George Books

Harvest Of Illusion is an amzaing book. I have been a teacher of metaphsics and spiritualty for many years and I am always looking for great books to read particuarly good stories that can lift one up and educate and entertain at the same time. This book by George is all of this and more. If you liked the Celestine Prophecy or Conversations With God YOU MUST read this book. I recommend it with 10 stars.

Michele Blood Author of MusiVation products and producer of MPowerTV.com

"Harvest of Illusion" is not the kind of book I would usually read. However, a friend recommended it. I finally got around to reading it, and my only regret is that I waited so long. It's a terrific book --- imaginative, stimulating, fun to read, and with a GREAT message about the potential for goodness and fulfillment that resides in all of us. Especially because of the uplifting message, I hope it will be widely read.

Harvest Of Illusion: A Spiritual Adventure by George C. Wallach is a highly entertaining and enthusiastically recommended novel set late in the twenty-first century. The attention engaging story is about the power of spirituality to transcend the mundane routines that can blind one to infinite possibilities beyond one's immediate life and ordinary physical needs. An open-minded metaphysical story that embraces the concepts of reincarnation and life beyond our own solar system, Harvest Of Illusion is an engaging and absorbing narration which is especially recommended to the attention of those with an interest in New Age spirituality, metaphysics, reincarnation, and reincarnation. Harvest Of Illusion marks George C. Wallach as a deftly talented and original storyteller of considerable expertise.

An amazing adventure is available to everyone; an example of which is the point of this book. Harvest of Illusion may help you to understand your own adventure a little better, or it may simply entertain you.

On the surface you will read about a time in the not too distant future on earth where the security of our knowledge is questioned and proved incomplete. Beginning with Mari who is seemingly abducted by aliens, only to learn that she has agreed to participate in inter-being propagation in a previous life. Don't run off screaming. The author is attempting to open the eyes of the reader through a fantasy, in the most gentle, unobtrusive way possible...the imagination. It is well done.

Mari's husband, Murph, is a psychologist who helps people who believe they have been visited by other beings. When his own wife turns to him and tells him that she has had her own very close encounter he grapples with his beliefs and his desire to know for sure if these things happen. He is given absolute proof when Xanthas, Mari's before unknown half other-being, half sister, is presented to him in need of discovering the E-gene...the ability to feel emotions. It doesn't hurt that her physical form is the ultimate in attractive, and Murph falls in love with her.

It eventually is realized that Mari has "cheated" on Murph in her procreation attempts with Jenoor, another alien being, resulting in Murph's realization and understanding that he is enduring this pain as a lesson he needs to learn, carrying over from his own previous lives. He is tempted to reciprocate with Xanthas, but if he does he will need to repeat this lesson in his next life. Is it worth it?

These beings are not truly aliens, but another life form, of earth. They have lived beneath the surface, and have coexisted on the planet unbeknownst to humans. It is time to reveal themselves, as there is great need to warn the humans of an impending extraterrestrial invasion by the Harvesters: a body of beings who planted the humans here to begin with, along with the gray, subsurface beings. Will the citizens of earth accept these gray Mantid beings as allies? Will the Harvesters reap what they sowed and consume the occupants of Earth?

There is more to the story. It goes much deeper than the fantasy, science fiction that it seems. The souls of the characters are not strangers to each other. They have been reincarnated time and again, together. They are helping each other with lessons in the classroom of life, in order for their souls to grow and graduate to the next levels. The story of the aliens is not the important part of this book; it is after all, all an illusion.

The underlying lessons are what makes it a must read. You will be guided through realizations about your own soul, your own journey. You will come to understand the truly non-fictional concept of the nature of the spirit, the purpose of being. You might come to realize the power of positive thought, or the process of mentally healing the physical body. You may understand the nature of death, or the meaning of life. You may see past all of that and understand the illusion of it all. In the process, you'll read an entertaining, if not enlightening, work of fiction.

Mr. Wallach has written a clever,thought provoking,informative and totally creative book. His message reads true and speaks to we humans from the perspective of more highly evolved souls in other universes. The story is compelling and in his descriptive narrative, regarding space ships, space entities and how they move about in our universe, his information seemed to be coming from his higher self and in fact at times I felt he was receiving factual information from these entities he was creating. I came away from this adventure in reading feeling and thinking differently about my health, our planet's future and the limitaions we have come to accept in every day life. If you are a thinking, caring, spiritual person you will totally enjoy and reap a harvest of positive food for your soul. Anyone working in or with energy will profit from this wonderful book.

