This is book really is about toning not for bodybuilders ( esspecially young ones) i think that a young bodybuilder should read magazines and go to a gym to find a routine that could suit ones self, this book gives you little knowledge on why the exercises should be performed.

all in all , save your money ,i wish i could get mine back! :)

I am a fight trainer and I train athletes to compete in full contact and mixed martial arts style fights. I do have some young people that come to me for training. They are between the ages of 12 and 16 and obviously their training must be done differently than a full grown advanced athlete. This book gave me some direction and acknowledges many myths about youths training with weights. It is not a book for body building. Children should not be trying to "bodybuild". This is training for "strength and power".

Great sourcebook for young athletes, coaches and parents that debunks the myths associated with physical fitness for children. Provides great guidance to help children safely improve their performance while also helping to prevent injury. A wise investment for the serious young athlete. Recommended by the renowned sports orthopedic practice at Boston's Children's Hospital. Written for adults but readable by children.

This has a good explanation of regular expression search/replace and the Emacs regexp syntax. It also has a lot of little tidbits not in the O'Reilly book (which is still a better starting place). It's a bit older though (1992) and has chapters on Fortran and Pascal modes so a lot of trees are dying for nothing .

I bought this after reading all of the O'Reilly book and most of the O'Reilly "Writing GNU Emacs Extension" and have only gotten a few new things out of it, so it's good for completists like myself.

One of the neat things I learned were: when you C-x C-f to open a file, rather than backspacing to erase the path Emacs provided you can just type two slashes (//) and then the path to the file you want (of course C-a C-k would work too, but I want choice, damnit! :-)

The organization is also very different than the O'Reilly book; for example there is a whole chapter on "Administering Emacs" (how to find the parts of it on your system), a huge chapter that is nothing but a command reference (with keybindings), and "how to edit" happens in only three chapters, with the following chapters each devoted to specific things (except for the "Miscellaneous" chapter).

The print quality is not the best, if that matters to you, but it is a sizable book and a decent desktop reference.

I liked the depth of examples in this book. Where the O'Reilly book "Learning GNU Emacs" gave an excellent introduction and overview, this book gave more involved examples. For example in the regexp-search-replace, this book showed the use of \( and \) for grouping and \1 \2 \3 for where to place the each group in the replacement string. If your are new to Emacs, get the O'Reilly book; then get this book next.

(...) I love Shakespeare, and I thought this book would be
informative, but I was sadly mistaken. Marx uses mainly his own
opinion as "proof" of connections between Shakespeare and
the Bible. Of course there are "connections"--Shakespeare
lived in Elizabethan England. But I wouldn't go so far as to compare
King Lear to Job or The Tempest to Revelations. Marx's comparisions
are feable and superficial at best.

He remains unconvincing
throughout the book, which he pitifully tried to force into a format
like Shakespeare's plays. Each chapter is divided into "five
acts." I would have thought an intellectual would have realized
this format was completely wrong for a non-fiction piece.

There are better books out there.

Marx' analyses of the parallels between Shakespeare and particular parts of the Bible are astute. The Biblical themes of suffering and redemption, (as in the Pentateuch, the Book of Job, and Revelations, among those discussed by Marx) are such a rich vein throughout Western literature, stemming from its first "book," the Bible, that it is actually odd that more people don't pick up on this aspect of Shakespeare; too often people read him for his sexual politics or Greco-Roman ethics. But Shakespeare is much larger than just these, or the sum of them...
Marx' book is excellent cross analysis in the same style as Harold Bloom and Northrup Frye. You will have a better sense of Shakespeare, The Bible, and your own life and what the hell to do with it after reading this slim but satisfying study. Before or after you read this, check out Northrup Frye's two volume study on the Bible, and virtually everything by Harold Bloom. Also read Herbert Schneidau's "Sacred Discontent," for a full historical analysis of the profound influence of the Bible on Western Culture. Love it or hate it, you've got to understand it.

