Sachs Books

I'm a professional medical biller and accounts receivable specialist - a second career following a quarter century of working for corporations large and small. I was shocked to see the low level of business acumen many physicians have, whether they are new to their profession or have been in business for many years. When I read this book I appreciated that Laura Sachs is one of the foremost experts in the field, and quickly added it to my short list of Must Have publications for my most troubled clients.

This is a no-nonsense, practical guide suitable for any size practice. The topics covered range from the purely financial to management of personnel, maintenance of the physical environment, estate planning, dress codes and hygiene, and more. It has dozens of checklists and hundreds of tips for the physician and his staff; nothing is left out.

Unfortunately, the book is somewhat dated. It apparently had only one printing, in 1991, and could stand updating in areas such as computerization of medical records, insurance industry changes, and the legal and regulatory climate. Nevertheless, much of the advice in this book is timeless, and the $70 price tag should be considered a very wise investment.

The definition chosen for a "short" poem by 36-year-old Englishman Simon Armitage is simple. A short poem is shorter than a sonnet. It has less than 14 lines.

Armitage selected almost exclusively English and American authors' poems for his anthology, and most of them wrote in the 20th century. He begins with the short poems of thirteen lines, like Emily Dickinson's "After great pain, a formal feeling comes"; and he ends the book with Don Paterson's "On Going to Meet a Zen Master in the Kyushu Mountains and Not Finding Him (for A.G.)". The latter consists of nothing but its elaborate title (plus the dedication, of course). Which is not only apt, but also funny.

My personal favorites in this anthology are: "The Winter Palace", Philip Larkin's gruff ode to ageing; Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska's hilarious "Bodybuilders' Contest"; William Carlos Williams' literally sweet and delicious "This is Just to Say"; Mexican poet Octavio Paz's exemplary and witty "Example"; Robert Frost's "Fire and Ice"; and Carol Ann Duffy's "Mrs Darwin."

Some short but sweet quotes from my favorites:

From scalp to sole, all muscles in slow motion.
The ocean of his torso drips with lotion.
The king of all is he who preens and wrestles
with sinews twisted into monstrous pretzels.
(from: Bodybuilders' Contest)

7 April 1852.
Went to the Zoo.
I said to him -
Something about that chimpanzee over there
reminds me of you.
(Mrs Darwin)

The shorter the poems get, the wittier they tend to be:

Siesta of a Hungarian Snake (by Edwin Morgan)
s sz sz SZ sz SZ sz ZS zs ZS zs zs z

To a Friend is Search of Rural Seclusion (by Christopher Logue)
When all else fails,
Try Wales.

As all anthologies, this one, too, is an invitation to read more by the poets that surprised or touched me, or that simply made me chuckle or guffaw. My only complaint in this respect is that Simon Armitage provided only the most basic of information: the year of birth and - should the case be - death of the poets. I found that an anthology gains tremendously from an editor's comments on the poems or the poets. In particular if the editor is an experienced poet himself.

An account of the attempt by the South African secret police on Albie Sachs' life while he was in exile in Maputo Mozambique during the 1980s.

Although much of the contemporary material on Tibetan medicine focuses on herbs and acupuncture, they are only a small portion of this ancient healing practice. In Tibetan Ayurveda: Health Secrets From the Roof of the World, author Robert Sachs provides a more in depth, comprehensive examination of a highly integrated medical science that, at best, must seem very peculiar to most Western health practitioners. The primary source used by Sachs was the Gyud-Zhi. This is a shortened title for what can be translated as "The Ambrosia Heart Tantra: The Secret Oral Teachings on the Eight Branches of the Science of Healing."

Sachs points out that, according to Tibetan spiritual history, the origin of these tantras was the Buddha Vaidurya or the Medicine Buddha as he is commonly known. To present these teachings in the customary form of a dialogue, Buddha Vaidurya emanated Himself as two beings: the sage Yile Kye who raised pertinent questions and the sage Rigpe Yeshe who provided the answers. As for the secular history of the Gyud-Zhi, its teachings are believed to have originated in India. Then, in the eighth century, King Sronstan Gampo invited physicians from all over Asia to share their healing practices at what was probably the world's first international medical conference, which established Tibet as the holistic medical capitol of ancient Asia.

