Back Cover description: "have a wild, crazy affair." Of all the promises Gretchen Montgomery was asked to keep after her friend's death, this one posed a problem. Gretchen was not wild or crazy. She didn't even know any eligible men-except her tenant, Dr. Marco Garibaldi. A look from him made her toes curl. Could she have an afffair with him? Well, she had promised... Marco had made a promise, too. Never marry. A physician's life was too demanding. But as his attraction to Gretchen grew, he couldn't resist her sweet seduction. Their wild, crazy affair had begun. But it was suddenly interruped when Gretchen announced she was pregnant. And Marco amazed himself when he considered doing something he'd promised never to do-propose!

I started out liking this book, but towards the end I just wished both Gretchen and Marco would stop emoting and just get on with the business of living. The plot moved along, but towards the end it stalled. It did have some interesting discussions about the choices we make, but the story could have moved along at a faster pace.

Three months after her best friend died, Gretchen Montgomery received a tape made by Jill. On the tape, Jill extracts three promises: take the money Jill left her out of the safe money market account and spend it on frivolities; enter a piano competition; have a wild, crazy affair. So Ms. Practicality CPA finds herself embarking on a new life style. New clothes, new cosmetics and a new sports car lead her to propositioning the sexy doctor next door. Too bad he flat turns her down.

Dr. Marco Garibaldi likewise always honors his promises. He's seen the strain being a doctor place on a family life. So he's made a couple of promises to himself: never loose touch with the human side of his job; never marry. When he weakens on his promise, he thinks of his best friend and the struggles he and his wife face. Ironically, his best friend convinces him to baby sit his seven month old so he and his wife can take the weekend for time together to hopefully save their marriage. Marco's inadequate baby skills lead to Gretchen's assistance and his change of heart regarding an affair.

What PROMISES, PROMISES lacks in substance, it compensates with frivolity. This delightfully pleasant read results in first-rate escape fiction. As promises draw Gretchen and Marco into experiencing life and learning to risk their hearts. As this couple struggles with the stress every couple faces, they do so with pain, with humor, and with grace. These appealing characters result in a delightful afternoon's read. PROMISES, PROMISES comes recommended.

Cooper mines a wellspring of human emotions with such honesty, freshness and realism that PROMISES, PROMISES never descends into stock characterization or cliche. (She even spins a new twist on the oft-trite but de rigueur "baby" plot.)

This book has plenty of substance -- Cooper poses some big, real-life questions her characters answer only after considerable soul-searching -- but the story is anything but solemn. Her heroine's opening gambit -- trying to seduce a tenant she's hardly said two words to -- is a doozy of a scene, funny and fun, and the disastrous result is something anyone who's ever put themselves on the line and failed can identify with.

And sure, there's frivolity, but that doesn't make this a cotton-candy read. Gretchen and Marco are well-rounded characters trying to get through life the best they can, and darn it all if you don't fall in love with them almost immediately. I wasn't too keen on Gretchen at first -- she seemed a bit too drab and doormat-ish -- but I loved how she summoned the courage to reach for that brass ring.

To countereffect the wordiness of the author, I'll keep this brief. This is a thought-provoking read, and as an administrator I will take much of this book to heart. In many respects it will be life- or at least job-altering. For that, I am very pleased.

The painful part was actually getting through the book. It is very dryly written, with pretentious language and lacking clear outline. Truly painful.

I found the first couple chapters agonizing. Then the author hit his stride and offered a lot of valuable insight. I wish it had been written in plain english rather than all the superfluous fluff. We already know you're smart: now tell us what you are trying to say.

I wouldn't have read it if I didn't have too, but since I did, it was pretty good. As an administrator, I will keep this on my book-case..Ha ha.

Terry L. Cooper's The Responsible Administrator will someday (if not already) be listed by successful and respected public administration practitioners as one of the books that had the most influence on their careers. Those who list it as such will probably have a well-worn copy on their library shelf because it is not a piece that is read through once - even very carefully, word for word - with the reader then declaring, "Now I see how it should be done." Rather, it is a book that increases in utility as one's experience in decision-making and working through administrative ethical dilemmas increases. For this reason, its greatest impact will be on practitioners, as opposed to students and academics. Nevertheless, although it is certainly realistic about, and empathetic with the day-to-day decision-making and ethical conflicts faced by public administrators, it is nonetheless theoretically thorough and academically thoughtful.

