Even in a world as worshipful of the body such as ours, the ancient split between matter and spirit, between body and soul is still so pervasive that it is an anomaly to think that the body is our way -- indeed the only way -- of existing in the world. Humans are not spirits condemned to the prison of the flesh, waiting for their liberation from matter and escape into the spiritual paradise. Rather they are incarnated spirits and ensouled bodies. They can achieve their wholeness only though their bodies -- and more precisely, their wounded bodies -- since the world in which they live is marked by diseases, pains, psychic sufferings and ultimately death. Through a series of insightful and profound analysis of literary, psychological, artistic and religious masterpieces -- from the ancient Greek tragedies to contemporary American novels -- Slattery offers us a way of imagining our wounded bodies, and through this imagination, reconnect them with the spirits. We owe Slattery an enormous debt for his powerful imagination. No one who reads this book will remain unchallenged and unchanged by his way of seeing the human body as an icon of the divine. I most strongly recommend his book to those seeking wholeness and spiritual transformation.

My oldest friend, at 80, is an M.D. He still considers himself a country doctor. On a drive through the desert near his retirement home, he confessed his inability to understand the the young who tattoo, scarify, burn, brand, cut, and pierce their bodies. He doesn't understand the concept or reality of bodymind. If only...if only he could read and comprehend Dennis Slattery's 'The Wounded Body'. But this is not for his generation. My friend will die in a Newtonian universe.

Slattery holds us to the mirror of soul; the wounded body is not a pathological manifestation, rather, "within the scars and pains of our wounds is the blossoming flower of freedom; the wound has the capacity to open up to liberation" (p.213). The wound is gold. A door opens.

Each of us plays upon the stage of life, yet for the most part the lines we speak are not our own. Slattery points true North; the direction to an individuated life. Morover, he gives us a map; the map that is always written in our bones, muscle, fascia, and skin. "What we see through the body marked and violated is that memory itself is deeply wounded, scarred, and is in need of a counternarrative that heals" (p. 209).

Now we know what Patricia Berry meant when she said that the way we tell our story is the way we form our therapy, or what James Hillman meant when he wrote that the way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives. Slattery gives voice to our wounds; gives our wounds a connection to the drama of our lives, to the collective, and to the planet. An ecopsychology is inferred; to honor the wound means tending the soul of the world. 'The Wounded Body' is essential reading in depth psychology.

I reccomend this book for psychotherapists, physical therapists, survivors, true artists, medical practitioners, historians, sociologists, political scientists, physicists, mythologists, revolutionaries, ecologists, and shamans.

Reading this book compelled me to begin imagining not only literary works but the life of our bodies in ways I hadn't thought of before. As the author states in his chapter on Oedipus Rex, "a kind of knowledge is offered through the wounded or violated body that helps us to understand the poetic work's entire meaning." This is the first book I've come across that imagines the world of our body as a kind of text, to be read and meditated upon. Its meanings and its secrets will reveal themselves if we only take time to listen, to be attentive. For those of us that have been wounded in life, which I'm sure is most of us, we have felt our wounds beckoning to us. If not to be read, at least to be listened to. This book gave me a great charting on how to begin this kind of meditative activity. I've already begun to include it in my graduate studies as a way to re-imagine many of the classics I thought I had a handle on. Over the past several years we've had alot of books that have dealt with "Soul". This is a welcome book that reunites both body and soul.

Robert Gandt has found another niche he can claim as his own: writing military thrillers. He has used what he knows with what he imagines in a superb combination of reality and art. Without burdening his text with technical descriptions, he carries his readers into the world of the military as naturally as if they were an invisible fly on his collar button. And in the air battle scenes, he succeeds in making readers feel they are experiencing virtual reality. You forget you're the reader and become the pilot. You feel the G forces, the rushing ground, the hair-raising near misses...you hear the mighty jet engines swooping and swooning...you see the target in your cross hairs and smell death. You feel your heart beating, your hands sweating inside your gloves, and you feel steely cool focused only on your target.

Aside from his amazing ability to put you inside the story is the story itself--a story that may be closer to the truth than we care to imagine in the days of war coming to Iraq. He portrays a cunning and skillful enemy you can understand and have to respect. Treachery, no matter who suffers as a result of it, is cause for vengeance, right or wrong, and we see forces equally motivated to devine that justice, which makes the outcome even more dramatic in its deliverance.

