Miller Books

This book could create a more secure future for us all by empowering tomorrows adults, ( today's children ) with financial freedom.
An excellent read.

This book takes a complicated subject and explains building wealth in simple terms. It is easy to understand and practical. It does not try to impress with complex theory and information. It gives specific ideas and examples of how anyone can, using a consistent and disciplined approach, build real wealth for their children and families. The best solutions are often those that seems almost too easy - but these are often the strokes of genius that change our lives. This book and its methods and ideas are in this category. What a bargain! What a program!

The premise of this book is simple and, like this review, mercifully short. It is never too early to begin financial planning! With simple examples and real-life experience, the authors make a very strong case for creating a painless way of reaching financial security for your immediate family and generations to come. You cannot rewrite history, but with the help of this book you can alter your children's financial future in ways that you never imagined!

This review will be short and sweet. I my opinion the author hit the nail on the head. They simply wrote the easy true about the importance of teaching young kids how to save money today for their future goals. It show them how to save without going without today. They will notice all the things they can still have while watching their future money grow geometrically.
Most of us know how kids feel about the here and now, "I have to have it now". This book teaches them how they can have both. Great book for such a small price.

Here's another vote for bringing this book back into print. Like the previous reviewer, I'm a professional editor, and the Handbook has helped me a great deal in my work. It's clear, concise, and sensible. The best working reference on this issue I've seen.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle described Ercongota, daughter of a seventh-century English king, as "a wonderful man." No, she didn't have a sex change. In her day, "man" was a true generic term meaning "person" or "human being." Many older English writings do indeed use "man" in this sense. But, as this book explains, our language has changed, and this generic usage is no longer appropriate. Problem is, many writers who grew up on the classics have internalized the outdated language of our literary ancestors. One of the reasons I bought this book was to learn how to update my writing style.

The first chapter, "Man as a False Generic," traces the history of gender usages in the English language. This chapter did a great deal to help me personally overcome my initial negative reactions to "feminist" language by explaining how English has grown and evolved over the centuries. For example, "you" was once a plural only (the singular being "thou"), and the use of "they" was once a legitimate generic singular pronoun. Such classical writers as William Thackeray, George Eliot, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and even William Shakespeare used it regularly. Only later, in the 18th century, did it go out of fashion. Now it's back in style again, as a gender-free alternative to "he." (Example: "Each person can decide what they want.")

What I like best about the Handbook is the way it uses actual examples (both good and bad) from published works to illustrate its points. Especially interesting were the references from old grammar books, some of which were so absurdly outdated that I literally laughed out loud. The authors then show how the various examples can be re-written with gender-free language without loss of clarity or style.

To me as a writer, this down-to-earth approach was more convincing than the angry diatribes about "Patriarchy" which had previously turned me off to the whole gender issue. If there's a problem with my writing, don't call me names, just show me how to fix it! This book does that very well, explaining clearly and with good humor. I also appreciate the thesaurus in the back of the book, which serves as a quick reference for the most common gender-problem words.

The one weakness of this book is that it skimps on religious language issues, which get only half a page. The authors do correctly point out that the original text of the Bible uses feminine pronouns and imagery that got lost in translation, but there are no specific examples cited. Nor does the Handbook give any of the genderless alternatives to "The Lord" (such as Ruler, Sovereign, Creator, Holy One, Blessed One, Heavenly Parent, etc.) now in use among Jews, Christians, and others. Instead, the authors simply refer the reader to a bibliography in the back of the book. But unless you happen to be a theologian, you are not likely to have those references handy when you need a quick synonym for "The Lord." Nor is "The Lord" included in the list of problem words in the Handbook's thesaurus, although "Goddess" does rate an entry as a no-no (as are all "-ess" words, according to this book). It would have been more helpful to give a few examples from those bibliography resources.

I'm so very sorry to see that this book has gone out of print! I'm an editor and writer and this gem has taught me a great deal about writing in a genderless way. Plus it has snippits about how our language got the way it is -- let's bring it back!

