Powerful narratives from those who survived slavery detailing their struggles as slaves, struggles for freedom, and beginnings of establishing new lives. This book should be required reading for all high school students. Insights into human nature, perserverance, and love are all touched upon and I could not believe the strengths of these slaves just getting through life. Powerful beyond any reviewers' words.

For a more complete collection of slave narratives, check out I WAS BORN A SLAVE, edited by Yuval Taylor. For the price of this volume, you get two paperback volumes with a total of twenty narratives: six of these seven, plus fourteen more, most of them unavailable elsewhere. Unlike this book, it is also extensively annotated.

I am responsible for managing large corporate accounts, and this book has dramatically changed my perspectives in terms of how I view my role with clients.In Clients for Life, the authors have succeeded brilliantly at a difficult task: defining the essence of long-term, value-added relationships and the characteristics of professionals who succeed in developing them. This is by far the best and most sophisticated book I have read on the subject of client relationships. It is genuinely insightful, beautifully written, and full of entertaining, relevant anecdotes about working with and advising clients. Sheth and Sobel organize the book around the key attributes of professionals who are able to become great advisors to their clients and develop lifetime relationships with them. They describe these qualities with depth and freshness, and their model rings true. Many people talk about "big picture thinking," for example, or "integrity," but the authors actually define these things in a meaningful way and clearly demonstrate how you can improve yourself. Each chapter profiles a famous historical advisor who was especially skilled at dealing with clients. Much of what I have read on client relationship management has tended to be either simplistic and focused on "techniques" or else overly academic. Clients for Life, in contrast, is a breezy read yet very rich and thoughtful in its approach-it'll make you think hard about your own personal and professional development. I highly recommend this book to anyone who manages clients (corporations or individuals, for that matter) or large customer relationships.

Don Mitchell's review is first-rate. I agree completely with his reasons for praising this book, and, I agree completely with his (and Drucker's) comments about so-called "lifelong relationships." If you are looking for some rock-solid advice to achieve "breakthrough" relationships with clients, Sheth and Sobel provide it. But as Mitchell and Drucker correctly point out, it is possible but highly unlikely that those relationships can be sustained indefinitely, especially now when change is the only constant and occurs at ever-increasing velocity. Give careful thought to the word "breakthrough" because it has so many relevancies to today's competitive marketplace. When in pursuit of a prospective client, first you have to break through clutter to become visible; then you have to break through other clutter to differentiate yourself from the competition; then overcome other clutter to begin the new relationship; finally, you have to break through still more clutter to sustain that relationship. (Think about juggling handgrenades in a minefield at 2 AM...during an electrical storm...while wearing a blindfold.) Sheth and Sobel offer a wealth of information as well as sound guidance. Much of what they share can also help with the formulation of customer recapture strategies. But take no one and nothing for granted. The "life" of a customer relationship should not be measured in terms of years; rather, in terms of how effectively you nourish that relationship while you have it.

Cobi Jones is the soccer player kids watch in the United States. He is their hero. This book will help the beginner through advanced increase their skills. The format of the book is very user friendly. First, the reader learns some valuable information about Cobi Jones, then he takes you step by step through all of soccer's skills. Mr. Jones goes over the rules of the game, then stresses the need for warming up and details some exercises to do just that. He also emphasizes fair play. Each chapter then discusses and demonstrates a soccer skill. Mr. Jones offers excellent graphics appropriate for kids, and gives tips to enhance the skill. To complete each chapter skill, the champion provides games for perfect practice. This book is a very personalized approach to soccer instruction derived from a book. A great gift and "personal coach" for soccer enthusiasts! An autographed practice ball is included!

I loved all the detailed soccer tips I could share with my kids when I coach their AYSO teams. Cobi is their favorite professional athelete and his instruction really influences my kids in a positive light both on and off the field.

