Mary Gjetson Levin has done an outstanding job of portraying the alchoholic relationship and household. At times I found this book difficult to read as it echoed my own family's struggles with an alchoholic father and husband. Levin's bold writing brings a sense of love and humanity to an otherwise lost relationship. Her delicate balance of writing and honesty presents a MUST READ for anyone in an alchoholic relationship. This is a good book to give to those in need. I could not put this book down!

Give Catherine much credit for sharing the most private moments of her life/family with the world. I'm certain it was not easy.
This book is hard to put down once you read the first sentence.

Dear John.....was an experience. Whether or not you know someone who is an alcoholic, this book is a must read! In reading Catherine and John Forde's letters I have gained an understanding of the effects and the signs of alcoholism. I highly recommend this book to everyone! I have given Dear John to a loved one who is in the beginning stages of alcoholism. I am hoping that Catherine and John's letters and stories are just as 'familiar' to him as they were to me. Lastly, I have learned that relationships and communication is the key to staying healthy and having control through life's obstacles.

This book gives an excellent overview of the topic, written in an easy understandable way. The authors have researched numerous articles and studies and compiled them into this work. The book also contains a lot of tables and graphs to illustrate the text. The foundations and the scope of target costing are well discussed and a small case study gives an idea how target costing is working in a practice. Moreover, there are a lot of references to literature and some examples from industry discussed. In the appendix there is a very useful collection of tools used in the target costing.

Definition and scope of target costing as explained in the book:

The target costing process is a system of profit planning and cost management that is price led, customer focused, design centred, and cross-functional. The target costing initiates cost management at the earliest stages of product development and applies it throughout the product life cycle by actively involving the entire value chain.

The difference between target costing and cost management is that the latter focuses on reducing the cost when they are already occurring, that means when the product design and the process are already defined. The target costing approach on the other hand helps to identify the allowable cost for a product in the design stage, the cost at the manufacturing stage are therefore known to be achievable and competitive. Further cost improvements are achieved by kaizen costing (continuous improvement).

this book is best for persons to understand the target costing indeeply with plain english. this book is also suitable for cost management in the globe.

This book provided more detail for target costings, more useful everyday, in both practical and theorical case. Moreover, this book use plain english for whoever in the world.

If you want to be comfortable and continue to feel all warm and fuzzy with your Christian faith, don't read this book! John Dears read on the Christian message hits home hard and in a big way. It challenged me on many levels, as material consumer, as peace maker, as one person challenging the system, whether it be political or religious. It clearly outlined the mission, as a call to work for justice at every point in our life. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is searching for the deeper meaning of the Christian message. Mary Routh Ankeny, Ia joyfam@dwx.com

I was amazed at this book, and the impact it has had on my life, and choices I have orignally made. This book tells of the Gospel of Jesus and relates it to everyday modern life, and choices we must all make. I never really understood the messages behind the gospels I read this book. This book relates the Christian message behind the death penalty, civil disobediance, belief in faith, and your sprititual journey in life. The book is well written and easy to understand. Each chapter starts out with a chapter in one of the Gospels and then relates it to modern day life. I will be forever changed by the reading of this book.

Daniel Berrigan's early work is his best, written in a time when the poet realized that "poems are made of words, not ideas" and took a craftsmanlike attitude to each syllable.

As has been noted, "Time without Number" was justly lauded by the modernist titan, poet Marianne Moore; and Berrigan's second volume prompted Moore to exclaim, "I read with reverence anything Fr Berrigan writes"; indeed, the poems of "Encounters" are unsurpassed, esp "Trees: October" and "A Statue of the Blessed Virgin Carved in Wood" with its initial line "Wood is noble when it forgets resemblance." There is, too, a poem which ends with the lines "is flown, is fled, is spent / skeleton : element."