What's even more admirable is his portrayal of women challenging a man's world: a war correspondent and a F-18 pilot. They do their jobs becuse they love doing them, not because they want to be distinct from the pack. And both women can't have their man. Even this rivalry is worked out the way real women would resolve it.

Bob Gandt soars to the top of my favorite military novelists, and I hope to see Brick Maxwell and his Roadrunners along with broadcaster Claire Phillips on the USS Ronald Reagon in a TV series soon.

Great story..I read his first fiction
with Hostile Intent and it was good..now having
read acts of vengeance I am looking forward to the next
episode..this was very well written and a good look
into the workings of the politics of war fighting..thanks
again..

This is the second in what I hope will be an ongoing series of naval aviation adventure stories. Acts of Vengeance has it all--gutsy flying scenes, romance, a submarine attack on a super carrier, Marines in ground combat with terrorists, a charismatic terrorist leader who is very nearly the match of the hero, Brick Maxwell. Throw in a you-are-there feel of life aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. Gandt cranks up the suspense and doesn't turn loose. Can't wait for the next one.

As a long time user and fan of various incarnations of the Rider Waite Smith deck, I went looking for something different, but not radically different in a new deck. The Alchemical Tarot does depart from some of the familiar symbology, but in a very constructive and well-defined way. Nonetheless, this is a Tarot deck in the grand tradition.

The book: I came to this deck and book with almost no knowledge of alchemy, but as I sat reading the opening chapters, which give a concise, well-written overview of the long history of this art and its eventual integration with Tarot, I found many dissaparate elements I've picked up and drawn from coming together into a cohesive whole. For those who believe that Jung's collective unconcious is a good modern explanation of why Tarot works, this is a must read.

The deck: Again, WOW! Some of the images may look strange at first, but with a bit of insight into the rationale of the artist, they are rich, fresh, and inspiring. I look forward to meditating with them, and they should raise a few eyebrows in public readings, too.

I was drawn to this tarot after believing that I would never find a tarot that was right for me. Something about it interested me. Before finding it,I had no knowledge of Alchemy other than it involved something to do with turning metals into gold. This book gave me an insight into the true meaning of Alchemy, and showed how this can so easily be found in the tarot. I found that the meanings of the cards were enhanced by the reflections from Alchemy, and have provided an insight into the cards which I had not previously experienced. Although I would not recommend this set to the tarot beginner, it is well worth a read by the experienced tarot reader, or the Alchemist who is looking for a further way to refine experience as they seek the "philosopher's stone" within.

This deck is simply stunning--not just for the artwork, which is clear and classical and modern and surreal all at the same time--but also for the visual interpretations of the cards.

Generally, there is a flavor of classical alchemy, but I find that it does not overwhelm what is very much a TAROT deck.

I just find myself staring at the cards with their beautiful colors and mystery. In the context of a tarot reading, they sing.

LOVE OF MY MOTHER...
I DON'T LOVE HER
AND I AM READING THIS FINE BOOK IN ORDER TO AVOID THE SAME MISTAKE SHE MADE AND TO BE ASSURED THAT MY CHILD WILL BE FREE AND LOVE HIS MOM !
Be my guest ! FACE IT,MY GIRL !

es sapientísima...pero es más facil hablar que actuar...Y lo común es que el amor nos haga aferrarnos a los hijos.
Y DESDE PEQUEÑOS TENEMOS QUE APRENDER A "DEJARLOS IR " a respetar sus pequeñas decisiones conforme las van tomando cada vez más y más...
Esta obra, GENIAL , no enseña el camino, el de LA LIBERTAD QUE NUESTROS HIJOS ADQUIRIERON EN EL MOMENTO DE NACER... y que, sin querer, les coartamos tantas veces "por amor "

Y TODAVIA NO LOGRO LIBERARME DE SU DOPMINANTE ASFIXIA...
Cuando te "posee " alguien que disfraza a la prepotencia de "amor ", estás perdido, amigo!
Es la hora en que tomar una decisión es un calvario!
Ella las tomaba todas, sutilmente, con "una opinión "
Me adoraba, si, pero yo no la quiero porque nunca me hizo libre y luchar por lograrlo es una batalla sangrienta !
Lee este libro a tiempo, mujer... y evítale a tus hijos un futuro de dolor y de resentimiento en tu contra !

