I've always maintained that the best way to understand the founders is to understand them on their on terms. Mayer believes this too and does an excellent job at profiling the constitutional thought of Jefferson and his political philosophy. Too often, shoddy partisan scholarship like that of Richard Matthews gets it quite wrong on the founders. They do so quite purposefully choosing to dwell statically on one quote or episode instead of objectively highlighting the development of their subject. Mayer explains Jefferson on his own terms, as "whig," "federal," and "republican," hence his First Inaugural Address. Jefferson was an adament defender of federalism, state's rights and the Constitution. His alleged "radical egalitarianism" was more than tempered by his mistrust of central government and the huddled urban masses and his rejection of majoritarian tyranny. "Democracy is not practicable beyond the limits of a town," avows Jefferson. Despite his occasional contradictions, his early tenacity of youth and sympathies with the French Revolution, he was a true Whig and a classical republican, and advocate of limited government. He is an enduring founding father who deserves careful study and admiration for his statesmanship.

Also recommended: Alexander Hamilton and the Constitution by Clinton Rossiter.

This is indeed the finest study of Jefferson's political thought to date. Unlike other authors, Mayer penetrates to the core of Jefferson's political philosophy, revealing him to be fundamentally a "real whig," with emphasis on his distrust of government.

Having consumed most of the recent volumes on the life and times of our third president, I would have to say that Mayer's book is one of the strongest when it comes to the concrete exploration of his political thought processes.

One of the reviewers on the back cover copy says that "Mayer allows Jefferson to speak for himself. This alone would recommend the work." Indeed. This is one of the strengths of the book with its extensive referencing to the words of one of our founding fathers. It also does the same justice to the philosophers and statesmen who influenced Jefferson throughout his life.

One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the scholarly analysis of what it meant (to Jefferson) to be a Whig. I was also compelled by the discussion of the whig concept of a government is more republican (small r) if it is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.

Mayer is not reluctant to point to many of Jefferson's overly optimistic or downright naive assumptions on the practical implications of running a government.

One area I wished Mayer spent more time exploring was Jefferson's thoughts on bicameralism and separation of powers; and more specifically on the original contention that the Senate served as a break on run away emotions protecting minority interests (to avoid tyranny of the majority that Madison was so fearful of, but not Jefferson).

All told, this book is of value for those who admire Jefferson, who are critical of his standing, and for those who quote his examples without really knowing what they are doing.

An outstanding and well researched expose of the Martha Jefferson-Sally Hemings half-sister myth. The rumors and political slandering of Thomas Jefferson began with early political enemies of Jefferson, some fired from office or denied office due to malfeasance or unsuitability for government office. The notorius scandalmonger reporter, James T. Callender, continued the "Campaign Lies", (the Tom Woodson charge was exposed by there being NO Jefferson/Woodson DNA match), and these slandering efforts were carried out by Samuel Wetmore in the Madison Hemings interview in Pike Co, Ohio. Many of the statements contained in this interview have been exposed as being very doubtful under close and minute research.

Recent evaluations of these misleading findings of the Jefferson-Hemings DNA Study of 1998 and the resultant sensationalist media coverage, would lead one to believe that Thomas Jefferson is guilty of fathering Hemings children. Nothing could be further from the truth as reported in the Jefferson Scholars Commission Report, a blue ribbon panel of thirteen prominent professors, released April 12, 2001. The Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society has links to the full S.C. report.

The authors have long researched all the material and have personally visited many of the covered sites. There are many excellent references cited and for all who wish to keep current on the Jefferson-Hemings controversy should read this book and also the Thomas Jefferson Heritage Society book, "The Jefferson-Hemings Myth, An American Travesty."

Frank Mayer's book not only gives us a written enthnographic view of the frontier life but also a "photographic" view of life on the frontier in North America. His book is a fingerprint in time for a place that will never be seen again.

Strange Justice tells the story of the strange choice of Clarence Thomas as supreme court justice, and the strange from of justice that Anita Hill encountered when she tried to tell what she knew about him.

The book is well written and seems to be thoroughly researched. There are copious end notes detailing the sources the authors used, and the interviews they were granted. The authors leave no doubt that they believe that Anita Hill was sexually harassed. They also believe that Clarence Thomas should not be a supreme court justice. Perhaps someone better informed than I would be less easily persuaded, but I found their arguments convincing. That however is not the reason to read this book.

This book is worth reading for the amazing story of how aggressive and well organized the Republicans were, and how inept and naive the Democrats were. The Republicans spared no effort in organizing a national campaign to get their nominee approved, despite the fact that his only qualification was ambition. The cynicism is astounding. The Democrats on the other hand had no idea what was going on till it was too late. Even when Anita Hill presented them with an opportunity to derail the nomination of the reactionary Thomas they were too timid and passive to take advantage of it. The result was that the unqualified Thomas is now a supreme court justice, and Hill was savaged in the hearings.

