Despite the time elapsed since this book was published, with all the changes that occurred in Cuba during these years, Medea Benjamin's conversations with Juan Antonio Blanco remain extremely topical, even in the discussion of present-day Cuba. Juan Antonio Blanco, very possibly Cuba's best historian, has always been someone passionately 'inside' the Cuban Revolution: in fact, for many years he has been struggling and fighting in order to keep 'inside' that Revolution, endeavouring to push and squeeze his own thoughts and views into the boiling pot of the Revolution's changing view of itself. Even today, from his self-imposed semi-exiled in Canada, Blanco remains a faithful revolutionary servant, attempting to change what may be wrong with the Revolution, rather than ever dissenting from it. That makes him a 'dissident' inside the system, let's say a potential Gorbachev or Havel. As we read this fantastic book, and even more so as we read it backwards, we discover more of Juan Antonio Blanco's thoughts, concerns, criticisms, passions, concerns, views for the future. We read what he said and criticized of the Revolution at the time, we read his predictions, and thus we find to what extent his ideas were or were not incorporated into the new revolutionary thinking, to what extent his concerns were listened to and implemented. Overall, we can assess to what extent Blanco may really maintain his claim to have remained 'inside' the Revolution. But of course, this is not only a book about the great mind of Juan Antonio Blanco. Author Medea Benjamin provokes Blanco on a lot of points, giving rise to passionate conversations on so many aspects of Cuba's life, from the most theoretic issues of thought, to practical matters of the everyday life of Cuba's citizens. An impressive amount of topics and issues are covered, ranging from philosophy to health system, from economic crisis to nutrition and international relations. All these are discussed in a way that make it easy to read for everyone - for the scholar of Cuba and the student alike, as well as anyone interested in Cuba, without requiring any academic knowledge. The prose is excellent, and the contents very well edited. Overall, it is one of the books that should not be missing from anyone's Cuba library.

This is the one! learn about the history, the ideals and the future of the revolution. Medea Benjamin asked the questions I wanted answered. And the answers were sometimes surprising. Juan Antonio Blanco is an incredibly intelligent and articulate person. If you are curious at all about Cuba... begin here. It is a short fast read.... perfect spring break or weekend material.

Medea Benjamin's interviews with Juan Antonio Blanco are a fair and nuanced portrayal of the struggles of the island's people during the economic crisis brought about by the collapse of the USSR. The book is a must read for those visiting or revisiting Cuba. If there is a "dissident" on the island with a sense of both the country's human suffering and potential, it is clearly Blanco.

Overall, very well done.

what john berger's "ways of seeeing" does for our perceptions of the high-art visuallandscape, ben weissman's "dear dead person" does for the idiosyncratic daily events of life. what might first be pawned off as perverse becomes familiar and real, even to the most plain and ordinary white collared man who happens to own a dog and enjoy cookies. a very pleasant read that has much more boiling beneath the surface than the "fun" element that pervades each short story.

This book is NOT for the faint of heart. Easily the most twisted, funny, sick tome I've ever had the perverse pleasure of reading. A gem! A friend of mine first picked it up and was reading it while we were traveling - he kept rolling his eyes, gasping, groaning and laughing. I had to find out what the hoopla was all about. If you enjoy dark black humor and having the boundries pushed, read this book. It is a collection of short stories, each seemingly in worst taste than the previous. Amazing, disgusting and hilarious. Murder, mayhem, incest, cruelty and severe psychosis are the staples of Dear Dead Person. Weissman is truly one sick puppy - he would have been jailed or lynched for writing this 50 years ago! Read this book (and then rent the movie "Man Bites Dog")...and don't tell your psychologist.

One of the scenarios has--ah, I can't tell you

I've been reading biographies lately and this one is the best I've read so far. I found it interesting and easy to read. I was impressed with the extensive research done by the author and I was impressed with how we are given an honest portrayal of Spock...the good points and the bad.

Although we are given glimpses of the dark side of this famous man, I did not end up disliking him. In fact, it made me want to go out and reread his childcare book. It's weird, but in a way I respect his opinions more, knowing he was not perfect.

I highly recommend this book!

My mother read Dr. Spock, as did I when I had my kids. He was not permissive and did not advise us to raise impolite poorly behaved children. Fortunately this book manages to convey this. Dr. Spock's legacy has been maligned and cheapened by ignorant people, most of whom never read the good Doctor. This book presents a full picture of the man in his weakness and strength. I think Spock would have been content to stand on the record. This book is long overdue. Thank you to Thomas Maier and thank you to Dr. Spock.

"Dr. Spock: An American Life" is a powerful story. In fact, once I got started, I couldn't put down Thomas Maier's book. The writing is crisp and to the point. At the same time Maier fills his book with wonderful details that brings Benjamin Spock to life.