My views on the English language are somewhat conservative, so I approached this book with suspicion and an intent simply to broaden my horizons. To my relief, even though I do not agree with all its conclusions, I've found the book definitely worthwhile.

It is short but well-written and thorough, tackling major issues in nonsexist writing with humor and clarity. Its detailed, structured table of contents is especially helpful as it enables the reader to get quickly to a desired topic, whether it be the use of "man" as a suffix, "'they" as a singular, gratuitous modifiers, assigning gender to gender-neutral terms, or whatnot. Its examples of (allegedly) sexist and nonsexist writing are useful, and frequently are pulled from actual published works. Shakespeare, for example, is quoted as having written "God send everyone their heart's desire," which is used as evidence that "their" as a singular pronoun has not always been taboo in English; it is only since the eighteenth or nineteenth century, the authors argue, that grammarians began eschewing "their" in favor of "his." Helpful reference notes to books and scholarly articles are included for readers who want to check up on such claims. (This I certainly intend to do in a few cases, in particular with regard to the authors' interesting assertion that Thomas Jefferson meant only males when he wrote in his Declaration that "all men are created equal.")

I must mention that the authors occasionally lapse into what I can only term idiocy. For example, they apparently believe that the use of "man" as a verb (e.g., "The emergency room must be manned at all times") is sexist, despite the fact that, whatever its origin (which is irrelevant to its present-day meaning), the word has no sexist connotations for us today. Indeed, based on the authors' treatment of the verb "to man," I see no reason not to throw out all words with "man" in them (such as by changing "woman" to "womyn")--but the authors elsewhere reject such an approach, and rightfully so. So why this concern for a word's etymology if it has no practical effect in the present?

The authors also seem to realize that a single word, such as "man," can refer validly to two distinct concepts, such as generic or gender-specific "man," which is good. But at times they inexplicably assert ambiguity when none is, in fact, present. I grant that in some cases such ambiguity is extremely hard, if not impossible, to avoid, and I am grateful for having been made aware of such instances; but the authors' occasional misidentifications do not give me confidence in their being free from bias themselves.

This book's shortcomings notwithstanding, however, I must give it my recommendation. It contains many examples of sexist pitfalls in writing that I have not until now been aware of. I know I will use this book in the future when I have need of extra care to avoid offending an audience's sensibilities.

What little J. Dave Miller, another original
Arena League player, the author misses is what
should have been more on the very fine QB-RB-KR
Shawn-Ke'ali'i Withy-Allen. Withy alteranted with
the erratic but lovable fellow islander Tim Chang
for 7 of the lat nine games in the 10-4-0, '02
season.

Also, Withy played four years of Indoor Football
and won one Championship and his Fayetteville
Guard played in another Championship. The team
played in several leagues. This book is very good
but not as good as 'The Perfect Season' followup,
which turned out to be ['07] June Jones, III's
last season Coaching the Warrriors [not Rainbows]!

I just purchased this book and it's excellent! The photos are great, the flow of writing easy to follow and keeps the reader enthralled! There were tear-jerking and funny moments mixed with the hard work and serious work ethic of these boys turned men. Overall, it's an inspirational book for anyone who's ever been at the bottom and had only hope to bring them back up again. This is definately one of my favorite books! GO WARRIORS!!!

I live in Hawaii and never realized the unbelievable story of the University of Hawaii Football's dramatic comeback from being an all but forgotten footnote as a loseing fooball program to becomeing one of the nations best! The book is uncompromising in detail of the foritude and perseverence of what one man, coach June jones can do. It's what legends are made of. I haven't played football in over 37 years but it brought back the spirit and love for the game I thought I had forgotten. This book has soul and love for the players outside of the game. This book is hard to put down...I reccommend it to every father who has a son. Every person who loves Hawaii. Anybody who wants to read a 'true hero story!' And the Hawaii football story is still not over yet!

