Richardson Books

I ordered this after seeing it on Amazon. It was one of my favorite books growing up and I wanted to share it with my three daughters (8,6,& 2). After reading "The Sneetches" to my 6 year-old, she looked at me and said that it wasn't very nice to treat people badly because they aren't the same as us. I was thrilled that she got the meaning of that story right away. Dr. Seuss is a genius for getting these moral points across in a way that children understand and making it so fun at the same time. She thought that "The Zax" was funny. She didn't understand why they just didn't compromise. Every story in this book has an important lesson and it's such a great way to spend time with your children too!

My 3, now 4 year old loves this book. He loves all the stories but especially the last one about the pale green pants. He likes to feel a little scared (boys!) and then have a happy ending, so this story with its good messege is a perfect match for him. He can "read" it to me from memory. It's amazing. He says that McMonkey Mcbean in the Sneetches, isn't a very nice little monkey." It slays me every time, and he's learning a great lesson. His Dad's name is Dave, so that story if fun and makes him laugh. He would pick this book almost every night for his bedtime story if I would let him.

All I can say, The Sneetches and other Stories, was so loved by my kids, I had to buy it and send it with them when they left for college! We still recite it (almost all by memory) and laugh at ourselves.G-d rest Dr. Suess...his books will live on forever.

Nobody can wrap up smart life lessons better than Dr Seuss. Amazing stories about sneetches that are tricked into buying and/or removing the stars on their bellies. My fav after "Oh, the places you go!"
The drawing are very fine too. Nothing quite like Dr.Suess!

The last three pages of the book, The Sneeches , were ripped out. I didn't dicsover it until I went to read the book to my class and was so surprised and annoyed!

This is the most revolutionary business book of the last twenty years! Not since Tom Peters masterpiece, "In Search of Excellance" has a book captured a message so profond, yet so simple. This book can change the course of American business and re-establish our country's confidance in corporate America. Timely, Powerful, Necessary!!!

During my 14 years as a business attorney I have seen clients rise and fall, succeed and fail - and one thing always stands out. The most successful clients are not threatened by the competition, have loyal employees and love what they do. I have read this book 3 times and it has helped me in reshaping my practice. Now, I give it to clients, especially those who have backed themselves into a corner and need the rest of the world to get out and succeed. Contact Sport lays it out clearly and the value system it presents works. As a business woman, I'm not crazy about the macho sports paradigm though. Not everyone does sports ball guys!

At first blush, Tom Richardson and Gus Viduarreta's book seems only to tell you things you already knew. I built a large computer-consulting firm (600+ employees) using many of the same principles described in the first chapters of the book. My first reaction was "Why do I need this book?" After reading it through to the end my feelings changed drastically: "Why didn't I have this book ten years ago?"
What Vidaurreta and Richardson do so well is provide an effective framework for organizing and harvesting a company's relationship management techniques - techniques that we all tend to use, but only in a haphazard and slipshod fashion. The book, in a practical "what to do on Monday morning" fashion, outlines how, with a little thinking and organization, you can vastly increase return on the relationship management techniques that you may already have in place. It then goes on to point out techniques you probably never thought of...
In my opinion a lotta bang for very little buck!!

I guess I'm one of the fortunate ones. I had the opportunity to work with Tom and Gus for a few years back when they first birthed Systems Consulting Group. I spent quite a bit of time with Gus and noticed from day one that he had an uncanny way with people. So I paid close attention and began to soak up all I could. I'm not wired like Gus is motivationally, nor am I gifted with his charismatic personality. I'm a software consultant, I'm still thrilled with the technical side of IT, and that's where I want to remain...but the competition is getting more and more fierce.

I recently discovered that Gus and Tom had written, "Business is a Contact Sport" so I rushed to Amazon[.com] and purchased it...more from curiosity than anything else. What I never would have realized had I not read the book was just how much I had gleaned from my time with them. I've actually been using many of their principles for more than a dozen years and greatly benefiting from them. I've had numerous long-termed engagements as I watched people with more expertise and more years of experience than myself being laid off. I've been able to cultivated relationships with key individuals at many of the clients I've worked at and have frequently been able to leverage these relationships into longer term or repeat engagements. Along the way I've always tried to help people in every way I could, even when I knew there would be no chance for reciprocation.

