What a masterful work by Dr. Miller! This book chronicles the incredible strength and perseverence of 16 women for whom the worst imaginable atrocities occurred. I recall Holocaust studies in college, and the stories of women were largely ignored. I applaud this effort to let their stories be heard and their message of strength to be passed on.

A tender, loving tribute to 16 women who survived Auschwitz! It shows the coping methods used by these wonderful ladies who survived and had the courage to share their stories with the world. We must remember what they say....so that nothing like this will ever, ever happen again! Even the picture on the cover is a moving statement with the colors and barbed wires which carries through at the beginning of each chapter. Dr. Miller has written a book that is a "must read" for all who have trouble coping.....what a lesson they can learn from this book!

As a person who loves words and frequently employs them to express my feelings, thoughts and emotions, I was deeply moved by the "voices" of these women. To say that this book is powerful is not strong enough. This book does more than record the testimonies of these 16 women regarding their experiences in concerntration camps---it serves as insight into the very nature of being a woman. This is the first time I have ever read about the Holocaust from a woman's perspective. Joy Miller was right in writing this book and in giving women a chance to be heard. To say that I "enjoyed" reading this books sounds flippant, but it is not the experiences of these women I enjoyed reading about (they were difficult to take)---but the women themselves---their courage, their strenghth and their creativity. Miller should be very proud of this contribution in keeping the message alive and in such a unique form. It is truly a work of art and a must read for anyone wishing to view a glimpse into the emotional strenghths of women.

This set of books was a part of my childhood, and instilled in me a love of reading that persists to this day. Our particular set was from 1960 and contained only eight of the twelve volumes, but I managed to obtain an entire collection and they are now part of my children's life, too. Each volume begins at a grade level---One being the easiest to Twelve being suitable for high-school level reading. There are selections from some of the finest writers, such as Jonathan Swift, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Rudyard Kipling, as well as fairy tales and folk legends from all around the world, both East and West. The illustrations are gorgeous and some of the monsters quite scary, but there is nothing extremely gruesome or inappropriate for young readers. From the simple and charming nursery rhymes of the first volume to the more mentally and emotionally challenging material contained in the last volume, these books take their reader on a marvelous journey through worlds both real and imaginary. This is a delightful way to open up a child's mind to reading. (For those who find the "Little Black Sambo" story offensive---though he was an Eastern Indian, not African---the versions of "My Book House" published after 1971 do not contain this folk tale from India.)

I think I'm a fairly unimaginative and unemotional person -- being a middle-aged engineer -- but when I surfed through a book site and saw a photograph of the books that make up Miller's "My Book House", uncontrollable tears rolled down my face.
It's not just that they were the most important books of my childhood -- although they were. From ages five to about twelve there wasn't a day I can remember when I wasn't curled up with one or more of them. With each book geared for a particular age, I started with my parents reading Volume 1, and then, puzzling through the longer words, I was off on my first great reading adventure.
But there's more to "My Book House" than individual nostalgia. Written in the thirties, the books exemplify the shortcomings of America of that time: White Christian male role models, Western culture supreme, and even (sigh) "Little Black Sambo". It's a one-sided view of life: nothing from the Harlem Renaissance, no Judy Blume, no TS Eliot.
Yet "My Book House" exemplifies the America of that time whose children's books took values seriously, instructed in virtue without being preachy, and always kept a sense of optimism. And if you want to re-capture that sense of optimism and simple virtue (for yourself, kids, or grandkids), get a set of the twelve "My Book House" volumes, and start reading them to your babies. You won't ever regret it, and neither will they.

As an adult, I can look back and see how artfully Olive Miller designed this set of books, leading from nursery rhymes in the first volume to tantalizing summaries of the most bewitching grown up classics in the last. I can appreciate her eclectic choice of illustrations, too (with Dore doing service for Dante near the end.) As a child, from kindergarten through middle school, I only knew that I could spend hours with these volumes every weekend, and always find something fresh and exciting there. And that I would be left thirsty for more - pointed beyond the Book House itself to Pyle and Stevenson, to Dickens and Thackeray and Shakespeare.

It's a pity and a wonder that after serving American kids over half a century of publication, this cornucopia of pleasure and enlightenment ever went out of print.

When I had my son, everything about my life changed. Debra Rosenberg's book helped me make sense of it all--my moods, my body, what to do about my work. All of a sudden, my relationships with some of my friends and my parents/in-laws were different. Reading The New Mom's Companion helped me understand and manage those changes. So much of what Rosenberg writes about is glossed over in other new mom's books. Reading The New Mom's Companion was a breath of fresh air and a great relief. I highly recommend it. A great baby shower present!

