For any lawyer, this book is a must. But it has so much valuable information in it about how people communicate that anyone could benefit from reading it. I have seen many books that merely tell me what I already know about observing and communicating with people. As a lawyer, a writer, and an actress, I find that this book gives me real, practical approaches that can be used in a variety of ways -- to reach others deeply, or to win an argument against them. I'm glad it is now available in a more affordable edition.

This book will open your eyes to problems that the world is dealing with in the mental health field. Issues such as depression, schizophrenia, sexual abuse, and substance abuse are seen differently when Western nations read about third world countries. While Americans are concerned about which medicine or therapy to take for their mental health, the third world countries are trying to get any help they can. A recommended book for any library.

I just bought this book today for my children. They loved it and so do I. I purchased it a book signing and Judy filled us in on the background for the story. My children's eyes got "as big as jelly donuts" and have learned sometimes you can get what you want. It is a very inspiring story. The illustrations are fantastic. Kids will enjoy picking out details from the pictures on each page. Thanks Judy for a wonderful story, pictures and inspiration.

"The Wrong Stuff" by Truman Smith is a memoir by a former copilot on a B-17 in the US 8th Air Force. Mr. Smith blazes his own trails in this book. He doesn't pull any punches about some of the screw-ups made during the war that cost lives, or about his own thoughts about the fact that every man involved in the war is killing other human beings. The only way to beat a bad enemy is to be worse. Smith's tale is at times hilarious, at times tragic, but always entertaining. He tells it in a breezy, easy-to-read style with plenty of wry comments thrown in. Not only are the air battle scenes well-written, but accounts of his experiences at the air base in England, of his trips to London where his youth and inexperience hamper his attempts at finding girls, and of his visit to the 'Flak Farm' where he is sent to recuperate from the stress of wondering whether or not he'll survive the next mission. I thouroughly enjoyed this book. As a historian and author who is researching two books on the 8th AF in WWII, I found this book really went a long ways toward explaining not only the horrors of war in the air but how the war affected the young men who fought that air war. I recommend it highly.

"As a publisher of aviation art I have to extensivelyresearch my subjects which means reading almost every book on WW2 thatis available. Some good and some not so good. Many written in co-operation with a professional writer and although having an interesting story to tell, aimed mainly at the experienced and knowledgeable reader.

Very, very occasionally one finds a literary jewel and a treat lies in store. "THE WRONG STUFF" by Truman J.Smith is one such. You don^Rt have to know what a B17 is or be interested in the Air War in Europe to read this book. This is an incredibly moving human story, told with great eloquence and humor, of a young man, twenty years old, thrown in at the deep end of a murderous war who, fifty years later, has the incredible gift of being able to pass on to the rest of us the feeling of "being there."

And so we can all experience as never before the hardships on the ground and pre-mission nerves, the terrors unfolding all around at 25,000 feet watching new found friends hurtling to their deaths and knowing that the next shell could have your name on it. Relaxing on leave in London, laughing and searching for any diversions to pass the time until the next mission. They had to cram a lifetime's experiences into a few months because for tens of thousands of them there was no future.

I have tried but find it difficult to compare it with anything. This book made me laugh and brought a lump to my throat. It is just the best book dealing with the air war that I have ever read and should be required reading in schools so that the younger generation can appreciate the debt they owe to Truman J. Smith and his like.

One of the few things more exciting than reading Truman's book is meeting Truman himself. Yes there is a Ponca City and yes he does live there. As a veteran of our "conflict" in Viet Nam I had experienced many of the same emotions found in the book. I especially appreciated his discussions on the guilt of surving and of not doing enough. If you get a chance read the book, you won't be sorry. If you have been to war or thought about war you owe it to yourself to read this book. Thanks Mike, for introducing me to Truman, and thanks Truman, for writing the book.

Such a nice book. And so refreshing and pleasing to read. As a primary care hospitalist doc, it help shepard me through the subacute rehab unit.

Will there be a second edition?

Terrific! The Best Rehab Book ever published!

Who can ask for more?

Inquisitors, John Milton, Incomel, Sir Oliver Cromwell, and the long-rumored Assassini...This book is a collage of historical pivot points that remains, nevertheless, true to the heart of its story.

