I saw the Lerners on The Today Show talking to Katie Couric and was impressed by what they said. I read their book and was even more impressed. I'll echo what a previous reviewer said -- this is a great resource.

In today's every increasingly expensive and complex health care system, the consumer needs all the information possible to insure adequate medical care at an affordable price. Lerner's Consumer Guide To Health Care is just such a guide to saving money and time (as well as minimizing frustration and anxiety) when dealing with doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and health care management (HMO) systems. By carefully reading what Paul and Julie Lerner have presented within these pages, anyone can save money on their medical care and prescription drugs regardless of their malady or situation; obtain the best treatment medicine has to offer even within a managed care system; avoid medical mistakes from happening within the context of their own treatment; acquire referrals to the right specialists; and profit from knowing what health care system managers never want you to learn. Lerner's Consumer Guide To Health Care is a "must" for anyone having to deal with any aspect of the medical establishment in American health care today!

I was impressed with this book that allowed me to access, quickly and easily, information that might have taken me quite some time to track down. It's well organized and gives great referral information--for example, on 'risk pools' that was invaluable. Highly recommended.

I am a divorced mother of 2 girls, and although I first assumed that Mr. Zuckers book was strictly a parenting book, I was very pleased to learn that his insightful and inspirational words could be applied to relationships in general. His book truly changed my life!!! As I read I was taken by the way Mr. Zuckers life seemed to begin a wonderful metamorphosis. From depression as a result of being raised in a hostile, critical invironment to realizing true happiness and fulfillment. How lucky we are to share and learn from his experience!!!!!!!!!! Thank you Mr. Zucker......I am a much better person for having read your book. Nancy Pernini

I am a single man soon to be married to a woman with three children. I've been at a loss as to how to be an instant father. This book was reccommended to me and I delveged into it. I cannot tell you how much it has helped me to become a father and a good caring father. I think EVERYONE, even if you don't have children should read this book. I found it to be enlightening and full of helpful things for a soon to be instant father. Thank you Mr Zucker for all your help!!!!! Nicholas Powell

I am the mother of one little boy who is five years old. Before readind this book it felt as though I had more than one child. I have learned so much about myself along with my son I cannot begin to tell you. This is a truely wonderful book. It has helped me to see my relationship with myself and my son in a much BRIGHTER light. Thank you for this book. It is a MUST have book...

I read this book to my class every year and it is their favorite, over such greats as James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Students love to try to figure it out and I enjoy hearing their ideas. I teach third grade and for the next years they are finishing up the series. I read the first one as a read aloud and couldn't wait to finish the series on my own. John Bibee has a great imagination and knows how to use cliffhangers. I highly recommend this for families to read aloud. It will work well with third grade and up including middle schoolers. It may be too scarey for younger children. The discussions will be wonderful. It has a strong message and is a wonderful fantasy.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. It is the most satisfying Christian fantasy novel I have read since the Narnia Chronicles. John Bibee has a wild imagination and a way of creating cliff-hanger chapters which left my kids yelling for more. The christian symbolism is woven into the story, but never is preachy. The great plot and writing move the reader through an ordinary town beset by strange and creepy happenings, to an ultimate showdown with evil. I would love to see this made into a movie by a filmaker like Spielburg.!!! Do yourself a favor, and buy this book. You won't be sorry, but you will end up buying the other books in the series too.

This second book of the "Spirit Flyer Series" isoutstanding. It is easy to read, has an exciting plot that applies towhat kids deal with today, and the spiritual truths are profound. We read these aloud to our children and they could hardly wait to see what was going to happen in each new chapter. They likes them so much that they read the books again for themselves. We parents enjoyed them just as much. END

This is the best book on networking that I've read so far among lots of books I own. Instead of giving you tangible things like how it is composed of, I will give you a overall taste. I am a type of person who likes to "understand" the big picture first before delving into details. Then, it makes a lot easier to go and read those details knowing that how they are fitted in overall picture.
This book will give you that overall picture in DNS/DHCP/Dynamic IP aspect of networking. In addition, after explaining the big picture, he will tell you fine details about DNS/DHCP/DDNS (but not like how to install the server but rather like what are the DNS options are and how you can you them). Things like exactly what is autonomous system & its relationships to the rest, differences between domains-zones-areas, issues related to reliability, performance, security, availibility in designing your networks are discussed. The book also include a chapter on ipv6 and its relations to DNS (at the time of writing), on quality of service, and on mobile ip. An example will be how to tune bandwidth if a node is connected to 2 networks with different MTUs (max transmission unit).
Throughout the book, I see a lot of RFC numbers and also there is no bibliography anywhere. This tells me something about the book. The book is based on his experience as a consultant, not one the translation of other resources. As far as the explanation goes, you need to have some familiarity with basics of networking and you are on your way to fully understand what he is talking about. But if other people told you that you are a very experienced administrator, this book may not be helpful to you. Finally, I personally thank Mr. Paul Ammann for writing this book.

