and that is usually a deeper engagement with his readership. Even in the last story in the book, The Incredible And Sad Tale Of Innocent Eréndira, there is no real attempt to put up a tale of substance, and like most Latin American writers, concision and pointedness are not seen as virtues, as that tale rambles on for forty-nine pages. The story dream-like follows fourteen year old Eréndira, who is haunted by winds of misfortune. Oh, did I mention Marquez and his ilk tend to be a tad melodramatic, too? In response to this breeze she torches her grandmother's posh villa. Instead of bitterness, her grandmother tells Eréndira it would take a lifetime to back the debt you owe me. Thus, Eréndira turns to prostitution, with her grandmother as her madam. Why? To propel the story. This is a classic sign that the tale is not doing well; when the only way to move the plot forward is by its characters doing the dumbest things possible. Then, she meets Ulises, and hope dawns. Really, this is how the tale goes. I won't spoil the rest. Needless to say, the relationship between Eréndira and her grandmother is obviously an allegory for the corrupt and manipulative systems that dominate Latin American politics.

For all of the praise that has been tossed Marquez's way I don't think anyone has ever commented on these two most important facts: a) he is a boring and repetitive writer with very little range, and b) the Magical Realism that has been said to have blossomed with him is nothing new. Similar claims have been made about Postmodern techniques, yet just as PoMo had antecedents going back to Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, and arguably to Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, likewise Magical Realism is nothing new- only the term is. The entrance of the magical into the real has been done for centuries, and much better and more subtly than Marquez does it. Think of Nikolai Gogol's satires, Isaac Bashevis Singer's fables, or even Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Even the best of science fiction and fantasy qualifies as Magical Realism- what else is Flowers For Algernon, or Dracula?

I think that Gabriel Garcia Marquez could have become a good, possibly great writer, and one whose fantastical writers challenged readers, but he, as so many of the other Latin American writes, got too swept up in the delusion that their writings could change the world by political means. This is often the folly of many artists, not content to merely influence individuals. It is sad, but perhaps the greatest fantasy he wove, and that he never grew out of it, was that one; from his really horrid early tales through his later merely repetitive and mediocre ones. Only the easily gulled will rhapsodize over this dull and predictable writing. But, just watch the glazed eyes shine.

Gabo is something else. He is, to put it simply, an astounding writer, with a verve of language and a capacity for fleshing out great characters and fantastic stories unparalleled by any living writer. I daresay he is the best living writer, at least of those who are famous, and I doubt many who read him would disagree that he is at least among the best.

This collection of stories draws upon several other volumes, and spans a fair portion of his very long career (may he live a thousand more years!). If you have read any Garcia Marquez, you will love these little gems as much as you loved his novels-- I enjoyed "Innocent Erendira", "The Very Old Man" and "The Handsomest Drowned Sailor" best of those I recall; sadly, my copy was lost so I don't have a reference at hand.

If you have not read any Garcia Marquez: first, I recommend you do so IMMEDIATELY... there is a reason he is quite famous and a reason he is so renowned; both are very just. This volume is a nice starting point, a gateway drug into the wonderful world of Gabo. Work backwards: the early tales are good, but do not exemplify Garcia Marquez at his fullest strength, and to really appreciate him in the beginning you should really read him at his fullest capacity.

You will almost assuredly devour this little volume and end up begging for more. I recommend, of course, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE (his masterpiece, and worth reading no matter what you think of his other works!!!), LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, his COLLECTED NOVELLAS, and his more recent STRANGE PILGRIMS, which is another excellent collection of short stories.

But what are you doing reading my review? Get this book and any other Garcia Marquez you can get your hands on, and read, read, read!

You might not like or understand every story, but this is a good read.

Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez(1927 - ), or simply Gabo as he was known, was born in Columbia. He started as a journalist, then he became an editor, and a publisher. He won the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. García Márquez has lived mostly in Mexico and Europe and currently lives in Mexico City. The 80 years old author is credited with introducing or popularizing magical realism in modern literary fiction.

