Cohen Books

I ordered this book along with my new Kitchen Aid ice cream maker. The book is delightful, written with lots of humor and interesting stories of how Ben & Jerry started their business. Oh, and the recipes are great too! Really, there are some wonderful recipes in this little book. I was concerned about using raw eggs. I live in a very small Canadian town and was unable to get pasteurized eggs. I went online to see what temperatures kill Salmonella and found that "storing below freezing will destroy most of the bacteria". Most??? Sorry, not for my family. I adapted the recipes to make a cooked custard first. Most of these recipes have milk, sugar and eggs as a base. Just whisk the sugar into the milk and whisk in the beaten eggs. Cook over low to medium heat, stirring with a spatula constantly. I used a candy thermometer and you should stop at 175 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. The minute you see a boiling bubble, take it off the heat and whisk vigorously. Cool the mixture in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, and whisk it about every 30 minutes until it is completely chilled. Then you add your cream and whatever else you are putting in and pour the whole thing into the ice cream maker. Voila!! Perfect ice cream every time!! This book will also give you the motivation to invent your own flavors, as you will see that the base is, well, basic. You will be limited only by your imagination! Enjoy!

Casual and serious ice cream makers alike will find this recipe book entertaining and very useful, not only for the ice cream recipes but also for the tips on preparation and the topping recipes as well. I have a daughter that doesn't even try any other ice cream recipes.

Good, basic, recipe book. I like that it gives the beginner a good foundation for marking ice cream. It's a step up from the book that comes with the ice cream makers.

Ever since I bought my wife this book and the ice cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid mixer, my life has gotten much better. Most of my favorite Ben and Jerry's ice creams are in here and they taste almost exactly like the real thing! If you own an ice cream maker, this is definitely part of the required reading!

I have an KitchenAid KICA0WH Ice Cream Maker Attachment for my KitchenAid KSM50HDPBK 10-Speed Stand Mixer, Imperial Black. The B&J book is a nice addition to our cookbook collection. We tried two of the recipes, Cherry Garcia and Mint Cookies. Both came out great!

The artwork inside fits the artwork you will find on a tub of B&J ice cream. This may be either something your looking forward to or not depending how you would enjoy that type of artwork. It did not fit my taste, but that does not detract from the overall quality.

The recipes are simple, and taste great. This will be a wonderful book to add to any collection you have or are starting.

I enjoyed reading this book. I have seen Paula Deen on TV for the past 4 years and I like her style. The book gave me a closer look into the person, not just the cook. She has many interesting people in her life and I like how she is very honest and up front about the part they played in her life and her untimate success. If I ever get to Savannah, GA I will stop by The Lady & Sons restaurant, I won't mind the wait in line. Thanks to you Paula for sharing your story with us.
Carrie.
Tracy, CA USA

A fantastic book about a truly amazing woman who deserves everything that she has attained in life. She told a life story that most people would never tell that are in her position. She is a remarkable lady.

This was the most insightful and honest books I have ever read. Paula deserves everything she has worked so hard for. She should also be congratulated on managing to keep herself and her entire family together They all appear to be wonderful, loving, generous, caring and generally all around great people. Her current husband sounds like he was meant to be part of this, sometimes crazy, family but all of them have a wonderful outlook on life. Congrats! to Paula and family!

You should know that I am not a cook and I don't particularly like cooking. So reading this book I wasn't reading it as an awe-struck groupie of a Food Network star. I do occasionally watch her cooking program but I think more for her TV style than the dishes she prepares.

I admire Paula Deen because I believe she has a success story from which we can all learn a lesson or two. I am fascinated by the success of others. I like cheering for the underdog and the good guys. To me, Paula Deen's success story is right up there with the best. Her book Paula Deen A Memoir - It Ain't All About The Cookin' is an inspiration to all of us who aren't so perfect, who've made some big mistakes and yet, know we want to succeed and find happiness in our life.

If you're looking for a Pollyanna story, this isn't it. If you're looking for sweet talking motivation, this isn't it. If you are looking for a real-world story about overcoming depression, anxiety and having the unstoppable determination to succeed then this is the book for you.