Maier does a terrific job of capturing the different facets of the doctor's life and personality. The author devotes a good part of his book to Spock's troubles with his children and his first wife. Yet "Dr.Spock" never demeans its subject.

If you are curious about Benjamin Spock, or enjoy intriging stories...or just delight in good writing,read this book!

We have added a copy of this to our science museum library. If you had to pick just one book to figure things out with and you cuold take only one book to a mythical desert island.... this would have to be it for general medicine!

I wish I would have had this book when I was going to school. This book not only defines virtually every medical term but elaborates on essential areas. The beginning of the book is a color atlas of all body systems. eg. Skeletal,GI, Cranial Nerves, Muscles ect. It is then organized as a Dictionary from A-Z. There are clear pictures to help elaborate on definitions and explanations. An example is in the area of Intercranial Pressure. Not only is it defined, it is also explained in detail including ICP monitoring devices and pictures for easy understanding. I have been a nurse for a long time and found this book to be a wonderful reference.... in all areas of nursing.... Everyone on the unit wants to borrow this book and many have already purchased it themselves.

Having used many nursing dictionaries, this one is by far the best. It is very clear and amazingly comprehensive. At the front there is a short anatomy guide followed by a colour atlas. The bulk of the text is fantastic; good diagrams and flow charts throughout reinforce learning and an invaluble pronunciation guide for those of us that haven't studied Latin. To complete, a large Appendix section is included which provides a wealth of useful information for the reader. Although US and Canada focused, this book is a must for any nurse, doctor or allied health worker. At this price, buy it.

Great book! Fascinating historical anecdotes, extensive descriptions of various craft-breweries and beers, and terrific photographs make for a fun and informative book. This is a must-read for anyone with a strong interest in beer...interest beyond gargantuan plastic mugs and flaccid, aluminum-flavored, fraternity party kegs of 'weak-weiser'!

In a very balanced way, between the " conaissance" and the simple language, it is a very good book. Most of the conseils and description of the beers of the world are correct. The others i'll try!

Turns a novice beer drinker (me) into a beer connoisseur! I consulted the guide before my last vacation and ended up at a great new brewery in my home town. It'll be a great holiday gift for my beer-guzzling friends!

I know the author of this book, and that is what first interested me in reading it. But I quickly learned there was more to George White than the novelty of being the only African American in Congress (1897-1901). He was a talented, accomplished man--ahead of his time in choosing to combine successful public and private careers with an unusual attention to the less fortunate of his own race. He faced a momentous decision at the turn of the century: accept the new segregation oin the United States, and the disfranchisement that came with it, or condemn both and fight them. he chose the latter, and effectively ended his own political career. But he remains a fascinating man, and one well worth reading about. I recommend you read this book!

George Henry White represented North Carolina in Congress from 1897 until 1901. When he left, he became the last man of his race to be elected to Congress during the post-Reconstruction era, leaving a void which would not be filled for nearly 30 years (North Carolina didn't elect another African-American to Congress until 1992). White became, sadly, an historical footnote.

Benjamin Justesen has performed an intense labor of love in resurrecting White's story. Armed with prodigious amounts of careful research - reflected in the copious footnotes sprinkled throughout the text - and his own personal determination to bring this biography to public attention, Justesen has realized his dream of writing George Henry White's life story after becoming acquainted with his subject while working as a reporter in the 1970s.

He brings to life the issues and prejudices of the period, which only serve to magnify the high principles to which White held himself. Believing that education and one's own hard work got one where one wanted to go, White proved his beliefs in a time when Southern public sentiment was gradually moving into its shameful Jim Crow era.

A lawyer, politician, banker, real estate developer, family man and man of faith, George Henry White is a model for anyone today - black or white - who thinks, "I cannot." His life is an example to us all, and his biography a fascinating look at both a man and an era in Southern history.

At the outset: I'm the author, and of course, I'm partial to my own book. But I'm also immersed in the subject, having spent the last four years of my life bringing George White's story to readers. George White was a fascinating man, but one about whom little is known today: the first African American to serve in Congress in the 20th century (retiring in 1901) and the last of 22 to serve from the South after the Civil War until the 1970s. He was a stalwart Republican, and served alone in the Congress for four years. But he was more than a token--an accomplished teacher, lawyer, prosecutor, developer and banker. He deserves to be studied in depth; my attempt is the baseline, a painstakingly drawn outline, based on a careful study of limited evidence. Judge for yourself--and then place him in his rightful position in our history, as the intriguing, honest, flawed but eminently admirable individual he was. I recommend him--and this book--highly!

The book has formulas that help plants. Such as, pest control and natural fertalizers. It also give you recipes for herbal shampoos and condtiononers. Great Book. :)

This is a great book, from cover to cover. It is full of handy hints. I am a first time gardener and this book helped me a great deal throughout the gardening season. There's also a great section on herbs!

