The top snares men fall to -- workaholism, sex, pride, etc. -- and how to avoid them are all addressed in this good book by Dr. Rosberg. The author writes well and has engaging stories (many of which are gleaned from his lenghty experience as a counselor) that amplify the subject matter.

This book gives guidance to men of faith. Dr. Rosberg shows how Christian men can find the right path. I recommend this book to wives and girlfriends of Christian men as it will reveal the heart of men of faith as they struggle with their imperfections. Dr. Rosberg has been a speaker at Promise Keeper events and has a live radio show - America Family Live.

This book carries an extremely important message to patients, doctors, and anyone who wants the most out of life. Dr. Hutschnecker shows how you can avoid or reverse illness by understanding the emotional disturbances which allowed it to occur. Dramatic case histories from his own experiences with patients will make it very easy for you to grasp what he explains: that each person has within themselves the power to be either healthy or not. Most people who fall ill are not aware of the processes which have brought this about, so the point is not to blame the victim, but rather to open our awareness to the subconscious ways that we may be undermining our own well-being. After explaining how this works, he gives useful suggestions for correcting the problems and cultivating the will to live. Although there are many other, more recent books with a similar theme, this is one of the better ones that I've read, and the one that most directly addresses the significance and meaning of "The Will to Live."

Dr. Hutschnecker shows how you can avoid or reverse illness by understanding the emotional disturbances which allowed it to occur. Dramatic case histories from his own experiences with patients make it easy to believe his assertion that each person has within themselves the power to be either healthy or not. Most people who fall ill are not aware of the processes which have brought this about, so the point is not to blame the victim, but rather to open our awareness to the subconscious ways that we may be undermining our own well-being. After explaining how this works, he has many very good suggestions for correcting the problems: cultivating the will to live.

Will Hobbs has created an exquisitely plotted, nail-biting experience that has great morals and teaches about the values of friendship and family. The characters learn that nature brings people together and can change a person's outlook on life. The main character, Jessie, and her friends are at a summer camp for troubled kids that they call "Hoods in the Woods." At the beginning of the book, all of their lives are going down river. As they are plunged into the great adventure of rafting down the rough Colorado River, the characters' personalities and the conflicts between them come out. Troy is stunning but turns out to be selfish and narcissistic. Star is weak and fragile but transforms into a self-confident person. There are other characters too, each one very different. This really brings the story to life. You know that with every catastrophe they face and overcome, they are only closer to the ultimate win that comes at the end when everything falls into place. It is a phenomenal book. The book twists into a novel about the love and friendships people can make when you get past your differences.

Downriver by Will Hobbs reviewed by Maia Hazelwood

Will Hobbs has created an exquisitely plotted, nail-biting experience that has great morals and teaches about the values of friendship and family. The characters learn that nature brings people together and can change a person's outlook on life. The main character, Jessie, and her friends are at a summer camp for troubled kids that they call "Hoods in the Woods." At the beginning of the book, all of their lives are going down river. As they are plunged into the great adventure of rafting down the rough Colorado River, the characters' personalities and the conflicts between them come out. Troy is stunning but turns out to be selfish and narcissistic. Star is weak and fragile but transforms into a self-confident person. There are other characters too, each one very different. This really brings the story to life. You get this overwhelming feeling when you read this book, a feeling of how good life is if you can look at it in a certain way. You can feel the everlasting friendships that the characters form. You feel the tension as they fight for their lives against nature's forces. You know that with every catastrophe they face and overcome, they are only closer to the ultimate win that comes at the end. It is a phenomenal book. I can say that I have found a respect not as much for nature, but for people. It has increased my awareness of how wonderfully different we are. The book twists into a novel about the love and friendships people can make when you get past your differences. I do have an attitude towards Mother Nature that she can be rough and beautiful. If you want to get all you can out of her, you have to experience them both.

Will Hobbs has created an exquisitely plotted, nail-biting experience that has great morals and teaches about the values of friendship and family. The characters learn that nature brings people together and can change a person's outlook on life. The main character, Jessie, and her friends are at a summer camp for troubled kids that they call "Hoods in the Woods." At the beginning of the book, all of their lives are going down river. As they are plunged into the great adventure of rafting down the rough Colorado River, the characters' personalities and the conflicts between them come out. Troy is stunning but turns out to be selfish and narcissistic. Star is weak and fragile but transforms into a self-confident person. There are other characters too, each one very different. This really brings the story to life. You get this overwhelming feeling when you read this book, a feeling of how good life is if you can look at it in a certain way. You can feel the everlasting friendships that the characters form. You feel the tension as they fight for their lives against nature's forces. You know that with every catastrophe they face and overcome, they are only closer to the ultimate win that comes at the end when everything falls into place. It is a phenomenal book. I can say that I have found a respect not as much for nature, but for people. It has increased my awareness of how wonderfully different we are. The book twists into a novel about the love and friendships people can make when you get past your differences. I do have an attitude towards Mother Nature that she can be rough and beautiful. If you want to get all you can out of her, you have to experience them both.