This book has a well-executed literary "gameplan". It discusses the history of the Hawaii program, the origins and meanings in its culture and traditions, the respective backgrounds of so many key figures, and an undeniable thread (Faith, Hope and Redemption)that weaves step by step, through from start to finish, the finish of course being the incredible achievements of an overlooked and under-funded football program long given up for dead.

If someone submitted a movie screenplay of the true stories that make up this book, they'd be laughed off the studio lot. Or at best, the film would be marginalized down to cheap laughs, stereotypical characters and situations.

This is an amazing and compelling story, whether you're a fan of Hawaii football, if you're a fan of sports in general, or even if you've never heard of June Jones or Colt Brennan but just want to read an uncommonly uplifting book. Highly recommended and very timely with their recent success and national recognition.

It's been a long time coming but my search is finally over. I have been waiting for a book of this type to come along since I was first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Finding contemporary medicine unable to treat the pains I suffer, I soon began seeking "alternative" medicine. I was shocked to find so little information available and it soon became a struggle to combine work and healing on my very frequent business travels. Now with Ms. Miller's book always tucked away at my desk I am sure to find a center to fill my needs. I find her guide to be accurate, concise and interesting. Her descriptive style entices me to try new places and new treatments. I wish this book had been written five years ago, it sure would have saved me a lot of time, trouble and headaches. I seriously recommend this book as a must for travel agencies with clientele looking for "alternative" vacations. They and their clients will not be disappointed.

Everything you wanted to know about holistic healing retreats, but didn't know where to look. This book was a wealth of information and helped with many of my unanswered questions.

This book really covered the gamut. I didn't realize there were any healing centers at all in the midwest! It gave the basic information I needed to plan my next healthy vacation. The write-ups had a sense of humor, also.

Thank Buddha for this most insightfull guide. Now I know where to go in order to get what I need. I feel much better just knowing that this is out there. Not only did it save me time in finding my perfect retreats it was also enjoyable to read. Ms. Miller's writting really held my interest, she is quite witty and amusing.

Though "Healing Journey" isn't available on CD at Amazon, you can buy it from Dr Miller's own website. Amazon's rules prohibit me from giving the URL, but if you Google "Emmett Miller" you won't have any trouble finding it.

I've listened to this tape repeatedly and always enjoy it. Sometimes it puts me to sleep, which is even better.

I first found this tape about 10 years ago and have used it so many times that I have memorized the script... but it still works. Miller's medical training and interest in alternative health care have lead him to write and recite a most amazing healing journey that includes guided relaxation and targeted healing images. Side 2 is some wonderful music that continues the process. I recommend this tape to many clients who have sleep disturbances or problems with relaxation. It's the best all around relaxation tape I've ever used.

I originally discovered this tape in the 80's. Then after a car accident, I re-discovered it. And that was the best result. I had to learn how to manage Chronic pain. Miller's tape is absolutely mesmerising at points, and totally enthralling at others. It avoids the pitfalls of the subliminal tapes that have emerged which claim to have "special tones" and all sorts of other things.
I have 3 or 4 other tapes by Miller, and all are excellent, but it seems to me that the essence of all the tapes come from this classic work.
Having used this tape since late 1991 intensively, and extensively, I can highly recommend it. The only unfortunate things is that to my knowledge it is not available on CD.
[ As of September 2005, I discovered that This item is available in CD... if you can get this gem in CD, then do so.]

The tape is totally worth its weight in gold, and hopefully a CD copy will be eventually released, and maybe even contain some expanded material. I honestly cannot recommend this tape highly enough, especially if you have a need for a helpful guide to rest, or to focus your energies wether it be because of health issues, stress, or whatever; this tape is the best I have ever heard in this genre. Miller takes you through a restful journey that is spiritual, without dwelling on some of the inane silliness that a few of these type of tapes indulge in... Miller is realistic, and yet totally other-worldly at the same time. For all people, of any faith, or none, this tape is a brilliant work.