... since it leads you to believe that its subject matter is interesting.

After ordering this book and wading through its first few chapters, I had one overwhelming thought:

Thank you, Amazon.com, for your marvelous return policy.

Bloom is one of our better critics in terms of readability, but still... Unless you have a great appetite for arid erudition, just stick to reading the poetry itself. This book has more to do with some pet theory of Bloom's than with Stevens' poetry, or our climate--both of which could have been fascinating subjects for a book.

Bloom has written this book after an obviously long devotion to reading Stevens and to developing his critical methods, in one of its modes, to a fine precision. The reader of this book benefits most by a slow absorbtion of the varied terminology that Bloom had accumulated previous to this work and the additions then newly made to it. The approach to Stevens' poetry is immediate in its variance from most previous criticism and especially passive reading, or "weak misreading" as B. would call it. To follow him closely is to slough the innocence of idealizing all poetry as committed to presenting its own meaning. Unwitting believers of the like, deterred by Bloom's criticism for appearing so staunchly definitive (though an immediate antidote to a belief in the floppiness of poetry), havn't realized that beyond his belief (on particularly fine display) in the strong potential of formalizing tropes and decoding of intertextualities, is the existance in poetry of its reader's 'becoming' the text that is read, and to do it inventively, eccentrically, and considerately is essentially to further poetry itself.

Star Trek: Captain's Peril written by William Shatner and Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens is a Kirk egocentric novel. Yes, the venerable and still indomitable Captain James T. Kirk teams up with Captain Jean-Luc Picard in this adventure.

This book starts out like gangbusters, skydiving to the planet Bajor from outerspace and Picard's suit has a malfunction and we almost lose Picard. But, the "Shatnerverse" is thick in this book and soon you will find Shatner one furlong short of the barn door. I believe that this is the opening salvo to another trilogy as Shatner and the Reeves-Stevens have done in the past. Oh well, I hope that the next volume makes a better show than this book did.

When Kirk and Picard land on the Bajor from their skydiving escapade, they plan to go to an old sunken city to uncover some of Bajor's past. But, alas, tragedy strikes and all of their high-tech equipment seems not to work. As you can imagine ol' Kirk wants to take charge, nothing new there. A child is now in danger of dying and there isn't any way of contacting the outside world or DS-9.

As Captain Jean-Luc Picard is now missing, the egocentric Kirk takes action as he goes back into his memory and thinks of a mission long ago in his past. An early mission, when he was taking over the Captain's chair from Christopher Pike... "Where No Man Has Gone Before."

So, we have a double plot in the book, making for some interesting reading as Kirk goes back into his past to solve a mystery in the present that could cost the universe. Like I said earlier, this book is only the first of a trilogy, so it is setting up what is to follow... and it scored on that account, but as Shatner writes the character of Captain James T. Kirk shines at the expense of Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

All in all, this book could have been wriiten a bit better. This book rates a solid three stars and let's hope for better writing in the future. William Shatner try to get the horse in the barn with the next installment... otherwise folks wait till the paperback comes out.

This review is based on the abridged Audio CD. I've read the Tek War books and 6 of his ST books, and this is my least favorite of the bunch so far. I'm a Hugh Shatner fan, as author and as Kirk, but I can only give this 3 stars. What holds this story together is the interplay between Picard and Kirk? We have a little murder mystery going on her also. Shatner has teamed them many times, and it seems he is the only author with the guts or gravitas to do it. I hope he keeps writing in the ST universe. I like the fact that Kirk, Bones (God rest his soul), Spock and Scotty live on in Shatner's Star Trek world.

I hated it when Generations killed off Kirk, and loved it when he had to audacity to write himself back to life. And I am not tongue-in-cheek. I am serious. THE RETURN is the first non-Tek War Shatner book I had read. Based on that book I have read the rest of his ST books, and this one at 3 stars is the worst of the bunch, but still pretty good Star trek Sci-Fi. This review is based on the Audio CD.