The simple premise of this deeper-the-expected book is summed up in the prolog, "If anyone wrote a self-help book that actually worked, we'd all be in trouble." The way this plays out is the main draw of the book. I could not anticipate what would happen next, and at the end, was not all that sure if I had got what I expected.

The writing style of the book is a mish mash - it flips back and forth between tenses and at times has the narrator talking to the reader. I learned quickly not to trust the author - his description of a publishing company's slush pile is undermined by the fact that Will Ferguson's first three books were plucked from the slush pile. I also learned not to expect much from the flawed main characters, wishy-washy Edwin and predictable May, but read on to see how the story would progress and ultimately end.

I was most struck by the burst of insight that did sneak in. For instance, "...ethics isn't about choosing between right and wrong;" a character in part three says, "it's about choosing between gray and gray."

Happiness (tm) was a good weekend book. The humor, at times reminiscent of a Simpsons eppisode or Matt Groening's "Life in Hell" series, does jab at the right targets. It doesn't hit them all the time, but is good entertainment none the less.

Happiness by Will Ferguson is the story of ho-hum book editor Edwin Vincent de Valu and the self-help book he edits (or doesn't edit, as it were) that turns out the be THE self-help book and creates a "devastating plague of human happiness" that spreads to all who read it - with the exception of .3% (according to the marketing department). Edwin, of course, remains one of the .3ers and, after losing his wife (but having to keep the cat), his money, his home, his lover, and gaining a broken thumb, must make the quest to return the world to its former unhappy self.

Ferguson's style is witty and modern with a sly intellectual spin. Insightfully satirical and laugh-out-loud-in-the-doctor's-waiting-room funny, Happiness is an absolute "must read".

Happiness (Generica as I know it) by Canadian Author Will Ferguson was the book responsible for ending a long drought of unsatisfacory reading for myself. A definite GEM!
One of the only books to bring me to a loud laugh in public.
His characters are both very human and very funny. A sad but what I believe to be true scenario about how our industries pray and profit from human vices and weaknesses.
A must read!
A much better self help book than a self help book!

I have read both of Self's novels now, and two of his short story collections. "My Idea of Fun" was a well-crafted, bold statement of Self's purpose. Some of his short stories are quite good, but some suffer the same problem as does this novel, "Great Apes". He starts with an idea, really a premise with promise, yet it doesn't take off. Despite Self's very real writing skill and mastery of the English language, I found myself impatient with this book; I hoped it would develop more of its ideas to provide more insight into that paragon of animals, Human. Nothing fresh here except the somewhat clever premise. Too bad; I remain a fan, as I have come to expect this unevenness. Check out MIOF, though.

I have never been inparted with 'Grnn' any of Will Self's previous books. So I can't sign much about the 'euch-euch' cuffing he has received from critics in the past. But through my introduction to Self in this novel, I am thoroughly impressed with the efulgence of his ischeal pleat and submit to his literary suzerainity. Why do humans bash Self, 'huuu'? His effectiveness in taking up such a difficult task is ample evidence of his skill. Yet with all the potential he has for a devastating critique of modern society, he is modest. Amis' "Times Arrow" comes immediately to my mind in parallel, as well as T. Boyle's satire. Both those artists reserve a much more serious tone in their critique of western civilization. Yet Self maintains a delicate balance hovering around the personal which lends itself to extension without ever losing the pure joy of his parallel universe's perversions of what humans consider natural. Self's chimps are not locked inside their own minds as are humans. They quickly resolve their existential dilemnas with a quick mating or a brutal yet brief brawl. And for this, the world of chimpunity has no use for weapons. What chimps lack is sexual attention from their parents. Such a world! Self could do worse than to extend and expand in such fertile 'euch-euch' terrian. I for one would like to see more. For now, a hearty HoooGraah! Self is my kind of chimp.

