This book is truly a magnificent story!!! It holds your interest right from the start and is almost impossible to put down. Dan poured his heart and soul in this book, and it shows. Look for the movie in the near future...it's in the works!!

This book is truely the best book I have ever read. I found my self, as you will, on the edge of my recliner in anticipation, as I read through the chapters.
Have your tissue ready.

This book is a magnificent tale of a young boy's ability to overcome the many obstacles set before him. Not only is the character development unusually detailed by today's standards, but the plot keeps you guessing. Nearly every time I thought I knew where the story was going, it took an unexpected turn. Each time I anticipated foreshadowing of a later event, or formed expectations about certain characters, the story lead in another direction. In the end this book brings sexual abuse, and many other hardships experienced by modern children out of the closet, and shows that given the chance these children can become a benefit to their family and society.

After I read this book, I felt like I was beginning to lose my grip. Read it yourself and watch your fingers open.

"The Wholehearted Way", "Opening the Hand of Thought" and From "Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment" I have re-read these books so many times that I think of them as different components of the same work, since the subjects interweave to produce a wonderful fabric of integrated Zen practice viewed from different perspectives. At first glance all of these books might seem "lightweight". I thought so at first because of their covers. Especially "Opening the Hand of Thought- Approach to Zen". It suggests a new-age type of quick fix book about Zen. Nothing could be further from the truth. This was just the book I needed, though I didn't yet know it. Having come to Zen meditation 2 years before reading this book, I was still unclear about meditation (zazen). Many of us reach the point where we realize that we need and want to practice meditation. Then we get to the same point of the monk in Master Dogen's (1200-1250) quote in Fukan Zazen-gi:

"When Yakusan was sitting [in meditation], a monk asked him 'What do you think when you sit?' The master said, 'I think of not thinking.' The monk inquired further, 'How do you think of not thinking?' Yakusan replied, '[by sitting] beyond thinking'".

What is beyond thinking? This is where Uchiyama makes his point of departure, walking us through just this juncture. He describes the movement of the mind and what need be done or not done about it. He even includes a diagram of the action of the mind getting caught up in thoughts and alternatively falling asleep. He speaks of zazen as neither developing thoughts, nor hating them, but releasing them (hence the title Opening the Hand of Thought). Zazen is opening the hand of thought (not grasping thought) and returning to seeing the wall millions of times.

"Opening the Hand of Thought" addresses the vast world of seated meditation and the religious and personal underpinnings behind it. It is as though Uchiyama Roshi is your own grandfather, telling you about his life, and your life, too. It is about living the "most refined way". This is not a detached dry retelling of ancient stories about someone else, but the vital story of ourselves living the life of ourselves (which he says is the very life of the buddhas, patriarchs and matriarchs). It is the way of "not being dragged around by our thoughts" and living our lives based on this even-mindedness. We take this into our daily lives in every encounter.

"From the Zen Kitchen to Enlightenment- Refining Your Life" at first appears to be a popular cookbook appending Zen to the title for more interest. Again, not so. This is Uchiyama Roshi's commentary on another of Master Dogen's texts: Tenzo Kyokun (Instructions to the Zen Cook) which was part of Dogen's manual for his monks. Translator and practitioner Thomas Wright says in the introduction: "Now, what possible connection could a text written for a group of male monks some 750 years ago have for present-day Europeans and Americans, neither living in a monastery nor particularly familiar with the society or way of looking at life which differs totally from our modern Western societies? That is the question to which Kosho Uchiyama Roshi addresses himself when he began writing the commentary that accompanies Dogen's text". I would say that the emphasis of this book is on Master Dogen's "three minds": magnanimous mind, joyful mind and parental mind. Through meditation we come to the place where we see that the world is none other than the self and that we take care of others because they are really ourselves. Everything which arises in your life IS your life.

"The Wholehearted Way" is Uchiyama Roshi's commentaries on Master Dogen's Bendowa, his early manifesto about the practice of zazen. It is followed by questions and answers (probably asked by his chief disciple, Ejo) directed at various misunderstandings of what Dogen felt to be the true significance of zazen.

Sitting is itself the practice of the buddha. Sitting itself is nondoing. It is nothing but the true form of the self. Apart from sitting there is nothing to seek as the buddha-dharma.