Sachs highlights the pertinent aspects of this eight-fold healing tradition, which includes diagnosis, lifestyle changes, nutrition, and both physical and meditative exercises. He points out that lifestyle changes are the least invasive of the therapies and therefore the most important. Upon diagnosis, a Tibetan physician will first look to diet and exercise to affect a change in a patient's condition. The diagnosis is based on a patient's physical characteristics much like Indian Ayurveda. The three physiological types are then subdivided by personality profiles thus formulating six constitutional types. Sachs includes self-evaluation tests then outlines the basic nutritional practices associated with each of the six types. Next, he examines exercise, which centers on Tibetan tai chi and chi kung, rejuvenation exercises, Yantra yoga and Kum Nye, the integration of mind and body, all considered integral to a well-rounded healing program. After instigating the various lifestyle changes, the Tibetan physician may then precipitate healing through Len Nga, a powerful detoxification and rejuvenation therapy similar to Indian Pancha Karma.

The one reservation I have is that Sachs likens the Tibetan practices to macrobiotics and alludes to several macrobiotic practitioners and their works. Although somewhat benign for healthy types, macrobiotics has never been independently confirmed as a realistic therapy for the seriously ill. I would be inclined to say that Tibetan practices have more in common with Indian Ayurveda rather than macrobiotics. Nevertheless, I highly recommend this work for both lay persons and health practitioners alike who would like to expand their horizons and add to their knowledge of alternative therapies.

Usually the work of forensic pathology is thought to have begun among the Greeks about 380 BC. The Greeks were dissecting various animals and sometimes applying their findings to people. Rarely was a human dissected as this was prohibited by the Hippocratic writings which even named it "autopsy," the examination of the self. After over 2000 years, the term remains despite the efforts of some scientists to rename it "necropsy," the examination of the dead.

"Forensic" is also a term that comes from Antiquity, from the death of Julius Caesar. The Roman physician Antistius presented a case for the time of Caesar's death. "Forensic" comes from "before the Forum" which is where Antistius made his declarations. Sachs believes this is the first recorded application of medical knowledge to the investigation of a death.

Sachs tells the story that over the last two and almost a half millennia researchers of various sciences have tried numerous ways to identify the time of death through the way the body dies. Mention has already been made of the Greeks. In 1194 AD England established the first Keeper of the Crown (which became the word coroner) whose job was to establish how, where, and *when* a person died. In 1247, in China the first forensic handbook was written. In 1811, in France Pierre Nysten made a timetable of rigor mortis. By the end of the 19th century, researchers in forensics stood in confidence on the combination of rigor, livor, and algor. This foundation also crashed.

Readers in forensics have probably heard the story of William Bass and the Body Farm that he runs in Tennessee in order to study what happens to the body and when after a person dies. One late December morning in 1977, Bass was called to a scene in Williamson County. What Bass found was a headless man dressed in a tuxedo who had been buried on top of the grave of a Civil War hero. Bass was impressed by the pink hue of the corpse's flesh. Bass estimated the time of death as being within the previous six to twelve months. Bass was wrong by 113 years. The body belonged to Colonel William Shy of the 20th Tennessee Infantry of the Confederate Army.

Bass did not hide his blunder like a lesser man might have done. A decade later Arpad Vass would read the story of the 113 year error. Vass explained to Bass that the lead coffin in which Colonel Shy had been buried would have effectively poisoned the bacteria and microorganisms responsible for putrefaction. So decomposition of the body would have failed beyond autolysis. Vass had the idea that just as insects would overwhelm a corpse, so could microbes. This leads to what Sachs calls the New Mod Squad.

Toscanini has been the subject of several biographies. Those that focus primarily on his life (George Marek's book, now out of print comes to mind) tended toward uncritical idolatry and provided little, if any, original research. Other books, by Charles Marsh and B.H. Haggin, are primarily studies of Toscanini performances, and not biographies per se. Sachs's book is the first to combine traditional biographical techniqes with an evaluation of Toscanini's art. What emerges is a well-written work that provides a full portrait of Toscanini, warts and all. As balanced as it is, the book nonetheless conveys the author's love of his subject. Also, the author's music background brings to life many details of Toscanini performances in a way that nonmusicians will enjoy.

By TT reviewer Amy L Turpin

Anna-Lena didn't get what she wanted for her birthday from Santa Claus. In May. To say the least, she's powerfully upset. On a suggestion from her Dad, she writes a letter to Santa again. Only this time, the letter is quite nasty and definitely causes quite a stir.