I congratulate Paula Deen for telling us the real story and not holding back. Nothing is sugar coated when she tells us about her marriage, her anxiety attacks, her age and her depression. Thank goodness she writes the way she speaks, open and honest and with a great sense of humor. Paula tells us about an everyday woman who lived, loved and messed up. She's a real woman making real mistakes and some bad choices. She found the answers and the deep-down motivation to pull herself out of the abyss and make her dreams come true. In that story, there is a powerful lesson for all of us to learn.

This is a book about personal and professional success. If you're going through a bad time in life right now, I suggest you carefully read and "feel" the lessons in this book. If you're thinking of starting your own business, I suggest you read about Paula's trials and tribulations carefully. If you're in business already, you'll enjoy this great success story. If you're a cook, you'll enjoy Paula's recipes at the end of each chapter.

I recommend you take your time and read this book when you can give it your full attention. Paula Deen A Memoir - It Ain't All About The Cookin' has many self-development and success-oriented lessons. I think what really struck me was Paula Deen's tenacity. I applaud her ability to pick herself up and make things happen for the better.

Her success seems to be a combination of hard work and coincidences. But all of us who believe in self-development know there really are no coincidences. Nothing happens by accident - something we are consciously or unconsciously believing, affirming or thinking is drawing these coincidences into our lives. I particularly enjoyed the stories of how the right people at the right time appeared in her life to offer her the right opportunities for success.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is going through a life-change, depression, anxiety attacks, and divorce or contemplating beginning your own business. There are valuable lessons to be learned from Paula Deen's successes and mistakes. Paula Deen is a true personal and professional American success story. Thank you Paula Deen for sharing your story with all of us!

I was a HUGE fan of Paula Deen before I read this book. Based on her Food Network Chefography I was looking forward to learning more about her struggle to succeed and the more personal side of her divorce and rebuilding at age 40. However there are some stories that don't need to be told. While her life wasn't picture perfect it was pretty close. The introduction on her show makes it seem as though her husband left her at 40 and she had to scrape together pennies to put herself back together. That is not the case! She left her husband, she slept with a married man for 10 years and she used her sons as workhorses. While she does own up to most of these things and I can appreciate her honesty I can no longer watch her show or her Smithfield commercials. If you want to read a wonderful story about a Food Network star, pick up Made From Scratch: A Memoir by Sandra Lee.

944-page two-part near-classic is undone by its weak ending, but still stands as a masterpiece of literature. Considered a "first novel", DQ plays on themes of meaning, faith, and madness with great humor.

Cervantes wrote the book in two parts separated by a five-year hiatus (1605 and 1610) during which another author wrote a poorly-received second part, which Cervantes attacks repeatedly in his own followup.

As long as it is, the translation while "unabridged" does not translate all of the original Spanish. Part of the Oxford World's Classics" series, this translation is the famous Jarvis translation from 1742, which was long considered the classic translation. While modern language scholarship has revealed its inexactness, the Oxford version uses it because it best captures the feel if not the word-for-word meaning of the translation, and end notes identify where Jarvis has veered from the original to maintain rhymes, jokes, and puns.

I love the story but have never been able to finish the book. I listened to this on a road trip to California and found it very enjoyable. They did cut a major section, but I guess that is what you contend with in an abridged version.

'Don Quixote' is largely considered to be a satire on the popular chivalric ballads of Cervantes' day, but don't be fooled. This novel is no satire on chivalry, itself. Indeed, through the trials of Quixote and Sancho Panza, Cervantes is perhaps the greatest promoter of chivalric ideas that the West has ever known. No other protagonist so thoroughly embodies the ideals of heroism, romantic love, friendship, honor, discretion, trust, virtue, and adventure than does Don Quixote. It just so happens that he is insane, but the author is able to look beyond that. So too should the reader.

The knight's sallies are absolutely delightful and, it must be credited, alone prove Cervantes' genius in writing. The dialogue between Quixote and Sancho is excellent comedy, creating a duo that has gone unsurpassed in originality and endearment for five centuries. "Is it possible that Your Worship can be so thick skulled and brainless as to not perceive the truth of what I allege?" Classic.

