This book offers a glimpse into a world many don't know anything about even though it exists alongside their own--the world of people with developmental disabilities and their families. By turns curious, frustrated, supportive, and confused, Rachel Simon gives the reader a masterful account of loving, hating, being amazed by, and being surprised by her sister. Beth is a woman with mental retardation and an indomitable drive to do as she pleases when she pleases with her life despite her disabilities. Rachel sketches Beth's world--with and without Rachel--and how it affects her own life and world in a poetic yet grittily honest manner. Read this book. Read it more than once.

I first heard about this book through an exerpt printed in a recent issue of Reader's Digest, and was immediately intrigued.
This book should be required reading of all the hyperbusy yuppies around (esp. ones here in the Bay Area)....Rachel does a great job in showing the slow transformation of her values from workaholic wannabe Big Person with a Big Job, to a more well-rounded humanitarian who can enjoy life's simpler pleasures and relationships with others, through her interactions with her sister and various bus drivers. The book is realistic in that it doesn't try to give any pat answers or solutions to the issues surrounding the care of the mentally retarded. This story could have been overly politically correct if written by a less talented author, but Rachel's refreshingly honest in her depiction of her frustrations with Beth, and she doesn't oversentimentalize the loving aspects of their sisterly relationship, or pontificate/overgeneralize when discussing her struggles. A pleasure to read, with some great life wisdom to stay with you long after you're done with the book.

This is, quite simply, a splendid earthbound book. With admirable honesty Rachel Simon details her year spent riding the buses of an unnamed Pennsylvania city with her "mentally challenged" younger sister Beth.

Unsentimental, clear-eyed, and painfully truthful, Simon interweaves scenes from the family's past into the tales of her travels with the self-named Cool Beth. We meet a series of quite remarkable drivers, some of whom display levels of wisdom and kindness that are exceptional; as well, the majority of the drivers possess philosophical attitudes and good-heartedness. It's a view from that front bench seat by the door that will undoubtedly alter every reader's perception and/or preconceived notions about the people who carry us from one point to another--in any city or town.

Everyone in this book is revealed, warts and all, with perception and, by the end, with a hard-won perspective that leads not only to the author's self-acceptance but also to a new level of respect for the wonderfully well-depicted Beth (in all her rotund, stubborn glory); for the parents and siblings who spent decades of their lives striving not only to be supportive of their sister but also their efforts to come to terms with the effects of Beth on their own lives.

This is a brave and enlightening book that leaves one filled with admiration for both Rachel and Beth, along with a heightened sense of how, so often, while we might think we're coping well with whatever life throws at us, below the surface linger effects of which we may well be unaware.
Most highly recommended.

I first read this book as a schoolboy and I think I have read it at least twice more since. Simon Murray is the perfect tour guide to the Legion of the time he writes about. He writes with style, but not in an affected manner, he is humble regarding his own achievements, and he is sentimental at times, but never descends into soppiness. This book should be read not only by people who enjoy military yarns, but by anybody who appreciates a good book.

It is tragic that this wonderful book is not in print. Do yourself a favour and make a real attempt to find a copy.

As an American para of the same era as Simon Murray, and one who has had an interest in La Legion Etrangere since reading Beau Geste in the third grade, I found it absolutely unputdownable. It has also been published in French by Pygmalion Presse, Paris, and in that edition does double duty as an enjoyable read as well as an opportunity to improve one's French. If you have an interest in military history, politics of French Colonialism, or just want an evening's diversion reading an extraordinary journal of a middle class Englishman's survival and eventual success in a severe and foreign environment, you couldn't do better.

If you are interested in finding out more about one of the most elite fighting forces in the world then read this. Simon Murray is INCREDIBLY modest which is one of the best factors in this book. Exceptionally hard yet incredibly modest.

READ IT!!!!!

