Just when you thought you couldn't be amazed by something along comes this book. I don't really know who a lot of the therapists are but that didn't keep me from being entranced by this book. The stories of people whose lives are so incredibly complicated either by their own making or by what life had handed them was incredible. I really enjoyed the ways that the counselors were able to help these people with their predicamants. Makes one realize how blessed one's life truly is in comparison to what other people deal with!!

A wonderful book full of unforgettable psychological trials and triumphs. This book reels you in with the bizarre, takes a glimpse at the various therapy techniques used today, AND makes you really step back, reconsider, and re-evaluate your own perceptions of what is considered strange. If you want to think even further outside the box, READ THIS BOOK!

There are some books you come across in your lifetime that you feel compelled to pick up and never put down. This is one of those books. If you are at all interested in human nature, then this is a must read. The stories are well-written and offer diverse portraits of human strife from behind the therapists door. The stories are sad, funny, bizarre and touching and provide a rare glimpse into the thought process and theories of therapists.

The author has done an outstanding job summarizing this controversial but very successful company.

As an Iowan who lived next door to Bob Peterson when he was managing the Fort Dodge plant, it is good to see the company he now leads get the accurate coverage it deserves.

Leaders who see opportunities and force changes upon industrial sectors or governments often times get criticized by those who don't want to change, yet without that leadership society would not be better off.

While IBP has not always been perfect in their approach to doing business, they have always been willing to adapt.

Anyone interested in the transformation of the american agricultural economy would be well served to read this exciting story. IBP has lead by example.

STATE OF THE HEART : The Practical Guide to Your Heart and Heart Surgery

The heart is a fascinating organ. Many of you are curious about learning more of it. Dr.Larry Stephenson's new book, "State of the Heart", is a good starting point.

Targeted at the non-medical reader, "State of the Heart" does a good job of introducing one to the mysteries of the heart and its disorders, and explaining heart surgery in terms that are understandable and reassuring. If you have had, or are facing heart surgery, this book will help calm your fears and anxieties.

Beginning with a historical overview of heart disease treatment, the book goes on to describe the structure and function of the normal heart before embarking on a voyage of discovery about heart disease - its causes, diagnosis, treatment and most important, prevention. All kinds of heart disease are covered - congenital, coronary, valvular, heart failure, arrhythmias and aneurysms.

Each section is generously illustrated with excellent, full-color pictures and photographs, and is written in a credible and authoratitive fashion - not surprising, as the author of each is an world-reknown expert in that specific area!

The list of contributors to this patient guide on heart disease and surgery is a veritable who's-who in the fields of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. The book is edited and compiled by Dr.Larry Stephenson, one of the pioneers in heart surgery and a researcher into heart-alternatives for heart failure patients.

A foreword by Dr.Everett Koop, former Surgeon General, kicks off this all-star cast with articles by Drs.Denton Cooley, Michael DeBakey, Walton Lillehei, John Kirklin, Dudley Johnson, Christiaan Barnard, Delos Cosgrove and many more.

Especially enjoyable are the sections on "How to select your cardiologist / cardiac surgeon?", and the overview of "Advanced Heart Failure : Transplants, Heart Assist Devices and the Future". All content is current, up-to-date, and includes even promising research that might soon become clinical reality.

If the book has a drawback, it is in the focus being overwhelmingly American. The healthcare system discussed is the one in effect in the US. But this apart, the generic content provides much of value to the reader looking for reliable, recent heart disease information - wherever in the world s/he is from.

When my mother had a heart attack a few months ago, my first impulse was to try to understand what was going on. Purchasing this book was a huge help in that matter. It guided us through all of the various tests, procedures, and surgeries she ended up needing. When we found out a valve replacement would be necessary, we were able to ask informed questions of the surgeon, having read this book. He even asked if I was a doctor!

When faced with frightening, complicated medical issues this book will help you understand your situation. We found ourselves passing it around the cardiac ward waiting room, and using it to help other families as well.

Is there any hope of finding the right boyfriend for any of these four New York single gay men in this light and fun debut book by Jon Jeffrey? What are these guys really looking for in another man? And are they expecting way too much? Carson St. John, editor of the hip "Throb" gay magazine, comes up with a great idea/gimmick (you will have to discover what this is by reading the book) to help he and his friends find the right Boyfriend Material at one of their regular Sunday brunch discussions. All four friends, Danny, Nathan, Rob, and Carson certainly have questionable taste in boyfriends. Will Carson's idea/gimmick help them all to find everything they ever thought they wanted in a man, or lead them all on an endless adventure all over NYC in hopes of discovering that special man?