But these adventures, hilarious as they may be, give us frame for a storehouse chivalric truisms, the like of which can be found in no other work of fiction. A sampling would include: "An author had better be applauded by the few that are wise than laughed at by the many that are foolish;" "Anyone who has been a good squire will never be a bad governor;" "There is a wide difference between flying and retreating; valor which is not founded on the base of discretion is termed temerity or rashness;" and "Whenever virtue shines in an emanant degree, she always meets with persecution."

The reader cannot help but to love such regal assuredness, such profound idealism. Ironically, Quixote's insanity never really contradicts his optimism and in fact vindicates it. It is commentary on the human condition that only the insane person can actually accomplish something virtuous. And after all the delusions are expired and all the fallacies uncovered, Don Quixote actually has accomplished everything he set out to achieve if only because he was noble enough to strive for it.

A note must be made on the translations. While much of the verbiage is straightforward, there are several repeated phrases that are different between the major translations, Quixote's moniker being one of the most important. In every translation I have seen, the name has been different--"The Knight of the Rueful Countenance," "The Knight of the Mournful Countenance," and "The Knight of the Sorrowful Face" are all used for the same phrase. I enjoyed the "Rueful Countenance" and found it to be well-suited for the style of the novel though I have not read other translations.

In the end, though, you cannot go wrong. 'Don Quixote' is a pure joy to read and we are fortunate to have the ability to do so.

Don Quixote well deserves its place in the pantheon of world classics. For me, it's the ultimate desert island book. It is simply an indescribable jewel, full of fun, hilarity, adventure, beauty, wisdom, social commentary, tragedy, and entertainment. And I believe that J.M. Cohen's translation is the best there is. He obviously had a love for the material and left us a beautifully rendered work. The encomium in his Times obituary was on the mark when it said that he was "the translator of foreign prose classics for our times."

The translation is perfect except, as the translator has noted, on the poems found through out the book. The book itself is just plain beautiful, the author, Cervantes, is a master of prose and creativity, not to mention he has a great sense of humor. In my opinion, he is not too far off from Shakespeare. A+

This book sat on my shelf for years, and I just picked it up. Interesting story, but poorly executed. Amateurish writing, and vindicative tone do not a good book make. Skip it.

I'm not generally a fan of memoir or biography, but my book group selected this to discuss, so I duly picked it up. Cohen's grandfather invented the artificial sweetener Sweet'n Low, and the combination of huge resulting fortune and dysfunction tore the family apart. Cohen's mother (and thus Cohen himself) was entirely disinherited, and to a certain extent this book is his public attempt to untangle just how and why this came to be. The good news is that Cohen's family story is colorful enough to capture most readers' attention and it's strange enough to allow him to digress on all manner of other topics along the way. The bad news is that it allows him to digress on all manner of topics along the way, and more importantly, the tale is never unraveled to the reader's satisfaction.

His grandfather's story is a very American one -- he took the family cafeteria, ran it successfully, and hit upon a brilliant idea: single-serving size packets of sugar made using a converted tea-bagging machine. After naively allowing that idea to get ripped off by Domino Sugar, the spark returned several years later with the advent of saccharin sweeteners. Cohen's Uncle Marvin then experimented, until he created (or did he?) the mix that became Sweet'n Low, and the family business managed to launch it in time to benefit from America's newfound obsession with dieting.

Unfortunately, the story does not end happily, as the family business runs afoul of their success. First there is the "cancer scare" concerning saccharin (allowing Cohen a detour into both the science of this scare, as well as the lobbying and politics of getting a ban on saccharine repealed). Then there is the internal cancer of some very shady people with possible Mob connections who are brought in to help grease the wheels in Washington to keep saccharin legal. Over the course of years, internal skimming and graft eats away at the family business, until everything collapses in a Federal raid and tax evasion court case. In many respects, the book is an excellent case study in the perils of a family-run business. However, Cohen is never able to untangle crucial questions of who knew what when, and this ultimately leaves one somewhat frustrated. Most importantly, he fails to pursue an interview with his cousin Jeffery, who is the current head of the company and the one family member who could probably have cleared a lot of the mysteries Cohen is forced to speculate on.

