Services Books

This book presents a solid foundation for what IBM is calling "Services Science" and SAP "Business Process Platforms."

The basic argument is that if you are thinking "outside-in" about creating a customer-centric business then you need to think about services. Customers buy services.

Making the linkage between services that customers (or employees) use and the business processes that companies actually automate using enterprise applications is the fundamental contribution of this book. The authors use numerous case studies to illustrate how services-centric business go about architecting their blueprints.

Highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in understand the architecture of a services driven business.

Despite contrived terminology, such as "digitization", this book truly lives up to its title because the authors provide both a blueprint for services in today's economy, and a roadmap for making it happen. The authors stay focused on business instead of technology. More importantly, they show how to shed outmoded thinking about business processes and supporting systems, and highlights how you should be viewing the marriage of services and processes to be successful.

The essence of this book is in the authors' equation, Services Blueprint = Focal Point + Services + Processes + Applications. The ten core focal points given in this book clarify one or more critical success factors to any business, and the clear advice for executing to achieve objectives associated with focal points is invaluable.

I like the way the authors distill a set of complex, interrelated elements into a coherent approach. For example, they breakdown service blueprints into types (three major ones); provide execution methods that aligned to organizational goals, and reinforce these using case studies from well known corporations. In addition, the discussions of processes, application integration, and how to tie everything together into a coherent view and execution strategy is among the most realistic and clearly articulated I've come across. I also like the way the authors support Six Sigma in the design and implementation of processes. If you are not familiar with Six Sigma, the clear and succinct treatment in the book will provide everything you need to know to understand its value. Of course, it will not teach the associated techniques to the point where you can effectively apply them.

Overall, this book is cuts to the key issues and challenges to align a business to today's economy. The approach is not only sensible and realistic, but the only one I've come across that 'gets it'.

The authors have done a fantastic job of illustrating how to design and implement digital business processes in the post dot-com era. This is one of the first books that truly gets into the concept of multi-channel business process design.

The most useful part of this book was how it ties together the online digitial business strategy, composite business processes, and the emerging business process management platforms/systems areas. The book uses the concept of services to link the strategy side to the process side. This is emerging strategy being followed by SAP, Siebel, Peoplesoft, Oracle, IBM, HP and even Microsoft.

The other good aspect of this book are the variety of best-practice case studies that truly illustrate what business problems, web services and services oriented architecture is meant to support. The case studies on J.C. Penney, Eastman Chemical, Nike, Wal-Mart, GM, McDonalds, New York Times Digital, Georgia Pacific, IBM were quite interesting.

The audience for this book is defintely marketing, operations and IT managers who are trying to figure out what to do with their organization's different first generation portals. Most of the customer facing, employee facing and supplier facing portals built during the dot-com boom are out-dated and need to be completely overhauled. For those who are facing this problem, this book will be very useful.

Highly recommend this book. It is thought provoking and insightful.

I bought this book after reading the Darwin Magazine excerpt and having the read the authors previous best seller "e-business: raodmap for sucess". This book is really very insightful about the changes talking place in the e-business and business process management space. The book is a very clear exposition about what is being termed BPMS.

Design of an process integration framework....The book is a must read if you are a consultant who is following some of the latest moves by SAP, Siebel, Oracle, Peoplesoft and others like Tibco. The book ties together rather nicely the business objectives with business processes and enterprise apps.

Design of self-service apps... The authors take an outside in (customer or employee) perspective to the design of business processes. The authors argue that customers interact with services rather than processes. For instance, you go to Amazon.com because they are the best at digitizing the book selling service and making it easy to use.

Design of business process management... The ability to translate services into underlying business processes is the critical aspect of next generation self-service applications. The authors systematically illustrate the different types of BPM platforms that are emerging in SCM, CRM, PLM and Spend Management.

In sum, this book is worth reading for consultants, MBA students and others interested in knowing where e-business is headed. The authors have done a fantastic job of synthesizing the fragmented bodies of information and presenting a framework that ties everything together.

