Spencer Books

I have received the item in a good condition. Else, product features were available as mentioned on website. This is for the first time I have dealt with Amazon people and I find it worth dealing in future also. Regards, Pranav Darji.

James has been rightly credited as the father of Psychology, and this was the work that launched psychology into a field of its own. When it came out some 100 years ago, The Principles was criticized as "un-systematic." James would have taken this as a compliment. It is exactly because this book is not an elaborately contrived system that it remains fresh as a morning flower. Full of details and insight, it is perhaps the most epic and insightful psychological work every produced. That said, The Principles doesn't quite stay within the bounds of psychology. As you will see from the citations (which are voluminous), James was also well read in the humanities, from abstruse philosophy to literary fiction. But then, James was living in a time when Philosophy and Psychology were not distinct disciplines. Not a problem if you enjoy philosophizing. For its breadth, scope and penetrating insights, this book might never grow stale.

This book is a beautiful classic. James is unafraid to tackle the perplexing questions about consciousness. He is also unencumbered by simplistic theoretical assumptions or restrictive definitions of science, but he holds to a high standard of clarity and steers for the truth.

This book is a brilliant catalogue of the phenomena that must be explained by the various brain and psychological sciences. While the behaviorist movement that came after James led to important advances in scientific method, in terms of objectively establishing empirical results, it also led to a massive denial of mental phenomena that cannot at present be explained purely in mechanical or behaviorial terms. Because subsequent generations have denied the phenomena, or written them off as "illusions" or "folk psychology," as is still common today, this book is a precious trove of unbiased insights about the mind.

I would thus agree with the other reviewers that this is a great book. However, while they seem to claim James for functionalism, (which is I think the dominant framework for understanding mind in contemporary cognitive science--holding that implementing certain functions such as self-representation and planning, are what makes a system conscious, no matter what it's made out of) I suggest that much of James' critique of what he calls the "mind-stuff theory" and the "associationists" is equally devastating to what is now called functionalism. For example, people still talk about patterns of brain actvity as if they had objective, ontological reality. But we can completely describe the brain at the level of molecules without reference to patterns, so the pattern is not an intrinsic, necessary way of interpreting the activity of the physical brain system. Similarly, having the idea of A and the idea of B does not imply having the idea of A+B. James makes this basic point in multiple ways in his book. It seems more or less equivalent to the point articulated in recent times by John Searle, that "any physical process you might find is computational only relative to some interpretation," ie some observer (in "The Mystery of Consciousness" p.16). When expressed in Searle's modern language, it is more clear why the distinction between real objective properties of a system and its extrinsic observer-dependent properties, is a big problem for contemporary functionalism.

In any case, I highly recommend this book to any serious student of psychology. It's not for boneing up for psych exams or grant proposals, but for patiently ruminating on and savoring.

This 1400-page work in two volumes, published in 1890, is probably the best single survey of psychology ever written.

The work is of imposing size, but James covers such a wide field, so thoroughly and so engagingly, that to my own surprise I read both volumes cover to cover, back to back. The two volumes comprise 28 chapters, including "The Functions of the Brain", "Habit", "The Stream of Thought", "Attention", "Association", "Memory", "Imagination", "The Perception of Reality", "Reasoning", and "Will"--to name just a few that I found the most fascinating.

James's reasoning is sharp and subtle, his writing clear and vigorous. The qualities of his own mind, which come through in the prose, are astonishing: he is both skeptical and open-minded, deeply versed in the existing literature, and an original and fearless thinker. He must have been a fantastic prof.

I was a little afraid that the age of the book would make it antique, with fusty 19th-century notions that have long since been disproved. Not a bit! With few exceptions, the material is as fresh and relevant today as it was in 1890. Even the material on brain physiology and function, an area where the 20th century can claim to have made some progress, was sharp, perceptive, and interesting.

The advent of Freud, Pavlov, and others in the 20th century seemed to push certain theoretical ideas about the mind to the forefront, putting other, older ideas in the shade. My prejudice was that they had made 19th-century psychology irrelevant. I was wrong. There were many able minds studying psychology long before Freud, and their findings and views are well worth knowing. Among other things, James's book is a treasure-trove of psychological thinking up to the time of his writing, including many extracts by other researchers, both those he admires and those he is critical or dismissive of.

James, of course, was not merely a psychologist; he was also a philosopher. If I had to give a single reason why I think this book is excellent, it would be that James fearlessly tackles questions lying at the boundary of what today are seen as distinct disciplines. Here you'll find penetrating, persuasive insights into the nature of reasoning, logic, and the will, as well as the origin of aesthetic and moral ideas. James is as thoroughly versed in the works and ideas of Kant, Hume, Berkeley, Locke, and Mill as he is in those of his fellow psychologists. He confronts the thinking of the greatest minds with complete confidence, using his laserlike intellect to discover their obscurities and contradictions. He is their peer.

