What an eye-opener! I would hate for my competitors to read this. If I can implement half of the ideas in this book, I'll be on easy street. It was short, sweet, and full of solid information.

I had not heard of the authors before this book came out. However, I expect that to change. These guys have their fingers on the pulse of what is going on out there. They don't pull any punches and they tell it like it is. Their ideas are a mixture of common sense and genius.

When I read a book on how to improve my business, I want information I can use. "Sales Utopia" wasn't a bunch of theoretical, mumbo-jumbo. It had straight forward sales and marketing strategies that I look forward to implementing. It was very interesting.

I came into this book with some interest in learning to identify birds around the yard to a greater extent. This is the first book that I've seen to go beyond the basics of shape and color. It's actually a virtual biology lesson on birds with fine details about feathers, and molting among other topics. Very detailed materials that help the reader understand how to see the parts of the bird beyond quick impressions in order to make identifications. But I also gained a new insight into an animal that I took for granted just seeing every day. Sibley is an incredible artist and liberally demonstrates his concepts with sketches and drawings of a wide variety of birds. The combination of beautiful art, and clear, educational writing makes one of the best introductions I've ever seen to birds, and how to know and appreciate them. Highly recommended for the casual as well as serious bird enthusiast.

Perfect for the aspiring or beginning birder, veterans will wonder how they got started without it. Sibley begins with the simplest, logical advice - equipment, where to go to find birds (did you know Central Park, NY, rates with Cape May and the Monterey Peninsula for sighting migrating birds - it's the largest patch of green for miles), keeping records and avoiding mistakes. The bulk of this slim book is devoted to identifying, from behavior and voice to body configuration, feather arrangements, color patterns, structure of tail and wings, molt and more. Clear color illustrations provide plentiful examples throughout. Sibley teaches how to see and what to look for, depending on time of year, weather and habitat, and provides lots of useful information about common and unusual birds by way of illustrative examples.

I was fortunate enough to attend a talk by David Allen Sibley at the Princeton University Bookstore a couple of weeks ago. He's a shy person, but once he starts talking about his favorite subject (birds, of course), he's as talkative as the most garrulous of people. Even in person, then, his knowledge of all minutiae of the avian world is staggering. That doesn't mean he doesn't understand the common pitfalls of the struggling, novice birder who wants so much to identify that giant bird with the colors of a goldfinch or the raptor as small as a songbird. He told us a couple of amusing stories about bird misidentification, one of which involved a mistake he made years ago... which just goes to show that if Mr. Sibley can make a birding mistake, there's hope for the rest of us.

Anyway, "Sibley's Birding Basics" does, indeed, serve as the introduction to his bestselling field guide that he'd originally hoped to include in the field guide. He covers all the essential bird identification topics in a clearly, if scholarly, written manner, from the importance, structure and groupings of feathers; to the bird's outer anatomy; to birdsong; to clues to bird identification (behavior, molt patterns, feather wear-and-tear) that aren't covered at all in other field guides. And the illustrations, a talent for which Mr. Sibley is justifiably famous, are the most meticulous you'll find anywhere, whether the drawing shows a comparison between a summer tanager and a northern cardinal or simply of feather types.

Finally, "Birding Basics" includes a brief but to-the-point admonition to birders who might venture too close or too noisily to the objects of their fascination. For example, you read about the usefulness of "pishing" in other books and hear about it from other expert birders, but Mr. Sibley believes this technique is overused and has the potential to harm many birds' ability to go about their difficult daily existence.

In conclusion, run, don't walk, to the nearest computer and order this book from amazon.com!

Finding relief from pain is sometimes a desperate struggle. Often it seems that some physicians and other health care practitioners take the easy way out and will throw low level narcotic relief at you with the hope that you will just go away. Its cheap, easy, and eff... well two out of three isn't bad. At other times they will deny your pain experience, and invalidate your suffering, especially, if you are a woman. The very complexity of the pain experience is often ignored.

WOMEN AND PAIN: WHY IT HURTS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO is both amazing and helpful. The authors discuss traditional methods of pain relief and control as well as alternative methods. The explanations of both vitamin and herbal aids for pain relief and the many other methods are elegantly expressed in plain, simple language that can be understood by anyone.

WOMEN AND PAIN: WHY IT HURTS AND WHAT YOU CAN DO is a masterful work about pain relief for women for this new millennium.