The changes in the perception of sexual harassment as a result of these events are only briefly discussed. I would have liked to see more discussion of the after effects, and less of Thomas record at the EEOC.

hi i love this book i am 13 years old and love this book
i may be a littel biase becouse Jill Abramson was the first person to hold me after my mother and Jill Abramson is one of my moms best freinds but i like this book

I was prompted to read "Stange Justice" after reading the press about David Brock's recent confession disavowing his slander of Anita Hill in "The Real Anita Hill". Interestingly, the interim between the Thomas Supreme Court justice hearings and the present make this study more interesting. Since the president who manipulated Clarence Thomas onto the Supreme Court is the current president's father, many of those involved in the lobbying and selling of Clarence Thomas are operatives in the present presidential administration. After reading this account readers will find this particularly discouraging, as clearly they have had no accountability for the many miscarriages of justice which are documented.

This chronicle of the Thomas nomination places the Bush and Reagan administratons in an extremely unattractive light. However, as the two authors are senior editors with the "Wall Street Journal" this cannot be dismissed as a one sided liberal diatribe. "Strange Justice" is fair and balanced, and gives appropriate "credit" to the democrats for their timidity in failing to respond to the many opportunities to prevent Thomas's confirmation. There was bittersweet justice in that many of the "moderate" democrats who negotiated with the Bush administration due to imminent relection concerns ultimately ended up being defeated by constituents disgusted by their acquiescence in having allowed Thomas's approval.

"Strange Justice" does engage in a bit of pop psychology, drawing conclusions regarding how Thomas's childhood and career have molded his political philosophy. In summary, they describe an unhappy childhood resulting in a bitter, warped man with an immense chip on his shoulder. However, the Republicans made his origins fair game by selling Thomas on the basis of his noble, modest origins and "remarkable" success story. The authors are considerably more generous to Anita Hill, whose questionable judgement they attribute to naiviete. However, they also make a convincing case regarding an understandable reticience to respond to sexual harassment, as evidenced by the shameful way she was slandered by machinery of the Bush administration.

This is an important and chilling book. Unfortunately, it only leaves you more cynical about the machinations of our government.

Dr. Phelan gives concise, clear ideas about how parents should interact with their adolescents. Parenting books often fall into the trap of a "one size fits all" approach to parenting. Dr. Phelan acknowledges that adolescents often have different temperaments and may require varying types of parenting approaches.

Communication between parent and adolescent is a tricky thing. It is easy to stymie the flow of information. He lists several "dos" and "don't" that may help keep the lines of comunication open. He illustrates each of these points with real-life vignettes. He discusses general guidelines for when it is better for the parent to intervene; when to just let go; and when to seek professional consultation.

I am glad that this title is available in audiocassette form. Parents today are often busy with work, home duties and carpooling. A casette, or anything that is practical and saves time, is great.

I am a clinical social worker and recommend this book to clients struggling with their teenagers all the time, and all who have read it tell me how helpful it is. The advice is clear and practical, especially in deciding when to be flexible and when to be firm. I also like the emphasis on maintaining a good relationship with your kids so you will have a good relationship with them when they are adults. Highly recommended.

This book helped me realize that my teenager wasn't as "awful" as I thought and showed me what role I need to take to make this relationship with my teen enjoyable. Great guidelines of acceptable/unacceptable behavior for teens to help us 1st time teen parents. Also wonderful discipline ideas that are sensible!

When I read the reviews for this book, I wonder if we are all talking about the same book. All the praise sounds like paid endorsements from friends of the authors.

Getting the idea that I didn't like this book? Not at all. Actually I loved it. It was fun to read & quick.

But, that's all it was -- animated & entertaining.

Goldilocks is purely ephemeral with management insights added in order to convince you that what you're reading has substance. The so-called 'business principles' are nothing more than short, shallow blurbs.

Here's how the book is arranged. There are 27 different fairy tales. There are two I'm not familiar with. Ever hear of the "Bremen Town Musicians?" Or "The Old Woman & Her Pig?"

Each tales is modernized and reflects a business theme. For example, The Three Bears operate a budget motel deep in the forest and Chicken Little reads the Wall Street Journal because she follows the prices on corn commodities.

The story follows with details concerning a business issue such as:

=> marketing => team building => sales => cash flow => hiring employees => customer service

A shaded box follows called * Basic Lesson *. Sometimes there's more:

=> how the tale applies to serious managers => a real-life story => a conclusion, called the 'bottom line'

What I found is that most of the time the 'lesson' wasn't what I thought it was. It might be me, but I think the tale's outcomes aren't clear.