At the same time, James is humane and folksy in his style, often making references to his own experience, domestic life, and the little experiments he often performed on himself or his students. He writes with candor, humanity, and honesty. Time and again he comes to conclusions or makes observations that cut to the core of human experience altogether.

Technically this is a textbook surveying psychology, probably for a first-year introductory course. It bears almost no resemblance to the dry, cautious tomes that usually fill that role. It is an impassioned work by a learned, deep, and original mind explaining his own conclusions on this vast and elusive topic, based on long study, experiment, and careful thought. It is one of a kind. If you're interested in the human mind, this book is for you.

Why would anyone want to read a book about psychology that was first published 113 years
ago? One answer is the rationale for reading any psychology book: that it
provides insights into psychological issues not available elsewhere. Although
many psychologists of the late 19th and early 20th century probably started their career by
reading this book, it is not appropriate today as an introduction to psychology. Too
many of James's viewpoints are antiquated, and his facts, outdated or incorrect. Neither
is it the book to read if you are looking for contemporary psychological views
or a compilation of psychological knowledge. Recent textbooks are better for these purposes.
Yet, the word most frequently used to describe James's Principles of Psychology
is probably 'monumental' and rightly so because not only is this a lengthy work (~1400pgs),
but it also is the culmination of a long line of philosophical thinking about the Soul,
Self, Mind, Matter, and related topics that began with the pre-Socratic Greeks
and continued through the 19th century, when positivist philosophers and experimentalists
began to explore psychologically relevant philosophical questions in more concrete terms,
invoking a scientific method and rejecting metaphysics. At the end of the 19th century, a
seeming riot of discussion about the meaning of life, the nature of consciousness, mind,
ego, evolution, and related subjects dominated the scientific and popular culture.

At this point in history, William James, an American trained as a physician and employed
as a Harvard professor, examines the various philosophies of the previous two millenia, picking
out those aspects relevant to psychology, comparing and sorting them to reveal their value
as unambiguous theories that might be tested by research, and reflecting on how the evidence
stacks up in their favor. He also advances his own, original conceptions on various issues.
His work is not the first to collect speculation and evidence into a coherent
psychology, and there are many previous works with "Psychology" in their titles,
but James's efforts would galvanize an American discipline of psychological science that
would eventually become a dominant intellectual force.

James defines psychology as the "Science of Mental Life" and describes the
stream of consciousness as "the ultimate fact for psychology." Out of his viewpoint,
the school of functionalism in psychology developed, where the mind is conceived as a
useful organ that evolves according to natural selection and grows according
to discoverable rules. His orientation towards physiological and behavioral data
eventually diminished the then dominant psychological
method of introspection that James himself uses so frequently with great effect.
Subsequent viewpoints in psychology, such as behaviorism, though taking part of their
inspiration from functionalism, reject James's definition of psychology, so that
by the end of the 20th century, most psychologists with an empirical orientation may
call themselves "behavioral scientists," but certainly not "mental scientists."

Reading this book can be disconcerting, perhaps because of his period style or
Victorian sensibilities, or the frequent, unglossed short quotes and phrases in German, French,
and Latin because he assumes the reader has at least these minimal language skills.
Perhaps also, it is because James is not only conversant with the giants of philosophy
and experimental technique who preceeded him, but seemingly, with virtually every
published sentence to date bearing on the subjects of concern, and in veritable fractal detail,
producing a tour de force in erudition. His is not the style of current psychology
journals and textbooks, but fortunately he does translate into English many long passages
he quotes from their original sources. Yet possibly the most disconcerting aspects
are the subjects that James raises in this book.

The new mainstream psychology after James rejects many topics as unsuitable - even for
discussion - that figure prominently in the intellectual history of philosophy
and psychology. James's view that the concept of Soul should be eliminated in
scientific works is one point on which later psychologists heartily agree, but they
also, to a large extent, throw out other concepts of central concern to James, such as
mind, emotion, will, and feeling. Rare pleas by scholars
with varying backgrounds (e.g., Ornstein, Tomkins) urge students of psychology to
revisit issues discussed by James and address the larger questions contained therein, but
such exhorations echo mostly in halls of learning emptied by Vita enhancement pressures.
Renewal of interest reappears lately for some of the suppressed topics, cast into such areas as
cognitive psychology or emotion theory, but James's idea that the mind is a core
concept remains foreign to virtually all contemporary psychologists, and much of his
emphasis seems uncomfortable from today's viewpoint.

