If you've read Le Grand Meaulnes and liked it, then I can highly recommend Robert Gibsons superb biography of Alain Fournier (alas out of print) called "The Land Without a Name". As haunting and evocative as the novel itself, Gibsons chronicle of Fourniers life gets as close to the heart of his obsession with the Lost Domain as anything I have read. The best literary analysis of the novel (in English at least) is Stephen Gurney's book length study simply titled "Alain Fournier" (also out of print!). Many critics consign Le Grand Meaulnes to the "minor masterpeice" category, however Gurney provides a compelling argument for regarding it as one of the great novels of the 20th century. For another novel on a similair theme, I can also recommend "Picnic at Hanging Rock" by the Australian writer Joan Lindsay. This is a book which bears an uncanny resemblance to Le Grand Meaunles, both in its plot, and in the effect it has on the reader (similairly the brilliant film based on it directed by Peter Weir).

I was interested in reading "Le Grand Meaulnes" after seeing that the English novelist John Fowles cited it as a major influence on his masterpiece "The Magus." I'm not disappointed, to say the least. This is a rare gem of a novel that weaves mystery, adventure, intrigue, romanticism, and realism into a unique package that must have been way ahead of its time and still puts many modern "suspense" novels to shame with its superb prose and sheer elegance.

The novel takes place in a rural French village in the 1890's. The narrator, Francois, is a young teenager who lives and studies at the village school, where his father is the headmaster. One day a boy named Augustin Meaulnes, a couple of years older than Francois, enrolls as a new student and boarder. Meaulnes is somewhat quiet and aloof, but he soon becomes popular with the other boys in the school.

One day Meaulnes expropriates a carriage to go to a nearby town on an errand and mysteriously disappears without explanation. He returns to the school a few days later, but he admits that he doesn't know where he's been. All he knows is that somehow he found himself in a strange, vague place -- a surreal, dreamlike realm that seemed to exist outside of the real world -- where he met a beautiful girl named Yvonne. He pores over maps and searches for clues about this place -- the "mysterious domain" -- so that he can see Yvonne again, while Francois, fascinated by the story of his adventure, is determined to help him.

I would be doing a disservice to the potential reader by revealing any details of the nature of the "mysterious domain" or any more of the plot; so I will only say that every aspect of this novel is nothing short of brilliant, not only in its invention and unpredictability, but in the way it transforms itself by highlighting the contrast between the carefree dream-world of adolescence and the harsh realities of adulthood, and how our childish pastimes and fantasies inevitably give way to our sense of responsibility as we grow and mature. In this manner, the plot actually "matures" with its characters, so that by the end, we see how "grand" a person Meaulnes really is.

This is one of those little remembered novels whose remaining fans firmly believe it to be one of the unacknowledged masterpieces of the 20th Century. Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast Trilogy and Halldor Laxness's Independent People inspire similarly fanatical devotion in small groups of faithful adherents. In this case though, one of the devoted fans just happens to be the great novelist John Fowles who proselytizes relentlessly for it, including writing the afterword to the edition I read, and crediting it as the inspiration for his first novel, The Magus (itself a Modern Library Top 100 entry). I don't know that I'm willing to join them yet, but all three of these cults may have a point. At any rate, The Wanderer, or, Le Grande Meaulnes, to give it the original French title, is certainly a unique and wonderful book.

The Wanderer of the title is Augustin Meaulnes, a charismatic, restless, youth who transfers to Sainte Agathe school in Sologne and befriends Francois Seurel, whose parents are teachers at the school. Meaulnes quickly earns the nickname Le Grand, or The Great, both because of his height and because he is the kind of natural leader who other boys flock to and emulate. The author portrays the school as an island, cut off from the rest of the world, and Meaulnes as the castaway who is most anxious to get off. He runs away several times and on one occasion has a mystical experience which will shape the course rest of the rest of the boys' lives.

When Francois's grandparents come to visit, another boy is chosen to accompany the cart to town to get them, but Meaulnes sneaks off in the carriage. Irretrievably lost, he stumbles upon a pair of young actors who take him to a dreamlike masquerade ball at a sumptuous estate. There he meets Yvonne de Galais, a beautiful young blonde, with whom he becomes hopelessly infatuated. They spend only a few moments together and do little more than exchange names, but this fairy tale adventure becomes the pivotal experience of his life, one which he, with the help of Francois, will spend the rest of his life trying to recapture, with tragic consequences.