This was an interesting book to be sure. However, as I read the book, I felt like I'd read it before from the continued use of tired buzzwords such as "digitization." Enough on DIGITIZATION! I enjoyed the process templates provided by the authors, but they clearly do not understand some of the foundational technology concepts they mentioned, such as Web Services and Services Oriented Architectures (SOA). The Authors equated application servers with SOA, which is at best a massive oversimplication, and at worst, innacurate. This led me to believe that the authors are buzzword compliant but do not really understand Web Services. Also, reducing the entire world to PORTALS as the ultimate killer app is also a massive oversimplication as well. Portals are mainstream technology now and to be honest not that exciting anymore. Everyone offers it or uses it one way or another.

So, this book started out with a good premise but didn't deliver in the end. The process templates are good baselines for process understanding for those unfamiliar with business processes. This is a nice try by the authors, but I felt a little bit shortchanged by the book...

This by far, was an amazing SIDS book. It's been almost a year since we lost Jacob to SIDS, and I still go back and re-read the book. It's so hard to find people that could relate to your SIDS loss, and this book is full of them. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book.

I've been through this loss. Chances are, if you're searching for this book, you have just experienced your own loss. READ this book.

If you have lost a child to sids then you must get this. It was recommended to me and it has been a valuable tool. It is fully of case studies, answers to questions you wont have thought of and usefull information on how to try and get through this.

Horchler and Rice give comfort, encouragement, and insight to the issues that surround Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Infant Death. Families who have suffered the devastating loss of a baby will find many questions they may have answered among the pages. The topics covered bring a sense of normalcy and healing to the bereaved as the authors guide the reader down the path of surviving their loss and again finding joy in living.

The SIDS Survival Guide was my beacon of light during the darkest part of my life. My son, Dominic, passed away from SIDS on April 10, 2001, at only 4 1/2 months young. I began to reach out and search for all the information I could find on SIDS, drinking it all in by the bucket. A few months after he died, I found "The SIDS Survival Guide", and am so incredibly thankful. There was so much information, so many stories so like my own. I shed many tears while reading it for the first time, and even now, when I go back to read sections, I still cry. I am now expecting our second child in June 2002, and am scared to death. But knowing that I am informed about SIDS is somewhat of a comfort to me; in a way, I am as prepared as I can ever be. I would recommend this book to anyone expecting a child, who has a young baby, or knows someone who is or does.

My husband and I lost our son to SIDS in September of 2000. Our souls have been torn. The grieving process over his death has been draining. I recall little over the past 4+ months since his death. The one thing I do recall is thinking I was going crazy. I had wished their was another SIDS survivor I could speak with. Someone who could possibly relate to what my husband and I were going through. Someone who could understand our emotions. I searched under the keyword SIDS and found this book. I have not read the book in its entirety. I have read the sections I have needed at the particular times in my grieving. This book has helped me confirm that I am not going crazy. What I am feeling, though very personal, is normal. I feel this book is a neccesity for any parent who has to suffer this terrible tragedy. I have placed an order of these books in my babies memory to send to my state SIDS Coordinator in hopes that other parents may find comfort in its contents. Thank you Joani and Robin.

This book makes a teacher out of every one who reads it. Whether you are a parent, guardian, relative, teacher of a child with special needs, this book will give you the tools to teach essential skills and enable you to use them effectively.
This book was recommended to me and I recommend it to every else.

This book is a must have for parents struggling with training there children independence skills. It ofter so many easy to do exercise to get your little or big one independence. My 3 year old is finally bushing his teeth, because this book showed easy to do steps to get him going. I highly recommend this book to any parent struggling with training there children independence. It offers easy steps by step solutions in teaching your child what you have been trying to teach them for months . Try it, its a great training tool for independence.