The reluctance among psychologists to embrace such philosophical and scientific issues
concerning the mind is remarkably not shared by some physicists, mathematicians,
biologists, computer scientists, and other scientists who in recent works have implied
that psychologists may be irrelevant to elucidating such issues, if not muddle-headed,
scientific dwarfs. This twist is ironic because psychologists restrict their
vocabulary and investigations partly to ape their conception of these "hard-core" sciences.
It is not clear whether psychology will survive the choices that psychologists have
made about their subject matter, or whether psychology departments will inevitably be
diced and parsed into their appropriate slots in departments of computer science, biology,
medicine, statistics, and physics, but certainly, the end of psychology is nearer if
tomorrow's students of psychology fail to study James's Principles of Psychology.

James's work is the jumping off point for much of what forms 20th century psychology:
habit, association, attention, memory, imagination, object and space perception, etc.
His thoughts about emotion, feelings, the self, consciousness, and other topics remain important
for today's theoretical views. On the other hand, this work predates psychoanalysis
and does not include an organized account of abnormal psychology, human communication,
and other topics raised in most elementary surveys of psychology. The context in which
James puts scientific psychology is probably the most important lesson of this book.
The Dover edition is unabridged, the only form of this work that should be
considered by the serious reader.

This book will make you feel that there is hope. I knew Regina Polk (and her husband Tom) as friends in graduate school. When Gina left school and joined the Teamsters I doubt that anyone knew the magnitude and course of her success. When she was in a room one could sense her presence and when she was out organizing one felt that the blow had been struck for equality at a particular employer. She was driven to succeed and she did. Her efforts made working women's lives easier and she never gave up. Her standards as a modern day organizer are still in place and I hope that this book will inspire more women to follow her course towards workplace equality.There was little that she comprised on and this created a wedge which she used to collectivize women in voting for group power and better benefits and appropriate salaries.Her successes remain to this day and I miss her greatly even after all this time. She was a positive force in an area that has taken a real beating: the union movement.She also is one of my heroes.

Interesting story about a little know women. A must read about a real tuff cookie!

Gina and I spent the better part of 2 years together back in the 70's. The stories about her pets are very true as I can attest to. Her love of finding new experiences was always there. When we lived in New Mexico I was involved in working with the IBEW to organise the electronics company I was working for at the time. Gina helped me with this and this was probably Gina's first experience with the unions. After our move back to Chicago I could see there was no stopping her and I would just be slowing her down so we parted ways. One of our trips through the deep south was a real wake up call to her and how Women were being treated in those days.
After reading the book I now can see very clearly that she had made the right decisions in her life and how to live it.

Here's a readable, professionally written and published story about a real woman named Regina Polk who was born poor in Arizona, went to California in the 1970s and wound up in Chicago, of all places, working as an organizer for the biggest, toughest Teamster local in the country. This book brings her to life, complete with pictures. Filled with energy, beautiful in an unconventional way, gifted in her ability to build relationships, committed to honest representation, she broke some serious glass ceilings. Then, at age 33, she gets killed in a small plane crash. This book does not penetrate all the mysteries around her life and death, but it probably does the best that can be done. Women around Chicago today benefit from funds raised in her memory by the stewards council at her local, IBT 743,to pay for labor education and labor leadership development.

What a full and passionate life Regina lived. As another reviewer pondered, one can't help but wonder - what if she'd lived beyond her 33 years? Where would she be now? The story told in the book is colorful, touching, inspiring, sad and yet filled with hope. That she touched so many lives in such a short time, and that both her life and her death impacted so many people is somewhat amazing.

The book takes the reader on a fast paced journey through the very short but amazingly full life of this young labor leader. Would make a great "Norma Rae" style movie!

This book tought me how to parent better than any other book I have ever read. People always comment to me on how well behaved my kids are and its all due to Anthony Wolfe. Wolfe tells you in simple (and amusing) ways how to parent without punishment, bribes, or driving YOURSELF crazy! Now, if parenting without punishment sounds like being "soft", its not. I am a much tougher parent than most of the people I know. Wolfe has helped me learn to use my own "power" as a parent to get well behaved kids without threats or punishment. Everyone with kids under the age of 12 should read this book.

Without a doubt, this is the best book I have ever read on handling children. I've read all the classics, and each of them taught me little bits here and there, but this was the only book where every single chapter spoke to me. Not only is the advice terrific, but Wolf gives explanations for some behaviors that otherwise didn't make any sense.

Did you ever pick up the phone when your child was playing quietly? You know what happens, right? Your child suddenly needs your assistance THIS MINUTE and will make it impossible for you to have a conversation. The same thing happens if you get a visitor or run into someone when your child was otherwise perfectly happy. Anthony Wolf tells you why your child does this. And better yet, he tells you what you can do to STOP this!