Dr. Youngs new book "Women And Pain..." led me to a life which someone like me would only dream of: a life with no pain. This book is the best book I ever bought. I suffered from migrains and back pain for over 7 years and the pain vanished after about 2 1/2 weeks of trying Dr. Youngs methods, I tried almost every other method out there and this is the only one that worked!

After about 2 weeks of trying Dr. Youngs methods I was pain free. I wish I had bought this book sooner. This book is packed with complementary, holistic and traditional remedies for almost any type of pain you can think of.

This is an excellent book for beginners and hard-core fitness gurus alike. The book covers all the basics of health, fitness, and well-being. I can never get enough of Mark and Julie. The stories about their careers and the people they have worked with is fantastic. Their conversion to the power of strength training and the "how to" portions of the book can't be beat. This book is filled with great photos and the wealth of knowledge the authors have gained through out their lives. No where can you find the cardio-vascular part of fitness explained so well and made so simple. This book is a must have.

It's for real. You have two world-class athletes - not bodybuilders or celebrities or fitness models, but two of the fittest people in the world here.

What makes this book different? (1) The Allens recognize that most people have other priorities in life, such as jobs and kids, and therefore can't live in the gym for 2 or 3 hours a day. (2) They also recognize - unlike many athletes - that not everyone shares their passion for their sport. They don't expect you to open this book wanting to do an Ironman of your own as they've done, but they won't discourage you from training for one either!

The book is loaded with sound, honest advice, tips, encouragement and motivation. If you want to get fit, well, you have to work at it. They're not trying to sell you seminars or supplements or some 'magic bullet' that only slims your wallet. They're not trying to relive past glory days either - the anecdotes are purposeful: meant to instruct and/or motivate.

There's several different 18-week workouts here, depending on your goals. All of them offer a balance between cardio (ANY cardio - not just running/swimming/cycling) and weight training. During the week, most workouts are about 30 minutes to an hour, with a longer one on the weekends, and an optional one for the true weekend warrior. Plus, the Allens offer plenty of suggestions for squeezing fitness into a busy schedule for full-time employees and full-time moms.

This isn't another feel-good-because-you-showed-up 'exercise' book. This book is for people who are serious about trying to raise their level of fitness, no matter what shape they're currently in.

I also strongly recommend reading it thoroughly for some of the nuggets hidden inside. For example, 5-6 small meals, each about the size of your two palms held together. An easy visual guide to portion sizes that you always have with you! How can you lose? Or better still, how can you not?

This book is direct & simple: You need to do significant work to see significant results. The Allens are not trying to sell you supplements or seminars or quick-fixes; they just pool their considerable experience to tell it like it really is.

It's not a book you can quickly skim for 'sound bites,' nor should you. If you try, you'll miss nuggets like "5-6 meals a day, each the size of your two palms held together." Now *that* I can visualize!

Although 1.5 to 2-hour workouts may not suit everyone's lifestyle, the Allens make several practical suggestions for fitting fitness into REAL life. Unlike authors who are 'trainers to the stars', these people recognize that most of us don't have fully adjustable, personal-trainer-on-demand kinds of lifestyles with huge spans of free time between gigs.

The weight training is uncomplicated and targets all the major muscle groups. This book also offers more cardio emphasis than most in a progressive, realistic and safe program. But don't be fooled. "Safe" in this book does NOT mean "unchallenging." Not from world-class athletes like these!

This book is worth every penny - especially if you USE it.

This is the most awesome cassette. I had read the book. But this audio cassette is wonderful to listen to in the car during your commute, or in the house while cleaning etc. I listened to it every day for over a month and my life was transformed. I continue to listen to it from time time to keep me on the right track. Mr Allens voice is also soothing and powerful. The writing is poignant and beautiful. Enjoy. Your life can only get better and better.

That quote is from Denis Waitley's "The New Dynamics of Winning" but it well captures the theme of this book. This book is about the power of one's own thoughts, the thoughts that we truly hold about what is possible, who we are, at the deepest level of our beings, to make themselves come true.
The book is divided into seven chapters, "Thought and Character", "The Effect of Thought on Circumstances", "The Effect of Thought on Healthy and the Body", "Thought and Purpose", "Thought as a Factor in Achievement", "Visions and Ideals" and "Serenity". In chapter 1, Allen writes, "(you) contain within yourself that transforming and regenerative agency by which you may make yourself what you will" (pg 25). One shapes one's own character by the controlled application of thought, will and action. In chapter 2, "...the outer conditions of your life will always be found to be harmoniously related to your inner state" (pg 32). People who love themselves, attract love from others; people who believe they can be sucessful end up causing their belief to come true and being sucessful. Skipping ahead to chapter 7, he writes that serenity is the effect of "see(ing) more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, we cease to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remain poised, steadfast, serene" (pg 85). When we come to realize that everything we want or fear has certain causes and that to a great extent we have control over those causes, we ceased to be frazzled by external circumstances because we sense a tremendous locus of power within our ownselves to shape our lives, to be the cause of those effects we desire and to stop being the cause of those effects that cause us suffering.
A great book that probably requires some unpacking by the reader given that it is so concise. Highly recommended.