Alain-Fournier was the pen name of Henri-Alban Fournier (there was another, already popular, writer of the day named Henri Fournier.) The novel is apparently very autobiographical : his parents were teachers; the boys supposedly incorporate aspects of his own character; and, most importantly, he had an experience on June 5, 1905, wherein he, age 18, encountered a beautiful young woman named Yvonne in the streets of Paris. This event became a central moment in his life. He imagined a parallel reality, or Domain, which we only come in contact with during such transcendent moments and he became obsessed with recapturing his. This imbues his writing with a profound nostalgia, a melancholic sense that those moments of epiphany that we experience can never be retrieved, that the best parts of life lie behind us, not ahead.

Fournier was killed in battle on September 22, 1914, fighting on the Meuse. Dead before his twenty-eighth birthday, this was his only finished novel, though Fowles suggests that his letters are also worth reading. In a sense, this is a novel that we would have expected from someone who survived WWI (see Rebecca West's Return of the Soldier), harkening back as it does to departed days of youth. His obsession with one event in his life suggests that Fournier might never have done much more than rewrite this story in subsequent years, but it's useless to speculate. What we do know is that he left behind one poignant and haunting novel which, rightly or wrongly, captures the inchoate sense of lost innocence and opportunity missed that we all feel at one time or another. Masterpiece or not, it is certainly unforgettable.

GRADE : A

I have read many of the popular "airport books" that promise to provide the secrets to success in business. They are like candy tidbits compared to the insights and depth of meaning provided by Rabbi Lapin in his "Thou Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making Money." And how could it be otherwise? He is conveying information and insights drawn from the wisdom found in the Holy Scriptures and the Talmud, the encyclopedia of advice for living. The Talmud, described by Will Durant as "...the most complex and astonishing stories in the history of the human mind..." includes, naturally, true wisdom related to business activities - the economic interaction between men (and women) - seeking success not just in business but success in living.

Rabbi Lapin succeeds in both areas. He does not preach from a lofty pulpit, he acknowledges his personal business mistakes and with hindsight clearly sees their cause(s). The reader will benefit as much from those insights as from the other insights of wisdom, for business and for living, found throughout this wonderful book. I am highly confident serious readers of all religious faiths will learn much from Rabbi Lapin's teachings.

There is at least one brilliant insight on almost every page of this unusual book. The author is braver than most business and personal succeess book writers. The rabbi is willing to say that you can't increase your wealth long term by merely accumulating a collection of clever tricks. Instead you actually have to become a different person. He doesn't say it because this is a finance book not a religious book but I sense that what he is dancing around is almost a 'being born again experience'. You have to help yourself be 'reborn' as a proud, confident, friendly, trustworthy business professional. Well he is right and my experiences with his advice prove it for me.
Lapin comes close to perpetuating the old anti-Semitic canard about Jews being good with money, but he does effectively condense the ancient wisdom that puts far more Jews onto the Forbes 400 list than their population figures would suggest. This is a life-changing book and one that not only can make one more financially successful but can also help one integrate one's money earning activities with one's sense of values and convictions. You'll find yourself, like me, reading it and rereading it. Great value!

Thou Shall Prosper by Rabbi Daniel Lapin is an excellent book that covers three general subject areas: self-help, personal finance and career development. Basically, the author gives advice in a series of commandments on "making money" where he sprinkles in Jewish wisdom. There is a great deal of useful advice that would have proved especially timely for many professionals in 2001. It does not offer a great deal of assistance dealing with short term cash generation. Rather, the author aims to give readers life-long direction with the goal of building wealth.

The underlying theme of this book is that wealth creation is fundamentally virtuous because it creates wealth and prosperity for your neighbors. Moreover, he stresses the value of money and why it is such an important element of society. His suggestions range from the subtle such as how to carry yourself to more profound concepts such as never aiming to retire.

The book is filled with interesting stories intended to reinforce his ideas. These include a 70 year old forklift driver who earns a six figure income through extensive overtime only to give the money away to charity. Another is a sales representative relative who likes to drive around to far-flung locations in his Rolls Royce.

While very entertaining, the book has its shortcomings. Rabbi Lapin glosses over how large segments of the economy do in fact operate with minimal honesty. Oddly, he even suggests not being entirely honest as it is not socially acceptable.