While implementing his strategy takes some self-control, it is not difficult, and there isn't a lot to remember. The important thing is to be consistent and use his approach whenever you deal with tantrums or interruptions. He calls this approach Robo-Parent. When it's clear that the child is just trying to keep you hooked into an argument, you stop talking and remove the child to his room. At our house we just say "Goodbye." It's kind of like a time-out in that it resets everyone's mood, but there's no clock. The child can come back whenever he's ready to behave. Usually my kids just go to their room and come right back out. It's not a punishment.

In fact Wolf clearly disapproves of punishing children, because he says shaming and hurting is counter-productive. Think about an abusive boss you had and how eager you were to do your best with that behavior. That's how your kids feel too. This approach leads to better feelings for everyone.

Wolf has another book out called _Secrets of Parenting_ which is mostly taken from this book. Buy one or the other as there is a tremendous amount of overlap. Both are appropriate in handling children between 2 and 12; he has another book on dealing with teenagers.

I have read a lot of parenting books, this one is the best by far. It was as if he stepped in my home and saw our day to day interactions with our kids, and he gave specifics on how to solve each problem. Great Book, I wished I had read this long before now, it would have more peaceful at home.

My book club read this book while my daughter was an infant. I thought it was sort of psycho-babbly. Then my daughter neared her second birthday, and I searched out this book again. All of a sudden it made perfect sense!

I won't say this is the only parenting book you will ever need, but it certainly makes some very valid points, and provides you with actual techniques to apply to your daily ruckus. I recommend it to friends, and now to you too!

Wow! This is the first book I ever read that explained that when your child says "Mommy, I hate you," it's actually a good sign. I found it very comforting at a time when my kids were crazed as a result of being pawns in a nasty divorce. (Things are better now.) - Carrie in Boston

Mokole is a wonderful book detailing the werecrocodiles and weredragons of the World of Darkness. The writing is superb, truly bringing to life the Mokole, and portraying what it is like to posess a racial memory back to the time of the dinosaurs. The feel of incredible antiquity, the weight of ages of Memory and wisdom, keenly permeates this Breedbook. This book does not merely describe the Mokole and their culture, it builds a vivid atmosphere, describing these ancient relics of a distant golden age, and does an excellent job of immersing the reader in their very unique worldview.

The book focuses most on the Australian Aboriginal culture of the Gumagan tribe, although it also describes the other tribes and their cultures. I hardly know anything about Aboriginal culture, but it looks like the authors of Mokole did a good job of respectfully including it in the book without the dreadfulness of Rage Across Australia, and I am glad to see Australia covered in another W:tA book.

The Mokole are an amazing race, and I am eager to play them someday. Their war-form, the Archid, is a dinosaur or dragon, and it is customizable and completely different for each character. The Mokole have all unique totems, rites, gifts, and fetishes, including ghostly totems from extinct species. Although they posess immense physical power - they are weredragons! - they are truly focused on peaceful functions. The are very different in feel and function from the Garou, and should provide many new opportunites for players and STs. Although the Mokole are usually antagonistic toward werewolves, they can work with Garou in the Hengeyokai and the Ahadi, and the book's metaplot provides possibilities for inter-Breed interaction outside of these coalitions.

Every Breedbook includes the Breed's version of the history of the world and their part in it, but the Mokole's story of history spans 200 million years! The Mokole can remember a previous Apocalypse that wiped out the dinosaurs and an earlier intelligent race, the Lizard Kings, and they know of even earlier Apocalypses that came before that one. They believe that Gaia will survive the current crisis. Mokole revolutionizes the history of the World of Darkness. Even among Changing-Breeds, they take an extremely long view, and their insights and stories are interesting to say the least! The Mokole recall the Wars of Rage like they were yesterday, and their tales describe three entire Changing-Breeds that are now exinct. There are even basic rules for constructing games set in the Mesozoic, mostly intended for stories contained in a modern character's Memory.

Finally, although the Mokole are weredinosaurs and speak frankly about evolution and geological Eras, the entire feel of the book is still as fully mystical as the rest of Werewolf, without drifting into genetics or other Weaverish explanations.

The one major problem is the end of the fictional story. The resolution of the story's conflict makes no sense and is silly. Except for that, this is a totally awesome book!

Mokole is a book for an addition to werewolf the apocalypse. You must have the "werewolf: the apocalypse" book in order to use this one to it's fullest ability. Mokole is a book about and how to play a were-alligator, were-crocodile, were-moniter lizards, were-gila monsters, were-caiman, and most importantly... they are all were-dragons! The mokole gives you mnesis, an ability to remember back to the time of the dinosaur kings. If you want to look like a big lizard, godzilla, dinosaur, sea serpent, fire breathing dragon, or oriental dragon.. then this is a book for you. The werewolves are the warriors of gaia, the mokole are her memory.