I have never been inparted with 'Grnn' any of Will Self's previous books. So I can't sign much about the 'euch-euch' cuffing he has received from critics in the past. But through my introduction to Self in this novel, I am thoroughly impressed with the efulgence of his ischeal pleat and submit to his literary suzerainity. Why do humans bash Self, 'huuu'? His effectiveness in taking up such a difficult task is ample evidence of his skill. Yet with all the potential he has for a devastating critique of modern society, he is modest. Amis' "Times Arrow" comes immediately to my mind in parallel, as well as T. Boyle's satire. Both those artists reserve a much more serious tone in their critique of western civilization. Yet Self maintains a delicate balance hovering around the personal which lends itself to extension without ever losing the pure joy of his parallel universe's perversions of what humans consider natural. Self's chimps are not locked inside their own minds as are humans. They quickly resolve their existential dilemnas with a quick mating or a brutal yet brief brawl. And for this, the world of chimpunity has no use for weapons. What chimps lack is sexual attention from their parents. Such a world! Self could do worse than to extend and expand in such fertile 'euch-euch' terrian. I for one would like to see more. For now, a hearty HoooGraah! Self is my kind of chimp.
(updated from my anonymous review)

Perhaps my expectations were too high for this book, but I didn't think it delivered. The book is composed of about 60 short chapters, each one being the story of a different person, relating what part of Chicago they grew up in, what kind of career they had, what experiences they had in dealing with death of customers or loved ones, etc. The chapters read like Readers Digest-type vignettes - some interesting, some dull, not too many very inspiring. Each story is a quotation of the person's answers to Stud's questions, although we normally don't see the questions. They read like newspaper interviews. Nowhere do we get any comment, opinions, or analysis from Studs himself - we never know what he thinks about the stories, or their relevance to the subject of dying and the afterlife. We can only infer from the stories he selects what his thoughts might be. We can reduce most of the stories to these summary thoughts: 1.)Some people are afraid of dying, and some people are not; 2.)Some people believe in a life after death, some people do not, and some people don't know what to think; and 3.)Some people are very religious, and some people are not. If you already know these things, you may not get many new insights from this book. Studs doens't bother to provide any kind of summary or analysis of his own.

I find it hard to believe that anyone would rate this book below 5 stars, but I suppose at 71 years on this planet and having to deal with the diverse people that I have encounered, I should simply say that it's not suprising,and diversity is exactly what this book is about, that is if one can clear old mind sets and place originality of thought in it's place.
Mr. Terkel allows this diversity of the human Psyche to play itself out in this well constructed biographical enterprise.
I personally found this book to be a refreshing and interesting approach to the subject of death and highly recommend it, unless of course one is still thinking that he or she is immortal.

Studs Terkel, a Chicago treasure and Pulitzer Prize winner, could not have predicted how the release of his latest book would coincide with the events of September 11, 2001, in an amazingly poignant and timely fashion. Like his other books, this one is a collection of interviews with a broad selection of people from all walks of life. Terkel, seeking a way to cope with the death of his wife of 60 years, Ida, set out on a project to examine what people thought about the one experience we will all have but will not be able to describe once we've had it: Death. The Prologue, interviews with two New York City brothers, revisits them from an earlier book. How uncanny that one is a fireman, one a policeman. I got goosebumps reading about events at the World Trade Center before September 11th. The stories are, when all is said and done, a celebration of life and, for want of a better word, "spirit." For anyone searching for meaning in recent events in America, this book will be a tremendous solace. The book ends with Mamie Mobley, mother of Emmett Till (whose murder in the '60's was as much the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement as Rosa Parks' bus seat) and I cried through the whole chapter. The epilogue, a story of two women and two children is the perfect ending of this examination of life, death and family. Had the events of September 11th never happened, I would have recommended this book highly. Because of September 11th, this book just has to be a "best seller."

Anybody who understands how the mind works will find the principles outlined in this book to be sound. Johnson doesn't just explain how to lose the weight, but WHY it is there in the first place. Her technique is one of healing the mind-body relationship and making life changes from the source: which is YOU. I've already changed my body considerably through the use of hypnosis, so I already knew it would work. However, hypnosis doesn't address the entire situation and I stopped making progress until I discovered this book. I didn't believe it until I tried and proved to myself how much control I have over my appearance. This is a very liberating experience and I honestly can't recommend this book enough.

This is the best book on weight loss that I have ever read, and believe me I've read literally dozens. I'm the master of the quick fix, and have tried most diets out there.

This book isn't just for weight loss, it's about an all over attitude change relating to WHY the weight is there and HOW to change your mental focus towards positive thinking to get rid of the weight and keep it off. For all of you out there who, like me, have berated yourselves about your weight or have ever labeled yourself negatively because of it, this book is for you. It's helped me raise my self-esteem in a way I haven't been able to do in 20 years.