Cooper is obviously a scholar of the philosophical and moral issues surrounding public administration and decision making. In addition to his own thoughtful analysis and theory, he provides a comprehensive and thorough review of literature relating to each item of discussion, as well as on-point case studies that amplify the ethical complexities and difficulties challenging today's administrators. Fortunately for practitioners, he is not content to conclude his treatise with conceptual, theoretical and philosophical analysis of ethical problems, but suggests a design approach for dealing with both the short-term decision-making situations and the long-term organizational, political, legal, cultural, policy and procedural issues faced by administrators as they attempt to make balanced and ethical decisions.

The manner in which Cooper presents his case studies allows the reader to interact and find conceptual application. Each one is "based on reality and fictionalized only slightly to protect those who wrote them" (p. xxi), and is very illustrative and thought provoking regarding the ethical problems being discussed. However, they are always left unresolved. Cooper says, "To indicate an outcome [in each case] would diminish the experience of dilemma they are calculated to evoke" (p. xxi). This emphasizes the ultimate purpose of The Responsible Administrator which "is to illuminate the ethical situation of the public administrator and cultivate imaginative reflection about it - not to prescribe a particular set of public service values" (p. xxi). Although the volume leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that its author has strong opinions and a well-established belief structure, it makes no attempt to proselytize the reader with a substantive system of moral values or standards for public administrators.

The premise of The Responsible Administrator is that public administrators, in fulfilling their administrative responsibilities, are faced with complex and ambiguous ethical issues which force them to juggle multiple compelling factors: the facts of each situation; their own personal values and beliefs; and external obligations and institutional norms. Through the process of resolving these issues in specific and concrete situations, administrators define administrative responsibility and develop an operational ethic for themselves. Over time, "this working ethic becomes the substance of one's professional character" (p. 6).

The book focuses on providing a method whereby a design system can be developed and utilized by administrators to formulate their responsibility in dealing with conflict, tension, uncertainty and risk. "A basic assumption of this book is that the more we consciously address and systematically process the ethical dimensions of decision making when we confront significant issues, the more responsible we become in our work as administrators. It is then that we are able to account for our conduct to superiors, the press, the courts, and the public" (p. 17). The decision-making model Cooper proposes consists of four initial steps: "defining the ethical problem, describing the context, identifying the range of alternative courses of action, and projecting the probable consequences of each" (p. 245). He then prescribes stepping beyond this initial linear exercise to the "nonlinear process of searching for a fit among several considerations: moral rules, ethical principles, anticipatory self-appraisal, and a rehearsal of defenses" (p. 245). Thus, the model is a pragmatic leveling of the rational and behavioral playing fields of responsible decision making.

One chapter in The Responsible Administrator is dedicated to understanding the administrative role as it relates to the social and cultural context in which it functions. Therein he poses the question of how one sorts out "the priority of obligations between those of being a citizen in a democratic society and those associated with being a public administrator" (p. 37). This is a theme explored in even greater detail in The Spirit of Public Administration (1997), wherein H. George Frederickson concludes that the public administrator must act as a "representative citizen." Cooper suggests that the theories of Weber and Wilson regarding the separation of politics from administration are no longer viable in a postmodern society. Today, public administrators play a substantive political role and need to acknowledge their high degree of accountability to the citizenry, while at the same time being a member of the citizenry. An ethical struggle can develop, therefore, leading to confusion for the public administrator when carrying out the orders of superiors and being loyal to the organization is in conflict with his or her duty to uphold the public interest.

The Responsible Administrator is not a book that will provide much satisfaction to public servants who are looking for the answer to the question, "Why should I be moral?" But for administrators in public service who are looking for a guide to assist them in developing an operation ethic - an "ethical identity" (p. 7) - Cooper delivers. Those who commit to and adopt his design methodology should do so only if they are prepared for an ongoing and maturational process. Cooper is not proposing a read-it-once and master-it-forever theory. Rather, he is calling for public administrators to commence a life-long journey of cultivating intuitive decision-making skills, resulting in responsibility and accountability to superiors, subordinates, the law, the public and themselves.

You might want to take the author's viewpoint into consideration when deciding whether or not to purchase this book. For example, on page 133, he says, 'I use no gods, except the concept of a creative source. In my religion, there are only three people: Me, myself, and I."

