I don't read much non-fiction, but I couldn't put this book down. Susan McDougal's courage was absolutely amazing. It would have been so easy to give Starr's zealots the lies that would have kept her free, but she didn't. She made poor choices out of misguided loyalty, and she paid dearly for them. I admired her frankness in admitting her errors in judgment and never looking for the easy way out. Bravo, Susan!

McDougal's story deserves to be read by every person in America who has ever wondered why they should do the right and painful thing in the face of powerful enemies and overwhelming temptation to save oneself at the expense of another. This is a tale of heroines and heroes, of good friends and false friends, of villains and the lowest scum to ever stride a courtroom. Ken Starr and his cronies, and those in various jails and federal prisons, who tried to assist him in breaking the spirit of this courageous and honest woman, have much to answer. She was an ordinary woman who faced a difficult challenge with rare courage. Her story is an inspiration and a source of encouragement in these difficult political times. The tale is fascinating and well written, and you will keep thinking about the book after you put it down. Susan McDougal took the hit for a lot of people when she went to prison for refusing to talk about Whitewater, and the Clinton land deal that went bad. In reading this book, you get a strong sense of McDougal's honesty and integrity, and how difficult it must have been, in the presence of so much insanity, to maintain that integrity.

This book is one of the most important books I've read in years and I urge everyone to read it. What Susan McDougal tells us about the right wing zealots who threw her in jail because she refused to lie about Bill Clinton is truly a story that needs to be heard loud and clear throughout our land. Surely there is a special section of hell reserved for Ken Starr and his henchmen and women.

McDougal's voice rings true and clear, and she is laugh-out-loud funny. Clearly, her sense of strong humor was one of the many great character traits that helped her survive in the various prisons that the Office of the Independent Council dragged her through in their quest to make her tell lies to suit their own self interests. And the stories she shares of the women she met while encarcerated are truly heart-rending and equally deserving of your attention.

Most of all, this is the story of a woman who finds her own strength in the most harrowing of circumstances. Even if you're not interested in politics one way or the other, you should read this book

An outstanding self-help book discussing human behavior based on transactional analysis, in an easy to understand language while still technical.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand his or her behaviour in situations.

The "A-Ha" feeling you get when you start reading it comes when you understand why so-and-so makes you feel small or angry and why certain situations make you start playing some game.

It discusses the basic terminologies and vocabulary needed and then goes on to discuss in different social contexts and developmental contexts the application of Transaction Analysis.

This is not just a vague psychology book like Freud. It is extremely practical and insightful.

As a social critique of Enlgish and European society, this book is very effective. It is also beautifully written. But it should not be read as the depiction of what society should be like. Thomas More, a wise and brave man executed by orders of Henry VIII, knew that Utopia shouldn't be taken very seriously, and that is exactly why he used the word Utopia to name his famous island. Utopia, in latin, means "in no place", that what can not exist. The problem is that this simple fact was not understood by many. And so, "utopianism" was born. The preposterous belief that there is a universal and definitive form of organization for human societies led to disasters like Nazism and Communism. By organizing everything perfectly (according to who?), these systems become the negation of the very essence of the human being: its innate imperfection and its need to be constantly changing, always on the move. It is simply impossible that some political, economic and social system resolves once and for all the troubles of humanity. Problems are exactly what make humans progress and reform constantly. Besides, the State has proven indispensable for survival, but also limited in what it can accomplish (in Utopia, the State provides everything for everybody). Stagnant societies degenerate and disappear, or remain to live from the charity of dynamic societies. Closed, perennial social systems, simply don't work: there is abundant proof in history, ancient or recent. "Utopia" is an excellent account of human shortcomings and a good tale, but it is not, nor was intended to be, a recipe with solutions for the world. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell have shown us what might happen in a supposed Utopia. The Communist world was worse. And Anthony Burgess clearly shows us in "A Clockwork Orange", that in "perfect" societies, the only way to practice freedom is violence. Let's not be perfect.

