Bridges Books

I had the benefit of seeing an interview on a Canadian talkshow a couple of years ago. I have read the book and met the author. We have a gifted helper in our midst, Grace's goal is to help people advance thier life in their own direction, she inspires us to fulfill our dreams, even to have a dream, and she shows us the steps that are necessary to get their. This book provides a wealth of compassion, expertise and references to real life experiences that helped make Grace Cirocco who she is, and believe me she insired me to believe I can have such strength and belief. To have faith in one's own ability is the key to great things. I feel 'great' since being introduced to the book and to Grace. We are blessed, those of us who have been able to experience the process of Taking the Step with Grace Cirocco.

This book is amazing! It is like a bible for me. Whenever I feel like I need some motivation or direction I read a chapter that is relevant to how I'm feeling and do an excercise and I feel so much better. This is a must read for anyone looking for personal growth and empowerment.

Take The Step: The Bridge Will Be There by Grace Sirocco is an inspirational guide to finding the right path in life and to determine what that path might be. Sirocco's approach to the world of doing is a helpful and educational outlook on what those lost really should be doing in order to be found. Strongly recommended for its encouraging nature and its apparent knowledge, Take The Step is the ideal book for readers seeking a better sense of self, as well as and particularly to those wanting the freedom of self and/or pursue self-improvement.

If you're looking for a book to help awaken you to the endlessly magical potentialities and purpose of your life, then `Take The Step, The Bridge Will Be There' is waiting for you.

Refreshing in its honesty and joyfully uplifting, this book is a genuine gift of love. Its author, Grace Cirocco, offers 389 pages of awesome eye-opening anecdotes, analogies and quotable quotes which spur us on in a jubilant embrace of our highest selves. Her vulnerability in sharing so much of her deepest being is empowering to behold. Couple this will her invigorating humor, her inspiring and enlightening perspectives and her enthusiasm which is nothing short of contagious-and you have a feel-good, `I'm ready to turn my life around' journey which will keep you smiling and moving forward, long after you finish the book's final page.

Take the step and experience this book first hand. I guarantee that as you work your way through the light of its odyssey, you'll feel the angel known as `Grace' beside you, every step of the way.

Grace Cirocco's book is unquestionnably one of the best books I have read to help me work through issues in my life and to assist me in recognizing things as they come up and deal with them effectively. I have found reading this book and applying it's principles deeply rewarding and it has helped me become a better person. I have recommended it to many people and will continue to do so.

A good read. Trying to instill proper ethics in my teens can be a challenge. Holding their attention can be difficult, and Taking the Harder Right offers just the right amount of wisdom without being overly drawn out. Well done.

Interesting as well as informative. Easy to read. It is the kind of book that makes you think about it for days or longer.

A great read - should be required for all college students. I talked with a man on his way back from Hong Kong about the "slippery slope" Taking the Harder Right presents while flying back to ATL. The book makes you cringe as you read it: to know that the person telling the story is going to lose in the end. If this were a mystery novel, you could hope that the characters would take the harder right before things went too far; knowing that each of the three stories was written post-prison took away that hope and made it very sobering to read. The lesson that I hope others (and myself) get from this book is this: that we should continually choose the harder right from the beginning; not wait until just before things go too far. I kept thinking of the novel The Firm as I read your book. The trappings of wealth and evil can be very subtle in the beginning - that was the lure that trapped the attorneys and made them stay in the firm.

It also reminded me of the "boiling a frog" analogy. Supposedly, you can actually boil a frog to death. If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will - obviously - jump out of the pan (or at least make every effort to do so). However, if you set the frog into a pan of lukewarm water and then slowly heat it, it will literally stay put until it is cooked! With evil and corruption, we see the same thing in this book. None of the guest writers were approached with a "Hey, let's break the law, and I will give you lots of money" offer - instead, they fell prey to subtle approaches that they could justify. Like the frog, they could rationalize, "Hey, the water isn't that much hotter!" Sad results, but I am glad that all seem to have chosen now to take the harder right and seem truly penitent (not just sorry that they got caught) and seem to be making restitution.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in two lectures of the author and two of his co-authors. The first time was during my final semester in a graduate course in 2006. Diann Cattani, one of the co-authors, was the only presenter at the time. The presentation was so mesmerizing that you could hear a pin drop in the entire room. This was a true story of personal battles, a good wonderful person with an excellent upbringing, giving into pressures mostly created by her alone, and taking the easier wrong path rather the harder right - and paying dearly as a result. The courage that she displayed as she shared her story truthfully in hopes to reach others that might be falling into the same trap was astounding.