I have given this book to two different expectant mom's. Both new mom's have told me how wonderful a support this book has been in dealing with their own concerns about their own changes. They liked the way they could focus on specific concerns using the straight forward question and answer format.

A friend and I were looking for a gift for a first-time mother when we came upon The New Mom's Companion. As a mother and a psychiatrist, I know first and second hand how much a woman's life drastically changes when she has her first baby. This attractive book insightfully and sensitively touches on all of the many concerns I had when I first became a mother, from internal, identity issues to changes in my marriage and other relationships. The Question and Answer format is easy to use and allows a harried mom to focus right in on the issues coming up for her at that moment. The index takes her quickly to where she needs to go. Every new mom desperately needs the reassuring tone and easily found answers to her questions. This book helps a new mother feel confident, normalizes what feels abnormal, and helps her to know when her emotions or behaviors indicate that she needs professional help. (With all of the most welcome current media attention on post-partum depression and psychosis, this is particularly valuable.) I wish I'd had The New Mom's Companion when I was a first time mom, and it will be the book I give to every new mom I know.

What strikes me about the Rosy Crucifixion (and Nexus in particular) is that, even at its worst, it is unbelievably striking and poignant. Perhaps it is how human every aspect of this book is (down even to the flaws), it writhes and rears its head like the humanity that created it. Miller is, beyond anything, a man that is mired in the mass that constitutes this humanity and, from that vantage point, is a writer that creates pure genius.
Even though the book is loosely based around his tumultuous years with his wife (referred to as Mona in this trilogy) before leaving for Paris, the reader gets far more than that. Miller uses this concrete platform to churn out ideas on most anything else in existence. His writing is lucid, thought-provoking, and intelligent here, some of the best he has ever created.
Overall, a fantastic summation of the points articulated throughout the Rosy Crucifixion and Miller's own life. This is an absolutely amazing writer at his best, not to be missed!

It is tough describing what is that keeps me so attached to this trilogy, specially this book where Miller describes his pain and his feelings in such a straightforward way. I believe it is his honesty and his bravery to say things one would never even dare to think of. Words come and go smoothly, an so my mind when I read this man. Helps opening up.

Miller's account of how he wrote the Rosy Crucifixion touched me. The part where he smashed the cheesecake on the wall after Mona and Stasia had left him to go to Paris, then fell asleep only to wake up hungry,and having to eat that same cheesecake is one of the sections of the book which I regard as the finest narrative piece of writing I have read. A must read!

should be required reading for all parents-to-be!

This is my fourth book by Miller, having recently finished 'For Your Own Good' and 'Thou Shalt Not Be Aware.' Those works were hard hitting and unrelenting ('ferocious' said one reviewer) and for me that was what made them so effective. I found 'Paths of Life' to be weak reading at times, and if I had not read Miller's earlier more strident work, I don't know if I could have appreciated what she was trying to do here, with models of healing built from the realizations of our past injuries. I truly love Miller's message, as painful as it is at times to me personally, and I believe time will show her to be a prophet. Just the same, this book does not convey her message the most effectively and I don't recommend it as a starting point for her ideas.

So, why did I give it 5 stars? The closing chapter of the book, 'What is Hatred' is one of the most powerful and coherent looks yet at what happened in Nazi Germany. Miller recognizes the value of works like Goldhagen's, while pointing out how he too misses the mysterious question of why did the holocaust happen, why then, and why Germany? Miller's buring insight into this, the greatest mystery of our century, is worth the price of this book alone. She offers some explanation of the unexplainable. I could not put the book down during this closing essay. Highly recommended.

Paths of Life: Seven Scenarios, Alice Miller, Pantheon Book, New York, 1998

Paths of Life: Seven Scenarios is Alice Miller's optimistic project about human interactions and their potential for healing. This new book is the first in seven years, and the eighth overall, by the former psychoanalyst and author of an unbroken string of classics. The seven scenarios consist of seven chapters of imaginary encounters between mature adults, and illustrate honest communications based on new awareness. The characters describe their lives--their environments, their successes and failures--and how they came to terms with them. Also included are expert opinions on parenting, psychotherapy, gurus and cult leaders, and the nature of hatred.

