Why is it that men are responsible for such a disproportionate number of the dysfunctional things that happen in society - violent crime, abandoning children, war, etc., etc.? Is there something odd about the process by which male children are raised? This author provides some illuminating ideas, and some intriguing facts. Angela Phillips has a command of the interesting statistics, but, as a journalist, presents these statistics in a very readable, absorbing form. A great read about a subject that is close to most peoples' interests

In this book, people of all ages and walks of life describe what they experienced and witnessed during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. As their world is turned upside down, hapless victims of communist political correctness struggle to survive the persecution of authorities, neighbors, co-workers, friends, and even family. The stories are written in a very straight-forward style---they need no dramatic language to grab the reader's attention. These shocking tales often seem too bizarre to be real, and yet they serve as an important reminder of how cruel and petty the human race can become under the leadership of a tyrannical despot. The reader will surely find this book one of the most memorable reading experiences of his life.

Compiled by child psychiatrist Robert Coles, When They Were Young is a wonderfully presented showcase of retrospective black-and-white photographs drawn from the Library of Congress, and which highlight the memories and images of American childhood and what it was like to grow up in a yesteryear American culture. Many of the images hail from the late 19th century or the first half of the 20th century, and are accompanied by a thoughtful commentary adding background and depth to this memorable and visual treasure trove showcasing an impressive and memorable retrospective of American childhood.

This was an extremely useful book for study of data networks.....it goes right from the basics of laying the foundation for performance engineering multiprotocol networks. The techniques and principles mentioned in the book are generic and applicable to different types of applications in general. The book also discusses the issues specific to various protocols in detail in large networks and provides a simple way to analyze its performance. Finally the case studies present common situations occurring in networks which is really helpful for analyzing things from a practical point of view.

Just when you thought that Robert Crais couldn't get any better, he does. In the eighth book of the Elvis Cole mystery series, anything is possible.

When a former girlfriend of Elvis' partner, Joe Pike, is found murdered in the hills above Los Angeles, the sparks fly at an unbelievably rapid pace. The girl's father, a high roller with the city, considers Pike as part of the family, and wants him and Elvis to assist the police in finding her killer. With Pike's past, Elvis is pretty much left alone to deal with the police, until the murder suspect pool narrows in on, you guessed it, Pike.

In a storyline that just won't quit in suspense, you are taken on a rapid journey through a "rush to judgement" police investigation. With a myriad of colorful characters, and a plethora of twists and turns, you can't help but flip through the pages faster than a Japanese bullet train.

L.A. REQUIEM delves into Pike's past, as well as his personal life, giving the reader a much better overall view of the mysterious Joe Pike. With Crais' usual witty dialogue, and sophisticated violence and revenge, this is one riveting and entertaining read. This book is a must read.

As with most of the reviewers, I've followed Robert Crais from the beginning and this is his best book yet.

It starts with Joe Pike's ex-girlfriend, Karen Garcia, being gunned down by the Hollywood Reservoir as she's out jogging. Karen's father, an Hispanic with huge political clout, doesn't trust the police to work the case so he asks Joe to act as an overseer to the case, and Joe involves Elvis Cole. As more evidence surfaces it looks like a serial killer may be at work and when the prime suspect is himself murdered, Joe Pike is arrested for the killing.

First, the plot is very well done. It has the requisite twists and turns and I don't think many people will figure this one out before the author wants you to.

Secondly, the writing is superb. Crais has always been a good writer in a mild breezy way, but with this book he shows us he can handle deeper emotions. This is a darker, more serious, book than his others and he handles it with aplomb. I, at first considered this series as a Spenser wannabee, but his writing has now pushed him beyond that. He is a very good writer.

Third, his characterization is rich. Joe Pike, who up until now has been Elvis Cole's spear carrier, emerges as the complex human being we've always felt he might be. Far from being the emotionless killer, we find that Joe's emotions are there but well hidden. The book does a wonderful job of explaining what made Joe the way he is. Some others have remarked that Joe is a little too unbelievable, but I don't think so. There really are men like this in the world.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. I gave it five stars and I don't give out that rating lightly. You won't be disappointed.

L.A. Requiem is one of those rare detective mystery thrillers that transcends the genre into becoming a fine novel. Mr. Crais has taken on one of the most difficult challenges any mystery novelist can in L.A. Requiem and pulled it off extremely well. He has developed a complete, rich characterization for Joe Pike, Elvis Coles's (the self-described "world's greatest detective") detective partner, based on disclosing no contemporary internal thoughts by Pike and almost no dialogue involving Pike. Instead the character is built through a series of flashbacks into the violent, troubled past of Joe Pike that show how his personal values and strength were forged. At the same time, Mr. Crais has built a rousing tale with lots of action, conflict, a love story, and a particularly dense mystery that is unveiled through intricate development of police procedures. The book's only drawback is that it draws upon an excess of depravity, violence and gore, putting the book squarely also in the same category as the most noir of the Raymond Chandler works. If you miss this book, you cannot consider yourself to be a serious fan of top mystery writing in the classic style of the tough guy, but honest, P.I.