No parent OR special education teacher should be without this book! Easy to read, and the content is excellent! Step-by-step approaches to teaching everyday skills to children with special needs, but would be just as valuable to ANY parent! After reading this book, I have found it easier to establish goals for my students and everyone is using the same approach to teaching everyday living skills (play, toileting, self-help, PLUS behavior management)! It is working fabulous! The students are learning more with less frustration! A must-have for your resource library!

The book is formatted very well. It has helped me approach my child in a new manner with excellent results. Some of the tasks we take for granted are broken into smaller steps that can be overlooked. This book helps you identify missing steps and provides multiple methods of application. It isn't a "one size fits all" approach. It gives good ideas for praise and correction if consistently followed.

The page layouts are easy to read and the cartoons are cute. Everything addressed in this book has samples to serve as a guide for you. The appendices has more ideas for aiding with independence. Overall, the application of this book, used in a routine, is great for any age and any skill level.

I've been looking for a book like this for quite some time. Here's what it covers:
Chapter 1: Setting Out
Chapter 2: Targeting a Skill
Chapter 3: Establishing Steps
Chapter 4: Picking Rewards
Chapter 5: Setting the Stage
Chapter 6: Teaching
Chapter 7: Observing Progress and Troubleshooting
Chapter 8: Get Ready Skills
Chapter 9: Self-Help Skills
Chapter 10: Toilet Training
Chapter 11: Play Skills
Chapter 12: Independent Living: Self-Care Skills
Chapter 13: Independent Living: Home-Care Skills
Chapter 14: Independent Living: Information Skills
Chapter 15: Plugging into the Personal Computer Revolution
Chapter 16: Behavior Problems
Chapter 17: Initiating a Behavior Management Program
Appendix A: Get Ready Skills
Appendix B: Self-Help Skills Inventory
Appendix C: Self-Help Skills Programs
Appendix D: Play Skills Programs
Appendix E: Information Skills Programs
Index

This is a great book. Very witty and the pictures are fab. My 18 mo old daughter and I love to read it together, we never tire of it!!

I can't recommend this book enough. It is, without a doubt one of the best books for children that I've ever come across. My kids love it, and so do I. The story is cute, the artwork is great and the verse is written in rhyme. Rhyming books can be difficult to write. The words have to be appropriate and make sense without bogging down the plot and characters. This book is almost genius.

The clever rhymes make this story a true delight to read. My 4 year old daughter loved reading this story multiple times.

This book is so cute ! I am a librarian and use it as a read aloud at our tea party every year! I just love it

Bill is not your average bull, for instead of being rough and tumble, Bill is a sensitive soul who has a marvelous collection of china cups. However, Bill doesn't do well when he's around fragile items, so when he begins browsing antique and china shops, searching for one more perfect cup, he is plagued by one very big problem: getting in the front door. For most china shops don't allow bulls entry. But then Bill comes across a china shop that permits entry to bulls, and suddenly all bets are off.

BILL IN A CHINA SHOP is an adorable new children's book that will be loved by the whole family. Bill is a cute character, who is plagued by prejudice just because of his size. However, his wonderful outlook on life, and the people and things surrounding him is admirable, and will teach children that they should be happy in their own skin, whether big or small, black or white. A wonderful addition to the children's picture book genre!

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

After reading "Don't Ever Tell"-Kathy's Story by Kathy O'Beirne and "The God Squad" by Paddy Doyle, I felt the need to inform myself further on the subject of absolute corruption and power in the Industrial Schools in Ireland. "Suffer the Little Children" gave me all the information, and more, on the shocking, shameful, collective sadism practiced in Industrial Schools, orphanages, convents and reformatory schools where different religious orders carried out dehumanising brutality and savagery on innocent little children who were placed in the institutions either through the Courts or the parents themselves to be looked after by the religious and to receive an education.
This book gives us the history of such institutions in the UK and Eire but concentrates on the Irish scene where they continued to exist up to the 1970's. It is well written and a most revealing exposé of a very dark, sick side of Irish history. It also includes personal testimonies which make the book even more gripping as they exemplify and confirm vividly the revelations of such an appaling system.
It also discloses the indifference and conspiracy of silence on an official level which brings to mind Molière's words "It's not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable". And for bad history not to repeat itself, we must keep informed. This book is a must read.