I find that this is a very useful tape. I used it after receiving a cancer diagnosis, and it was the only thing that helped me get to sleep in those first nights. I also used it in combination with something else, before and after the surgery that I then had. It was very helpful. I definately recommend this tape.

Suspend all your usual stereotypes about insensitive or materialistic surgeons! Donald W Miller, a cardiac surgeon, is a most knowledgeable, sincere, and deep thinker who has contributed a monumental work of art to our human quest for understanding. Heart in Hand is a wonderful gift, especially in this Information Age where true meaning and personal significance are often lost to Moore's Law and the next Microsoft takeover. Miller's exhaustive reflections on the nature of life are backed by solid scientific evidence, intuition, and a passionate appreciation for philosophy (especially that of Arthur Schopenhauer), Woody Allen movies, classical music, biology, and mystical experience. Although it seems almost impossible to integrate these diverse resources into only 213 pages of text, Miller does it brilliantly, adhering to his own message in the book that simplicity is a virtue. Examples of simplicity he provides include the guileless but compassionate fool of Danny in Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose, and the ageless simplicity found in the immortal music of the Beatles and Theolonious Monk.

Heart in Hand helps us realize that we are all deeply interconnected. All matter in the universe is comprised of leptons and quarks, force is really the same as substance, and we are all products of the big bang. He advocates for scientific and analytical thinking, but admits to the limits of this approach and suggests a need for mysticism and intuitive understanding too. However, don't mistake Miller's openness to mysticism as an endorsement of Western religion. Probing questions about religion will raise many ecclesiastic eyebrows, and he may get tossed out of a few churches! For example, he doubts that we have souls if we evolved from bacteria, and describes the secret and cunning of priests as "pretending to possess the means to satisfy mans great metaphysical need by saying that the great riddle has reached them direct." His deep sincerity and honesty is evident, and his description of Schopenhauer's writings on morality is a good primer for many supposedly good religious folk who are actually more instrumental in separating the human race through judgemental thinking than encouraging true compassion.

This grand integration of multiple dimensions of science and art succeeds on many levels. This is a technical book with tons of useful information on biology, history, art, and even sex, and Miller shares many personal preferences for future reading and listening. This is also a very fun book that celebrates life while standing on the shoulders of many significant and creative minds. You may want to read Heart in Hand multiple times, and will surely come away with new insights and pleasure every time.

There are still many questions unanswered. What happened before the big bang? Could there still be a personal God? Is there a personal purpose for each person during this brief planetary residence? Miller by no means answers all these questions. There will always be more questions to ask. What Miller does offer are personal experiences, knowledge that is extensive and refined, and great insight. Heart in Hand will most surely enrich your life. The surgeon adequately satisfied this psychologists' desire for a great read! I'll refer to it often in my work with clients.

Dr Miller told me of his book, and as I was so impressed with him as a person and a surgeon, it was the first book I read during my recovery. Even though I was still on pain killers when I started, I couldn't put it down, staying awake longer than I should have each night.

I heartily agree with the first two reviews written before mine, and will let them stand as my views also.

To unwind from his work, Dr. Miller told me he that on Saturdays he frequently gets an intellectually stimulating book on tape, and then takes his dog for an all day hike in the Cascade Mountains (near Seattle) while he listens to the book. This gives me the thought that he really is a renaissance man.

Pain killers aside, I thought the whole theme falls together for you during the last few pages. You may wonder as you go along as to how it all falls together. He does not disappoint you at the end.

I felt it was one of the best books I have ever read.

If one has trepidations about mortality, then Dr. Donald Miller may assuage his and her misgivings. His book, Heart In Hand, however, is not just about death and dying, it is about life and living. Indeed, Dr. Miller traces the beginning of life to the one-celled amoeba and carries it forward to man in its highest form, most notably, as defined by Arthur Schopenhauer, Richard Wagner, and Woody Allen. He also makes several references to himself, his family, his friends, and his patients.