Some of his works have been classified as both fiction and non-fiction: Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Crónica de una muerte anunciada) (1981), tells the tale of a revenge killing, and Love in the Time of Cholera (El amor en los tiempos del cólera) (1985), is loosely based on the story of his parents' courtship. Many of his works, including those two, take place in the "García Márquez universe." The settings and characters are continued from one book to the next. The stories and novels cross genres and include magical realism: flying people, flying objects, the dead who can still think, etc. He has eight novels and numerous shorter works.

His novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (Cien años de soledad) (1967), has sold more than 36 million copies worldwide.

Based on his writings, it strikes the general that since he has written many short stories and only 8 novels, then it would be interesting to read some of his short stories. At the present time there are three books on the English market, although more have been printed. Five have been printed in the last 30 years, and three are still popular: the present book, The Collected Novellas, and Leaf Storm: and other Stories. Leaf storm has seven stories. The Collected Novellas has Leaf Storm plus two others: No One Writes to the Colonel and Chronicle of a Death Foretold.

The present book has the widest selection since it has 26 stories, long and short, that cover both realism and magical realism. Also, some are aimed at children. I enjoyed the collection and put it in the same class as Joyce's Dubliners, or similar in terms of enjoyment.

My only slight criticism is that his children's stories seem very adult. Some will be surprised with the realism and the lack of magic in many stories.

Marquez takes you into a magical tour throughout this wonderful short story book that you can read repeatedly and never tire from it. He is a master at his art and always engulfs you with a subject simply by using his unique surreal style of putting things together in writing.
I have read this book several times in both languages Spanish and English, and grasped more of his "magical realism" in Spanish, simply because it was originally written in that language and there is always something lost during translation, although the English version was pretty decent. Marquez's words are vivid and visual, as you read the stories you imagine them on a movie screen.

The Man With Enormous Wings is a great one, a shabby old man with wings falls from the sky during a heavy rainfall in some tiny South American village, and since the people that live there are superstitious they assume he's an angel from the far away heavens. So they decide to put him in a chicken coop and spread the word that there is an angel in town so people from all over the place come around with bizarre ailments such as a man that could not sleep because the noise from the stars kept him awake at night. Another woman could not stop counting and she had run out of numbers to count. Well, it goes on and on and nothing happens. The freak with wings becomes sick and somehow manages to fly away flapping it's wings like a vulture while Elisenda is cutting onions.

Then there is The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World, about some children, playing by the sea and seeing some bulky mass approaching them. At first, they think it is an enemy ship, but discover it is a dead body. The kids drag him into the town and all the women in the village start fussing all over him, especially because he was a big man. They clean him up but couldn't find clothes big enough for him to wear since he was a large man, and they decide to name him Esteban which means Stephen in English, I guess because he looked like a gringo. The men in the village start to get a little jealous about the women fuss too much over this dead Esteban. The women make up stories about what his life would have been like, what he might have done for a living, and felt sorrow over this orphan corpse. Eventually after the women grieve tremendously for Esteban, they gather flowers, hold a funeral, and he's thrown back into the sea (this was supposed to be a children's story).

Well, there are twenty four more wonderful stories in this book that you must read including Erendira and her Heartless Grandmother, and Death Constant Beyond Love.

This collection of twenty six stories by Nobel Laureate Garcia Marquez was first published as a whole in 1984, although the stories were previously published in three separate volumes. As a consequence, two translators are credited here: Gregory Rabassa for the stories from EYES OF A BLUE DOG and THE INCREDIBLE AND SAD TALE OF INNOCENT ERENDIRA AND HER HEARTLESS GRANDMOTHER, and J. S. Bernstein for the stories from BIG MAMA'S FUNERAL. Both scholars and avid followers will appreciate the chronological ordering of these tales as well as the dating of first publication from 1947 to 1972 to see the progression of a much heralded talent.