I don't know what else to add except that the other reviews were correct about this book. You'll really have some new thoughts about your network if your using TCP/IP. Two thumbs up.

This book helped me to understand all about TCP/IP and Dynamic DNS that I needed to know. I think it's a good book for anyone wanting to learn the basics on computer networks. It also provides a look into the inner workings of Dynamic DNS that you wouldn't otherwise see.

For my senior seminar, I wrote a paper on desegregation/busing in the South. While I was doing research, a librarian found this book for me. I had to wait 2 weeks to get it through interlibrary loan, but it was worth it!! The essays really bring home the complexity of Southern desegregation when viewed through the lens of class issues. I can only aspire to produce such insightful scholarship!

WHAT A CHARMING PIECE ON THE ANTEBELLUM SOUTH. CRAFTED WITH PURE GENIOUS AND A PEN FOR DETAIL, "THE MODERATES' DILEMMA" BRINGS TO LIGHT THE UNDENIABLE OBSTINANCE OF THE SOUTH'S PREMIERE SCHOOL DISTRICTS.THIS WORK IS A MUST READ FOR HISTORY GRADS OF ANY BACKGROUND.

Matthew Lassiter, editor-in-chief of this seminal collection, sets forth, once again, a fresh standard of scholarly excellence and eloquence. His essay, "A 'Fighting Moderate,'" illustrates one of his innumerable intellectual virtues, the ability to electrify his arduously acquired historian's sobriety with an innate psychological acuity.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which I purchased in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Being a woman living in the Southwest, having a true love of the wide open spaces, guns and westerns that do not cover the same old territory already visited by thousands of writers, this book was tops with me. I felt the feelings of the main character, Janice McCord, and could ride along with her on her trail of revenge.

Every location in Thompson's novels are true and may be visited today. The Littlest Gun takes place in the beautiful state of New Mexico, which was still a territory in 1878. The Rio Hondo Valley, Silver City, Lincoln, Fort Sumner, White Oaks and Las Vegas are just a few of the locations in this novel.
This is a review from a serious western novel reader.

I couldn't put the book down without knowing what happened next. Some gritty scenes that remind us of how life was back then and how far we've come. Easy flowing dialogue that makes me feel like he's sitting here telling me a great story. The descriptions of the landscape remind me of the true beauty of the desert. I would like to read some more by this author.

Though publicised as a 'gay' work of non-fiction, 'Living & Dying...' is really a chronicle drawn from the inside of the AIDS epidemic in the US, specifically New York and Florida. That just happens to be written by a gay man. A very smart, very wry, very compassionate, very irrascible, gay man. It's quick to read, in journal format, but at times difficult to get through, not because of its style but because of its content. A subsidiary thread of the overall book is a look at the heavy metal/alternative music scene in the late 80's/early 90's, from the view of a (closeted gay) music journalist. Very good account, worth a read just for Gallotta's (nail)biting style.

Like most people, I've lost friends to AIDS. Living and Dying in 4/4 Time addresses the issues of living with and dying from AIDS in the very real terms of everyday living. That Paul Gallotta has brought the light of his wry and often self-abasing humor to shine upon this dark topic adds a humane element to this inhumane killer.
The socio-economic impact of AIDS is brought home in terms of pain. The socio-political impact of AIDS spotlights how poorly our politicians have handled this crisis.
This inside view of Paul Gallotta's battles with his own demons while fighting to help those who live with the sands of their life's clocks rapidly pouring away will touch upon your soul.
A book for all people, a book for the ages.
By the way - for those who do not recognize the reference to "4/4 Time", Mr. Gallotta was a journalist, of no small repute, who specialized in Rock and Roll, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music. His transition to care giver was a loss to one world and a giant gain to another.

This is unquestionably the strangest book I've ever read. At times I would actually find myself crying and would want to put it down, but I knew that if I read just a few more paragraphs, more often than not I'd find myself laughing twice as hard as I was crying. I have never read any book in my entire life that has effected me this way. It was brutally honest and incredibly funny without ever being condescending. As a nurse, I can say that the author wrote many things about people that I have often wished someone would put into print. But his anger and and his frustration was only supassed by his sense of humor.I couldn't put this book down. I would--and have recommended "Living and Dying" to anyone who's ever had to endure the death of a loved one. It is hands down the best book I've read all year

This is a wonderful cookbook by famous chef Matthew Kenney. I love Morrocan and Mediterranean foods. I found the recipes not only delicious but very easy to make. Matthew describes his first interest in Mediterranean cooking and how he became a chef. Some of my favorite recipes are the carpaccio, the fennel salad, and the poek loin with apricot and pistachios. It's a great little book if you like cooking "exotic foods".

