From Silence to Voice by Bernice Buresh and Suzanne Gordon is a must-read for all nurses. The message of the book is one nurses need to hear: talk about your work, show the world what you do, communicate the fact that nursing is skilled, responsible and interesting work. Buresh and Gordon make clear that much of the devaluing of nursing arises out of the fact that nurses avoid the limelight. Like the ubiquitous 'good woman' behind every successful man, nurses let their work be the backdrop for medical care, and for patients managing their own care. The consequences of downplaying the contribution of nursing to patient care is that our work is not noticed, our profession is not valued, and fewer and fewer people want to become nurses. Buresh and Gordon not only argue convincingly that nurses can be their own worst enemies in this respect, they provide a comprehensive range of strategies to teach nurses how to talk about their work, and (vitally) how to make people interested in hearing about it. These strategies range from ways of talking about nursing work to friends and family, to running a media campaign to support a union action, to writing oped pieces for major newspapers. I learnt a great deal from reading and re-reading From Silence to Voice and I recommend that it be part of curriculum for nursing students, be used for professional development sessions for working nurses, and adopted as a tool kit for union activists, professional officers and nursing leaders. Whether you are a student starting out in the nursing profession, a bedside clinican, a manager, organizer or educator, Buresh and Gordon's text is an eye-opener. Nurses as individuals and as a profession need to develop the communication skills and political savvy this book offers. And we need to do it right now! Sioban Nelson, RN, PhD, BA(Hons), School of Postgraduate Nursing, The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Editor, Nursing Inquiry.

Bernice and Suzanne are two journalists who have taken on the nursing profession more or less the way we take on a patient with a life-threatening condition that is curable but requires both intensive and long term care. The diagnosis is silence. On account of our collective silence, we nurses miss the opportunity to show ourselves as consequential in the delivery of health care. And, as we well know, being inconsequential is ultimately fatal not just to nursing jobs and the status of the nursing profession but to our patients, who pay the highest price for inadequate nursing care. The remedy for silence is voice--our voices raised in conversation first and foremost with our families, friends and patients and also with the general public. I love this book. It's full of stories and information. It's also refreshingly direct. My copy is marked up from front to back.

 Veteran journalists Suzanne Gordon and Bernice Buresh have produced a practical,intelligent guide on public communication for nurses. How needed this is and probably more currently than ever before. Until now there's been very little available to teach nurses the nuts and bolts of public communication. Nurses who read this book will learn how to do the basics --construct anecdotes that explain why they make a difference, refine professional presentation, integrate nursing research findings into struggles for better staffing in hospitals, write a letter to the editor of a newspaper, or an op-ed or commentary, or speak compellingly on the radio or TV.

But another reason I like From Silence to Voice so much is that the authors sensitively explore the cultural barriers that have made women and women''s work so hidden in this society. In my own work and my work with other nurses, I''ve discovered how reluctant some of us are to toot our horns and broadcast our accomplishments. Our self-silencing is a detriment to quality patient care and real health care reform. This book can be a catalyst for a new approach by nurses to public education and communication. I highly recommend From Silence to Voice, particularly to nurse educators who should consider incorporating its timely lessons into their curriculum.

Claire M. Fagin, PHD,RN Dean Emerita, Professor Emerita, University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing

I'm in the midst of this book, and am savoring it. Mary Gordon's use of the language makes me able to read Men and Angels at a more measured pace than what I usually have == her phrasing is so precise and her scenes and characters are jarringly familiar.

She describes the intensity of mother love so well, how all consuming it is when your children are small, how there's no question that you treasure them above life itself -- of course they're more important than anything.

I love also the way she looks at the mystery of how someone can be a good parent to one child but not another. How bereft a child in such a situation feels, and how angry the parent -- for not living up to such a basic requirement and instinct -- loving one's own child well enough. I also love the way she paints Laura, the young babysitter whose mother hated her, who believes herself to be beloved by God, who despises every adult except Anne, the book's central figure, and who is clearly going to do something awful. Laura is so despicable and so pitious at the same time that you don't know what to do with her.

It's interesting that psychology has in recent years verified Gordon's view, with the experts saying that yes, the personalities of parents and children sometimes don't mesh, and can get in the way of a good enough relationship. It's something that people took for granted in earlier centuries, but in the past 100 years or so, of course it's unforgivable to not love your children equally.

This is a wonderful book about love and the human condition, and I'd be still reading it now except that I read for the past hours on a Sunday afternoon, read until I'm seeing everything double, and squinting to see the print.

I can't understand why no one has reviewed this book either so I thought that I'd lend you some support by posting a couple of words.

I think this is Mary Gordon's best book but what makes if good is also what makes it different from her other novels - the babysitter narrative gives this book a darker thriller aspect which balances Gordon's usual narrative. The result is a book you can't put down and a must read if you have't picked it up yet.

I can hardly believe I'm the only person to review this book. I often check this page simply because I am so curious to hear other people's views on a novel that has stayed with me for over nine years. It is an intense and thoughtful study of women, art, religon, and motherhood...unsettling and disturbing at times, but richly wriiten and full of intriguing characters. I would urge anyone who has found Ms. Gordon's later work somewhat unsatsifying to look into this provocative novel.

I raise cows for a living, and this book was one that i felt would be very good for any child to learn about how cows grow, how they are cared for, and the ways that we use cows in the dairy farming industry. I really felt that this was an exceptional book for the field, and i think that any child with an interest in dairy farming would agree.