Maybe you're like me, you're not CEO material (or CRO for that matter) and you don't have the desire to IPO new companies, you're happy with your career but want a edge at being able to land the longer term or more lucrative job assignments. This new book is not just for the top executives, it's for the average person like myself who just wants a leg up in this new economy.

By the way, my wife and I attended the first Christmas party that SCG gave back in 1988, the one that cost 10% of that year's profits. They didn't have to invite me, they knew I'd never be a large source of income for the business, but they cultivated the relationship anyway. Relationships truly are circular aren't they...here I am fourteen years later giving a rave review on their book!

Of course you don't have to buy the book to benefit from their knowledge, you could begin your career under their tutelage like I did!

Kurt Sligh
Software Consultant

Tom Richardson and Augusto Vidaurreta, the founders of the Systems Consulting Group, have had tremendous success since the late 1980's using some of the obvious techniques necessary in business that we all know are important, but sometimes forget to practice. For the seasoned business professional BUSINESS IS A CONTACT SPORT easily defines and labels terms for the principals we know are important for us to succeed, but didn't know how to organize them to teach them to new entrants into the business world. Business leaders should read and develop a cheat sheet of the 12 principals and post it as a reminder of what we need to be doing each day. BUSINESS AS A CONTACT SPORT has been tested and passed with high grades from some of our best business schools. RAM, Relationship Asset Management and CRO, Chief Relationship Officer will become a standard in the evolving business world. Managers need to arms their sales staff with this book as well as department heads and HR personnel.

As a life-long, well since 1984 Macintosh person, I DETEST that every now and then I'm forced to used Windows for certain applications, and once that horrible machine is opened, sometimes it's useful to use the version of Word there. Plus, when I went back to Rutgers to finish my BA in journalism, they only used Windows Word. The pain of resorting to such nonsense was GREATLY relieved by this book, which made it a lot easier to get through unlearning everything I already knew and all the shortcuts I used on Mac and having to deal with such an unintuitive operating system. I would hate to have had to struggle through Windows without this book, and the spiral-bound version made it so much more convenient to keep around. When I close up my Windows machine and get back to a real computer, my Mac G5 dual processor, the book folds up nicely underneath. Kudos to Flisser, Richardson, & the Nerdy Books team!

As a graphic designer, I thought this book is an excellent tool to have next to your computer to be able to review any shortcuts of the program you are working on. I love the characters and their clever quotes on the tips. It's an easy and fun way to work. This is the first book of its kind!

I found the booklet awkward to use, and written in an irritating and patronizing 1960's "hip" style. I was hoping for something straightforward but the authors seemed more intent on showing off their cleverness than in helping someone struggling with a complex machine. It was also overpriced. The cartoons were kind of cute but if I want a cartoon book I'll buy a copy of "Peanuts".

As a graphic designer, I thought this book is an excellent tool to have next to your computer to be able to review any shortcuts of the program you are working on. I love the characters and their clever quotes on the tips. It's an easy and fun way to work. This is the first book of its kind!

This book deserves more than five stars for all the time and frustration it will save you.

If you are like me, Microsoft Word has two major drawbacks:

(1) Automatic formats that change things from what you want to what you don't want, and are hard to disable

(2) A manual that would cause a hernia to lift (and is daunting to contemplate opening).

This book overcomes both of those problems.

Let me explain a little about why this book is valuable before describing it.

First, the authors clearly have a lot of experience with Word because they had tips for every problem I have ever had using the program. Soon, I found myself racing through to find the sections that would help me.

Second, this book will be especially valuable to authors and others who need to create long text files. I knew there had to be ways to automatically do a universal change of one word for another. Now I know how to do it! Wow! Can you imagine how much time that will save?

Third, I suspect this book will be even more valuable to those who would like to add a lot of snazzy graphics to their Word documents. I don't plan to, but I was impressed to see how to do that.

The book is spiral bound and comes with a cardboard stand, so I can leave it on the top of my word processing station and flip through it easily without having to clear a lot of space.

The structure is logical in that it begins with simple subjects and moves on to more specialized ones. Here are the topics:

Documents, documents, documents

Navigating a document

Selecting and navigating text

Character and paragraph formatting

Changing fonts and point sizes

Special characters

Paragraph stuff

Lists?