This is a very realistic account of a year in the lives of one shift of homicide detectives written by a newspaper reporter that reads as well as fiction. You are right there at the crime scenes with the primary detectives when they roll the body over looking for clues, when they interview the witnesses, fill out the paperwork and go out for drinks after work when the board is changed from red to black, signifying the case has been closed. You can get a real appreciation as to what it is like to be an underpaid, underappreciated and overworked homicide investigator in a major city. Interrrogation techniques are revealed in this unique book. Some trial action. Definitely worth the read. Contains real life violence. A good companion to the TV show.

Simon's Homicide reads not as a murder mystery, not as a documentary, and not as a dramatic novel, but as a life lived in the Baltimore homicide unit. The reader does not feel passive, as though he were watching the goings-on through a filter like a television or even a bystander. The reader is there, with the detectives, sharing their experiences, sharing their very thoughts. This book is a masterpiece, a book that completely enthralls you to the point where during the time you are reading, nothing means more to you than the resolution of each case, each obstacle, each crisis. Please, do yourself a favor and read this remarkable book.

... until you are finished. Incredibly well-written, fascinating, and a page-turner. I've reacted this way to very few books, and _Homicide_ is one of them. Simon makes you laugh at the warped sense of humor of the Baltimore Homicide Squad, and cry at the tragedy of a little girl's body found in the projects.

This is just flat-out an amazing book. Read it.

Janeway's Immunobiology is probably the best immunology book that someone really interested in immunology should take to the mythical desert island. One can enjoy it by its clarity from the basic graduate courses, and then keep reading it when doing research and pursuing hypothesis on the most advanced immunological topics. Many times I have found better organized and complete information on this book (even the old editions!) than on the latest reviews on specialized journals. The intense and careful work displayed to promote the real understanding on the concepts and the relations between immune components is impressive. Even more, the success in explanation is such that the authour takes the risk to have his book neglected as "too easy" by first time readers. However, immunology researchers in contact with the often chaotic and contradictory immunological literature can really appreciate the incredible amount of critical work invested and the intellectual gift of the author (authors) to abstract complex immune phenomena into nicely designed and biologically precise "cartoons". The focus on the evolutionary and functional consequences/origins of the immune mechanisms and structures makes Janeway's book one of the most refreshing and valuable voices in a sometimes too-technically oriented discipline. An impressive accomplishment never praised enough.

This is by far the most well written immunology text I have encountered. Even the most difficult concepts are presented in the most understandable manner. This book is very extensive in the material it covers and is highly recommended for an advanced undergraduate student or as an introductory graduate text. By far the feature most appealing to me are the extensive images and cartoons used in this text, used quite effectively to elucidate even the most difficult of topics. This visual presentation style combined with the extensive and highly readble coverage of relevant material make this a must have for any serious student. The book is also updated frequently I believe a new edition is on the way slated to be publsihed in April 2004.

I really recommend this as an essential book for anyone studying immunology
in detail.- Its also a very useful reference for anyone studying medicine and wanting to
go into more depth.
.
Immunology at the best of times can be a difficult subject to grasp, both in terms of concepts
and details. Thank heavens for Janeway and Travers 5e which explains this challenging subject
in a simple way, without compromising on accuracy. What brings this book apart from the field is
its emphasis on fundamental principles: It defines these at the beginning of each chapter before delving into detail later on. Another great feature of its organisation is they way it draws parallels and connections between different aspects of the subject, helping the reader to gain an integrated and wider understanding of the subject. For example consider the unique way in which it compares and contrasts B and T cell development and functioning.

Information is also very accessible, since there are small subheadings for each topic, combined with
a very useful cross-referencing, though index and glossary. Plus its packed to the brim with useful colour diagrams which help to reinforce and add to points made in the text. Since it is written by recognised experts in the field, information is up to date and accurate, and it clearly differentiates between accepted 'facts' and theories.

In summary; after leaving many lectures bemused, bored and confused it's comforting to know that I can always turn to this book for guidance.