He no doubt has spent sleepless nights in Seattle as a heart surgeon, and in the process, has much time to think about six facets of life, each one represented by a chapter in his book. While it may be unusual for one to cross the divide between Schopenhauer and Allen, one sees where the two are not far apart, except by 147 years between birth, and the book is filled with quotations of both, which are treats, and saves one from the tedium of heavy reading, especially Schopenhauer; all of this in just 213 pages of text, with additional endnotes, reading and film selections.

Dr. Miller's explanation of evolution has condensed the so-called theory into very interesting and coherent facts, and could be a primer for teachers. There are also many other facts that could be described as interesting trivia. And his explanation of sex, and indeed, compassion, touches the sensibilities. His chapters, "Searching for God," and the "Metaphysics of Music" are engrossing. But the chapter "Confronting Death" should get to core of everyone's being. Of course, death is inevitable, and when one is born, every day he and she creeps one day closer. But knowing it doesn't help. And for many, it is a perplexing and often debilitating experience. Dr. Miller enlightens us with one quotation from Schopenhauer, "Where was I before my birth?" "For it is irrefutably certain that non-existence after death cannot be different from non-existence before birth..." If one is hesitant to confront any of the volumes that have been written to assuage our fear of death, this chapter is enough. It takes us there without cringing, and with a simple but plausible explanation.

It is Schopenhauer and Woody Allen who are the main players in this book. Unless one has read the older philosopher, probably in his most important work, "The World as Will and Representation," and "Essays and Aphorisms," a compilation selected and translated by R. J.. Hollingdale, much has been missed about his views about compassion, living and dying. Likewise, unless one has analyzed the films of Woody Allen, and assumes that he is more than a comedian, then Dr. Miller shows where he is a deep thinker, and very preoccupied with death, which is made light through his comedy, but has a very serious and obvious cognizance. Dr. Miller is generous in his observations about Schopenhauer, Allen, and finally Richard Wagner, who was immensely influenced by the philosopher and his above mentioned book, and his chapter, "The Metaphysics of Music" is one that will inspire all music lovers, especially Wagnerians. The good doctor again reminds us about the soothing effects of music on our health.

So here we have a small volume packed with much to think about. It is a quick read, engrossing, and one which the reader will no doubt absorb in one sitting, and feel good about it.

If you liked THE POWER OF MYTH, the PBS TV series/book of Joseph Campbell interviews by Bill Moyers, you will be captivated by HEART IN HAND. Joseph Campbell tells us how religions and myths from many cultures are, essentially, one variegated story of humankind's spiritual journey. Dr. Miller, in a most readable prose style, takes current knowledge from many scientific fields--medicine, astronomy, biology, quantum physics--and relates it to philopsophy, humor, religion, and the arts, particularly music.

When he describes his book as 'reflections on the nature of life,' don't jump out of your easy chair. This book is the opposite of pompous. In our so called Information Age, it is hard as hell to get a grip on what we are really doing on the planet at the end of this tumultuous century. This book helps. Dr. Miller offers the layman, like myself, a science lesson and then shows how the intricate facts of the physical world relate to the domain of the soul. For one who is uncertain about what evolution means, he gives a telling explanation in terms of genes--ours and those of our ancestors. He draws from his extensive personal interests--microbiology, sex, opera, jazz, Arthur Schopenhauer, conducting a symphony orchestra, Jack Kerouac, Richard Wagner, Thelonious Monk, compassion in the practice of medicine, Woody Allen, God, and death--and translates them into integral meditations about what it is to be alive. As he goes along, he connects things, a lot of things. Joseph Campbell describes our mythological exit from the Garden of Eden as moving from unity with God/Eternity into a world of opposites/duality, man/woman, and mortality. Microbiology informs us that single-cell bacteria clone asexually and keep reproducing ad-infinitum, as long as they have a favorable environment. Death, in evolutionary terms, is not part of the 'program' until these little bits of life evolve far enough to reproduce sexually. This eventually occurs in more advanced single-cell organisms called eukaryotes that exchange and commingle their genetic DNA to produce genetically new offspring. These ancient ancestors also reside East of Eden, genetically programmed to 'senescence and eventual death.'