I happen to have enjoyed 'Captain's Peril' quite a bit. While it failed to be as gripping or as all-out entertaining as Shatner/Reeves-Stevens' last outing in 'Preserver', I still found it to be different, and entertaining overall.

Within 'Captain's Peril' are two separate stories that aren't as connected as the authors would like us believe. Still, I enjoyed both tales. The story begins as Kirk has strong-armed Picard into taking a joint archaeolgical-vacation on the planet Bajor. It starts off with a perilous Orbital Skydive where one of the 'Suits' rented by Quark on DS9 seems to be a shade past its warranty and fails on Kirk. His quick thinking, combined with Picards resourcefulness saves him, but in the process it uncovers the memory of Kirk on the original Enterprise just shortly after he took over as captain. Spock has requested a transfer, forcing Kirk to think that his 1st officer thinks of him as incompetant. Soon an emergency call from Starfleet forces them to the Mandylion Rift for a very interesting 'Challenge'. Before anything ever happens of course, the action returns us back to the present where Kirk & Picard find themselves trapped in the Bajoran desert, wondering if they will survive long enough to find the ancient dig they were originally expecting to visit. To make a long story short, they make it (was there ANY doubt?) and stumble quickly upon a murder. The stage is now set for both captains to solve this incident, meeting opposition at every turn, and interrupted by Kirk's memory of his original 5-year mission and some interesting conversations with Spock, who is busy trying to figure out Kirk (and humans in general).

Personally I found the background story from years past to be more entertaining than the murder/mystery in the Bajoran desert involving a possible Cardassian/Lost Bajoran Orb cover-up. I found myself wondering what exactly was going to happen next to Kirk and crew in the Mandylion Rift and the 'Challenge' facing them than who the murderer was. Although I also enjoyed a very interesting debate between Kirk & Picard over the merits of the Prime Directive. Overall I liked the story, but felt that jumping in between the two stories ultimately distracted me from the entire tale as a whole--BUT I enjoyed it enough to look forward to 'Captain's Blood' which is mentioned at the end of the story along with a teaser of just what may be in store for us in the next chapter of the saga of James T. Kirk in the world of Next Generation Star Trek. Not bad--but not great, either.

As a user of Zofran(Ondansetron) and someone who has researched this drug extensively I find the information inadequate and out of date. For instance the oral form (8mg tablets) has been available for some time now. It was originally investigated as an anti-psychotic drug and tested as an alcohol and cocaine/methamphetmine deterent for which there was no clear cut outcomes as to efficacy. Dr. Michael Liebowitz at Columbia/New York Psychiatric Institute has done the most recent research on Zofran for Generalized Anxiety Disorder with positive results, however Glaxo has stopped clinical trials/research into Zofran for psychiatric uses sometime in winter 1996. There are some studies (small populations) showing efficacy of Zofran in Parkinson patients to control dilusions and hallucinations. The authors seem to have neglected to do a complete medline search on this medication which has been investigated since approximately 1989! There are significant side effects to this drug which should not be taken lightly. The literature recommends the medication be taken no more than two days in a row without medical supervision. It is extremely difficult to find information regarding appropriate dosages for the oral form in treating mental health problems (for which it is quite effective-without eps side effects). The few pages in this book are so general and uninformative as to make it almost useless. Zofran is available only by prescription and then primarily for use with chemotherapy. It is also difficult to get IV Zofran unless you have cancer or an extremely enlightened physican. Zofran tablets at the pharmacy (US) cost approximately $23 each and most HMO's limit patient to 9 (8mg) tablets at a time. At this time it is not available in smaller dosages, although the tablets can be broken in half trying to get a smaller dose is extemely difficult. Attempts at getting information from Glaxo-Wellcome the manufacturer have been extremely difficult. If the authors have been this lax in obtaining information about this drug it makes me suspicious of the thoroughness of the information researched for the other drugs. Remember there is no free lunch especially when dealing with pharmaceuticals. Weigh carefully potential side effects against possible benefit. This is not a "natural" product but a highly concentrated anti-psychotic, anti-emetic drug.