As befitting the work of a master, every story is wonderfully told, with deft touches that make each memorable. Many, particularly the early stories, deal with death, particularly the separation of consciousness from the physical body, and many explore the messiness of love. Several combine the two. In "Death Constant Before Love," a politician suffering from a terminal disease falls in love with a girl given to him as a political favor. "The Third Resignation" tells the tale of a seven year old boy who falls into a coma and then grows up in a coffin in his mother's house. Three times, he resigns himself to death. "There Are No Thieves In This Town" chronicles the foolishness of a man who steals three billiard balls from a local pool hall and who loses his wife and unborn child for it. Always, Garcia Marquez's exception talent for storytelling carries these tales alone with a romantic and mystical eye for human vulnerability. His style is never rushed, always lingering over the moment, which gives even the shortest stories the feel of a novella. Not all these stories embrace the magic realism for which the author is famous, although the reader will emerge bewitched all the same.

Jake is honest and blunt like you would expect from a good therapist. I especially liked the blend of theory and application when discussing trading problems. This book has essential information that is approached in an interesting way.

Wow--I am truly impressed with the quality and content of this book! Fortunately, the short profile quiz in the book identified me as a trader who already has strong self-discipline and a good working understanding of trading psychology and as someone who might not need to read further chapters, but I was still able to pick up pointers and solutions to the remaining problems that plague me (getting out of a position too soon, or getting out too late--both problems falling in a class called "non-specific fear or greed"). Friends of mine who have weaker self-discipline clearly exhibit many of the psychological problems that Bernstein describes as common amongst traders, especially a strong aversion to using stops for money management/loss control. I find many of his repair techniques to be similar to those used in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to treat other behavioral/psychological problems, and I appreciate his respect for many different trading styles and systems; unlike many other writers, who say that their system is the ONLY system or ONLY way to consistently profit, Bernstein stresses that ANY trading system/methodology or lack thereof will work so long as the trader has the psychology and discipline to execute it. Bernstein of course advances his own trading rules, some of which I don't agree with but which are not wrong--just not my style. Whatever *your* trading style, I'm sure you'll benefit from learning how to better implement it, so read this book! Needless to say, this is one of the few books that I've decided shall have a permanent place on my trading library shelf. It is at once detailed and scientific in content, yet easy to read and understand and will be re-read in times of trading weakness.

Save your money. Never, never waste your funds on the drivel this author produces!!

A profitable trader would never have time enough to write even one tenth the quantity of words this person produces.

Find traders that actually make money to learn from. There are a few that have written good books.

As starting points for trading:
For equities traders try: Professional Stock Trading
For futures traders try: Trading Day by Day
For psychology of investing try: Trading in the Zone


These are simply starting points, but are written by REAL traders (Mark Douglas excluded), not worthless-book producers.

Very poor book. Too many general stuff. Too many Freud and so little real advices. Completly useless. If you need serious psychology help for your trading, buy Mark Douglas and don't spent money on Bernstein.

if you are allowed to buy only one book that deals with the psychology of trading. this will be it. what is excellent about this book is it gives you an idea on how to improve yourself using psychology.

in the first few chapters of this book, mr bernstein links the science of psychology to the 'science' of investing. exploring the various branch of psychology, then comparing psychology to our trading behaviour to show how it is linked.

after that, mr bernstein goes on to tell you the many ways in which we can use what is learned in the science of psychology to improve, correct and/or enchance our trading. 200 odd pages of relevant materials and wise words on how you can go about doing it.

the author is a very good and methodical teacher. bringing out each aspect of our trading, showing us how we can look for weaknesses and improve. ie he talks about our personal beliefs, how our childhood can affect our trading style, our relationship with broker/spouse/family, our methods, or even certain specific probelms like not able to cut losses etc. analysing each aspect, allowing us to understand how it can affect our trading, and then show us how we can correct/improve. he even teaches the reader how best to read books!

after reading this book, you should learn much about yourself and the kind of trader you are. you will also learn the best way to help yourself, to improve on any weaknesses.

if there is a degree on trading, this is the definitely one of the main texts. i will also confess that my trading has improved tremendously since reading this book, from annual loser to annual winner.

this book is highly recommended. it will also stand the test of time, i strongly believe it will still be as relevant 300 years from now!

Taken from the wealth of material from 1958 and 1959, the stories pack a ton of fun; this is Superman battling bad guys and finding a way to seize victory in the end.

With 560 pages - and opponents like Metallo and Bizarro - the Man of Steel has his hands full in the comic strips that are reproduced as if pulled from the pages of newspapers. The art work is great and the story lines go back to the days when good versus evil did not have to be so gloomy.

