Failure among the ambitious, upwardly mobile, educated and intelligent of our modern, industrialized society often comes across as being more devastating, more defining, and more frightening than it actually is. What in actuality defines us is not the number of our failures, but how we deal with our failure, how we look upon it, and most importantly, how we either use our failure or allow our failures to define us.

Hyatt and Gottlieb have written an excellent text on professional/career failure. The authors start the book by imparting intrepid examples both personal and private, of the emotional processes associated with failure. They accurately describe (often in painful and excruciating detail) the feelings of fear, isolation, shame and remorse associated with losing a job, status, money or some combination of the three. One can not only relate to the loss of purpose, the punctured egos, and the declining sense of self of those who have failed professionally, but also can actually feel as if it is happening to him or her- for it at some point has happened to him or her. They emphatically stress that career failure is something that eventually touches every professional, in some cases sooner, and in others, later. In this way, they show that failure has no prejudices, and everyone is a card-carrying member of this club, whether they realize it or not. As such, in dealing with failure, it is extremely important for the individual to realize that he or she is not alone in the experience, even if our greater society compels us to put up a strong front and pretend that nothing is really wrong. In order to healthily deal with failure, the authors emphasize the importance of understanding the meaning of failure in both the personal and the societal context, and elaborate upon how the feelings associated with failure unfold in the individual. Many people define themselves based on their occupation, their professional affiliation, or their status in life, and it comes as no surprise that these are the people hardest hit by career failure. Those of us who have cultivated other sides of our personality, such as those of us who live for our weekend hobbies, or those of us that are family or community oriented, tend to handle career failure much better, and can even take it in stride. Although many readers and those who have experienced failure or are currently experiencing failure may not believe it, failure actually gives people options, which the authors not only demonstrate, but also help the reader identify and ultimately take advantage of in later chapters.

In the first part of the book, one chapter each is devoted to defining the characteristics of failure at the level of the individual and the society, dealing with the feelings, which occur in stages, associated with failure, how our career failures can affect those closest to us, and how men and women respond to career failure. The second part of the book focuses on taking failure in stride, and offers a comprehensive strategy for personal reinvention after suffering a career failure. Arguably the most important part of the book, this section devotes one comprehensive chapter to each of the following topics: discovering why one has failed, gleaning from the failure some positive knowledge by re-interpreting the events leading up to the failure, recognizing and casting off old and inappropriate labels and finding new ones, expanding one's career choices, and making the transition from the old professional to the new, centered and focused individual. The authors also include in this section of the book a bonus chapter that showcases two successfully reinvented individuals, and elaborates upon the nature of their failure, how they dealt with failure, and the process of their reinvention. Each chapter in the second part of the book provides the reader with powerful tactics to build a new, improved person from career failure, and allows one to rise triumphantly out of the ashes of failure, much like the proverbial phoenix. The third and final part of the book, entitled 'Towards Real Success', helps the reader to win the internal battle associated with failure. While the second part of the book helps to outwardly reinvent the individual for career success, the final section of the book helps the individual to cultivate a new perspective, a new outlook- on career failure. This part of the book encourages the reader to look upon failure as a learning experience, and as such, helps one to regard failure as a temporary setback that one can learn from.

The authors have written a truly empowering book, one that entrepreneurs and professionals must read and keep alongside all the other books on career and entrepreneurial success, as there inevitably will be one or more notable, spectacular and in some cases unfortunately public failures on the path to a successful career journey. In the end, I can only say that there is no shame in taking a risk, giving one's all, and failing, and I wholeheartedly believe that true shame results from failing to try, failing to risk, fearing change, and failing to grow. These, I truly believe, are the things that comprise the regrets in one's life.

I picked up this book after being let go from a F50 company late last year, and it has been a lifesaver as I've navigated unfamiliar territory. It lays out the stages most people experience when they've been fired, downsized, or eliminated -- shock, fear, anger & blame, shame, and despair. It addresses how failure changes the balance of power in a relationship, and how it affects men and women differently. It then moves to how we reinvent ourselves -- identifying the cause of failure, reinterpreting the event, relabeling yourself, and getting unstuck. There are numerous stories, including the authors' own, about failing and ultimately coming back better and stronger. One quote especially resonated with me: David Brown (he produced The Sting and Jaws, among other Hollywood blockbusters) was fired three times from top jobs. "Each time, [he] was stunned. And each time he never stopped to analyze what had caused him to be fired in the first place. Only after the third time did he begin to examine his working behavior. Why was he always running after corporate jobs...when in the end they held neither safety nor a degree of control over one's fate?" Whether you feel that corporate life is truly your calling, or you yearn for something different, this book can help you push past self-imposed limitations and re-invent your career in a unique and satisfying way.

If you are having problems confronting a business defeat (whether you were fired, lost your business, or "failed" in your career), this is the book for you.

If your setback is affecting your health, your marriage, your friendships, there is hope.

If you have been moping around the house for a year or more, read this book.

If you've tried and tried to "move past" your personal problems, buy this book now.

If you have been searching for an answer, this is it.

Read this book.

I picked this cookbook up after spending sometime trying recipes from Carol Heding Munson's crock pot book, "Smart Crockery cooking." My experience with that book was so wonderful, every recipe was absolutely delicious. When I saw "Smart Pressure Cooker Recipes," I decided to pick this book up strictly on my experience with the crock pot book.

The recipes are generally one page long, a few go on to a second page. The book is well edited so it's very readable and well laid out.

Again, so far every recipe I've tried has been delicious. If you want to buy only one pressure cooker cook book, this is the one.