Out of all the kin books for the Wherewolf The Apocalypse game i like this one the most. It gave the much needed variety in the game and allowed for a great game. Allowing characters with these new and interesting powers is great fun, and by adding new sources and titles to your WW library you can laugh and have more fun with your friends that you play with.
I suggest this book to everyone and hope you take my word on it.
great great fun.

This book is everything you need to play the Mokole, were-reptiles who remember (and embody) Gaia's past, the days of the Dragon Kings (dinosaurs). As naturally, the book opens with a comic adventure telling of the Garou Peter Ward's quest to Australia to meet with the Mokole themselves and learn of his heritage. The book then gives the typical introduction, lexicon of terms and an explanation of what it is to embody the dragons, dinosaurs and sea serpents of the past through your Rage. From there it goes on to a great history, telling of the Mokole's creation and the reptilian civilizations of prehistoric times. The Mokole can even remember previous Apocalypses (like the one that destroyed the dinosaurs) and fully expect to live through this one. Details on the Wars of Rage and the War of Shame are given, along with lost Fera (were-bulls, boars and bats) known only to the Mokole. In addition, brief mention is made of human times, like ancient Egypt, the Slave Trade and so forth ("western" history doesn't really matter, since most Mokole come from the tropics).

The next chapter covers the four Streams (tribes) of the Mokole: the Gumagan of Australia who share ties to the Dreamtime, the Makara priest-kings of India and neighboring lands, the primordial Mokole-Mbembe of Africa, the American Southeast and the Amazon and the scholarly Zhong Lung of East Asia's Hengeyokai. Specifics are given for each (like how the Gumagan have strong ties to the Umbra, differences in Mnesis and how the Zhong Long and Makara follow different auspices). Views on other Fera, vampires and even stranger factions (like mummies, voodooists, tribal shaman and Egyptian magi) are given, along with details on names and Duties (the Mokole Litany). The next chapter gives the crunchy bits, covering the Mokole solar auspices, new Traits, forms (not all are crocodiles or alligators; gila monsters, Komodo dragons and gharials are also represented) and Crinos traits (their Crinos form consists of various traits borrowed from other reptiles, like horns, armor, wings, frills, venom and so forth). Details on Totems are also given, along with new Totems, Fetishes and Merits/Flaws. All of these fit right in, from the reptile Totems to Fetishes drawn from Aboriginal culture.

The next chapter covers Gifts for the Mokole, including general Gifts, solar/seasonal auspice Gifts and Stream Gifts, many of which are quite interesting. A number of useful (and uniquely Mokole) Rites are also presented. In the following chapter, we are given a look at useful information on Mokole breeding, Mnesis (their racial memory), the "Innocents" (ghosts of dead metis), camps and relationships with the Nagah (were-snakes). We also get the standard templates, like the Native Rights guerilla and the rainforest ethnobotanist, and NPCs, including Uncle Monday (a centuries old Florida Conjure Doctor), Sister Rae (who has True Faith in the sun), Morwangu (who was involved in the story in the book) and Braney (a Wyrm corrupted children's show host). The book closes out nicely with details on RL crocodilians, monitors and gila monsters, the hatred for vampires (particularly Setites), Mnesis spirits, the Dragon Kings, prehistoric birds and marsupials that once served as Mokole kin, and stories set in the final days or the War of Rage.

The end also includes the typical template for creating and running Mokole characters. This can be used just as easily for western Mokole as it can for the eastern Makara/Zhong Lung (who follow slightly different creation rules). Needless to say, this book blew me away. The Mokole are probably my favorite Fera, and this book is invaluable for playing them. I also appreciated the strong focus on Australian Aboriginal culture which permeates much of this book. All in all, I think this book is quite useful for any Mokole Chronicles (and quite a head ache for those who want to try and figure out the World of Darkness's "cosmology").

This is a great book. It helps to portray the true peril that the changing breeds are in and it also shows what those who truly desire to restore the balance, not just destroy the wyrm (dissolver) are capable of. This book has enthralled me since I bought it and now I really want to get an all Mokole game off the ground (too bad that my compadres insist on involving Bastet, Changeling, and Vamps :P). If you're considering buying it to this point, DO!

This is the book ALL entreprenuers need. If you're starting your own business, get your hands on this detailed and helpful book! Cliff and Miles know their stuff, and let you understand what and what NOT to do when starting a business. A truly great book.

