I think many readers will find this books useful and sound. Whether you find it useful may depend on your past exposure to self-development or spiritual growth. It may also depend on of you are new to the idea of looking inside regarding withdrawal. If you already have a strong habits of introspection, and know why you withdraw, you may find the approach of the book simple or pithy or too conversational. (The books is more about withdrawal than about fear of or struggle with intimacy.) If you have not had much chance analyze your past, and want an approach that relies on a traditional foundation, then it book may be very useful to you.

One of the best things about this book is that he backs up what he is saying by scripture. So you know the book is really based on the Bible. He also tells a lot of stories about other people which makes you feel as if it is not just a bunch of information being shoveled on you. I am only on chapter 4 but I have already learned so much about myself and the things that I have hidden in my life and why I have hidden them. I cannot wait to get further into the book and to start to learn how to change it!

Hiding From Love provided me with the insight I needed to understand all the why's I had dealt with my entire life. At the age of 45 I was finally able to understand why I had felt so "unlovable", "insecure" and "stupid" as a child, that there were very valid reasons for my thinking that way about myself that were NOT MY FAULT. I began to see myself with confidence, and worthy of being loved, for the first time in my life! I would recommend this book wholeheartedly to anyone struggling with childhood abandonment issues.

A friend recommended this book to me after I explained how much fun I was having after leaving work in DC, returning to Minnesota, playing with my kids, joining a mountain biking team and genuinely enjoying my unemplyed status for 9 months. She said it was a philosophical book.

I spent the entire book trying to figure out why she thought of this book after I got through telling her how great my life was at the present. Mr. Polly clearly was not living a great life and always seemed to be on the wrong side of circumstance. It wasn't until the very end of the book that I realized the context my friend applied to my happenings.

The book, for it's strange accents and period vocabulary, was as riveting as any Grisham or Baldacci novel. I don't really know why - but it was. And the last few pages makes one think very hard about the meaning of life, which even for an unemployed child-at-heart, is important to do now and again.

The History of Mr. Polly is less known than Well's sci-fi classics and it is a different kind of a book too. It pictures a tragicomic story of an unusual character - Mr. Polly. The story is quite funny, but there underneath is a deeper meaning. There are people like Mr. Polly around us. They drift through their lives wondering if it is them or the environment that determined their fate.

Although Wells and Dostoyevsky are extremely diferent, Mr. Polly in a certain way reminds me of some Dostoyevsky's characters.

Very interesting book. Very well read by Clive Swift.

If you like this book, I can recommend you to read both Invisible Man by Wells and Crime and Punishment by Dostoyevsky.

I finished reading this novella a few days ago. I must first admit that for the first 25 or so pages, I wasn't particulaly tuned into what the book was about. It is, as Wells mentioned, a history, so I was rather thrown at the beginning. Once I got the gist of it, particularly the gist of Mr. Polly and his eccentricities, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The only other Wells book I had read was the Island of Dr. Moreau, which, like his other romantic science-fiction novels he is famous for, was somewhat plot-driven rather than character-driven. This book, is, as the title would lead you to suspect, character-driven.

We begin our read with the bored, frustrated Mr. Polly, what he is feeling and how he deals with his life in general. Then the actual history starts, and Wells's beautiful, if somewhat excessive vocabulary answers the reader's question of who this Mr. Polly is. I found him to a be a very refreshing hero, being rather ordinary, and dealing with the concerns of anyone's life, particularly that of a middle-aged man. He does not "save the day" by perfoming any conventional (or even moral) acts, but this only makes him more real. Mr. Polly's passion for epithet is absolutely delightful, and gave me a great sense of pleasure to watch him go about his transformation.

This was a terriffic, merry little book, with a central character worthy of some of the finest in literature, at least from the limited literature I have read. Don't be fooled by the humorous facade however; there is a deeper message, one which will become relevant at some time in all our lives. It isn't one of Wells's most well known books, but it should be. A superb little gem.