I recommend that everyone dealing with mechanics get a copy of this gem, and read it! It is the most amazing technical book I have read! I don't want to repeat what others have said in their reviews, and so there is not much more for me to say other than that this book has got to be a classic.

I found this book to be truly exceptional. It is THE best book on Analytical Dynamics on the market. I recommend it highly. The authors have taken all the high-fangled wonder out of analytical dynamics and brought it down to a level that any senior or graduate student can follow. And yet the book is far deeper than any that I have read so far including Whittaker and Watson's book! There is a plethora of new results.
The authors need to be congratulated on this book. This is an example of book that shows that good authors can deal with complex and deep topics and yet be simple and straightforward in their explanations.
Some time in the future I'd like to make a special trip to the University of Southern California just to meet these two gentlemen. As one of the previous reviews says: They show great brilliance!

This book is absolutely fantastic! For a student like myself, it is the first book on analytical dynamics that I have read that does not seem to be a copy of numerous others. It is simple, easy to follow, and it is deals with the fundamentals in a manner that I have not found in any other book that I used during my graduate study . . . and I used plenty!

The authors need a round of applause . . . In fact, several rounds of applause! Very rarely does one come across a gem . . . and then you want to read it over and over again. This is that kind of book. It seems to grow in its depth each time I read it.

I often wonder what the guys who wrote this little amazing book look like. It would be great to meet them in person! They are surely brilliant individuals.

This is the best photographic book I have ever seen. Its pictures of The Big Apple are magnificent! Comparative pictures taken in years past, many in the 1920s, show how sections of the city have changed. Whether one is a fan of New York and who isn't, you will enjoy this book. It makes me want all the other "Above" books now.

This book is really great. I recommend it to anyone who loves NY!

Robert Cameron's book, "Above New York", is one of the best photographic books that I've seen in recent years. Some areas of the city are chronicled from an historic perspective, while other areas are displayed in their modern beauty. I appreciate the juxtaposition of the older photos with their more modern counterparts.

His views of downtown are especially well-done, and in light of recent times, it was a comfort to see the skyline in the traditional beauty. The view of the Twin Towers rising from the battery with Lady Liberty in the foreground seems especially meaningful in these times when our freedom seems threatened.

SCRUM is a "light weight wrapper" of techniques to manage and guide your software projects. Actually, you could use it on a lot of other types of projects, but software is its best use.

What's unique is that it wraps around the "Design it first" school that I follow, as well as the Extreme Programming (XP) school that follows a proto-typing approach.

SCRUM provides the mechanisms for organizing and controlling the development of your software project. You develop a short list of deliverables for the next 30 days and have a series of daily meetings. Oh, there's more to it than this.

In software projects I have followed a process where the design is fully thought out in advance. I say it is 85 % accurate as I know that mid-course corrections will be made as the software is developed and delivered to the client.

On large projects we typically work in 2 week deliverables, the author suggests 30 day "sprints". We break all the projects up into many packages of deliverables. One advantage to this was the client could see progress, give on course corrections, and you'd be sure to get paid. On small projects we have not followed any formal procedures.

What SCRUM does is give me a better, more thought out process for what the author calls these 30 day "sprints." I wish I had read this book earlier.

I picked up the book at a computer store and bought it reluctantly. I had heard good things about SCRUM, but the book looked too small and a quick read at the store didn't really turn me on that much.

But after I sat down to read it at home, I was very pleased. It is a very well-underlined book now.

I agree with the XP folks on the productivity of 2 person programming teams and have found their "test first" approach to be very interesting. However, I do find that their design-on-the-fly approach to be flawed. When XP works, I think it is because it attracts good programmers... it's not the XP proto-typing approach itself. In fact, I think any methodology that relies on proto-typing wears out the goodwill of the client. The clients time is limited and they value it highly.

I will say that I found many interesting ideas in XP. And, I recommend that anyone interested in the subjec of this book, go to the XP websites and read their books (about 6 or so at this time).

SCRUM fits around XP just as well as the design-it-first approach. What I disagree with in SCRUM (and XP) is the use of open office areas for programming. I believe studies have actually been done on this and closed offices, no windows, white walls, lots of marker boards... wins out. Anything beyond trivial programming requires concentration. Noise and movement kills concentration.