This tiny, surprisingly easy-to-read book by James Allen sets you on the edge of your state of being as if by surprise! Stirring, spirit to spirit talk that leaves your life story flashing before your eyes for your re-examination as you ponder its profound basic truths. Upon completing its reading, it left me speechless and in a state of awe (especially due to the fact it was written almost a hundred years ago) that it touched me very deeply at the fiber of my being.

The best thing about this book is that unlike most other ones about the depression it was written by someone who experienced it at the time they experienced it - 1939. Spanning 1929 to 1939 it gives you a you-were-there feeling.

Most of the political commentary is just matter-of-fact with very little bias. Many depression books seem to be left-leaning and written by authors with political agendas, not this one. The fact is that many things actually were very corrupt in the years leading up to the depression.

Allen obviously liked FDR very much and yet he still always countered accolades for him with opposing opinions and even agrees with them at times.

This is not a hard-hitting expose' of the Depression years, but it is a highly informative book that is a great lesson in history.

Frederick Lewis Allen begins this short book (346 pages) where he left off in his last book ('Only Yesterday') - with the stock market crash of 1929 - and ends it with the
advent of World War II in 1939. Allen skillfully weaves the minor events of this decade (the fads, books, crimes, machines, gadgets, personalities, movies, fashions, etc.) together
with the major events (the stock market crash, the 'Great Depression', and 'the New Deal') in a delightfully entertaining, informative fashion - assuming, of course, that you
enjoy American history!
The '29 crash had been immediately preceded by the 'Big Bull' market that had carried investors and stocks onward and upward for some 2 years before it finally peaked. Investors, by then, were 'programmed' to buy, buy, buy. All feared that they might miss one last opportunity to get richer. Stock transactions sometimes became so hectic that Wall Street could not keep up with the paperwork (no computers!). Some pundits of that
day were issuing warnings that stock prices were overvalued, that investors were investing too much borrowed money, but few investors were heeding these warnings. When stock prices began falling, nothing could stop them. By the time stock values hit
bottom on 13 November investors had lost enough money to finance World War I once, or pay off the national debt twice! In a matter of months 25% of the work force was unemployed; many of them were now standing in the ubiquitous breadlines, or peddling
apples for 5 cents on street corners.
The market crash triggered another major event of the '30's - the 'great depression'. President Hoover insisted that the economy was only experiencing one of those 'cyclical
business cycles', that it would eventually 'self-correct', and that life in America would again be just great. He approved some actions to aid businessmen and failing banks, and
to create some jobs by expanding some federal work programs, but basically Hoover opposed any kind of relief for the unemployed or their families. The government, he thought, should do nothing to damage Americans' 'initiative and 'rugged individualism'. Later, Hoover approved some expenditures for seed and for animal feed, but vetoed any proposals to help the cold, the starving, or the unemployed. Hoover was above all
determined to balance the federal budget and he was certain that nature (and economic problems) would eventually run its course and that his 'hands off' (laissez-faire) economic policy would prove to be the proper government response to the depression.
Between the crash of '29 and the presidential election of 1932, however, there was no visible improvement in the economy. Consequently, Hoover's defeat in the upcoming 1932 election was preordained. That's what happened; Franklin Delano Roosevelt
became president.
FDR and Hoover had diametrically opposed views with regard to the federal government's role vis-à-vis the national economy and the depression. Once elected FDR immediately launched his various (alphabet soup-like) 'New Deal' programs: they
included the NRA (to deal with economic planning, wages and working conditions, child and women's labor, etc.), the CWA and the WPA (to provide jobs); the AAA (to deal with farm problems); the CCC (to provide jobs related to environmental protection, tree planting, etc.); the PWA and the TWA (to build dams - thereby creating jobs, electricity, water for irrigation, flood controls, etc.). He also created the RFC, the FHA, the FCA,
the NYA, etc., etc. FDR was unafraid to create a government agency to deal with a problem. 'If one approach fails (frequently the case)', he would say, 'We'll try another.'
'The unemployed', he maintained, are not bums! They are victims of an economy over which they have no control.' (A 1933 congressional investigation - a la Enron, Anderson, et al) indicated that the crash had to a considerable extent been generated by 'wheeling-dealing' brokers, bankers, financiers, corporate managers and their pyramiding
schemes, mergers, etc.). FDR's role model cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, had said earlier that it was the government's responsibility to protect those who were unable to protect
themselves. FDR, in turn, said something similar, using different words: 'It is not the government's duty to further enrich those who already have much, but, rather, to assist
those who have little.' FDR's words resonated with most Americans. They re-elected him again, again, and again. The Republicans soon recognized that FDR and his Democratic 'New Deal' programs were basically anathema to what Republicans stood
for (small federal government, low taxes, etc.), and they began fighting FDR and his programs (the Democratic-Republican fight that FDR started continues to this day.), but FDR won most of the battles because he always enjoyed great majorities in both houses of congress and eventually he also had a friendly Supreme Court - because he personally made a total of 9 appointments to the court.
There is much more to say about this book, about FDR's struggle with those 9 old men of the Supreme Court, about the repeal of Prohibition, about the rise of organized crime,
etc., -- but you get the idea. My final word: Lewis is a delightful writer and the material is fascinating!