Debbie Johnson takes you through a step by step process including affirmations, journalling with specific questions and instructions, visualization and more. She doesn't just talk around the issue, she gives concrete steps to take. No matter how much weight you'll lose, this book will also help you to accept yourself and change negative thinking into positive thinking. And you ARE what you THINK! So think THIN!

At the end of this book, she states that this process can be used for anything - love, money, career, relationships, even other types of addictions. I believe it wholeheartedly. This is the best money you'll ever spend on a self-help book.

This program helps you internalize your desires. Anyone who has ever taken a sales course or seminar will truly relate to this book. It makes so much sense. However, don't be fooled that it will be easy. The concept is easy, but getting rid of your negative thoughts has its challenges. I have been doing her mental exercises for 4 months and have lost a dress size without any 'dieting'. In fact, this is the first time I have stopped dieting in 3 years and have had a significant weight loss. [One of the exercises is throwing out your scales, so I have no idea how many pounds I have lost.] I feel this program is exactly what I needed. Of course, permanent weight control is not accomplished in a few minutes, but positive changes will begin immediately in your mind and does soon follow with shaping your physical reality. It has been the answer for me on how to win the mental game of weight control.

Anybody who recalls Joseph Campbell telling Bill Moyers "follow your bliss" has the gist of this self-help book. Sinetar throws in a few exercises for figuring WHAT you really love, but the basic idea is that old, old observation that you are likelier to be successful if you are working in a field you care about than if you are just punching a timecard.

'Likelier to be' is not, however, a word that comes easily to Sinetar and some folks will find the blind optimism of 'The Money Will Follow' a bit hard to swallow. Needless to say 'Trust in Allah but tie up your camel' is an adage always to be borne in mind when following this sort of advice, and everyone knows people who've done what they've loved and the money never appeared, let alone followed. It's to challenge this kind of pessimism that Sinetar has written her book, and she makes an engaging cheerleader.

There are lots of similar works and personally I think Napoleon Hill presents a better case, but Sinetar is a bit more up to date. Worth reading as an adjunct to other job-search books (like 'What Color is My Parachute'.)

A few years ago I was in a working situation, whereby I lacked congruence. At the time personal congruence - i.e. mind, body, spirit enthusiastically moving toward the right fitting goal - meant nothing to me. I just thought I lacked success. Working hard showed no reward. Somewhere I got this book. At first, I found the beginning a bit lukewarm, however, when I began to highlight later quotes,I soon realized that this Sinetar gal was onto some hot liberating insights. I gathered no reward from my hard work, because I was working hard in the wrong livelihood- not using my innate talents and momentum. As Americans we blindly accept the creed of the work ethic. Working smarter is a better creed. As someone said,"If hard work makes wealth andhappiness, than ditch diggers should be happy millionaires." Doing what you love gets youworking eagerly and joyfully. People see me now in my propercareer and always comment on my high energy level.I'm complimented for "working hard." It's more like I'm having a ball. The book helped.

This book is among the first of many I have read that inspired me to find my talent and dare to follow it. It never occurred to me that I could enjoy my work. I used to think work was something you HAD to do so you could make money for the things you want to do. I can honestly say that I now enjoy my work and I am a greater benefit to those I work with because I'm not miserable and unhappy.

This book has had a domino effect because now that I am doing what I love I have people who pay me to help them move in the direction of work they love. Interesting!

Common Sense. That is what comes to my mind after reading the first portion, and skimming through his "metaphorms." Todd Siler teachs processes on how to increase your creativity and also some guidelines on how geniuses think. Yet, much of the "metaphorms" he writes are common sense. Many of his lessons are learned during grade school or high school by most children. Surely, this book is not suitable for adults, especially if they have a proper education. His ideals are too common sense. Much of what he says my father and mother had once said to me already. There isn't anything revolutionary or profound about this book. It is simple. But, his metaphorms are a good list of ideals to keep for one's self as a checklist to look upon from time to time. I don't argue that it is a good list of ideals. Of his 20 some odd metaphorms, there was only one which I did not already use in my own life. And that one would not improve my life or creativity by so much.! There isn't anything my high school English teacher or Art teacher or mother etc... hasn't taught me. He could have made the book one page long and said: "To be creative, think about things in every different way possible. Look at them from every possible angle." I'm certain that most of us has been taught to look at a situation from different angles since we were young. One possible usefulness is for younger children since I find this useless for educated adults. Children can truly benefit from the ideals that Siler teaches about lateral thinking, etc... It deserves 3 stars because it does not appeal to an educated audience who are already taught many of Siler's common sense lessons, yet children, who may not have been taught his ideals can benefit by reading his book.