Up until about 1964, the poems were poems and not slogans. In fact, Berrigan is perhaps at his best when he pays tribute to other poets, notably Wallace Stevens and Gerard Manley Hopkins. Berrigan's hymns to Hanoi are virtually indistinguishable from the great glut of anti-war matter that was written at this time, and his elegy to Thomas Merton -- though evidently heartfelt -- is slack, sprawling, and aesthetically infirm (the last lines, something about lotus blossoms) are just plain dippy.

In the later work, it helps the reader if she or he is sympathetic to Berrigan's political Weltanschauung, but there are felicities: Berrigan's lean athleticism of language, and way with a pleasing embedded rhyme or calculated dissonance, are knacks which serve him well.

But the priest/poet does, too often, confuse sloganeering with art, and that is a foible we find somewhat difficult to ignore.

Daniel berrigan, S.J.,poet,priest,confessor,witness has his second volume of collected poems.{the first,published by doubleday in the mid-1970's,is out of print.}It is curious that Berrigan is so overlooked{ignored]. His poetry is superb:supple,elegant,concise. Due to his political{religious}witness, he has been consigned to the fringes{where he is quite comfortable}Unfortunately, this has made his poetry less accessible,which is really too bad. For I believ him to be one of the great poets of our time. This collection begins with his Lamont award collection,TIME WITHOUT NUMBER,up and beyond HOMAGE TO GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS, and some uncollected work. From Vietnam to prison, to an elegy for some young children on block island, to an homage to his 10 year old namesake killed,these are vital poems, lush with language,deeply heartfelt,written about life as seen by one of its more ineresting participants . Beautiful,lyrical rich poerty, a feast for the mind and heart. Do yourself a service,read this book,savor these poems,for in many of them you enter a holy realm,a place of peace.

It's rather sad the mainstream press has overlooked this wonderful collection. Before he became known for his activism in the name of peace, Dan Berrigan was-and still very much is-a poet of grace and enormous insight. This collection gives new readers the gift of being able to trace the progress of his work through more than 40 years.

Judith Furedi's book is a devotional tribute to John Lennon, full of her own poems written directly to him, placed alongside artistic photos and sketches that reflect all phases of Lennon's life. She openly invites her readers to participate in the completion of this book by pasting their own poems or memorabilia about John alongside hers on blank pages. I was surprised that this "fun" book revealed such powerful and stunningly beautiful poetry that choked me up in unexpected emotion. The author's obvious fascination for John Lennon as a young fan who loved the Beatles transforms into a deeper devotion as she scales the walls of his youth and grasps the sadness of his separation from mother Julia in "The Blank Page." After following John through the exciting days of Beatlemania, she expresses concern at his new relationship with Yoko and the sadness of the break-up of the Beatles, then openly questions his initial dive into "Seclusion" in New York. After giving the nod to his new role as family man, twelve painful poems openly confront the horror of John's assassination and the mind of his killer. Her afterlife eulogies deal with John's philosophies which she mirrors back to him, and questions his whereabouts in the cosmos. I recommend this book for Lennon fans who care deeply about the impact he made during his life. You'll need to hurry--this is a very limited pressing and won't lsat long!

This is a book full of pure creation. This is a concept that Lennon himself would have loved. The creative process that Ms. Furedi has started here with her very strong poetry is not done after the work is published, to say the least. The reader is asked to join in this process to finish the book in any way they see fit. There are blank pages inserted throughout for the readers input, be it writing, drawing, photographs or any other form of self expression. The intent is for these books to all be one-of-a-kind stand alone works. There is also an intent in sharing these personalized volumes with others, either directly (person to person) or in a cyber forum. A novel approach, as a Beatle (and Lennon) fan, an artist and a writer myself this work has huge appeal. Get a copy of this and join in on the journey !

Judith Furedi not only captured the spirit of us all in her open and honest poetic style, she reached out and touched upon a life force that John Lennon exuded and which can still be felt now 23 years later.

Dear John: Letters From A Fan In NYC, is one of those books that affects positive change from within. It is powerful. It is truth. It is........really real.