While the mix of corporate bio and personal memoir is often engaging, it also leads to some problems of focus and chronology. The story is a bit choppy, skipping around the years, and the digressions veer all over the map, including a potted history of Brooklyn, some material on Jewish gangsters cribbed from his earlier book Tough Jews, a detailed explanation of how saccharin came to be, and how its competitors (Splenda, Equal) have surged ahead in the market. These tend to feel like separate magazine articles inserted into the running soap opera that is his family. Ultimately, I suppose there's some cheap thrill in watching someone else's family tear itself apart (and to be sure, some members of my book group loved to book for it's soap operaish intrigues), but I tend to find tales of dysfunctional families more depressing than anything else.

Rich Cohen is only getting better with time. This is a captivating story of the ubiquitous pink packet and the family business around it. Lucky us: a very good writer seems to be related to every remarkable person on the planet (see Rich's other books: the Avengers and Tough Jews). Find out what riches come from a simple but brilliant invention. Pretty hot family dynamics too - like the Godfather without the bloody parts. They are lucky to have Rich teling the story. Also, who would be better to tell the story of saccahrin and the FDA confused cancer findings? Forget blue and yellow, I swore to only pick up the pink packet from now on, bladder-be-damned.

Sweet & Low by Rich Cohen is a wonderful & delightful read. It is tempting to assume Mr Cohen's motives in writing this book. Regardless of his intent, he has created a tell all book about a family business.

This book was first brought to my attention when the author gave an interview on NPR. Mr Cohen writes about a business started by his grandfather. It is a book about business, creativity, the intersection of business, politics, science, and crime. Moreover, this story is about the conflicts that drive families and friends apart.

Weaving themes of the history of sugar, the growth of the FDA, and the modern business world; Mr Cohen has an excellent story to tell. The dozens of sub-stories, inter-related themes, and interesting background make this an enjoyable read. Yet, if one reads carefully, there are many interesting and useful ideas hidden in the narrative. How does one run a successful family business? In terms of overall productivity for society, what is good for a single family business may be bad for society. Would Mr Cohen be as prolific as a writer if he had been given a cushy job at his grandfather's company.

The only negative that I can say about this book is that it gets a bit snarky when Mr Cohen discusses family matters. Despite this, his writing style is so jaunty and creative, it is hard to put it down. A good book and I look forward to reading more of Mr Cohen's books.

The story of Ben Eisenstadt, inventor of Sweet 'N Low, the fortune he amassed as a result, and its effect on his family (it ripped it apart). Told by his grandson, who belonged to the disinherited side of the family.

A lively account of an interesting family. Ultimately, the determinedly irreverent, self-consciously smart-aleck tone of the narrator begins to pall. Anyone so determined to be clever, and to draw attention to their cleverness, runs a high risk of exhausting the reader's sympathy: about two thirds of the way through this book, I had the strong sensation of being seated next to someone in a plane whose anecdotes, though amusing, are nowhere near as amusing as their author seems to think.

The abuse of footnotes makes David Foster Wallace look like a model of restraint. Dude - do you have any idea how unintelligible and irritating those nested footnotes spanning several pages are?

The prevailing obsession with his own cleverness prevented me from giving it a fourth star; nonetheless, it's a pretty decent read.

THE PRODUCT IS VERY GOOD TO USE IN ENGLISH 101 IN LOS ANGELES PIERCE COLLEGE

Needed this for class. The book was in great condition. There wasn't really anything unique or special about this book. Everything I needed out of it I was able to get out of other writing references.

This an amazing source for anyone who wants to find anything anything that has to do with grammar and formats for term papers and all that stuff ... :-) AMAZING!!!

book was exacatly what my daughter needed for college course. It was the best price and was shipped right away. good internet shopping experience.

I order 2 manuals and I only received one. I send email to the seller for refund, but no reply.