This is a highly personal and diverse choice of subject matter. If it were not, he would have written a rather eccentric textbook. Because he cares deeply, and has cared for a long time, about what is beneath the surface of things, this is an exceptional and valuable book by an unusually curious man. Dr. Miller is a wonder in his ability to concisely reveal so much useful information in a little over two hundred pages. He is completely honest in telling us what science knows and does not know. From his practice of medicine he offers convincing evidence of how our emotions and moral choices profoundly influence our physical health. He neither preaches nor does he attempt to dispel the mystery of existence. To the contrary, the 'big picture' he gives us is, as the kids say... awesome. He quotes jazz pianist Bill Evans regarding the meaning of art. Bill said it's to enrich life. This book will enrich your life.

For anyone who has ever lost a loved one, this book helps you how to get through it and encourages you to move on and live again.

This is a down to earth real people book...giving insight into the grieving process of the survivers be it parents, siblings or others. The book tells how it is to lose a loved one, not necessarily how the world might like to see it, but how it affects those left behind.

In this book, Mrs. Miller, does an excellent job balancing the process of grief with her own personal journey of the days and years after the death of her seven year old son. What makes this companion for bereaved parents so personal to the reader is the inclusion of autobiographical stories from her husband and three of her now adult children. I liked that the book was brief and to the point. The stages of grief are simply laid out and the chapter on "Living Through the Grief" was comforting and reassuring. I was grateful to learn that all though you will never forget your loss, on the other side of grief there is life and perhaps even a little laughter.

Although the grieving process is different for everybody, this book will help you understand that what your going through is normal, and you will get your life back under control with time.

Probably the best book on the subject of the Model A Ford. In depth coverage of even the smallest detail of these cars.

The quality of the book is perfect. Of course the content is very well written and the pictures are very cool!

This book is a "keeper" for anyone with an interest in the Ford Model "A". All of the various body styles from 1928 to 1931 are covered in detail. High quality photos accompany descriptions of both "standard" and "optional" features found on each body style. Kudos to the author and the photographer for a high quality book.

As an owner of a recently restored Model A this book is a MUST. Contained in it are all the fine points regarding the various body types and accessories. No wonder this book serves as a primer for the expert judging of Model A's.

The poems tickle the funnybone, pull on the heartstrings and definitely hit the target for anyone who has had the often inexplicable experience of working with students. The title poem hits home as I work in the town I live in and am always encountering students who find it incredulous that teachers buy groceries and toilet paper!! A recommended read for the rookie or veteran teacher!!!

This book is a clever and sometimes thought-provoking collection of prose and poetry about the realities of teaching in today's world. It's a cute read for a teacher at the end of a long day and should be shared with colleagues!

The poems in this book are a must read for any teacher! I've read my book at least 50 times and it just gets better. The insight and humor keeps my attitude towards teaching fresh...even after 26 years! Every student teacher and new teacher that I mentor gets a copy.

Hide Your Ex-Lax under The Wheaties lifted my spirits tremendously and helped me realize that all the good things in teaching far out weigh the troubles. "Music & More," a CD by Moonlighting Teachers has taken some of the poems and readings from Ex-Lax and set them to music. What a fun addition to this book! You must listen to it too!

This is a good read but like all books about the hippies and the sixties it completely misses the true genesis of the counterculture: technology. Marshall McCluhan wrote about the technological extensions of humans. The sixty's revealed the first generation which had grown up on television and other new electronic extensions were in fact rebelling against their electronic master. The slavery was in the mind. Everyone over thirty trusted the new direction the culture was headed in and by the seventy's the revolution/rebellion was over. Now hear in 2008 we have put on our ear plugs, eye shades, and as Pete sang, "You know where to put the cork." We took it.