Like Evangelical Christian preachers, he draws some pretty far-fetched conclusions about the meaning of specific bible versus. The passages he selects support the virtuousness of earning a living. Any intelligent person can read several different meanings in the selections, so I would have to suggest that this approach won't convince many readers of his arguments. This isn't to mean the general ideas aren't strong, just the supporting passages. He also makes some highly questionable scientific claims. For example, he argues that watching movies instead of reading books is detrimental to your creativity because reading allows one to creatively develop images instead of having a director create them for you.

Despite its flaws, I personally found the book very, very interesting. If you like books such How to Win Friends and Influence People and Daniel Goleman's Primal Leadership, you will probably enjoy Thou Shall Prosper a great deal.

The authors managed to make Photoshop 7 a delight to learn, and the book, an entertaining reading. It has two important qualities that became obvious as I read on: (1) it can sustain my interest to learn more and work the exercises, and; (2) the authors tried their best to help the reader really understand Photoshop principles. The style's upbeat, and the book's organization, clever. Photoshop core principles were presented first then it's practical use as applied to photography, the Web, art, and just plain goofing around. Makes a lot of sense. Although the images were in black and white in the book, they have proven to be good guides. There were plenty of screen shots of dialog boxes, which tool to use and what the images should look like. They help to ensure that you don't get lost. The actual tutorial images were in full color in the CD-ROM, many of them nicely rendered in 3D.

The observations in the previous review, "Several Areas of Ommission" are valid ones, though. I did find one exercise (Inverting and Refining A Shape Layer, page 185) that seem to have missed a step. Figure 5.29 on page 228 didn't quite look like what it was supposed to. But except for a few minor typo errors all the projects thus far were clearly explained and finished as written. I repeated some of them just for the fun of it. Odds are, any book this size (1000+ pages) would likely take its own share of minor errors. Overall, it was very well written.

I am on the last 3 chapters of the book (no skipping) and I can say for certain that the authors were careful to give the reader consistent quality instruction right from the beginning. All the toturials were very interesting. There was not a dull moment! The other advantage of this book was that it was written by several people, who apllied their expertise on specialized chapters. My only complaint is that the they couldn't be reached for clarification on the item on page 185. It has been a wonderful experience learning Photoshop 7 and I am glad I had this book as my main guide.

Gary Burton and 5 contributors have put together a comprehensive step by step reference guide to Photoshop 7.0. The book is well thought out with practical tutorials in a user friendly format and in such a way that anyone can follow along.

My reference to this being a "reference guide" is demonstrated in part one, for instance, the author gives you a detailed list of definitions of Photoshop's Blending Modes and throughout the book this same practice is applied. In part two you're guided through Photoshop's Core Concepts such as, Preferences, understanding Photoshop's Color System Management and the importance of Scratch Disks and so much more. I could simply go on and on, as there is so much valuable information in this book. To top it off, on the accompanying CD ROM are, resource files for the chapters examples, a inside Photoshop e-glossary, fonts, textures, tiles and 6 software demos.

All in all, the author makes sure you walk away with a deeper understanding of how the application works, along with being able to create, touch up, restore and materialize digital imagery like never before.

This is a must have!

"Inside Photoshop 7" is one of the most complete and still approachable books on Photoshop available. It is well organized with the core topics at the beginning of the book followed by specific areas of interest. For example, you might want to move from the core concepts to the section for photographers, or to the section for artists, or the section for the web. The choice of how to proceed is up to you and your interests.

This is Gary Bouton's 13th book on Photoshop. To say that he has learned not only the details of the program but also how to impart that knowledge to a reader is an understatement. Throughout the book he explains what he is trying to accomplish with a project, how he is going to accomplish it and then walks you through the process. The end effect is that you actually learn how to use Photoshop 7 to create the effects that you want.

Feature rich and full of examples, it covers the basic and advances features of Photoshop 7 in detail. Complex concepts are explained in detail in a very easy to understand writing style. If you want to become a Photoshop expert this is the place to start. A highly recommended read.

Marco and Polo have been house cats their whole lives. Their masters were spring cleaning when Marco found the open door. He told Polo all about it and they planned to escape again. They meet up with a big cat named Texas Jake. They want to be in this club but first they have to complete three tasks. Find out what the three tasks are and if they will go through with them or not. You'll be in for a surprise!

In this lively book, two cats, who reminded me of my own feline pets, set off in search of adventure. Unfortunately, the real world isn't quite what they expected. They run into a number of problems, including dogs, cars, water, and the love of a dainty girl cat. I first read this book three years ago, and I love it to this day! I recommend it to anyone that has ever wanted to try something new out, but wasn't pleased with their results!

