If there is anybody ever left out of the baby shower process it's Papa. In fact, all to often we don't think of fathers being involved emotionally with infants, especially girls. That's one of the reasons this book is so spectacular. This is a special text with special illustrations about a father and his baby girl, exploring the world together On a Wintry Morning. They bundle up and head out on a white, crisp day, to follow bunny trails, make snow angles, take a sleigh ride, and even buy a new pup. The book comes full circle with daddy and daughter back home, cozy, dozy and warm.

The illustrations are soft and wondrous, with obvious emotional investment by the artist. The text is seamless--a lilting, musical lullaby. Look for this book to win awards. But most importantly watch it win hearts. A perfect book for fathers everywhere, to encourage and validate father/child relationships. If you're off to a baby shower for a special couple with a new baby girl, wrap this book up and include it in your gift. You won't be sorry. It's a treasure to pass on from generation to generation.

What a lovely book to share with a young child! The warmth and love shared between the father and daughter come through in both the lilting language and rich illustrations. A perfect gift, especially for families who either live in snowy places or wish they did.

The art, by Caldecott winning Stephen Johnson is fabulous. The text, written by Dori Chaconas, sings! The art and text together are a perfectly paired feast for the eyes and ears. Children will love repeating the lyrical phrases. Adults will love how Johnson captures the special relationship between a father and his baby daughter as they spend a day in the snow. The ending, when the father tucks his little girl in for a nap is absolutely precious! A great gift for every daddy and daughter. Also makes a wonderful baby shower gift. I plan to give this right alongside Goodnight Moon. Lovely!

Over a ten year period, Stephen M. Johnson wrote a series of extraordinarily useful and well organized books integrating theories of personality development and therapeutic objectives at neurotic and borderline functioning. In the introduction here he writes about his integrated theory: "It is not psychoanalytic, not object relations, not self-psychology or ego psychology. It is not behavioral or cognitive or affective. It is not characterological, developmental, interactive, phenomenological. It is not theoretical, empirical, experiential, intuitive, or deductive. It is all of this and more in a mix. It attempts to answer important questions with the information available. For each of us who are curious about such questions, this is what we must do."

Character Styles includes revised chapters from Characterological Transformation, Humanizing the Narcissistic Style and The Symbiotic Character, but the addition here of chapters on masochistic, hysterical and obsessive-compulsive characters makes the entire series a little masterpiece. Dr. Johnson's work seems to have grown most out of The Symbiotic Character since, as he writes, "the strategies found successful in liberating the symbiotic character can be of nearly universal significance." The first books in the series contain diagrams for energetic body work based on Reich and Lowen that are curiously missing here.

The major character styles he addresses include The Hated Child: The Schizoid Experience, The Abandoned Child: The Symbiotic Withdrawal, The Owned Child: The Symbiotic Character, The Used Child: The Narcissistic Experience, The Defeated Child: Social Masochism and the Patterns of Self-Defeat, The Exploited Child: Hysterical Defenses and the Histrionic Personality and The Disciplined Child: The Obsessive-Compulsive Personality.

My copy of Character Styles is dogeared and contains scribbled notes that are a record of the development of my own understanding and thinking about personality over the last ten years. I owe that development and understanding and where it's taken my thought today much more than I've realized to Dr. Johnson's insightful, compassionate, well-referenced work.

Once I started a chapter, I *had* to read it through no matter the hour. Despite the jargon, despite the too infrequent "for example"'s, he clearly describes a dozen friends, relatives and, of course, myself -- *anyone* whose early childhood is known to me. His uncanny grasp of my "inner life" experience astounded me and was worth the price right there. I particularly appreciate his using the same structure for each chapter, always winding up with that style's Therapeutic Objectives. Professionals should also appreciate his indicating what difficulties a therapist can encounter when treating a given style. This is one of the three most important and rewarding books in my forty years of reading.

As a graduate student in social work, I found this book enormously helpful in understanding how to integrate various psychotherapy approaches in professional practice. I checked this book out of the library so many times, I finally bought the book. His methods of how to facilitate personality growth in clients helped me understand myself in new and helpful ways. I feel I have grown tremendously from reading and digesting this book. Psychotherapy of the kind he writes about is truly a "hard work miracle"!