Timothy Miller's book is an excellent assessment of the effects of the hippy generation on present day society, both good and bad. It's a must read for anyone who wants to understand what was going on in the 60s. For a thrilling fictional work, have a look at "Life Boiling Over" by Jon Michael Miller. This brilliant novel deals with a couple who go through the hippie scene together, starting at Ohio State University and ending up in Woodstock and San Francisco. It follows the turbulent events that culminated in the campus turmoil that led to four student deaths at Kent State. Through passion, folly, joy and love, the couple struggles to understand themselves and their relationship. Their struggle comes to conclusions that will startle you. It's by far the best book I've ever read about the hippie generation.

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.

The 1960's was a time of radical change in American history. Timothy Miller's The Hippies and American Values looks into the controversial subject of the effect the hippies had on American society and its values. Since post World War II American society had seen so many changes in just a few decades. "Hippiedom" was another new change the nation had to deal with in the late 1960's and early 1970's.

The "Hippiedom" movement in the 1960's became known as the counterculture. This movement was composed of teenagers and persons in their early twenties who chose to separate themselves from the traditional American lifestyle. Hippies were usually young, white and came from the upper middle class. The hippie culture's basic beliefs were in peace, racial harmony, and equality. Their culture condoned smoking marijuana, engaging in liberated sex, and living communally they felt that as long as no one was hurting anyone else or themselves it was okay.

The main characteristic of the hippies was dope, and the majority of the hippies used it. Dope was one of the main elements that separated the counterculture from the mainstream. Hippies looked upon dope as good, and approved the use of any drug that was perceived as being able to expand consciousness. Drugs that made people "dumb" were bad (25). The main elements of hip ethics of dope looked something like this:

Use it positively. Use it sanely. Know what you're doing. Avoid bad drugs. Avoid misuse of (good) dope. Don't use dope to hurt others. Assert your freedom to make your own decisions
about dope. And have a good trip (27).

Hippies believed that dope was about fun, revolution and was good for their body and soul. They lived by the creed: "If it feels good, then do it so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else." (29) Dope was believed to be useful in many different ways. One specific use of dope was to heighten intimacy and interpersonal interaction.

In the counterculture movement dope and sex were often intertwined. Hippies believed that people should be free to express their sexuality as they chose and use dope to boost the sexual experience. Hippies had extensive reasoning as to why they should enjoy sex. They used the same credo for sex as they did for dope.

Homosexuality and nudity developed a consciousness within the Hippiedom as well and became part of the new sexuality. It was not long before the consequences of this life-style forced the counterculture to deal with issues such as social diseases, birth control and abortion. These new obstacles did not deter them from participating in orgies and organized free sex which they believed was harmless, helped break down social barriers, created community spirit and was beneficial to one's private sex life (65).

While dope and sex were major elements of the counterculture movement in the late 1960's and early 1970's the movement was not complete without rock and roll. Rock and roll was believed to have been a major influence on the feelings and beliefs of the counterculture. It became a way of life and a means of communication. The lyrics reflected the counterculture's values and in turn helped shape them (78). Rock and roll festivals and concerts were considered sacramental gatherings by the counterculture. They provided opportunities for massive indulgence in dope, nudity, sex, rock and community. Woodstock was one such example of a sacramental gathering to hippies.

Rock and roll and dope played a major role in developing communal living arrangements within the hippie countercultural movement. Those who lived in the communes believed they were rejecting mainstream society. The communes were usually located in the country so that the communards could "get back to the basics", by living off the land."

Hippies created their own "love" generation (104). Although the counter-culture movement attempted to stay free of the mainstream, they were not immune to opposition from the traditional society. Conventional society was opposed to dope, sex, rock and roll and hippies' sense of community. Hippies believed love was the only answer to major problems afflicting the world (105). As a result of their beliefs on love, they had some political implications.

