Lawrence Books

The Philosopher's Review on "Why Good People Make Bad Choices: How You Can Develop Peace of Mind through Integrity" by Charles Lawrence Allen

Do you believe that you are a "good" person who sometimes makes a "bad" choice? If so, this book may be for you. But hold on to your hat; there are several things you should know before you dive into this two hundred and sixty page self-help tour de force. First, it's a tough read. Second, it requires motivation and persistence. Third, it can change your life--for the better.

The hypothesis and structure of this book hinge on a negative premise: You have a problem, and its name is "Ego." According to Charles Lawrence Allen, the Ego is "a fundamental aspect of who you are" (5) but has an agenda which may or may not coincide with the choices that `you' would actually like to make-- choices that would allow you to develop integrity and peace of mind. Your Ego wants to survive. Your Ego wishes to minimize pain. It likes to maximize gratification. It also thrives on power and control. Hence, the latter two thirds of Allen's book outline the "The Solution," "The Method," and "The Choice" for overcoming the Ego's agenda. In short, this entails creating and following a consciously created belief system. Bear in mind: The belief system ought to be consciously created from your own consciousness, not from other peoples' or culture. You develop integrity when you begin to act consistently in Your Own Best Interest (YOBI). Some chapters offer follow-up exercises; others do not. I successfully changed my behavior by completing, reviewing, and repeating the follow-up exercises.

Philosophically speaking, Allen's book relies on a distinctly modern understanding of the human self and personal identity. While our primitive, ancient, and medieval counterparts identified with the entire cosmos; the early modern era ushered in the masterful, rational, subjective, individual self and corresponding worldview of the Cosmos as a medley of contingencies. This austere perspective discounts the world as a locus of meaning and appropriates the identification and creation of meaning and identity to the individual subject instead. The result of modern subjectivity is the perception of a self that possesses unbounded and unlimited freedom. Consequently, Allen's book is highly evocative and reminiscent of certain aspects of John Locke's theories. Locke viewed the self as a self-defining subject, and his philosophy emphasized control, self-discipline, freedom, and responsibility. Allen's views on personal identity might also align with Locke's; more information on how Allen views memory--in relation to personal identity--is required for such a comparative analysis, since Locke stressed the importance of memory in his own theories.

I view Allen's book as one of the most unique and effective contributions to the self-help genre. It is not for the faint of heart, vocabulary, or reading skills. His view and personification of the Ego interest me, more so than Freud's. Freud and Allen both successfully personify the Ego, but Allen's personification is much more humanistic than Freud's mechanistic analysis. Use caution with Allen's Ego, however, since the persistent monitoring of the Ego and its agenda, as well as the consistent effort to live from a consciously created belief system, rather than the Ego's agenda, may liken your everyday life to a metaphysical battlefield. Conversely, this monitoring is yet another hallmark of our modern culture--a point well addressed by the late philosopher Michel Foucault. If you do want to change your behavior and make better choices, try this book.

We all make bad choices sometimes. We decide that chocolate bars are suddenly part of our healthy nutritional plan. We convince ourselves that since no one will notice, it's okay to leave early from work on Friday afternoons. We watch television instead of spending quality time with our family.

Why Good People Make Bad Choices states that our ego is at fault in all of our bad decisions. The ego is that instinctual part of us all that attempts to protect us from pain while directing us towards pleasure. Unfortunately, the ego does not differentiate between painful experiences that will create growth opportunities and situations that are dangerous. Likewise, there is no distinction between experiences that will create pleasure in the short term but may not necessarily be beneficial to our physical or mental health. In short, our ego isn't always looking out for our best interests. Thus, the key to making good choices is becoming aware of our instinctual behaviours and replacing them with conscious behaviours that reflect personal integrity and how we really want to live our lives.

This book teaches guides the reader to change through awareness one choice at a time. The end goal is simply peace of mind based upon your best interests instead of just seeking experiences that will provide short term pleasure. It also teaches the reader the real meaning of various emotions and how to transform these feelings into more healthy reactions.