I bought this book to help my 10 year old, who is already a budding poet, improve his poetry skills by starting to think more carefully about meter, rhyme schemes, forms, and careful selection of words. This book is not for him or others in his situation. It's clearly not designed to identify what constitutes a GOOD poem, or even what a poem is (the word "poem" is never defined in the book, including the glossary, and there is probably a good reason for that). Here are a couple of telling examples: from page 82: "when you draft a poem it's okay if you write it to look like a paragraph or a chunk of prose. After you do some tinkering with sharpening the images and the language, you can simply draw slash marks where you think the line breaks should come." page 27-28: of the 4 examples of rhyming couplets given at the beginning of this chapter, 2 don't actually rhyme (spaghetti/ready; things/King). I have often been offended at the sloppiness of some poetry written for children, as though the poets don't think it matters whether a poem scans, rhymes, sounds beautiful or conveys an interesting thought, since the audience is not likely to be discriminating enough to know the difference. This book, to me, encourages children (and, unfortunately, their teachers) to buy into the "sloppy is OK so long as you call it poetry" attitude. ...

I found this book a wonderful guide to writing poetry. I wrote most of my poems while reading this book. My friends love it as much as I do - they are all waiting in line to borrow it!!! If you need ideas or advice with your poems you should definately get this book!! Good luck with your writing.

Any thoughts I might ever have entertained about writing a book on poetry writing were quickly dispelled when I discovered Paul Janeczko's guide. HOW TO WRITE POETRY is the book I hope I would have written on this subject.

First of all, the small format and conversational style invite the reader in. Janeczko begins by suggesting ways for writers to catalog their words and ideas. In addition to notebooks, he recommends the use of a tape recorder when writing notes is not practical. Janeczko also emphasizes the importance of reading. Throughout the book he provides bibliographic lists that provide more information on concepts in each chapter. Yet another list of good poetry anthologies is included at the end of the book.

After a sketch of the writing process, Janeczko describes several specific kinds of poems: acrostic poems, synonym poems, opposite poems, clerihews, list poems, poems of address, persona poems, and narrative poems. Elements especially important in poetry (sound, images, word choice, figurative language, and line breaks) are discussed in a recurring "Poetcraft" feature. Poems by students and by famous poets amply illustrate both the poetic elements and the particular formats. Biographical notes on all poets are included near the end of the book.

Other special recurring features of HOW TO WRITE POETRY include "Writing Tip from a Poet," "Try This" (specific suggestions for writing), and various checklists. In addition to the biographical and bibliographical information mentioned earlier, the book includes an index and a comprehensive, cross-referenced glossary, which even includes examples of various formats.

Although Janeczko maintains that poems must be written for oneself, he also suggests many ways to "publish" finished poems -- from handmade books to cards and posters, to submitting to magazines and contests. He recommends MARKET GUIDE FOR YOUNG WRITERS by Kathy Henderson (Writer's Digest Books, 1996) as an invaluable resource for those interested in submitting for publication.

Even beyond the pertinent subjects Janeczko includes, however, is the manner in which he conveys his information. Having taught English and compiled more than a dozen poetry anthologies, Janeczko is a master who projects wholehearted confidence that young poets can and will succeed.

Why would two schools in SC care to have so much hate for each other and encourage it in the fans? No wonder SC is rated #50 in the nation. What a shame!!!!

Though I may be biased, this book provides every reason why Clemson is consistently ranked better than USC. I hate them, and now you should too. A must read for true Clemson fans.

This book is written for those high and mighty snobbish fans of the gamecocks. They all need to read this book. Mike McGee is protrayed very good in this book!

Well presented? yes. But that's about it.

If you are looking for an Outline of definitions than this book is for you. If you need any substance, skip it. Foundations, for example get almost more space in the title than they do in the book.

This is an awesome book. The author makes fun of wills and death. It is like a book in the "Dummies" series, since it is written in easy english. I recommend it to anyone who is beginning their last will and testament. Rampell's humor is self-deprecating ---- lots of lawyer jokes.

This is the primer for beginning the estate planning process. If you love your money and want to be educated before hiring estate planning lawyers, this book is for you. Rampell is clear and humorous. He gives you the concepts without the migraine. The book is a great value.

i think this book is awful. please send me some information on it. i read it, but it was so confusing and had so many numbers and stuff, i didnt understand it at all. it would be so greatly appreciated if you could send me a summary of the book, that could help me in writing a 4 page report.
thank you, jojo evanick

"The battered Moroccan bus heaved its bulk up the Atlas mountains, eroded by the tracks of a hundred absent streams." Nothing says it better than Paul does with his own words. This work is insightful, bringing the reader almost physically to dozens of different poverty-stricken locations, and well-written. Moreover, despite the harsh realities he presents, Paul's detailed description makes the experience fluid and enjoyable. "As dawn rises over the mud-walled royal palace at Ouagadougou, the emperor's horse, impatient in its heavy trappings of emerald, scarlet and gold, snorts and paws the ground." Yes, this book is definitely about global poverty, but it's written from a view you've never seen before. Embedded in the enchanting description is an awakening for the reader -- a new awareness of people and their struggles all over the planet.