Utopia is a classic masterpiece that conveys More's vivid imagination of the Island of Utopia. Although most of the characters are fictional, it is intriguing to learn about the true values of European societies during the 16th century, when More actually wrote the book (although many scholars believe that the exact year was 1515). Truthfully, the book is quite easy to understand. All More tries to do is convey his own views of how society should be through Raphael. Moreover, the use of imagery in Book I is quite fascinating, including the constant references to Roman and Greek myths and beliefs. It is also quite remarkable to see that the story begins to be more and more interesting after More and Giles come back from dinner. To make a long story short, I think it is a great book because of the actual time it was written in since most pieces of literature written at that time were either lost or destroyed.

It's unfortunate that it seems as if most of these reviews were written by people whose only knowledge of More has come from the (mostly incorrect) opinions they have formed after reading this book. I don't think one can truly understand its import until he or she understands where Moore is at this point in his life and what he previously wrote ("Life of Pico", for example) and what he wrote later (while in prison, perhaps). No, he wasn't expressing his views through Raphael. In fact, it's clear that Raphael is an opinionated fibber (i.e., he discovered Utopia after Vespucci's fourth voyage? There were only three and Morus knows it...) and his account is purposefully filled with contradictions. There's more to it! More is raising issues, trying to make the careful reader think (and shame on some of the other reviewers for not being careful readers). And once you've read this book, read enough More (ha!) to understand what was going on in the bigger scheme of things, such as More's relationship with the other Renaissance humanists of his time and Henry VIII.

I DO agree that the Del Webb history is fascinating.
Also, the book is well written.
BUT, I am a tired 53 year old lawyer. I have had
one job or another since I was a teenager.
I was an over-achieving student, so I worked
very hard at school from first grade forward.
(Graduated #1 from 8th grade; #3 from undergrad;
#1 from law school - you get the pattern.)
My family was dysfunctional (I know, whose
wasn't?) and I was not given a chance to be
a kid - I had to grow up fast, be serious,
etc. etc. After decades of work of one sort
or another, I am ready for R&R; for travel; for play. Indeed
I LONG for it. I want to learn how to garden; learn Spanish;
study art. I see my in-laws, who
have been retired happily for a quarter of a century,
enjoying life with gusto without feeling a need to
work or volunteer at anything. Yet they are two
of the most interesting people I know.
This book's thesis was just exhausting and depressing.
I became so irritated that I stopped reading it.
... If some people want to work for
their whole lives, let them. Personally, having
never had much of a chance to "play" as a child,
I look forward to learning how to do it - and
doing it well. If I can touch some lives positively
along the way, terrific. Hopefully I will someday
have grandchildren and will have the time and energy
in retirement to love and spoil them, as well
as to host family gatherings and give to people
that way (as my in-laws do so lovingly). But I resist the message
that, after having worked this hard, and paid
plenty of SSA taxes to keep my elders financed
in their retirement, that I have to forego my own.

Marc Freedman's book communicates a forward thinking idea that is the next step in social development. Similar to how childhood was reinvented as a valid life stage in the nineteenth century and adolescence in the twentieth century, the new life stage of older retired adults represents the potential for dramatic civic renewal in our time. Those who believe Marc Freedman is advocating for further work after retirement are sorely mistaken and have missed the basic founding premise for his book. He is by no means attempting to guilt trip retirees out of taking a deserved break and rejuvenating themselves with plenty of golf and travel. Marc Freedman points out that the key is to achieve a better balance of work across generations. Our society manages to skew work into a massive time commitment, monopolizing our entire lives for the span of our careers and leaving time for nothing else. People naturally become either absolutely addicted or repelled by the idea of further service. He emphasizes that most people do need to get an R&R fix after working hard for decades but that after a certain amount of relaxation, many older people testify to needing deeper purpose and something to commit to in their retired lives. This empty place in their lives may be best filled through meaningful civic service, perhaps in areas that they had never considered before like mentoring school children or by continuing their lifelong career paths such as the doctors at the Samaritan House Clinic.