This overview of Third Reich Edged Weapons is a must for all collectors whether you have 1 or 100 in your collection. A very good overview of the different variations of dress daggers with clear and representative pictures of each. Also has chapters on swords, dress-bayonets, engravings, etc. The book also has a number of chapters that should be read by all collectors. Especially the one on counterfeit daggers. It is the sort of book you as a collector just can't put down and as a reference book it is worth its weight in gold. It also has a very useful listing on RZM numbers. Good thing it is card-cover because I can see wearing this book out if it was paper-back. The book could possibly have had more color photographs, and a more updated overview on values.

The Sociology Student Writer's Manual is an excellent resource. Every student, major and minor, in the discipline will benefit from a close study of each chapter. Following the instructions will make citations and referencing a cinch! All the tips and clues necessary to provide your instructor with perfect copy, both in content and in form, are included. There is even a chapter on the www. This offering is both a writer's manual and a model for doing research, with examples in all areas of the sociological endeavor. IT IS WELL WORTH THE INVESTMENT!

I am a narcissistic style myself without psychological training. I benefited tremendously from this book. It contains tonns of good stuff, certain portions have been quite illuminating discoveries for me. Good references. The organization of the book suffers. There are repetitions and some material could be taken away without serious detriment to the whole message. The quality of the narrative is uneven. However, it would be a pity if those problems would prevent you from getting all the great stuff you can find in this book. I highly recommend it and I don't think there is a comparable equivalent in the market.

I am a sufferer of pathological narcissism myself, and this book is hands down the best I have come across to date. The main reason? Dr. Johnson's extensive knowledge of his subject is EMPATHICALLY INFORMED. This adds a entire dimension to his work that is missing in the writings of many so-called experts. It engenders something in a sufferer that is often overlooked by those who consider themselves on the cutting edge of research into pathological narcissism: HOPE. There are no words to describe the value of realistic hope to a narcissistic individual who is working toward characterological transformation. This is a work of quiet competence, a labor of love, and a very fair treatment of a highly polarized subject, based on actual experience with narcissistic clients. Literally, a lifesaver for me.

I completely agree with the earlier review of this book. Yes, it could have been better written. But, it still deserves a solid five stars. This book has a lot to offer you.

It might be helpful to understand just what "narcissism" means in the psychiatric/psychologial realm. Actually, there are two views on narcissism---one as defined by Kernberg, and another by Kohut. Kernberg's narcissist is what you probably normally think of when you hear the term. This is the oblivious individual who would say (if they had the insight, which they don't): "What, there are *other* people in the world???" Kohut, on the other hand, described a very different kind of narcissist. This person is intensely aware of the others around them, and devotes *all* of their psychological energy toward getting those people to idolize them. Now, take the Kohut narcissist, and come back into the spectrum of what's generally considered normal. Here is the child who grew up in a family where nothing they ever did was "good enough." As a result, this child tends to develop what Winnicott called "the false self"---a persona designed explicitly to try to please their unpleasable parents. But, it's all a pretense, and the child (now an adult) knows it. As a result, the "real self" remains undeveloped, and every time the narcissistic bubble gets pricked, these individuals have nowhere to go except a deep depression, despair and anxiety. This is the narcissistic style.

Johnson's thesis is that this character pattern is pervasive in Western society. In my experience, these individuals have a kind of neurotic radar that leads them to establish relationships with new "unpleasable" authority figures. This might be a spouse...a boss at work...or most anyone else in their life. They are trapped by their need to please other people. Johnson's book examines this phenomenon, and (unlike most other books like this) actually offers a solution that works! In any event, it's definitely going to cost you less than the many hours of therapy that still haven't taught you what this book has to offer. And...hey...I'm a therapist writing this!

HIGHLY recommended!

Mr. Johnson does a very good job translating the poems into English. He gives the poems as strong a meaning in English as they have in Chinese.

This little book goes with me everywhere I travel. What better primer for the enthusiastic beginner in the often bewildering world of Classical Chinese poetry? Despite its rather charmingly home-made look (the presentation is, let's face it, a little amateurish, though Chen Bu's illustrations are delightful), the content has been designed with great rigour and professionalism. Each poem is first provided in a workable and idiomatic translation. Then follows the original Chinese text. Then a character-by-character literal rendering, with accompanying commentary. At the end is a technically demanding but helpful Introduction to Tang Poetics, followed by a series of mini-biographies. There is simply nothing else quite like it on the market. Perhaps one day Stephen Johnson will produce a similar compilation of Song or Yuan Dynasty poets?