Eihei Dogen, Shobogenzo-Zuimonki

Uchiyama Roshi's commentaries are in the same vein as the other books, bringing these ancient teachings to us in a fresh and vital way so that they function in our daily lives. The translations and introductions are done by three of Roshi's close disciples and long-time practitioners, Tom Wright, Daniel Taigen Leighton and Shohaku Okumura. Their comments in themselves are worthy of our study.

There is for me tremendous appeal in the great scope and depth of Roshi's teachings expressed in his straightforward and engaging way. Although carefully thought out, I get the feeling, (as I expressed earlier) of being spoken to directly. He takes great pains to really look into and study certain Buddhist terms that can cause confusion if we are unclear about them. For example, he devotes several pages to the term "buddha-dharma".

I consider these three books to be essential in the deepening of my practice of Zen and meditation. Here are Uchiyama's closing words in his foreword to "Opening the Hand of Thought":

"Above all, I hope that when you read this book, (Opening the Hand of Thought) you will forget your sentiments about exotic foreign lands and read with a completely fresh mind. I hope that, as you read, you will look at your own life and apply what I have written to your everyday life. That is the only place where the real world of Zen is".

The organization of the book was exceptional. The commentary did not interfere with the translation, as occurs with many books of this type. One could simply choose to read Bendowa with or without the commentary.

This is probably the best book on the Najdorf. While the theory isn't current, the author explains all the positions very well and gives you a feel for certain strategies. All the games were carefully chosen and illustrate recurring themes that can be helpful to Sicilian players. If you want "hot theory," there are are other books you can get, but they don't explain the positions like this book does. Daniel King makes the Najdorf seem easy to play and the games are fun to play through. Highly recommended.

A little background. I have played the Najdorf for years, loved analyzing it, but never felt I really understood it. My tornament score with this opening was around 50%, not good for the time devoted to it. I purchased this book, and proceeded to win the US Amatuer Championship twice, with the Najdorf winning key games. Too often books give reams of analysis or moves, ending with unclear evaluations after 25 moves. This book has tons of verbal comments. The chapter on 6.Be2 is the most important, as the author explains all the ideas and plans and the purpose behind black's 6...e5. In short, you must have this book if you play the najdorf! By the way, a sideline he recommends vs 6 Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qa5 has scored very well for me. He also covers the main lines with 8...Qc7

This must be one of the more enjoyable Nadjorf Opening works to read & understand. No labyrinth of variations to get lost in .....

Anyone who reads through this particular work on Nadjorf will have a better appreciation of the opening.

Daniel King has been able to translate his knowledge on this subject to a readable & easily digestible form.

A refreshing Chess book from the English chess continent. Personally this ranks alongside my favourite Simple Chess, written by Michael Stean -an English chessplayer who wrote books that were easy to follow & guaranteed to improve one's understanding of the game.

Lucy Daniels' story of overcoming her upbringing by narcissitic parents and of surviving anorexia (and the various "cures" for it imposed on her as a teenager) is an emotionally-draining read. Daniels is a woman who went through a private hell from childhood and into adulthood, but managed to finally free herself. In her 40's she was able to go to college, acquire a PhD, and start a career as a successful clinical psychologist. She attributes much of her great progress to the help of her psychotherapist. This book is a confirmation that good therapy is worth the investment (both of time and money) even late in life. I highly recommend it!

Lucy Daniels has written a book that will inspire hope in all readers who struggle to master the trauma of childhood. She is a gifted, award-winning author, whose compelling style combines with stunning candor to make this book read like an intriguing novel. And yet this is her true life story --one of enormous courage, creativity, and ultimately redemption.

Lucy Daniels captures my complete attention with her courageous story about growing up in a prominent NC family, struggling with anorexia, surviving mental institutions in the 1950s, and emerging, after finally receiving the treatment she so desperately needed, stronger and determined to help others. I was so immersed in the story, each chapter pushed me into the next! A must read!!

Others have praised the delightful stories in this rich volume, so I won't spend my time repeating--although I may well say that every good word spoken about this anthology is true. What I shall emphasize is how extraordinarily this book bridges various Jewish communities and sensibilities.

Contemporary Jewish culture has become extremely fragmented during the last fifty or one hundred years. Then here comes a book including Jewish stories from nearly two dozen countries, showing that we all have so much in common despite our differences. Jews in Morocco can relate on these pages to Jews of Russia and Iran and Argentina and Mexico and Siberia and Finland and France and Israel of course, and so on. Ashkenazi and Sephardi and Mizrahi all together sharing the same quests. This book PROVES that we are a united people despite our petty differences. THIS book should be the constitution of the World Jewish Congress. THIS book brings Jewish diversity together in one volume. THIS book should be given to every bar and bat mitzvah around the world. Then we would be one people as in ancient times.

