In this book, the fictional protagonist essentially describes the authors life, according to his daughter who wrote the introduction. Struggling to be successful in the white man's world, a mixed-blood Osage Indian is really only comfortable back home on the reservation. Never feeling at home in either, he often feels isolated in both. The book follows him from boyhood on the reservation to college and military life beyond, but always returning home.

This book is an absorbing read, and is notable for being one of the first books to examine this topic intelligently. It is devoid of romanticism or New Age allusions (illusions?), but is not the inevitable sinking despair of a James Welch read. I strongly recommend it for anyone with an interest in mixed-culture and heritage topics.

John Joseph Mathew was probably the most influential Osage Indian writer yet born. A World War I Army Air Corps pilot, he was Oxford educated as a geologist, travelled the world, especially Africa, yet came back to the Osage hills in Oklahoma to be "home". He was not a "full-blood" Osage, but was a "mixed-blood" of Osage and Caucasian heritage.

In his era, it was this mixed heritage that probably allowed him to be as educated as he was. This was invaluable in his later writing career, because his books are both poetic in style and writing, capturing much of the feel of our Osage oral history and home, yet scholarly in their documentation. He wrote the first best-seller by a Native American author (Wah-Kon-Tah: the Osage and the White-Man's Road)published in 1932. Following this, he wrote a history of our tribe, (The Osages, Children of the Middle Waters) which while controversial in some aspects, is the most complete written history we have yet. He also wrote on topics of naturalism and his personal views on many topics, and a biography of an oilman, both of more or less relation to the tribe.

But in none of these books to we get a real flavor of how he *felt* about things, and the experiences that molded him. In this book, Sundown, we see an intimate personal, often painful look at a younger Mathews. This, along with Mathews' prose syle is why I recommend the book.

....and into the world is a large endeavor. The author has written an eloquent and thoughtful account of how this might be done from a psychiatric point of view.

The first step is realizing that mental illness doesn't only or necessarily reside in the individual. If you live in poverty, for instance, you are much more likely to be diagnosed as pathological. For this reason the psychotherapist must taken environment into much greater account than has previously been attempted.

The author's equation of mental health with freedom parallels liberation psychology's emphasis on addressing the social conditions that make for physical and mental suffering.

This book was first published in 1968, and it's in need of updating. Contributions not only from lib psych but also from archetypal psychology, which "tends the soul of the world," and from ecopsychology and ecofeminism might be included as well.

Even so, most of the conditions described by the author--widespread poverty, power politics that keep it in place, the elitism of the psychotherapist, the indifference of the medical establishment--have remained in place. Bravo for a psychiatrist who is willing to challenge them in the streets.

This was a wonderful find. Mena Abdullah was my mother's cousin and I too was born and raised in Australia...being 3rd generation australian and my family from Lucknow in India. When I read this book, it was like listening to my family stories. I live in chicago now and my family is still living in Australia, when I grew up there were hardly any indians in Australia. I was one of 13 children to Harold and Patricia Tory from Lawrence & Sydney in Australia. This is truly wonderful for me and my family. Thank you Mena Abudullah for your thoughts, prayers and words so many years ago.

I bought this book from not knowing a thing about it or what to expect!
This book is very well written, entertaining and crammed with laughter from start to finish.
A totally irreverant but gentle poke in the eye at the old Irish catholic way of life, even the modern ones could learn a thing or two! I just couldn't put it down.
This book is a must for anyone who's ever told or heard an Irish joke.
Wether you want an insight into Irish politics, religion or just to brush up on your 'one liners' this is a book for you.
A veritable treat of knowledge and laughter!