If you've ever blamed poverty and underdevelopment on cultural or racial inferiority, or wondered why Europe and the West industrialized while other regions didn't, read this book. A friend just lent it to me, and I found it incredibly convicting. Learn how most of the world lives, and most importantly, why it does.

My criticisms, of this book, are as follows:

1. There are references to many classic papers, which is EXCELLENT. However, in ADDITION, it would be nice to see some more recent references. Please do NOT remove the classic references in a future edition. Add to it.

2.A bit more detailed pathophysiology/pathogenesis will be nice. Currently it is already very good, but I think can be improved upon slightly.

3. When recommending treatments, please put in the full drug name, doses, regimen, route etc, throughout the whole textbook. Don't just write condidtion X can be treated with drug Y. At 3.00 AM in the ICU, it would be nice if users didn't have to look up an additonal book just to check dosing etc while their patients crash through the floor.

I disagree with the rating given to this book by the new RN below. The RN found that the book did not meet her needs and therefore rated it 2 stars. However, this text was NOT WRITTEN for a nurse audience - it's a comprehensive critical medicine textbook for doctors and medical students, and it does a superb job for the intended readers. There are many nursing ICU textbooks available which SALABSKY will probably find more suitable for her needs.

The Intensive Care Unit Manual by Paul N. Lanken MD is excellent for houseofficers and fellows caring for patients in the critical care setting, including medical, surgical, obstetric, and trauma ICUs. It's also a worthwhile book for senior medical students with a solid background in medical pathophysiology who have completed rotations in medicine and surgery and are eager to maximize on the ICU experience. This Manual's strength lies in it's easy-to-read, detailed, yet succinct text on pathophysiology, differential diagnoses, management, and complications. As a former medical student, houseofficer, Renal fellow, and Chief Resident, reading the short chapters in this Manual will also aid in asking well-thought out questions to the appropriate consultants (e.g., neurologist, cardiac surgeon, hepatologist, nephrologist). Though it is not a "pocket-sized" manual, it is an outstanding paperback manual that is comprehensive yet portable and easily would serve as the sole bedside/ call room reference book in the acute ICU setting.

Hoel, Port and Stone put together a three volume series on probability, statistics and stochastic processes. In 1975 I took the first year graduate course in stochastic processes and my Professor at Stanford Yash Mittal elected this text for the course out of a number of possibilities. This book was particularly good for an introduction to Markov chains, the backbone to stochastic processes. I learned a lot from it and found it easy to use as a text. I then bought the other to books to complete the trilogy. At the time Hoel and Port were at UCLA and I believe Stone was already at Berkeley.

This is an excellent text for a graduate course that stands the test of time. If it has been revised, I am not familiar with the new edition and any possible changes that may have occurred.

This is the last volume of a series of three excellent texts by Hoel/Port/Stone on probability, statistics and stochastic processes. The way they write should be the standard for all of other authors. Concise, clear and intuitive. Lots of worked examples and exercises with answers help readers go through those topics. If you are lack of knowledge in probability and want to know stochastic processes or even financial mathematics. These three books can be your short cut.

This is the last volume of a series of three excellent texts on probability, statistics and stochastic processes. The way they write should be the standard for all of other authors. Concise, clear and intuitive. Lots of worked examples and exercises with answers help readers go through those topics. If you are lack of knowledge in probability and want to know stochastic processes or even financial mathematics, these three books can be your short cut.

So, it may not be the best story ever written, but it does carry on the Asimov Robots storyline. If you can quote the three laws of robotics, you gotta read this whole series. It will not knock your socks off or anything, but you will enjoy it.