Heart Without Measure

This is an excellent book for anyone who is seriously interested in understanding the essence of the Gurdjieff work and how it continued after his death. It opened up a new perspective on the work for me. The book describes his meetings and conversations with Madame de Salzmann in the 1980's when he was a student with her. Although Ravindra comes across in the book as a modest man she clearly had a high regard for him and encouraged him to come and see her often - maybe she knew that he would write about the work.
He gives us the essence of her very practical, focused teaching and also conveys her powerful presence. Her teaching is unlike the intellectual descriptions of Gurdjieff's ideas found in Ouspensky's books and other descriptions of the work. What Madame de Salzman emphasises - through Ravindra - is the importance of allowing higher energy to come down into the human body and of being present. Her teaching is focused on energies,on focusing the mind on the body and becoming a channel for higher energies on the earth. It is a very practical teaching.
This is one of the best books I have read on the teachings of a true spiritual teacher and I am keen to read more of Ravindra's books.

For me this book provides valuable personal accounts of what it means to Work to create a place in this world for individuation and Transformation. It is a very personal and devoted account of the author's relationship with Madame de Salzmann and clearly exhibits her steadfastness and strength in her practice and being a living example of the teaching of Georges I. Gurdjieff. Thanks to the author for his honesty and frankness. This can be very helpful to anyone sincerely engaged in finding his or her way toward liberation...

Ravi Ravindra captures the spirit of Gurdjieff's work for me, in one of the most personal and engaging accounts that I've seen from people in the Work. This time, though, rather than being about G. himself, it is a journal of Ravindra's encounters with G's chief disciple, Jeanne de Saltzmann.
As I nibble away at this lovely book, I find myself remembering the best parts of being in the Work, which ended for me almost 30 years ago. At the time, I knew about Mme. de Saltzmann only peripherally, being on the West coast and having been with her in person only once, so I was eager to read this book and fill in my knowledge of a true master whose efforts indirectly shaped my whole spiritual life.
I would have expected Dr. Ravindra, as a professor of at least six different subjects, to write in some dry, scholarly style. Instead, this loving tribute is revealing, approachable and very useful to anyone wishing to understand, in a personal way, what this teaching is about.

I found this book extremely refreshing but I can't help wondering if it is really only for those who do or have done similar practices [Taoist Alchemy, Prayer of the Heart, Gurdjieff's meditations and exercises for opening and harmonizing the 7 centers].

The entire book shows Madame DeSalzmann trying to raise the author from his back and forth states to a man no. 4 - that is someone who has in Gurdjieffean terms acheived balance amongst their body, heart and mind and is thus at square one and truly ready to begin and to try and crystallize something. Similar in intent to the Pentland/Patterson drama in 'Eating the I'

Like 'Eating the I' and 'Voices in the Dark' we are taken inside the inner door to a rather significant degree, but unlike 'Eating the I', this does not try and provide much context or background info. If you have not been in The Work or learned the preliminary relaxation and self-remembering practices, you will understandably be scratching your head through much of it.

However along with Bennett and Pentland the Madame seems to have made it to Man #5. And that is worth experiencing even through the medium of printed words.

I found that the book started 'meditating me' as few books do.

Ravi Ravindra's Heart Without Measure, though a small book, is a powerfully felt homage to the great Madame de Salzmann, whose voice and presence, echoing through the text, resonates like a pure and holy bell, calling us all more perfectly to The Work. He describes well the experience of the student faced with the laser-like eye of the teacher who can read hearts and souls, an encounter not easily endured nor understood, and reveals the 'everyman' conflicts of his strivings in a restrained, almost selfless way. Most of all, this book is sprinkled generously with esoteric clues for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. This book indeed is the 'fruit' of the oral tradition that has always existed within the Gurdjieffian canon.

The heroine of this book, starts off as a very confident, quite headstrong girl, pursuing a man beneath her station. For when it comes down to it, Bertha is quite the idealist in love. As the book explains she really has only one way to love, and that's all consumingly. The book delves into her heartbreak once the honeymoon is over, and it becomes clear that her husband is one of those very sensible people, for whom love is quite on the mundane side, instead of the fireworks Bertha imagines, it's a little more like clockwork. She, and her marriage are compared to the rules adherant to livestock in her husbands eyes.

And to exacerbate her isolation is the fact that the town and it's townspeople, see in Edward a good, solid, contributing citizen, a paragon of strength, virtues, and good attributes, and congratulate her on her choice of spouse at every opportunity. She goes through stages, as her bitterness and resentment over Edwards' unchangeable personality as he refuses to give way from his sensible lifestyle in order to accommodate her in the attention that she craves. Of such a different temperment is he, that he is completely unable to understand her needs or feelings, and feels it's for her better good for him to remain that way.