MoneyHunt

According to the subtitle, the authors provide "27 New Rules for Creating and Growing a Breakaway Business." How "new" these rules are is subject to honest disagreement but all are sound and can be of great value to anyone who is either preparing to launch a new company or who has launched one which is now experiencing serious problems. Either way, I rate this book highly. It is well-written. The material is anchored in a wealth of real-world experience. For each reader, some rules are probably more relevant than are others...at least today. However, having had extensive recent experience with several start-ups, I can attest that each of the 27 will become relevant at one time or another. I also think this book can be of substantial value to senior-level executives of so-called "mature" companies. Why? Because every company needs what I call a semi-annual or quarterly (if not monthly) "gut check" -- or "reality check" -- which challenges all basic assumptions and premises concerning its vision, mission, priorities, allocation of resources, positioning, core competencies, customer relationships, competition, etc.

The authors devote a separate chapter to each of the "Rules", with the 27 chapters organized within seven Parts:

Part One: Do You Have What It Takes?

Part Two: The Right Idea at the Right Time

Part Three: Markets and Competition

Part Four: People

Part Five: Show Me the Money!

Part Six: The Legal Side of Business

Part Seven: Getting Out -- and Moving On

The book concludes with five Appendices: The MoneyHunt Story, Business Plan Template, Online Audition for MoneyHunt, Legal Dos and Don'ts of Raising Capital, and Demystifying the Business Organization. Although all of the material provided is solid and well-presented, I was especially interested in Appendix A which explains the origin and development of a television program on which entrepreneurs (hunting for money, of course) appear.

Who will derive the greatest benefit from this book? As previously suggested, those who are merely thinking about launching a new company; also those who are preparing to launch a new company; also those who have launched a company now encountering serious problems; also those in a well-established company which may be losing its competitive edge. Here's another category of reader which I also want to include: Those involved in a large organization who must compete aggressively each day for a share of that organization's resources. For them, effective application of the 27 "Rules" will of course require strategies and tactics which are substantially different from those required when "creating and growing" a new enterprise.

The hunt for money never ends because the need for money never ends. Unless you have everything required to achieve your specific objectives, read and then re-read the book. If and when circumstances tempt you to think that you can relax a bit, read it again.

In the typical Moneyhunt "pull no punches" style, the is a candid look at mistakes made in small businesses...and how to avoid them. I especially liked the chapter "During a Gold Rush, Sell Shovels." Wish I'd read this when I started by biz...I'd be a lot richer AND have more hair!

In the process of building my company, I came across this amazing book. Like a map on the business highway, it showed me which roads to travel down, and which to steer clear of. I recommend this book to anyone who has, or is thinking about starting a business.

I went to Crown looking for The New New Thing but bought this book instead. After reading the first rule, I knew I have to buy it but couldn't wait to order from Amazon. Rushed to my car and finished the whole book. The rule on ruthless validates a few plans I had in mind....I never watched the show but extremely grateful that the two gentlemen wrote this book. I know I can never find a great business book like this written in any other language, not in this century.

murder & Sullivan

Enjoy the author so try to read all written.

Delivery good.

Hope to buy again as I have been using Amazon for a long time.

Joan Spencer is walking through the park on her way home from work when a tornado hits. She spots a small girl crying and runs to rescue her. They both survive and Joan receives much gratitude from the girls family. The father of the little girl is Judge David Putnam and is acting in a musical while Joan is playing her viola in the Symphony. Judge Putnam is murdered on stage the 1st night of the performance. Joan and her policeman fiancee Fred are on the hunt for the culprit. Another great cast of characters and what can go on in a small Indiana town where you least expect it. Enjoy!

Sara Hoskinson Frommer has taken all the best elements of a murder mystery. She gets you caring about the characters and wanting to find the killer, and when you find out whodunit, you say to yourself, "Of course, I should have seen that." I loved the Gilbert & Sullivan references at the beginning of each chapter, and what an ingenious, Gilbertian plot twist to murder a "ghost." The only problem is that I am a Gilbert & Sullivan performer, and I'm going to be afraid if I ever get cast in the role of Sir Roderic Murgatroyd.

Murder & Sullivan is another gem from Sara H. Frommer, a writer who understands music and real people. I'm not a professional book reviewer by any means, but I know what's good when I read it. I've read other books by this author and all of them are I think, wonderful.

Perhaps the best of the Joan Spenser mysteries, Murder and Sullivan is soooo much fun! The main character is this ordinary music-loving lady, Joan, and she's always up to her neck in danger! I love all of Sara Hoskinson Frommer's books. They're fabulous reads if you like mysteries. A writer friend of mine says she thinks Frommer is the best mystery writer out there today..and she might be right, too.

A book like this does not come along too often - a self-help book that is really helpful! Along the way the authors share something of their own lives with the reader. This comes across as authentic, and helps communicate their ideas. They have profound insights into the complex web of emotions, and how these emotions effect our lives. They give practical methods for making use of their ideas. They express their thoughts so clearly, and in such a caring way, that I can only hope that they are writing another book right now!