A good work. If you are Asimov's fan you will find a new murder investigation involving the 3 robotics laws of Asimov, this time in a new planet inhabited exclusively by robots. There is other interesting themes: New alliens species, a radical tool for stelar traveling (more radical and without technical explanations- or speculations). If you are a new asimovian robots reader, you will enjoy this book and will find a good introduction for the 3 robotics laws.
The more i liked: A amnesiac man interacting with unknown robots who can not lie and with a attractive girl.
Te murder resolution is not so good like in asimov books.

This was the first sci-fi book I read ever, in fact it's the first "real" book I read when I was young. I fall in love with Asimov at this very moment. I love the story. This was my first contact with the three laws of robotics I love so much. I think it's a good book to learn more or introduce you to Asimov style. I lose my original copy of this book 10 years ago al least. I just brought this electronic copy. I start read it and feel the same joy today. A must read.

I have read and re-read this book several times over the years. It is an excellent comedic fantasy, as well as a surreal commentary on life-and-what-you-make-of-it. This isn't a book about baseball: rather it is a book about people, of all shapes and sizes (and when I say "All shapes and sizes" I mean just that.

I can't help but think, each time I read this, about what a wonderful movie it could make...quirky enough to entice someone like Tim Burton to direct, and star Johnny Depp as Isbister!

Do yourself a favour and read this book if you can find a copy.

I am shocked that this, my favourite book from my teenage years, is consistently out-of-stock! Quarrington being a Canadian author, I sometimes find the book hidden in the stacks at various Toronto stores. But that does nothing for the vast American audience who would do well to read a fictional chronicle of their national pastime. See this review as the first step on my personal crusade to revive the life of this great book.

Early in my teens, baseball was my religion. I memorized statistics, and read up feverishly on the history of the game. When given to me as a gift before the summer of my thirteenth year, I was excited about beginning Home Game. It exceeded all of my expectations! The baseball scenes were magnificent, but the characters and the story still managed to overshadow even that.

Nathanael "Crybaby" Isbister is a good focal point. He was a great baseballer, whose major league career was curiously brief. His mysterious past is slowly revealed, and always provides wonderful revelation about his character. He is found wandering in the Michigan countryside, when he happens upon a troupe of carnival freaks. They are under constant scrutiny from a religious sect called the House of Jonah, whose baseball playing is legendary, and whose leader, Tekel Ambrose, is neck and neck with Isbister for the title of the greatest ballplayer ever to lace up spikes. Through a serious of wonderfully convoluted circumstances, The House of Jonah challenges the freaks to a baseball game, with the loser to leave town.

The carnival freaks are a beautifully eclectic and wonderfully drawn cast of outcasts. Dr. Sinister, their leader, speaks in an English so byzantine that no one can understand him. Major Mite is the shortest man in the world, and also the most belligerent. Angus MacCallister is the strongest man in the world, with passions run deeper than the Grand Canyon. There's the Hisslop sisters, Siamese twins and second basewomen. Davey Goliath, the tallest man in the world, but so full of paranoia that his every move is haunted. Stella, the fattest woman in the world, and surprise love interest. And Zap (a.k.a. the Wild Man From Borneo), who is the focal point of one of the greatest plot twists I've ever come across. Each character is given a detailed personal history so carefully constructed that you really feel like these people are alive and walking around.

The story moves along with great momentum, constantly being pushed forward by a plot that is logically structured toward one defining moment. I especially liked the framing device he uses (the author's grandfather has returned from exile, to bully him into writing the story of The Game). Nothing like a hearty dose of meta-fiction to brighten your day.

The game itself is achieved with a perfect balance of comedy and drama, suspense and light-heartedness. After coming to its conclusion, I went back to read it again. It was only then that I realized that every at bat is presented... in detail! This is an amazing achievement when you realize that Quarrington never repeats himself. Each at bat is interesting in itself.

I've re-read this book several times over the years. It is still a comic tour de force, and emotional treasure. And even though it can never recapture the excitement of that very first read, I still marvel at this wonderful, little story.

If readers will allow an author of Quarrington's calibre some lattitude, they'll be in for a great time. This is a wonderful book that moulds freakish absurdity into humanity, an approach that reverses the course of today's trendy writers. Along the way, Quarrington teaches us something about people and the poetry of baseball. Quarrington is refreshing. I wish he'd write more. I lost my only copy of this book and have been looking to replace it since.