The book takes a turn to compare Edward's non-passionate nature, to an admiring younger cousin who falls in love with her with the same heat and emotion as she has, providing just a small glimpse into a world where her feelings are matched. A pervading sensibility, eventually puts her feelings in check. But that experience lowers some of her expectations, and she comes to regard her marriage with an indifference which is the quality that makes it bearable for her.

The story of an unhappy marriage in the rural countryside doesn't strike one as that compelling of a plot-line, but the way in which it's written is so filled with poignant character observations, you can hardly read three pages in this book without finding a sentence that's deeply accurate and deftly serves up truths on human relationships and different temperments. And it's that introspective quality that makes this book amazing to read.

I'm a huge fan of the work of W. Somerset Maugham and I buy every book from him that catches my eye. Mrs. Craddock was not exception. The story of love and disappointment endured by Bertha Craddock is an odissey on how the women perceptions change when they find that they're not loved in the way they expected. Me, as a male, couldn't help but feel sympathy for her and get angry at the way Bertha's husband snubs her need for love. The end is marvelous and this makes the novel a must read for everyone who's ever been in love. (I guess everyone)

W. Somerset Maugham has long existed somewhat on the periphery of literary and critical respectability: "a first-rate second-rater," someone once called him. But the more I read Maugham the more I become convinced that this is a snobbish appraisal, derived perhaps from his extraordinary popular success (if it's popular, it can't be good) and, later, from revelations regarding his homosexuality along with some unpleasant personal details related by various biographers. But none of this should get in the way of a reader seeking out Maugham's best work---"Of Human Bondage," certainly, and the much-less-known "Mrs. Craddock."

"Mrs. Craddock" is a stunningly powerful novel of one woman's compromises with the realities of love. Reminiscent on the one hand of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary," and on the other of Kate Chopin's "The Awakening," this novel has a vitality and brilliance of characterization all its own. Bertha, the heroine, is superbly rendered: a woman who is unable to understand until too late the nature of her emotional folly, a victim of her own self-imposed romantic delusions. Edward, her husband, is equally compelling: a fundamentally good man who has simply, in essence, married the wrong woman. Watching these two mismatched souls attempting to co-exist is engrossing, painful, and exhilarating. The story is solidly written in the usual Maugham plain style, and is just as relevant today as it must have been the year it was published.

This "lost" Maugham novel---ignored even by many Maugham admirers---deserves a wider readership. Those interested in Maugham's fiction of this period, or in turn-of-the-century novels centered on women, owe it to themselves to try this unjustly neglected masterwork.

As a woman you can identify yourself very well with Bertha, but there is a big difference between the social situations. That's exactly what makes this book so special, you see yourself even if the reactions of Bertha are often stupid and wrong you understand what she feels and why she's doing it. You see that maybe in her situation you would have reacted the same way and that makes you thinking About it. There are many little things which tell so much about people's emotions and the situations.

It's a very interesting book. It shows our feelings very well. It's simple to read. But I think it's more a book for women than for men. Mrs Craddock is an intelligent person and she has married a simple man. In the beginning she is very in love with him. And they are lucky. But later she notices that he is not Mr Right and her life gets boring. She leaves him and meets someone else in Italy.... I can recommend this book to everyone which is interested in love stories. But it's not a simple love story with a happy ending!

This novel has emerged, from the ruins of the purges, like a pure, unspoiled and immaculate gem. As an autobiographical novel, one cannot deny the importance of this work to provide for insights into Bukharin's private life, given that most biographies of Bukharin are about his political and intellectual life.

Not only is this work important in this regard, Bukharin's stunning literary ability comes to the forefront in this work, which details, with a humanistic empathy, the plight of the peasants, family relations and the psychology of a middle class family from the late 19th century Russian society. The novel begins with the birth of "Kolya" and is seen through the boy's eyes as he grows up. It ends, poignantly, (Bukharin did not live to finish the work) with the death of his brother.

Of particular note is the rich texture of his narrative; it powerfully invokes a child-like sense of wonder that is intrinsic to children of that age. There are indeed very few works out there that parallel the vivid evocation of imagery which Bukharin is capable of. Bukharin's description of the Russian landscape was beautifully detailed, as was the heartfelt revelations about life which slipped through.

It is through this work that we come to realize that the interior life of this man was not only brilliant, but that his political stance was chosen fundamentally because of his humanistic understanding of Russian peasants and the impoverished.

This edition comes with very lovely pictures, too.