This is an amazing and powerful book! With unique insight into the depths of the human soul, June and Jim lead the reader on a necessary self-evaluation resulting in a much happier everyday life. The candid and honest thoughts and life lessons, many times based on their own experiences, speak on different levels to each reader. They subtly teach you how to recognize your feelings, acknowledge the cause, and relish the depth you find. They have helped me identify and accept negative emotions as natural, helping me find greater happiness. I successfully apply their techniques every day to experience the essence of each moment. This is not only a fantastic book to read, but a perfect gift for friends in need of heartfelt advice!

This beautifully written work of truth is a must for the person desiring happiness and clarity of mind and spirit. It truly is a remarkable way of looking at one's emotions and understanding the complexity of our feelings. The authors share their knowledge and insights into the human condition and offer the reader the keys to transformation and change. Thank you for an incredible journey through growth and into freedom!

In our work as physicians we often find that physical illness is associated with mental, emotional, and spiritual blocks. We also find that removing these blocks can be the key to recovery.

No Bad Feelings! provides effective and entertaining methods to help people move beyond these blocks. We have adopted No Bad Feelings! as a core textbook for our Foundations of Health lectures on natural health and healing.

We find that the book is especially effective for helping people with:
- Relationship issues
- Chronic illness
- Addictions
- Depression
- Anxiety

We are thankful to June and Jim Spencer for providing this wonderful and fun resource.

This is a terrific book. Its easy to read and really made me think. I feel a lot better after reading it. Thank you to the authors.

I purchased this book because it was listed as a favorite by a rheumatologist who wrote an article on "painfree life". I would not be without this book and use it several times a week. I didn't know there were so many delicious and very simple ways to cook fish, shrimp, muscles, and other seafood. I give this book my highest recommendation. Try it, you will love it!

Pike Place Market is one of my favorite places to visit. I was excited to get the cookbook and the recipes do sound yummy. However, they also require a lot of work & ingredients that I don't have time to shop for. Maybe someday when I have a lot of time on my hands....

The Pike Place Market is a destination point for anyone visiting Seattle. The market is a vibrant maze of fish stalls, vegetable vendors, meat purveyors, etc. To local foodies, the market is shopping central, especially for seafood. Tourists love the sense of history, plus the entertaining fishmongers singing and acrobatically tossing whole fish across the counter.

Braiden Rex-Johnson, an expert on the Pike Place Market, captures the essense of the market in this gift-size cookbook. The stunning photographs bring alive the color and commotion of the market, and the exceptional recipes reflect the diversity of Northwest cuisine. Don't miss trying the recipe for Baked Whole Salmon with Vietnamese Dipping Sauce. I made it for a dinner party and it was a dramatic presentation. The Fried Oyster Caesar Salad was another winner, along with the Shellfish Risotto. I'm looking forward to trying many more, whether I'm cooking for the family or entertaining friends.

Having been to Pike Place Public Market and a huge fan of Pacific Northwest seafood, this was a no-brainer. The recipes are organized in sections. The first describes a history of the market. The next section is about fin fish, then shell fish, and then the odd kettle section talks about tuna, squid, and seafood combination dishes, to name a few. The recipes are easy to follow and the results are worth the effort and turn out extremely well. I bought this book along with Ray's Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest and Pure Flavor: 125 Fresh All-American Recipes from the Pacific Northwest. So when all three arrived, I was in my glory--three Pacific Northwest cookbooks to complement my Wildwood Wildwood: Cooking from the Source in the Pacific Northwest cookbook. I did a tasting and made seven of the recipes the weekend after receiving the books. Everything was great, and I felt like I was in the Pacific Northwest again -- not in Jersey...well...

I was given this book as a gift and I'm delighted with it. It's sized smaller, like a gift book--so portable and easy to use. I appreciate Rex-Johnson's introduction that focuses and guides consumers on ocean and fish sustainability. This is befitting any bonafide cook from the Northwest (or anywhere!). Besides great recipes, she includes a helpful Appendix of techniques, everything from making bread crumbs to a chiffonade. The book seems basic enough, and sophisticated enough, for a broad range of cooking skills. And the photos and presentation are beautiful, interwoven with historial trivia related to fishing. There's a lot in this little gem.

Poetry Still Around After All!

It's been too long since a book of poetry has been something worthy of attention.

It had seemed the poetic world was forgotten, buried with Whitman and Dickinson. However, Spencer Michael Farmans' "Statues and Trees" dares to remind readers that poetry is here to stay.