This is one of the most dynamic, positive and uplifting works I've ever read. The techniques are breathtakingly simple, and the author's presentation is wonderful in it's symmetry and depth. Western Magick forms the backdrop, but the information contained here should prove useful to anyone interested in expanding their horizons. This work is especially valuable to those who believe that the Mind is the ultimate source of Reality. Also, I found Mr. Cooper's sincerity and kind words of encouragement particularly refreshing and helpful. His program of self-empowerment challenges the reader to stretch beyond old and outdated beliefs toward a fresh perspective; one that has the potential to transform lives. Courage and a little discipline are all that's required; I think you'll find that this book goes a long way towards helping you find these.

At first Mr Cooper seems rather dorky and dogmatic but using logical reasoning he open-mindedly explains the truths behind what we call existence. While reading this book I thought how lucky I was to have discovered it beforte the age of forty - I wished I'd had it before the age of 20 but then, its only just been published. I won't bore you with my critique - just buy it and realise its worth infintely more than you'll pay for it. I only wish I could get in touch with the author and personally ask him some questions.

This is about the 12th classic children's story that I have read to my pre-schooler this year. It has been his least favorite to date. I agree that the writing is excellent, how many writers could capture the true esscence of a dream? But it was not the best story for a 4-year old. He just never really got into it. Some of the chapters were better than others and I will try reading it to him again when he gets older, but for now I'll give it a 3* rating.

Children familiar only with the classic illustrations by John Tenniel will be introduced to a wide variety of artistic interpretations of Lewis Carroll's immortal "Alice in Wonderland", compiled by Cooper Edens. This unabridged edition brings together the works of over thirty illustrators from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. The book is aesthetically balanced with both black and white and color pictures. It is interesting to see how each artist has visualized Alice and the rest of the eccentric characters. Some, such as A. E. Jackson's and Margaret Tarrant's, I found right on target, while others, like A.A. Nash's Shirley Templesque Alice, I found off the mark. But this is simply a personal opinion. My favorite interpreter though is still Arthur Rackham, whose art is featured prominently. All in all a very satisfying purchase.

and I don't mean the story. Yes, I did find the plot quite pleasing actually and very well written for the level it's at. My one complaint however was that the situation was enitrely unbelievable, from first hand experience I know it takes years and years... did I say years? of pracice to become a professional highwire artist. in this book it took maybe...well certainly not close to the amout of time it takes in real life.

Alison finds a high wire costume and becomes a performer in the circus. The story's pretty good, but the plot kind of ruined the story.

I love the fact that my son is into Batman Beyond for many reasons. One of those reasons, or so I thought was to encourage his desire to read. Not true with this book.

My son is almost 4 and loves books but this one has comic book style format on every page. He likes that he possesses such a book with Batman Beyond on the cover but loses interest when I try to read it to him. Maybe when he is older this will not be an issue.

My wife and I are doing everything we can to encourage our 7-year-old to read, and since he loves Batman Beyond, this book was a natural choice. The book tells the origin of "Batman Beyond" effectively, if very sketchily. It is presented in comic book (or maybe graphic novel) format, and the artwork is solid, standard, comic book style art.

Although the book is supposed to be targeted for children 4-8 years old, I'd narrow that range to 6-8. Your average first grader will have a bit of difficulty with many of the words.

The strongest recommendation I can make for this book is that my son read the entire book on his own initiative without any prompting or encouragment from us. That was the first time he ever read a book completely on his own, so needless to say, I'm thrilled.

I normally like all of Susan Howatch's books but I'm not too sure about this one.It's a bit like a junior version of "Rebecca" It's a murder mystery peopled with dark characters and the hero has a mysterious former marriage.I finished it but it left me with an unsatisfied feeling.I found it in an op-shop so I don't suppose that many people will read it these days but I'd love to talk to anyone who does.

A detective story, close to the "How done it?" genre. Most of te time it keeps the reader suspense, although most of the time it gets to imaginary. Certainly, this isn't a "must have" book, but a light and nice book...

This is what happens when smart guys get a stupid idea. I'm glad this philosophy never caught on, otherwise we'd all be Existentialists (meaning a 90% chance we'd never mature past freshman year of university-level I-think-I'm-so-cool-I-worship-Sartre mentality, since 90% of Exies I know of fit that description)- and not just that, we'd be parentless Existentialists with Marxists leanings. Naturally, Cooper's (Not-so)Great Idea ended up where it was destined to be: in the realm of obscurity, with all the other concepts that seemed cool & progressive at the time of their birth but now seem really lame!