I do not know what other step I'm going to take at this time. This is not right, when orhers taking you for an imbecil

I really enjoyed reading this book and it was easy to finish. It tries to sound like it is written as it is happening but it seems pretty clear that it has been filtered by hindsight. Although he touches on some of the challenges like getting his kids to stop fighting, again, I think the hindsight filter has mitigated how challenging this might have been at the time. Also, it seems like it focuses on the highlights, much like travel guides do when I was more interested in some of the nitty gritty of the daily life of trying to do something like this with children. What you have is a pleasant travelogue with some nicely written vignettes. My personal take-away is I would rather have my children and I spend more time in fewer places - more likely picking a base and exploring from there instead of living out of a suitcase. I also imagine that this trip cost the Cohen's a lot more than we would consider spending. They did, for example, bring along a nanny. One very useful aspect of this tale is they had a toddler along with two school age children and we get to see how the different ages affects how they reacted to the trip.

I enjoyed this book greatly. It was written from the father's point of view, which made for interesting reading. Some people complained about the "rich California dad" mentality, which I didn't find to be present at all.

The only thing I wished it had more of was more details...as a Mom, I can't imagine traversing the globe with three kids, including one in diapers! I wish there were more specifics about just HOW they managed it all...

I would highly recommend this book to anyone, especially the taveler or the dreamer who might enjoy a round the world trip!

One year off with kids is such brave action that many people only have dreamed and talked about, not to mention that their journey is full of fun and adventures. Definitely a great read that opens your mind!

I think the only reason this book got published was because the author was already known and established in the publishing world. (He published a series of "A day if the life of" photography books.) Had you or I (as unknowns)submitted this manuscript, there is no way it would have been accepted! The writing is not the best. But that said, the book wasn't that bad either! I did enjoy reading it! I love true stories of people who throw caution to the wind and do something adventurous or out of the common way. To sell everything you own, and use the proceeds to spend a year traveling the world with your wife and 3 young children - that is amazing! Each chapter of the book is actually written as an e-mail message to their friends and family. Some of their escapades and the responses of their children to the various places they visited was amusing. So...if you like travel stories, consider reading this book. Just don't expect it to be the best you've ever read...

This book is so well written that I felt like David was a close friend speaking directly to me telling me the fascinating tales of his family's journey around the world. I can only dream of being brave enough to do the same thing with our children. A fabulous, quick & easy read...I highly recommend it.

I really liked this book because it's simple and straightforward. I have been mostly raw for 2 weeks and feel so good! The recipes in the book are pretty good. I've only tried one that wasn't sweet and that wasn't good, but all the others were very good. I also liked that I don't need a dehydrator to start out with so there wasn't a lot of start up costs while you are just seeing if you like it.

A friend recomended this book to me when I told her I was thinking about trying out being a raw foodist. It has exceeded my expectations. I actually loved reading the book and Love almost all of the recipes. I have made several and only found one so far that does not suit my taste buds. The author explains everyting in a very easy to read form for the inexperienced raw foodist. I found everypage to be extremely helpful. I did notice that I did not lose as much weight as all of the other people in the book had on the first week, but than again I only have about 15 pounds that I want to lose total anyway, and although that is not the reason I started doing this I have noticed my body weight dropping gradually which is better for your body anyway. I highly recomend this book to anyone that is just starting out on this venture. Alissa explains everything you need to know from begining to end and the recipes are so yummy and easy to make. I did have to go buy a food processor, but I still do not have a dehydrator or even a juicer. But I highly recomend getting a food processor, cuts down your time drastically!!!

Thrilled with book. Arrived promptly all the way here in New Zealand. Have enjoyed reading the infomation contained and now have the whole family eating raw food.

This is a lovely book. So thorough and really gives all you need to know.
Love this book and will refer to it like an encyclopedia!
Excellent service also

This book is a keeper. I read the book in one night and have been using it daily. I have tried a few recipes, and was not disappointed. The week before receiving the book, I had already decided to eliminated white starches and red meats. Upon recieving the book, I am now basically raw. I am not too hungry, and when I am I eat. I have not had any cravings. And I am alert this week. My first week, I was a little quesy, small headaches, but nothing alarming. I did lose 8 pounds the first week. My skin is no longer itchy. I suffer from multiple conditions, which seem to be ebbing away. I am such a happy camper today.