Dr. Miller's seven scenarios are about handling life and changing things for the better, and are intended to inform people and to encourage them to think. These imaginative encounters illustrate ways in which tackling sensitive interpersonal issues directly can clear the air and bring a feeling of liberation for both sides--and sometimes make the unexpected happen. Miller freely admits that this latest project arose from a wish to spare others what she herself has suffered, and reflects her old yearning for a genuine form of communication. Her intention is to explore how early experiences of suffering and love affect people's later lives, and the ways they relate to others; her hope is that this material will serve as a stimulus for organized inquiry. Embedded in the text are many timely teachings, reflecting her notion that "information is everything" (p. 35)--that information, at the right time, can set off a valuable process of reflection.

Should adult-children forgive their parents for maltreatment during childhood? As mature adults we can feel our pain and thereby increase authentic understanding--of ourselves, of our parents, and of the complexities of life. Feeling and understanding, argues Miller, differ markedly from blaming and forgiveness. We need to take full responsibility in our relationships, including those with our parents. As adults, we are autonomous. No longer are there any real dangers in confronting one's parents. The "gift of truth" can sometimes, though not always, change things for the better.

Concerning the primal therapies, Miller displays an informed and cautious optimism. She rightfully condemns those charlatans who would claim complete cure via regression, and their "theories" which--despite their scientific facade-- have absolutely nothing to do with science (p. 147). The goal of genuine therapy is, quite simply, the liberation of individual patients from their suffering. Resolving one's childhood issues is essential. Old patterns need to be properly worked through in a safe and reliable relationship, in the presence of someone who is genuinely sympathetic and willing to listen. It is entirely unacceptable for therapists to blame patients, or to create destructive dependencies.

There are positive aspects of the primal approach which can be salvaged, argues Miller, once it is acknowledged that primal therapy has distinct limitations and that it can have negative effects. Fortunately, primal therapists have increasingly moved away from the "initial absolutism." Many have jettisoned both the Intensive and the darkened office, having discovered better methods to enable their patients to feel (pp. 147-8). The original primal techniques are increasingly combined with those of other approaches. Still, there is a need to revise old concepts in light of these new techniques. And finally, there are grave dangers when the power of the primal approach is used to manipulate and exploit, as has been demonstrated all too often by unscrupulous "therapists," gurus and cults leaders.

As in all her books, Dr. Miller again demonstrates how the violence done to children devolves back on society as a whole (p. 155). Children who are beaten, for example, become emotional time bombs (p. 169). Still, child-victims can almost always develop trust if they are shown an understanding environment, and if the harm is identified as such, not disavowed or played down. Such children benefit from a "helping witness" who extends honesty, affection and love (if not protection); or a "knowing witness" who actively helps one to become conscious of their maltreatment and to articulate their sorrow (pp. 155-6). In some cases, a confrontation with the past is unavoidable in order to change things for the better (p. 178). Remember--it is the denial of our sufferings that is the breeding ground for hatred, an act of self-deception and an impasse that is deflected onto innocent victims (p. 186); the only factor separating rescuers and persecutors is the quality of parental nurture (p. 174). But here again is cause for optimism. We live in an age where far more people than ever before are growing up free of physical abuse, and these people can help to counteract the tradition of destructive violence that has plagued us for thousands of years (p. 186).

In this, her most recent work, Alice Miller states that she has grown more tolerant and patient as she's aged; that she no longer feels alone in what she knows; that she no longer has anything to prove. Her current volume supports such assertions. Who could argue that Miller's core contributions--The Drama of the Gifted Child (aka Prisoner of Childhood), For Your Own Good, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware, Pictures of a Childhood,The Untouched Key, Banished Knowledge, Breaking Down the Wall of Silence, and now Paths of Life--have failed to increase our individual consciousness of self and psychology, or to raise our collective awareness of significant social issues? We are fortunate, then, to receive this latest offering about the paths of ordinary life, about new understandings based on real feelings, and about genuine love that can face up to such truth (p. 186).

The Phantom Cookbook is a must-have for chefs of any skill level! The recipes are scrumptious, easy-to-follow and original! One of my favorite recipes is Bettie's carrot vichyssoise! Her book includes visual cook-time indicators on each page, illustrating preparation times for each recipe! In addition, its most original facet is the menu chapter, outlining successful menus for any occasion! I would recommend this book to anyone!

Although its title is The Phantom Cookbook, this marvelous collection of recipes is written in such a way that the Phantom Cook seems to be present in the kitchen with us. Bettie McGowin Miller guides us, offers dishes to complete the menu, and tells us how to make a beautiful presentation. The recipes are fresh and elegant yet they are not intimidating to even the novice cook. This book is for anyone who enjoys the pleasure of good food.