Charles Lawrence Allen, MSW presents Why Good People Make Bad Choices: How You Can Develop Peace of Mind Through Integrity, a self-help guide to overcoming maladaptive behaviors that erode one's personal integrity and therefore one's well-being, as well as how to recognize integrity in others. Chapters discuss how human beings are susceptible to near-automatic "instinctual management" behaviors, and teach methods for managing anger, sadness, fear, and other emotions that threaten to overwhelm one's judgment, actions and integrity, thereby transforming unwanted behavior. An uplifting self-help book for improving one's character and regaining control over one's life, one choice at a time.

Reviewed by Susan Pettrone for Reader Views (8/06)

Within the framework of this 19 Chapter book, the author, Charles Lawrence Allen puts into perspective for the reader, the ego, it's agenda within our lives and how we, the reader, can find peace of mind and happiness through integrity. We learn from the beginning how good choices and bad choices can affect our lives to thepoint of destroying integrity. We learn how to recognize, foster and finally keep integrity foremost within our lives. And we learn that when integrity is foremost, our lives are happier and calmer, as well.

Integrity is often spoken of in everyday life, but if truth be known, few know exactly how to define integrity. Integrity is predictable, trustworthy and dependable. Simply put, in the book, "...you can count on integrity". My oldest son takes Taekwondo, and in his training he has been given some wonderful advice by his instructors. Taekwondo is a sport that is built upon trustworthiness and integrity and the instructors teach the students not just the forms of the sport, but also how to apply the tenants to their lives through simple, easy to understand examples. One statement about integrity has often been used in this way, "Anyone can do the right thing when others are watching, but it takes a person with integrity to do the right thing when there is no one there." This is a simple sentence but one that seems to fit the author's description of integrity well. It is oftentimes hard to "do the right thing" when no one is there to judge you but yourself, but the person of integrity does that right thing and he does it without thinking. The hardest thing about integrity is to have it when no one knows it is being challenged.

I was intrigued with "Why Good People Make Bad Choices" and it's take on integrity. The book is a worthwhile read, and one that is filled with important information and advice. However, I feel it could be improved and made more accessible by streamlining some of the excess wordage. That said, I would still recommend this book to anyone who might be looking for a way to find happiness and peace of mind in their lives. It is well organized, expertly researched and filled with lists and examples that will appeal to an array of readers.

This book would be an excellent addition to the library of any counselor, student of sociology/psychology and those who practice martial arts as well. For while the information is definitely written in a "self help" way, this book could easily further cement a strong belief system already in place. As we all are on a constant journey toward bettering ourselves, "Why Good People Make Bad Choices" is a wonderful tool to help us stay on the straight path toward happiness and peace of mind!

