Lawrence Books

The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist: Toward A General Theory Of the Paranormal by psychologist, educator, and author Lawrence LeShan is a New Age book that persuasively presents evidence of psychic abilities, and seeks to draw together the views and science of mediums, mystics, and physicists alike. A extended contemplation of holistic theory, The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist transcends the tendency that people of different religious, spiritual, and scientific viewpoints and experiences have all to often been shortsightedly led to scorn one another. Accessibly written for the non-specialist general reader, The Medium, The Mystic, And The Physicist is a unique and very welcome contribution to Psychology and Metaphysical Studies reading lists.

This genius book is Le Shan's exploration into methods of healing that use meditation, and/or prayer. I want to re-read the book and review it after, but it is a remarkable pieve of work by a great psychologist who has worked for years on the psychodynamics of cancer. I read it years ago and have,as a psychotherapist, used it many times to help heal individuals (and two dogs). It's powerful stuff..and important work for the future of holistic medicine. Every therapist, physician and minister should read it cover to cover. I am a New york city psychotherapist, writer.

My name is Milton Haynes, CSW

This genius book is Le Shan's exploration into methods of healing that use meditation, and/or prayer. I want to re-read the book and review it after, but it is a remarkable pieve of work by a great psychologist who has worked for years on the psychodynamics of cancer. I read it years ago and have,as a psychotherapist, used it many times to help heal individuals (and two dogs). It's powerful stuff..and important work for the future of holistic medicine. Every therapist, physician and minister should read it cover to cover. I am a New york city psychotherapist, writer.

My name is Milton Haynes, CSW

Written for the layperson, with appendices for the scientist, this is without a doubt the most profound book I have ever read. And despite being written nearly 40 years ago, it is still at the cutting edge.

It's hard to easily categorize this title: a blend of psychology, physics, and spirituality written by a research psychologists, this develops his ideas on parallels between views of modern field theory and world-views of mystics. His focus on 'facts that do not fit' offers new insights on human abilities and potentials, describing the experiments which lead to his change of view, and his theory of the paranormal. An intriguing study backed with scientific percision.

There are many good reasons to want to enhance your skill in using Microsoft Excel. One might be for getting certified my Microsoft as an expert in Excel in order to enhance your employment opportunities. Another might be for a person who hasn't used Excel to learn about the package from the ground up. Yet another might want to add some specific topics such as pivot tables or to begin learning about the statistics features in Excel. For any of these reason (and others0, this is a great book to get well grounded in Microsoft Excel 2000.

This book is organized by "projects". Each project covers a broader collection of specific skills such as modifying a worksheet, improving the appearance of a worksheet, working with functions, creating pivot tables and pivot table reports, and many more. There are 18 of these projects and each has eight lessons. Each lesson is short and focused to one task. For example, in the Working with Functions project, the eight lessons are: Analyzing Data with AVERAGE, MAX and MIN, Calculating a Loan Payment with PMT, Creating a Loan Payment Table, Evaluating Investment Plans with the FV Function, Using IF to Display Messages, Using IF to Calculate, Using MOW to Display the Current Date, and Using VLOOKUP to Convert Data.

Although this is a book, it is very visually based and uses images of the screens discussed in each lesson with many labels pointing to the specific portion of the screen it identifies. Each project begins with a short introductory statement under the heading "Why Would I Do This?" and ends with a brief summary. Each project also has a few true or false questions and some multiple choice questions to help the reader check their understanding of concepts and terms. If you are unclear about the correct answer, a reference to the appropriate lesson in the project is provided so you can go look it up.

Each project also has a Skill Drill a Challenge, and a Discovery Zone. Some of these use files that are on the accompanying CD. Since this book is also focused on helping its readers prepare for certification testing, the CD also contains PinPoint Assessments that help the reader understand where he or she stands in mastering the skills necessary for successfully passing the certification exam.

The introduction to the book provides good orienting material including a chart of which projects and lessons focus on specific skills. The end of the book also has information on how to use the PinPoint software, how to register for certification testing, a glossary, and an index.

This is a very helpful book.

Excel 2000 was my last exam on my way to master certification. Before I purchased this book I was very lacking in my excel knowledge. This book helped me gain a better understanding of excel functions. I passed my excel 200 exam and missed perfect by only 40 points.

If you want to know the essentials of Excel, not just to pass the MOUS Exam, but also for your daily use, this book should be on your library. The clear illustrations help you to quickly navigate through the lessons. Furthermore, CD-ROM is especially useful if you want to take the Exam.

I am a computer instructor at a local college. This book is a wonderful book to prepare for the MOUS and the CD is a must also!!!

I highly recommend this as a study guide for the Expert Exam.