The flashbacks are connected to Pike's troubled relationship with his former police partner. From those same days, a former girl friend mysteriously disappears and is eventually found murdered. Her father asks Joe to help find the killer, and Elvis joins in as well. This is a bad time for Elvis because Lucy Chenier has just moved from Baton Rouge to Los Angeles with her son to be closer to Elvis. Soon the investigation puts their relationship on an awkward footing. At the same time, the police seem to be stonewalling. What could be their motive?

Before long, great danger is revealed that connects back to the past in unexpected ways. Finding the killer and keeping loved ones safe turns out to be an almost impossible challenge. You'll be rooting for Elvis and Joe, and feeling your heart pound as the tension builds . . . and builds . . . and builds. I recommend that you start the book early in the day, because you will probably not be able to put it down.

The book is also noteworthy for providing great character development of two members of the police.

The plot is particularly rewarding for its ability to test major characters to explain who they are and what they stand for in ways that no amount of dialogue could ever do.

After you finish this book, I suggest that you ask yourself what principles you stand for that you would back to the death. Hopefully, you will never be tested in that way, but this book will undoubtedly raise that issue in your own mind.

Do the right thing!

Elvis Cole, private investigator, was tasked by a famous director, Peter, to find his ex-wife and son. A seemingly simple assignment soon turned out to be mission impossible. After locating Karen and Toby, Elvis soon uncovered that the former was owned by the mafia, who would not be at all happy with the interference of Elvis and his partner, Joe Pike. Being his usual righteous self, Elvis could not sit back and see Karen's life destroyed by the mob. However, could he and Joe take on the mafia, save Karen from its clutches, and escape unscathed?

Like all other Robert Crais' books, it had the compelling power which made it impossible for me to put the book down. I have always believed that for a book to be likeable, we must like the characters in the book and really feel for them. This is precisely the reason which I enjoy this book so much. I was rooting for Elvis and Joe all the way as I followed the story which simply took my breath away.

Elvis Cole, "the world's greatest detective", is hired by Hollywood director Peter Alan Nelson to find his ex-wife, Karen, and son, Toby. His search takes him to small-town Connecticut where, once he finds Karen and her son, finds himself in the middle of problems involving the Mafia.

Pithy comment follows dry-witted humour in another very enjoyable detective story with the irrepressible Elvis Cole in control. For the first two chapters I found that I was chuckling to myself at least once per page as Elvis met the self-centered, big-shot director client, Peter Alan Nelsen. Although the humour doesn't continue at this pace, a light-hearted feel is maintained throughout the whole book. If you like your detective stories slightly on the humorous side with just a little bit of danger thrown in for spice, then this book (and all the Elvis Cole books) are just perfect.

Although this book is part of an ongoing series, it isn't really necessary to read it in the order that it was written. While the main characters are the same (Elvis and Joe Pike), previous plots aren't divulged.

This is the third book I have read by Robert Crais in the Elvis Cole series. Trying to read them in order. I think this is the best one so far. Elvis and Joe Pike are great together. Still wonder if Spencer and Hawk could take them but think it would be a pretty close match. Elvis is hired to find the son of Peter Alan Nelsen. He had left him and his wife years ago. Elvis finds them but they now have mob connections and the mob does not want to give the wife up. Elvis and Joe then take on the mob. Coles fast mind and quick wit get him into and out of trouble. Pike is always around someehere. You may not see him but he is there. A very good mystery and Crais holds you attention. I found myself nearly skipping pages to find out what happened next. IF you like a good fast paced book you will like this one.

After sending Elvis Cole to the East Coast in third installment of the series, Robert Crais keeps it in L.A. for the fourth installment, Free Fall. Elvis and his partner Joe Pike try to weed out corruption in the L.A. Police Department. They are approached by a young woman who thinks her police officer finance is involved is less than scrupulous activities. We know that Pike was a one-time L.A. cop and we learn a little bit more about his time on the force. What we discover is that he didn't leave on the best of terms and the mention of his name still rankles some of the men in blue. Free Fall loses some momentum in terms of the plot, but Mr. Crais is more interested in peeling back some of Joe Pike's layers and exposing more of his skin (an area that will be further explored in future releases). As usual, Mr. Crais spikes his plots with liberal doses of humor and comes up with yet another winner