Set in the pre-revolutionary Russia, Bukharin's novel attempts to demonstrate, through the eyes of a youth named Nikolai Petrov, how the revolutionary spirit fermented and grew among the youth and intelligentsia. While this novel could be read with an eye toward the abuses of the Soviet Union and dismissed as political propaganda, in doing so the reader would miss the wealth of historical detail with which Bukharin writes. Every page is bursting with succulent fruit for anyone interested in the social, economic, and cultural world of the peasants and the working class at the turn of the century in pre-revolutionary Russia. Part of that fruit is socialism, communism, atheism, and the raging underground debates taking place during that period; seen as history, however, Bukharin gives us an invaluable insider's view, recalling his youth in all its variety and discussing the situations that led him down the path his life had taken.

The story revolves around Nikolai, who is obviously a cipher for Bukharin himself. Young Kolya (Nikolai) is full of energy, wit, and curiosity. As he grows and excels in school, his thinking begins to grow as well, from that of an innocent child to that of a young man on the verge of becoming a revolutionary himself. Unfortunately, the saddest part about this novel is that it ends in the middle of a chapter; Stalin finally had Bukharin executed, making it very difficult to continue writing. The writing is so well done it is hard to believe Bukharin never had a chance to re-write it; we are reading essentially his first draft, written in prison. His astounding intellect is obvious, quoting from German, French, English, and Russian poets and authors, occasionally making references to Latin or Greek jokes the children learned in high school, and discussing the variety of birds and other animals Kolya collects with amazing clarity.

Before reading this book, I knew Bukharin was a political genius that few have matched. However, I did not realize his brilliance as a writer: he appeals wonderfully to all the visual and emotional senses as a great novelist. He occasionally discusses his growing political awareness, but that is not the focus of this work. His love of life, nature, and family show the incredible depth of his mind. Much credit must also be given to the translator for making the language so effusive in English.

It's a wonderful miracle that this book was not destroyed by Stalin; it's just a shame that it's incomplete, cutting off in mid-thought. Nevertheless, what Bukharin was able to complete gives provides an enthralling look into life in late Tsarist Russia, as well as putting us a bit closer with one of the most tragic victims of the purges.

Bukharin's autobiographical work is a lyrical, moving, story of the life of a young boy in pre-Soviet russia. Unlike Leon Trotsky's autobiography, which is a similar work in content, this is a novel. And a grand one. When you read the touching descriptions of Kolya's then idyllic, then tragic domestic life, you feel helpless, sad, for you know that this boy will eventually be dead, the New World he helped to create corrupted and turned against him. The very existence of this novel is a message of hope, that even under the most tragic and ironic circumstances there can something joyous (Bukharin wrote the novel while in Lubyanka prison). The poignancy of all this is further increased by the included letter by Bukharin, written to his wife Anna Larina and not given to her for 50+ years. This book also stands as a monument (in a medium I belief he would have perhaps preferred) to Nikolai Bukharin, a brilliant scholar, writer, and Revolutionary

This is a remarkable book. It combines three forms in a single work: 1) a detailed and evocative story of a boy growing up in late 19th century Russia, 2) an informative and moving autobiography of one of the most important Bolshevik leaders, and 3) commentary on the social and economic developments leading up to the 1905 and 1917 revolutions, including (in the tradition of Russian novels) imagined descriptions of important meetings of leaders of state. Most remarkable, though, is that the entire book was written in the nights of Bukharin's confinement in Moscow's Lubyanka Prison while he awaited almost certain execution following his notorious "show trial". The idea of a man who knows he could be shot at any moment writing such detailed, even leisurely descriptions of his childhood in Moscow and Bessarabia is almost beyond comprehension. Indeed, the novel breaks off in mid-sentence. This book should not be missed by anyone interested in 19th and 20th century Russian history, and will be enjoyed by anyone interested in a good coming-of-age novel as well.

The detailed mini stories of the authors experiences and adventures as a consultant were interesting and entertaining. I particularly enjoyed his simplistic approach and easy to implement HR program recommendations. We've already put the recommended performance evaluation program in place and it is working for us.

"Impostors" was a pleasant surprise. A refreshing change from the malarkey found in a lot of today's business titles. I was entertained, challenged and surprised at how many good ideas there were for the taking.

After a slow start, the pace and interest level accelerated rapidly. The thing I enjoyed most was the book read like a novel rather than a technical business publication. Koch's on the road experiences covered a full spectrum, and I felt challenged to come up with answers as to how I might handle some of the real life situations presented. This book will force you to think and to take a position. That's why I liked it so much.