David Cooper, one of the grand old men of existential psychiatry, delivers a withering assault on the family from an individualist perspective. "Bringing up a child," he says, "is bringing down a person"; the family teaches us to live "agglutinatively," hence pathologically, rooting our identity in our birth milieu instead of in who we are as individuals.

It's hard to find books that recognize that the family -- modern society's bedrock institution -- has critical problems which themselves underlie so many of our social problems.

Written in the 70s, the book has a streak of Marxist jargon that contemporary readers may find distracting. But look past that -- beneath it is as pure and radical a call to tear down the family and all the "subtle violence" it works on the individual that you will ever read.

Thirty-two years old London barrister Trish Maguire delays her latest case because her key witness fails to keep her court appointment. Trish learns why social worker Kara Huggate did not make her date when the police arrive to question the barrister. Someone tortured, raped, and murdered Kara in her home. Trish thinks the "Kingsford Rapist" has returned after a three-year absence to wreck havoc on the small village where six women were molested.

Trish soon receives a letter from Kara written just before she was killed. The note asks Trish to help Blair Collins on his wrongful job termination case. Reluctantly, but out of homage and loyalty to Kara, Trish decides to accept the case, but as soon as she meets Blair she concludes he is a paranoid individual filled with delusions. Trish begins to believe that Blair murdered Kara, a theory the police think is very plausible. However, when the truth behind Kara's death is revealed nobody is prepared for the far ranging repercussions.

Natasha Cooper is a talented mystery writer who has gained much acclaim throughout England. However, American readers who are not conversant with British legal terms and law enforcement acronyms will find the story line jarring because the audience must stop reading and try to figure out the meaning of a phrase. The protagonist is a likable person who distrusts people, yet still goes the extra kilometer to protect her clients. This turns Trish into a heroic figure willing to risk her own safety. It is Trish that makes FAULT LINES worth reading for anyone who enjoys a courageous female protagonist, is an Anglophile, or wants to understand the vernacular of the British system. If your taste is apple pie not shepherd's pie, this novel is not for you.

Harriet Klausner

This is a deeply engrossing novel that will keep you guessing, with a couple of plot twists that you almost expect, and yet manages to surprise you anyway.

Kara Huggate, a social worker, has persuaded Trish Maguire, a sharp and idealistic lawyer, to take on a case of alleged child abuse. The case pretty much hinges on Kara's testimony. And so Trish is shocked to learn that on the very day of the trial, Kara was found murdered in a most brutal manner in her home. The police seem to think that either the Kingsford rapist has struck again or else it is a case of a copycat crime.

Trish is still mourning her friend's death when she receives a letter from Kara requesting that Trish help a client, Blair Collons, in a case of wrongful dismissal. Collons, is a seedy man who used to work as the bookkeeper for the Kingsford Town Council. He claims he was dismissed because he and Kara were suspicious of a shady development deal that the Council was involved in with contaminated land. Collon is a man that lives and breathes conspiracy theories and he firmly believes that Kara was murdered because she was trying to find out what was going on.

Collons makes Trish feel extremely uneasy, especially as he seems to have a rather unhealthy fixation for Kara. Trish begins to suspect that Collon may have murdered Kara. However she feels obligated to help Collon because it was Kara's last request, and because he is now a client. And then someone starts sending her newspaper cuttings of women who have been brutally , and she starts receiving threatening 'phone calls in the middle of the night. Is it Collon, or could his wild, off-the-wall theories actually have substance?

I was totally absorbed with this book. The intricacies and tight pacing of the book was so neatly mapped out, that it was pretty much 'smooth' reading. Also much of the violence was alluded to without graphic and needless descriptions -- a fact much appreciated! I freely admit to being a bit of an Anglophile, and so find mysteries that give the reader a glimpse of the British legal system engrossing reading. And when they are matched with a character like Trish Maguire, they are a winning combination. Trish may be sharp and a little impatient, but she is smart and loyal as well. The next Trish Maguire mystery will be an automactic 'must read' for me.

Very engrossing reading.