Freedman advocates for a revolution of society's attitudes towards older people in order to give them the option of remaining active and contributing to society or not. His heartening message of potential social renewal seeks to "expand opportunities and option, not obligations" and to show what a massive potential resource we have at hand. I found especially inspiring the idea of "the aging of America as an impending civic renaissance."

The book itself is extremely well written, and even if you do not agree with its message, it is worth reading for the first person narratives of older Americans. These are very inspiring and interesting because many of the perspectives are ones that I would never have encountered otherwise and that give me a greater hopefulness for my own ability to continue to affect change in old age.

Marc Freedman's book communicates a forward thinking idea that is the next step in social development. Similar to how childhood was reinvented as a valid life stage in the nineteenth century and adolescence in the twentieth century, the new life stage of older retired adults represents the potential for dramatic civic renewal in our time. Those who believe Marc Freedman is advocating for further work after retirement are sorely mistaken and have missed the basic founding premise for his book. He is by no means attempting to guilt trip retirees out of taking a deserved break and rejuvenating themselves with plenty of golf and travel. Marc Freedman points out that the key is to achieve a better balance of work across generations. Our society manages to skew work into a massive time commitment, monopolizing our entire lives for the span of our careers and leaving time for nothing else. People naturally become either absolutely addicted or repelled by the idea of further service. He emphasizes that most people do need to get an R&R fix after working hard for decades but that after a certain amount of relaxation, many older people testify to needing deeper purpose and something to commit to in their retired lives. This empty place in their lives may be best filled through meaningful civic service, perhaps in areas that they had never considered before like mentoring school children or by continuing their lifelong career paths such as the doctors at the Samaritan House Clinic.

Freedman advocates for a revolution of society's attitudes towards older people in order to give them the option of remaining active and contributing to society or not. His heartening message of potential social renewal seeks to "expand opportunities and option, not obligations" and to show what a massive potential resource we have at hand. I found especially inspiring the idea of "the aging of America as an impending civic renaissance."

The book itself is extremely well written, and even if you do not agree with its message, it is worth reading for the first person narratives of older Americans. These are very inspiring and interesting because many of the perspectives are ones that I would never have encountered otherwise and that give me a greater hopefulness for my own ability to continue to affect change in old age.

an exciting book, students will learn about pavlovian and thorndlike conditioning to the deepest terms

I picked up Learning Conversations on the recommendation of a colleague as a reference related to organizational learning. What I found in it was a great set of frameworks dealing with both personal and corporate learning. The book frames the learning process well, especially at the individual level. What it does that is magic is provide a model of the natural (and necessary) steps in the development of an effective coaching relationship. This alone is worth the purchase of the book. The additional excellent materials related to organization and personal learning processes are bonuses. The only drawback to the book is its length and the at-times academic style through which some of the materials are presented. The thoroughness of the materials represents both a strength and, depending on your time, a drawback to the volume. But the practical tools and explanations it provides are well worth the read.

Michael Lander is an ex-POW from Vietnam, who has taken up a civilian position flying the Aldritch blimp for the football each Sunday. However, his time as a POW has left him emotionally scarred and he embarks on a deadly plot, enlisting the help of an Arab terrorist group. Through the book, the details of the plan are gradually unveiled, where he plans to blow up the Superbowl, killing 80,000 spectators, including the president. In the first half of the book, sympathy is built up for the terrorists, by concentrating on the relationship between Michael and terrorist Dahlia Iiyad, adding an extra dimension to the book. Another thing I liked about the book, was the way Harris has continually referred back to how the incident relates back to Middle Eastern politics, which is the motivation for the terrorists' involvement.