I purchased the book that night and could not put it down till I finished it. The main author, Oliver Halle, is a retired special FBI agent, sharing his "life changing" and "life shaping" stories, and defining the distinction between the two. In addition to Diann's story, the book has two other fascinating stories of real people as well, of Josh Kenyon and Walt Pavlo, two other upstanding individuals who somewhere along the way took the easier wrong rather that the harder right; and ended up with having to face dire consequences. These are not fictional characters, these are real people, high upstanding educated professionals who know right from wrong, yet they fell into a downward spiral of destruction after taking the easier wrong, until it led to their total demise.

As I began my carrier as an auditor, and began studying for Forensic Accounting, I often thought about Diann's presentation and the message of the book. When I heard there is going to be another presentation at the same class a year later in 2007, I contacted my professor and asked permission to be present. This time, I had the pleasure of listening to Oliver's presentation, as well as listening to Josh's and Diann's story. A year had passed since the first presentation, and listening to Diann's story brought tears to my eyes again. I wanted to hug her and take all of her pain away. A year had passed for me, I had moved on in my career, and Diann was still suffering the consequences of her actions. I read the book again that night from cover to cover, and found it just as intriguing and fascinating as I did the first time.

Buy this book, and read it, realizing these are real people, these are real stories, and learn from their mistakes. All people at all different stages of life, in any profession or way of life can benefit from their experience. The more people they reach, the more they have given back to the society that they once wronged. THAT is their ultimate goal.

I started reading the book last night, and the next thing I knew, I finished it. This is an excellent resource for our students, and I congratulate the authors for a job extremely well done.

Halle's front-end material and the three tragic stories at the end of the book make for a very powerful message. I have had this group speak to my graduate accounting class twice, and they are fantastic! My students have been "blown away" both times, and the book is very consistent with the theme of their seminar.

We've purchased over 10 copies in the last year and plan on participating in several bible studies based on this wonderful book - enlightening and practical.

A wonderful book - easily the basis of study and devotion. I used it as the basis for devotionals with a teaching team in China. We really did want to walk with, through and like Jesus. This helped unpackage all of His character.

This is a must-own book. As a pastor of a small church I used this book to lead our congregation weekly on how to walk as Jesus walked. It proved very fruitful. The chapters were concise and insightful and the author brought much contemporary application. Highly recommended.
Mark LaCour, Pastor of Grace Bible Fellowship, Baton Rouge, La.

I just finished a 16-week study on Wednesday evenings based on Walking Like Jesus Did. I speak on behalf of the congregation when I say that it has been a fascinating study! As a pastor, I had been looking for a study guide that points the believer to our Master as the example par excellence for Christian living. Walking Like Jesus Did is that study!

One can't help but admire the life of Christ. Many different religions claim him as a man to emulate. This book gives good biblically-based insights into his core character that help us walk with the same principles 2000 years later. Simple, practical, and easy to read (yet insightful)--this is a great book for all ages, all religions, and all cultures.

WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE is a true evergreen. Read it once when you are a beginner. It is truly hard to find such concise guide how to advance rapidly from the basics. Or, like me - after all it first appeared before I was born - rediscover it if you want to improve faster. Players at all levels will find something fresh and stimulating while reading it. Many books dwell for long pages on the intricacies of the complex game of bridge, but this book really focuses on the essentials, on how to think at the bridge table, and how to remain realistic, especially if you are playing with different partners. And if you have an established partnership, read it together. Walking the fine line between being too aggressive or too conservative is the key to success in bridge, and this book has good advice on how to fine-tune your approach. The pages on competitive bidding are pure gold. The reader will find practical gems like dealing with preempts and psychic bids or playing 4-3 fits - just to name a few - which are as important to the matchpoint and team players today as they were for rubber bridge in the forties. To wrap it up, read and re-read it! And it's fun, the characters are memorable and the boards excellent and thought provoking.