"Rora" follows Joshua Gianavel, leader of the Waldenses, as he bands his people to fight the horrors of the Inquisition. In the fortress-like heights of Rora, the Waldenses manage to stage miraculous victories over the far superior numbers of Marquis Pianessa's armies. Over and over, Gianavel holds off the marauders with strategic wisdom, heroic feats, and--never to be forgotten--Godly faith. In the light of the religion's gross errors, Gianavel's faith alone provides hope in the midst of brutal battle scenes and violent depictions. This book is not for the queasy. This is history brought to horrible and astonishing life. This is hate and bigotry displayed in all its ugliness. This is Godly light seen as a flared match in the darkness of the blackest times.

I've read most of James Byron Huggins other works and found them thrilling but often overwrought with pretensions of grandeur. Here, Huggins matches all that he's ever strived for. This style of historical fiction finds Huggins at the top of his abilities. "Rora" not only brings to life the actual characters that were given animal form in his earlier book "A Wolf's Story," it also shows the gamut of human emotions in the midst of a siege...honor, betrayal, love, hate, and genuine faith in God. I was moved by the human face of heroism and brutality. I was challenged by the steadfastness of a man who stood at his moment in time and refused to back down against overwhelming odds. "Rora" is a book to cherish--for its historical veracity and for its spiritual truths.

This was my first book by James Huggins (I bought it after reading Newt Gingrich's review) and I was not disappointed. I have studied church history in the past and am familiar with the Waldensians, whose story this is based on, but had never heard of Rora, or the hero, Joshua Gianavel.

One reviewer said that the characters are unbelievable, and I can see how someone would say this. So, I looked around for more on Joshua Gianavel and found accounts of his life and the story of Rora in Foxe's Book of Martyrs and Wylie's History of Protestantism. Suffice it to say, the true Gianavel was quite a guy.

This story is inspirational on several levels. It shows what one person can do against seemingly insurmountable odds and it gives a good demonstration of someone with the courage of their convictions.

I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a good story, as I had a very hard time putting it down. It will also give some insight into the Waldensian movement and the Inquisition. But I believe it especially needs to be read by those in leadership, as Gianavel is one who truly was a great leader.

Think "Braveheart" and "The Patriot" with a better story than either and you will catch a glimpse of how profound this book is. Character development was as thorough as in any book I have read. The story is one of an undying faith that would not be quenched by any evil thrown against it. I walk away from this book examining my own faith and how I would respond to what the people of Rora faced. Joshua Gianavel is a historical figure that must be recognized and lauded as one of the truly great men of history. My fear is that the lack of political-correctness of this book (the war between Catholics and Protestants) will keep it from becoming a major motion picture, even though the story screams for that. I'll be thinking about this book for some time!

When I (a not-too-informed-SF-reader) said I wanted to read a good science-fiction novel that does not require being familiar with dozens of other SF-works for reference, a friend of mine recommended "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester and he was right. I have read a number of SF-novels since, and now I can see how basic and important this one is. Here is why.

With very imaginative descriptions of possible future technology, Alfred Bester has set standards for some later developments in cyber-punk and likes. Some of the most fascinating among these are drugs that he describes and that put humans into state of very primitive animals (python, for example), and, of course, jaunting technique and PyrE, the omnidestructive matter.

In these two futuristic concepts lies the real greatness of Bester's idea while writing this book. Although heavily supplied with all sorts of "advanced technologies", he makes a point of making them essentially connected with humans and power of their mind (jaunting being possible only with the power of thinking; PyrE activated only by the wish). With these ideas, Bester is trying to tell us that there is no force bigger than human mind, instinct and emotion.

The idea is personified in Gulliver Foyle, madly driven character who has been left in destroyed spaceship in outer space, to float for years before he was spotted by another vessel, and even then not rescued from his "floating coffin". Managing to find his rescue on a nearby planet (society of which has left an unerasable mark on his face, brought out every time he loses his balance), he finds his way back to Terra (Earth) and pledges revenge on "Vorga", the spaceship that failed to rescue him. Foyle is unstoppable, and he does not choose the means to his end. Eventually, that brings him to be the person upon whom the future of the all humanity lies.

Foyle's character is very well described, in depth and range equally. He is violent, immoral and uncontrollable, like everyone's unconsciousness. However, his unrelentlessness proves to be the driving force of the plot, and a convincing one too.

One star less goes to the superficial treatment of some other, possibly interesting characters (Dagenham, Olivia Presteign), and a bit rushed ending.