This is a very exciting book about Marco and Polo, two cats (one can read!) who escape their indoor life to go to a ranch. But it's a dog-eat-cat world out there, and they must do everything they can to survive. What adventures do they have? Will they make it to the ranch? Read it and find out! This is by far my favorite book.

My Grandma didn't like books with naughty language and excess sex. In the '80s, I started to read different mystery series that I thought she would like and the Mrs. Murphy books fit the bill. Even though Grandma's gone, I still read the Mrs. Murphy books because I'm hooked on this lightweight, but cute series by Rita Mae Brown [and Sneaky Pie Brown]. Murder On The Prowl, the sixth book featuring 'Harry' Haristeen, postmistress of Crozet, Virginia, and her very talented companion animals, is not the best book in the series, but is still an entertaining read. St. Elizabeth's, Crozet's private high school, is the focus of the multiple mysteries in this story. Film classes, false obituaries, field hockey, high tech car washes, and halloween dances are some of the things that occupy the time of our now familiar cast of characters. It has never been difficult to accept the fact that the animals can communicate with each other or that they solve the mystery before the humans do. My biggest complaint involves the poison used on the second murder victim. Malathion can't kill people in the way it supposedly did in the book. That out of the way, I recommend that you read Murder On The Prowl and the 5 previous Mrs. Murphy mysteries.

In Cozet, Virginia, the best kept secret is that all the animals fully comprehend English to the point of being able to talk to each other and read the language. Humans are unaware of this ability. When the headmaster of a local school, a film director, and a female assistant are all murdered, Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and her two cats (Mrs. Murphy and Pewter) and her dog (Tucker), independently investigate the killings.

Rita Mae Brown with the help from her own feline, Sneaky Pie Brown, demonstrates why she is such a popular author. She creates an exciting mystery series that deftly anthropomorphizes animals so that readers believe in the fantasy world she has devised. MURDER ON THE PROWL is a particularly well constructed mystery that is a brilliant blending of The Lady And The Tramp with Ms. Jessica Fletcher.

Harriet Klausner

When phony obituaries begin appearing in the Crozet, Virginia's local newspaper Harry knows that something strange is going on. But when dead bodies start turning up, she begins investigating. But even before she can find out what's going on her furry companions, Tee Tucker (Welsh Corgi), and Pewter and Mrs. Murphy (cats) are on the case trying to find out who will turn up murdered next, and trying to keep their owner out of danger.

Rita Mae Brown has done it again. This is one of the best Mrs. Murphy mysteries to date, and a must-read for fans of the cat-cozy genre.

So much beauty! In this joyous book Hafiz appears to us as a beacon of pure light in contemporary garb. These deeply tender, witty, clear-eyed and fullest-hearted renditions have brightened my life. Hafiz can't help but true the course on our journey towards living Love. Because for him, in fact, nothing else exists. For Hafiz, only Love is Real.

Hafiz has influenced and nourished a great many through the years. In the West, inspired notables include Goethe, Nietzsche, Byron, Hugo and Emerson. Emerson wrote of Hafiz in his journals, "He fears nothing. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see and be." And Goethe exclaimed, "This is madness, I know well, Hafiz has no peer!"

_I Heard God Laughing_ is a perfect gem of a book. Go ahead. Take Hafiz home with you. Why--he may even lead the way, dancing and singing all the while.

Such beauty! In this joyous book Hafiz appears to us as a beacon of pure light in contemporary garb. These deeply tender, witty, clear-eyed and fullest -hearted renditions have brightened my life. Hafiz can't help but true the course of our journey towards Love. Because for Hafiz, in fact, nothing else exists; for him, only Love is Real.

Hafiz has influenced and nourished a gracious many through the years. In the West, inspired notables include Goethe, Nietzsche, Byron, Hugo and Emerson. Emerson wrote of Hafiz in his journals, "He fears nothing. He sees too far; he sees throughout; such is the only man I wish to see and be." And Goethe exclaimed, "This is madness, I know well, Hafiz has no peer!"

I Heard God Laughing is a perfect gem of a book. Go ahead, take Hafiz home with you. Why-- he might even lead the way, dancing and singing all the while.