Creating, editing and applying styles

Undo, cut, copy and paste

Lost something?

Page breaks, section breaks and columns

AutoCorrect, AutoText and the Spike

Creating and using forms and mail merge

Spell check and the Thesaurus

Out in the field

Those nasty tabs

Tables, rows and columns

Making templates

Headers, footers and cool page stuff

Squares, circles, stars, lines, autoshapes and more!

Selecting, moving and duplicating objects

Fills, lines, colors and shadows

Inserting objects and clip art

Hyperlinks

Toolbars

Menus

Help

Each tip page has more than one tip on it. The main one is presented in straightforward fashion. "#88 To paste the contents of the clipboard Press Ctrl + V." Then there is a comical cartoon figure (a surfer in this case) with another tip. These secondary tips vary in difficulty, with the type of character used indicating the complexity level. "The very happening thing is that I noted the last 4 shortcuts (Ctrl + Z, X, C and V) are in a row on the keyboard."

This page format works very well for breaking up the text, and making it more interesting. The shift in style allows the mind a break from one complicated item to another. It also creates a dialogue on the page that makes it easier to remember the idea.

It turns out that these ideas work on almost all versions of Word, so even if you do not have Word 2000, you will get benefit from this book. I use Word 6.0, and almost everything applies. A number of the directions apply to Excel and Powerpoint, as well.

What I had not realized is that Word is not well enabled for those who only use the mouse. The more sophisticated adjustments almost always require using the keyboard, instead. So that insight was worth the price of the book alone. I had found myself using the keyboard more and more with Word, and did not know why. Now I understand. It's because I can get my results faster and easier that way.

Let me give you one word of caution. Because the book starts with the simplest and works towards the most complex applications, you may already know most of the first 50 tips. Keep going. At some point, almost everything will be something that you did not know before.

I wish I could give you an idea of how to go right to the place where you will find exactly the right material to solve your own issues. I don't know how to do that. I suggest that you flip pages so that you can scanned everything once. Then you can come back when you want to use an item. You might add colored Post-It notes to mark the places with a note jotted on them about how you want to use the advice.

The only drawback I found in the book is that sometimes I did not understand the terms used, so the advice did not mean anything to me. A glossary of terms would have helped. Perhaps the "Help" feature in Word can get me through those.

I think there is also a potential benefit in seeing other ways to use Word. I did not realize that the 2000 version has list and mail merging features. That may be something we can use in our office.

After you have finished finding great nuggets of knowledge here, I suggest that you take something that you do for others. Ask them what difficulties they have in using what you provide. See if you can boil down what they need into easier-to-use formats, as well.

Go straight to the solution!

I gave this book as a birthday present to my boyfriend, who is a lover of vintage robots. He was thrilled with the book! Lots of great pictures and interesting bits of information. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys in robots or vintage toys, either as a serious collector or just someone with a general interest.

As the author of ZAP! Ray Gun Classics, I've looked at a LOT of books on vintage space toys and in my opinion this is the very best one. The diversity of items, production values, factual information and other comments are all superb. I return to this book whenever I need a space toy "nostalgia fix" and I always seem to find something new. No vintage space toy collection should be without it.

More than merely a definitive catalogue of the subject, Blast Off is a socio-historical journey. Toys offer provide the prism through which the authors examine fascinating sociological phenomenon. Make no mistake this is the definitive book for this topic, but it becomes a tour de force by examining the history, economics, and sociology implied by these fascinating products from our recent past.

More than merely a definitive catalogue of the subject, Blast Off is a socio-historical journey. Toys offer provide the prism through which the authors examine fascinating sociological phenomenon. Make no mistake this is the definitive book for this topic, but it becomes a tour de force by examining the history, economics, and sociology implied by these fascinating products from our recent past.

Blast Off! is a fun and fascinating read for any fan of science fiction, space toys, or comic books. It's a beautiful coffee table-sized book with sexy images of robots, ray guns, and toys of all types that make you feel nostalgic even if you don't remember these toys from the first time around.

This book offers a history of "in the know" type stories about specific toys and the personalities who created and purchased them. There's the Buck Rogers XZ-31 rocket pistol that led Macy's and Gimbels into their most vicious price war ever, dropping prices by the hour to support the most successful toy promotion the world had ever seen. And there's the collector Bob Lesser who pays double the sticker price to win dealer loyalty. And there's a never-been-published story of the untimely death of Flash Gordon creator Alex Raymond. Plus the authors offer insight into how toys have affected history, entertainment, and the space program.