My only gripe is that I felt the ending was a little weak, after such a brilliant book. This seems to be a feature of Thomas Harris' writing which is also apparent in The Silence of the Lambs. Nonetheless, I would recommend this book highly

Tom Clancy, Fredrick Forysth, all are rank amatures compared to Mr. Harris. Black Sunday is a exciting thriller full of plot twists. The difference between this book and most other of its genre is that the characters are actually intersting and the dialouge is not wooden but belivable. Their are no carbon cut out villians in this novel who are evil just because they were born that way. Instead the reader is introduced to people damaged by events beyond their control who have chossen to become evil. The villians in this book are symphathatic and the readers will be disgusted with themselves becasue they will find themselves rooting for the bad guys despite their distate for them. At the same time the hero, Kabakov, is also likable and the reader will also root for him as well. This novel is about a diabolical plot to inflict the worst terrorist attack in history on U.S. soil. Only one man can stop it, Kabakov, an Israil intelligence agent and assassin. Palestian terrorists, specifcly a beautiful but deadly woman named Deliaha, have formed a bizzare and twisted alliance with a Goodyear blimp pilot named Michael Lander. Lander pilots the Goodyear blimp over sporting events all across America. However, he is a sick and twisted individual who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam for many years. He wishes to share his pain with the world by using his blimp to kill as many people as possible. He seeks out the PLO and asks for their assistance. They agree and send Delihia. Their plot is brillant and evil, on Superbowl Sunday they plan to dentonate a huge plastic explosive bomb filled with rifle darts over the staduim crowd. The bomb is designed to shoot the darts out at such an angle as to ensure an average of three darts for each seat in the stadium. Oh, did I mention the President of the United States of America will be in attendence and is also a target. If the terrorists plot succeds, 50,000 American citizens along with the President will be killed in one fell swoop. Kabokov has other plans however and relentlessly dogs their trail. He and his friend and fellow agent are willing to do whatever it takes to stop the terrorists but they dont know about Lander or the specifcics of the plot. All they know is that the PLO is planning something big and that a palistian woman is involved. Tension between Lander and Deliaha's fellow PLO operatives threatens to derail the plot before it can get started. This novel is all about death, death, and more death and as the novel nears its conclusion the tension continues to rise as the bodies continue to pile up. The suspense climaxes in a exciting but totally realistic shoot out between Kabokov and the terrorists. The final outcome will shock you. This novel is very realistic and the violence is not over dramatized or cartoonish in the least. A mature suspense novel for mature minds. Harris's most underated work.

This is the book that began the terrorism genre, and yes, many of the elements have been done to death over the years. (In an odd hommage, in Tom Clancy's The Sum of All Fears, the terrorists set off a nuclear blast at the Denver Superbowl because they've read Black Sunday!) Still, 26 years after its first publication, it's still one of the best of the lot -- though Nelson DeMille's The Lion's Game is a brilliant updating. I just read it for the fifth time and loved it as much as the first. In The Silence of the Lambs, Dr. Lecter tells Agent Starling that Jame Gumb's "pathology is a thousand time more savage" (than the average transsexual). Well, Lecter never doctored blimp pilot Lander. He's one of the great villains in popular fiction, mainly because Harris makes him so comprehensible.

The author starts the book with a chapter on experiments that were performed, involving electrical stimulation to certain areas of exposed brains during surgery. These experiments purportedly yielded some of the first and most important discoveries ever made into how our minds work. Then he uses the findings to explain the rest of his theories. But, further research by me into these claims showed that the claims were exaggerated, speculative and did not have the acceptance of modern day neuroscientists. I continued reading the book making allowances for the fact that nuggets of Truth may still be hidden under mounds of speculation and media hype.

The author borrows from Eric Berne, MD, the ideas of Transactional Analysis, which assumes the basic scientific unit of psychotherapeutics to be 'The Transaction'; and the concept of 'Parent' 'Adult' and 'Child'. Then Dr Harris theorizes that we live our lives according to one of four life positions.

