Reading this book again, as I usually do on New Years Day, I started having an ether image of Doctor Faustroll, Poet and 'Pataphysician, meeting Dr. Norem, Personality Psychologist. Not to debate, but to discuss. I feel that Alfred Jarry and the good Dr. Faustroll would both understand and find etherially amusing the absurd title of her book -- the positive power of negative thinking. And they could help explain to the rest of us how psychology works. That would be nice. Or perhaps we need 'Patapsychology to stand above Freud's Metapsychological Papers. In any case, we need Dr. Faustroll to be perceptive.

This is a very great book, but I could hardly recommend it. Would you enjoy it? I think it is skies above the Ubu books in its range of vision, and I certainly didn't see any baboons with gluteal musculature grafted to their cheeks starring as commentator in those more famous works . . . well, I don't know what to say this "sort of thing" is exactly . . . if you are unfamiliar with this man (a drinker in the line of Rabelais, except I would say he was much more sincerely dedicated, a scholar, a scientist, a metaphysical swine, a bicycler, an eccentric above the heavyweights of French nincompoops, a novelist, -- also he did decent woodcuts, too) and his work then I would recommend the Supermale as a better beginning. If that is indeed your brand of entertainment, than hoist this flag up on the mast of your soft and sticky palm that never picked an axe to chop a block or made a fist to fight for your principles nor did anything else in all your life except to pick up another foreign book we can all be grateful for to have been translated, and sail it gently down the seas of your eyes until you land where you were looking for . . . this is a traveler's book.

Faustroll is a Hallucinogenic cross between Lewis Carroll & Jules Verne. Magnificently dense style of a prose poem, images as strange as Lautremont's. It also reminded me of Flann O'Brien's Third Policeman, the only book that has done that.

By my Green Candle !! Jarry is very difficult to translate from the French, so be sure to read and compare various translations to really get the feel, if you don't read French. Well worth the effort, and this volume is a fine place to start.

This is a school joke that has evolved into an epic! McLeish's translation takes a lot of liberties and sometimes many things are lost. On the other side, he possesses great wit and through compensation, his work comes out as one of the best translations!

Alfred Jarry is the grandfather of modern day surrealism, and the Ubu trilogy is a great, twisted work of genius. It reads like Shakespeare crossed with a slasher film. It's also a great parody of anything you can think of, and it is quite hilarious. The Ubu trilogy deals with the epic rise and fall of Pa and Ma Ubu, as they become Kings of several European countries, get involved in murder more than once, fight in wars, have deadly encounters with bears in caves, and even voluntarily become slaves. Great stuff! If you like Samuel Beckett, then you have to check out Jarry too!

It's likely that readers who have watched many of Alfred Hitchcock's films can't help but have noticed how frequently he depicts fetishism, sadism, and voyeurism. Because Hitchcock was a reclusive man and a guarded interview subject, almost everyone who writes about him turns to his work for insight into his life. These writers generally conclude that the director himself was possessed by the very pathologies that resound in his movies.
But John Russell Taylor didn't have to go that route. He wrote this biography with the participation and blessings of the man himself. In Hitch, Taylor admits that his subject often projects his fantasies onto the screen. He also provides a good deal of insight into Hitchcock's domineering, obsessively courteous demeanor. But the focus here is on the details of Hitchcock's life, the preparation and production of his movies, and his relationships with the countless cinematic luminaries who worked with him, including Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, and James Stewart. --Raphael Shargel

In order to read Plato with some facility it is almost imperative to read a commentary a long with the Dialogues. A.E. Taylor is a true guide to what Plato actually says and provides useful classical context that will keep out the most egregious error. This is an essential volume in any philosopher's library.
One of the greatest thinkers of the ancient world, Plato instigated groundbreaking inquiries into morality, ethics, and the quest for happiness that continue to inform and influence philosophical discussion today. In this outstanding work of scholarship, a renowned expert on Plato presents a scrupulously accurate historical view of the great philosopher's life and works. Distinguished by its dispassionate scholarly analysis, Professor Taylor's discourse is refreshingly free of the biases that have frequently tainted other studies.
A brief introductory chapter acquaints readers with the known events of Plato's life. The author then proceeds to an illuminating examination of the philosopher's voluminous writings, including the minor Socratic dialogues, as well as such major works as Phaedo, Symposium, Protagoras, Republic, Phaedrus, Timaeus, Laws, and other influential dialogues. The final chapter, "Plato in the Academy," attempts to pin down?with the help of some of Plato's former students, such as Aristotle the philosopher's beliefs about numbers. In a substantial appendix, "The Platonic Apocrypha," Professor Taylor examines writings that have sometimes been attributed to Plato, including several letters, and offers cogent reasons for accepting or rejecting them as Plato's work.
Praised by Dean William R. Inge of Theology as "a great book, an honour to . . . British scholarship," this volume is an invaluable guide for students, teachers, and other readers interested in philosophy.