This book offers a broad overview of nanotech markets. It is structured around major markets where nanotech is likely to have an impact (energy, healthcare, IT). The author's background as a high tech market researcher is evident: while the book is hopeful, it's informed by experience with hype in other industries (disclosure: I was a contractor for the author's telecom market research company in the 1990s). There is ample discussion of different scenarios and their relative probability, and effective summaries at the beginning and end of most sections, which make it very easy to scan at different levels of detail. The book also includes a method for assessing the likely impact of nanotech on the reader's company and industry; for people in the planning sections of large organizations, this section is reason enough to buy the book. The weakness of the book is related to its strength: most of the discussion is necessarily introductory. That said, the book is rich with pointers to other resources, and though the focus is on business, aside on societal, legal, cultural, and other implications included throughout.

At $79 for a 242 page book, don't bother with nanotechnology. Invest in the guys marketing this book.

Having been in the nanotechnology field for six years, I have seen many books on nanotechnology. This is the best one I have seen for business executives and other decision makers that are new to the field and trying to understand where the opportunities are for their organizations. The book is well-structured, and written in an erudite, accessible and engaging style.

Unlike many books on the subject, Gasman provides specific guidance on the applications that are most likely to pay off in the near and medium term, and which are not. While not exhaustive, it provides a good overview of the most fertile opportunities. The summaries of the "takeaways" from each chapter, and the ample reference to further reading are particularly useful for the busy reader. These will help the neophyte to locate the gems as they wade through the huge amount information on nanotech, much of which is quite mediocre. Unlike many authors who provide a superficial and shallow treatment of the subject, Gasman's experience as a high-quality, disciplined and thorough market analyst comes through in this book.

If I have one primary complaint about the book, it is that there are a few important elements of the nanotech field that are missing. For example, his summary of nanotechnology tools does not make any reference to electron microscopes and focused ion beam devices, which are key to imaging and manipulation at the nanoscale. These omissions are more than balanced by the overall quality of the book. I recommend it highly.

As author of the first book on successful investing in nanotechnology, Nanotech Fortunes: Make Yours in the Boom; Winning Strategies, I can say that Nanomarkets.net's Lawrence Gasman has produced an exceptional contribution to the literature of nanotech, Nanotechnology: Applications and Markets. Everyone interested in exactly how nanotech is going to impact products, markets, industries and businesses must study this concise and worthwhile read. Gasman's intuitions, opinions and arguments are not only right on target but they are informed by a lively intelligence and decades of real-life experience and deeply thought analysis. Whether you are in the business or just looking to invest with a real understanding of what you're doing, you are going to love this book and thank the author as well.

Lawrence has decades of experience analyzing the impact of, commercialization processes and "productization" of new technologies, and he is one of the most down-to-earth reporters on the goings on in real world manufacturing and basic industrial demands, as well as the far-out world of nanotechnology.

The book's real value lays in chapters on nanotech's likely and UNLIKELY impacts on industries as diverse as semiconductors, medical, computing, pharmaceuticals, communications, alternative energy, pollution control and advanced materials. From there, Lawrence leads executives (and investors) on an examination of specific industry-related opportunities and then the step-by-step tools on exactly how to conduct a nanotech audit in any particular company. His strategy will help businesses, large and small, identify both commercial opportunities and threats stemming from advances in nanotechnology.

If there is any "weakness" to the book some might argue that it is too short. At only 200 pages perhaps several chapters and discussions could have been expanded and more time could have been spent debunking ideas and processes, current in the nano-community, that have little or no commercial future. That said, Gasman covers all the important topics, markets and applications.

I feel that scientists and engineers can also benefit from Nanotechnology: Applications and Markets simply because it orients any reader to a perspective where solutions to problems and products that are needed or useful become the key areas of interest. Clearly, a fruitful place for engineers to start . . . I think one that more and more scientists will find a beneficial focus.

All and all, along with Nanotech Fortunes, of course, this is one of the few books related to nano, that belongs on everyone's shelf.

The strength of this book lies in its broad scope. Gasman provides an up to date survey of nanotech's prospects in a wide range of applications. From semiconductors, computers, communication to the currently very hot energy field. Other topics include medicine and pharmaceuticals.

For semiconductors, I see the nano prospects as just hype, for the near future. Semiconductor research and fabs are already at or near the so-called nanoscales. Current linewidths of circuits are reaching below 100 nm. Sure, new and very different production methods are being devised, to get around various limits in current technology. Call these nanotech if the trends continue, perhaps. But it's just a change in label.

The very breadth of the book's scope also means that it is unable to enter any given topic to any depth. Of necessity, the book then functions as an alertness indicator, if you will. Then, for a topic germane to your interests, you might follow the references cited for a more indepth exposition.