This book has wonderful life-like pictures of calfs and cows walking, eating and sleeping. The cow ranges from birth to two years old. It is an excellent book for children like mine who are facinated with barn anminals, especially cows!

This is a quietly beautiful and fascinating story--a work of scholarship and a work of love. Joanne Mulcahy has written a stunning book about Mary Peterson, a remarkable woman, and about the cultural revival that both Mary and the author played crucial roles in bringing about. It is something few Americans know anything about--and all of us should.

Zelda Fitzgerald spent much of her life trying to struggle out of the shadow of her famous husband. For many years she was both a literal and figurative inspiration for his work, often helping him with his stories. This book of her writings allows her to finally take her own place in the fiction world. Her novel, Save Me the Waltz, is an incredible book in which language becomes surrealistic art. There are two sides to every story, and it is interesting to hear Zelda's interpretation of her life with Fitzgerald. The novel itself is a gradual emotional and physical breakdown as it documents a woman on her voyage of self discovery and artistic fulfillment. It has been said that Zelda was a true original and, once encountered, was never forgotten. The same can be said about her work. Though she will unfortunately always be paired and compared with Fizgerald, her voice and style is all her own.

This is the best book I have ever read. It is amazing. It features everything you ever wanted to know from side saddle to expert jumping. It tells you how to progress and how to aid your horse from beginner to competition.It features lovley pictures and amazing illistrations. The auther explains it in such a sympthetic manner and makes it seem so easy. I could not put it down and it has given me confidence to do anything and tell anyone how to do it.

Excellent and comprehensive. In-depth coverage of the pathophysiology of the newborn. I would strongly recommend it for anyone interested in the NICU.

I was raised in New York, living there the first 21 years of my life. Being a New Yorker means having its numerous bridges engrained in your mind, in your images of the city. I am someone who loves bridges and own a number of books on the topic. This book includes strong and graceful and beautiful paintings of the bridges. They are often shown at night, looking up at dreamy clouds. During the day, they are part of the beauty of the city or its industry. Interestingly, most of the book consists of accompanying dramatic writings by native New Yorkers or visitors who have loved the city and its bridges. They include Alfred Kazin, John Dos Passos, Joyce Carol Oates, Hart Crane and Le Corbusier. And even Helen Keller! I bought the book in 1998 at the Museum of the City of New York and have an autographed copy from the artist. I thumb through it regularly since then in my home in St. Paul, Minnesota, 33 years since I left New York.

I was not that interested in my religion, but after i read this book I wanted to know so much more. This book is so interesting I coud not believe how detailed and exciting this book was. I recommend this book for eveyone even if you are not of the faith!

I must admit I cheated and saw the movie before I read this book. I've had the novel for so long, but never got around to it. The film was stunning and I was sobbing at the end. Now after the reading the book - I am pleased to say the film follows the book closely and Gillian Anderson really captures the moral complexities of Lily Bart. I love how Wharton was able to find the hypocrisy in nineteenth century high society. Not only did she expose its follies, she also unveiled its fragility. Lily could have easily maneuvered her way out of nearing poverty, but she possesses a kind of morality that her privileged, back-stabbing friends do not. It is only by turning their backs on the truth do her peers hold up their shameful facade. I do find it disturbing that Lily believes her only way out is death...that she has nothing else to offer the world. Wharton uses this tactic, though, to symbolically represent the rich snubbing the poor - how they exist without even seeing them.

However, the most intriguing part about this novel is Lily's relationship with Seldon. In the beginning, he seems to always remind her of her vain attempts at marrying rich men. She can't go through with her designs, though. He strings her along, all the while he's having this under-handed liason with one of the most pretentious women of their social circle. Lily never gets to tell him how much she really loves him. Her pride reverts to bravery as she realizes she must face her future without his companionship. Does she die for an empty purse or a broken heart? I choose the latter.

Prior to reading The House of Mirth, I had read both The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome. The House of Mirth deals with moneyed New York families, as does The Age of Innocence, but The House of Mirth has a more serious tone and a more tragic storyline, in that the main character is a woman who is a victim of her times. Lily Bart lives in an era when to be poor is the worst punishment of New York society. The idea of having to work for a living is untenable. Her goal in life is to marry well, but she struggles with the idea of abandoning her goals for true happiness just to marry well. The story deals with her misadventures in society, and the sometimes painful price her relatives and friends extract from her in exchange for financial support. This is a very enjoyable, although sad, novel, and I recommend it particularly to those who have already read some Edith Wharton and wish to round out their selection of writing.

I stumbled upon a review of the recent film of THE HOUSE OF MIRTH in the TLS and, in order to have the novel firmly fixed in my mind (that is, before the lush, seductive images of film forever eradicated Wharton's novel from me) I dragged my copy off the shelf for a re-read. It had been 16 years since I last read of Lily Bart and her life, and I didn't realize how much I had missed her. For me, this is one of the great reading experiences, one of a handful that make reading a book the deeply moving and human exchange that it is. Despite the distance of wealth, property, time and manners, Wharton manages to make Lily's world and life palpable to anyone who will listen. The clash of money, morals, personality and circumstance is infinitely developed and played out in front of a never fading natural world. Once again, I was deeply moved by Lily Bart and at the end, felt I had lost someone myself.