Everyone with any interest in bridge should read this book. The bridge hands are interesting and instructive, but the characters are what make the book great.

S. J. Simon's Why You Lose at Bridge remains (since its original 1945 publication) the best text on improving one's partnership available anywhere at any price. Read it. Practice what you learned. Watch your partnerships improve. Read it, again ...

If you have a standing partnership, read it together. Even the most capable professionals may well (re)discover ways to improve their game as they absorb Simon's words of wisdom. Improve your partnership, and your game improves. Simon sez ...

Entertaining and informative,especially for rubber bridge players.
A bit old fashioned now but the message gets across loud and clear.
A must for all bridge fanatics.

The bridge-bidder's arsenal is usually full of "gadgets": non-literal bids meant to convey or suggest information that might escape the normal bidding sequence. Even by the time this 1940s book appeared, "scientific" systems by leading bridge "experts" were all the rage. Who would disagree with scientific "experts"? After all, you can't fight progress.

WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE dares to differ. S.J. Simon, author of this enduring little volume, shows us the genuine odds behind competitive bidding and play and explains things the highly regarded experts of his day didn't know -- or didn't want us to know.

[Note: the following two grafs assume some bridge experience.]
Would you almost automatically double a competitor's bid of "Six Spades" (12 of the 13 card tricks) if you had two "quick tricks" in your hand? Think about it, Simon warns. If the opponents have even a one-in-three chance of winning, your unthinking double will give them between four and six times the number of points for making contract considering vulnerability. Besides, when they hear your double the declarer will figure you for the two Aces and act accordingly. Watch out for the sure things that really aren't.

And sometimes (usually, the author implies) the scientific gadgets aren't worth it. At one tourney, following tortuous symbolic bidding, one partnership came to a contract of four spades and went down one. How had the author and his partner bid that "impossible" hand? Like this: South - 1 NT; North - 3 NT. Simple and literal.

After offering a bracing immersion in what I all "unlearning," Simon spends the second half of the book on the psychology of bridge, starting with the times a partner or opponent starts what he calls "trancing" -- mulling things over. Chapter Eleven, "The Logic of Luck," typically illustrates Simon's curmudgeonly attitude. We could almost blame him for the high-British-arch tone of his writing, except that he is always right!

WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE is a tremendous book for bridge beginners, perhaps even more so for intermediates and even the more experienced players trying to cope with a new partner. Of course, this WAS the 1940s so the author assumes that major suits (Hearts and Spades) can be bid upon with only four of them in hand as opposed to today's more prevalent "five-card major" approach. And I have to wonder what Simon would make of today's bidding in general.

Bridge Over Troubled Bidding offers a basis to make aacceptable and competent bids, a rule of thumb (a comfort zone) assuring the player he/she can enter the game, enjoy and look forward to the next one. A plus is that we can focus on the cards dealt, what we can do with them and feel secure to enter the auction.

Jan Pittelli offers the reader a wealth of information in an understandable and creative format. Her objectives for each chapter are very clear. She is able to meet the needs of the various learning styles of her readers by providing different approaches to deliver the information. Her visual presentations with the blocked off "Bridge Language", review sections, hands-on workbook practice, audiotape, and helpful advice from her experiences, provide the student with a fun and unintimidating way to learn bridge. Pittelli's encouragement along with a writing style which conveys her enthusiasm and respect for the game are very motivational to the beginning student.

I have played bridge since I was a junior in high school at which time my mother insisted that I take bridge lessons. Although I rather enjoyed the game, the act of bidding was stressful to me. Substituting in a bridge group was always a tense experience. Invariably someone would ask, "Do you bid a (some term I never had even heard of)?" or after the bidding someone would ask, "WHY did you bid THAT". In short, before I read this book, bidding was no fun. I, like others I know, would sometimes pass early to avoid getting the bid. Now, after Bridge Over Troubled Bidding, I enjoy the entire game. I may not always win, and I may not always make my bid, but at least I'm approaching the game with knowledge and understanding which previously had escaped me. I'm personally glad that Pittelli was able to find a new and effective way to explain the act of bidding. I hope many readers will now be better able to enjoy the game and to even teach their own kids in such a delightful manner.