ONE HELL OF ALOT OF INFORMATION BUT NOW IN 2007 A LITTLE DATED BUT WHEN I GOT IT NEW YOU COULDN'T BEET IT FOR A REFERENCE BOOK AND CHOOSING A SHORT WAVE RADIO WHEN I AM READY TO UPGRADE AGAIN IT WILL BE MY SOURCE AGAIN

Yes, shortwave radio still exists. Hundreds of millions of people across the globe rely on it daily for their news and information. Any well rounded news freak, travel junkie or culture hound should own one. Maybe for use occasionally, maybe for use while travelling, or maybe, like many of us, you listen daily. If you own a shortwave (world band) radio and want to make the most use out of it, you must own this book. Whether at home with your radio, or travelling, it is the key to unlocking the potential of shortwave. The schedule information for stations worldwide is as complete and current as you can find anywhere. The reviews of shortwave radios are thorough and will make sense to the beginner or the advanced listener, and infused with enough humor to keep the material interesting, even if you aren't shopping for a new one. Lastly, the theme for each yearly edition changes and while the 2004 edition isn't quite as in-depth, topically, as last year's (2003), the book is an interesting read even if you don't yet own a shortwave radio. It will probably inspire you to buy one.

This is the best book to get if you are into SW. reviews of radios, addresses, guides to what to listen to according to time, country, language, and frequency (for when you find a station but have no idea what you are listening to). This is the best money you will spend if you want to explore SW.
Shortwave is great for listening to news. BBC, Radio Canada, Voice of America (paid by your tax dollars) all are worth listening to. I am less interested in the overwhelming amount of propaganda and religious programming (just how many world wide gospel broadcasts do we need?) that is on Shortwave. SHortwave radios are also great because they usually are well made an d will pull in more FM and AM stations.

Since the early days of radio, shortwave radio has been a mystery to many potential listeners. There are many factors in getting involved in this fascinating hobby. You will need a receiver, an antenna, a list of broadcasting stations, their frequencies and time schedules and an understanding of how radio signals move through and bounce off of the atmosphere and earth. Quite a daunting task for the shortwave radio novice. Becoming a shortwave radio listener (SWL) has become much easier and more pleasurable with Lawrence Magne's "Passport to World Band Radio" (I'm not sure if Magne's group coined the phrase "World Band Radio" or not but the phrase is used interchangeably with "shortwave radio").

Just after the end of World War II "The World Radio and TV Handbook (WRTH) began publishing. It has evolved into a huge reference of world radio. Nearly every broadcasting station around the globe is listed with their schedules. It is a required reference work for hard core enthusiasts (DX'ers) who cherish pulling in weak and low powered stations. The WRTH is a bit much for the casual to hobbyist-level SWL. In 1985 the first "Passport to World Band Radio" was printed. As an active SWL (already with a 1985 WRTH) I decided that I had to check it out. I realized then (just as much as now) that the "Passport" isn't as a thorough reference as the WRTH. That isn't a bad thing - in fact it's a great thing. Most articles are aimed solely at the casual SWL and not at the professional DX'er with his or her antenna farms and ten radios. If you are new to the hobby (or are returning to it like I am) this is probably the first place to study. I will not compare "Passport" to the WRTH anymore. They both have their niche in the hobby.

New receiver reviews are included each year. They run the gamut from the cheaper $50 portables to the $1000+ professional models. Other articles differ from year to year one was on Internet Radio, one on propagation - how the atmosphere reflects some signals, cancels some signals out and twists others and one on World Time stations which can help keep all of your clocks accurate. There are few advertisements - all relating to the SWL hobby.

The meat of "Passport to World Band Radio" is the guide to the individual stations and their schedules. The guide to the stations is arranged alphabetically by country. It even lists the stations' addresses. This is important as hobbyists often contact the stations to verify their reception. The station usually returns a letter or a "QSL" card to verify the reception. Stations often include pennants, stickers and other neat souvenirs. The schedules list at least 90% of the SW schedules. With seasonal changes, the schedules themselves may change over time. With a current year Passport on hand you will always find something of interest to listen to. Most English language broadcasts aimed at North America are transmitted in our evening hours. However, you will generally find some English broadcasts around the clock. Many European broadcasters transmit in their native language to North America for former residents.

You will find being a SWL a great hobby and this book will help you out a great deal.

Using your shortwave radio without this book would be like trying to use the Internet without a search engine. Passport is cross linked so many ways. By time, frequency and station. If you don't already have a SW receiver, it's a good place to read-up on what's hot and what's not before you choose.

Ferlinghetti's little book is full of big inspiration. It is a call to take poetry off the page and live the words. Buy extra copies for your friends and loves, for this is essential reading.