Kudos and thanks to Judith for her honesty and her artistry.

I recently joined the staff of a large church. When it was my week to give the devotions at a staff meeting, I was anxious. There are 20 staff members and 6 of them are pastors! This book helped to create a devotion. This is a great book if you don't know where to start. I liked the large selection of topics(over 50) available. These topics can also be used by someone more experienced in giving devotions.

The easy readabilty of this book lies in the simplicity and directness of the Gould letters. There is a timeless aspect about the letters and photos that a military family can relate to. Personal feelings and strong sentiments give the reader a sense of shared experience. Helpful index. I read it in two sittings.

In Disarming The Heart, John Dear takes the reader into the heart and soul of what it means to move our lives towards nonviolence.He movingly draws from personal experience, and from the lives of other peacemakers, about what it means to become nonviolent. The reader whether new to nonviolence, or wrestling with continued conversion of their own lives, will be drawn into these pages.John Dear has drafted a compelling work which reminds us that a nonviolent life is not acheived simply by professing a vow of nonviolence -- but by incorporating nonviolence into every aspect of our lives.

In 1989, Jesuit activist John Dear was demonstrating in Washington with a group of homeless people when he was arrested. While waiting in jail he discovered that he had a slim volume by Henri Nouwen, recently given to him by a Trappist monk friend, in his coat pocket. Dear began reading it and was hooked. He subsequently wrote to Nouwen and so began a correspondence of faith and friendship that lasted until Nouwen's death in 1996.

In 'The Road to Peace', Dear presents an under-appreciated aspect of Henri Nouwen, the dimension of social responsibility that Dear sees as underpinning all of his writings, and was a significant part of his life. Dear's collection gathers for the first time nearly all of Nouwen's writings on peace, social justice, and disarmament.

We learn enough about Dear in his 25-page introduction to know that he himself is a deeply committed and experienced social activist. (Following an anti-nuclear Ploughshare demonstration, for instance, he spent eight months in a US jail, and a further five months under house arrest.) So when Dear says that social justice is a key dimension of Nouwen's spirituality and that he is an inspiring and challenging writer for social activists, he believe him.

A key part of Dear's introduction is a well-composed account of Nouwen's life, which also reveals the extent to which social concerns were a part of his life as well as his thought. To give one example, following an impromptu visit to Nicaragua, Nouwen undertook a six-week tour of the US denouncing the nation's involvement in the contra-war, which culminated in a bomb threat against the writer.

Nouwen's writings challenge his readers to recognize that solidarity with, and action on behalf of, our wounded world is an essential part of spirituality, while activists are challenged to deepen their inner contemplative life, without which they are vulnerable to despair.

'The Road to Peace' includes a number of previously unpublished texts, most notably a 50-page 'Spirituality of Peacemaking', a! s well as a talk on AIDS, interviews with the writer, his reflections on the legacies of Thomas Merton and Oscar Romero, and writings on his life with handicapped persons at L'Arche.

'The Road to Peace' is a substantial, significant and original addition to the Nouwen corpus that will be widely welcomed. [Book of the Month Selection, John Garratt Catholic Book Club.]

A pleasantly presented sketch of the authors time in pray at the merton hermitage.It is simply written and the chapters are light and short. Positive points; 1.Readable and easy going format 2.Content broken up from time to time with stories and examples of daily life at the monastery 3.The book varies between the experience of the week at the hermitage and the authors daily life outside the monastery. Negative points; 1.The book is too much a parody of Merton. 2.The experiences expressed in the book do not seem to ring true given the short period of time spent in retreat. 3.It seems difficult to imagine to which audience the book is aimed.For those interested in the genuine eremtical life ,Merton's journals are recommended.For those interested in a spiritual retreat and journey,this book will offer you few concrete guidelines.However,Esther de Waal's book on Merton would seem to be a first choice for reference