Ever since the movie .."The Magdalene Sisters" and Frank McCourt's book..."Angela's Ashes", Plus the fact that I am a quarter Irish and love Ireland and her people, I find I want to know more and more about her people and the TRUTH of how they have suffered yet have remained strong and vital and are proud and have given much to our world today!(England should be ashamed of what they have done for far too long, too!)
This book tells an awful story about the horrors of little children treated so badly for years and years. I know sadly that these wrongs can never really be righted for these victims or the words, "I am sorry" will erase the pain in their hearts, but I do hope eyes are open now and this cannot happen ever again to anyone....especially to children...no matter what country they come from and no matter what their color or race. Bless the children and keep them safe!! God bless Ireland...
Linda Steffey

This book is one of true meaning an excellent written book, which show's the through Ireland. This books explains the mentality of the religious and states minds. Truly deeply sad book but very much worth the read. This book is excellent in the sense of giving true awareness to the Irish state.
Highly recommended.

This book presents a portrait of 20th century Ireland that will debunk any nostalgic or sentimental view of the so called 'Emerald Isle'. No shamrocks and leprecauns in this book, but a history of cruelty, abuse and power. It tells the story of how Irish children were incarcerated in huge numbers throughout the 19th and 20th centuries in reformatory and industrial schools which were managed by the Catholic Church. Based on detailed historical research and interspersed with gut-wrenching first hand accounts of survivors of these institutions, it shows how an alliance between a power hungry Catholic Church and an indifferent Irish State resulted in the incarceration of the children of the poor. Rather than helping poor families, Church and State removed these children to bleak institutions where large numbers were sexually and physically abused and tortured by their Christian carers. I don't think that I will ever think about the Catholic Church and Ireland in the same way ever again. Anger, saddness, frustration, disbelief, but above all anger - why did this happen? I experienced all these emotions when reading this book. If you want to really understand Irish society, this book is essential and harrowing reading.

This book is comprehensive and deeply moving. I could not put it down. I was disgusted and angry by the end of it. I am ashamed to be Irish and ashamed to be Catholic. How this could have gone on for so long with no help for these children is beyond words. If there is a hell, then open arms to all those sick and sadistic Brothers and Nuns, all of whom were operating in the name of God....! How dare they call themselves charitable and merciful. They are some of the most vile human beings in existence. Between that and the sex scandal in America, the Catholic Church owes many people an apology and some sort of restitution. For shame the Church still chooses to cover up it's misuse of power. If the Nuns and Priests and Brothers were not so sexually frustrated, maybe they wouldn't be so evil. Sorry to vent so strongly. After reading this book, you will feel the same way. Also read Do Penance or Perish, but not as good as this book. Thank you.

From the Presidential Suite to the mailroom, and all the levels in between, the customer service aptitude of employees can make or break the success of a business. In his book, Superior Customer Service, Blacharski provides a fresh primer to reinforce the power that customer services has in the compettive world of business. Old conventional widom is shined up with new and fresh perspectives that make the informational, accessible and practical information provided a MUST for every employee. It is my opinion that this is the perfect text to build a customer service in-house training program around. Alternatively, it should be distributed as required reading at new employee orientation with the name badges and insurance information. It really is that good.

So you have a business, and you have customers; what now? "Superior Customer Service" is a one-stop-shop for all of your customer service needs.

Blacharski provides business owners with a fool-proof guide to keeping customers happy and business booming. With easy to read large type and bulleted checklists, finding the solution you need to any customer service issue could not be easier.

I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to run a successful business. In fact, buy this book for your employees and keep the "Ten Commandments for Employers/Employees" on hand too keep things running smoothly.

I bought this book because I wanted to increase my conversion ratios. I wanted to know how to generate business and keep my costumers coming back. There are tried and true tricks for building consumer loyalty, and many of them are revealed in Blacharski's manual.