This great little book - small enough to carry in one's back pocket, like a New Testament or the Little Red Book of Chairman Mao - is my new Manifesto. "Poetry deconstructs power. Absolute poetry deconstructs absolutely." Happy deconstructing.

Ferlinghetti never ceases to amaze. The volume may be slim, but it is rich with Beat philosophy, true to the Cause. This is a must for fans of the Beat poets.

This is the best work of art that I've seen in a long time. Wonderful.

More bon mots from the old bard of San Francisco. To this day Ferlinghetti gets confused for a Beat poet. He is in fact a Bohemian poet and artist who only published the Beats. In this book his words are few but to the point. You want to keep this in your back pocket at all times. Who knows when you're gonna need some emergency wisdom!? He is one of the best poets alive and the title of Lawrence of America is well-earned for a man who single-handedly changed the literary landscape of this country. Thank you Lawrence! May the lights of all the cities of the world shine upon you.

There are stories, and there are Stories. The former are idle pleasantries, constructed to amuse, entertain, teach, or otherwise create an effect. The latter, ah the latter, are not constructed but rather, are born. They exist for no other purpose other than it is entirely right and proper that they do, and (I suspect) are written for no other reason than that they must be. In the last few weeks, I have been lucky enough to encounter, not one,
but TWO volumes of the latter.

They come to me on two very different paths, yet two that are entirely appropriate.

Portable Childhoods by Ellen Klages, arrived very directly. At Minicon, last year, I asked Charles de Lint what I should read next, since I had run out of Nina Kirki Hoffman books, He recommended The Green Glass Sea, which Dreamhaven was kind enough to let me purchase. So, I was looking for her next one, and Amazon.com notified me when it came out. I just finished reading it.

Interestingly enough, "Basement Magic" and "In the House of the Seven Librarians" bookend in similarly to Courting Disasters, with the latter ending the book with hope. The former is quite difficult to read, but the latter is joy from the beginning to the end. I don't want to spoil anything in it, but if you like books, you MUST read "In the House of the Seven Librarians".

* "Intelligent Design" has a very interesting take on the creation of the universe. I've seen similar, but nothing quite like this -- a perfect example of inspiration from a quote.
* "Triangle" is horrible and will make you cry. Of course, it's excellently written too. Many will appreciate it, but it may not be a pleasant read.
* "Flying Over Water" is about when you're not exactly a child anymore and not yet an adolescent. For those of us who had difficulty with this transition (all of us?), it's hard to read... and it's sad.
* "Mobius, Stripped of a Muse" and "Be Prepared" are experimental fiction.
* "Time Gypsy" is about physics and time travel. I loved it, others likely wouldn't care a whole lot.
* "Travel Agency" is about the lands within books.
* "Ringing Up Baby" is a wonderful story with a wonderful twist. Anyone who interacts with young children will like it.
* "Guys Day Out" is one of the most touching stories that I've read in a long time. It's about a boy with Down Syndrome. It's painful to read. Be warned.
* "Portable Childhoods" is an amazing story about a single mother raising a child. Unlike absolutely everything else on this list, there are no fantastic elements, no magic, no gimmicks. It's just a collection of thoughts and observations and is amazing in it's shear honesty. If you have kids or are planning to, it's a must read.

You know when you look at a case of petit fours and they're so elegant and perfect that you almost feel guilty eating them? The stories in Portable Childhoods were so delicious that I found I was pacing myself so I wouldn't finish too soon.

Petit fours, though, aren't quite the perfect metaphor in this case. The stories are wonderful confections, but they're not saccharine. Perhaps a better comparison would be to those brightly inked images on the pages of illuminated manuscripts--small, intense, beautiful.

I've already given away two copies....

Just finished reading Portable Childhoods and I am very sorry I couldn't make it last longer. There is other information here to give you an idea of the subject matter and what the stories are about, but what isn't noted is the tenderness (not in a sentimental or 'twee' manner) of observation that is present. Different stories moved me in different ways; none of them left me untouched. Very rich reading (that actually I made myself spread over several days to make it last).

The stories and the charactors are memorable, often dealing with the complex mix of the desire to protect and at the same time allow independent growth in a relationship (between parent and child, lovers, past and future). This makes it sound stodgy - it's not - there is plenty of Magic, people find fairies or turn into tropical fish or time travel or.....maybe you should just find out for yourself.

I hope I don't have long to wait for her next collection.

Ellen Klages is one of the best sf short story writers around. Portable Childhoods has all of her best stories, like "Basement Magic," (won a Nebula Award), and "The Green Glass Sea," that became the novel that won the Scott O'Dell Award. There's an introduction by Neil Gaiman too. A great collection.

Boing Boing just said Klages is "The kind of sf writer that comes along once in a decade..." Very true.