WOULD YOU SEND ME SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BOOK

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This pharmacology book is solely responsible for my honors grades in pharmacology and on the national boards.

All topics are covered comprehensively, with far greater clinical application than most pharmacology texts.

The chapter organization makes sense, and it is well indexed. This was one of the few med school books I kept and used for years after leaving clinical medicine to go into research.

I used the book for researching medications for family and myself - information on side effects and interactions was very good.

There are almost no illustrations, and few charts, so it's not easy reading, but it is definitely worthwhile.

-An MD- class of '84

I used this as a textbook for an udergraduate pharmacology class. While it is a very comperhensive book, and covers probably all you'd ever want to know and then some, about many drugs, it might just provide too much information for an introductory pharmacology class. Its not as if its hard to understand-I felt that the writing was clear enough, its just that there is so much information, its hard to pick out the important bits. I remember that in our class, we'd have random quizes where we'd get lists of about twelve drugs and we'd have to summarize their actions. Now if you used Goodman and Gilman and you made flashcards, you'd probably have way more information than what the professor expected on the quiz, and then if you did happen to remember some random facts that were mentioned in G&G you might not get credit becasue the facts were so obscure even the professor didn't remember them. I'd have preferred a textbook that outlined very briefly the system that the drugs were affecting, a concise picture of how they act, and then maybe one or two examples. This book just takes it too far. There are like twenty drugs explained in excrusiating detail in each section that you forget what the class of drugs as a whole is supposed to do. Take home message: a great reference book, but its just too dense to be used as a text book. I still use it though, from time to time, when I am checking out info on drugs my family, friends, or I am planning to take.

"Goldman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics" is one brain toasting book. It reminds me of the "Principles of Pharmacology: Basic Concepts & Clinical Applications" (edited by Paul Munson). Of course, either of these two books can serve as a reference tool; and although the latter maintains a price advantage, 'Goldman & Gilman's' is more ubiquitous.
It is rich, versatile, and presents well laid-out voluminous chapters. Anyone who reads this book will appreciate how it tackled General Therapeutics, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology.

Hitchcock is my very favorite film director, and I think he's definitely one of the best, if not THE best, directors ever, so I was very disappointed to read this book which only skims over Hitch's life, giving some films barely a page or two. Taylor looks at Hitch's many movies with neither a critical or even historical eye--and many, many details are left out, and many facts are just plain backwards, especially that "Notorious" was based on an idea provided by David O. Selznick, and that "Spellbound" started as Hitch's idea (it was in fact the other way around, with the recently depression-cured Selznick wanting to make a film about analysis; in fact, in the few paragraphs afforded to "Spellbound," Mae Romm, Selznick's therapist who acted as an advisor on the film--and set--isn't even mentioned!). Donald Spoto's two books about Hitchcock, one a film-by-film analysis and the other a straight biography, are much better than this slight volume.

Highly readable and informative. Recommended for all Hitch fans as well as anyone interested in the history of cinema. Beyond the basic facts,there are lots of telling anecdotes and perceptive observations, such as Hitchcock's famous distinction between shock and suspense. My favorite Hitch quip: a father wrote to Hitchcock for some advice. After seeing Les Diaboliques his daughter refused to take a bath, and now after seeing Psycho she wouldn't take a shower either. "Have her dry-cleaned" was Hitchcock's cheerful reply.

This book was a really easy read. With tales of Hitch's career and providing insight - I believe - into the man behind the much misunderstood myth.

"Hitch" is mostly filled with tales from behind the scenes rather than an examination of Hitch's craft and technique. I enjoyed it because I think knowing the PERSON behind a picture will often explain his technique better than any self-proclaimed "expert" who will often take technical necessity and make it symbolist bull.

Well written and very interesting subject matter. A must for anyone!