Let's talk 'Sleeping Beauty'. You all know the basic story. In the Mayer's version Beauty's parents are wealthy beyond imagination. Think Bill Gates. She has everything she could want -- wealth, beauty, intelligence.

The curse put on her by the uninvited guest is: "Nothing worldly will ever satisfy you. All this wealth is going to bore you, enervate you, exhaust you. It will all seem so tawdry and meaningless that you won't be able to stay awake." (p.67)

The Mayer's lesson is that you shouldn't leave people out of your planning process because it results in poor outcomes.(read Wicked Witch)

My take, from the way the tale is written, is this: when you give someone all they need in worldly goods, when they have everything, then you remove all motivation to excel at anything. They have nothing to strive for.

Or how about the 'Ugly Duckling'? In this version the lesson is to nurture and tolerate your staff's innate skills & differences.

Yet the story makes it clear that the swan (ugly duckling) was forced to leave the ducks because he didn't fit in with the corporate culture. The way he looks doesn't adhere to the duck dress code & he trumpets when he should quack.

In most of these tales the conclusions don't support the story examples.

Who's right? I don't know. Maybe it doesn't matter.

What does matter is the authors came up with a neat gimmick then made the tales fit their pre-conceived business lesson. At least that's my conclusion.

If you come across this book when you're browsing the bookstore & you have time, read some of it. If you see it at the library, check it out. Buy it only if you have extra money around & are looking for some business fluff to break up the day's work.

Though kids would never suspect it, behind all the huffing and puffing, the golden eggs and glass slippers, our beloved fairy tales are chockfull of sound lessons for business. This book brings those magical yarns again to life-but with new force and relevance for grown-up managers.

The book is the brainchild of Gloria Gilbert Mayer and Thomas Mayer, avid fairy tale fans with thriving careers as consultants. During their three decades of involvement in management, the Mayers watched many trends come and go. They also came to a startling realization: the best business practices reflect time-honored principles-in fact, the very stuff of classic children's stories.

"Fairy tales offer us fundamental truths that have persisted across generations," the Mayers point out. "They are simple, direct, fun, and enduring."

Liberally sprinkled with whimsical line drawings, Goldilocks On Management revisits 27 enchanting stories we all know and love. Without sacrificing the cherished staples, the Mayers tell each tale with a distinctive twist to make it more adult, entertaining, and reflective of today's on-the-job realities. (For example, Goldilocks is recast as "a highly compensated professional woman with a serious attitude problem.")

But this fairy tale collection is no mere humorous parody. The "moral" of each story is crystallized as a one-line basic business lesson. Each yarn is accompanied by an in-depth discussion of its applications for serious managers. And every imaginative tale is complemented by a parallel real-world business example-a contemporary case study with striking similarities to the storybook fiction.

A wonderfully playful resource packed with thoughtful insights and practical strategies, Goldilocks on Management takes a fresh and winning approach to excelling in the big bad world of business.

Gloria Gilbert Mayer and Thomas Mayer are corporate consultants, speakers, and writers specializing in issues of concern to health care professionals. They have collaborated on numerous articles, as well as a consumer's guide to HMOs, The Health Insurance Alternative. This book was inspired by their mutual love for classic children's stories and a lesson reinforced throughout their three decades in management. Gloria holds a Doctorate in Education from Columbia University. Tom holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix, and is also board-certified in Family Practice from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

Reviewed by Azlan Adnan, Managing Partner of Azlan & Koh Knowledge and Professional Management Group, an education and management consulting practice based in Kota Kinabalu. Azlan has a MA in International Business and Management from the University of Westminster.

...someone understood that the most serious things are better said while joking!!!!! I've read quite a few books that support humour as a powerful means of education, leadership, etc. but none of them actually took their own advice. We all know that simplicity is the best, most effective way to do things. At the same time it is the most dificult, so we usually hide our ignorance (smatter actually) behind fancy terms, long sentences nobody understands, and extremely 'serious' titles. I guess the authors of this book not only know what they are talking about but are very intelligent people as well.

Thank you Gloria Mayer and Thomas Mayer for giving me the pleasure of reading your book. Btw, I loved the title "Implications for Serious Managers"... That was a good one!!

This book teaches a lot abou morals. Just becuase someone is alittle different from everyone else, doesn't mean they should be treated badly. Everyone is different in their own seperate way. Some people just show and others hide their feelings. People have differences, and no one is the same. Some of us just have to learn to accept it. And some have to realize we all are the same in some ways to.