Whenever I have studied the women in the Bible, I have learned about Sarah and Hannah,etc., but in this small, but impressive book they aren't included. Author and teacher Alice Mathews brings to life named and unnamed women in the New Testament by exploring how and why Jesus responded to them in the ways he chose to. In the preface she wrote: "But as we moved into Jesus' earthly life and ministry, I felt less and less at ease with the Jesus I met in John's gospel. I wanted the collegiants in my class to worship this Jesus and give their lives to Him. But He said and did strange things. He sounded rude to his mother." In this way she examines some of the bewildering ways of Jesus, and joins us in pondering the gospels. For me, this is a slow read, with 4 questions for either personal reflection or group discussion at the end of each chapter. When I hope to be teachable in my faith, I open "A Woman Jesus Can Teach" and savor one chapter at a time. In the chapter about the Canaanite woman, Mathews writes: "Take heart. A little bit of faith is still faith. A drop of water is water every bit as much as a reservoir of water." Later in that chapter she concludes: "A nameless Canaanite woman...reminds us that in our crisis experiences, we can hang on and trust God because He is the only one who is trustworthy." The study group I participated in opted not to use this book, as for many it seemed too much work. They wished for light, quick reading. But for my personal study, I am glad it has a place on my shelf.

This witty, book consists of a series of cartoons each with a punch line pertaining to the Slacker life style. For example, You know you're a Slack if while you are asleep you dream about taking a nap. This humor appeals to all ages. Yes, that's me quipped a friend in her mid 50's. The cartoon drawings add a drool, yet dim-whitted dimension to the concept of slacker. I recommend this book as a humorous gift for friends of any age. Did you ever move to a new house because cleaning the old one was too much trouble? This is Gallegly's first published work, and, I hope, won't be his last. He may be too much of a Slacker to write another.

This book does have the feel of a late night infomercial, filled with statements to pep you up and get you going. I actually don't think that's such a bad attitude for the author to have, especially if the reader is depressed and trying to recover. When you get past the hype, what's left? Well, it does have a good deal of dietary and lifestyle adjustments that will be of use to many people. There is definitely substance here. However, if you suffer from moderate to severe depression or anxiety, I doubt that the suggestions in this book will be enough. Sometimes medication is necessary for complete recovery. Nonetheless, worth a read regardless of the severity of your depression or anxiety. Avery Z. Conner, author of "Fevers of the Mind".

My nephew turned me onto this book. He said, "Aunt Geri, if I had the money, I'd buy a truckload of this book, stand on a corner, and give them away." After reading and re reading "Depression Free Naturally", I agree. This book could save many lives. With all the hype for dumbing down feel good prescriptions, what a fabulous alternative. Dr. Mathews-Larson has written an extremely important and helpful book for ANYONE who has ever felt depressed or any of the mood swings that accompany life as it is today. I have given several copies away, and will continue to do so. It is the GIF of a lifetime. AND, it is clearly written and interesting for the non medical person. It has changed my life and how I look at nutrition and moods. Thanks, Dr. Larson!

I highly recommend this book! First, it's a book that covers a lot of aspects of common problems (ie. hypoglycemia). It's set up with tests to see if an area is a problem for you. It explained in detail why it's so important to eat healthy (your sanity depends on it). In the last 5 weeks, my depression has improved considerably, I'm not nearly as tired as I was before and I feel better about myself overall. I've recommended it to many of my friends.

Ouch. This is a case where all the main ingredients necessary for a solid book - a combination of interesting premise, characters, plot and setting along with an obviously intelligent author - seem to be in place, yet the result is hardly worth a reader's time. In particular, the main shortcomings of Vienna Blood are:

1) The author's stilted writing style. Mathews' choice of words seems entirely at odds with the story he is trying to tell, and serves only to annoy the reader.

2) Poor use of Vienna as the novel's setting. The description of the city often consists of little more than place-name-dropping (This, incidentally, is often marred by typographical errors, especially in the second half of the book, when it seems as if the editors have also lost interest. Actually, this is too bad, since Mathews' writing definitely improves as the Vienna Blood goes on). To this he adds rehashes of old quotations about the Viennese mentality. It is hard to shake the impression that the author does not know the city as intimately as he would like to have the reader believe.

3) The lack of a credible futuristic atmosphere. Certainly, there are all sorts of techno-gadgets and glimpses of life in 2026-27, but nearly all of the cultural references made by Vienna Blood's characters are to people, places and events of the 20th century. These characters, therefore, come across as likely inhabitants of the present day, not the 2020s, destroying whatever suspension of disbelief has been built up.

Unfortunately, these shortcomings are rather major, making it impossible to recommend Vienna Blood. While not a complete disaster, there are far better and more satisfying ways to spend an evening.