William Cooper: Death Of A Conspiracy Salesman by Commander X is one more example of Commander X trying to make a buck very quickly .. His book is not worth the paper it is written on .. buying TOILET PAPER would be more useful. ... Willy Cooper .. shot a Young Police Officer in the face twice .. there was no need for that .. he was right off his rocker .. he did not live with his wife .. he lived with a dog and a chickhen and had a very bad temper. He published articles as Truth but in fact were HOAXs from others that he did not know about. Even his website posted that the arrest had nothing to do with UFOs or what he wrote .. he was being arrested for what was written on the arrest warrant and he resisted with force. He is not a hero .. he is a nut case that totally lost any conception of reality. If he had left peaceably he would be still alive today and Commander X would not made any money of his death.
Commander X put this book out shortly after Coopers death .. very fast .. only 100 page paperback .. a trashy paperback with the AMERICAN FLAG plastered all over it. He even brings up Sept 11 Twin Towers to sell the book .. anyone that buys this book is supporting what he is doing. He is in it only for the money .. your money. Want to read it .. flip through it at the store .. 100 pages .. a few minutes.. keep your money and buy the kids a burger and fries...

terryincanada

In the tightly knit UFO community, the name of William Cooper was for many years famous or infamous, depending on your perspective. There are few researchers and publishers in the field who did not at some point have mostly unpleasant and decidedly bizarre encounters with Cooper.

There are even legends to the effect that fistfights were not uncommon when Cooper came to lecture at UFO conferences around the country. Some people just couldn't handle what they took to be Cooper's arrogance and tendencies toward outright character defamation when some unlucky someone crossed the line Cooper had fanatically scratched in his personal and very internalized sand.

So it was not much of a surprise to the UFO community in general when it was reported that Cooper had died in November of 2001 in a confrontation with the sheriff's department in Eager, Arizona. Cooper had always intended to go out in a blaze of glory defendindg his radical beliefs, and while even his closest followers denied that his death had anything to do with his rabblerousing about the New World Order, in some way he got his wish.

Which brings us to "William Cooper: Death of a Conspiracy Salesman," edited by Commander X, the veteran researcher and author of many books on the New World Order conspiracy. The book was rushed into print in the weeks following Cooper's death, and it gamely attempts to put the entire story of Cooper into some kind of comprehensive focus. It includes the transcripts of a couple of the countless lectures Cooper gave in which he talked about the dark hand of our own government in the Kennedy assassination, the unconstitutionality of the Internal Revenue Service, the idea that UFOs are in fact secret manmade spacecraft being used by the government to somehow take away our freedoms--the list goes on and on.

Cooper also openly stated his belief that both the September 11 terrorist attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing were carried out by the US government as a means of using the threat of terrorism to put in place a fascist police state in the name of "National Security." It may interest the reader to know that even "straight-world" author Norman Mailer raised the same possibility in an interview with "The London Times" in early 2002. Whether or not either gentlemen is correct in that assessment remains to be seen of course.

The book also includes several different newspaper reports on the actual circumstances surrounding Cooper's violent demise, an event that received surprisingly little coverage outside of the Arizona region where it took place. Given that Rush Limbaugh and even President Clinton had commented publicly on Cooper in the years before his death, both calling him a dangerous fanatic, as well as the fact that Cooper's weekly radio show was later listed as among the primary political influences on Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, one would think Cooper's death would have rated at least some national headlines.

Be that as it may, if you are interested in learning more about Cooper or simply want to see what one more militia man had to say before he bought it, then "Death of a Conspiracy Salesman" is well worth its cover price and the short time it will take to read it.

I guess I had read elsewhere that Wild Bill (Tim Beckley's nick name for Cooper) had quite a temper. Apparently, he had exploded at more than one UFO convention and refused to lecture for another conference organizer cause he believed the organizer was an agent of the IRS. Cooper was known as an ultra patroit and his book BEHOLD A PALE HORSE has long been the top selling conspiracy in the States. Cooper's ideas might be considered extreme but lots of folks. He believed -- and I think in all sincerity -- that the New World Order was about to impose a socialist dictatorship and take away all our rights. He saw left wingers every where and even said that Kennedy was assassinated by one of the Secret Service drivers (he later seemed to back track on this theory -- as he did with many of his statements). Indeed, any one time Cooper claimed that while he was in the Navy he was shown documents which clearly showed that the U.S. military had captured little men from space and had establishd some sort of cosmic trade agreement with them. This volume acts as sort of a tribute/though it doesnt seem like the author followed Cooper's complete train of thought hook, line and sinker; seeing Cooper as a great speaker and a salesman who knew that he had to keep the public's attention if we were to pay the rent. If nothing more this book is a great study of one of the most controversial individuals of our era.