A Season in the Air is a lovely, moving story of a man's struggle to break free from the chains that bind him. His childhood religion, fears of flying, family problems, and a career that is going nowhere are all holding him back from something; but he doesn't even know what that missing something is. Through flying lessons, he learns to let go of his fears and demons. Even as his family, career, and credit are taking a downward spiral, Simmons is learning that his pilot's license may be everything he needs.

This book is very moving, full of beautiful imagery and thoughts. The non-pilot will not be confused, or disappointed, and may even want to learn to fly after reading this. Highly recommended!

...but that doesn't mean I'm biased. I read this book not knowing what to expect and ended up with a deeper respect for a man who is not only one of the best educators I've ever had, but an awesome writer who is not afraid to examine personal experiences on the page. What separates Tom from all those other writers of autobiographical nonfiction is that he writes without coming across as being completely infatuated with himself. Instead, he is one of the few writers who is able to write about himself as being a well-rounded person and, therefore, produces a more interesting book. This is a wonderful book by a great person.

Compiled and edited by Thomas E. Simmons, Forgotten Heroes Of World War II: Personal Accounts Of Ordinary Soldiers offers contemporary readers with fourteen intensely personal perspectives of individual rank-and-file soldiers, aviators, and seamen who were quite ordinary people thrown into the extraordinary and often horrific demands of World War II combat. Of special interest is "The Diary Of Tarao Kawaguchi" which relates the perspective of a Japanese soldier stationed in Saipan during 1944. Also of interest is concluding chapter "The Home Front". Their strength and valor are commemorated in this moving, compelling, informative, and highly recommended contribution to the growing library of World War II military histories.

This is a must for any Surgery Resident interested in clinical transplantation. The authors discuss each chapter in light of current wisdom and provide implications for the future. The chapter on "Pregnancy after Renal Transplantation" is a rare compilation. As well current hot topics including Xenotransplantation and Chimerism after transplantation are discussed. The only drawback is the lack of tables on key features of clinical topics.

If asked to name a World War I novel most Americans would almost certainly say "All Quiet on the Western Front". Thanks to our rather uniform public education system, Remarque's novel has earned a place in American culture as the quintessential novel of The Great War. It deserves its reputation as a landmark of 20th century literature, but unfortunately its success contributed to the disapearance from memory of Thomas Boyd's "Through the Wheat". Without moralizing about the cost of war, Boyd brilliantly depicts its horrors and their effects on the psyche of a young American Marine. If you want to understand the Combat experience -- the noise, dirt, distraction, sweat, blood, stench of war -- this is a novel you must read. It is a tragedy that it is no longer in print.

Thomas Boyd's "Through the Wheat" was written by a former newpaperman and the book is fairly easy to read. The writing style was such that you though that it was a true story being told to a friend. He was better known when he was alive for his historical novels. But I think this novel was his best.

Thomas Boyd was an interesting man who died from a brain tumor thought to have been caused by his being gassed during the WWI. He came back the war disillusioned and ran for public office in New Hampshire or Vermont as a communist. Mr. Boyd died suddenly in his early thirties and left behind a wife and a daughter. One of his collections of short stories Points of Honor(light) was made in a successful silent movie.

It is interesting to compare this book to Blue Windows, the
other member of the very small literature of memoirs by
people brought up in Christian Science. I did not like
the Unseen Shore as much for several reasons.

First, the author is still too close to his subject. His
anger is palpable throughout the book and gets tiresome by
the end. It is also a bit unfocused - much of what he blames
on Christian Science seems, from his story, more appropriately
assigned to his parents, who were unable to love him, at least
in a way he could appreciate, and unable to love each other.
His anger gets in the way of telling the story as well. He is
so mad at his parents and at Christian Science that the reader
simply can't understand why he stuck with it. When I got to
the section near the end where he indicates that he seriously
thought about becoming a Christian Science practitioner, I
found myself incredulous. It did not seem possible given
the story of his life related up to that point. Simmons
thinks he has attained prospective and peace, and perhaps
he now has 10 years after writing the book, but the text
belies his belief that he had it at the time he was writing.