THINK LIKE A GENIUS is the single simplest thing I have read which allows us to understand the ways in which we ordinary folks may be like geniuses. It's not saying that anyone can be a genius --that takes a special kind of "what" in the brain, but it is saying we can use the "how" that great thinkers often use. The "how" of great ideas is creativity -- not a mystical gift bestowed on a few, but a human survival skill that most of us never bother to really develop. Or, to be fair, which school and corporate life, etc., beats down until our creativity is like a whipped dog -- not willing to come out of the shadow. The way Siler writes is deceptively simple -- a sort of DUMMIES GUIDE TO THE BRAIN -- but things like intelligence and creativity are pretty difficult to describe -- in technical or any other terms. The bottom line is that he makes sense and this is a book that will wake you up.

At the heart of genius thinking is the process that Todd Siler has defined as Metaphorming. It's the process of transferring and transforming new meanings and associations from one object or idea to another.

The process of Connection, Discovery, Invention and Application is at the core of genius thinking. It is both simple and common sense, to the extent that some may discount its true power. However, to do this is to reject a very powerful concept - anyone is capable of genius thinking.

Emerson said "Common sense is genius in its everyday clothes". This is what gave me the insight that everyone has the potential to Think Like a Genius, if we only knew how. This book shows you how.

"How the Dead Live" is the story of the death and immediate afterlife of Lily Bloom, an American long-time resident in London. Lily's death leads neither to oblivion, nor heaven, nor hell, rather to a disturbing continuation of her life, albeit with differences! Death provides no escape from some of the main worries of Lily's life: the trials and tribulations of her two daughters; and other irritations such as bureaucracy.

Lily is a cynical character. Little is spared her criticism, especially England and the English. There's great fun in all of this - Lily, despite her cynicism, or perhaps because of it, becomes a sympathetic character, and many of her observations about England rang (uncomfortably) true. There's lots more to enjoy in this novel, as Self is an imaginative writer, despite the fact that for lots of the time the reader is in familiar "Self country", where Jewishness, drug culture and hospitals figure prominently.

However, I felt that at times Self was struggling to keep the plot from flagging: at various points, he abandoned the first person narrative in order to develop sub-plots centred on the private life of Lily's two daughters. It almost seemed as if Self became more interested in these sub-plots as the book develped, but he couldn't cover them by continued use of the first person narrator. The result is that, at times, the book had a patched-together, over-extended feel to it. Cutting a hundred or so pages might have made it a tighter, more enjoyable read.

G Rodgers

Considering some of the unredeemed grotesqueness Self has penned, it's nice to know that he's capable of redeemed grotesqueness. This book is overlong, particularly in its final pages, which seem mostly to be a compendium of unrooted observations Self couldn't bear to let go of. It is dense and unpleasant (no problem unless it's perversely so--which it certainly is at times). It is unresolved at too many points, not through any apparent intention but seemingly through authorial amnesia. And yet...it's compelling. And, perhaps more surprisingly for Self, it declares its worthiness not in the form of a challenge--which he certainly has mastered--but as an invitation. He's not yet as comfortable with the notion of offering work that's rewarding in terms other than those of the masochist, yet this book proves how extraordinary even a cautious step in this direction can be, for both author and reader.

If you enjoy Self's surreal mindscapes and jackhammer wit, you will appreciate this addition to his literary canon. All of the Self trademarks are here: the awesome imagination, the caustic commentary and the subtle and ingenious wordplay. And, for me at least, there were several added bonuses that make this easily my favorite Will book: a fully drawn character (narrator and protagonist Lily Bloom) with whom to identify and empathize; and a certain level of authorial compassion for the character that wasn't evident in previous works like "My Idea of Fun" or "Great Apes." The result is that, as a reader, I found myself drawn to the character rather than simultaneously fascinated with and repelled by her...which is a more typical response to previous Self characters. The "plot," such as it is, is described ad nauseum here, so another summary isn't necessary. Let me just say that as a reader, I was captivated from start to finish, and find myself recalling certain bits of narrative and imagery even as I've moved on with my life and read other books. I'm actually looking forward to attaining a little bit of objective distance from this book and reading it again, maybe in a year or so, with the hope of discovering new insights and nuances I didn't catch in my first reading.