This is another fun book, that's romantic and cute, although a little over dramatic at times, but perfect for anyone who wants an easy, light-hearted read. You can take a break, forget all that seriousness in your life, and veg-out for while on this one. If Jeffrey's imagination can develop fun-loving characters like these, he definitely has a future in keeping us entertained in his future endeavors. I enjoyed spending time with these people and hope you do, too. Enjoy!

If you like light fiction, this is a great choice. Yeah, everybody ends up happy and with the perfect guy, but, hey, what the heck is wrong with that? While not in the same league as Robert Rodi... or Christian McLaughlin (Sex Toys of the Gods), Jon Jeffrey will get you to laugh out lound as you recognize aspects of real people in your life. The characters face real issues, and though the resolutions come quick and easy, it is nice to see some real life issues (unprotected sex, income disparity in couples, professional ethics vs. libido, etc)make it in to the story. Amazingly enough, not all the lead characters are white - a big step forward for this genre. Unfortunately, they are all still buff and gorgeous. What has happened to the average gay guy? And the only three memorable women in the book are an uptight mother, [an upset] sister, and a [promiscuous] straight gal. Sort of the Madonna/whore paradox. But, I am sounding picky. This is not literature of social change. This is a fun novel, and really makes no pretense of being anything else. This book was a pleasure and left me hoping for more...

BOYFRIEND MATERIAL is perfect poolside reading. Loads of fun. Delightful characters, madcap situations, and mayhem abound. This is a MUST READ!

This book offers the much needed assurance that as counselors, we are not alone in our work. Try as we might, we are falible as are all human beings. The recognition that even some of the biggest names in psychotherapy have had "bad" sessions, allows for others to feel more comfortable in their own work.

This book is written by the same man that made the Bertram 31. If you like boat or are just looking for a good intresting book, then pick this one up. It's not a novel but more of a documentary. I liked the way this book apporaches the world of boating. So aslong as you like boats this is the book for you.

I'm normally a big fan of the Wrox books. They generally do an excellent job of selecting authors and editors. This book, however, was a huge disappointment for me.

Others have said, "It's full of samples." While this is true, many of the samples are for very obvious functionality, whereas very fundamental and complex functionality ends up getting minimal treatment (an example is the Fill() methods for the Data Adapter). While there's more written explanation of the Fill() methods, it is sorely inadequate and the samples are very basic. I would expect much more coverage and probably even an appendix at the end to cover it in more depth.

For the most part, I find the book no more useful than the SDK documentation and samples that you get for free. For a book with 10 authors, I'd expect a lot more insight and knowledge to be passed on and sadly, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Even for the "Reference" books Wrox does, they normally do a much better job of passing along great insight from the authors. If you need treeware docs for ADO.NET, then I guess this book will do but personally, I'm sticking with the online documentation.

This book is the single most valuable book I bought from WROX in terms of being able to borrow ADO.net code for my application.

ADO.net is the most undocumented are of .net and this book offers hundreds of code samples. The COM Interopability chapter is very good and introduces he obcure Recordset fill and how to use ADOMD from .net!

The Transaction chapter is way too small and incomplete. Another flaw is the fact that the book is supposed to cover VB.net and C# but they were sloppy and it is not a 50/50 split. Often they forget the VB.net samples. You would think their editors could count and make sure all examples come in pairs.

I think it is a great buy but I hope they get all VB.net examples in 2nd edition and a re-orgnization to be more task oriented.

Wrox lists this book as a "Programmer's Reference". In a reference I look for detailed information and code samples demonstrating usage all of which should be more extensive than what can be found in the help files or online API. This book succeeds very well as a reference providing a great deal of information that you will want to have nearby while you are coding. The book starts off with a description of ADO.NET which I found to be the weakest part of the book. This section doesn't quite put all the pieces of ADO.NET together in a meaningful way. The remainder of the book is excellent. Each of the key ADO.NET classes (DataSet, DataReader, DataAdapter, etc.) and their constructors, properties, methods and events are discussed in detail with code samples in both VB.NET and C#. Each key class or concept (data relationships, transactions, XML mapping, etc.) is given a chapter in the book. The explanations are much more useful that what you will find in the online help files. Besides covering SQL and OLE, the book also covers the ODBC classes which are not documented in the help files included with VS.NET. In a reference the index is important and here the index is good although some entries seem to be off a page or two. If you are looking for an in-depth introduction to using ADO.NET you will want to look at other books. If you need a detailed reference book then this should be your first stop.