Indispensable

As a doctoral student in clinical psych with a focus on children I have found this set to not only be well worth the hefty price tag but to have saved me $ since any and everything (from attachment theory to neuro) that I have needed info on was covered in depth and by the giants in each respective arena. BUY IT if it overlaps with your interests! It will become the first place you look for anything relating to child psych. It is technical and scholarly in detail so it's not for the layperson but for students and psychs alike.

Prophet? Madman? Or philosopher? The mythological characters in William Blake's prophetic poetry present a conundrum for the reader who confronts these characters with the traditional literary expectations of a symbolic reading. Indeed, the vanguard of contemporary criticism would argue that the very complexity of Blake's mythology precludes an all inclusive schemata.

Yet S. Foster Damon's A BLAKE DICTIONARY offers compelling testament that there was methodology in Blake's madness. In addition to providing a detailed enunciation of virtually every character in Blake's poetry, Damon further offers an exposition of the major themes and symbols which Blake repeatedly returned to in his longer prophetic works. Along with both Northrop Frye's FEARFUL SYMMETRY and David Erdman's PROPHET AGAINST EMPIRE, Damon's meticulously cross-referenced dictionary is an essential reference work for anyone who dares delve into Blake's complex mythology.

Christopher Sandford has done an admirable job of writing a biography on one of rock's more elusive icons, David Bowie. Having read most of the other biographies on Bowie in and out of print, I'd have to rank this one second best next to Peter Gillman's "Alias David Bowie." Gillman's biography has better photos and a superior in-depth account of Bowie's youth, but Sandford's is more up-to-date.

In "Loving the Alien," Sandford discusses Bowie's rumored schizophrenia, a trait he apparently inherited from his mother's side. (Previous biographers have argued that if this is a fact, it serves to explain the many stage-personas Bowie adopted during the '70's: Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Thin White Duke, etc. Curiously enough, Sandford seems uninterested in this theory.) Bowie's half-brother, Terry Burns, clearly suffered from the mental illness, which led him to take his own life in 1985. The song "Width of a Circle" is supposed to be about Bowie's own battles with schizophrenia (or possibly Burns', depending on which biography you read). Whether or not it ever seriously affected him, Bowie seems to have conquered it by his mid-30's.

Bowie also befriended many other rock stars and celebrities during the '70's. At one time, he was even friends with Elizabeth Taylor and Oona Chaplin (the latter's family even falsely predicted that Bowie would marry her).

Sandford's biography is probably the most well-written one yet on Bowie, as well as the most current. Strongly recommended for Bowie fans wishing to know more about the man.

When I bought this book, I figured I knew just about everything I needed to know about David Bowie. I knew all of his albums, his wives, favorite albums, all about his fellow musical friends (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, etc.), the movie he has starred in, and so on. As a matter of fact, I came close to not buying the book at all. But boy am I glad I did. Loving The Alien is the by far the most down to the earth, well explained, and best researched Bowie biography out there today. I'm surprised that the author, Christopher Sanford was able to convince William Burroughs to talk to him. What sets this biography apart from the rest is that it presents the information in a factual matter but also with a twist of Sanford's opinion mixed in. I found the reading very interesting and I finally realized that I knew hardly anything about the exciting and unique David Bowie.

I have read a lot about David Bowie, because I'm a huge fan, and I believe that this is the best biography written about him. It goes into such detail, you can't believe that it's all true. I actually ended up highlighting parts that were so interesting, I would reffer to in conversations. I highly recommend this book. It will change anyone's life.

Not at all what was expected. Over half of this work is spent convincing the reader that for a community to successfully raise its children, it should have a youth charter. This could have been accomplished on the book jacket, as chances are Damon's audience here is already convinced of this from other reading, and looking for the _how_, not the _why_ of having a youth charter.

Unfortunately, only a few thousand words enlighten the reader as to how to effect this change in his own community. The first few chapters, an overexaggerated collection of _fictional_ before and after vignettes, are presented with excruciating, nearly condescending simple-mindedness.

The chapters of interest are toward the end, (past 9) advising community leaders how to improve their town. If only the whole work could do the same. This one's a library reader.

I can honestly say that upon finishing this book I had no questions about the how's or the why's of implementing a community Youth Charter. In fact, I have begun to do exactly that. I started last week and have now had meetings with police, local government, religious, youth workers, teachers, youth, parents, etc. Everyone has been very receptive and many have gone out to buy their own copy of this valuable book.

I appreciated the in-depth theoretical sections. I believe that I can now effectively answer questions as they are posed to me. The book seems to speak to people who are interested in spearheading this process in a community.

The examples were very helpful as well and the journal format at the beginning was well-received.

I feel this book is extremely well-written and it gave me much hope. I am in the process of getting the word out to key individuals and from there I will develop a task force leading to a series of community forums. I am very excited about this project.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is tired of feeling disempowered by the negativity of the youth culture. I believe in our youth and I know that people like William Damon are giving youth a chance by empowering the adults in their lives to work cooperatively to solve problems.

If you want to learn how to help children, improve your community, and most of all, provide a place where children thrive in their moral and intellectual development, this is the book. Dr. Damon is one of the world's leading child psychologists and experts in adolescent development.