Still, it is one of the best SF novels I have ever read, and one of the better novels in general. If you are looking for a start in reading science-fiction, start here.

I just finished this book today. I feel it is one of the greatest books I've ever read. It has everything: intense plotting with many twists, a hero who is really more of an anti-hero in that he is willing to sacrifice anything--or anyone--in his mad quest for vengeance, a love story that avoids cliche, high adventure, shifting capacity of several central characters, and a host of villains who are only slightly less monstrous than the hero. Although this book didn't win any awards, it should have, given that Bester incorporates a good deal of realistic plotting into a story that most definitely goes against many of the conventions of modern-day writing. If Hollywood wouldn't be inclined to murder Bester's dystopian (or for sci-fi more or less utopian) view of the 25th century, I'd say it should be optioned for a movie. Rather, I think it should remain as it is: a scathing remark on society told in possibly the seminal sf book in the world.

The prologue of this book paints a whole world and time, into which is placed a truly unlikely, but unforgettable, main character, Gully Foyle. Who is introduced with: "He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead." Possibly the best opening line in all of SF. I still remember it 10 years after my last reading. Only the opening line in "Ringworld" comes close. Literally the textbook example of the "narrative hook."

The story, as such, is "The Count of Monte Cristo in the 25th Century" -- and Bester never claimed otherwise. But it's the fabric of the world he creates to set it in, the sheer mastery of prose, and audacity of his ambition, that sets this book apart from most. It's such a grand ride, like a roller coaster that keeps on going every time you thought there wasn't any more it could do.

A grand display of a first-rate writer at the peak of his form.

Is Demolished Man a better book? I don't think so, but, heck, read them both and decide for yourself.

Bram Stoker's "DRACULA" is definitely THE GOTHIC NOVEL. I read Stoker's novel for a course on Gothic Literature and still think it is one of the best books I have ever read. So the rambling by Renfield was a little over-wrought and confusing and sort of slowed the story down a bit, so Mina's pontifications and "let's all love one another" ... could get a bit out of hand and annoying (though it is set in Victorian times, what do we expect??), BUT Stoker's book has alot of wonderful characters, suspense and tension to keep the reader going. I was reading it late at night in my room and when the curtains were blowing in my room, it made a sound which made me fear a vampiric bat was lying in wait of me outside, waiting for me to invite him in....shudder....A super book on alternative family/ blood ties, about good vs. evil, about love and lust, about the mysterious eastern European landscape and Vlad the Impaler, this romantic (in the old sense) book is a must read for all. ....

After having seen numerous treatments of the Dracula story, I wrongly assumed I new it pretty well. After stumbling through the first few chapters, I got the swing of its style. Mr. Stoker used a rather novel approach in creating this novel. The perspective of the story changes with each chapter. You read narrative from many different characters. Awkward at first, later it gives the impression of a balanced account of the events. It seems to make the events more believable. A note now forgotten by many is this was a "current" story when written. It was not a piece of colorful historical fiction.

The reader is not biased by the narrator's point of view. Anne Rice's "Interview with a Vampire" is told from Louis' perspective. That very story is given a different spin from Lestat in "The Vampire Lestat". With Dracula, all players are backing up everyone elses story. The chilling effect, is that it seems true. I was very pleased that a hundred year old story could hold such a grip on me. Actually, it was I that had the grip, a tight fisted one, on the book until I finished.

Although I'm not much of a horror fan, I decided to read Dracula since it was considered a classic and was hopefully pretty good. I'm glad I read it. It was a very interesting story. It wasn't what I was expecting. The whole novel is written as if you're reading someone's diary, telegram or news article. It starts with Jonathan Harker(a lawyer if I remember correctly) who is summoned to Count Dracula's castle to help Dracula obtain a home in London. He soon realizes Dracula is no ordinary man, but some kind of beast. This section takes about 1/4 of the book and then, after some deaths surrounded with unusual and frightening circumstances, Jonathan, along with some other interesting characters commit to not only prevent Dracula's move to London, but to kill him. This book was interesting in the fact that it was almost as if Dracula is not the main character of the novel, and I suppose in some ways, he's not. The book focuses much more on this group of people's attempts to hinder Dracula's actions and to cause his demise. Also, I liked reading the book and discovering the original story behind Dracula, not just all of the spoofs and parodies one sees today. I liked finding out that besides not liking garlic, crosses and sunlight, vampires also can't pass running water and can turn into wolves as well as bats. Although I can't say I was ever particularly scared reading this novel(probably because I don't really believe in vampires), I did find this novel to be very good, especially considering horror isn't one of the genres I'm particularly fond of. I definitely think it's worth picking up this book and reading it.