If you're a fan of Buck Rogers like I am, you should also check out Blast Off! author S. Mark Young's interviews with Erin Grey in Filmfax (Oct/Nov 2002 and Feb/Mar 2003) for a sensitive rendering of a sensational story.

I just can't express enough how amazing this book is. It is very thick, full of ideas that I would have never even dreamed about. They're all easy to replicate, too! Really, there are no words to describe how fantastic this book is, you really must buy it and see it for yourself. There are cupcakes for every occasion, from funny to formal. Buy it. BUY IT!

I will keep this easy-just like this book. Everyday ingredients, no fancy tools, incredible results. No decorating experience required. Wow your kids, your friends, your family.

A fantastic cake decorating book both for the professional or home baker. The cupcake designs are truly unique and the extensive range of designs ensures cakes for any occasion or traditional celebration. As yet this book it not available in book stores in Australia. After seeing the author of 'Hell Cupcake" interviewed on television we had to have the book. Thank goodness for Amazon. com. We are gradually working our way through the book.

I own a lot of cookbooks. This is probably the cutest baking book I have bought. The pictures are great and the directions are straight forward. I have yet to try any of the recipies so, i can't speak for taste of things, but the book itself is wonderful.

This is the most fun, creative, and charming cupcake decorating book that I have come across. The designs are phenomenal, and the authors show you how to create each design, step-by-step. They have a supply list for each type of cupcake (so you don't go into the grocery store trying to figure out what you need, without much guidance), and there are a few basic techniques that they repeat, but to create different effects. So, for example, you might use a cookie for a panda head, but you will use it to make beagle ears.

This is primarily a design book, NOT a cookbook, although the authors provide a few recipes in the back for a basic cupcake and frostings. Even with the fantastic pictures (the book is loaded with them) and the wonderful instruction, making cupcakes like this takes a lot of time and love. There's no way around that, so please don't fault the book if you find that the learning curve is steep, or that it's taking you hours to decorate the 40 cupcakes that you promised to bake for your child's first grade class!

Robust account of one of the seminal figures of early America, one attempting the creation of an indigenous culture cast in a more universal mode than that of the provincial Christianity of his roots. The courage to give up his secure life as a minister for the uncertainties of exploration and creative renewal marks Emerson's trail through a pioneer's psychological American wilderntess, to touch on and integrate everything from the post-Kantians, to the Buddhists/Hindus to the Persians and Sufis. That Emerson evolved into a near firebrand abolitionist is an aspect of his life unsufficiently told, and this part of his later career runs clear in this book. All in all, a first rate pioneer story of another kind.

This is the only biography of Emerson that truly matters. Richardson locks in on the essentials - the development of a seeking mind is search of the ground of being and the nature of reality. Emerson is our Founding Thinker and to do him justice, a biographer has to grapple with the how and why a mind grows, changes, struggles and reaches new heights. Even if you haven't read much Emerson, this biography sheds light on what Emerson meant when he said, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."

In the past, my experience in reading Emerson has been similar to reading the Tao Te Ching; interesting, non-mainstream in its point of view, puzzling to understand what exactly it means. So I would pick up the Tao and read it at different times of the day and different frames of mind, hoping that it would resonate with me, but it never did. Maybe it was the cultural difference, or the language, or not being able to easily identify with Lao Tzu. Such had been my experience with Emerson. I wanted to understand him better because what little I did understand made me want to learn more, but I just couldn't get there.

This biographer, Richardson, really did his homework and any who want to understand Emerson better should appreciate this work. Emerson kept exhaustive journals and collections of his thoughts for many years. He read widely and deeply, kept detailed notes, and thoroughly indexed the notes. What perfect material to access for writing a biography! Apparently Richardson went back and studied much of the source material that Emerson references in his journals and brings into this biography an understanding of who Emerson was reading and what it meant to Emerson, so we receive the pleasure of following along on a journey in the development of a powerful mind. Then Richardson is able to write about this development so that it is easily readable to us moderns. It's quite a remarkable achievement.