I am so excited to share this with you. I am not an expert at nutrition, but I know half the battle is to get the right foods into your system. Internally if you work right, all will be well with you.

Thank you Alissa. I hope you write some more books!

Heather

This is book is a must read for any real negotiator. Herb Cohen does an excellent job identifying objections and ways to overcome them. His identification of negotiating styles is uncanny and insightful. I would recommend that anyone who negotiates for a living read this book not once but twice. "This book changed my life and business!"

For negotiating, you should aim for this variable: to illuminate your reality and its opportunities is most important. If you follow his choices, you can have what you want based on your unique needs.

When you inevitably have conflicts with those you love, negotiation makes everyone feel that he has won. It is a win-win situation as opposed to the You Win, I Lose. A field of knowledge and endeavor which focuses on gaining the favor of those from whom we want or need certain things, like prestige, status, security recognition, etc. It's all negotiable. If you're patient, things come your way, but you need to use the Win-win approach so t hat each person feel he has not had to tive in again.

The three crucial variables are explained in detail: power, time, and information (how to get what you need without anyone getting hurt again) Power is based on perception; the thing is to believe you will get a fair deal. Ralph Waldo Emerson stated truthfully that "our best thoughts come from others" sometimes. If that works for you, believe it. But you need the power of commitment, expertise, and knowledge of needs: two things being bargained for are the specific issues and demands as are stated openly plus the real needs of the other side, rarely verbalized. Especially useful is the power of persistence and persuasion.

We each have a role to play in this world, a reason for being here but, you alone can determine your destiny. In today's "anything goes," all the illegitimacy crossing the races" (in the old days, it was incestuousness of fathers taking advantage of their own daughters) we must seek help with morality. But by whom? Too many churches expounding on diverse subjects, but not the "thou shall not"s. What ever happened to the Ten Commandments.

Mr. Cohen taught at Harvard, the University of Michigan, and The Brookings Institute. This book was on New York Times Bestseller list over nine months.

The tips and strategies are probably timeless; however, the examples and references are so old that it's distracting. Instead of helping to reinforce his points, the examples wound up making me think back 30 years to put them into context. This book needs to be updated!

If you wanna learn, no better way to start......late delievery by the sender.

I absolutely loved this book. It is humorous and informative. The author took time to explain things in layman's terms without "dumping it down". I was delighted and impressed by the numerous practical examples the author gave which illustrated the vast opportunities that are available to achieve effective negotiations.

The book really gives a great launching point for those who wish to carry out successful win-win negotiations in every facet of their lives, be it at home, with suppliers, at your favourite shop or at work. I love the tone that the book is written in and how it is easy to read, understand and follow, making a lot of sense.

I now know how information, time pressures and perceived power can be effectively employed in successful negotiations. I also now know that if I want to persuade people, I need to show the immediate relevance and value of what I am presenting in terms of meeting their needs and desires. The lesson that collaborative negotiations lies in finding what the other side really wants and showing them the way to get it, while I get what I want was particularly salutary.

I recommend the book to anyone interested in successful and fruitful negotiations.

I bought this book as a "collector" item for my 15 year old.
This is her favorite story and she wanted the original illustrations in the book. She was thrilled!

Far better words than mine have extolled this book. My favorite as a child, then my children, and now my grandchildren. And I expect my great-grand-children will also love it.

One of the classic Disney movies I remembered was the Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Reading this novel gave me the same feelings I had in my childhood years watching the movie. I could be wrong but it seems to me that everything in the book was exactly like the movie. Alice was reading her sister's book and fell asleep under a tree. Then she woke up, saw a rabbit in clothes with a clock talking. She then followed the rabbit into this hole. After that she was in a never ending tunnel, which lead her to a strange world. Alice encounters many obstacles in the story and showed how she dealt with them.
I thought the book was just like the movie. I guess was I was reading the novel made me have a better understanding. I was mainly looking for any symbolism of some sort, but failed to do so. I was also shocked at what the things characters were doing in the book and made it into a Disney movie. For example the Caterpillar smoking a hookah. I didn't know what hookah was until last year. I was really confused in some parts of the novel. This book I thought was great for someone that hasn't even heard of Alice in Wonderland. It is a very thin book but it was like reading a children's book. I thought the novel would have a different story than the movie. From a scale of 1 - 10 I would give it a 7. Just because it was interesting and reminded me of the past.