Outstanding book for beginners and for those who only think they know how to bid. Extremely valuable for anyone interested in learning the game or upgrading their bidding skills. This book is an absolute must for beginners and for those who have not played bridge for a while. Along with the book you also receive a workbook and audio tape. The workbook is excellent for practice and the tape is very helpful, easy to understand - you can brush up on your skills in the car.

I have played bridge since I was a junior in high school at which time my mother insisted that I take bridge lessons. Although I rather enjoyed the game, the act of bidding was stressful to me. Substituting in a bridge group was always a tense experience. Invariably someone would ask, "Do you bid a (some term I never had even heard of)?" or after the bidding someone would ask, "WHY did you bid THAT". In short, before I read this book, bidding was no fun. I, like others I know, would sometimes pass early to avoid getting the bid. Now, after Bridge Over Troubled Bidding, I enjoy the entire game. I may not always win, and I may not always make my bid, but at least I'm approaching the game with knowledge and understanding which previously had escaped me. I'm personally glad that Pittelli was able to find a new and effective way to explain the act of bidding. I hope many readers will now be better able to enjoy the game and to even teach their own kids in such a delightful manner.

Clyde Elton Love was my grandfather. In 1987 my mother, (his daughter), Marian Love MacAlpin renewed all copyrights to his books. Dover publications pirated the copyright to this book, and as my mother is dead and my family cannot afford pressing suit, this publication is actually illegal. Happy as I am to see Grandfather's books still in demand, I am saddened that Dover, with its "good" reputation, stooped to such an action. Dover hides behind the quality of the books they publish.

If you read this book thouroghly it will improve your game tremendously. The bidding in it is antiquated and it is written as a very dense textbook, but the declarer play is incredible. Love describes in detail all the different kinds of squeezes and how to execute them. He has detailed examples for you to work through, and then problems for you to try on your own before looking at the answers. His coverage of strip squeezes was a bit confusing, but he covers simple, double, and compound squeezes wonderfully (he covers more exotic squeezes, too). However, I wish he had discussed defending against squeeze plays more (it was only mentioned briefly). This book is not for the beginner or casual player, but it's fantastic if you're serious about bridge.

This is by far the best. Not for beginners. You won't need all of its chapters in your daily play, but if you do know how to deal with every board presented in this book, then you are likely to win the bermuda bowl.

This book will explain all types of squeezes, from the most simple ones to the worst and most complicated. You may be confused with the terminology, but I guarantee that reading this book will make you THINK, and EXECUTE your opponents!

Absolutely fantastic book on squeezes! The book gives a fairly complete survey all types of squeezes and explains the background and particular structure of each type. It does not just give a lot of diagrams and shows that a squeeze of some type exists. Instead it provides a very clear description of all conditions and the reasoning behind 'the cards should be played in this particular order'. I especially love the chapters on double compound squeezes!

This isn't the sort of book you pick up for 10 minutes before bed... it's the sort that you read at a desk with a pad and paper to take notes with! If you're willing to put the time and effort into a serious reading of this book, however, you will learn a tremendous amount.

If you're looking for an accessible, casual introduction to the subject, look elsewhere (I highly recommend David Bird's _Bridge Squeezes for Everyone_). It's also not suitable for beginning players. This is a book for serious study but is well worth the effort.

We usually see bridges as an extension of the road we're on, never realizing that every bridge is a great venture unto itself, where creativity, engineering genius and big capital all come into play.
Mr. Cortright's book highlights the most beautiful and unusual bridges from around the world, covering a span of nearly 3000 years. They're all here, from ancient Roman arches to extravagant futuristic showpieces. Whether the locale is Buenos Aires or Shanghai, you'll find yourself daydreaming about who built these bridges and what it would be like to cross them. I picked up this book in an odd moment and found myself captivated for hours.

Ideal for bridge fans, but even better for those who simply like to travel in their imagination. Highly recommended.

An amazing book. Great photos of bridges all over the world. Very insightful. The book has inspired me to go Bridging and I use the book as a reference handbook.