This work is a glistening gem of a book. Simple, clean, multifaceted, and very very deep at the same time. I have many Persian friends who are familiar with the original poetry and are astonished by the beauty of these renderings. These are not literal translations.....they are inner reflections. They succeed perfectly at reflecting the inner light of Hafiz in a unique way that refreshes one's heart. The imagery and language is perfect for this time. Deep in my heart I am convinced that Hafiz, Rumi, Kabir, Attar, and any other poet and lover of God would applaud.

The principals in this book are sound. However, top management must make the full commitment and follow the principals as defined. Trying to shortcut the process will have detrimental results if not disastrous. The concepts in this book my sound very radical but in actuality are common sense. And that is the pitfall. I have seen where a company makes a commitment toward lean manufacturing. But somewhere along the line management thinks they can modify the principals or they begin to not see immediate results and they don't follow the plan to fruition. They end up losing money or their shirt! The hard way is always the easiest way. If you own your own company or are trying to sell this concept to management in your present work environment, it is important that everyone in the organization makes a commitment to Lean thinking. Do not cut corners and stay the course. Don't play with fire.

Lean Thinking has its strengths. The authors do a good job of explaining the principles behind lean manufacturing and show good data from varied case studies to convey the value in implementing lean manufacturing. They make a strong case that these principles can reduce waste and costs, reduce lead times, and improve quality and resource utilization. This book is not a practical guide, however. I found it to be somewhat of a "warm and fuzzy" overview aimed at top execs and business strategists as opposed to plant, production, and manufacturing managers. The details of certain key roadblocks aren't addressed, for example: 1. Across the board firings of managers who oppose lean principles. Not as easy as it sounds. 2. Vastly improving changeover times and rearranging big machinery without a generous budget. 3. Making radical changes on your shop floor despite heavy production demands. 4. Dealing with a union that is not willing to concede the initial layoff without a massive war, despite a company crises. There are many others. One thing that I got a kick out of - when Japanese consultants were called in to implement lean changes in a plant, they began taking machinery apart and moving it themselves. At many plants I've seen, if a foreign consultant were to do that, he'd probably be shot before he made it out of the parking lot. Though the authors are self-admitedly theorists and the book lacks a lot of "nuts and bolts" detail, they do a good job of teaching the principles and laying out the results.

This book is better than "The Machine That changed the World." For that matter this book is more useful than most in the field, and not just for lean thinking. James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones are unique in the approach this book takes in trying to understand the existing industry and realistic ways to implement lean thinking.

The major thing I found that helped me to read this book is that they are writing this book as some god consultant that tells how he single-handedly corrected a company as their all knowing all and seeing consultant. They took several industries and companies that there is no vested interest in and explain with realistic diagrams, how lean thinking differs from most traditional concepts and procedures.

The only thing I found disturbing was how they make the existing systems seem more complex than they are (The creation of soda cans from bauxite to bottler) and simplified the recycling procedure The point they are making is clear, It is just the way they show the examples that are skewed. It is like trying to sell a microwave egg cooker and telling you that this way the bacon grease will not splatter on your naked body. So who cooks eggs naked? And what if you still want bacon?

They describe that lean thinking is not just, an other form of existing systems, as MRP or JIT. I only wish they did not try to use so many Japanese words when the English ones work just fine.

Ignoring my quirks, this book is up to date and maybe ahead of its time. However while we just talk about other systems, we are implementing this one as we speak.

After Lucy is one of those rare novels that mix something as heartfelt as the loss of a wife and mother with something as hilarious as going to a road trip and end up stranded in a campground with a bunch of Grateful Dead fans.

After having lost his wife to Breast Cancer, Porter tries to overcome his grief by going on a road trip with his two kids. He has traded his wife's Mazda for a run-down camper. He ends up stranded in a strange campground surrounded by Deadheads. The trip does not go as planned, but he is able to face his grief and accept that things will not change. Instead, he decides to help a young pregnant woman find her wayward boyfriend. There are some funny moments in the story, and the characters -- especially Porter's in-laws -- are somewhat neurotic and interesting.

The story is both hilarious and heartwarming, but I have one objection. The author should have added more elements of grief in the story, especially with the kids. The novel seldom mentions Lucy, which is strange considering that this character is very important in the story. Other than that the story is great. Enjoy!

After the long , lingering death of his wife, one man sets out with his two children to ...well, even he is not sure what he is setting out to do. Porter Ellis takes his two children and the impulsively acquired camper and sets out to reclaim his life. He leaves behind his well-to-do in-laws, and the remnents of the life he had with Lucy, his wife. The trip takes some unusual turns and the three find themselves forced to stop in the most unusual setting. Porter is gently forced to begin to deal with the loss of his wife, the didtance that caring for her in her last days has created with his children, and the questions often asked after death..".is what I'm doing all there is?" The affection and compassion the author has for these characters shines through, even the bigger than life characters. This was both sad and humerous...never mawkish...I think this is one of the sweetest books I have read in a long time, and it will be one I read again.