"Mind on Fire" shows me that Richardson is certain that studying Emerson and his message is worthwhile. So much consideration has gone into this biography that when I laid it down after almost non-stop reading for several days over the holidays, I felt like I really understood Emerson for the first time, and now have much better insight. I plan to let this book simmer in my mind a few more months, then pick it up and read it again.

If Richardson could also write something as lucid and detailed to help me understand the Tao Te Ching, I wouldn't have 10,000 questions about the 10,000 things. ;-)

Mr. Richardson's 'Thoreau A Life of the Mind' was not only the best biography I've read on Thoreau, but one of the most exhilerating and enlightening reading experiences of my life. So I decided to read his 'Emerson The Mind on Fire.' And it was every bit as intimate and intelligent.

There are times you feel that you're intruding upon Waldo and Henry on one of their walks. It was an endless stroll of two intellectuals and humanists on the path of being very human. Each of the one hundred chapters (both books) are kept short, which helps move the reader from topic to topic without ever feeling put upon (too much detail can drag what is otherwise very interesting.) Though, for me personally, I would love to savor every moment these two great men shared. I don't think I could ever get bored.

Emerson has many close friends with whom one gets to know intimately. His personal address book was a whose whose of literary and intellectual greats.

The relationship between Emerson and his second wife, Lidian, is of great interest. She was also intellectual and as much a partner in life as she was a wife. Her presence is everywhere in Emerson's life.

Emerson's essays are pure poetry. And the behind the scene snippets into how they became a part of his legacy was both insightful and relevant to the day to day interactions and causes he committed himself. His transformation from the unremarkable child into the neverending 'student' of self-education and commitment to social conscience throughout his entire adult life is one to be admired.

Mr. Richardson is one of the best biographers of nineteenth century literaries. He is truly one with his topic.

Robert Richardson's biography of Emerson is superb. Though, as Richardson reminds us, Emerson did not like superlative language when precise and adequate language would do, it is the case that at times the superlative, the precise and the adequate converge (as, in fact, they often did in Emerson's writings). Richardson's biography is indeed superb in its unfolding of Emerson's life -- the loves, the friendships, the losses, the intellectual and spiritual hunger, the religious quest, the writers in America, in Europe, in Persia and elsewhere to whom Emerson owed and acknowledged debts, the grasping at and for a world, the determination of a single, brilliant human being to find his way and to see his life, and all individual lives, as imbued with the divine and thus worth living.

The book is also superbly written. Each short chapter offers enough substantive insight to urge the reader into the next. It is a long book, but not long-winded. Richardson provides the reader with some morsel of insight in a few pages of narrative, and then offers a rest to digest what has been said. His placement of quotations from Emerson's journals, essays and other works is brilliant, offering the reader a useful sketch of Emerson's metaphysics and ethics. In my own case, this has allowed time to reach for other literature more fully descriptive of the events or scenes offered in a particular chapter, or to reread chunks of Emerson's writings while moving through the biography. The book is a useful tool not merely for a study of Emerson's life but for a study of Transcendentalism and of the interplay of ideas across the Atlantic that shaped American thought in so many ways. One sees more clearly where and how such writers as Nietzsche and Thoreau obtained the seeds of their own truths from Emerson's works and thoughts.

Richardson has set the standard for the writing of future biographies. Again, simply superb.

We are big Doctor Seuss fans and are attempting to get the entire collection for our daughter. Like the book, just too similar to Fox in Socks. Nothing but tongue twisters and no real story.
Great to have if your trying to collect all Dr Seuss books. If completing the collection is not important to you, I would only chose this if you don't already have Fox in Socks

Great book for my 1st grader, he loves the rhyming words throughout.

This book captures literary genius in the form of childish tongue twisters. It proves to be an excellent practice of diction and reading rhythm while providing extreme entertainment for the little listener. The love of words is the beginning of all great literary accomplishment, and this child's book is a step in the right direction.

This book was one of my husbands favorites when he was growing up, and now that we are expecting a child he wanted our son to have the same experience. He was so excited when it arrived that he read it to me as a bedtime story. The riddles start out easy, but by the end of the book your tongue is so twisted it's hard to say anything!! It's a lot of fun and we really look forward to hearing our son try to say these riddles when he learns to speak.