Bridge aficionados are lucky that Bob Cortright is alive, well, and traveling the world with his camera and lifelong, unabashed love of bridges. In this, his third magnificent volume, Cortright takes his camera further afield to bring readers stunning, full color photographs of bridges from 28 countries across six continents. His witty, succinct commentary conveys fascinating lore and trivia about each bridge. A perfect gift for travelers, students, and pontists of all ages. To see more of Cortright's bridges, visit [...].

If you take bridges for granted, perhaps as part of a daily commute, you likely won't again after reading Robert Cortright's lovingly assembled book.

Whether it be a multi-century old stone bridge in the old world or a recently built cable-stayed structure, you can't help but pause to admire the hundreds of examples of man's handiwork in Bridging the World.

Grouped by the method of construction used, these bridges are a tribute to man's ingenuity and his need to communicate. Featuring bridges from almost 30 countries and from 6 continents, the book is guaranteed to leave you wanting to see more, perhaps even in your own locale.

BRIDGING THE WORLD would make a wonderful gift for anyone with an interest in engineering or architecture, an armchair traveler or history buff, or anyone who just likes beautiful photography. Cortright is a retired American banker who just loves bridges. This is his third book filled with bridge photos, and he's obviously very good at his craft. The photos are gorgeous, displaying bridges from all over the world, with 306 clear, colorful photos from 28 countries and six continents.

The photography is exquisite -- you can see the individual cables, the shadows on the water or canyon beneath the structure, and the texture of the stones and other materials used in the bridge construction. The book arranges the bridges more or less chronologically or by length of span. The photos are divided by method of construction used in the bridge -- beam, arch, suspension, cable-stayed, aqueducts and special bridges. The book begins with structures built in ancient times and moves on to huge, modern works of art. To see several of the photos, visit www.bridgeink.com. Strongly recommended, especially as a gift.

The classic book on overcalls. Excellent advice on non-vulnerable overcalls at the one level and on which overcalls to avoid. Newer players might want to start with Edgar Kaplan's Competitive Bidding in Modern Bridge

Everything you need to know about overcalls. That's all.
(4card overcalls are simply outstanding).

Mike Lawrence must be a direct descendant of Sherlock Holmes! He uses every scrap of information available on any particular hand/auction, and uses these to arrive at the best bid to make. And it is because of this attention to detail that this (and his other books) are intended for those players in the intermediate or advanced category.

Interesting to place this book's approach alongside more modern bridge textbooks. Take the likes of Cohen's 'Law of Total Tricks'. It expounds the 'Law' and then illustrates how a player should use it via a modest selection of example hands. By contrast, Mike Lawrence bombards the reader with every conceivable hand and explains (albeit in logical order) how you should be thinking about these along the way.

This hardly SEEMS a sound teaching approach: the type is small, there is loads of repetition (Lawrence admits it), and the 'quizzes' at the end of each section are not organised in a 'reader-friendly' way.

But where this book succeeds and some modern books fail, is curiously in its insistence upon looking at each hand in a strictly individual way, as opposed to selling out to easy mnemonics or rules.

While more modern books (take one of Eddie Kantar's books on defence, which I also think are excellent) are nicely presented, contain witty 'after-dinner' asides, and have an interactive feel, their neatness sometimes makes me feel that bridge is all clearcut rules and decisions, hard for the beginner, easy for the expert.

But Mike Lawrence seems to be experiencing real pain on many of his example deals! You will frequently see him write, 'I don't know what to do with this hand', not because he's not a good player, but because he understands the difference, for a bridge player, between 'knowing the path' and 'walking the path'.

The writer of this book won't sit on his pedestal and lecture you with rules, he will walk the path WITH you. If you will take the time to let him lead you, it should prove time well spent.

First the downside: Its a bit of work going through this book. This is not some light read, with lots of jokes. Expect to spend a lot of time thinking aabout whats going on given a bidding sequence, and your hand. You want to improve? You have to work at it!

The upside: This will really help you to understand not just overcalls, but hand evaluation, bidding, opening leads, defense, and what in general is going on. Who holds what, etc.


Its a study of whats going on in all 4 players hands, given the information of a single bid, or one round of bidding. Why, with the exact same hand, you can overcall with one sequence, and pass with the other. I spent a few weeks reading this, going over the hundreds of sequences and hands. I'm now more aware of certain lurking dangers, and what to look out for.