Allen covers the period from September 3, 1929, to September 3, 1939. Interestingly, the first date is when the Bull Market reached its peak, and the last date is when England and France declared war on Germany. The book is an excellent contemporary account of the 1930's. The topics that Allen thought were noteworthy in 1939 are still noteworthy today. Anyone who reads this book should also read "Only Yesterday" which is Allen's account of the 1920's.

Psychiatry and psychology are growing out of their shells, and the intellectual and spiritual currents that they are being swept up in have never been so diverse and heady. This concise and authoritative collection of statements on a broad range of topics in the transpersonal field sets a new standard. Well done.

This book is a great reference book and if you are teaching a class in transpersonal psychology this should be the textbook for the class. It is very informative and the author is very clear in his understanding and dissemination of the information provided. It is a must have book.

I am trying to learn more about transpersonal psychology and transpersonal practices. This book more than did the trick. It gave a good overview of the different angles the field touches. It gave great anectdotal stories as well. It is defineity a must have. It introduced many of the fathers of the field and there perspectives; Jung, Maslow, Wilber, Freud, Assogolini. It also showed the contributions of spirtiual traditions:Buddhism, Hinduism, Shamanism, Christianity, Kabbalah. It introduced many techniques used:guided imagery, past life regression, meditation, breathwork, psychedelics.

Generally, I agree with the high ratings that other reviewers have given to this book. After I obtained my bachelor's degree in philosophy, I took the end-of-the-book test. My thinking style at that time was primarily an idealist. But after I earned my master's degree in American Studies and took the test again, I was primarily an analyst. Both these test results made sense to me given that my two degrees were separated by six years. This is one of the "hidden" values of the book: that one's "Styles of Thinking" (the original hardcover and, in my opinion, the better title for the book) may change over a period of years.

However, I do not agree that the social scientific basis for the book and the test is well-grounded. The authors give a quite vague description for the validity of their five styles of thinking. And the only basis for the validity of the test is that they have given it to thousands of people. Purportedly, because they intended to write a follow-up book, and they wanted to keep their testing criteria secret at least until the sequel. To the best of my knowledge, neither author has written a second book on the same subject. And keeping the criteria for a test secret is simply poor social science.

Nevertheless, I find the book subjectively useful and still refer to it from time to time. I have also given the test to college students, and most of them identify with the test results. So four stars for usefulness but not five stars because of the lack of documentation.

it's a very useful books and practical. i've started applying and feel pleasure getting to know my thinking style and others as well. you can improve the way you think. useful...

Thinking-- a process we normal people are constantly doing in most of our lifetime. However, have anyone of us thought how do we think? It's an interesting question. Indeed, only very few of us have come across this question. This book have classified most people's styles of thinking into 5 main categories. Nevertheless, the book includes a test to help you identify your preference of thinking. If you do it seriously, you'll eventually find the result very accurate in helping you know more about yourself. Meanwhile you will identify the which classes do the people surrounding you belong to, in order that you will know how to deal with them using the most suitable approach. More importantly, you'll realize your own strengths and liabilities by reading this book. In such a way, you can develop the strengths that you already have and improve your liabilities. Hopefully, life can be a lot better if you can take the suggestions mentioned in the book into practice. Even if you are not preparing to take what this book alleges solemnly, it's still a great fun letting your friends do the test. You'll discover a load of things that you've overlooked! Thinking is a child's play, as well as a Herculean study.