In the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll a young girl with the name of Alice travels to a distant land that seems altogether and quite possibly unreal to her. The book starts off with Alice in the park with her sister. She has nothing to do as her sister is reading so when Alice sees a talking white rabbit scampering by, she doesn't hesitate to follow it. Following the rabbit leads her to a world she could have never dreamed of. This book can take you to magical places you would have never dreamed of. Through the use of Carroll's thorough descriptions and dramatic elements this book is sure to take you on one wild ride. I thought that the book was very well written and very interesting. I could really imagine what the characters look like and feel how Alice would have felt. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes a good adventure and lots of twists along the way. This book is for children and adults alike. As long as you have an imagination and a great sense of adventure you are sure to love this great tale of a girl and how she found herself in an imaginary world.

This book is the Norton Critical Edition (Second Edition) of _Alice in Wonderland_ by Lewis Carroll, edited by Donald J. Gray, with the picture of the "Jabberwock" on the front. The Norton Critical Edition contains the following parts: a brief preface, the text of _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_, the text of _Through the Looking-Glass_, the excised "The Wasp in a Wig", the poem "The Hunting of the Snark: An Agony, in Eight Fits", background material from Carroll's early life, the Alice books, and later life (including letters of his), and several interesting essays in criticism. The Alice stories are some of the greatest classics of children's literature, but their bizarre nature and intriguing mathematical, philosophical, and theological speculations make them interesting for adults and thinkers as well. Many have tried to psycho-analyze the stories (using absurd antiquated Freudian methods), but I agree with G. K. Chesterton that to do such is to destroy the stories. These stories exist in the fine tradition of the Victorian fairy tale (which emphasizes what has been called the "Victorian cult of the child"), and despite modern difficulties, they remain an important contribution to children's literature. Among other things it has been suggested that the stories include elements that resemble drug use and that Carroll was a precursor to Einstein in his understanding of the relativity of size and shape, but despite these understandings the stories remain unique for their captivating power and intriguing as stories themselves. Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898) who was perhaps best known in his time as a logician and tutor in logic and mathematics. Dodgson did quite well in mathematics as a youth (as he did in nearly all his subjects, but particularly in mathematics) and continued his studies at Oxford. Originally Dodgson had promised to become an Anglican clergyman upon completion of his studies, but he never fully completed his ordination. Instead he served as a lecturer in mathematics and logic, writing several interesting books in logic for popular audiences at the time (though he could not have foreseen more recent developments in logic, such as the work of Russell and Whitehead in the _Principia Mathematica_). Dodgson also served as a tutor to children (and he developed a particular fondness for children, particularly young girls, that many would come to criticize later). As a tutor Dodgson met the girl Alice Liddell, who served as the inspiration for the Alice stories. It is rumored that Dodgson may have fallen in love with her, which led to some difficulty. Dodgson's philosophical, religious, and social views were notoriously conservative and conventional, though it seems that he incorporated many unconventional ideas into his stories. In his old age, Dodgson remained a bachelor, though he increasingly involved himself in amateur photography (some of which proved particularly risqué and has led to subsequent rumors about Dodgson). Today, what Dodgson remains most famous for are his stories for children. Within his stories interesting mathematical, philosophical, and theological issues are raised; among them, the issue of the meaning of words and language (Dodgson's writings and poems have been called "nonsense" and he frequently makes use of "nonsense words" of his own invention) calling to mind the later philosophy of Wittgenstein, various theological issues, the philosophical issue of the dream-like nature of reality, the issue of birth, adolescence, sexual development, and life and death, the issue of Darwinian evolutionism, and various mathematical and logical issues, as well as interesting puzzles. The essays included with this volume bring up some of these issues and provide interesting points about the stories.