Although this contains a lot of information about anti-aging drugs in the world, but we might have to be suspicious about what they are insisting here. They seem to be trying to be objective by reciting academic papers, but we ought to be careful about using these drugs. It might be possible for you to have obsessions about taking these drugs. Be careful.

I followed the protocols outlined in the book and eventually formulated a smart drug regimen that worked well for me. It is a combination of deprenyl (5 mg) and piracetam (1200 mg). Purchasing these substances has been much easier than I expected. And the results have been nothing less than a total transformation. My life has come together finally and I am advancing in my work. I really do feel that this has been the key I've been looking for all my life.

Chris Stevens might know a lot about the Alexander technique, but you'll have a hard time gleaning anything from this book!

Chris Stevens has put together a clear, straightforward, non-'New Agey' introduction to the Alexander Technique. The ONLY introductory book of comparable value is Michael Gelb's 'Body Learning.'

Some readers may be frustrated that the book does not follow the usual self-help, do-it-yourself formulas. This is inevitable, as the Alexander Technique has no place in those categories.

The book was poorly writen, often repeating the same idea multiple times within a paragraph, making the material harder to understand due to sentice structure and unrelated tangents. While this book is required for some classes, if you can get by without it, do so. Perhaps they will write a better one soon.

A new edition will appear in summer 1999. The book has a new publisher, Kendall/Hunt.

the author

The basic premise (cf. Len Sperry) stated in the first few pages of this book is not the premise or ethic held by myself or my peer executive coaches: "coaching does not require a deep level of self-disclosure on the part of the executive nor is there a need for a close personal bond coupled with confidentiality."

Confidentiality is the primary ethic to which we subscribe and is what allows the necessary self-disclosure.

Another flaw of this book is that it wavers between coaching as a peer relationship and a professional (external professional) one. No doubt one peer could provide support and expert advice to another, but that is not the essence of executive coaching.

This book also uses and renames models developed by others without credit to those others. eg. the Johari window and Situational Leadership.

On the positive side, Appreciative Inquiry is a valid way to approach coaching, and not utilized often enough. We coaches have traditionally tended toward assessments which seek to identify flaws and deficits.

I would be concerned if this book were seen as a guide to executive coaching, especially for executive coach wannabes (and they are numerous these days). It is, at best, a very abridged primer or collection of readings for OD (Organization Development). OD skills are prerequisite to executive coaching, but only part of the skill equation. Psychological training and business experience are the others.

There is much controversy among coaching professionals today about executive coaching, and numerous "certification" programs that have none of the above prerequisites.

For another view of executive coaching ethics and practices, email me for our (Executive Coaching Forum of Boston) handbook available electronically at no cost. Given the concerns about qualifications, ethics, and practices of executive coaches, our group wrote and distributes this handbook as a service for executive coaches and clients alike. judyotto@mindspring.com

Whether you are an executive with a Fortune 500 company, a Human Resource manager, or an entrepreneur, you have become aware of executive coaching. It is nearly impossible to go to a conference or any business meeting and not come across some discussion of coaching. Many consider coaching as the helping relationship for management in the postmodern corporate and business world.

Executive Coaching: An Appreciative Approach, is more than a book about the methodology of coaching with executives. Although it is that, too, it is about being a coach almost as a way of being. It is not quite the Zen of coaching that John Whitmore speaks of in his book, Coaching for Performance, but, note the less, it is a philosophy about how to approach the coaching experience with executives. Even though it is basically written for the "want-to-be" executive coach, its depth will add important new material for experienced coaches as well. Most importantly it provides for coaches, leaders, managers, or supervisors, a way of relating to their colleagues and clients who want a coaching relationship.