Sixteen tales of varying length. Some are two pages long. Some are twenty-eight. Realistic sometimes, and sometimes deeply magical. In her Afterword, Klages says it best when she mentions that, "My stories have been described as fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction, not science fiction, children's, mainstream, and/or horror. (Often in different reviews of the same story)." More telling is her final sentence, "Many of my stories appear to have happy endings." Appearances being, as they are, deceiving, the tales found in this book can be hopeless and heartless one moment and then bounce back with something that "appears" to be cheerful the next. With an Introduction from fellow adult/children's author Neil Gaiman, the book's stories last just as long as they need to, never overstaying their welcome or bringing you up too short, too soon. Their connections demand a little more work.

The mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and realistic fiction is seamless here. It's all the more fun too when you think you're in one genre and then realize too late by the end that you're in another. A story where God is a kid who's helping his grandmother in the kitchen (he has, as J.B.S. Haldane once said, "an inordinate fondness for stars and beetles.") is followed by the historical fiction tale "The Green Glass Sea." The amusing "Ringing Up Baby" where a child orders a baby sister with... let us say unusual properties is preceded by the mostly realistic, possibly sci-fi "A Taste of Summer" and all that it entails. For the most part they fit with one another. I've always thought that the arrangement of short stories is a difficult task in its own right. You want the book to flow from tale to tale rather than start and stop in a herky-jerky manner. The sole story I found out-of-place was a tiny two pager called "Be Prepared". A kind of To Serve Man but lighter. It's a fun story but I didn't quite see how it fit in with the rest of the book.

Every author writes, to some extent, from what they know. The funny thing about Klages is that you can't figure out what she has conjured versus what she's experienced. Ms. Klages writes in such a way that you cannot separate her memories from her fictions. Everything, every single little thing, seems deeply drenched in fact. Dripping with it, I say. From the Afterword we learn that her little sister Sally was born with Down Syndrome. So you get an understanding for why the story "Guys Day Out" about a father and his Down Syndrome son, feels so right. Then again, Klages really nails the time traveling aspects of "Time Gypsy" too. And the feeling that you're flying when you snorkel as in "Flying Over Water". Many of these tales are about socially awkward girls who are comfortable with their own passions and interests to the exasperation of the mainstream adults around them. So how far do you feel comfortable assuming that you know an author from their works? With Klages you end up making all kinds of assumptions. Certainly they cannot all be correct.

Certain themes do crop up throughout the tales. Homosexuality, and how quickly we forget what strides have been made, is a theme. Powerlessness, particularly the powerlessness of children. That's there. Girls tend to either vanish or find themselves transformed (both literally and figuratively) in this book. And as Neil Gaiman says in the Introduction, "I expected them [the stories] to be funny and bustling, and they weren't. They were something else entirely." Not unfunny, but not a barrel of laffs and larfs either.

Then there's the writing. It all comes down to the writing. When I read a book like this, I like to mark the sentences that catch my eye and let me smile when I read them. They never really have the same effect when you pluck them out of their context and try to make them bobble about in a review on their own. I'll try anyway, though. Otherwise, how could I tell you about the lovely moment in the story "Basement Magic" when little Mary Louise receives a compliment from her family's housekeeper, Ruby. "She does not get many compliments, and stores this one away in the most private part of her thoughts. She will visit it regularly over the next few days until its edges are indistinct and there is nothing left but a warm glow labeled RUBY." Or to say of a woman that "she still had all of her marbles, though every one of them was a bit odd and rolled asymmetrically." A good author, a competent author, knows how to elicit an almost visceral response when they mention things like "a small, curled whip." Klages does that.

Some stories feel familiar. The story "A Taste of Summer" brought to mind Ray Bradbury's Dandelion Wine (a fact duly noted by Cory Doctorow). "In the House of the Seven Librarians" begins with a premise not too dissimilar from "The Baby in the Night Deposit Box" by Megan Whalen Turner. Kudos to that story, by the way, and not just because I'm a librarian. In a very small moment the tale alludes to the fact that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a classic tale. There's also a mention of Nero Wolfe, which I appreciated quite a lot, being a Rex Stout fan and all. The stories in this book are rarely so familiar that you feel you've seen them before, of course. Nor do they vanish from your brain mere moments after the reading. Some stay around longer than others, but for the most part they're all there. Shifting about.

I've done some freelance work in the past where I've had to collect short stories relating to a variety of different topics. When I did this "Portable Childhoods", I found, was a particularly useful collection to have on hand. Consistently well written and emotionally stimulating, the book is one of the loveliest you'll find. It's not for children, but many of the stories in this title conjure up the feelings we all associate with our own youth. Well worth a gander.