This 2nd edition was published in 2003 under ISBN: 1856693538 [Hb] and ISBN: 0071417516 [Hb], in 2004 under ISBN: 1856693716 [Pb], and in 2008 under ISBN: 0071544798 [Hb] and ISBN: 1856695492 [Pb]. It is magnificently illustrated guide to the global history of architecture is an update to include the non-western world and works from women on 608 pages. This impressive survey includes a wealth of information, and is beautifully formatted and enhanced with 570 photographs (300 in color) and 350 line drawings. A series of maps precedes the informative and well-written text.
This 2nd edition gives a deeper knowledge and wider perspective of traditions in architecture throughout the world--from prehistoric through modern structures. The book includes photos, plans, scales for important monuments, residences, government buildings, and religious structures, complete with photos, plans, and scales, including: The Parthenon, Cheops Pyramid, Pantheon, Hadrian's Wall, Versailles, Monticello, The Brooklyn Bridge, Boston Public Library, Rockefeller Center, Fallingwater, The High Museum.
This book also examines the unique methods of great architects past and present. Among them are Alvar Aalto, Robert Adam, Leon Battista Alberti, Filippo Brunelleschi, Gustave Eiffel, Peter Eisenman, Antonio Gaudi, Frank Gehry, Walter Gropius, Imhotep, Le Corbusier, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Michelangelo, Glenn Murcutt, Andrea Palladio, Eero Saarinen, Koca Sinan, Louis Sullivan, Christopher Wren, and Frank Lloyd Wright.
The 1st edition was published in 1989 under ISBN: 0874847842 and titled "A History of Western Architecture".
BIOGRAPHIES:
Michael Fazio is emeritus professor of architecture at Mississippi State University, an architect, and architectural historian. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of architecture and urban development from Cornell University.
Marian Moffett earned a Ph.D. at the M.I.T. (1975) and taught history of architecture at the University of Tennessee, where she had collaborated and co-authored with Lawrence Wodehouse including the first edition (1989) titled A History of Western Architecture.
Lawrence Wodehouse, a native of Norwich, England, received a Ph.D. from the University of St. Andrews (1980), taught history of architecture at the University of Tennessee and others, and was the author of many books and numerous scholarly articles, a registered architect in the UK, and a founding member of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.
CONTENTS:
Preface
Maps
Introduction 1
Ch. 1 The Beginnings of Architecture 9
Ch. 2 The Greek World 39
Ch. 3 The Architecture of Ancient India and Southeast Asia 67
Ch. 4 Traditional Architecture of China and Japan 87
Ch. 5 The Roman World 111
Ch. 6 Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture 141
Ch. 7 Islamic Architecture 165
Ch. 8 Early Medieval and Romanesque Architecture 191
Ch. 9 Gothic Architecture 229
Ch. 10 Indigenous Architecture in the Pre-Columbian Americas 275
Ch. 11 Renaissance Architecture 295
Ch. 12 Baroque Architecture 353
Ch. 13 The Eighteenth Century 397
Ch. 14 Nineteenth-Century Developments 419
Ch. 15 The Twentieth Century and Modernism 475
Ch. 16 Modernisms in the Mid- and Late Twentieth Century 533
Glossary 568
Bibliography 572
Picture Credits 576
Index 577

I have always admired architecture. I love wandering through cities, marvelling at their skyscrapers, and travelling to Europe to see older buildings. I bought "A World History of Architecture" so that I could better understand not only the beauty of these buildings, but their place in architectural history. "A World History" exceeded my expectations.

Its sixteen chapters describe the characteristics and innovations of architecture's major movements. You will learn what makes Gothic architecture Gothic, and Romanesque Romanesque. "A World History" also explains how these styles developed from eachother. Although appearance might suggest otherwise, today's skyscrapers are the descendants of the Parthenon and Pantheon.

Not all chapters describe western styles, however. There are long, interesting sections about Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Islamic and Pre-Columbian American architecture. The authors explain how these types influenced Western architecture, something I never realized. It is fascinating to read that Islamic mosques were the source of many concepts found in medieval cathedrals, and that Mayan buildings inspired some of Frank Lloyd Wright's work.

The book is well written and full of beautiful pictures that illustrate the ideas described in the text. I don't think there is a single page devoid of pictures, which alone make the book interesting to leaf through.

My only complaints concern the hefty price and bulky size. This is more of a textbook than bedroom reading. I found it uncomfortable to lay down on a couch to read this, or even sit in an armchair. It is best read sitting at a desk, like your chemistry textbook in high school.

Otherwise, "A World History" is perfect. Having read this, I feel like I have completed an architectural class. This book gave me a knowledge architectural history that I cant wait to use on my next vacation.

It is an outstanding book for aspiring architects who want to gain more knowledge about the history of what they study and practice. From the Egyptians to the modern architects like Frank Gehry, this book explains how, why, and where the great structures of the world were built. It is an excellent research material to use.

Professors Fazio, Moffet, & Wodehouse have assembled a book which is impressive in its scope and thoroughness. It covers each subject with a depth appropriate for an academic environment, but remains approachable to the average reader. The photographs and plates are numerous and richly illustrate each topic throughout the volume. Expect this book to become a standard text in the field.

