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...I have to tell you that I learned a great deal. I read your book at one sitting, on a flight today to give a talk in the Midwest. I learned a few things from you which I will begin to incorporate into the care of my diabetic patients, and into my advice to my diabetic father.
I found most touching the passages describing your own struggle with diabetes, and quite compelling your anecdotes regarding friends and patients with diabetes. In your next book, these anecdotes should be increased in frequency throughout the text to improve readability for the lay person.
This book is a tour de force, and I congratulate you. I look forward to the sequel...
Chapter 12 is outstanding. I was transfixed by the description of your personal experience with a severe diabetic complication...
I enjoyed your section on nutrition and dietary supplements. You may wish to expand this section, and perhaps work with a dietician on some suggested menus for diabetic patients.
I enjoyed your chapter on diabetic impotence, and chapter on diabetic feet...
Joe, congratulations on a superb book. I admire your drive to help others with diabetes, and your tenacity to complete this book. Thanks again for allowing me to read it. I will recommend it to my diabetic patients.
John Cooke
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ray.sant
A highly recommended read for anyone who has ever written a song.
At one point in the text, Aloysius pretty much says it all: "These lessons are not worked out for actual use but for exercise. If one know how to read one need no longer bother with spelling; similarly, the species of counterpoint are given only for purposes of study."
I have been working out of this book (which is really an excerpt of a larger book called _Steps to Perfection_) with a private tutor for a year, and it has been a difficult but rewarding experience. Essentially, the species provide a platform to learn how to compose concurrent melodic lines. Each following species builds upon the knowledge of the previous. Rules that begin absolute slowly become contextual. While the book's original title is anachronistic, the program within encourages steps towards the understanding of basic tonal principles that have formed the foundation of the grand tradition of western music.
I'd recommend keeping an open mind about the rules. These are treated as the "rules," but are expected to be broken with time and experience. After all, the rules are no more than the collected general tendancies of the great composers.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Fux's book provides an introduction to composition based upon the limitations--and, accordingly, the beauty--of the human voice. This book does not deal with the embellishments and ornaments possible on all instruments.
More caveats: One, I would recommend studying this book with an experienced teacher. It's like a beginning yoga text: basic, but someone with experience will put things in perspective. Two, the exercises, especially for three and four voices, are difficult and require commitment and discipline. (Again, like yoga.) There is no need to rush through the exercises. Three, Fux's book should be part of an integrated tonal curriculum that at least includes four-part writing and ear-training.
And Fux's book is hardly the last word even on counterpoint! At the very least, study 18th century and 20th century counterpoint, because those broad styles used Fux's treatise as their basic foundations. Those who criticize this text do so because it does not immediately apply to modern music situations. But they often fail to see how the text fits beautifully within the broad spectrum of composition. This book reflects the basics of tonal architecture. No more, no less
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My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer before Christmas '99 and has healed herself with the information contained in this life-saving book.
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I never threw clubs and now I figured out why....same indian shoots all the arrows...why be mad at myself..?
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We should all eat a rainbow of 9-10 brightly-colored fruits and veggies daily, explain co-authors Joseph, Nadeau and Underwood-not just strive for "5 a day" while repeating the same limited repertoire of pale foods. Color matters because many of the most amazing nutrients are in the pigments that color fruits and vegetables.
You may have heard of some of these pigments, without realizing they were actually pigments. Beta-carotene, an antioxidant that helps the body manufacture Vitamin A, is the orange pigment in carrots and sweet potatoes. Lycopene, touted in the media with headlines like "tomato sauce prevents prostate cancer," is the red pigment in watermelon and pink grapefruit as well as in tomatoes. Lutein, which studies recently tagged as key to eyesight, is found in greens like spinach, kale and even parsley. Once the authors explain that each pigment color has different health-giving properties, it's easy to understand why "eating the rainbow" is important.
Most of these pigments are antioxidants. If you've heard this term before but have had trouble understanding what antioxidants are and why so many diseases are linked to oxidative stress in our bodies, read "The Color Code." It caps a very understandable section on antioxidants with the following paragraph:
"If you want to see antioxidants at work, one place to look is your own kitchen. If you've ever sliced an apple and watched it turn brown, you've seen the effects of oxidation. But what if you dip the apple slices in lemon juice first, as many recipes recommend? Then you can boldly let the apple slices sit out and dare them to turn brown. The vitamin C in the lemon juice is a potent antioxidant, and it will intercept the oxygen before it can strike the fruit. [p. 12]"
As this example hints, "The Color Code" is well-structured and engagingly written. The three authors-Jim Joseph, a nutrition researcher at Tufts; Dr. Dan Nadeau, a diabetes specialist; and Anne Underwood, a Newsweek health reporter-introduce themselves early on, giving the text an approachable personality. Tight writing and solid scientific references balance the folksy tone, ensuring that "The Color Code" doesn't read like a fad diet-guru book.
After the introductions and overview are chapters on each of the four pigment-color groups: red, orange-yellow, green, and blue-purple. Within each of these chapters are separate entries for 8-14 different fruits or vegetables. Each entry lists the food's pigments, its other phytonutrients, and its vitamins, then proceeds with a sales pitch including everything from scientific research to cooking tips-whatever the authors think will convince you to Eat This Now. Who knew that blueberries could reverse the effects of aging in rats, or that lemon-zest may prevent skin cancer?
While the book recommends a "semi-vegetarian" diet, its authors readily admit that you should eat more than just fruits and vegetables. A general chapter on nutrition advises that whole grains should cover half your plate at mealtime, with vegetables making up another 30-40% and the remaining 10-20% given to healthy proteins (legumes, fish or poultry). Sensible advice on essential fats, portion control and exercise rounds out this chapter, which ends with a sample 7-day meal plan.