The Sunflower is the story of a dying Nazi SS soldier who calls Simon Wiesenthal, the author, into his hospital room and asks for forgiveness for the crimes he has committed. Wiesenthal leaves the room in silence without fufilling the Nazi's dying wish: to be forgivien by a Jew. The book also describes Simon Wiesenthal's own experiences in the concentration camps and instances where he was a vicitm of an anti-semitic movment. This book greatly moved me and opened my eyes to even more amazement and wonderment that I have have ever known about World War II and the Holocaust. It was an excellent read and yet a mildly depressing one, too.

Simon Wiesenthal's book, The Sunflower, is a true life story of a Jew called to the bedside of a dying Nazi to hear the Nazi's life story. The Nazi then asks the Jew, Wiesenthal, to forgive him. Wiesenthal leaves in silence, but poses to you the same question: In his position, would you have forgiven the Nazi? A very thought-provoking book, The Sunflower makes the reader ponder for hours over the meaning of right and wrong, as well as giving a vivid picture of a Jew's life during the Holocaust. An excellent read.

This is some powerful material. Wiesenthal presents the story of a Nazi begging for forgiveness on his deathbed. Should he as a Jew grant this forgiveness? He deals with all the emotional and spiritual ambivalence he feels over this situation. What would you do? is the ultimate question he asks. Don't read this late at night if you want to get some sleep. I found myself tormented by the issue of forgiveness after reading this tale. I can not answer what I would do because I have never been in any situation as horrible as that. But this is a book that should be read by would be philosophers and moralizers as it features Wiesenthal's heart rending tale and follows it with essays by numerous writers of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. They all must wrestle with this issue. This is a book that should be required reading in universities if not high schools. It might actually provoke students to think. And surely that would be a good thing.

Author Simon Anholt, an international advertising consultant, says that the dangers of globalization can be just as formidable as the opportunities - if you fail to research the culture of your new markets. We've all heard the marketing legends of companies that embarrassed themselves by launching products into foreign markets without checking the translation of their brand names. Anholt retells several of these tales to illustrate the perils that await global firms that don't take culture into account. Meshing advertising and marketing strategy, he presents a systemic approach to cross-border product expansion. We [...] recommend this book not only for its insightful, culturally adaptive marketing methodology, but also for the genuinely entertaining examples that might just make you laugh out loud.

For decades now, advertisers and their agencies have struggled without success to create really effective advertising for the international stage. Here at last is a book that explains why they have failed. It is a fresh, honest and highly amusing expose of what it takes for an advertising campaign to work overseas. Anyone who wants to understand the global marketplace from a marketing point of view MUST read Simon Anholt's book. And anyone running an advertising agency network would do well to digest it too - before your clients get hold of a copy!

Simon Anholt has carved an impressive niche for himself in international marketing circles as a regular sage at conferences and seminars.

Another One Bites The Grass is, however, even more pithy than usual. Both witty and penetrating it lays bare the successes and failures of some famous international campaigns. The essence, and the reason for these 5 stars, is not for his being an excellent raconteur. Instead his philosophy of dynamic, multi-lingual, multi-cultural teams must make sense to those marcomms exec's who try to scale the translation mountain.

This is a book that is a MUST for those who have responsibility for putting out attractive messages internationally. Furthermore, it is an enlightening and instructive read for anyone in business, large or small, about the perils of communication on a global scale if one thinks only within one's home environment.

Buy this book - you will be entertained and educated in the best possible way.

Attend the next conference that Simon Anholt speaks at - you will be wiser for it.

"The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography" by Simon Singh is a wonderful book about the history of code-making and code-breaking. What is most impressive about Singh is he is able to take the most complicated mathematical information (in my opinion) and explain it in layman's terms. Another more suitable name for "The Code Book could be Code-Making and Code-Breaking for Dummies: A Historical Perspective". Singh covers the history of encryption, tracing its evolution throughout time and outlining the impact cryptography and cryptanalysis has had on the world. World War II, the Enigma machine and how the fate of the world rested upon whether or not secret knowledge would fall into enemy hands, is discussed in great detail. From Singh's perspective, it would seem that the outcome of all military battles could be pre-determined by who had employed better cryptanalysis, as the most powerful weapon, is secrecy. Personally, what interested me most about "The Code Book" is its discussion about the Navajo Code Talkers, hieroglyphics, Linear B, and quantum cryptography. I also thoroughly enjoyed the author's humor and wit, ability to break things down so that a non-technological mind could grasp some of the most complicated of codes and his affinity for making the personalities who discovered the codes as well as the personalities who broke the codes, come to life. I would highly recommend "The Code Book" to anyone who is interested in cryptography, cryptanalysis, security, telecommunications, math, science, history or simply a good read.