While all this may seem to be true at the first glance, a moment of rumination indicates that this is a gross simplification of the human nature. It is indeed audacious on the part of Dr Harris to categorize all the 5 Billion plus individuals into four, albeit dynamic, basic types. Like a modern day 'scientific' version of the 12 zodiac signs, readers are sure to go through the book minutely wanting to classify themselves into the categories and seeking to look into their own nature and their angst ridden past present and future.

Next he seems to say, "Wait, you are not condemned to live in any one of these four categories, you can change. Come to me, I shall teach you how..".

The most interesting and useful part of the book is when the author talks of children, marriage in the chapters 'P-A-C and Marriage' and 'P-A-C and Children'. The chapter on marriage is particularly insightful. The impact of TA can be felt in the most intimate relationships, as they are fully embodied in day-to-day transactions. Cross indexing with the classic TA book 'Games People Play' makes the reading even more fruitful and offers amazing angles of analyzing and bettering our relationships. I was amazed by the range and depth of Dr Eric Berne's 'Games People Play', specially the last chapter - Beyond Games. Dr Harris does a superlative job in the section ' The Establishment of Goals' of the chapter 'P-A-C and Marriage'. Here he talks of various issues that threaten to rupture the delicate fabric of a peaceful and loving marital life. -the balance of realities of life like materialism and desire compared to mortgage and bills. -the long term goals, -the considerations of moral values, ethics and religion. The Author offers solutions to the posed problems and they are worthwhile. The passage describing the complex P-A-C interactions in a marriage is masterly and is a comprehensive solution to the many ills that plague almost all the marriages at some point, in some form.

Another pitfall of Dr Harris is his propensity to quote a range of philosophers to suit his need and context. He quotes Sartre and Srren Kierkegaard but dissociates himself from their Phenomenologic Ontology, inspite of the fact that TA is an offshoot of Phenomenology. The Author cannot be classified to belong to any known system of thought nor does he propose an alternative. But that does not stop him from taking their words in bits and pieces, perhaps to lend him an aura of wisdom. After all an MD has to play the wise old man. The most disturbing is the attempt at presenting the Christian Theology in a twisted way, for example, by drawing parallels of the Original Sin and Grace to his games, and getting away with sweeping generalizations.

Perhaps, the real gem of Dr Harris' book lies in its message that even the mundane transactions have psychological underpinnings that might indicate dysfunctional childhood experiences and unhealthy adult thinking patterns, all of which can be changed for a better and enriching future for each of us. But his claims that TA is a complete theory of psychotherapy and the solution to all the psychological and psychiatric ills of the day is exaggerated and is not supported by the modern day shrinks. This book typifies the multitude of books on pop psychology, self-help and self confidence -good for a two week boost, and one gets down to one's old self.

I was put off by the title of this book until someone I respected a great deal recommended it. The first chapter is a little hard to wade through as the general principles are explained, but after wading through that I found myself exclaiming "Yes! Exactly!" as I read through. It gave me a great deal of food for thought as I recognised aspects of my own personality and the people around me. Because the basic principles were simple yet effective, the book's message has stayed with me, helping me communicate more effectively with family, friends and workmates.

This is a must read for people who want to understand themselves and other people better. I agree that the idea of child-adult-parent may not reflect the exact way how our brains work but it provides an easy-understandable terminilogy to describe and think about our behaviour. The most interesting thing in any reading is not just getting some information but thinking about what you read and this book opens you a new way to do it. It really works for me, thanks to Thomas Harris and Eric Berne.

I paid more than what is listed here for this book locally.

The script is interesting because it has a few things in it that are not in the final cut of the film, but one can find them in the novel. The four introductions are all right, but I found only two interesting: the one by the director and the one by the writer. There are eleven black and white pictures (I read somewhere else there would be many more, including many backstage; only two of the included ones are backstage). I think I could have expected some colour ones for the price.

It delivers the script, but is definately not worth the money.