Sutin has great ideas for books. I've now read four of his books, and finished all but this one because the topics were so good -- Buddhism in America, biographies of Aliester Crowley and Philip Dick, and this one, the postcard memoir, should have been a terrific book and I can't really see why it's not, except in all this time i've never warmed to Sutin as a writer, and can't quite figure out why.

This is a great book to get just because it's a great idea for a book, realized pretty well. Searching for one's lost family in the pile of crap that mounts up at the feet of the angel of History is another version of Dick's I-Ching driven narratives, or other books written with the Tarot or the Ouija board as coauthor. Whether you regard this as purely a chance operation or an embrace of synchronicity will have a lot to do with the outcome. I guess I wish Sutin had gotten more into the game of the thing than he did, but he had a memoir to get off his chest, and a family story, and kids of Holocaust survivors are always lugging that extra ton of inherited survivor guilt and whatnot: it makes them difficult, as friends. I have the same difficulties with Sebald. If you like Rings of Saturn, i'm pretty sure you'll like Sutin's memoir.

Most people witll find this small caveat pointless, and will enjoy this book for its multiple virtues. Highly recommended.

Using the visual medium of postcards coupled with creativity and philosophy and memoir of Lawrence Sutin's words gives this work life, punch and texture. It's a great work to spur your own creativity - and to satisfy the voyeuristic urge in all of us. I wish there were more truly original pieces of literature like this.

Anyone who has ever sent a postcard will be stunned and enthralled by this fascinating collection, which also includes his own intriguing inner dialogue. As a postcard connoisseur, I can only say, this man understands what it's all about!

I can't believe Lawrence Sutin has written another book - and this one is even better than the last two. What a fascinating way to structure the story of his life - by using favorite postcards that inspire memories of days gone by. I loved his book about Phillip K Dick - and the one he wrote with his parents, about their Holocaust experiences, is must-read stuff. But this one is the best yet - by turns fanciful, touching and downright funny. Bravo!

Larry has an interesting life problem -- he's the son of Holocaust survivors. His mom and dad met behind enemy lines in Poland, hiding from the Nazis -- a remarkable story he details in his tribute to their experience, Jack and Rochelle. He reveres and loves his parents, but their experience has had the effect of throwing his life into a sort of unheroic (by comparison) shadow.

Yet he has soldiered on. Larry is a gnostic by nature. By this I mean to say that Larry is, as near as I can tell, very brilliant, with a special knack for tackling arcane topics.

He wrote a celebrated analysis of speculative fiction writer Philip K. Dick a decade ago , and has followed that up with something even more Byzantine, a full-fledged biography of Aleister Crowley (Do What Thou Wilt, A Life of Aleister Crowley.

But in the meantime, he took time to create a perfectly wonderful mini-autobiography called A Postcard Memoir. It is a series of portraits from his life, thumbnails of people who have touched him, along with a few philosophical observations. The "gimmick" or hook that these 400-word wonders hang on is that each is accompanied by an antique picture postcard, which Graywolf Press has lovingly reproduced.

It is a gimmick which works smashingly. First, it is a natural one -- Larry collects postcards, and uses favorite cards as reverie objects, staring into them until the faces and places he doesn't know and hasn't visited spur a personal association inside him. A postcard labeled "Smartly Dressed Young Man" depicts "a young man of angular but easy good looks, earnestness and wit, [and] a taste for faintly wicked pranks." The picture bears an eerie resemblance to Larry's friend Bob, who can be charged with those same defects.

So Larry's essay describes his friendship with Bob, how they met as young writers (though "his subject matter was the borderlines of clarity and mine the chasm of chaos") concluding with the realization that "the best friends of my life were people who would let me be in their company and somewhat copy them."

In one essaylet after another, Sutin is unstintingly honest about what he takes to be his own defects -- an obscurity of thought, a painful bashfulness, and a feeling of not being quite right for this world -- feelings alien to all but himself.

I have only scratched the surface of his concerns. He writes about his parents, lost loves, his beloved children, his wife Mab, who from these writings appears to have been FedExed to Larry overnight from heaven, about jobs and opportunities, places that are real, and places that exist only in dreams.

It is a book of tremendous intimacy because we get to look at Larry's life in all its pimply everydayness -- but it is magical, too, because the pictures are so beautiful, and transport us into our own unspoken memoirs. It's a wonderful gift from a talented writer.

Angolos, a wealthy Greek billionare finds himself diagnosed with cancer. A cure is available, but the cost is most often sterility. Released from medical care, Angolos decides to take a short break at a small seaside town and meets a young woman named Georgie. Georgie is sweet and innocent and worships the ground Angolos walks on. After a short courtship, the two marry and in a few months, Georgie announces her pregnancy only to find herself thrown out of the house. A stunned Georgie, not knowing what she's done wrong, leaves and returns home to go back to college. Now after three and a half years, Georgie has earned her degree and managed to make a living for herself and her son....for years Angolos has deposited money into an account that Georgie refuses to touch. When a friend of Angolos' sees Georgie's son Nicky, he is stunned at the miniature version of Angolos. He tells Angolos that there is no doubt, he has a son and when he sees Nicky he knows he made a mistake all those years ago, now he wants to be a part of Nicky and Georgie's life, but will she be able to forgive him?