When Porter Ellis's wife Lucy dies after a long struggle with cancer, he is set adrift. Actually he casts himself off, with his two children in a camper of questionable integrity. His destination? Not even he is sure, he is just trying to get away from the confusion of surviving , the controlling in-laws, and the memories of Lucy. The family finds themselves stranded in the most unlikely place and is gently forced to confront their loss and to begin to rebuild the ties strained by Lucy's illness. This is a book about family, and the forces that both pull them apart and bind them. Porter has to try to begin to answer the question many left behind (and at a certain stage in life) ask..".is this what my life is?" As the story unfolds, the characters are given many layers and the story is both heartbreaking and humerous...never mawkish. This is a tender story of loss and confronting life after Lucy....a book I will read again.

I am a long-time reader of P. Cornwell, and have found each of her books in this series to be an exciting,, fast-paced read. Though she does not give in-depth characterizations(?), she does, in her quick-sketch-artist style, give you a working knowledge of her characters. You are not going to read of day-to-day occurrences, but you jump from murder, to autopsy, to clue, to the 'gotcha'. The only critisim I can make of her books is that very facileness. She does seem to make the story just tumble out, without much elegance. In all fairness, that may be thought simply because she writes so easily, fluidly, with none of the filler necessary to support a story. She can tell a story, a damn good story without bothering to giving us a background, and she makes us concerned about all her characters. You want the bad guy caught, and Kay Scarpetta to solve the murder(s).

Patricia Cornwell writes a fast paced novel with great detail to medical correctness. The main character, Kay Scarpetta, is a very strong female figure who you get to know very well throughout the books.

With this book Patricia Cornwell secured herself a multi-millions dollar career and countless follow-ups. Postmortem, Body of Evidence and All That Remains are extremely well written, the prose flawless, and the personal and forensic details absorbing. Don't expect and nice character as a protagonist. In Postmorterm a serial killer goes around Richmond, Virginia and kills young women. It's not a laughing matter, and Cornwell handles the narration and pace with a touch of realism which is scary to say the least. Maybe this has to do--apart from her ability to write convincingly--with the fact that the serial killings in the novel are based on a real case which also happened in Richmond, Virginia. Perhaps the only problem is the ending is a little weak but then Cornwell once claimed, 'I don't do mysteries'. And she doesn't. This novel takes you into the head and life of the postmorterm examiner. Keep in mind that Cornwell had taken some artistic liberties from the sake of dramatic tension, and that her protagonist, Kay Scarpetta, involves herself in duties which she would not normally be authorized to handle in real-life situations. Neverthelss, it's a rollercoaster of a book, and for those who have never read a Cornwell, start from the beginning, and read this one. Body Of Evidence and All That Remains are equally good. For the record, as the years go by, Cornwell's novels are declining in quality. With this volume you're getting the best of Cornwell in one volume. See my other reviews.

Bringing Out the Best is not so much a book to have read, but rather a book to read, review and reference. Although there are many important points made in this book that can help you understand people and why they often behave in "strange and mysterious ways" I think the most important knowledge to be gained is the distinction between reinforcement and recognition or rewards. Today, when so many "pop" writers are claiming that people are demotivated by extrinsic rewards, Dr. Daniels is the only business writer even attempting to explain that reinforcement whether it occurs naturally (that is the work itself provides reinforcement and satisfaction) or given extrinsically, (that is, someone else notices good work and complements the worker) is significantly different than the typical rewards and recognition programs so often developed in businesses today. This book should be read by any one who has ever been disappointed by an attempt to reward or by an attempt to be rewarded. This includes managers, parents, ministers and anyone else who is expected to influence and motivate others.

One of the very best, if not the best, books on motivating a group of people that I have ever read. I've just started implementing some of the stratagies and I'm already seeing positive results. The book is easy to read and understand.

I think that Daniels has found the key. His "performance management" methodology is right on the mark. Anyone who wants to maximize performance of people, while building strong relationships, needs to read and study this book. It's very well written and easy to read, considering it's based on science. Even though it is a business management book, I've found that the principles apply to personal relationships as well.