Kalle is a troll working for Santa among the elves at toy production. He's not all that good at anything, tends to cause more trouble then anything else and no one likes him very much. After a particularly nasty incident, the elves decide it's time to teach little Anna-Lena a lesson. Since she wasn't happy with what Santa brought her last year (even though it wasn't Christmas) they decide they will ship her Kalle the Troll! What happens next is delightfully funny!

This was a wonderful, wonderful story! Although I don't have any children myself, I do have several nieces and nephews and they all loved the reading of what they have come to call "Anna and the Troll." I can easily see this story becoming a holiday tradition in my family!

From 2000-2001 this exhibition, devoted specifically to Van Gogh's portraits and self-portraits, will travel to Detroit, Boston and Philadelphia. This book is well written and provides graphics of superb quality. My only misgiving comes from the fact that seven different writers contributed to the commentary of the book which makes the flow of the text somewhat disjointed. While very well researched, other exhibition catalogues (those by Ronald Pickvance, for example) take a work-by work, single author approach and, as a result, the commentary is more clear and concise. Still, it's a minor criticism of an excellent book.

This book is excellent for someone who is really interrested in "the Masters." It was not as challenging to me because I have read almost all of the Dali Lama books there are. It seems when you have read one you have read them all. Nonetheless, the careful eye can pick out newer interpretations and insights.

To me this felt a lot like Tom Wolfe, a microcosmic view into "a day in the life of....". It is well written, thoughtful and interesting. At times you feel jealous, sad, and angry about the main character.

This is a terrifically engaging and intelligent novel that is both meditative and pleasingly dense in vivid, narrative detail. Altough it swells with inner dialogue and deep explanation, there is deft movement to the story as it progresses from rumination to flashes of personal and potential horror and back again into the territory of character background.

The passing thoughts of the chief character, a British neurosurgeon gliding through a day off until things go awry, comprise the main story line. But all along there are bright tangents on terrorism, the case for war, road rage, family life, brain disorders, violence, poetry and literature.

Pass on this one, unless you wished to be bored to a new state of existence...not a pleasant one, to be sure...Worthless trivel is the mainstay of this novel...based on a stream of consciousness, it in no way approaches literary merit...Faulkner, this is not...For your own sense of well being, find another book to read...There is essentially no plot, no action, no theme, no story...Caveat emptor!!!

This book is sooo good on many levels. The author did research for this character, the descriptions of neurosurgey were particularly fascinating for me, but also the interior thoughtlife of the doctor contemplating his life and the events of the times (the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003). This is a novel I want to make several friends read. It is very well-written and thought-provoking.

Ian McEwan has a voluble, poetic style, with most of his writing elaborating his characters' fleeting, chaotic, but insightful thoughts. He has a way of turning a second's reflection into pages of meditation, or a day into 279 pages, so that his characters seem unusually lucid, but still the reader can see familiar branches of thought that make the characters real. At times it can be exhausting to read, but McEwan skillfully tightens his vast web of character introspection into a cohesive and powerful conclusion.

This book follows Henry Perowne, an English neurosurgeon approaching fifty, on his day off, an extraordinarily memorable Saturday. The setting is London in 2003 just before the start of the Iraq War, an issue central to the concerns of the novel, not for only for its politics but for its effect on the lives and minds of people, real and fictional. McEwan introduces us to his narrator and then brings the pivotal event into the story about eighty pages in, after the reader has begun to wonder when something is going to happen. He also has a way of weaving in many circumstances that seem vital, then inconsequential, and then vital again, or symbolic, so that reading this is like a mystery novel where the mystery is the plot and the clues are the myriad tiny details of life and thought interspersed with larger happenings. It all comes together into a brilliant picture. Having read Atonement, I was prepared for this slow and unexpected unfurling of the story, but I admit to getting impatient and restless for things to get moving and for Henry to shut up already. I was not to be disappointed. The last part of the book brings everything together beautifully, passionately, and completely, and it was all well worth the ride.

The book is firmly grounded in the moment, not only in the almost stream-of-consciousness narration, but in the subject matter and themes, reflecting the confusion and preoccupation of many in the post-9/11 western world. By setting the events of the novel against the political background of the protests against war in Iraq, McEwan constantly addresses his characters' concerns and views, but translates them into more immediate events. This is a truly great novel that seamlessly merges setting and story into something greater, a narrative that captures time and feeling. It is not a succinct book, but it is moving, lyrical, and rewarding. If you enjoy contemporary fiction, character analysis, or the pleasure of beautiful writing, this is an excellent choice.