Simon Singh can describe tails of drama, history, and common mathematical sense into a great book. While most people take cryptography for granted, Singh provides historical and simple examples to illustrate it's importance to mathematics and history. He details it's use in wars, especially World War 2, and commerce. He even delves into the political ramifications of strong versus weak encryption when discussing PGP.

Singh also provides easy to understand ways on how encryption works and even more intriguing, how to break it. He shows how all various encryption algorithms are done, and then how code breakers can decipher them, both in practical and historical consequences.

In the end, he even provides a challenge for would be decipherers out there. Granted, it's already been solved, it's still education and exciting that he offered a considerable amount of money for this challenge....

All in all, it's a fascinating book that will capture anyone's imagination, even if they hate history or math.

THE CODE BOOK is a beatuful overview of the history of cryptography. The book takes the reader from the simple ciphers of history (this is where Mary Queen of Scots comes in, but I thought that story was fairly far in the background), through the fairly radical improvements of the rennaisance, and truly shines in the discussion of the WWII Enigma machine and the truly amazing response of the English decoding aparatus. It appears that much material only recently became declassified, allowing Singh to discuss Enigma and the English code-breaking operation. Finally, Singh gets to the efforts to produce computer cryptography and the recent innovations that culminate in the "public key" encryption and the controversy over the PGP (pretty good privacy) program. This book was so exciting that I could not put it down. It is easy to read--no math in the text and plenty of appendicces with the formulas--yet reveals so much. On top of the beautiful exposition on cryptography, Singh also visits the public policy conflicts between national security and privacy. Not that those have any easy answers, but the conflict is very palpable.

An American doctor once asked Viktor Frankl to explain the difference between conventional psychoanalysis and logotherapy. Before answering, Frankl asked the doctor for his definition of psychoanalysis. The man said, "During psychoanalysis, the patient must lie down on a couch and tell you things which sometimes are very disagreeable to tell." Frankl immediately replied by saying: "Now, in logotherapy the patient may remain sitting erect but he must hear things which sometimes are very disagreeable to hear." By this he meant that in logotherapy the patient is actually confronted with and reoriented toward the MEANING of his life. The role of the therapist, then, is to help the patient discover a purposefulness in his life. Frankl's theory is that man's search for meaning is the primary motivation in his life and not a "secondary rationalization" of instinctual drives. Whereas Freudian psychoanalysis focuses on the "will to pleasure" and Adlerian psychology focuses on the "will to power" it can be said that Frankl's logotherapy focuses on the "will to meaning." Does man give in to to conditions or stand up to them? According to Frankl, the strength of a person's sense of meaning, responsibility, and purpose is the greatest determining factor in how that question will be answered. He believed that "man is ultimately self-determining" and as such, "does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment."

The first (and largest) section of this book is the searing autobiographical account of the author's experience as a longtime prisoner in a concentration camp. These camps claimed the lives of his father, mother, brother, and wife. Frankl's survival and the subsequent miracle of this book are a testimony to man's capacity to rise above his outward fate. As Gordon W. Allport states in the preface, "A psychiatrist who personally has faced such extremity is a psychiatrist worth listening to."

I agree, and highly reccommend this book. As the sub-title says, it is an "introduction" to logotherapy, and anyone who wants to go deeper into the principles and practical application of Frankl's existential psychiatry should go to his excellent "The Doctor And The Soul".

Frankl was fond of quoting Nietzsche's dictum..."He who has a WHY to live can bear with almost any HOW."