Happy cooking

After flipping through many books at the bookstore, I thought this one looked the best. I really like it! The meals are practical (normal ingredients and standard prep times) and they taste very good. Its seems to be getting harder to find cookbooks that have easy to find ingredients and don't take forever to prepare. This book is worth its price.

I definitely enjoyed this book -- whether just reading the recipes or cooking them. Simple plain meals, along with fancy meals -- it's all here. Tasty and quick, fresh and healthy. I review the recipes and use foods I already have on hand. Everything comes out great. A p.c. cookbook must!

This is an excellent book for those who are seeking both a delicious & nutritious breakfast. Since trying these recipes, I feel better & have more energy throughout the day. Most meals are easy to make, but some require exotic ingredients.

The author starts out by discussing proper nutrition & some of the ingredients used. The recipes follow including cereals, eggs, breads, pancakes, toppings, soups & drinks. Elegant & kid pleasing meals are also included.

There are even special chapters focusing on heart healthy & lean hi-energy meals, as well recipes for those with allergies. Some of my favorites include Rhode Island jonnnycakes & orange spice popcorn waffles.

My kids love the breakfast cake & milkshakes. My only complaint is some of the recipes are not low-fat. Quite a few have over 7 grams of fat, & others contain up to 19 grams of fat per serving.

This text is traditionally seen in the classroom, however not all EMT classes utilize this text and some technicians may not be familiar with it. In essence, the text is designed to provide the necessary knowledge to become an Emergency Medical Technician.

Content includes basic physiology, medical terminology, patient assessment, and emergency interventions on the basic life support level. The book assumes no prior medical knowledge on the part of the reader and the information is presented in a clear and logical manner.

The text is also useful to the layman who would appredciate a more in depth approach to the recognition of medical emergencies and life saving interventions.

This is really a reference textbook for the education of new EMT's, but the information it contains is complete, concise and extremely up-to-date (important in a field that is changing ALL the time!)

Highly recommended as a text to have on your EMS shelf.

I am an EMT Basic student and use this book very much. It is a very easily read book with a good amount of emphasis on the practical applications neccesary for emergency care. It is also divided for ease of refernce, which is neccessary for quick checks of how to do something.

In my ongoing quest for simple recipes to throw in the Crock-Pot, I ordered this book, and am generally pleased with it.

The recipes themselves are quite appealing and meet my primary criterion for slow-cooker meals: They call for simple ingredients requiring a minimum of preparation in the morning... The vast majority of them are things I wouldn't hesitate to try.

The only real gripe I have is one that perhaps I could have avoided had I looked carefully at the enlarged picture of the front cover and seen that these are LOW-FAT recipes. (In retrospect, I now understand the word "Smart" in the title.) Looking at the recipes, I think I can probably remedy that by simply using higher-fat versions of the ingredients (whole or 2% milk instead of skim, full-bore sour cream instead of light, etc.).

All in all, probably an OK book to add to your Crockery Cookery collection...

I purchased Carol Munsun's crock pot cook a few weeks ago. So far I have prepared perhaps a half dozen of her recipes and they all have been fabulous.

For years I have been using Crock pots, mostly for cooking legumes and soups - pretty conservative and safe fare. However, Munson's recipes have all been exceptionally tasty, and easy to follow, as well as healthy.

In my opinion, if you are interested in slow cooking as a means of eating low fat food this is the "first" book you should pick up.

This book and another book called SURVEY OF 300 A+ STUDENTS
by Kenneth Green, are the two best books on study skills,
in my opinion.

I searched far and wide for a travel guidebook that deals specifically with the Gulf Coast of Florida, and I found exactly what I was looking for in "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" by Carol J. Perry (John Muir Publications, 2000). Now that I've returned from ten interesting days of putting this book to use, I want to share my experience of applying it to my travels. While covering a geographic area from Pensacola to Naples, "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" starts off with a great introduction to the Gulf Coast including nature and history. Then it offers good background information about each destination and suggests sightseeing highlights. The sights are prioritized in order, which helps separate the "must sees" from the "if you have time" attractions. Perry suggests activities that make a "perfect day" at a given location, then gives information on food and lodging choices. Overall, this book was helpful because it told enough about a destination(I particularly enjoyed the write-ups on Apalachicola and Cedar Key) to give a general feel for it so the reader could decide if a certain place was their style or not.If so, proceed to visit and use the food and lodging selections. If not, then one can spend time elsewhere. Perry also includes Special Interest Tour sample itineraries (ex. Family Fun Tour, Nature Lovers Tour) at the back of the book. The only draw back to "Florida Gulf Coast: Travel Smart" is that pricing information is very general, at best, though ranges are presented that cover B&Bs to camping. Phone numbers are included so it is possible to call ahead for lodging. Overall, I strongly recommend this book and believe that it truly is "a different kind of guidebook". It does take the guesswork out of your travels and does an excellent job of pin pointing the most interesting attractions.

This book has recipes that are impractical for good home cooking

When I ordered this book, I had hoped to find some basic, practical recipies. Instead, many of the recipies are based on ingredients that might do for special occasions, but not for everyday family dining on a modest budget. For instance, the author seems only to like "boneless, skinless" chicken breasts; I find that these "supremes" do not hold up well cooked this way - too dry. It's almost as if she is attempting to devise recepies that cater to the health- concious fanatics and yet produce an entree with a bit of flavor left! I tried the one whole-chicken suggestion, but found the anise had lost most of it's flavor by the time the bird was done. What a pity. Perhaps I'll do my own book-"Basic Meals in a Clay Pot"