If you're a follower of the author's, you'll really appreciate this book. It's past-paced and, like it says, a ready-made step-by-step costumer service training manual. His "Ten Commandments for Managers" and then "...Employees" are great checklists/tools.

Blacharski also covers ethical ways to effectively collect client information and outsource. Superior Customer Service is also an entertaining read. There's a section that shows when to put on specific kinds of customer service "hats." My favorite description is of "The Spelunker's Helmet." It makes perfect sense. So does explanation of "The Mind Reader's Turban."

With so many stores retail and online selling the same products at nearly the same prices, what makes consumers decide to shop at one place over another? SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE is the answer - and a book that tells both brick n mortar and online stores how to win over the competition. Chapters detail innovations, tips and tricks which are easy to implement and that drive customer attention and interest.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Author Dan Blacharski has done it well. He's written a book about one facet of business that has not been dealt with much recently, despite its critical importance to business success. Blacharski discusses all aspects of customer service for both web-based and conventional businesses, and he defines guidelines for establishing a business whose employees have the "customer service mindset" that, undoubtedly, leads to increased sales and profitability.

This book is chock full of advice and specific steps and procedures to follow to create a customer service-oriented environment that will set a business apart from the competition. It is an excellent treatment of the subject and will be invaluable to business owners, customer service managers and personnel, and sales personnel.

When you pick up this book, jump right to "The Ten Commandments of Customer Service for Managers" and "The Ten Commandments of Customer Service for Employees" (pages 252-254), read them, and then start at the beginning.

This is an absolutely unforgettable book because of Francisco's honesty and openess, as well as the clarity and beauty of her writing. I read this book a year ago, and have read many books since then, but the author's story of perserverance has stayed with me.

As difficult as it was for me to read this book, due to it's similarity to my experience, I found it to be so extremely compelling--I couldn't put it down! Ms.Francisco has an incredible command of the English language and was able to communicate in painful detail, her inner-most thoughts and feelings, before, during and after the rape. As I read this book, I went through and highlighted many many many passages that I felt pertained directly to me.....so that my husband could read it and gain better insight into what I was and still am thinking. This is a wonderful, amazing book, that both rape survivors and non-rape survivors can benefit from.

What courage to share this experience for the benefit of many. As more women share the experience of rape and the devastating affects on the lives of the victims the more we can do to help. Another great story is Ultimate Power Enemy Within the Ranks by a woman officer in the Army. Both are telling and offer hope for the many victims who need help.

This was truly a great book. I could identify so well with all that was said. I had all the members of my family read it and have recommended it to many because it is of such high quality.

This was the 1st book I read on my road to recovery 35 years after having been a victim. It helped give me the courage, strength and hope to move forward toward on my own journey towards healing.

This book is simply amazing in providing what many books on the subject do not and cannot, because most writers do not have the depth and breadth of personal knowledge required. Bambi Vincent & Bob Arno have done an extraordinary amount of research, covering many countries over many years. The wealth of details gives the reader what are possibly the best weapons against the many cons covered in this extensive advisory - education and awareness.

I needed something to help me really understand what I might be up against, and Bambi Vincent and Bob Arno's work has it in spades. The book is well written, well documented (including photos of crimes in progress), entertaining, and above all, educational. The amount of background work they have done to prepare this book is remarkable; the research is all-original, leather-on-pavement, with a very ballsy personal commitment. It was done not for a few months like most well-researched books, but over decades.

This book covers details of many varieties of con that are only hinted at in other work on this subject, evidently because the authors have spent many years researching, walking, talking to con men and their victims, and living on the road while looking for cons to record - in print, on film and in videos. It is possibly the definitive work on this type of crime, although I would be hard put to say precisely what that covers. There are many categories involved and the word 'con' is about as good as I can do to describe them. Preparing me to meet them effectively, mostly through awareness and continuous vigilance, is the job the authors have taken upon themselves. After reading this book, I think I am as ready as I can be.