The works of Lewis Carroll included in this volume are as follows:

_Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_ (1897 edition) - a rewrite of the original _Alice's Adventures Under Ground_ and beautifully illustrated. This is the story of Alice (based on Dodgson's student Alice Liddell) as she encounters a talking White Rabbit, travels down a rabbit-hole, and there encounters many bizarre happenings and various talking creatures. The story has an eerie drug-induced feel to it (which causes one to question the very basis of reality) and many have speculated that this story may include instances of drug use. In particular, while in "Wonderland", Alice eats various foods and drinks various potions which cause her to grow taller or shorter. In "Wonderland", Alice encounters the rabbit, a talking mouse (who she reminds of her cat Dinah and provokes him thus), various birds and animals (in which they have a "caucus race", perhaps calling to mind the "Caucasian race" and various racialist theories of the time which Dodgson disapproved of), a lizard named Bill, and a puppy. After this, however, Alice encounters a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. The caterpillar is smoking from a "hookah" (perhaps a reference to drug paraphernalia) and invites Alice to take a bite from the mushroom. Upon taking the bite from the mushroom, Alice undergoes radical changes in height. Some have regarded these alterations to be reminiscent of the hallucinations that occur upon ingestion of certain mushrooms, such as the Amanita muscaria. Alice also encounters the Duchess and her baby (a pig), the Cheshire cat (who fades away leaving only his grin), the Madhatter (mad no doubt from mercury poisoning), the March Hare, and the Dormouse having tea, and then she encounters the Queen of Hearts playing croquet as well as the "mock turtle". Finally, a trial occurs in which the Knave of Hearts is accused of stealing the tarts from the Queen of Hearts. At this trial, Alice must testify and present her evidence. At the end, Alice awakes from her dream after realizing that the Queen and the King are nothing but a pack of cards.

_Through the Looking-Glass_ (1897 edition) - This story begins with Alice reflecting on her cats and a game of chess. Indeed, the entire story involves a set-up on the chess board in which Alice herself is to eventually become queen. Alice enters a mysterious world ("Wonderland" again no doubt) through the looking-glass and there encounters various creatures. This is of course the story where the infamous nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" appears. Alice encounters various talking flowers, various insects, two brothers Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Humpty Dumpty (an egg), and the lion and the unicorn. Alice also encounters the red and white queens and eventually is to become queen herself. During the course of the story the secret meaning of certain words in "Jabberwocky" are revealed to Alice. At the end, Alice is at a feast when she suddenly shakes the red queen who becomes a kitten. Alice awakes to conclude that it was "all a dream", though the issue of reality is raised again.

"The Wasp in a Wig" is a short scene left out of the original _Through the Looking-Glass_.

Also included is the poem, "The Hunting of the Snark" (1876), which is a nonsense poem about a group of men on a ship who are hunting a "snark".

This Norton Critical Edition is an excellent edition of Lewis Carroll's children stories and poems. Carroll's stories are to live on due to their uniqueness and their bizarre nature. But, as pointed out they also raise several interesting philosophical questions and thus are interesting for adults as well as children. They are also greatly enjoyable and certainly recommended.

Mr. Cohen is a huge black hole; I once did not feel his love for his children...my impression is that he was after all a very lucky man. he managed to put up with a demanding career, had the big luck in a great woman and I think wonderful kids...Instead of bitching so much, be thankful Mr. Cohen for what you have! In other country or other financial situation you would be long gone.

Richard M Cohen is amazing person. I really enjoy read this book. I found it very interest and good.

This is one of my favorite memoirs. Mr. Cohen writes beautifully about a not so beautiful subject, chronic illness. I hear he has another book out and I plan to look it up and order it as soon as I finish this review. Thank you for giving a voice to chronic illness Richard.

I really didn't like this book..from the first page. I never did try to pick it up again. Not worth your time.

BLINDSIDED by Richard Cohen. This is not just a book for for those dealing with MS, Although it could be the story of my family. It is the story of a man and his family who takes the blows and then gets up and keeps on going. It may not be the path was originally planned but they find a way to go go on. It is an uplifting story to those who fight physical problems and despair and find a way to go on. God bless you Richard Cohen, Meredith Viera and your children.