As I read this I entered a world where only 20,000 others are forced to endure in the USA. That world being that of a Hemophiliac. We can never know what suffering is as Mr. Andrews does, but this book has shown us a shocking glimpse of what it's like. I have been awakened from my shallow existence and can now overcome what measly barriers life has given me. Mr. Andrews, thank you for sharing your life with us. I sir take my hat off to you for your courage and wish you nothing but the best of luck in the future! I must also conclude by saying that you are a damn good poet as well, but then again Charles Wright is your mentor. But please do me a favor from now on, try to live a sedentary life for you have much poetry left to write. It would be a shame to deny us of many more years of your wonderful poetry, by risking it all on some reckless adventure. Your life is your own, but remember that you also have a legion of loyal readers that you are now responsible for.

Andrews provides a glimpse inside the personal space of a poet who happens to be a hemophiliac. _Codeine Diary_ is a carefully wrought memoir that reveals Andrews' passion for language and life, and it is this love of language which makes this uniquely witty and introspective book more than personal. It is good that it was written.
- C.M.

As a Michigan transplant to the great Buckeye State, one of the things I miss the most are Heller's columns. A must read for all transplanted Michiganders and anyone else with a sense of humor.

This book is a definate must read. Hilarious and witty and impossible to put down once you start reading. Living in Flint, MI I have the great privilege to read his column quite regularly in the Flint Journal, and he is usually the only reason I pick up the paper in the first place. I can't wait for the third book.

Fr Greeley is always insightful, funny and mind opening. He is also, clearly, a good judge of coauthors.

I read this book in it's original form (The Bible And Us) and then purchased and read - several times - this version. My original reason for reading this was a fascination with the concept of a priest and a rabbi reading scripture together. The reading is much more than the concept. Greeley's section on the Song of Songs will create a new wonder for your relationship with God. Neusner's insight into the Torah and the Holocaust let's you know what wonders and answers are available from the word of God. Normally one would say that a good review is in its recommendation to others. I have purchased this book again and again as gifts for many.

I found this book very interesting in terms of what the realities of premed realy are. I learned a lot of things that I was currently unaware of, and it gave me a stronger basis on what to expect in the next four years of my education, as a highschool student, it provided me with a lot of insight on how to prepare for premed classes, and how to balance my studying/working with my free time. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in a career in medicine, as it will explain to you what to expect and how to handle it.

Finally. A well written, practical book for pre- med students. The author is both a doctor and a lawyer. This fact alone gives him fabulous credibility. Extremely informative book. Also an excellent source for relatives of pre-med students, as that it explains what to expect.

This is an excellent book, covering a wide range of topics. I'm relatively new at this "game", and I found this book very informative, enhancing both my pleasure as well as my partner's. It also gives some insight into many sexual problems, or percieved problems, and how to deal with them. It made me much more confident, and what I thought were problems or limitations for me, are now resolved... we're having a great time! Five stars.

This book does it all in plain english and easy-to-understand text. It covers the subject of sexual fulfilment from all angles and from every perspective. It is interesting, well written, and even funny. It is written to help everyone and has something for everyone. It is not intended for those who are not interested in learning about sex and how to enjoy yourself with your partner. It opens your eyes to the best about sex and how to bring yourself into the game correctly. It covers such subjects as: being inhibited, how your body works, having sexual hang-ups( good or bad ones), infighting between partners, communicating between partners, living with the right sex(partner), fears, anxieties, and even jealousies. I found it's advice to be helpful, correct and totally facinating plus informative. I do not think that anyone could be so perfect as to not be reinformed, or informed again, by this narrative. I am always amazed to find out in this world of ours today, how little I really know about this subject. Thank you to these authors for covering the subject so well.

This book focuses on the different instructional strategies that should be used when teaching procedures, processes, concepts, principles, and memory instruction. The core idea being that the best way to teach people about concepts is different than teaching people about a procedure. And that teaching people to memorize a list is very different from teaching principle-using behavior, and that the methods used to teach each type of learning are different.