Viktor E. Frankl, as you've read in other reviews, is a holocaust survivor. In Man's Search for Meaning Frankl takes his experiences in concentration camps and translates them into a theory for therapy. His personally developed therapy, logotherapy, strives to help mankind overcome nuerosis by applying meaning to one's life experience, including (if not especially) a person's suffering. It is stated over and over again in Frankl's book that if a man can be shown a why, he can endure almost any how. This isn't really a new idea. However, Frankl goes one step further by helping people to see meaning and dignity in their suffering. Indeed, the preface of the book starts out with the line ' Dr. Frankl, author-psychiatrist, sometimes asks his patients who suffer from a multitude of torments great and small, "Why do you not commit suicide?".' What an opening line! What a question! Why does a suffering person not commit suicide? Are they living for a minor child, to finish a project, because their religion forbids suicide? Whatever the reason is, Frankl suggests that while that reason does not necessarily eliminate the suffering, a person's recognition of the dignity of their suffering can give them the will to go on.

While this book is not light reading, and does occasionally get a tad repetitive, it has such a wonderful message and packs so much into such a short space, that I highly recommend that everyone get a copy and read it. I was lent a copy by a friend and now I plan to get a copy for several people who I know. It's just wonderful.

This book is great for two reasons.
1. Everybody knows of the horrors of the holocaust. We all know of the physical trauma and fear felt by all of the prisoners. We can't truly know all of the hurt done. This book doesn't go into the horrible details, but into the mind of a prisoner. There had to have been absolute trauma knowing one was a moment away from death. In this book, however, Viktor E. Frankl tells how the prisoners mentally survived. It was through a collective will to get through each passing day. One story tells how one person lost the will to live it was obvious that they weren't going to live. The going into of an individuals mind through the holocaust and the different perspective of horrors make this a great book.
2. It offers principles and help to find meaning in life. Frankl's logo therapy is one way he identifies to help people examine his/her life. One doesn't need to have his logo therapy but identify principles in the book to help find meaning. The principle taught that one must make the best of whatever situation is present in life. He was in the holocaust and managed to survive. There is always a choice and only you can decide how you will react. It would have been easy to give up and lose character but Frankl never did. Frankl gives principles to live by regardless of situation.

This expertly detailed book gives the story of Arab terrorists who took Israeli hostages during the 1972 Munich Olympics. The author does a great job of giving the fundamental reason behind the attack, as well as a detailed chronology of the events that took place subsequently. This book is even more poignant after the events of September 11th, as it shows that the world is still suffering from the plague of fundamentalist Islamic terrorism.

While I did thoroughly enjoy the book, I do disagree with the author on his reasons for the failure of the eventual rescue mission mounted by the German government. Simply, the author believes that the failure was based on anti-Semitisim by Germans, and the fact that they really did not care what happened to the Israeli athletes. However, after reading between the lines of the book, it seems to me that the failure was more the result of a lack of trained hostage rescue squads in Munich. Yet, this was 1972, and these hostage rescue squads were not commonplace in all cities. Also, it seems that the Germans went out of their way to save the athletes, given the limited resources they had. Many German officials quoted in the book seemed willing to do anything to save the Israelis as they desperatly wanted to atone for the Nazi atrocities and not stir up old anger.

Regardless of this issue, the book does a superb job of telling the tale of the first major incident of Islamic terror. It is a shame that events like this happen, but maybe by expertly chronicling them, we can learn how to prevent them in the future.

I bought this book due to the HBO documentary of the same name. Although I was not born yet, I believe this book is important in educating those of us too young to know the real history of the problems in the Middle East.

The book is about the 1972 Olympic hostage crisis, where most of the Israeli delegation were taken hostage and subsequently killed by a Palestinian group calling themselves Black September (named so because of a battle in which many Palestians were killed by Israeli's in September 1967).