As a 20 year HR professional I'm very confident in my HR knowledge and abilities, and I make it a priority to keep current. Initially I wasn't interested in this title but I heard positive things about it. Now, I wish I had read it sooner. In my opinion, this is must reading for all HR professionals. You may not agree with Koch's direct and no nonsense approach but you'll be hard pressed to find fault in his documented programs and logic. If you're interested in making HR improvements in your organization, read this book.

I was exited how inexpensive valuable knowledge could be!
After reading this book I regret that I am not in HR - how tempting it was to start improve HR in every company.
Lively described cases make reading fun and easy to understand. It should be the book for every CEO to read on vacation and every HR should get it prior to its CEO and act, otherwise he/she will be fired (after vacation :D).

HR software consultant

Kristine O'Connell George's poetry is beautiful as these poems lead her observations of a mother hummingbird making a nest, laying her eggs, then the eggs hatching and the young moving out. The illustrations are lovely realistic sketches that capture each stage of the hummingbirds' development. This makes a nice Mother's Day gift. I also bought a copy for a special aunt who loves nature.

If you or I were to find a tiny hummingbird nest in our backyard, we would handle such a discovery in any variety of ways. Some people would probably set up a camera and create a 24-hr live feed to their website. Others would ignore the nest or, worse still, actively remove it due to some odd hummingbird-based-delusion that the creatures were pests. When author Kristine O'Connell George found her nest, she came up with a particularly original way of marking the event. She kept a steady journal and, when all was said and done, she turned that journal into poetry. And she turned that poetry into a book. And that book was illustrated by the all-too-accomplished Barry Moser. And as a result, children's librarians everywhere have the honor of carrying "Hummingbird Nest" on their shelves, ready to be taken out by any inquisitive child with a yen for tiny birdies. Neither you nor I might go this route, but then neither you nor I would have such a fine title to our name. Such is life.

There are 26 poems in this book, all told. At the beginning a single small bird launches itself at a family eating on their patio. It appears that the creature has claimed this area as its own and immediately sets about building a nest in a potted tree. After a short amount of time two eggs appear in the nest. The family carefully checks up on them when the mama bird is away. The chicks hatch and are fed by their mother. Then they grow over the course of 18-26 days. At the end of that time, one of the babies flies away without the family ever saying goodbye. The second bird has some false starts before it finally figures out how to fly, and (after a snack from mama) fly it does. From that time on, hummingbirds sip nectar from the family's feeder and the author says to herself in the Author's Note, "Were any of the fledglings that turned up at our feeder later that spring our hummingbirds? I like to think they were".

The book has the feel of realism to it, helped along by Moser's accurate artistic renderings. The poetry, for its part, is a kind of friendly free verse. All scientifically accurate. All tiny odes to greater hummingbird-dom. I was particularly fond of a poem entitled, "Spiders, Beware!" that cautions all arachnids that the hummingbirds are around and ready to steal their webbing. These poems are rather innocent and don't go in for witty metaphors or particularly original imagery. They're just gentle little pieces that contain words like, "this rainy evening / your quiet wings / smoothly pressed / as you patiently sit / gentle captain / of your cobweb ship". There's even a small hummingbird-ish haiku at the end (though for a superior hum-haiku, check out the one in Jack Prelutsky's, "If Not For the Cat"). At the end of the book is the Author's Note that tells the true story, some quick facts about hummingbirds, and a very nice bibliography of hummingbird resources for old and young readers.

It's really Barry Moser's art that lifts this little book from obscurity, though. If you haven't perused Moser's stunning, "In the Beginning" (with words by Virginia Hamilton) then I'm afraid you've a large gap in the creation-myth department of your brain. Moser's watercolors here are wonderful. In the picture where the hummingbird dive-bombs the family, we see an older woman dropping her breakfast spoon, a coffee cup already turned on its side, and a hand covering her face in what is unmistakably the beginning of a laugh. Moser's dog is mournful and his cat full of the languid grace of the species. There are changes in perspective, in distance, and in view. In this way, Moser creates what otherwise could have been a deathly dull series of illustrations.

Come to think of it, this whole enterprise could easily (in the hands of the less adept) have ended up as some kind of boring practice in nature poetry. Instead it captures a fascinating subject, those winged little paradoxes of the avian world, and displays for us all the wonder that she, the author, experienced once. There won't be a child in the world who doesn't yearn for a hummingbird nest of their own after paging through this light little book. Seriously consider pairing it with the equally lovely and aforementioned, "If Not For the Cat", for a detailed examination of the natural world through verse. A small but strong work.

As a reading specialist I regularly review new children's books. As soon as I saw this one, I thought of my mom. She's a sharp-minded 87-year-old who loves poetry, art and hummingbirds. She gives the artistry, both words and watercolors, of this book an easy five stars.