Each poem (there are over 50) in "Statues and Trees is different from each other, not following just one poetical style, but encompassing a variety of them. Farmans' works in this book are brief, lacking dense, confusing verses, making "Statues" a quick read and very understandable. But while it may be asy to finish this book quickly, the content is definitely worth taking the time to appreciate. It's evident by reading these short, thoughtful poems that the poet writes with incredible care and attention to detail.
Farmans writes about various topics ranging from love and personal reflection to life and death. All are based on his own experiences, so it's as if each poem is a memory.
A standout poem among many is "Yesterday's Dreams" where the speaker laments his past goals and desires and is stuck in life's routine. Farmans writes, "rarely do I dream for free/or for more than life allows."
This book gives the reader some seasoned advice, entertainment, and hope for the years to come.
While poetry might not be everyone's literary preference, I'm still sure one can connect to "Statues" in one way or another. In fact, I defy anyone to read Farmans' composition of poems and not be able to relate to it.
"Statues and Trees" is the second book published by Spencer Michael Farmans, a Moraine Valley professor in literature and writing. He dedicates it to his wife, Janet-Marie. "Statues and Trees" can be found in the Moraine Valley bookstore. (Meha Ahmad, Entertainment Editor of "The Glacier Newspaper")

"I know what the subject of a poem can address, which is anything."
-Spencer Michael Farmans, Statues and Trees (Introduction)

Spencer Farmans is a dreamer's poet. His poems reflect the reality all dreamers wish was their own -- one where time is frozen and there is nothing else but the moment to live in. Statues and Trees, a collection of over thirty years of Farmans' poetry, is a reminder that while good writers write what they know, the best know how to write about it. From young, unrequited love to an unexpected trip to a bordello, Farmans has found the words to make his world a beautiful place for all to roam.

Each poem in Statues and Trees is accompanied by the year in which it was written, although (to this reader's pleasant surprise) they are not arranged chronologically. And while Farmans states in the introduction to the book that he has 'even less knowledge' of 'what a poem should be' than he did thirty years ago, it is evident that he has fine-tuned his observations and gained great wisdom throughout the years. I leave you with "Night and Day," written in 2006, as an example of the intimacy and insight evident in so many of his poems:

"Night and Day"
The night is darker than the white
of the moon's lunacy tonight.
What is that there? Is that the light
from my phosphorescent fight?

Perhaps my face is burning rays?
How curious if it be,
the sunrise of our yesterdays
within the soul of me?

This is truly a refreshing new book of poetry that spans almost thirty years of living and writing, from an author and teacher out of the Mid-West. The poems cover a range from intellectual observation to very personal emotional reflection based on a wide variety of life experiences. One of my particular favorites is Night Flight--which centers on the lamented lost passions of a now sterile soul.

A very fresh set of writings enhanced by the author's own unique and very personal style. His verse is modern and crisp, and reads smoothly within each particular poem. A book I would highly recommend!

Farmans establishes his poetic voice and creates a wonderful world of imagery and depth. It is rare to find a poet who can breathe life into his characters and his settings, and Farmans accomplishes both of these feats. His sense of realism, when mixed with a very natural meter and a strong pathos, makes the words jump off the page and paints an original work of art.

With "Statues and Trees" Spencer Farmans embarks on a wonderful collection of poetry, which is a testament to some thirty years of artistic exploration and creative force. In it, he achieves a synthesis of intellectual ideas and deep humanity through lyrical expression. The collection is broad, revealing Farmans' evolution as a poet. It includes poems from his early youth, such as "The Lover's Tree" written in 1975 with an emotive language and a Romantic flair, to his most recent poetic compositions such as "Christ of St. John of the Cross": a poem that probes into the depths of Dali's spiritually charged, intriguing artistic composition, and renders a layered poetic reading of the painting.

The subjects of his poems are drawn from a broad spectrum of living experiences: they tell stories; they paint pictures of unique moments in time; they convey intellectually intriguing ideas; and they unveil powerfully emotional states. Words and ideas are carefully calibrated to provide a rhythmical motion enhancing the visual imagery of the poems. A great example is "The Magician" in which great rhyme combined with colorful language offers a masterful, exhaustive description of the intricacies of magic on stage. Other poems have very little rhyme, yet tell a story as does "The Blanket", one of the most lyrical poems of the book, in which the melancholy of aging and loneliness, and the yearning for the past beautifully intertwine with playful images of an unspoiled nature. Farmans' lyrical voice also explores real life experiences with magic, as in "China Girl". In this long and unusual poem, he carefully molds his insightful observations into a deftly controlled verse which is permeated by a deep understanding for the human condition. Lastly, poems such as "Only Inquisition on an Evening Beach" and "Aphrodite" encapsulate Farmans' unique ability to create a modern verse balancing the personal and the universal. "Statues and Trees" is a wonderful book of poems of a promising poetic voice.