To help you understand what the book is like, here is some quotes about using instructional strategy to teach a process:

A process is a pattern of events. Procedural processes describe the influences and effects of a procedure as it is performed, from a third-person point of view. When procedure and process instruction are combined, a student learns to perform the procedure while at the same time learning how the procedure affects the environment in which the procedure is performed.(P.222)

...Process knowledge is comprised of several possible event paths which events might follow depending on how conditions vary. The most superficial degree of process knowledge consists of memorizing the steps in a process.(P.225)

Most explanations in science textbooks are delivered in the form of long paragraphs in which several process threads are intertwined, and only a few event paths out of the large number possible are presented, and a limited amount of information is given to help a student determine the other paths that might occur.

Missing information may include missing events, incomplete description of the mechanisms for transition between event-states, confusing presentation of the mechanism, lacking specification of the conditions under which state-transitions take place, or lack of linkage between condition causes and event effects. (P.226)

For process-using behavior to occur, a student must not only predict an outcome, but must also be able to supply a rationale for it. The student must be able to explain through a chain of reasoning why and how the outcome occurred.
We have been careful to describe a process as a pattern of events and not as a sequence of events; now it is possible to see why. As natural elements are acted upon by all kinds of forces, energies, and signals, there are many forces acting at once, and so there are many possible outcomes depending on the forces acting, their magnitude, and their balance. Any set of circumstances can thus result in a large number of outcomes, depending on the final resolution of the forces. That means that a process as we experience it is not a fixed, rigid, unchanging sequence of events, but a possiblity with numerous outcomes - numerous possible event sequences. Process-using means being able to predict from a given set of elements and acting forces one or more possible outcomes. Process-using behavior deals in the cause-effect linkages between events and explains them in terms of force, energy, or signal transfer between related elements. (p.226)


The nature of process instruction requires much stage setting. The difference in the requirements for environment description for novices and experts is the key to an important principle for all of process instruction. Process instruction, more than any other type of instruction, is prone to great compression. For process instruction, the instructional message can sometimes be compressed into a few words if the audience for the instruction is experienced and already has a great deal of knowledge in the content. For novices, the explanations must be detailed and explicit - sometimes painfully so. (P.235)

This book is an authoritative compendium of instructional design practices applied to computer-based instruction, including web-based training (WBT). Drawing heavily from M.D. Merrill's Component Display Theory and ID2 project, the book has strong chapters on instructional strategies for each of the major types of learning. It also has good treatments of basic design practices for tutorial and simulation CBT design.

As an astronomy student at the University of Colorado, I have used "The Cosmic Perspective" as a text book for two of my classes (one on stars and galaxies, and one on the solar system). This book is perfect for both: the text is clear and full of insight; the illustrations and photographs are abundant and extremely professional, and they complement the text superbly; the sections called "Mathematical Insight" give the reader a clear understanding of the science involved, and the sections called "Common Misconceptions" are as fun to read as they are informative.

I have read this book cover-to-cover, and although it is intended as a text book, it reads like many of the very popular science books I have read. If you enjoyed reading Sagan's "Cosmos", Gribbin's "In Search of the Big Bang", Feynman's "The Character of Physical Law", Lederman's "The God Particle" or Hawking's "A Brief History of Time", you will enjoy this very well-conceived and well-written book.

"The Cosmic Perspective" is very comprehensive. Besides covering the fundamental concepts of astronomy (such as light as the cosmic messenger; universal motion; celestial timekeeping; and telescopes), this book details how stars are born, evolve and die; the fundamentals of relativity; how the galaxies were formed, as well as how our solar system was formed; how vast space really is; how we know the distances to various objects in our universe; and how we know what happened at the early moments of the Big Bang. Since this book is new (published in 1999), it contains the latest facts and the latest thinking of modern astronomy. This book captured my interest and my enthusiasm the moment I began reading it.

For beginner or intermediate astronomy students, this book not only has all topics covered, but touches on many other branches of science that are essential to the understanding of astronomy. Clear, concise explanations with very careful attention to units in sample problems make many basic science concepts understandable. The depth of current knowledge covered on a wide variety of astronomical topics is remarkable for inclusiion in just one book. The graphic diagrams, drawings, charts, illustrations, and photographs are also outstanding in what they add to one's ability to visualize the material presented. Overall, this is by far the best astronomy book I've seen.