The characters and plot didn't compel me to get more than 1/4 of the way into the book. While the tone of the novel is cyber-punkish or noir-ish, that alone wasn't enough to keep me going.

In his article, Ethnographic Critique and Technoscientific Narratives: The old mole, ethical plateaux, and the governance of emergent biosocial polities, in Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (25: 355-93. 2001)Michael M.J. Fischer uses this book as a juxtaposition to ethnographic descriptions of bio-ethical realties. It's rather interesting and may possibly add some insight into the novel

It bothers me to no end to read the negative reviews of this book. Maybe it's because the book is labeled from "casual" to "expert" user. I knew absolutely nothing about web publishing and HTML coding and found this extremely easy to read and follow. Unfortunately there were probably a few people in the "advanced" bracket who needed to slam this book because it did not cover what they expected. It gave me a solid basis for HTML and Dynamic HTML coding and was a great introduction to Java and CGI. When an author has to cover so many subjects related to HTML he's bound to skim over the more advanced applications. Being almost 1000 pages, it does a sterling job. By the way, the CD has a great HTML editor on it!

As a beginner I found the book a tremendous resource into HTML and Web page authoring. I do not believe the book is intended to be an exhaustive reference on every topic but wants to focus on normal day to day concerns. After reading the book I now feel extremely comfortable on all Web issues and recommend the text highly.

Easy and fun to read and learn basics of HTML and well beyond. Logically organized so it works well both for self-instruction and as a reference.

I read the three reviews on this book and they are all correct to some extent. It is a refreshing book but presented without a clear thread to their proposition; it does formalise how new ideas move from the cult fringe to mainstream everyday but does not provide a model of how this can be used; it does provide "outside the square" thinkers with a purposeful justification of their right to want to implement new ideas, but it does leave a lot of insights short of the "so what" end point.

If you are someone who likes working in the unclear world of the creative ground breaker, this is a book worth having. If you are afraid of losing or quiting your job for an idea, then leave this alone - it is not your cup of tea at all.

The creative will find the layout challenging but will probably ignore the dead ends and enjoy the journey through the ideas and examples. Worth the money if you are the deviant thinker in the team - you know who you are because all the other people are normal and just want to do the job that the boss wants and you want to deliver what the boss (and the customer) really needs.

The Deviant's Advantage-Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker

What I love about this book is that while it makes a strong case for the importance of deviant thinking in the world of business, it simultaneously explains why so little exists there, and how unlikely it is to ever appear in great abundance. It's just not the way most of the people in the corporate world have been conditioned to behave. Despite all the exhortations to "think out of the box", the vast majority of executives are simply out of their element anywhere else but inside one.
However, as the authors deconstruct the emergence of new and valuable ideas, those things destined to become the next "new" thing, they offers many pointers on how to identify these developing trends before they become mainstream. In so doing, they also coin an especially inelegant term for the originators of these ideas, the "devox" is what they call them. But this is a minor blemish on what is otherwise a truly important book. At the end of the day, what the authors argue brilliantly and illustrate repeatedly is that businesses that embrace risk may be far safer than those that avoid it.

I believe that was how the comedian Steven Wright described himself at one time. It seems to be appropriate for Mathews and Wacker as well. They appear to be comfortably ensconced on the fringe.

This isn't your Daddy's business book - this book won't grant you absolution for your business practices or lifestyle. It is a book that will drive you to view your environment differently - provided you allow it to do so. I read it over and over again for 3 - 4 months. It could trigger differnt thoughts every time I read it. For me this was an important book. Just the understanding of the journey that ideas take from the fringe to social convention was helpful (page 18). Having participated in an industry for the last couple decades that is experiencing this transition, much of the book was relevant to my environment. It has been frustrating to watch good ideas and practices emasculated by corporate clones serving their own agendas. Paradoxically Mathews and Wacker provided context, in a book about the abolition of context, for watching ideas migrate. It also helps understand that the ritualistic emasculation is purely a right of passage administed indiscriminately to all who want to move through.

If you are a person who likes to advise others to think outside the box but can't find your own way out - wrong book. If you are willing to get a little introspective and maybe even shift a paradigm or two this book is a great read. Possibly a significant emotional event.