This book proves that the book always gives more details!!!
This is a great instalment in the hannibal seris, I never wanted to put down the book, The book jumps right to the point!!!
I highly suggest buying it, it isnt expensive I brought at a drug store for [$]

I understand that good reviews help sell books and that poor reviews don't. Well this review may never see the light of day, but I feel compeled to try and dissuade others from spending their money foolishly. The ending of Hannibal was, without question, the most ridiculous and silly climax I have ever read. For two thirds of this book I was hooked. A well thought out plot with a seemingly devastating conclusion had me wondering how it was going to work out. Past the two thirds point and through the ending this potential winner disappointed tremendously. I can understand why Jodie Foster passed on reprising her Clarice Starling role in the film version.

I'm sorry that my first customer review is a negative one. Mr. Harris is a fine writer, (Silence of the Lambs was one of the few books which actually frightened me while reading it) but he comes up way off base with this one. If I didn't know better I would feel that Mr. Harris was trying to bring the saga of Lecter and Starling to an end, not because it was time, but moreso because he suddenly grew tired of them both. Well, if that was his plan, it worked for me. I only hope that I can look past this silly, silly ending when his next book is published.

Like everyone else who's reviewing this book, I'd been waiting for this sequel for a long time. And while 'Hannibal' isn't the complete success that 'Red Dragon' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' were, it's definitely a book that MUST be read by fans of those great adventures. 'Hannibal' doesn't seem to follow a 'Serial Killer Hunt' format, so it isn't structured like RD or TSotL. Rather, it concentrates on the fallout of the events in TSotL; Starling's rapidly disintegrating career, and Lecter's flight from captivity. The book travels along as both Starling and Lecter's worlds slowly come together again, and for the most part, I found the bulk of the book to be less engrossing (or just gross-ing?) than I would have expected. But when the two of them inevitably meet again, by design of a malicious victim of Lecter's from long ago, Harris has concocted one of the most astounding reunions I have ever seen in recurring fictional characters.

I don't entirely buy into the motives or circumstances of the ending, and maybe I missed something along the way, but I have to give Harris his due, for his courage to wrap things up in such a shocking and unexpected manner. After I've had some time to think about it, I can honestly say...I like the ending because it's nice to be suprised, even though I don't think the circumstances or motivations are clear enough to be believable.

I rate 'Hannibal' at four stars, but the high rating is for the emotional shock value, not for a convincing, or entirely satisfying read. Harris has guts, I'll give him that.

In Hannibal, Thomas Harris reclaims his characters from the pop culture cocktail party that began with Silence of the Lambs. After Jody Foster and Anthony Hopkins successfully translated Harris' characters from prose to cinema, the pair seemed more suitable for endless appearances on talk-shows and magazine interviews than participants in the author's grand themes of battles between dark and light.

Readers should well be warned that Hannibal is grisly. However, Harris has suitably warned us of this through his other two Lector books. The maroon-eyed serial killer is, and will always be, a dangerous being. No popular worship from afar will buy any mercy when his appetite for action is piqued. He is a predator. He cannot be tamed. But, he can be predictable. Given the chance, he will kill. Given a challenge, he will persevere.

With that in mind, read Hannibal as the dark journey Harris intended. The author, much like Virgil, leads you, the reader, through a dark Inferno of intigues.

Clarisse Starling has more in common with Will Graham, of Red Dragon this time around. Clarisse has new lambs that disturb her sleep. The world has turned a few clicks and she is "in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes." Isolation is a powerful crucible. Harris exploits it to the hilt.

Much has been made of Lector's childhood recollections as a grand explanation for his condition. Rubbish. In Red Dragon, Will Graham says Lector has been labeled a sociopath because "...they don't know what else to call him." Lector's childhood recollections no more explain why he has his appetites than sociopath lucidly describes his character. He will always be an enigma; classically urbane and utterly lethal in the same paragraph.

Harris' grand theme, the struggle between darkness and light, enjoys numerous variations as new and old characters move into Lector's dark circle and become influenced by the same dark forces. It is, however, his domain. Few can survive it. None are left unchanged.