Since it's easy for good intentions to slip away from us, "The Color Code" includes a scoring system to help reinforce new "rainbow eating" habits. The goal is to score 100 Color Points every day. You get 10 points for every serving (serving sizes are roughly 1/2 cup). But, since variety is important and some foods are healthier than others, you get 5 bonus points for a) eating something from the authors' Top Ten list b) covering all four color-groups in one day c) drinking two cups of tea or d) eating a fruit or veggie you haven't had in the previous year. It's a catchy system that may appeal to some folks, but others may prefer the simplicity of just remembering to eat lots of different brightly-colored fruits and vegetables.
The book concludes with about 75 recipes and a bibliography detailing the many research studies referred to in the color chapters. My few minor criticisms of The Color Code stem from these two sections. The recipes are simple and easy, reproduced from other sources in most cases (appropriate, since the authors aren't dieticians or cooks). But I'm surprised to see white rice-even high-glycemic sushi rice-included several times despite the authors' earlier exhortations to eat whole grains. The recipes are sometimes a bit hard-core satfat phobic, too, calling for egg substitutes and no-fat salad dressings, where I'd be inclined to use a real egg and a dash of olive oil. As for the bibliography, it's useful but actual footnotes or page references might be even more helpful, allowing those intrigued by the text to more readily research the original study.
I highly recommend "The Color Code." While its authors readily admit that some of the research cited is preliminary-scientists are just beginning to learn about plant pigments and phytonutrients-I'll happily eat more fruits and veggies now, rather than waiting for long-term double-blind studies to be completed.
The authors say it best: "...if greengrocers had the marketing muscle of drug companies, we would all be racing to try this miracle regimen. Patients would demand that their doctors prescribe it. Consumers would flock to the produce aisles to snap up these lifesaving foods....Again and again, the same bottom line emerges: whole foods-colorful foods-deliver protection against a broad range of ailments."
Happy eating-
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The best parts of this book were those about his mother's life and about how she managed in the United States as a refugee. Berger's writing is more journalism than story telling. He's got all the facts, but none of his descriptions flare above the mundane. His mother's reminisences are far more artistic, and reveal more than the words on the page.
Berger is acutely aware of "the unmentioned sorrow that was the subtext to everything [his] parents said or did." Haunted by memories, devastated by enormous loss, handicapped by their arrival in America in their twenties and driven to provide security for their families, Holocaust survivors often perceive their children as replacements of beloved family members who perished and as repositories of hopes and dreams denied them. Worried about their children's safety, happiness and future, Berger muses about his parents' perspective, "What could I say about the dread and suspicion with which they encountered a world that had proven maliciously fickle?"
As the author emerges from childhood, he begins to chafe from his mother's protective, controlling instincts and desires to assert himself as his own man. Berger's wrenching analysis of his status becomes the overarching theme of his memoir. "I saw myself now an an American...I would no more be the timid refugee boy with one leg planted in the fearful shtetls of Poland, with a mother ever vigilant that no more perils come to the remnants of her kin." It is this unspoken loving tension between Joseph and his mother, Rachel, that gives "Persons" its dynamism.
Alternating between two narratives, one his own and the other the gripping account of his mother's survival, Berger deftly intermingles past and present. Aware of his distinct heritage, the young Berger recognizes others in his impoverished Manhattan neighborhood who share his background. "We knew one another, knew in our young bellies that our parents were the same dazed and damaged lot, had the same refugee awkwardness, the same whiff about them of marrow bones and carp." Now attempting to wrest coherence in America, Holocaust survivors tend to frustrate Berger with their problem solving techniques. Berger prefers the American way of standing up directly; survivors "were always scraping by on a willingness to do what was necessary to survive, even if that meant surrendering pride or principle."
Raw emotion floods "Displaced Persons." Rachel's symbolic mourning of a dead child in Warsaw at the onset of World War II serves to remind us that she has no "mental picture" of the actual murder of her family. Unspoken grief undulates throughout the memoir. Berger's stoic father Marcus scarcely articulates his unfathomable sense of loss; nearly half a century passes before he can utter the names of his sisters. Guilt ebbs and flows in Rachel's description of her survival. Anguished over refusing to bring non-kosher food to her hungry brother during World War II, she has never forgiven heself, calling it "the worst thing I ever did in my life."
Yet life surges and humor emerges in Berger's descriptions of growing up in New York City in the 1950s and 60s. With both parents working at dreary, tiring jobs, the author experiences a freedom of movement he admits he would never conceive of allowing his own daughter today. His descriptions of his initial exploration of Manhattan reveal the sheer joy of discovery, the incredible exuberance of youthful hopes and the awesome sense of possibilities Berger recognizes in his new home. Berger's frantic disposal of an illicit girlie magazine carries universal appeal; he becomes an American everyboy. His struggles with self-confidence, academic competition and sexual frustrations are those of not only his generation, but of those before and after.
Written with conviction and compassion, "Displaced Persons" is that kind of memoir that not only describes, but instructs. Through the author's descriptions of his resolute, stubborn and proud mother, survivors attain an identity beyond that of suffering and loss. His own life's story shapes our understanding of the purpose of our national experience and the sacredness of an American identity. Treating both the Holocuast in its past brutality and its implications for the second-generation children of survivors, the memoir blends sorrow and joy, heartache and hope, pain and redemption.
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This book is the answer.
People who shift their eyes from my eyes fear that if I notice who they are, and if I don't like who they are, they won't be accepted, because, to them, that is all that they have. I learned that those people have a self-concept that is based upon anticipating what others will think of them.
And to become as charismatic as those I most admire, I've learned that by first accepting everything about myself, I am free to emulate them, without losing myself.
This little book has so much information for anyone who desires to be their best.
Read this book to become more than comfortable in your own skin.
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