This book is a tender treasure of hummingbird experiences through the wide-open eyes of a family entranced and the pen of a noted writer clearly in love with her subject.

Written as delightful poems, the story contains many teachable moments following "Anna" through the birth process, portraying the teetering and testing of the young ones' wings, proceeding on to the inevitable empty nest. It was hard to hold back tears as the wonder-filled story touches on the universal, relating to many cycles in our own lives.

The delicate watercolor drawings are beautiful in their own right, yet support and enhance the story in seemingly perfect harmony.

I heartily recommend this book to hummingbird lovers and children of all ages, who, caught up in the flow of the story, will absorb many hummingbird facts before they even know it.

Beth Kingsley Hawkins
Co-Editor, The Hummingbird Connection
www.hummingbird.org

One warm, February morning a tiny hummingbird began building a nest in a ficus tree on the patio of George's home in Claremont , California . For the next two months George kept a "hummingbird journal" of the daily happenings. "I still marvel," she writes, "over the surprising range of emotions one small bird and her family evoked: awe, worry about possible dangers, and laughter when the baby birds teetered on the edge of the nest for their daily flight practice."

George has expertly taken those emotions and woven them into this delightful collection of poems. In "Visitor" we are introduced to the small mother. She is nothing more than a "spark, a glint, / a glimpse of pixie tidbit." In the next poem, however, we see her bravado and determination in action. She becomes a "feathered missile streaking by," ordering the humans off her patio, out of her territory.

Soon two eggs are visible in the "cobweb ship" of a nest. Once hatched, the nestlings, "raisin black / an wrinkled," settle in. In "Flight Practice," George does a superb job at allowing the reader to visualize the drama taking place: "Four curled up feet grip / the top of the nest. / Two tiny motors / rev up for the wing test."

Moser is in top form here. His realistic, incredibly detailed watercolor paintings are small jewels in themselves.

The poems and illustrations combine wonderfully to allow readers the opportunity to vicariously witness nature up-close.

Highly Recommended.

Reviewed by the Education Oasis Staff

After reading this book I have become VERY careful about not consuming any foods or drinks that contain MSG. This book shows how the food enhancing additive MSG (Monosodium Glutamate)can cause migraines, depression, asthma, epilepsy, heart irregularities, rage reactions, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other health problems. The book explains how these foods contain Glutamate and that this amino acid can be used by the neurons in the brain to transmit signals to each other. If we increase these in our blood stream to a large enough amount they will cross the blood brain barrier in most people and burn out neurons. Long term over dose can lead to burning out sections of the brain that can cause seizures and alzheimers.It is an easy to read book that explains the foods MSG is found in and the dangers very simply. For a more advanced understanding read "Excitotoxins:The taste that kills" by Dr. Blaylock. This book however will give you all the information you need to make your diet safer.

This is such an important and easy to read book about the dangers of certain food additives that the FDA allows into food without a consumer notice or warning. The long term coverup the FDA has been involved in to favor the giant food manufacturers over vulnerable consumers children, the elderly, etc. is staggering and well detailed. And these additives are in so many prepared foods we wouldn't think to question. Dr. Schwartz's seminal book, in this case the revised edition, needs to be reprinted ASAP!

The rise in ADD, Migraines, Seizures, Neurolinguistic processing issues, Autism, Parkinson's, Alzheimers, Breast Cancer, and ALS is linked to food additives that break down into free amino acids that can pass through the blood brain barrier and in some instances promote neuron death. See also Dr. Russel Blaylock's book Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, with a forward by Dr. Schwartz. Both of these physicians are of the highest caliber and their works, precise and beyond important.

For years, my husband suffered from anxiety attacks that hit without warning and were quite debilitating. He sought drug therapy, but as time passed, the attacks became more frequent and severe until one day he went into Bells palsy and anaphylactic shock and found himself in the emergency room surrounded by physicians with no answers.

When he received the older version of this book in 1990, it was a revelation. My husband had been becoming increasingly sensitive to MSG while at the same time unknowingly adding it to his diet. In clear, easy-to read language, the book helped identify sources of MSG. It became clear that it was in virtually everything he was consuming--from breakfast cereals to canned tuna to Coca Cola. We altered his diet drastically, choosing mostly unprocessed whole foods, and the results were incredible. His personality changed as he was no longer on edge. His concentration and memory improved dramatically. He no longer needed drug therapy, and stopped doubting himself as an anxiety-prone person. As an added bonus, he lost weight, increased muscle mass and became generally healthier.