This was a passionate, sexy book. At times, Angolos can be thick headed, how many times must his jealosy be proved to be for nothing before he can trust Georgie. At times, I think Georgie is a little too forgiving, but still she is a strong character. Great book.

I liked reading this book; as usual a failure to communicate with each other caused the hero and heroine to split. I understand the hero doubting the child's parentage but I think keeping his possible inability to have children from fiancé\wife was very deceitful and took away from his likeability.

It was great that the heroine was no longer a pushover and was able to speak her mind and not follow the hero as if she didn't have opinions of her own. I think the hero and heroine should have discussed the issues, she was having, with his mother and sister making him aware of the way she was treated by his family.

There were several twist and turns to keep the reader involved and I thought it was a very good book.

You will find yourself wondering if you could ever forgive this man for doing what he does to Georgie - casting her out of his life and their marriage with no discussion when he finds out she is pregnant....years later, after Georgie has endured childbirth alone, struggled to get her education and is working as a teacher to support herself and her son, he finally sees his son & realizes what a fool he's been - read this book to find out more
[...]
After a whirlwind marriage to Greek billionaire Angolos Constantine, Georgie was pregnant - and was sure Angolos would be delighted. Instead, he told her to "go away and never come back." So that was exactly what she did. Angolos has never seen his son - until now!

In fact, Angolos Constantine didn't think he could have children, and now he's not prepared to let this miracle go. Even though Georgie seems to hate him, he'll have what's rightfully his...by whatever means possible!

For a man who has beaten cancer even at the risk of being sterilized, Angolos Constantine was ready to celebrate.
On his way to see Paul he stopped at a beach where he saw Georgie, a 21 year collete student, who brought his body to raging life.

Georgie had known him less than a month when they married. They couldn't keep their hands off each other.

What a shock when telling him the happyest news of having a baby caused him to tell her to get out and never come back.

Much in between, but 4 years later Paul gets a chance to see Nicky and tells Angolos that the child is in his spiting image.
Angolos was sure that Georgie had betrayed him with Alan, her friend.

Mama Constentine had constantly been telling Georgie that Sonia, the ex-wife, was the woman for Angolos.

Angolos problem was that he couldn't forgive but he couldn't let go of Georgie either. And he wanted his son. So he decided to move in with them. Georgie wasn't the same woman he had married, she had more backbone and stood up to Angolos for the sake of her son.

What a great Love story! Excellent twists and turns to move at a very good pace. Great to see a strong man in thrall to his wife.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- Should be a keeper! Enjoy!

Back cover reads:
All the Greek tycoon wants is...
his child.
After a whirlwind marriage to Greek billionaire Angolos Constantine, Georgie was pregnant--and was sure Angolos would be delighted. Instead, he told her to "go away and never come back." So that was exactly what she did. Angolos has never seen his son--until now!
In fact, Angolos Constantine didn't think he could have children, and now he's not prepared to let his miracle go. Even though Georgie seems to hate him, he'll have what's rightfully his...by whatever means possible!

The psychiatry 2002, is an excellent quick review of psych. In the clinics it will give you easy to read summaries of all topics in psych and treatments. An ideal book for any med student or resident.

Great reference for the psych clerkship. Written by same 3 authors at UCI who write the psycho-pharmacology book for CCS.

This was great to review quickly right before the shelf exam, and it was a big help. I read through it and then it isn't worth reading again, so it seems overpriced.

This is like the washington manual for Psychiatry. It's about a centimeter thick and small so it;s easy easy to carry around. But don;t be fooled by its size. It has all the info you need to do well in psychiatry rotation.

A good light handbook for quick reference on the run. Point-form and well laid out. Ideal for helping with differential diagnosis. I like the practicality & succintness of the information in it, as I can go to bigger texts if I want details. Bonus is that, if you own the handbook, you can download free a PC version, as well as a Palm, or EPOC (Psion Revo/Mako) versions. Mine is on a Revo and goes around with me when I'm on call.

Buzzati has a gift for writing allegory and fun-to-read tales. This slim book provides lots of entertainment and insight. It offers fun and insight for all ages. I compare it to Hans Christian Andersen or maybe Ovid. My complaint is the price. This book is out-of-print; why hasn't the publisher kept it in print? At the moment of this writing, this novel costs $45 for a 120 page book; surely, this is not reasonable.