The authors look at how adults learn and emphasize that coaching focuses on developing awareness through questioning. Questions compel attention for an answer and focus attention for reflection and feedback. Instruction does none of these. The coaches' use of questions are to raise awareness and responsibility for transformational change. Coaching becomes one of the more formal ways that learning can take place along with counseling and consulting. The authors differentiate between coaching, consulting, and counseling in providing learning experiences for the executive. Although there is a great deal in common between the three disciplines, the key differences are made explicit, one of which is that in coaching you can easily switch places the your colleague or client whereas in counseling and consulting that role shift cannot take place.

In difference from other books on coaching (Whitmore, 1997; Stowell and Starcevich, 1998) they emphasize that an "appreciative perspective" must undergird any executive coaching program. They state that in essence an "appreciative perspective" concerns a willingness to engage in dialogue with another person from an assumption of mutual respect and the mutual search for the discovery of distinctive competencies and strengths. This becomes the theme of the entire book and is imbedded in their three models for coaching. A manager who has not become familiar with Appreciative Inquiry, or has not developed an appreciative approach my find their models too non-directive. Traditional models of management, where confrontation and feedback directed at deficits are the basis of learning, would be antithetical to this approach. The quote David Cooperider's suggestion, "People and organizations do not need to be fixed. They need constant reaffirmation." In this approach, compassion and real caring for a colleague are expressed within the appreciation of their values, goals and intentions. This does not imply a loss of discipline nor a loss of boundaries between one's own problems and perspectives and those of another. Every counselor is familiar with the dangers of over identification and enabling the avoidance of responsibility, and every coach needs to be aware of this as well.

In this book readers will not only learn about three models of coaching but also about a model for viewing executives and organizations. The writers present four executive styles and organizational cultures that provide the coach with a frame of reference from which to examine executive functioning. These four styles of executive functioning (assertive, inspiring, thoughtful and participating) are said to "...represent quite different notions about the purposes, functions and values associated with executive functioning in today's organizations." These are based on assumptions about ways in which executives can be effective in leading an organization. They suggest that each can be effective in certain situations and ineffective in others. Their illustrations suggest that for a style to be effective the executive must have the ability to relinquish his "home base" or preferred style and assume a less comfortable style in order to succeed. A preferred style might be considered a strength but if exaggerated it becomes a weakness. It is clear that no one style fits all situations and it behooves the coach to be aware and assist the executive in developing the options and choices necessary for effectiveness. The appreciative approach again comes to the rescue as the coach uses inquiry to assist the executive toward increased awareness through self-reflection and responsibility. The book provides some "preliminary guidelines" for helping the executive discover his/her "preferred style." Strengths in each of the non-preferred styles are needed for the multiple contexts that the executive might find himself or herself dealing with. The reader will find explanations of appropriate and inappropriate uses of the strengths of each style. It is important that the coach be as nimble and flexible as the "coachee" in order to move from one style to another, and be willing and able to engage another colleague who has the appropriate style needed for change.

The formulation of the executive styles and the offering of models for coaching is unique to this work and offers the "budding coach" as well as the experienced one a new and exciting perspectives on executive coaching. Within the context of their three models, Reflective Coaching, Instrumental Coaching, and Observational Coaching, the work guides the reader through basic skills and the obstacles that block the process. There is a great deal more to this book than the outlining of skills and methods because it offers a way of being a coach and a philosophy of leadership. Even though their discussion of the models contained familiar material, some of which can be found in other books on coaching, much of the material is new and will enlighten the most experienced coach. This work is a must read for anyone entering the field and equally so for the experienced coach.

If you read the review on the back cover you think you are getting a great book, but MS Press must have written their own on this book.

Figures. Can't believe I read the reviews and bought this book anyway. Sheesh. Like, 3 frickin pages in the whole book about multiplay and not nearly enough about advantages,disadv of each culture.

This book is just what the novice player needs. It provides the tips and strategies necessary to make the game enjoyable rather than frustrating. Well written and nicely illustrated, the book carefully details the individual scenarios within each campaign, allowing the player to develop the basic knowledge and skills for more advanced play.