Mr. Reeves has done an excellent job in researching this book, to the point that one is amazed at the almost keystone cop-like appoach made by many German officials in dealing with this problem. Obviously, they (the Germans) were facing an uphill battle dealing with a fanatical terrorist group, all in front of a worldwide audience expecting to watch sporting events pitting country against country. This said, the mistakes are many and made by many different people. In the book, there are the "hawks" and there are the "doves", then there are the Israeli's on foriegn soil trying to get their countrymen safely back home. Mr. Reeves does a great job on the background of the terrorists, giving the personal reasons for (but not justifying) the actions that they took. Great detail is given to the debacle at the airport where everyone was killed. Many questions are raised about what went down there, such as why none of the snipers were given walkie talkies to communicate with one another allowing them to discern who was going to take down who? It was this situation geon awry that made the Germans create GSG-9, their counter-terrorism unit. Mr. Reeves also touched on Operation "Wrath of God". the Isreali revenge mission to assassinate surviving members of the group. This part of the book is just as fascinating and reads like a novel. It shows the resolve of the Isreali's to seek revenge on those who did them wrong. They had there own problems though when they assassinated a suspected member of Black September, who turned out to be an innocent waiter.

All in all, the book is not "enjoyable" but is an important piece of history. ... I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Middle East conflict and/or terrorism.

One Day in September is a fascinating and well researched book about the events surrounding the 1972 Munich Olympics takeover and subsequent massacre of members of the Israeli Olympics team by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September.

The book provides extraordinary details of events leading up to and during the takeover, the negotiations to free the hostages, the events at the airport in which all of the Israeli hostages and many of the terrorists were killed, and the aftermath; including the "Operation Wrath of God" (the Israeli retaliation), the cover-up of mistakes and miscues made by the German government and police, and the thoughts of survivors on all sides in retrospect. There is also a chapter dedicated to providing a short but comprehensive history on what led to the current problems in the Middle East - an excellent lesson for someone like myself who is a novice in this department.

This is one of the most interesting books I've ever read. I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it. It is a must read for those who have an interest in history, and/or have their own personal memories of the Olympic games of Munich, 1972.

Journey with a guy with much testosterone, but a HUGE heart. I was not looking forward to reading this book for my 18th Century British novel class, but upon starting to read I found it to be a pleasurable story. This piqaresque novel has a humor that I have seldom encountered in other narratives. What is ironic is that Fielding wrote this piece during one of the most traumatic periods of his life. His wife just passed away, his daughter was dying, and he was inflicted with the gout. One would never think it from the clever way the book is written. The point of view gives us an in so that we feel as if we ourselves have roles in the storyline. Rooting all the way for Tom despite his flaws, we find out more about human nature along the way. A good read, light a candle and sit down with some wine like they would've and enjoy this classic comical delight.

It was so hard finally putting this book down.

The friends you make!

Tom, Sophia, Allworthy, even Western himself.

But most of all, Henry Fielding.

The humor, the humanity!

What an author and what a man. And to think he
penned his comic masterpiece in his darkest days.

With all that, Tom Jones can be tough going. The
language requires you read fairly slowly. And the
novel is huge. And the plot is intricate.

You may benefit from book notes; I did, especially
during the second half.

If you love Tom Jones, check out Thackeray's
Vanity Fair. And Guerney's translation of Gogol's
Dead Souls.

While you're at it, grab The Brothers Karamazov
and go crazy.

I first picked up Tom Jones because to put it bluntly I am a bibliophile and it was a cheap book. However, I was suprised at how engaging and hilarious the story was despite the claims on the back cover, which are often far off. To tell the truth I did not expect to make it through this extremely lengthy tome, I only wanted to satisfy my curiousity.

Although I am a fan of Jane Austen I was shocked by the freshness and wit that Fielding's writing still retains. Every book in the novel begins with an essay by the author. Do not skip these, they are one of the best features of the book. My favorite is the essay before the ninth book which explains the purpose of these introductory chapters. What a riot!

The story of big hearted and big appetited Tom Jones and his adventures and misadventures is one long satirical gem. Fielding's interpretation of morals, piousness, love, and high society is still as hilarious and relevant as it was in the 18th century. For anyone who appreciates wit and history, this is a must read.