"Deep inside Tibet a native guide offered to accompany me if by chance I wanted to see the walls of the city of Anagoor. I looked at the map, but there was no city of Anagoor." Thus begins Dino Buzzati's "Walls of Anagoor". Buzzati was a journalist and so he writes very succinct sentences which have a matter of fact feel to them. His stories are quite often no more than 4-5 pages long and even though his stories often veer into the uncharted terrain of human desire and fantasy you feel like you are reading a newspaper article and so the events and the characters actions seem perfectly plausible, perfectly within the realm of the possible, even ordinary. And that is Buzzati's style: to make the extraordinary sound ordinary. Even though they are each very short the stories are impossible to paraphrase because Buzzati chooses each phrase so carefully that paraphrasing would be misrepresenting his stories. He might be compared to Kafka but Buzzati writes like no one else. Generally speaking if you categorize Buzzati he would fit in with Kafka or Camus or Borges and if you are familiar with those writers and you come to Buzzati you will be reminded in subtle ways of those others but you will also notice important differences. Kafka often used fantasy in a negative way--to emphasize the dehumanizing nature of modern life. Buzzati uses fantasy to allow his characters a bit of release from the everday world. Even if the fantasy proves to be only an illusion Buzzati shows how people use fantasy to cope with existence. In this way he is not nearly as bleak as Kafka can sometimes be. Buzzati has a lighter touch than Kafka or Camus. You don't get that heavy sense of dread in Buzzati that you get with Camus, instead you get a sense of reality as something that each individual must construct for themselves and no reality is complete without an element of fantasy. Buzzati seems aware that just as children need to to be told stories which challenge their imaginations and allow them to wonder so too do adults need the same thing otherwise existence becomes dull and pointless. Thus when the unnamed protaganist in "The Walls of Anagoor" hears from his guide of a place which may or may not exist he has no choice, he must go.

There are 23 stories in this collection involving everything from Einstein making a deal with death to allow him to continue working on his theories to girls falling from buildings just for fun to a crew who decides to go on building the Eiffel tower until they have risen so high they can see the Alps. O and one particularly brilliant story about a beloved doctor whose death inspires an investigation that he may not have been who he says he was -- an investigation which grows and reveals that perhaps no one is who they say they are.

Buzzatti's terrifying, often self referential surreal tales of disappointed human expectation and the futility of most human hope strike an uncomfortable chord in all but the dullest reader. In the tradition of Beckett or Kafka (with a little Marquez), Buzzatti employs the fantastic in the service of philosophy. Unlikely situations abound (such as the one in which each prisoner serving a life sentence is given the opportunity to make a speech to the public which, depending on the crowd's reaction, will set him free or keep him imprisoned for life) and in some of stories the name "Dino" is even used directly, as though the author were writing directly about himself. Buzzatti is also obsessed with the Devil (who, in the peron of a dark angel of death, gives Albert Einstein the congrats for his groundbreaking work.) This is great stuff, an odd mix of the nihilistic and the imaginative.

Why don't more people read Buzzati? Perhaps because he's always associated with Camus, whose philosopy-laden novels are forced on all students. Buzzati is existential, but he's a much better storyteller than anyone else burdened with the "existential" label. Restless Nights is a great collection of short stories that should have won awards for its publisher. There are touches of the surreal here, but his style is too clear and concise to fit in with Breton et al. There are many sci-fi and Twilight Zone effects as well, yet with a more profound and, yes, existential, theme. Think of this as Kafka with a good sense of plot, as if Franz were forced to write half-hour tv scripts. I consider this one a classic. Much better than the other DB collections.

This collection of stories by the versatile Italian writer, Dino Buzzati, bears a curious resemblance to the stories of Jorge Luis Borges. Borges's argument - and Buzzati's - appears to be with the nature of man.

Like Borges, Mr. Buzzati employs a relative simplicity of language to reveal and conceal the circularity and ineluctability of time and destiny. The longest story in the collection, ''Barnabo of the Mountains'', deals with the fate of a young man who funks his duty as forester and then lives on to the critical moment of reprise, only to discover that the honor he sought to recover has been absorbed in the undifferentiated wholeness of experience.

Another Borgesian device is the assumption that people and events are as well known to the reader as they are to the author. ''The inventor, the famous Aldo Cristofari'' is an invented inventor introduced with an air of universal familiarity.

Preoccupied chiefly with conscience and social decorum, the 14 tales could be described as parables, being short on narrative and long on moral suggestion. A middle-aged man flirts dangerously with the fantasies of childhood. Another story proposes that human imagination has as much to do with reality as any case-hardened fact. A story about a literary doppelg"anger once again demonstrates that one must be careful what one wishes for. And so on...