Having tried and failed to retire from cooking, I seek out cookbooks that have clear instructions, an indication of the time it will take to prepare the dishes, and delicious food. Although I have shelves filled with cookbooks, I find myself turning to The Phantom Cookbook: it's the one that never fails to deliver superb results. The only thing improvement would be to have the Phantom herself in my kitchen! For entertaining or for the two in my household, I find everything I need in this book.

Although reading such a long book in its entirety seems at first measure a daunting task (and one that few people's academic credentials hold up to....), readers daring enough to try are pretty well rewarded across the whole of this book. This book is an introduction to systems theory (i.e. that the result of a conglomeration of small scale processes can be seen to accumulate into larger, predictable processes at macro levels, similar to how a person who makes individual knots can end up with a rug...) that straddles the mark from physics to political economy (which is running far indeed!!!)

This is a really big book besides having a lot of pages, and I have a hunch that not too many people are going to buy it outside of researchers or university librarians. But, I suppose, if you're either of these (though if one were going to research they'd probably look to a sucession of smaller books, no?) I'd buy this book.... your collection would be enriched through having it....

Don't let the size of this book stop you from exploring it. The author has designed the book so it (slowly) reveals itself, working from basic concepts of how dynamic systems work through levels of biological and social complexity. It is a brilliant work, a must for anyone involved in any sort of analytical work. It is one of the most important books of the 20th century and, if attention is paid, will be an important guidebook to the 21st.

To see more of Miller's work and its implications, see the web site Principia Cybernetica.

Despite this is a book with an enormous and difficult text, since the very first chapter it enlightens the most basic message: that sciences, and knowledge, can be integrated, in a sort of unified theory, the "general theory of living systems", as the author puts it. And it does; since I began to understand the hole thing, it really makes me easier to think, and to view the world, like somekind of natural phylosophy, or organic phylosophy. It's really helpfull. (My email is galfroid@hotmail.com)

My one-year old son loves babies and is facsinated by this book. He will even leave his noise-maker toys in favor of flipping through the baby photos -- great when the parents need a quiet moment!!

This book held my son's interest (especially in the car) from 3 months to 1 year and then some. He is a toddler now and "reads" the book to his baby sister. I give it as a gift to friends who have babies because there is nothing better than a silent object that holds your infant's interest and stimulates his/her curiosity. You can't go wrong with this board book for very young children.

I find that my 8 month old daughter really enjoys looking at this book. We sit and read the book together. The pictures are bold and clear, with the other pages bright in color. All the words are very bold and easy to read. I would recommend this book along with "I LOVE COLORS". They are great books for your young child to read by themselves.

Aspects of Phantom of the Pines are slightly cheesy, but ultimately, the Jersey Devil has to be my favorite mythical beast. The accounts of parents not allowing children to school for fear they'd be prey of the monster are as chilling as they are silly.
The JD has a long, rich history. You can say that sasquatch encounters go back to Native Americans, but the "wild man" hairy hominoid stuff is very Jungian. The Devil is its own beast.
This is a fun, worthwhile introduction to the terrifying creature. You don't need to be from Jersey to appreciate the Devil.

fascinating book - definately recommend it - especially to native New Jerseyians...

Where do i start! This book was head to toe in detail! I am a Very big researcher on the jersey devil and i would not read or buy any other book for info. I have read "The Jersey Devil" By James F. McCloy and Ray Miller Jr. That was also a really good Book! So anyways This was a great book and if you are really interested in the jersey devil i really suggest u read this one!

Very good book, with a lots of "short cuts" and good "back of an envelop" estimations However, high degree of subject understanding is required when practicing these short cuts. So be careful!

One topics omitted is that of Microscopy (one entry). There are a lots of Rules of Thumb that can help with resolution, magnification, NA or f/#, field of view, depth of field, depth of focus, working distance, etc. Perhaps these can be added to a subsequent edition of the book.

I'm a great fan of lore books as opposed to textbooks or reference books. Lore books are the ones that contain the things that many people in the field may know, but which they had to learn the hard way, and I like them because they help me learn the easy way!

Miller and Friedman have written a fun and very useful lore book, which has helped a lot of electro-optics people (including me) stay out of some nasty potholes. The book is inexpensive, and if you're building or specifying electro-optical systems of any sort, you should own it.

Easy to use and practical for the engineer and physisist invovlved in optics projects. Will save you the embarassment of not knowing the limits of many common optical devices and systems.