As his allergy continued to be quite severe, we turned to the book frequently to avoid more ER visits, and have been largely successful for the past twelve years. It is hard to imagine how life would have been had we not had this book at our disposal. My husband would have continued to suffer his 'mysterious ailment' until, quite possibly, it took his life.

I cannot recommend this book heartily enough. It should be *required* reading for anyone who even suspects they have "Chinese restaurant syndrome" and recommended reading for just about everyone else. It is incredible that such a small book can make such a big difference.

George Schwartz, M.D. wrote the first edition of In Bad Taste more than ten years ago. Since then "the use of MSG and MSG-containing substances has more than doubled." While some people can use MSG with no adverse effects, many others have severe reactions to it, some of them life-threatening.

Kombu, a seaweed, was first used in Japan as a flavor enhancer. A Japanese doctor isolated the main ingredient--MSG, or monosodium glutamate--and started what has become a million-dollar industry. "MSG is used in processed food, in fast-foods and in Chinese food." It's also found in nearly all canned and frozen foods. It's the "most widely used flavor enhancer in the world."

MSG has been linked to asthma, headaches, and heart irregularities. "Behavioral and physical problems of children, such as incontinence and seizures, as well as attention deficit disorder (ADD), have been diagnosed and successfully treated as MSG disorders."

Those wishing to eliminate MSG from their diets are faced with an almost impossible task. Food preparers are often unaware that they're even using MSG. Labels can be misleading. A label that says "No MSG added" doesn't mean that the food is free of MSG, it simply means that the manufacturer didn't put in additional MSG. MSG goes under many aliases, one of the most common being "hydrolyzed vegetable protein," an additive used to increase the protein content of a wide variety of foods.

Manufacturers also hide MSG as part of "natural flavorings," because it is a natural product. As Dr. Schwartz points out, arsenic is also a natural product--being natural is not the same as being harmless.

Dr. Schwartz describes how MSG works in the body, and lists the symptoms it causes.

He provides several other lists, including the names used to hide MSG, general food sources of MSG, and specific brand names of items known to contain MSG. He also includes a selection of basic recipes to help people reduce their MSG consumption.

Dr. Schwartz says his book will help people learn to identify MSG reactions, and then how to avoid eating it. He adds, "knowing how to avoid this flavor enhancer can dramatically change lives." Readers wishing to understand MSG reactions and avoid using it will find In Bad Taste an invaluable resource.

Sandra I. Smith Reviewer

We bought this book to do our research since our family suffers from headachs, stomch proplems and what desicovered was the MSG that is embedded in our foods is what is making us sick. Once we eliminated it our proplems have gone. MSG IS A TOXIN!! There thousand of out here who have suffered for no reason. The food giants and the MSG distributors are together on this hidden poison. They PAY for reaserch to say its safe and give grants to those who follow in thier quest to scam the consumer. We have bought other books on MSG ( from those who actually suffer from MSG POISONING) and they all the same thing. It's killing us and we don't know it. [...] and REALLY find out what they are up too. It's really scarey. The FDA, research doctors and others are paid informest by the food industry
I hope Hernandaz got and F for her paper, or hope she did alot more research other than on so called medical pages. This book is not propaganda, it's what really happening, from someone who has the guts to stand up and say something!

I bought this book for using the Coelli's software of DEA. This text is useful for expanding the area of this type of study. We can get a manual of his program from the book's site, though. We are able to understand more easily how to put together many data.

I am very happy to receive my order even before the expected date. it was in good order.

This book covers three major approaches to productivity measurement, namely: Index Numbers, Data Envelopment Analysis and Stochastic Frontiers. Examples and applications are provided using software available from the authors' website for free. No doubt it's the best starting point for those who want to learn about the subject.

Im using this book for a class on the same topic as the name of the book. My prof is someone who is an expert on the topic and he knows the author well. In fact he's writing his own book. I find the topics advanced, maybe for senior level econ-math majors and more for graduate study. Reader must have a decent background in economics and mathematics to grasp concepts as the into, which was supposed to be a crash course in microecon would not be helpful to someone with no prior training.

A complete and an excellent book that provides the gist to efficiency and productivity analysis, and surely an important and particularly a very useful resource to those involve in study/research of the field.

Excellent reference book and very descriptive definitions of insurance concepts

For an entry level class on insurance this is a good book to start with.

Definitely worth reading, even if not required for a class. A very accessible introduction to the field of Risk Management along with useful, practical information about the kinds of insurance contracts that will be encountered by consumers and businesses alike.

This, and introductory business law should be taught to all undergraduate b-school students. A great book, much better and more useful than a certain black-and-yellow book about insurance that you might be tempted to order.