This wonderful book is full of easy and useful ideas. It is pleasant to read, nicely illustrated, and oh so practical. I am buying a second copy to share!

The struggle to find to find true love in the present world is not an easy task. In this world where the once sacred institution of marriage is now no more likely to last than flipping heads on a coin, those who truly know what love is are scarce. Everyone claims to know what this thing called love is, but few truly understand the essence of everything the word love stands for. In this book, the writings of several self-proclaimed love experts, professors from various colleges, have been compiled together in an attempt to help others find out what love is and how to make it a part of their lives. The basic beliefs range from Buddhism to Christianity, but all of the authors agree that we all need love. This in itself is a valid argument because of the basic human need to feel accepted and appreciated.
Some of the claims made about love in this book are:

1. Give love to get love
2. Love is a choice
3. Love is wanting the best for another person
4. Love yourself in order to love others

There are various other insights on love in this book; buy it and find out what they are.
The basic argument from these claims filters into the overall argument of love stems from the individual. Love cannot exist if an individual doesn't want it to exist. Restating the claims, an individual must give love to get it in return, choose to love, desire the best others, and show love for the self in order to show love to others.
This argument is quite valid because love is not some sort of pit which people can helplessly fall into. Love is not lust and love does not envy. All of the claims presented elaborate on the essence of what love is and reasonably arrive at the conclusion that love stems from the individual. All of the points are clearly and precisely elaborated on in the book, and the reader comes away from the book with a newfound sense of mental completeness. This completeness comes from better understanding what true love is. There would be no way to account for the multitudes of occasions in which individuals have professed to "knowing" what love is, but enough sufficient evidence is presented in the book to allow the argument to be complete.
It's intriguing to find that many proverbs have stemmed from the forethought that love stems from the individual. The Golden Rule is the prime example of this. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The "doing" part is from the individual, one must do unto others first in order for others to do the same unto them. "You reap what you sow." Again, it is seen that the individual must first sow in order to reap. For what is there to reap if nothing has been sown? So this is what you must do, go out and express your appreciation for someone. Love first in order to love last.

Everyone in the world needs to read this book, I guarantee it would change many lives. It opens your mind to think deeply of what some fears the most, love. It truly answers so many questions in regards to love and life. Everyone that has picked my book up, cannot put it down. Now that's a winner!

To receive more love in your life, you must give more love: This book opens you to the possibilities. There are so many pearls in this collection of essays, and each and every chapter gives one much to ruminate about. I rate it a "10" because the messages are both timeless and crucial to finding happiness. It's a wonderful book to give as a gift, but first and foremost, as a gift to yourself.

In the foreword to this book, we are told that the word anthology "literally means a gathering of flowers." The editors of this remarkable collection of essays asked healers from various perspectives to share their ideas, in order to define and foster the "common denominator, or 'golden thread,' that unites all healers and healing methods of ancient, current, and future times."

Below are some representative insights (there are many more contributors -- and much more to each essay-- than are quoted below):

Bernie Siegel, M.D., F.A.C.S., founded the Exceptional Cancer Patients program and is author of Love, Medicine, and Miracles. He believes that his own role -- teaching people how to feel and express love -- succeeds only if he is able to show them that they are lovable.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D., is noted world-wide for her work in death, dying, and transition, her books including On Death and Dying and AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge. She believes that healing does not occur only at an individual level: "Because each individual is connected through a vast network of relationships to innumerable other people and creatures on the planet, the process of healing even one person has far-reaching ramifications."

Hugh Prather -- a crisis therapist, columnist, and minister who has written such books as I Touch the Earth/The Earth Touches Me -- has concluded that "all healing approaches heal the body in the identical way; the only difference is in how they limit their options." The "great mistaken assumption" is that healing necessarily means a physical improvement -- it is not up to us to prejudge the form in which the gift of healing is to be received for a given person.

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D. -- former director of the Mind/Body Clinic at New England Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School and author of Minding the Body, Mending the Mind -- writes very succinctly, "The message that underlies healing is simple yet radical: We are already whole... The work of healing is peeling away the barriers of fear that keep us unaware of our true nature of love, peace, and rich interconnection with the web of life. Healing is the rediscovery of who we are and who we have always been."

Jack Schwartz is a research pioneer and author in the field of voluntary control of mind-body processes. He sees disease as holding back energy that can be released if we align ourselves with the process of transformation. Even by using the label of "disease" we create an attitude that constricts our life energy's flow -- as if an enemy is attacking us from outside. He asks that healers be "mapmakers" or "guides" who walk alongside their clients, showing them how to release their own power, how to overcome the fear of change.

Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., F.A.A.P., who specializes in chronic and life-threatening illness, asks, "beyond all these techniques, what is it that truly fosters the healing process? I think it is the way we stand in relationship to each other that is most important." She offers a model for any healer with whom we might partner in our journey of healing: "...two people in a healing relationship are peers, both wounded and both with healing capacity... I don't believe that one person heals another. I believe that what we do is invite the other person into a healing relationship."

Richard Moss, M.D., founded a nonprofit organization for health and wholeness and is the author of The I That Is We: Awakening to Higher Energies through Unconditional Love and How Shall I Live? "When I was a traditional physician," he writes, "I was content to regard healing as the restoration of health. But today I know that healing is far more than a return to a former condition. True healing means drawing the circle of our being larger and becoming more inclusive, more capable of loving. In this sense, healing is not for the sick alone, but for all humankind."

Designed "to search for the common denominator......that unites all healers and healing methods", this book pulls together almost 40 relatively short essays by various authors noted for their work in healing body and soul. Because of this approach, some chapters have more relevance than others, depending on the interests of the reader. Reading the ideas of a particular author can spark a desire to read more by that person, so in that sense this is a nice overview course on the breadth of attitudes held by contemporary healers, both traditional and alternative. It probably should be included as required reading by all practitioners of the healing arts.

This collection of essays by a Who's Who of American Healing started changing my life twenty minutes after I picked it up. The advice of people like Louise Hay and Carl Simonton went straight to the heart of issues we all face with our own health and the health of our loved ones and clients.

Of course, not all of the 37 different takes on the healing process will seem relevant to any individual reader. But it's easy to get what you need; most of the essays are no longer than 1500 words. Authors include writers Lynn Andrews, Norman Cousins, and Ram Dass, visionary MD's Gerald Jampolsky, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Deepak Chopra and Rachel Remen, and alternative healers Sun Bear and Dolores Krieger.

If you were my friend, and if you practiced in any area of health, or faced health issues yourself, I would want you to read this book.

This is all-star lineup of conservative Christians of differing confessions, but united in call to the church of today to repent of its adultery with our heathen culture, and to return to God's Word, to have our consciences tied to the Scriptures as Luther stood and would not recant, move or be moved.

Series of essays delivered at conference, with a common theme: let God's Word change the culture rather than the culture changing the world.

Horton, Veith and Wells are always thought=provoking writers, and their contributions here are a continuance of that.

This book is edited by James Montgomery Boice and Benjamin Sasse. This book addresses what the reformation in Martin Luther's day did for the church as a whole, and for each Christian individually. Dr. Boice points out that the Reformers spoke of salvation by "grace alone." He states, "Here they wanted to insist on the truth that sinners have no claim upon God, that God owes them nothing but punishment for their sins (p. 11)." He then points out the Reformers taught God saves the sinner, "Only because it pleases Him to do it (p. 11)." From here Dr. Boice starts from the top down on why Christianity is in the state it finds itself in today. He points out that, "Scripture alone is the inerrant rule of the church's life, but the evangelical church today has separted Scripture from its authoritative function (p. 15)." He then states that, "Pastors have neglected their rightful oversight of worship, including the doctrinal content of the music (p. 15)." The contributors that write a chapter a peice are, David F. Wells, Ervin S. Duggan, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Gene Edward Veith, Michael S. Horton, Sinclair B. Ferguson and W. Robert F. Godfrey. Some of the chapter titles are, "Our Dying Culture, The Living Church, The Reformation of Worship and Reformation in Doctrine, Worship, and Life." This book attempts to examine the problems in the church as a whole and to give answers to the problems. In today's church where everyone seems to try to keep the peace and say everyone is right, the authors address the subjects rather bluntly at times. It has to be that way because no one seems to want to take a stand for biblical truth. R. Alber Mohler Jr., in his chapter quotes Blaise Pascal who said, "It is as much a crime to disturb the peace when truth prevails as it is to keep peace when truth is violated...But at no time is there a time for truth and a time for error, for it is written that God's truth shall abide for ever. That is why Christ has said that He has come to bring peace and at the same time that He has come to bring the sword. But He does not say that He has come to bring both truth and falsehood (p. 62)." The authors of the chapters in this book address different problems in the church and supply the answers to those problems. This they do admirably to get the church as a whole and each individual back into right relationship to God. They succeed completely, only if your willing to read, accept and put into practice the truths they try to bring back to the church. Be prepared as they try to be diplomatic but are harsh in places for a reason. I highly recommend this book. Every pastor should have a copy as well as every household in the church. The question is, are the readers willing to stand comfortably where they are, or, are they willing to move back to biblical Christianity? I vote for the latter, Do you?

God is calling His evangelical Church back to its Reformed roots. This book is an excellent "read" for anyone interested in objective truth over subjective experience.