These are super stories at a super price and great for comic book fans of any age.

I honestly don't get the appeal of these books. Why bother making (or reading) black & white reprints of classic four-color comics...? I mean, yeah, the stories are still great and the original comics are hard to find, but a huge part of what made these comics great was the eye-popping artwork, including the bright primary colors: reading them in dull B&W is just plain wrong. Sure, the printing costs are lower, so you can get more pages for your money, but it's more pages of boring, not more pages of fun. It's really a travesty.

On the other hand, it recently occurred to me that these could be used as coloring books... Maybe you could buy a box of crayons to go along with all the artwork that the publishers ruined in this format. (Axton)

I own several of the other Showcase Presents featuring more esoteric characters (Phantom Stranger, Jonah Hex, Enemy Ace, Metamorpho) so this is the first "mainstream" DC book I've bought, and I love, love, love it.

So much of the Silver Age can be tedious, but each story was so much fun that I could barely set this book down.

See the first appearance of Bizarro and Supergirl! Marvel at the lengths Lois Lane will go to marry Superman! Witness the embarrassment Clark Kent will endure to protect his secret identity!

Whoever selected these stories did a great job. One thing I would like to see added is some biographical information, particularly for unsung writers like Bill Finger. Perhaps that could come in an introduction, maybe written by a comics historian.

I'm going to buy copies for my elementary-school-age nephews (it can double as a coloring book) and collect more for myself.

I wanted to leave a message where someone from DC might see it. The superman chronicles are 5 star excellent, but these black and white Showcase books are very distracting. I, for one, would be willing to pay a higher price for color. Release Superman, and for that matter, Batman chronicles more frequently, or add color and jack the price up on the showcase books. Then, this silver age fan would be happy.

This volume along with Green Lantern vol.1 were the first two Showcase books put out by DC, and so they put them out at a promotional price of 9.99 while the others retail for 16.99.
To the previous reviewer, this Superman volume does not have any missing pages, that's just a messed up book.
I personally don't mind the lack of color in the DC Showcase or Marvel Essentials at all for one reason: the great pencillers in the old days were just as good (or better) as the best ones today, but the coloring was so poor pre-1990s or so that you really are not losing anything by the comics companies removing those awful cheap coloring jobs. Many coloring these days is done by computer and it shows, you simply cannot compare older comics' coloring with the average comics of today. Now if modern comics would just drop the 'we have to be so incredibly intense and violent all the time' everything would be in great shape. Not that I have anything against these things, it would just be nice if it wasn't every comic I read today from front to back. I love the Dark Knight Returns, but I also love wacky older Batman stories and the Batman TV show. Maybe that's why I love reading these older stories in Showcase and Essentials, because they frequently have zany lighter mood stories which are fun reading.

I just finishing reading this book. It was a good read but it is more or less for parents to read. Don't get me wrong, I learned some things: what parents go through, some things on society, history of p-flag, and such but it was not all that I hoped this book would be.
The author uses lots of high profile people as examples in this book so it was hard for someone like me to figure out just where I stand in life. As it will probably be for parents to place their child among these people who are exampled.

Most of the themes in this book are more adult rather than young teens to young adult.
It is a good attempt to give an overview of the "gay" world but it was not what I expected.

I would recomend this book for parents of gay children who want to learn more about the life style, history, p-flag, ect.
But not to learn about their children. The only way to do that is to ask them yourself.

Our son came out at age 18. When I worked up the courage, 4 months later, to attend my first PFLAG meeting (Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), the support of people who have already been there was wonderful. This was the first book they recommended, and it made a huge difference in my ability to bring order to my thoughts (and my conflicted heart), and not just to accept but to embrace my son's courage and honesty. The book deals compassionately with parents' fears regarding potential violence to our children and the tragedy of AIDS and social prejudice. More importantly, it inspires and en-courages parents not just to continue loving our children, which is the easy part, but to become comfortable as advocates for our fine children (who happen to be GLBT) to whatever degree makes sense in our lives. I highly recommend this book.