This is a really fun book to read. However, you REALLY have to pay attention to the words or you will mess them up. If you love tongue twisters, this is the book for you. It also is great for young readers, but they may become frustrated with some of the words. It's fun for little ones to listen to and to see how fast you can say these phrases. When you hear "faster, faster," well, you know you're encouraging reading in your child. A very fun book - I recommend it.

We used this book on two recent trips to NYC as a guide book for planning 4 different afternoon teas. Excellent!

I had slight sticker shock and hesitated to buy this book. In fact, when it arrived, I was a bit unhappy with the small size. Having perused this small tome (with a cuppa in hand, of course), I've come to realize that my reservations were in vain. What a great book for the tea lover! This guide is not only informative, but well written. I'll be reading it again and again, and I'm sure that many a happy afternoon will be spent in the City (and here in Brooklyn, too) thanks to Ms. Knight. The only downside is that the fifth NYC borough is not mentioned... sounds like a great opportunity for someone in Staten Island to rise to the occasion for a possible (and hoped for by this reader) 2008 edition.

If you enjoy tea, why not take a tea trip in my hometown, New York? With this book, you can plan out everything. I have found the information provided by Ms. Knight to be accurate and have also learned a few interesting tidbits about tea culture. The excellent photos are worth noting as well. With more and more tea places popping up (and I've noticed a few recently), I hope they plan to put out updated editions. But this is by far the best tea guidebook I've seen, and a necessity for any tea lover who spends time in New York City.

What I really love about Tea in the City is the breadth and depth of Ms. Knight's profiles, especially when it comes to non-traditional tea rooms. This is the first guide I've seen that really makes an effort to incorporate the newer influx of modern East Asian tea destinations, rather than limiting itself to British and hotel teas (though these are here as well). Although I work in NYC, this guide may inspire me to try some new places in some neighborhoods I haven't visited in a while. I also find this guide more male-friendly than most tea books.

This is the perfect guide to tuck in your handbag or pocket when going to New York City. Color coded maps tell you the tea spots available in each area of NYC. Daily hours, phone numbers, subway stops nearby, websites, decor, approximate costs, and description of teas and food are included. This will be in my handbag anytime I take a train into New York City.

Richardson's biographies of Thoreau and Emerson are two of the best books I've encountered in my life of voracious reading and this is one is just as wondrous. I cannot read any of these books in public, because they all make me want to weep and clutch my chest and shout, "At last! Everything has been revealed!"

I wish I could explain why Richardson's biographies are different from anyone else's. It's not just an artful piling up of delightful and distressing facts. Instead it's like the doorbell rings and you have a new best friend: William James. There's something magical and occult about this. It's not like he went to the research library, it's like he drew mystic diagrams on the floor.

Richardson writes that one of James' gifts was "his uncanny ability to pick up redemptive ideas from his reading." And it is Richardson's gift too, to fill each page with life-giving ideas. These biographies are as purely inspirational as a strong Lao coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Reading them makes me prone to fits of euphoria.

Richardson points toward the sources of James' genius-- one of the most important of which was James' own depression and heartbreak. He writes, "James had a remarkable capacity to convert misery and unhappiness into intellectual and emotional openness and growth. It is almost as though trouble was for him a precondition for insight." How hopeful that is!

Richardson's compassion for his subject spills out, somehow, to the reader, and makes one feel that one's own nonsense and bleakness do not render one disqualified for a whole human life. What more can I ask for?

More than an interesting read, not only into the life of one of the gotfathers of psychology and pragmatism, but of the period. Well written.

I would suggest reading this book first before reading some of William James other books. This book gives you an overview and thought process to give the reader a context for understanding all of his work. I am 35 years old and know of no one in my age that reads William James but I just wish this book came out years ago before I read all of his work.

I need not repeat the summaries set forth below by other reviewers, since these explain both Richardson's method -- to tell the life story through the work -- and the essentials of James' theories. What I will say is that, even if you have no background in philosophy or psychology, you should read this brilliant, passionate biography. James wrote for a popular as well as a professional audience; he was open and curious to all experience, and wished to be inclusive rather than exclusive in disseminating his ideas. Richardson is clear and succinct in explaining James theories -- often in the man's own, crisp, evocative language and clarifying analogies. Moreover, the concepts that James developed have in many cases become part of our popular vocabulary, including through organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, which Richardson reports took inspiration from James' Gifford lectures, published in the U.S. as "The Varieties of Religious Experience."