There are some gems here, notably "Fondly Farenheit" and the previously unpublished "The Devil Without Glasses", but most of the short stories are decidedly second-rate. "Galatea Galante" is a clumsy Heinlein pastiche. "They Don't Make Life Like They Used To" is the sort of leaden "whimsy" which has plagued Fantasy & Science Fiction for the last half century. And several of the stories from the early 50's are thinly veiled diatribes against the paucity of original thought in "classic" science fiction. (Bester makes the wholly convincing argument that most of genre is little more than adolescent power fantasies, but fails to provide stories that provide a meaningful counterpoint.)

Stick to the novels - THE STARS MY DESTINATION and THE DEMOLISHED MAN, Bester's best work.

Alfred Bester's science fiction spans 40 years, and is always a treat. In this collection, we are treated to some of his early work "Adam and No Eve" (1941), to some of his last "Galatea Galante" (1979), as well as a previously unpublished complete story and an incomplete fragment (with the note :Its much easier to begin a thing than to finish it) found in his papers after his death.

The common thread in these stories is Bester's flabbergasting imagination. His stories are often ironic, taking a wry observation about current society, and projecting it to its logical conclusion into an absurd future, from the quest for poets in an efficient future of "Disappearing act", to the drop of acid that makes a test tube woman intriguing in "Galatea Galante".

As one of the inventors of science fiction, Bester not only lays the ground work for the popular themes of science fiction such as the last couple on earth, time travel, androids and their programming, but adds his own twists: a man needing an agent to sell his soul to the Devil (of the company Beelzebub, Belial, Devil, and Orgy), collectors in the future recreating a 1950's style room, and a chaos compensator.

This is a collection of some of the most unorthodox short stories even by the standards of science fiction. One can never tell where these will take us, and even then we are surprised at the results. Reading this will change everything, because afterwards very few things will seem weird. Many of these are tour de force of writting to show of the fact that the author could get away with something, that would be considered bad in writting of lesser carliber, but Bester's power-writting simply cuts through the rules, and gives us some truly out-of-this-world stories, which overpower the reader. In some it is the idea that is the main thing, and elsewhere it is the presentation, which is allpowerful, but each and every time we are left surprised, amazed by the end result. Some of these could be called parodies of classical sciece fiction cliches. (Besides Bester invented some things, that has become cliches since, and yet in his prose they are still powerful, and not cliched at all.) Some are funny, and some are sad, and most are weird, but they are all memorable.

While I think much of what Leonard has to say is worthwhile and valid, this book is a poor substitute for a "personal coach" for two reasons:
(1) There's no reality check if you do it on your own. I knew a guy who decided that, at age 28, he was too young to be saddled with his heavy responsibilities when there was a whole world out there for him to explore, so he told his wife he wanted a divorce. He'd talked her out of pursuing her own career plans after college, and convinced her to become a full-time wife and mother, and now she was on her own with 3 kids to raise. But he was sure that he was practicing "positive selfishness"!
(2) Most of us don't need someone to tell us what we OUGHT to be doing, so much as an objective outsider who'll help us put it all into perspective and suggest areas in which we can make small, realistic changes that greatly improve our lives. I got tired just reading his "Extreme Self-Care" section, let alone trying to do everything he suggests! (It reminded me of that classic "Dilbert" cartoon in which Dogbert the counselor asks what the participants learned in his workshop, and Alice says, "I learned to listen with my heart. I understand Sanskrit. I got my ham radio license ... ")

The Portable Coach packs the essence of the latest coaching technology into a compact and easily understood book. The tools provided are dramatic and life changing and are highlighted with real-life examples. The format is very pleasing with appropriate and memorable quotes, distinctions that clarify the language, top ten lists that provide practical answers, and the assessment tests that help you know where to start in using the tools to improve the quality of your life. Wow! a great package. I am using the book daily in my life and with my clients.

I took Thomas' Attraction course last year and benefited enormously--this book includes much of that course. Provides nuggets and suggestions that can be used by anyone in any organization, home, family, club, or business. Be sure and check out his great web site (thomasleonard.com) for even more insights. The quality of your life will definitely improve.