I was turned onto Robert Crais by my Doctor who knew I was a big fan of mystery writer Michael Connelly. Like Connelly's character Harry Bosch, Crais has created a tough wise cracking LA detective named Elvis Cole. Woman want him. Men want to be him. My suggestion if you've never read him, is to start at the beginning with "The Monkey's Raincoat" and work your way through all of them. One of the greatest things about Crais' novels is Elvis' partner Joe Pike. An aviator glasses wearing silent but deadly killing machine. Think Dirty Harry with a drier sense of humor. In reference to "Free Fall", I always feel like knowing less is more when telling the plot of a mystery. The basic gist is an attractive woman shows up at Cole's office to ask him to investigate what's going on with her boyfriend who's an L.A.P.D. Officer who's been hiding something from her. He claims it's an affair. She thinks it's something deeper. Crap hits the fan, and you'll be off turning pages faster than you thought possible. Great characters, great plot twists, great writing. Long live Elvis & Robert Crais!

Robert Crais has proven again and again that he can keep us on the edge of our seats, and yet at the same time laughing our butts off, to be polite. "Free Fall" is a perfect example of that. It is an installment in the "Elvis Cole Series", but you do not have to have read any of the previous novels to read this one: I didn't. I've read other Cole novels, but they've been written after this one.
Anyway, this novel takes place in Los Angeles. It finds Elvis Cole sitting in his office, just another normal day. In walks an innocent looking young woman named Jenifer Sheridan. She tells Cole that she has a problem: She thinks her fiancee, Mark Thurman, is involved in something illegal. Willingly, unwillingly? It is Cole's task to find out the answer, and just what exactly Thurman is up to. Could it be another woman? Or is it something much worse, something much deadlier?
Cole and his partner, Joe Pike, find themselves up against rogue cops, South-side gangsters, and a haunting mystery. Oh, yeah: They're also wanted by the cops for murder.
Only Crais could weave a novel this complicated and powerful. You'll be loving every minute of "Free Fall", I promise you. I would know: I've been there.

This is the second review I have attempted to write on this book. Maybe this time, it will get in. First, the book is excellent on getting back on track with your family. One of the most important things I'd like to stress, is combining wisdom of this author with two women who are parenting experts and their books: Nationally syndicated parenting expert and columnist, Jodie Lynn, for Mommy-CEO (Constantly Evaluating Others) 5 Golden Rules, much of the book (revised edition) is based on "family time" and not forgetting the little things - which is the new thought provoking change that Dr. Rosenfeld quietly shouts at us parents, and "Talk So Your Kids Will Listen," by author and columnist, Adele Faber, who also says, Listen So Your Kids Will Talk and get behind all actions. No one parenting book will ever have everything for EVERYONE. Parents must buy all three and really let the advice of all three authors sink into old habits and thinking patterns in order for the "NO!" change to take place. It's a do - or go nuts this summer kind of thing. Save yourself and your family mental stress by not only cutting outside activity time but also communicating the reasons in a way your children will agree with and understand. BUY ALL THREE TODAY AND GIVE THEM OUT TO YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY - they'll love you for it and if not, they will by the time they've read all of the books.

Whether you are feeling guilt for not enrolling your child in every activity offered, or exhaustion from an overfull schedule, this book is just what you need to help you find a good balance for yourself and your family.

Hyper-parenting, as Dr. Rosenfeld refers to it, is on the rise, and yet our lives are busier than ever. If we feel the stress, we can believe our kids are experiencing it as well. Micromanaging every detail of our children's lives does not ensure a healthy happy childhood. But then what is the answer?

The authors of THE OVERSCHEDULED CHILD take us on a journey throughout this book, showing us a reflection of ourselves, our families, and our society. And at the end of the journey, after much self-evaluation, they give us simple and effective ways to avoid the hyper-parenting syndrome.

A must-read for any parent, educator, or care-giver, The Over-Scheduled Child is the stress management prescription for parents of all walks of life.

If you've fallen victim to seeing parenting as a competitive sport, you need to read this book. Rosen has nothing against Baby Mozart, soccer leagues, and all the other activities that parents and kids adopt for the best intentions. But he and his coauthor are reasonable voices, pointing out that by micromanaging our children's lives, we're giving them the message that they can neither function or make judgments without parental intervention. This is an excellent book that will help both parent and child.

First, let me say that this book is thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking, multi-layered, and completely worthy of all the praise that it's been given. Why am I giving "Cosmic Trigger" only 4 stars? Because not everybody will be ready for it. And even those who are will need to read it more than once for the full effect. Like James Joyce, who RAW seems extremely fond of quoting and whose "Ulysses" I suspect he seeks to emulate, Wilson has written a book that you just can't take in all at once.