The graphics in the book really suck, as they look like they were printed out in some kind of old 320x200 screen resolution. But there is great depth to this book. It's a smaller sized book with small type (but still easy-to-read). So you actually get a lot of meat.

In the future, I will refer to this great book often and recommend all software people read it.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

This book packed an amazing amount of information into few pages. Most importantly, Ken Schwaber provided real-life examples of what worked for him and what didn't--and explained why.

Schwaber, the primary proponent of SCRUM, and Beedle have much experience with SCRUM and share it freely. Over the years, I've worked with numerous "newfangled" approaches to programming, including XP. Without SCRUM, however, we could not realize XP's potential. SCRUM is so deceptively simple, so logical, and so effective that one wonders why it hasn't been adopted more widely. In fact, I believe that as Schwaber continues to spread his message, SCRUM will be the wave of the future.

Schwaber's and Beedle's blueprint is a must read for every software developer. Once you try it, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

Scrum is the lever that can people-wise scale the development methods of XP and some of the other agile processes...

I used Scrum with a cross-functional team of 40+ people split into four smaller teams. It worked exceedingly well. We used some of the XP engineering disciplines as well, but what I love about Scrum is that it really doesn't have anything at all to do with software. You can use it for any task-oriented project that has ambiguity associated with the way the work should be done.

Scrum is IMHO the relatively undiscovered gem of the Agile Methods family. Corporate IT professionals in particular ought to learn and apply Scrum...

Grossman?s text was invaluable in helping me prepare for cumulative exams towards my PhD. I highly recommend this book as one of the best organic mechanism reviews I have come across. The problems are well thought-out, and often copied by other professors for use on cumulative exams (imitation is the highest form of flattery). Solutions are available online from the publisher, which is very helpful.

The reason this book is good is because it will help you actually learn how to do organic chemistry instead of just memorizing reactions and their mechanisms. This book answers "WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?". A very important book for the graduate student in organic chemistry.

This book is not the first of its kind. Audrey Miller wrote the first one-"Writing Reaction Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry". Miller used a renovating approch to treat organic reaction mechanisms. Mechanisms are not a bunch of random knowledges to be memorized any more. They can be analyzed and mastered.

However Grossman did a terrific job writing this book. It covers more material than Miller's. Both books are easy to read. Keys to answers of this book can be downloaded from internet(over 200 pages).

This book is great for graduate student who's struggling on his/her cumes, for industrial organic chemist who wants to have a thorough review of organic mechanism. Great value for the money.

Guy De Maupassant (1850-1893), if "Bel-Ami" is any indication, must rank as one of the best writers in the history of the western world. Born in Normandy in 1850, Maupassant became a disciple of the French author Flaubert early in life. Guy quit his job with the civil service after publishing his first short story, "Boule de Suif" in 1880. What followed was a phenomenal flurry of 250 short stories and six novels before his premature death from syphilis in 1893. During his short life, Maupassant helped to form the "groupe de Medan," a loosely knit group of naturalist writers headed by Emile Zola. He also worked as a journalist, covering such important events as the French campaigns in Algeria and Tunisia. A hard worker when it came to writing, Maupassant also possessed a zest for life, including a love for the ladies that eventually killed him.

"Bel-Ami" is hardly an original premise. How many books written through the years discuss the idea of a rural man heading to the city to make it big? That is exactly what happens with this book in the form of main character Georges Duroy. After a five-year stint in the French army, Duroy moves to Paris to make his fortune. Regrettably, Duroy is languishing in a lowly job as a railroad clerk until he meets his old army buddy Forestier. From this point forward, Georges is on the fast track to success. Forestier gets him a job at a scandal rag named "La Vie Francaise" where Georges rapidly ascends the ranks from lowly reporter to chief editor. Along the way, Duroy engages in all sorts of amorous adventures with women both high and low on the Paris social register. By the time the story ends, Georges is within sight of the highest positions in French society, all accomplished through sheer cunning and social maneuvering.

There are so many themes running through this sordid tale of the decadent Third Republic that it is impossible to adequately describe them all here. The introduction to this Penguin edition, written by translator Douglas Parmee, does a good job of showing how incidents in Maupassant's life appear in the character of Georges Duroy. The protagonist's rural background, his experience in France's North African expeditions, his work as a reporter and the subsequent expose of the seediness of journalism, the numerous affairs, the social positioning, and the philosophical musings on death are all expressions of Maupassant's personality and activities. I do hope, however, that Maupassant was not as big of a cad as Georges Duroy because this character may be one of the biggest jerks in the history of literature.