This book offers a great combination of things: Excellent recipes, relative ease of cooking the dishes, beautifully graphic layout/design, and wonderful text.

Matthew has a good ability to cook these dishes, and an equally good ability to "teach" the reader how to do the same.

The recipes are really all over the place, drawing upon influences of all Mediterrean countries. Some dishes for instance, are really more common to Middle-Eastern countries, but all flow wonderfully together in this work.

A truly enjoyable, as well as informative, book.

With recipes easy enough for beginners and interesting enough for seasoned (no pun intended) gourmands, this book is one I keep going back to time after time. This book also makes a great gift, as it is as attractive as it is usable. I'm here in the heart of America's Dairyland, but Matthew's Olive Oil Mashed Potatoes could almost make me give up butter!

This book is a collection of articles, written by Berton Rouche and published in the New Yorker, about medical investigations that took place in the US from the 1940's to late 1980's. Though this book would obviously be interesting to medical students, you don't have to understand much about medicine to enjoy it. Most of the medical terms used are either defined or explained in context, and all facts relevant to the cases are clearly stated. Each case is presented as a mystery that unfolds as the investigators search for the cause of a patient's illness. First, we are given the basic facts of the case: the patient's condition and symptoms, his or her environment and activities at the time of the onset of illness, and the investigator/doctor's initial diagnosis or impressions. Next, we are shown how an investigator makes discoveries leading to a diagnosis and treatment. Finally, we follow the health officials as they track the source of the epidemic.
Though I have no connection to the medical field, I found these articles very interesting, and I think I've learned a lot from them. However, I wish someone could have added a post-script to each of the articles with an update on some of the information. For example, one of the articles (written in 1944) said that 2% of American pigs were carriers of trichinosis. I would like to know what the statistics are now. Besides that minor complaint, I loved the book and would recommend it to any curious reader who loves to learn about new things.

I brought a bunch of books home from my office and this was one of them. I had forgotten about it, and I have just read it again. Roueche was an excellent journalist writing for the New Yorker. He wrote about public health starting way back in 1944. This book is fascinating for several reasons. Not only is it a good explanation of what epidemiologists do for a living (the ones who don't deal with Level 4 viruses but the everyday disasters that still happen), but it is also a great history of public health in the U.S. Roueche was not a disaster monger. Rather he wrote about the men and women who literally had to hunt down clues about diseases, food-borne pathogens, stupid things parents did that led to the development of child safe medicine containers, etc. Some of these men and women put their lives on the line, and continue to do so when there are outbreaks of emerging diseases like Hantavirus in the Four Corners region, dealing with increasing cases of food poisoning, and now with the problems with prions (mad cow disease). He wrote in such a way to give us history and details that many other writers of health history often leave out. The information concerning the increasing amount of rabies being seen in the U.S. was news to me...I always thought it was native to this country, but apparently before the 1950's it was rarely seen. The chapter on aspirin, gave wonderful historical background, and brought attention to the need to make children understand that any medicine, whether flavored or not, is not candy. This book is a good recommendation for students in med school, for those who are interested in public health, and I think for high school science students to see the practical application of what they learn. I am going to go look for more writings of his...they are too enjoyable to miss! Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

I can not agree any more with the reviews from MI, NJ. I got it fom a used book store, that night I kept reading it till I dozed off after 5 continous hours of reading, I can not stop it, Dr. Roueché' writings will keep your seat warm, you are living in NYC 1940s, even you was not borne yet, he will take you minutes by minutes how they detectively put together those piece of the medical puzzel to make those "police" conclusions. If you are in medicine, get it, It is a great teaching experience.

Guiltied by 12 Galaxies! of a Rocketronic Society!