Hippies believed in disinvolvement and felt that voting was useless and politics were not a concern of "free" people. This resulted in hippies "dropping out" as they fell out of the mainstream society and into a New Age (110). Despite "dropping out" they had to keep one
foot in the mainstream door because they had to work. While hippies worked by necessity they believed money was meaningless and just a necessary evil. They considered play to be much more important in their value system. In order to stay true to their beliefs they would only play games, such as Frisbee, that did not require score keeping, competition and rules. If people did not incorporate play into their day, hippies believed they were missing out.

By all accounts hippies did their own thing and believed they were starting something new with the "sexual" revolution, the drugs and the rock and roll. However, while they were "loving" everyone and "getting back to the basics" they were just repeating history; but their movement is probably the most substantial remnant of hip culture we have (136). They did not look at the past to see how wrong they were. For example, they were iconoclasts. However, iconoclasm is another classic American virtue. They were different in that new issues were under attack. They chose to confront rationality, technocracy, and materialism (126).

The hippies' idea of living in the country in their communes was also not a new idea. The establishment of thousands of communes in rural areas was a replay of the agrarian ideal not
to mention a communal vision - which was well established in the nineteenth century. Sexual freedom was another case in point. For years there have been groups who deviate from the norm when it comes to patterns of heterosexuality, monogamy, marriage and wearing clothes (127).

In the counterculture movement women were referred to as "chicks" or if they were in a relationship they were "old ladies" (16). Women withdrew from the "sexual" revolution
because it involved male predominance. "Free" sexuality, like any other kind, "carries with it an
unwarranted domination by the man, of the woman, which injures both," a hip southern female wrote.

Another woman was more blunt: ''The talk of love is profuse but the quality of
relationships is otherwise ...The idea of sexual liberation for the woman means she is not so much free to f*** as to get f***ed over ...Our mothers could get a home and security, a prostitute money, but a hippie woman is bereft of all that "(67).

The question will forever remain as to whether the hippies had a lasting effect on American society and its values. They certainly attracted public awareness during their time with the popularization of recreational drugs and the new attitudes toward sex. They believed with all their heart, at the time that they were making a huge impact on the world. Although after their "heyday" it is questionable if what they thought they were working towards was ever accomplished.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, counter-culture history.

Although it has become fashionable to denigrate the whole hippie era as ineffective and counterproductive, Timothy Miller does much in this book to set the record straight about the considerable legacy of the Counter Culture -- for better or for worse.

From the ethics of sex, dope and rock and roll, to the questioning of property rights and greater latitude in daily speech, from New Age spirituality to more ethical investments in the market place - to the very food we eat - hippie culture has had a tremendous and continuing impact on American society.

*The Hippies and American Values* appears to pick up where Theodore Roszak's book, *The Making of a Counter Culture* left off. More than 20 years ago, Roszak showed how an alienated generation undermined the foundations of the prevailing technocracy. Miller acknowledges this but goes on to point out how the Counter Culture gave free press and credence to right-brain values that they saw as much neglected -- this before "right-brain, left-brain" became buzz words.

"Peace, love and flower power are no longer standard argot," observes Miller, "...Hip culture has bloomed and died like a centuryplant..." But the "new ethics" of the hippies are here to stay nevertheless. They are a potpourri of traditional values, untried social experiments, and a few truly original ideas for an American setting. Hippies attacked new icons such as technocracy while honoring agrarian values coupled with a new hip Eco-consciousness. The Counter Culture dropped out, disaffiliated from the prevailing society and changed themselves in order to change the world.

What I like most about this book is that it is a resource. It belongs right up there on my bookshelf with Roszak's classic study and with *Sleeping Where I Fall* by Peter Coyote, for starters. It's no dry old bone, however. There are marvelous pictures of Be-Ins and Drop City, and rock groups and posters. There is a bibliography of both well-known and obscure underground newspapers (from which the author quotes extensively). Where and when was the first Earth Day, the first Human Be-In, that Death-of-Hip coffin? They're all here. And more. Miller points us to where and how the legacy continues even to this day. If you never read another book about hippies, read this one. pamhan99@aol.com