This is a delightful anthology with an intriguing title. As it appears, "fabulist" has to do with imagination, in this case Jewish, which raises each story to the level of a mystical adventure. For example, Tehila Lieberman's "Anya's Angel" with wistfulness and delicacy evokes a touching love story with many links to the infinite; Daniel Jaffe's own "Sarrushka and her Daughter" is a highly intriguing folk legend exploring extra-sensory powers in individuals. And here are, to my mind, the best six: Mark Apelman's "A Visitor's Guide to Berlin" is an amazingly powerful evocation of Holocaust memories and an utterly convincing artistic emplotment of those memories, in their intensity and brutal reality, as inhabiting modern-day Berlin and claiming a reality that is more than real. Yakov Shechter's "Midday," a story about the search for meaning and about shaping one's own destiny, has a strong atmosphere of the numinous - the clouds keep darkening, the mystical intent comes more and more into focus - towards the resolution, still mysterious yet imaginatively satisfying. Joan Leegant's "The Tenth" is a powerfully imagined story of a rabbi whose faith, learning, tolerance, whose intellectual and spiritual endurance are callenged and tested by the appearance of an unusual candidate to complete a minyan. (A similar case of a rabbi who is tested by a rebellious pupil is treated flatly and unimaginatively by Steven Sher in "Tsuris," which only shows that what matters and what makes a story fabulous (excuse the pun!) is not the fabula but the quality of imagination and a way with language.) Ruth Knafo Setton's "The Cat Garden" is electrifying, memorable, descriptively evocative. The anthology ends with two of the strongest stories: Dina Rubina's "Apples from Shlitzbutter's Garden," which explores the semi-mystical ways in which our forefathers' inheritance follows its paths into the consciousness of the younger generation, does so with singular warmth and a sense of humor that makes everything vivid. Here the translator (who is Jaffe himself) does an exceptional job conveying an impression of a friendly, chatty narrator communicating real warmth and charm - and yet the story touches on the inevitably painful theme of the memories of our collective past. The last story in the collection is Steve Stern's "the Tale of a Kite," a marvelous fable humorously teaching us a lesson about human nature as well as making an eloquent case for the human need to believe utterly, unsceptically and completely. As in all anthologies, unevenness is the other side of variety.Given so many excellent stories it is a mild disappointment to have alonside some weak ones, such as Galina Vromen's "Sara's Story," Moacyr Scliar's "The Prophets of Benjamin Bok," Steven Sher's "Tsuris" and Cyrille Fleishman's "One day, Victor Hugo." These stories' weakness is, predominantly, in their defective imagination, which treats the supernatural realm as a source of tricks rather than of significance. In the middle stand stories such as John Shepley's "A Golem in Prague" - good, gripping writing that keeps the reader in suspense for something meaningful, yet the design of the story is incomplete, as if it is waiting to fill a mould not yet fully in view. To conclude - "fabulist" or "magical" or whatever we choose to term it, the common denominator in these stories is a wink of the numinous, a pull towards that extra significance which makes life gain a richer hue. This is, if we generalize, what connects the best fabulist stories with all truly good literature. Clearly, I feel enriched by having read this anthology.

Over the years, I have read quite a number of Jewish-themed and other anthologies. I certainly expected this one to be of interest, but was taken aback at its freshness, its unique approach, its range and cultural sensitivity. Not only is the emphasis on spirituality and mysticism refreshing, but this book showcases numerous writers on the rise with whom I had not been familiar. I will now seek out their books. And so many translations of works that are simply not available in English elsewhere! This anthology introduced me to writers and literary cultures I'd known only marginally. Kudos to the editor. My favorite stories were those by E. Seltz of Israel (originally from Siberia of all places!), M. Scliar of Brazil, A. Muniz-Huberman of Mexico, and a few from U.S. writers--D. Jaffe (the editor), R. Knafo Setton, and M. Apelman. Contemporary issues of questioning the presence of spirituality in our lives, ancient historical themes, Holocaust themes, and as Mr. Jaffe says in his Introduction, several stories on the theme of Jew as other. (One would expect the Introduction to be a useful overview for college students, by the way.) Half men authors, half women authors, secular and religious perspectives, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi sensibilities. Quite a representative mix of global Jewish culture. And fine literature at the same time. A must read.