The ugly duckling is a duck who is the same as everyone else, yet is also different. He just wants to be accepted. He doesn't know how to make people like him. People were not accepting him becuase he was not good enough. Everyone seems to be 'not good enough' at one time or another. Yet other people do not realize this.

I like this book because it explains how life goes. Some people aren't accepted because of their looks, other epople jsut need to learn to accept people for who they are. Not what they are not. You need to learn to look past the "bad" qualities and see the good qualities.

Our class liked it when the ugly duckling turned into a swan. Everyone learned that it doesn't matter if you don't look like everyone else. You should like who you are. We learned about the differences between swans and ducks. Our class learned that when you are young you have to learn about a lot of different things. We think that kids could learn about different things from reading this story such as animals, other stories to read, and feelings.

Like most parents, you want your child's home library to include standard fairy tales. Jerry Pinkney's "The Ugly Duckling" combines incredibly detailed ilustrations with a nice balance of both strong and muted colors AND a wonderful re-telling of the generations-old standard tale. In this verson, however, people are woven into the story in a way that I haven't seen before, and I like that very much. It's easy to see why this book was selected as a 1999 Caldecott Honor Book. Pinkney's a very gifted illustrator, and he really has to be given credit for his well-constructed text as well as the gorgeous pictures. Authors who write and then illustrate their own stories are somewhat rare, and as an adult, I appreciate the incredible mix of talent and hard work this represents. My children, of course, just love the pictures; they'll grow to appreciate good writing as they get older.

123 Magic is a one size fits all, quick fix approach that does NOT address the root cause of why children misbehave. It may bring fast results as long as strong temperament is not an issue, or if the ONLY problem is that the parent has been too lenient and pleasing in the past.
There is no help for parents trying to prioritise which behaviours to focus on when a child is truly out of control. Without a clear strategy to initiate change, a partent can easily be overwhelmed by a childs strong and fiercly oppositional reaction to even minor changes. For this I would highly recommend the book "Ain't Misbehavin" by William P Garvey or "Setting Limits: How to Raise Rresponsible Independent Children by Providing CLEAR Boundaries" by Robert J MacKenzie.
For an in-depth book that explores both the parent and childs role in power struggles, I would recommend "The Manipulative Child: How to Regain Control and Raise Resilient, Rresourceful, and Independent Kids" by Swihart and Cotter.

I agree with the books suggestion of no emotion or anger during discipline on the part of the parent. But even this is contradicted by the author who suggests that a smack on the butt for a child fighting a time out as being acceptable.
Also I found the books tone sort of negative and demeaning towards children at times, making comparisons to "wild animals" that need training.
There is some good advice on interrupting behaviors but overall too punitive for my liking.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to any parent that is spending more time yelling and/or nagging their child than smiling at and laughing with them. This is an awesome, effective method of discipline! The premise is simple and the results are great. When the 123 method is used consistently (slips can happen), our household is a lot happier. We can concentrate on enjoying our children, rather than yelling at them. My children do have a choice with 123. Either they can behave, or they can be sent to their room. Why is this considered punishment? Well, if they wanted to be in their room they would already be there! My boys are 5 and 2. My 2 year old has a tendency to throw himself on the floor and screech. We have just started using the 123 method with him. We can count to 1 and he will kind of stop (or slow down). He hears us! Sometimes he won't stop, so he gets put in his room for 2 minutes (1 minute for each year of the child). This gives him (and us) a chance to calm down. Since my children's behavior is getting under control we as a family now have the energy to voluntarily spend quality time together, rather than eagerly awaiting being away from them. The book also describes the importance of PVF (positive verbal feedback). A child should have at least 5 positive things said to him/her each day. When a child is out of control and a home is chaotic as a result, it is difficult to remember to praise your child (at least for me). Disciplining your child, without hitting or yelling, while still retaining control, is what this book is all about. I'm glad I have my own copy as I will read it again and again.

I first learned about Thomas W. Phelan PhD and his book 1, 2, 3, Magic when my oldest son, Nicholas was 3... Frankly, at first I was sure that it was so simple, it couldn't possibly work. As if you can say, 'one, two, three,' and your kids are just going to do what you want! Sounds like a fairy tale to the typical parent, right? Well after really using his simple method for the past 7+ years with all three of my children, teaching it to many parents and recommending the book to many more I can honestly say that it does work just like magic!! Dr. Phelan explains the right way of counting (without getting angry or over-explaining), to stop undesired behavior, and stresses positive reinforcement to get desired behaviors to start. Everyone I've known who has used this method properly has had great success and you can too! What's next for me? Well, Nicholas will be 11 in a couple of months'I think I'll get Dr. Phelan's Surviving Your Adolescents!!!