I bought this book hoping that is would be a well researched and supported overview of the development of the diagnosis for Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome. Unfortunately, it did not deliver. I wanted backround and research to support it, but none was forthcoming. The authors write mainly from the philsophical point of view and do not bother to examine whether MBPS is a valid diagnosis based on case study or clinical research. Many MBPS mothers endorse this book because they believe that it vidicates them, however, the mere overdiagnosis of a disorder does not prove it's nonexistance. A reader interested in this subject would do better to read Marc Feldman's book "Patient or Pretender" and/or review the joural articles on Medline. Buy a book about Factitious Disorders that has a more substantial foundation than this book does that is founded on research not supposition. This book is a waste for serious MSBP researchers. Pass.

I approach Munchausen by Proxy from a somewhat novel perspective: I have been trained as a developmental and philosophical psychologist, and I currently am the CEO of a child welfare agency. This cross-breeding makes me both sympathetic to the authors' aims and argument (the book reminds me of Ian Hacking's book on multiple personality disorder), *and* sympathetic with those practitioners who have diagnosed MBPS in their work.

One of the premises of this book is that MBPS is rampantly over-identified, and is in fact used as a tool for the continued subjugation of women. I am surprised at this claim, since in my experience social workers, physicians, psychologists, child protection workers, judges, and other professionals display either complete ignorance of the disorder or, if they know what it is, a high degree of denial and reluctance to acknowledge it. This is far from the picture painted by the authors of a Salem-witch-trial frenzy.

The simple fact is that there are people out there who, for various reasons, either invent or exaggerate their children's symptoms OR induce those symptoms. The question is WHY this happens. Sometimes it happens because the parent is seeking material gain. And sometimes it happens because of more complex motives, because in some way the parent is seeking the less tangible rewards of the sick role -- BY PROXY. This latter type of motive is what is involved in MBPS. Notice that there is a wealth of philosophical and sociological questions one could pose here that would also accord with the authors' basic assumptions: What features of modern society might be exerting pressure on mothers to fabricate illness in their children? What does this say about the availability of social supports for women in societies like the US? What pathologies of relationships might be involved here?

I greatly value the kind of analysis presented in this book. There is no question that, especially in the area of psychological disorder, societal forces play a huge role in the construction and identification of pathology. (I highly recommend, in this connection, Arthur Kleinman's book _Social Origins of Distress and Disease_. Nevertheless, I think that it is important to remember that when MBPS is alleged, it is USUALLY alleged by mental health or child welfare professionals who are highly well-intentioned and, above all, careful in their assessments. It is not a matter of judgmental social workers going of half-cocked blaming mothers for their childrens' illnesses. MBPS is a diagnosis that is made only after a lot of hand-wringing and searching for other possibilities.

In my opinion, there is at least as much philosophical interest in the question of what makes so many women fabricate illness in their children as there is in the question of society's interest in creating such a disorder. But this book is a valuable entry in what I hope will be a continuing conversation among philosophers, sociologists, social workers, physicians, and other thinkers.

I would very much like to sign my name to this review, but because of the work that I do and where I do it, I can't. But I'll keep watching these reviews to see if anyone has a comment on what I've said!

It is a real shame that Amazon.com has not really rallied behind this book, or at least has not offered a better discount. Munchausen-By-Proxy-Syndrome is yet another of those awful tools that prosecuters have to indict and convict people (women, in this case) without any real justification or evidence. The 'science' behind this "syndrome" is -- not unlike false memory syndrome, et al. -- a throwback to the days of witch hunts and the like. This text is the only one out there to counter the rampant conviction factory of shameless prosecutors and the FBI.

Well, this small E-book ain't so bad after all. I just finished it and it was a good story, though it was too short (about 115 pages). The author speed up the story and the character doesn't stay in one place too long.

I don't want to tell anything about the contents, because I don't want to spoil the story. To all the Diablo fans, I just can say, read it. I already read Diablo - Legacy of Blood, but it's best to read this first, in case you have to start. Demonsbane is a great prelude to the series and you should definately read it.
By reading these books, I like playing the game more, since I understand the world better.

Have fun with this book.

Greetz,
Geoffrey

Overall, I applaud Mr. Marks effort in the first official story set in the vivid wold of Sanctuary. I did enjoy reading this novella. But there are some flaws. The most fun of reading a book based on a game is that you can relate. You can say,"I've done that." Or, "I've met that person." Things like that. With Demonsbane however, the characters were not fleshed out enough. There was none of the mystery and excitment of the story that the Diablo universe is famous for. He did have some recognizable characters but in name only. Tyreal, although essentially the same, was basically a mystical human being instead of an angel. I wished there were more involvement in the story. A good thing is that the book left off with plenty of room for a sequel. Which we can all hope for.

I enjoyed reading Demonsbane, and its a book I'd recommend to others. To be honest, its more of a novella, as it comes in at just over 100 pages, but its a good story.

I have mixed feelings about the characterization and plot of the book itself. I would've liked to have gotten a deeper look at the personalities and motivations of the various characters in the book--but--that's only because I found them to be interesting as characters to begin with. I hope and expect that later books by Mr. Marks will continue to expand on the dramatis personae he provided us with in his first work.

Overall, he paints a vivid picture of Sanctuary (the Diablo world). Heroes such as Arkaine, Velund the Smith, and Tyrael make appearances, and earlier events and critical wars are discussed.

I would say that Mr. Marks had a very difficult job. Honestly, I believe its impossible to build a deep, complex, and completely immersive world, PLUS add excellent characterization in 100 pages. What Demonsbane does best is set the stage for the books (hopefully others by Marks) that will come after it. It's a worthwhile read, a good story, and I expect that the books that come after it will continue to expand the world of Sanctuary and populate it with interesting and deep characters. Worth your time.

I picked this up in a bookstore for my English Composition CLEP test, and got through four pages, finding three typographical errors in the example questions--before I realized that they were unintentional. Unacceptable, for sure.

This book has too many typographical errors. I used 3 books,Cracking the Clep(Princeton),Clep English composition(Comex),and Barrons. The first two are GREAT books that provide the background(nuts and bolts)needed to pass the english test. Barrons has plenty of sample questions,but lacks english grammar review material. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I bought this book as an impulse at a book store, wanting to CLEP the English Composition exam. Unfortunatly, this book is riddled with technical errors throughout. I took the initial exam, missing several questions like I suspected. But the reason I missed some of the questions was because the answers were wrong. At page 62, I had seen enough errors to make me want to return this book. Don't buy it, try something else.

I agree with the previous reviewer. Great concept but the book does not get the job done. question format is loose and does not match the format of Interventional Boards which the book is supposed to help you with. There is frequent sojourns from fact to opinion.

The authors are well informed and recognized experts in the field. Also there is a need for a book such as this in the interventional field. They should clean it up in their next edition.

This ought to be the perfect review for the interventional cardiology boards. It is a very complete review of all aspects of interventional cardiology in a question and answer format. The authors pride themselves on being extremely current in the literature. But I have never seen a book so riddled with errors. The answers are so often wrong is it pathetic. I can't honestly believe that anyone proof read the book. There must be at least 50 wrong answers. Get the Cindy Grines book. A bit less current, but at least you can trust what she says.