This is a great book. I have found most self help books, and most psychologists, lacking empathy for victims of abuse. I have made many unsuccessful attempts in the past to work through my problems but never made any real progress. Dr. Sonkin breaks the process down into four steps- experiences, feelings, attitudes, and behaviors- which have made it possible for me to understand how to work through it all. And the great empathy he expresses was what allowed me to get beyond the usual andger and alienation I feel toward therapists, who tend to be judgemental and condescending. I went through and did all the exercises and wrote everything down- in particular writing down all the feelings lifted a great burden from me.

If you are suffering from the effects of abuse, find a good therapist and get this book. Life will look a lot better.

I have found this book to be a valuable resource for men dealing with childhood abuse issues. As a survivor, I found most of the literature on abuse to be directed toward women. Sonkin directs this towards men and speaks to the issues men go through. Though not an easy read, I have had many of the issues described thoughtfully and caringly in a way that speaks to me. Many of the thoughts and feelings that I've experienced were laid out in the book, but solutions also offered. If you are just beginning your journey to healing or well along the process, this book can be helpful along the way.

This is a very insightful book into a subject that is greatly ignored. This book can help many men to overcome something that is usually hiden from public view and can help others understand what their men whom have suffered abuse go through.

By: Daniel Pinkwater

This book is about a group of kids, the Dadists, that are completely different from everyone else they know and make their debut by slipping piles of cards with simple messages like "Kevin Shapiro Rocks!" into the boys and girls bathrooms and polishing a toilet seat to be exhibited in the gym. The Dadists tell stories about a boy named Kevin Shapiro who never gets things to go his way, and they are thrilled when they find out that there is a boy named Kevin Shapiro at their school. I like this story because everything in it is completely random. This story has a weird plot and is just my style. Extraordinarily hilarious, this is a book that I recommend to all comedy lovers everywhere!

I read Young Adult Novel well after high school and could appreciate it even more so. A must for the disenfranchised, disillusioned, or restless pubescent mind.

I thought this was one of the best possible reasons to have children -- or to have friends that have children -- just to able to give them a copy of this book. What fun! What boundless fun

If anybody can help me get or buy these books please mail me at nmeijnen@hotmail.com

Thanks for any respons! :-)

Many training CD's are poorly conceived and I had bad experiences with some in the past. Of course, just one useful model can cover the cost of a CD, so I decided to give this one a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find an HTML-based training course that serves the needs of beginning to advanced users.

The authors appear to really know MAX and organized the training material so that it can be worked through either sequentially or in order of your current interest. I was able to view two tutorials of immediate use without having to wade through prior material. The tutorial on rendering multiple camera views in VP was interesting. So far, there have been no bad experiences with this product.

Models and materials on the CD alone make it worth the cost. The tutorial information is icing on the cake.

On the downside, the product does require obtaining an authorization code. I received the CD on a Friday, but was not able to use it until late Monday nite. You ! should call in to get the code (do not send e-mail). Fortunately, it was worth the wait.

This book has changed my life. It has helped define purpose and goals for me personally and in the workplace. I have needed to do this for years. The humor, stories, and core hitting points have enabled me to laugh, cry, and examine what life is all about. Daniel Henderson is an excellent author and I look forward to future life changing books!

The Seven Most Important Questions makes you take a look at the issues of life that matter. It is very thought provoking and gives you insight to how to live a life of importance. This book cuts to the chase and really helps you focus your reason for being here! It's a must!

The first time I saw this book was when it was told in sign language to a group of deaf children. The narrator was so demonstrative the whole room was in stitches. Then the children acted out the story in sign and it was hilarious. It has become the favorite book of both my 2-year-old and 8-year-old grandchildren. The story of Aaron and his hair is so funny. I have not read a better child's book in my 40 years of reading them...and I have read many.

I actually haven't read this particular book, but having grown up on Robert Munsch, I can say that he is one of the most brilliant storytellers for children of our time. I can vividly remember the plots and choral repitititions (or as the other review calls them " uninventively repetitive text") from books that I haven't looked at in 10 years. If you have a pre-schooler or teach little kids, this seireis of books is an absolute must. "hey mud puddle!!!"