I had not read James for many years but, since reading this biography, have purchased a collection of his writings and am re-reading many of his works. You will come away from "In the Maelstrom of American Modernism" with a better understanding of both American values and ideals, and the history of U.S. higher education. Most importantly, however, you will come away with enormous admiration for the radiant personality that was William James, or as Richardson exclaims (using italics, not caps) at the end of this great work, for "the SPIRIT the man." When I finished reading, I not only wanted to read William James; I was sorry that I had not known him or had him as a teacher. That's how good this book is -- for every reader.

This book will resonate perfectly with scholars trained in philosophy and psychology. Biographer Richardson traces William James' evolving thought patterns with a thoroughness no writer could exceed. For the average reader, though, I suggest the book will have value mostly because of the interesting lives of William James and his novelist brother Henry.

Certainly I had been unaware of William's lifelong health problems. Too, the book provides fascinating tidbits about his courtship with his eventual wife Alice. Note his highly formal writing style in a love letter to her: "My duty is to win your hand if I can. . .What I beg of you now is that you should let me know categorically whether any absolute irrevocable obstacle already exist to that consummation."

Another highlight for me--William James' rejection of "copied religion." He has no use for the person whose "religion has been made for him by others, communicated to him by tradition, determined to fixed forms by imitation and retained by habit." James noted that "the founders of every church owed their power originally to the fact of their direct personal communion with the divine."

I enjoyed the book as a life story well told.

The Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication-change Your Life!

Having younger children you don't quite know how to broach the question of "mommy why do boys pee pee out the front" with this book not only do I realize that the things my kids do are normal, but some really good advice on what type of answers to give them. Plus I feel more prepared for every stage of my child's sexual development. This book is in an easy to read and entertaining format.

Half way through the first chapter, I was nodding, laughing and remembering. The author and editors are dead-on with their descriptions and stories. Their advice is absolutely bar none.

I put down the book after the first chapter and realized that it was so well written that I would have read it if it WASN'T recommended by the therapist who sees my two step-children who are currently in heat. I reported back to him with rave reviews.

A must read for anyone who has, or wants, kids. Period. It will make your life so much easier...

I read the book and wish I had read it sooner and then I gave it to my 15 year old to read as well.

Much better than A chicken's guide to talking turkey with your kids about sex (preachy at best, as in religious zealots).

I think books are a useful tool to open up lines of communication and purchased this author's book, Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex with a copy of Dr. Ruth's Sex for Dummies for my older teen. I also read and shared, Human Sexuality by Roger R. Hock.

It is my personal feeling that providing your child with information about thier bodies will help them keep themselves healthy. It does not mean we give them our blessings to do whatever they want nor does it mean we have the right to make choices for them. We do as parents have the responsibilities of educating them.

As I have multiple children and liked her reasonable approach I also purchased Dr. Ruth Talks To Kids for my pre-teen. I also recommend the American Medical Association (Boy's/Girls) Guide To Becomming A Teen, and a copy of It's Perfectly Normal.

Copies of It's So Amazing and It's Not The Stork are also worth having kicking around the house but I did find the books to be rather long so don't be surprised if your active younger child does't want to go over them in one sitting.

Sexual development does begin in utero and it is time the average parent understood it better. That "talk" isn't just one talk you have with your child but a series of conversations in the car, at the supper table, when you are getting dressed in the changing room, changing diapers, in front of your best friend, at the doctor's office, and so on. If you are feeling a little shy about it- this book is for you.

This book is lengthy and full of useful information, ranging from how to deal with your child's sexuality from baby to teen; masturbation; attraction; orientation; pregnancy; parenting; and everything in between. A very well written book.

While a good, solid resource by two learned academics, I was a bit disappointed w/ this read, which seemed to spend more time trying to be witty than actually getting to the "meat" of the info. Not meant for parents with "conservative" family values, this book is jam-packed w/ stories, some which seem exaggerated, in its attempt to be edgy (which to some may be read as crass). The authors clip over developmental changes of boys and girls at almost too fast a pace, making the work not as thoughtful as it could be. It also overly generalizes children's responses and behaviors. Overall, it's difficult for readers to pull out important info.