My grandfather was born in 1888 in the town of St. Martinville, LA and turned the century with the rest of Mr. Capuder's cast of characters. Even with that connection, in reading this book I still learned things about my ancestors that I didn't know. It is amazing how real these folks still are on the pages of Le Petit Paris, as if they'd just closed their storefront or doused their lantern for the night, not the century. I am the author of a book of Cajun poetry, Porch People, that tells the stories of these same people two generations later and it is with great respect and pleasure that I add Mr. Capuder's vast information to my own.

The book takes you back in time. The author makes you think the people are still here with us today. And he makes you feel like you're living in the past. The book is very informative, interesting, beautifully detailed with pictures, and sectioned. It's our own heritage and the way they lived. It has cross references which makes it even more interesting. But most of all it leaves you hunger for more.

This book is a small treasure of riches from the past for rural southwest Louisiana. The turn of two centuries finds us viewing our ancestors as if they still worked this land and shopped these store fronts. I learned things about my own great-grandfather that our family oral history had not documented. Mr. Capuder has done a wonderful job condensing such a vast history into such elemental beginnings.

I was informed by the publisher that a second edition is due to go to press. Is this correct? I hope so, as this is the best text ever written to detail ADHD, the current research, treatment methods, etc. This book is perfect for parents, educators, the medical profession, and psychologists who need an easy to read, informative review of the disorder and the current literature.

This is a great book. I purchased it from Amazon and received it before it was on the shelves. The book is clear and concise and helpful. My wife has ADHD and I am perplexed at her behavior quite often. This book has helped me understand her and may lead to a successful treatment approach. Thank you Dr. Lisa Weyandt.

This book is fabulous! I have been interested in ADHD for years but have never been able to find a single source that answers all of my questions - now I have. Extremely well written and a joy to read.

The book called America`Wanted Fifth-Garders by Jan Lawrence and Linda Raskin is so great. It`s about a boy named Robert and a girl named Margaret, but everyone calls her Max for short. They want a job so they get one, and it will pay them 5,000 dollars a month. I wish I could get a job like that! I found out that the people Max and Robert work for bad people. You will find out the rest if you read the book! I would recommend this book because it`s like a mystery and if you enjoy solving mysteries, you will enjoy it like I did!

Jan Lawrence is a magnificant author!!!!!!!! This book is about 2 kids, Rob and Max. They are full of money-making schemes. But then one of them gets them into BIG trouble. Read this book, and you'll find yourself right there with all the characters. I highly reccomend it. Also, check out Jan Lawrence's other bool, The Revenge of The Substitute Teacher, It's greeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

America's Most wanted fifth graders was about 2 kids named Robert and Max. They are full of money making schemes as Robert is trying to but a Super Soaker 2000. They get twisted up with these bad guys that are asking them to sell cookies and then they will give them $5000 a month. They are so siked up until they are in the back of a truck all tied up. READ MORE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS! THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR 9-11 YEAR OLDS!

Greider's book is about the issues that all Americans need to understand. I enjoyed the easy reading style and learned much about the founding of America and appreciated the challenges to families and leaders at all levels. Great nations that loose their identity are indeed at risk.

Greider says it well. I feel his feel for history and suggestions for renewal are excellent. Buy this book!!!

I found this book to be quite enjoyable, if not a bit too short. The author has researched his topic quite extensively. I found myself agreeing more often than not. The author describes how other great civilizations have become fantastic failures all for the same reason ... decaying morals, dying principals. The author links those same empires with our own and points to a similar conclusion, unless the political and social structure changes to stem the tide.

"Annie's Soup Kitchen" would make a dynamite movie!
Here's a game I invented, and played as I read the book: Choose the movie stars you would cast as members of the Soup Kitchen gang. Samuel Jackson as the General!
Can you beat that?
And here's another idea: Get the book to those movie stars. Samuel Jackson, where are you? Here's your role!

Annie, we love you! Who else but a nonagenarian Irish woman straight from the Age of the Potato Famine would undertake to nourish the bodies and souls of the multitudes, the castaways of society who populate a soup kitchen in the shadow of the Valley of the Rich (notorious Orange County, Calif.,where never is heard a discouraging word over the sound of Hummers in the morning, Hummers in the evening). Annie, you're a saint! Tubs of food, tanks of pasta, bushels of greens resurrected (like the souls you cherish) from the supermarket dumpsters (yes, vegetables have souls, too--don't we talk and play Mozart to them?).