You cannot help but hate Duroy. He has little self-control except when he realizes that holding off on a conquest might mean self-advancement. Georges takes his mistress to the same theater where he picks up prostitutes, takes money from people without paying them back, corrupts women of high moral standards, sleeps with his boss's wife, seduces his boss's daughter, and physically assaults his mistress. There is just no way to sympathize with this guy, and the fact that he gains riches and fame is particularly galling to anyone with any sense of decency. But that is the message De Maupassant is trying to convey; that the complete decadence of French society during this time allows the likes of Duroy to succeed, and to succeed with a smile. Witness the scene towards the end of the book when Walter, Duroy's boss, grudgingly accedes his daughter to Georges's slimy scheme. "He will go far," says Walter, with more respect for Duroy's distasteful achievement than disdain for his lack of morals.

Another theme in the book, and one that runs through the pages like a 400-pound gorilla, is hypocrisy. The propensities for backstabbing, lying, and blatant disregard for self-realization in "Bel-Ami" is laugh out loud astonishing. These are shallow, manipulative people without a shred of decency, and Maupassant never passes up an opportunity to expose these despicable people. The hypocritical stance of the characters and situations often vie with powerfully descriptive passages of Paris and the French countryside, which are truly beautiful to read and have probably accounted for thousands of tourist trips to that country. The characters in "Bel-Ami" may be of no account morally, but they move and live in an environment of unsurpassed beauty.

Maupassant's knowledge of his own impending death weighs heavily in the story. Two sections highlight his musings on mortality: the monologue of the poet Norbert de Varenne and the death of Forestier. For the author, his slow deterioration from a disease made death a daily reality. What seemed to worry De Maupassant the most about death was not punishment from God but the idea of nothingness and being forgotten by the living. Of course, death makes no impression on Georges Duroy, who experiences only a moderate twinge over the passing of Forestier before making a play for that man's wife in order to improve his social position.

I am elated that I discovered this author. Guy De Maupassant is a brilliant writer whose early death robbed the world of a great talent. Although his short stories are considered some of the best ever written, do not pass by this novel. I have rarely seen an author who can write about mundane, daily situations with as much aplomb (see the scene about the fencing party as a prime example). De Maupassant's masterful abilities make this ordinary plot strikingly original and I will revisit this author again in the future. You should too.

Maupassant's characters are more real and colourful than those created by any of the other French naturalists. Bel Ami, his first fill length novel, is simply a joy to read. It tells the story a young ex-soldier, fighting for social position and materialism in the rat race of 1870s Paris. This novel could easily be transported to present day and loose nothing of its impact. Scandal, political intrigue and sexual manipulation are described with Maupassant's cutting pessimism, yet beautifully balanced by his black wit and appreciation for the simple joys of life.

I would never have known that Guy de Maupassant wrote novels along with his great short stories if another amazon reader hadn't turned me on to their existence. This novel, reminiscent of Madame Bovary (a male version, you might say) is terrific. You'll get a great deal of description of Paris in the late 19th century with period details worthy of any great novelist. The plot is typical: poor, rural young man from the outskirts (Rouen) has no money and no position in life, but longs to find fame and fortune. Thanks to his manly wiles (he's a natural ladies' man), he manages to sleep his way to the top. Like Madame Bovary, happiness is never really there no matter how much money and power he attains - the more you get, the more you realize that others will always have more. Still, Monsieur Duroy, even at his most calculating retains somewhat of a sympathetic quality that allows us to relate to him and root for his success. Despite its length, this novel is a fast read. One of my favorites of the year.

This is truly a wonderful book. I notice it is being reprinted in Spanish, but not in English. Publishers take note and bring this charming book back!

Wish this book would be reprinted! I can't believe it's no longer available. Anything with illustrations by Maurice Sendak is great. It is suspenseful, with sly humor. I read it to many classrooms and kids loved it. Bring it back.

I had this as a child and I have looked for years to find a copy to give my niece and nephews. I know they are big readers and I wanted them to have the same experience I had with this book. It is one of the fondest memories of my childhood and I will not give up the hope of finding a copy.