Perhaps if I spent years learning and practicing the techniques myself, as Bob Arno has done for his work as an entertainer, I could do better. But getting this much information into an easy-reading book is by itself a major accomplishment, and Bambi Vincent deserves great credit as the primary author. Very strongly recommended for anyone who travels, whether it's to a foreign country or the other side of their own city.

I will make one suggestion. I would like to see this couple develop and market punitive pocket/purse devices for travelers. Perhaps a wallet that when opened sprays a permanent dye, or potent, disgusting, long-lasting odor spray. Perhaps leather that contains deadly tetrodotoxin, poison arrow frog poison, or at a minimum a pocket mousetrap (possibly with an upgrade to amputate an uninvited fingertip, with further option to deposit infective bacteria)--something cruel to ruin the thieves' holiday much as they ruin those of their victims. Sort of a miniature Charles-Bronson-in-a-Pocket.

Six stars out of five.

After reading some brief articles online, I was wondering how a whole book could be made out of the subject without getting really dry. This book managed that. Lots of ideas (to watch out for!) and very interesting reading. I'll definitely be more prepared and already used some ideas on my recent four trips.

Each chapter of this book, standing alone, would be worth the price of the book. The photographs, alone, would be worth the price of the book. Where else could you find so many photographs of pickpockets and street scam artists in action?

Do not let the word "Travel" in the title fool you. This is a must-read for anyone who goes out in crowds, even in their own home town. Pickpockets work at sporting events, concerts, shopping centers or anywhere they can blend in anonymously with the crowd. Help put pickpockets, hotel thieves and street scam artists out of business. Buy this book.

As an RPCV who has lived for 2 years in a third world country, I thought I'd seen it all until I read this book. The information the authors share can make any American's vacation abroad safer and more interesting.
The last chapter on IDENTITY THEFT (it's not money you should worry about losing--it's your credit cards!) alone is worth the price of this book. Identity theft is growing at an alarming rate in America. Even if you never plan to travel abroad, we all need this information to protect ourselves at home.
Carolyn Proctor

Most of the time, especially when traveling, paranoia is good!

I have traveled extensively internationally for the last 15 years and consider myself travel savvy. Recently, in Peru, I have been robbed of my passport, camera, credit card and ultimately, my peace of mind. This robbery happened in broad daylight, 100 yards from a policeman (in Peru the police are known for their collaboration with criminals and their corruption). If I would have read "Travel Advisory" before this trip, I am sure I would have been more vigilant, yes, more paranoid. Thus, I would have correctly thought, in a paranoid way: I am "fresh meat" among unseen predators.

Bob and Bambi masterfully lay out the world of professional cons, rip-off artists, and the pejorative and prolific street thief. In incident after incident they show the mind of you, the unsuspecting victim and more importantly, the mind of the thief. Read "Travel Advisory" and you will soon understand the techniques of thieves, their M.O. and why you, looking like a tourist, acting like a tourist, are like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming Peterbuilt.

Bob and Bambi tell you plainly, the criminals are out there in force, they are professional, very savvy and the police are at best inconsequential. After 9/11 the focus of the police has clearly changed. Very, very low on the police "to do" list is catching a purse-snatcher. Caveat: You are the only defense that you have.

Though the book is very good, it could be helpfully improved. There are no statistics. There are no lists, maps or charts that delineate the most dangerous tourist destinations. There is no appendix to help you with additional reading and/or web resources. There is no critical critique of 3rd world police (corruption, collaboration, complacency). Sadly, there is no mention of the punishment given to those thieves that Bob and Bambi tells us were apprehended. After being robbed, I want the satisfaction of hearing jail doors slamming.

There is not a traveler who could glean some beneficial tips from reading "Travel Advisory!"
It does us all well, prior to every trip, to remember the words of Stephen Still's song "For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield 1966) "Paranoia Strikes deep, into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid, you step out of line the [thief] man comes and takes you away." "Travel Advisory" excels at making you look over your shoulder, more than once. Read it. Strongly recommended. 4.5 stars.