One of the deeper "surface" lessons, the one Wilson shouts the loudest and at the same time refuses to do any more than tease you with, is that you have to decide for yourself what to believe -- but that deciding to believe anything limits what you will be able to observe in the world around you. This is heavy stuff, and ground-breaking to the average reader. As such, I've walked away from reading sessions alternately convinced that:

* Wilson is completely serious about all and sundry, straining to persuade you to approach the world with a more open mind; and

* Wilson is shoveling good-sounding but meaningless drivel on his readers for the sole purpose of a good belly laugh.

But even in this he's got a multi-layered agenda. Interpreting the book in line with one of the theories above -- as an earlier reviewer has done, with the former -- goes completely against the point of the book. WILSON IS NOT TRYING TO MAKE YOU BELIEVE. He presents no evidence nor standards of evidence (which the earlier reviewer did correctly note), EXACTLY BECAUSE his entire "surface" thesis is that one must constantly question THEIR OWN beliefs, within their own frameworks and based on their own observations (which the earlier reviewer seems to have missed).

Wilson's like that. Labyrinthine but consistent. Except he isn't, really. He ... Oh, just read the book.

In conclusion, this is a work that has earned a place on my bookshelf ... although I might have to wait a while to re-read it. "Cosmic Trigger" is a great foil to dogma of all stripes, but going through it too many times in succession makes it a piece of dogma itself, and the message gets lost.

This is really the only book you need to buy by Robert A. Wilson; his fiction is pretty awful (cardboard characters and self-referential plots drowning in footnotes); and all his other nonfiction works are the same repetitive rambling about the strange soup he makes of his favorites: Leary's levels of consciousness, general semantics, James Joyce, western philosophy (all of which he well understands), mysticism (which he does not) and Wilson's own mediocre interpretation of the philosophical implications of the quantum theory (he's an old-school copenhagenist). Cosmic Trigger has all that but much more; autobiography lends it a lovely basic narrative structure that is far more affecting than any of his silly novels, it has the phantasmagoric black-comic mood he fails to quite pull off in fiction, and of course is written in his usual direct, smooth, readable, and frequently hilarious prose style. If only he weren't from the foul "take more dope" hedonistic-materialistic school of consciousness and hadn't therefore been eating acid like candy when he wrote this, we might even be able to relate some of these events from his internal universe of perception to the external universe we share.

This was my first introduction to the writings of Robert Anton Wilson, at a time in my life when the limited, inconsistant, and ludicrous models of reality offered by the world seemed too limiting to bear. What Wilson offers here appears (in my reality tunnel) to be a look into the largely misunderstood philosophy of agnosticism, as well as his own experiences with love, sex, drugs, yoga, magik, life, death, and governmental corruption.

Does this review capture Wilson, or Cosmic Trigger I in its entirety? Of course not, and Wilson is fully aware that his writings and non-beliefs defy any catagorization (his books are very hard to find in retail stores). All I can offer is my uninformed opinion that there is no wiser, more humorous, and generally more interesting than Robert Anton Wilson.

A Pulitzer Prize-winner for General Nonfiction, this is an account of the tragic life of one "Sylvia Frumkin" (a fictitious name), who succumbed to schizophrenia while still an adolescent and spent the next two decades in and out of mental hospitals.

The author (who lived with Frumkin for a time) never appears "on stage" in the book, and restricts herself to just-the-facts third-person narration. A certain moral outrage is evident nonetheless. The mental health industry does not come off well at all (Frumkin's institution is unfavorably compared to the one depicted in "One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest"). It's difficult not to come away with the impression that a little less bureaucratic negligence might have saved Miss Frumkin many wasted years. Fortunately, this is not a one-sided screed (not quite, anyhow): some of these medics and bureaucrats are just doing the best they can with the limited resources on hand.

The prose style is plain and straightforward--maybe a little flat-footed, too. But overall, the book is a good example of how facts can speak for themselves.

but having read it just this year, it seems a little outdated. I would recommend this book as an introduction to the subject of mental illness, institutionalization etc., but if you know a little more on the subject, skip the book and read something else.

"Is There No Place on Earth For Me" is a telling tale of the life of a Schizophrenic. Sheehan goes inside the mind of the character to explore the inner workings and provide detailed accounts of what life is like for someone suffering with Schizophrenia and the hell their life can become. Sheehan at one point, even slept in the bed next to her character in the mental institution. This act assures not only a detailed account, but also an accurate one. Sheehan reinforces the old saying...Don't knock Charlie till you walked a mile in his shoes! This book takes you through many miles in a Schizophrenics shoes. It extricates vivid details of the inner mind and its workings. This is a book you will never forget. After reading this story, you will never look at mental illness in the same light again.