Maybe this review would be bigger than the story itself. a simple idea and an unbelievable story. the story of our evil deeds hauting us. it is scary , but true. the most amazing thing in this story is Edgar Poe himself; his greatest use of the language, his realistic description of anger. he made me laugh many times , though it this short story is not intended to do that, because of his clever use of the vocabulary. it is a must read book. Dont think of missing it.

It was the best story we have ever read because it was very scary.The part which we liked best was the ending, when the eye was burning.We felt sorry about the cat when the man cut out its eye.We didn't like the man because he was mean like a drunk.

If you want to know what is terror to its finest point, read this story

My Medieval class is keeping me very busy reading about women in the 14th century. First, I read about Julian of Norwich and her book, "Revelations of Divine Love", which I found to be very wordy and dense. "The Book of Margery Kempe" was easier, in that the theological development is embryonic, and therefore easier to understand, and the reader gets more information about Margery and her personal life.

Margery Kempe lived in England in the 14th century. The daughter of a well-to-do who served as mayor of his town, Margery seems to have had high expectations for her life that weren't realized. She married a man who had money problems, had fourteen children, and ran a brewery business that failed. After the birth of one of her children, Margery had a vision of Christ, and her life was forever changed. The bulk of the book details her various pilgrimages and adventures, as well as detailed accounts of her discussions with Christ.

While this is quite a colorful book, in an emotional sense, Margery doesn't come across as a very sincere person, which is what one would expect from a bride of Christ. One small incident that comes to mind is when Margery is praying for one of her religious instructors to get well. She doesn't pray that he will get healthy for his own sake, but so that she will be able to talk to him again. This theme of self-centered behavior runs throughout the book. Problems are seen not as tests of her faith or spirit, but as personal attacks on Margery, and they are something to be confronted instead of endured, although Margery pays lip service to the concepts of patience and humility.

What got Margery into so much trouble in the first place was the expressions of her intimate dialogues with Christ. Margery would weep, cry, roar and scream whenever God willed her to do this. Of course, this often happened in church and at meals. This often infuriated people, who were convinced that Margery was faking her behavior. Some of the fits do seem to be descriptions of temper tantrums more befitting a child. Margery also had some fits in which she turned blue and twisted from side to side. The classic child tantrum! Another annoying habit was her constant talking about God, Christ and all the spiritual things that those two figures entail. It's not hard to imagine that this would have gotten old fast.

The book reads quick and the endnotes are very helpful in providing dates and places, as well as biographical information on some of the important people that Margery encounters in her travels. The timeline at the front of the book helps keep events in order, as Margery dictated her story to a priest, and her memory doesn't always place events in the right chronological order.

I read the Penguin edition and found it to be most enjoyable. Anyone interested in Medieval history or Christian mysticism should certainly give this one a spin.

As the earliest piece of English writing (in the sense of first-hand account of life rather than fiction) this book is irreplaceable.
I was quite surprised at the readable quality of the book, compared to other medieval writings. True, the book was dictated to an amanuensis by Margery, but that makes it all the more surprising - dictation generally does not have the flow that one's own writing has.
.
There are some drawbacks ... the book is written with hindsight, and the facts are necessarily clouded by time and memory, but what does come across is that Margery was a sick woman, mentally, physically and spiritually.
She makes it very clear that she abhors the carnal side of marriage, yet dwells upon it at great length, as if 'the lady doth protest too much'.
Her frequents outbursts of wailing and self-abasement come across as an extreme form of PMS or hysteria brought on by self-denial.
Her excessive praying strikes one as an excuse for anything that she doesn't want to deal with normally.

As others have pointed out, she was well-to-do, had a thriving business, was not molested by her husband (apart from his alleged sexual demands, which do not seem excessive) yet spends an inordinate amount of time bemoaning her fate and her husband's demands on her.

Putting that to one side, there is a lot in this book to make one re-think our views of medieval life and the specifically the role of women.
For a woman to have a good business-head; have her own means of support; dictate conditions of marriage to her husband; travel as and when the mood took her; this doesn't sound like your archetypal medieval goode-wyfe...

Maybe this book should be more widely read ???

Just wanted to point out: Margery Kempe was actually extremely wealthy, not "lower class." There is evidence that John Kempe married her for her money. She was the operator of a brewery, which also provided a great deal of income. Lower class medieval women usually didn't have the means to travel around evangelizing.