This book is probably the best book on bridge ever written. There is so much insight in this book that you will have to re-read it time and time again each time adding to your own insight in not only overcalling but the game as a whole. The style is lucid sometimes nonchalant; Lawrence gives insight into his own considerations when making bidding decisions and makes it clear that many decisions are not absolute. But following the logic and type of arguments he presents you will get more and more decisions right. I strongly recommend this book to every bridge player who aspires to improve his or her game.

This book was written in 1955 as a summary of the changes made in the subject of Dianetics up to that time. However, it is far more than that. It is a manual of communication. What are the component parts of communication? How do you integrate these parts so that your communication (verbal, written, artistic) actually gets across. The book helped me a great deal

This book covers communication very thoroughly. Maybe that sounds boring - but really, communication is at the heart of all our dealings with other people. And the material in this book applies to everyone. It's presented in a very readable format, and I highly recommend it!

I decided I ought to write a review to let people know a) this is a great book, and b) they really ought to read Fundamentals of Thought first. But I see that another reviewer has already pointed that out.

What I WOULD like to stress is that this is a book that puts a very powerful tool in the hands of anyone who is honest enough to use it without having some other axe to grind. The communication principles outlined by Mr. Hubbard can be used (easily!) to analyze and improve every area your life, and to remedy many common problems.

Are there areas in which you are waiting anxiously for someone else to communicate something or to do something you want? Are you hoping for some sort of acknowledgement that you're not likely to get? Do you have unanswered letters around, or things you've wanted to do or agreed to do but haven't yet found time for? Is there someone around who keeps talking to you or directing some other communication your way, and it's driving you nuts? Are there people around you who just don't seem to listen?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" (and this is not by any means a complete list--I just took these off the top of my head), or if you're having any OTHER kind of problem in life, YOU NEED TO READ AND APPLY THIS BOOK.

I would recommend reading The Fundamentals of Thought (ca. 1952) before reading this one (written in 1955). In any case, it answers just so much that some people simply cannot take it. Beware the dogs of the manger. Now, this book is really dynamite, frankly, and equally frankly, I would recommend some of the Basic Dianetics/Scientology books first.

In short I can only say that after reading this book I have understood things and changed conditions in my life in areas that I never dreamed was possible. It has to do with very basic principles in life and existence - I am sure it will touch some basic issues in everybody - if they dare to look at themselves and their surroundings.

After reading the reviews for this book, I ordered it (used) for my son. It arrived promptly, and in condition as described. Packaged well. PS. My son is thankful to get this book.

We wrote our first book, The Man of Her Dreams The Woman of His! and wondered if we would ever find any books that were written in the seventies that had much the same message. We happened upon this gem and were real happy with it. Order this and then order our first book. If your life is changed by these two books, then you can check out our second book: The Man of Her Dreams The Woman of His 2 - Livin' It and Lovin' It! (Volume 2)

This is an excellant book that will teach men why the are here and why they are married to their wife. It shares GREAT insight for men on HOW to love their wives and why their wife does the things they do and what she is expecting of her naturally as God intended. No other book that I have encountered teaches men the ins and outs of why they are where they are as this book does. It is a must read for all men looking to be what he is meant to be here on earth. It should be taught in school. The synopsis needs to be changed. Women benefit in reading the book to see where her husband maybe coming from, but MEN need to read the book to have a successful marriage and become the glory of God as God intended. It will do no man any good for his wife to read it untill he has read it himself.

I have been a Christian husband for 29+ years and thought I was a very good husband. I read this book and it pinpointed my weakness as a husband, one item at a time untill I was exhausted - but had to agree with it. THE SCRIPTURE REFFERENCES ARE DYNAMITE!

"There is a way that seems right unto a man; but in the end ...." Most of us guys think we know what a woman needs from us and how we should treat the most important woman in our lives. Often we get left wondering what happened when this woman ends up gone or, at best, leaves us alone in our own house. Many such marriage let downs could be eliminated simply through discovering and using the practicalities of marriage which abound within this book. Every man could use a dose of this stuff on a regular basis. A great book for real men.