I have been debating whether to go back to school for nursing for a while now and this book has really helped me. It gives the reader insightful knowledge into the world of nursing through the experience of actual nurses who have been there and understand what it is like. I had a feeling that nursing school would be hard but hearing the insights from actual students helps me channel the information and realize the focus that is necessary to really make it in this career. Over all I would reccommend this book to anyone considering going into this field. The insider information provided should really help you understand if this is for you or not.

This book is a true student companion. It's a powerful and wonderful book with a wealth of information that every nurse and prospective nursing student must have and read. It actually breaks everything down and makes applying to nursing school easy.
I will recommend this book for anyone who wants to be a nurse and all those who are already in the field.

This book is so informative and not a drag to read. It's helpful to nursing students of all levels; high schoolers thinking about nursing school, those in nursing school now and new graduates.

Dr. Chandler pulls it all together! As a practicing advanced practice nurse and educator, prospective students often ask what I need to do to gain entry into a nursing program. I no longer need to worry that I forgot to provide all the important details. Now, I refer them to this publication as it provides them with excellent advice and helpful hints. Moreover, they have a ready reference when they begin to pull information together for the application process and that all-important essay.

Dr. Chandler's book is a wonderful tool for prospective nursing students. With a wealth of information about the nursing profession, insider tips on the admissions process (including suggestions on how to make your application stand out!), and interesting anecdotes from nursing students and practicing nurses, it is a MUST read for anyone interested in nursing.

Nursing is a fascinating career that requires many competencies, and even though I have maintained an interest in the profession for some time now, I learned a great deal after reading this book. Dr. Chandler's examination of the nursing roles/functions provides a good synopsis of the skills and responsibilities required and utilized daily in the profession.

Personally, it has been difficult for me to relate my own skills and personal strengths directly to the profession because I lack work-related experience in the healthcare field. There is one entire chapter in the book dedicated to self-assessment, and as Dr. Chandler reveals, you must have a strong understanding of yourself in order to be an attractive, outstanding and successful nursing candidate.

Scoblete is a master story teller. This book is a must for anyone that enjoys humor and wit. I could hardly put it down! Can't wait for the next one from this great author.

As a frequent traveler to Tunica Mississippi, I found Scoblete's discription of his time there to be both halirious and informative. Once in a while you can have a bad or funny experience there, but he seems to have had them all in one trip. I think his was a trip I would have enjoyed, after we were back home, safe in Missouri.
His other events in his wild life are well told, and anyone with an intrest in teaching, or writing, or gambling, or in astral travel will enjoy this book, and I highly recomend it to all.

The personal anecdotes in Frank's gambling books make them come alive and set them apart from other gambling books. Readers get a sense of who the man is who wrote the books.

Now the Wizard throws the curtain wide open and readers get to know the stories that only friends and family have heard. I am fortunate to have known Frank for about 10 years now and have heard some of these stories. Now you can learn about the decline of Tunica, astral traveling, Frank's childhood and his other careers too.

In the section on his teaching career, Frank tells what I think might be his first advantage-play move. He formed a cross-country team out of mostly non-runners, some of whom would even stop for a smoke during a race. The kids got their varsity letters, he got the coaching stipend, and the school got a cross country team, albeit one that never won a match.

Wonderful Book

Frank Scoblete's "The Virgin Kiss" does what so many books can't do, it grabs you from the very first paragraph and doesn't let go until you finish the last sentence. If you are looking for belly laughs, sprinkled with first love, innocence, sexuality, and amazing adventures this book is impossible to put down. Scoblete has written a great book for us to truly enjoy.

What can I say that hasn't been said already?

This is a terrific book. You run the gamut when you read it. The book is surreal, humorous, outrageous, side-splitting, frightening, uproarious and thoroughly entertaining.

I just bought a whole bunch to send to my family and friends. I think anyone would find this book completely enjoyable.