And that's the problem with this book, if it's not read within its parameters. Robert A. Bernstein, inspired to write his book after his teenage daughter came out as a lesbian, has some wonderful examples of parental support of gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered children, and support for parents is the reason for the book. And the history of the parental group (P-FLAG) of such children is intriguing and informative. Certainly, just as gay and lesbian children need the support of their families, so their parents need their unique support systems. Unfortunately, parents who reject not only their childrens' "alternate" lifestyles but their children in whole, aren't likely to read Bernstein's book simply because they probably don't want to understand what they disdain for whatever reason. The real-life parent-child relationships posited here are wonderful, and it would be truly magnificent if all parent-child relationships could be as they are here. Additionally, the children in this book are older, not necessarily pre- and teenagers, thus exluding the parents of these age-specific issues. Further, many of the children cited here are usually on track toward personal and professional fulfillment, quite likely partly because of their parents' support. Unfortunately, a great many others, if not more, have either been fully abandoned by their parents and family or, if they haven't, don't have what could qualify as anything nearing a healthy relationship with their parents. By its title, Bernstein's novel is directed toward parents, and certainly they need support just as much as their children. But to conclude that all gay and lesbian children have their families' unconditional love and support would be a tragic mistake. Unfortunately, all too many parents, presumably affected by the fears and prejudices of homophobia, will likely never accept their childrens' alternative choices and will never have a need for a book like this. But for those parents who do, Bernstein's work is a wonderful beginning toward understanding.

Robert Bernstein's account of the development of P-Flag is emtional and inspiring. His book helps parents of gay children to learn about what gay means and how to accept their children. One flaw in this book is that all the examples he uses are men and women who have achieved high status as pretty much defined by society. Most of them are in "marriages", long-term relationships. All of this makes them look "just like" straight people. This position is only one of many taken by gay people and gay organizations. I wondered as I read this book where I fit in. None of those gay people were like me and I did not share many of their views. So where does that put gay people like myself in Bernstein's perspective? The book seems to whitewash much of the gay world. Bernstein does not seem to be in touch with the youth programs. As a volunteer in one of those programs, I can tesitfy that none of the teens in our project reflect the kind of gay people he described. That criticism aside, Bernstein's book attempts to fight bigotry and help straight parents climb the mountain, as one parent put it to dealing with their own issues and reaching out to their children in love.

The 30th anniversary of PFLAG is a fitting time for this updated edition. Former national vice president of PFLAG, Robert Bernstein has chronicled not only his own journey to acceptance and support of his lesbian daughter, but also the founding and continuing growth of PFLAG.
Moving stories of the founders and leaders of PFLAG blend with Bernstein's story. These tales underline the ability of loving parents to work together toward acceptance of their children's differences. Following their initial shock, guilt, and grief, all these parents have found their way to acceptance and respect for their special children. Their realization that this is still the child they love is the first great step. Most have gone on from this stage to help and support other parents through their early traumas and into the light and joy of truly sharing their children's lives. PFLAG plays a major role in all their lives. Many have become staunch advocates for equality and acceptance of their own and all other such children into the larger community.
Straight Parents, Gay Children includes stories of celebrities, politicians (even the Vice President of the US), and religious leaders of many faiths who have faced and accepted homosexuality for themselves or within their families. These highly visible community and national leaders stand in strong contrast to the homophobia and hatred so apparent in the public proclamations of other church and political leaders. A new chapter in this edition is devoted to these celebrities and other leaders.
Toward the end of the book is a "Survival Guide." It debunks the concept of guilt - that the parents "did something wrong" to make their child homosexual. This chapter presents arguments to overcome the shame and anger that usually erupt shortly after your child's announcement "Mom, Dad, I'm gay." You are led toward understanding and respect for your courageous child. And, if you are willing, you are led to publicly support not only your own child, but all who are subjected to marginalization due to their sexual or gender diversity.
Another new chapter in this edition, "Family Values," discusses gay and lesbian parenting. In "The Unreliability of Stereotypes," Bernstein discusses common stereotypes of policing, professional sports, and politics - where they are "...unmasked as, well, fairy tales."
As author Bernstein points out, "If you have a gay child, you are in the very best of company."