And what a motley tribe who feed from your table of viands and inspiration. In fact, filled with your spirit, they conspire with you to subvert the establishment--an oil company, a food-packing company-- Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you don't want to miss the scatological just desserts channeled by mysterious means into a food-packing company. (Ahem, I use the word "desserts" advisedly--don't try this at home, without professionals at hand.) Or the disbeliever brought low by the burning bush, whence speaketh divinity. Poor Betty, she'll never badmouth a person of color again. Or the General--now here's a dude with his mojo mojing. When he sniffs the air, the birds listen; his magic hands choreograph the powers that count against the powers that be; he speaks his own mojo language--those who have ears let them hear, those who have eyes, let them see. He will invoke imprecations and maledictions on the non-readers of Smith's pages: why, I had the audacity to put the book down in an unguarded moment, and the heavens thundered against me. I barely escaped His wrath by feverish catching up. Beware. These powers are best not affronted.

But sometimes even magic, the will of a Saint, and the best laid plans of cagey conspirators are not enough to cleanse the dross of the world, to transmute the lead into gold. It takes an act of divine nature--all those politicians, all those media hounds, all those wanna-be's who wanna prevail by prevarication and jumping on the bandwagons of the holy. We see it every day. Here's someone doing GOOD. Let's act like this is our bandwagon. Annie's Soup Kitchen, like all mythic books, is REAL. You'll know it when you see it. Everything in it happened, just like you saw it on the evening news, only without the fictionalizing. The rains fell, the dams broke, the unwashed masses were washed in a universal baptism, and the world tried to reconstitute itself under the new order. Only Grady, like Ishmael, is left to tell the tale.

So, read this book: fall under its spell, or try in vain to escape the conjurings of the General: he knows who buys, and he knows who only window-shops. He's tapped in. The lookers-in-windows live in glass houses. Fortunately, they're only a stone's throw from the Truth and a good meal.

Once in a while-not often-a writer comes along with a voice and a story so good-humored, hopeful and compelling that the reader's world-view is changed for the better. Lawrence R. Smith is one of those writers, and "Annie's Soup Kitchen" is one of those stories. It might fall roughly into the category of magic realism, but it's more accurate to say this book is just plain magic.

The cast of well-drawn, unforgettable "marginal" characters starts with Annie O'Rourke herself, a ninety-five-year-old nurse who runs a soup kitchen from an abandoned lot by the railroad tracks, and includes hard-nosed Betty, who undergoes a startling conversion after talking to a burning palm tree out back (who says miracles can't still happen?); the General, a powerful black man who delivers mystifying monologues while wearing knee-high rubber boots filled with soapy water; John DeLorean-is it that John DeLorean?; and a host of other mostly good-natured eccentrics. In response to a frightening "shadow plague," they form the monkeywrenching Magnificent Seven in an attempt to stop the disease at its environmental source. Though antagonistic, the authorities are impotent against the power and good-will of these quirky and magical souls.

Especially in these dark and discouraging times, "Annie's Soup Kitchen" is a wonder and a joy.

All too often Church Growth books seem to be written more from a theoretical perspective. It is most refreshing to read a Church Growth book written by a practitioner. Because this book was written from within a vibrant Cell Church ministry it is filled with practical helps. Pastor Khong was quick to share not only what was working, but things that did not work! A must read for anyone wanting to grow a church based upon relationships.

This is the kind of book that you will highlight and underline until your highlighter runs dry! I highly recommend this ground breaking book on the cell based church.

The Apostolic Cell Church is one of those rare books that I have read that made me say: "This is it! This is what church ministry should be like!"

This book presents the view that there is great different between a "church with cells" and a "cell group church." What the author advocates is a "cell group church" in which all the ministries of the church exist to support the cell group ministry. For example, the Bible study class does not exist to attract more people to that particular department (and in the process competing with all other departments), but it (along with all other programs of the church) exists to support the ministry of the cell groups.