5 Stars

Extremely well written, many current examples and court cases, raises important social aspects of the insurance transaction. Covers issues important to consumers expecially frequently purchased insurance contracts

This book is user-friendly, and students really like it. The only thing they don't like is the price, but, every intro text like this is over $100 these days. I really love this text for teaching my introductory classes.

A great resource if you wish to get a better grasp of the many Japanese ghosts and supernatural elements which appear in woodblock prints. Well researched. I enjoyed it very much.

As the preface to "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" notes, this book is the fruit of interdisciplinary studies undertaken by the Spencer Museum of Art and the University of Kansas at Lawrence. And it is the results of just such an interdisciplinary approach that have lifted this book out of the realm of an ordinary exhibition catalogue and propelled it into the rarified ranks of an art history classic.

In historical terms, the focus of the book is the Edo period. This long (1615-1868) and peaceful period saw a concatenation of several important trends, including the perfection of the woodblock print, a democratization of art that--for the first time in Japan--served the masses, the rise of the kabuki theater, and a diffusion of popular literature and tales that often focused on the ghostly and the supernatural. The fusion of these trends was most clearly seen in the woodblock prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Utagawa Kunisada, and Ichiryusai Kuniyoshi, many of which are reproduced here. These three giants of the late woodblock period not only made a major contribution in documenting the theatrical and literary trends of the Edo period but also provided many of the visual models still employed in Japanese-style tattooing.

Apart from the rich feast of art presented in this book, "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" will nourish the souls of those interested more in the fields of anthropology and comparative religion. Even today, when Japan has emerged as one of the most technologically advanced nations on earth, fundamental cultural beliefs are still strongly informed by a sense of mutability. "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" makes an important contribution to explaining this phenomenon, in which the boundaries between the living and the dead, humankind and animals, the animate and the inanimate, and the sacred and profane are far more permeable than is believed to be the case in the modern West. Several thousand years ago, before the rise of the three great monotheistic religions, most of the world's societies believed in a universe more pregnant with magical possibilities, a type of universe that this book helps us better understand.

"Japanese Ghost and Demons" is something I really wish I could have been a part in making. A college with a fine collection of supernatural-themed Japanese art, in a variety of mediums, decides to offer an interdisciplinary study class with each group producing papers on a folklore theme, with supporting artwork from the collection. Brilliant.

Each of the chapters is incredibly insightful, providing a complete education on the topic. Along with the traditional subjects such as the Oni, Ghosts and Tengu, there are many less-often covered subjects such as Sennin: The Immortals of Taoism and Shoki the Demon Queller. I was particularly pleased to learn about Shoki, as I was browsing a print shop in Kyoto and was able to recognize the Demon Queller himself in a few prints.

The plates are, of course, beautiful, and cover an incredible range of medium, from the familiar prints to the drawings, paintings and netsuke carvings. The reproduction quality is high, and the size of the book is "coffee table" size, allowing for nice sized images. The majority of the plates are in full color.

As someone who has read quite a few books on Japanese supernatural folklore, I recommend "Japanese Ghosts and Demons" as one of the best. It would be hard to be disappointed by this treasure.

I almost hesitate to add a review since there are two other reviews here that do such a fine job. I actually attended the University of Kansas and was therefore able to visit the Spencer Museum of Art and see some of these works on display. I purchased my copy of this book at the museum and used it as part of my source material for a theses I wrote while matriculating at KU, so I am very familiar with this book.

This is a very, very impressive book with loads of gorgeously rendered and reproduced wood-block prints. If you like Japanese art you will wish to have this book simply to look at the pictures. My children actually like to get this book down and look at the pictures, half because it is truly amazing art and half because the art is focused on the creepy-crawly and supernatural. An element of Japanese culture and psychology is viscerally on display in these fine prints and it is easy to see that this form of art is the precursor to the Manga that is so popular today.

This book is much more than a simple visual display though. There is a wealth of information, meticulously researched, presented here on the creatures that make up the pantheon of the eerie and supernatural in medieval Japan. For serious students, or even those with a surfeit of Hobbits just wanting a better grounding in an alternate milieu of the supernatural, this is an excellent tome, well-written, easy-to-follow, and chock-full of information. Buy it for the pictures, buy it for the text, or buy it for both, you won't be disappointed.

If you are looking for sources for traditional japanese art for tattooing purposes this is an excellent place to start. I was very suprised when I got this book and found it to be SO thorough and much nicer than I expected. If you're expecting a flimsy cheap paperback, this is not it. It is a quality book very thick and almost as sturdy as a hardbound, perfect for reference material for a tattooer!