Others who have posted reviews of this book are certainly correct in their assessment -- it's engaging, harrowing, enlightening, etc. HOWEVER, nobody has addressed the actual CAUSE of Schreber's insanity which, of course, is key to the reading of his memoir. The patient in most cases, and certainly in this case, is unable to tell us matter-of-factly what is troubling him. Instead, he tells us of his dreams or his imaginings, or his horrible delusions. It is then the psychiatrist who untangles the web. I can't recommend highly enough, as a companion to Schreber's memoir, the book "Soul Murder: Persecution in the Family," written by the psychiatrist Morton Schatzman. The book is now out of print, but can still be found used. Instead of describing the book,I'll quote from the jacket flap: "Daniel Paul Schreber (1842-1911), an eminent German judge, went mad at the age of 42, recovered, and eight and a half years later, went mad again. It is uncertain if he was ever fully sane, in the ordinary social sense, again. His father, Daniel Gottlieb Moritz Schreber (1808-1861), who supervised his son's upbringing, was a leading German physician and pedagogue, whose studies and writings on child rearing techniques strongly influenced his practices during his life and long after his death. The father thought his age to be morally "soft" and "decayed" owing mainly to laxity in educating and disciplining children at home and school. He proposed to "battle" the "weakness" of his era with an elaborate system aimed at making children obedient and subject to adults. He expected that following his precepts would lead to a better society and "race." The father applied these same basic principals in raising his own children, including Daniel Paul and another son, Daniel Gustav, the elder, who also went mad and committed suicide in his thirties. Psychiatrists consider the case of the former, Daniel Paul, as the classic model of paranoia and schizophrenia, but even Freud and Bleuler (in their analyses of the son's illness) failed to link the strange experiences of Daniel Paul, for which he was thought mad, to his father's totalitarian child-rearing practices. In "Soul Murder," Morton Schatzman does just that -- connects the father's methods with the elements of the son's experience, and vice versa. This is done through a detailed analysis and comparison of Daniel Paul's "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness," a diary written during his second, long confinement, with his father's published and widely read writings on child rearing. The result is a startling and profoundly disturbing study of the nature and origin of mental illness -- a book that calls into question the value of classical models for defining mental illness and suggests the directions that the search for new models might take. As such, the author's findings touch on many domains: education, psychiatry, religion, sociology, politics -- the micro-politics of child-rearing and family life and their relation to the macro-politics of larger human groups." For me, this book shed a great light on "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness." In reading the other reviews, I get the sense that some people have concluded that Daniel (the son) "simply went mad," or "something went wrong," when the truth is that his father was a border-line personality and one sadistic man who inflicted his own brand of insanity on his children. If only we had something to document the father's childhood . . .

Shortly after the death of Daniel Paul Schreber, Sigmund Freud used his (Schreber's) memoirs as the basis for a fantasy of his own. Everyday readers are lucky that Schreber wrote down so much of what he saw, heard and felt during his many years in German mental asylums, for his own observations are far more artistic and harrowing than anything Freud ever wrote.

In this book, Schreber takes us into his world--the world of the genuine schizophrenic. He writes of the "little men" who come to invade his body and of the stars from which they came.

That these "little men" choose to invade Schreber's body in more ways than one only makes his story all the more harrowing. At night, he tells us, they would drip down onto his head by the thousands, although he warned them against approaching him.

Schreber's story is not the only thing that is disquieting about this book. His style of writing is, too. It is made up of the ravings of a madman, yet it contains a fluidity and lucidity that rival that of any "logical" person. It only takes a few pages before we become enmeshed in the strange smells, tastes, insights and visions he describes so vividly.

Much of this book is hallucinatory; for example, Schreber writes of how the sun follows him as he moves around the room, depending on the direction of his movements. And, although we know the sun was not following Schreber, his explanation makes sense, in an eerie sort of way.

What Schreber has really done is to capture the sheer poetry of insanity and madness in such a way that we, as his readers, feel ourselves being swept along with him into his world of fantasy. It is a world without anchors, a world where the human soul is simply left to drift and survive as best it can. Eventually, one begins to wonder if madness is contagious. Perhaps it is. The son of physician, Moritz Schreber, Schreber came from a family of "madmen," to a greater or lesser degree.

Memoirs of My Nervous Illness has definitely made Schreber one of the most well-known and quoted patients in the history of psychiatry...and with good reason. He had a mind that never let him live in peace and he chronicles its intensity perfectly. He also describes the fascinating point and counterpoint of his "inner dialogues," an internal voice that chattered constantly, forcing Schreber to construct elaborate schemes to either explain it or escape it. He tries suicide and when that fails, he attempts to turn himself into a diaphanous, floating woman.

Although no one is sure what madness really is, it is clear that for Schreber it was something he described as "compulsive thinking." This poor man's control center had simply lost control. The final vision we have of Schreber in this book is harrowing in its intensity and in its angst. Pacing, with the very sun paling before his gaze, this brilliant madman walked up and down his cell, talking to anyone who would listen.

This is a harrowing, but fascinating book and is definitely not for the faint of heart. Schreber describes man's inner life in as much detail as a Hamlet or a Ulysses. The most terrifying part is that in Schreber, we see a little of both ourselves and everyone we know.