Some of the inherent weaknesses of the traditional model of the church are discussed: equipping the lay people for ministry, sustained evangelism, and fellowship and community life that results in value changes. Then the author goes on to show how these are all a natural, everyday outworking of a cell group church. The cell group in a way forces all believers to live out their Christian lives in a community with security and trust. Worship, the exercise of spiritual gifts, discipleship, evangelism and missions all take place through the cell groups.

The author then gives an overview of how the cell leaders are trained, how the church is structured for maximum effectiveness, and how training for evangelism and training in spiritual gifts takes place.

The author is transparent in showing the mistakes along the way and not just the successes of his experience so that the reader can learn from both. This is definitely a "must-read." Even if you don't follow all of the author's convictions, you will be challenged to rethink what ministry is about and how it should be done. The author's clear gift and insight into church leadership and passion for the lost comes out through every page. Thank God for such a precious tool in the ministry!

This is how a murder mystery should be done. Twists, turns, and loveable, believable charaters. I've passed this book around to all of my friends and I recomend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

Mystery lovers be warned: read the first page of Appalachian Twilight: Owenvsv and you will not be able to put the book down until you are done. A first rate university murder mystery, Appalachian Twilight takes readers into the heart of the southern Great Smoky Mountains. The best and worst of academe is to be found in these pages. The characterizations are well-drawn and frankly heart-warming. I enjoyed spending time with these people. The author promisees a second book and provides an opening chapter which promises more mysteries ahead for Peter Cooper and Josie McGuire. I can't wait.

Appalachian Twilight has it all. Murder, suspense, and just the right amount of romance. One automatically falls in love with the heroine, Josie McGuire, as she leads the readers through a suspenseful "who-done-it." The multi-faceted nature of Josie gives the reader a glimpse into long held Indian traditions, everyday problems of coping with diabetes, and the "dog eat dog" world of academe. The author's careful eye toward detail makes the academic world seem anything but dull and boring and the descriptions of the Appalachian Mountains causes one to want to drop everything -except the book - and rush to the nearest mountain. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat with its twists and turns and then slowly all of the pieces fit together. Can hardly wait for Broken Circle, the next book in the series.

I really like the way this book is organized. There are sections such as "Desserts" and "Canyons". When I went to Arizona the last time, I wanted to visit desserts, and I wanted to hike some Canyons, so I could simply read these sections and learn pretty much everything I wanted to know, rather than piece this information together as other travel books make you do (since they are usually organized by area). The organization also allows you to skip information such as "Art" and "History". Of course in the end I ended up being interested in these sections after all, so I read them in the care while I was there. And once again, I could focus on these sections rather than finding this information organized by area.

Long story short: I really like reading about an area by topic of interest, rather than by location. It makes travel planning much easier. Of course, your need may be different (you may be in a certain town and want to figure out what to do for instance...). In that case, this book still is useful (it DOES have short sections on individual locations), but there are other books I use for that type of research.

Overall, I can highly recommend this book. In fact, I will order some of the other books from this series for different states.

This book is incredible. It gives all kinds of details ranging from local interest and lore to general information about the state. It reads like a novel and yet is very informative. Even if you have no intention of ever visiting Arizona, this is still a wonderful book to read and the photographs are breath-taking.

Compass Guides are the best series I have ever read. They are literate and beautifully illustrated, laid out well and very logical to use. Of the Compass Guides I've read, Cheek's Arizona is the best (followed closely by his Santa Fe Guide).

He writes with wit and style. He's not afraid to share his opinion, but never takes for granted that his is the only viewpoint. He also adds a human element that few other guides offer. Frequently you'll find sidebar articles that introduce you to a person whose story particularly illustrates the idea or place in question.

I lived in Arizona for 4 1/2 years. This is the guide that I used to learn the state. I would recommend it to anyone. When my wife and I married in Sedona, Arizona we sent copies of this book to our relatives to acquaint them with the wonderful place they'd be visiting. All who read it were delighted. You'll be, too.