Second, Simmons overgeneraliyes his own experience of growing
up in Christian Science. I did too, and although I am no longer
active in the Church, my own experience was completely different
from his. It is still the case that most of the loving, caring,
real people I have met in my life are Christian Scientists.
Yes, I met some people like his parents too, but they are
everywhere. Simmons seems to have an almost mystic view of the
well-being of persons who were not raised in Christian Science
(and, relatedly, of the healing powers of modern medicine).
I recognize both these views, but they are wrong and come from
being an outsider looking in. Simmons should go to Chicago
where the whole cultural atmosphere seems dominated by the, at
some point, very tiring whining of persons lamenting their
working class Catholic upbringings. The overall lesson is that
relying on one data point to make statements about a large
population is pretty much always a bad idea.

To conclude, a positive note. Even though it wasn't done when
he wrote the book, looking in on Simmon's spiritual journey,
even through the light fog of over-intellectualization that
likely comes from being a professor (another characteristic
this reviewer shares with the author), is a moving read, and one
that leads to useful thought for the reader.

This is a narrowly focused and very personal account of escaping the disembodied ideology/religion of Christian Science, to discover a kind of pesonal authenticity that seems to have left Simmons a sort of "pick and choose" delicatessan theist. So narrow and introsepctive is the approach that the reader is unaware that Simmons' struggle was going on during the denouement of the Vietman War, the turmoil of Watergate, the onset of postmodern culture in the 1970s and its reaction: the 8-year Reagan presidency.

The strengths of this book are his closely observed family dynamics - the parents, especially the mother, were committed Christian Sicentists, and they are revealed as sad and isolated figures in the end. Simmons also is very good at restrospective analysis of significant events in his adolesence and young adulthood. The reader feels compassion for his vulnerability in print and admires his dogged honesty to break out of a system that is neither Christian or scientific.

In addition, the book via its personal insights tracks the onset of serious decline of Christian Science in the 3rd quarter of the 20th century, a time when medical science was making enormous strides in eliminating disease and alleviating human suffering. It seems the only Christian Scientists I meet today are at least over 50 years old. If you want to see a fading American version of the ancient Gnostic heresy, you need look no further than Christian Science.

So why only 3 stars, a "gentleman's grade," for this little well-crafted book? In the end Simmons has written a respectable memoir of his spiritual journey, but within a bit too narrow of a framework. For a real 5-star account where the reader gets the "big picture" of a fully-realized and complex spiritual journey within the protagonist's times, I encourage you to delve into Thomas Merton's masterpiece, THE SEVEN STOREY MOUNTAIN.

In closing, now that THE UNSEEN SHORE is freely found in second-hand book stores, you can also save some $ on his little jewel. It will be a worthwhile read if the subject has piqued your interest.

I thought this book was wonderful -- beautifully written, very personal, revealing and deep. Due to its subject matter (the book is critical of the Christian Science church), I could see how it might not be palatable to many "true believers" of this religion. But those with no religious axes to grind will undoubtedly find this book a wonderful read and an eye-opener about the experience of growing up in a Christian Science household. Readers who are able to appreciate the book on more than the theological level will find it a lyrical, poetic, and deeply personal discussion about many things -- growing up, having a family, coming to terms with life and with the past. Give it an open-minded read. You'll be glad you did.

I've just finished working through the Version 8 edition of 'Step by Step Tutorial'. I found it is a very elementary introduction - suitable for teaching an experienced cad user the basics of Archicad. The instructions for the excercises are not at all complete without also refering to the videos provided on the 'Interactive Tutorial' provided with the program. I've come to Amazon.com hoping to find something better.

This is not actually a third party 'guide' for ArchiCAD, this book comes with the purchase of the application itself so it is like a manual, sadly it is unable to cover much. In fact i have one on ver 6.5.

I got the book when I bought the ArchiCAD 7.0 program. It was a very good starting point for something I knew nothing about. The program is very intuitive and the tutorials cover most of the program's capabilities (a CD with real-time movies of the steps is a virtual assistant). As with most tutorials it does not cover every aspect, especially advanced issues.