5 comments about The Promise: How One Woman Made Good on Her Extraordinary Pact to Send a Classroom of 1st Graders to College.

1. An inspiring memoir of a woman who pledged to pay for the college education of a class of impoverished first graders. The author not only commits her own meager financial support, but all the resources she can muster to ensure the success of "her" kids.
   
   This very accessible book should be read by everyone who cares about the education of children from disadvantaged backgrounds.



2. Purchasing this book new helps the author continue her mission to ensure a college education for disadvantaged inner city children.



3. More than anything else, our youth need people to be there for them for the LONG-TERM. Not for 1 day, or 1 week, or 1 month, but as Oral Lee Brown shows us, for years. Imagine how our next generation would be impacted if adults nationwide reached out in just 10% of the way that Oral Lee Brown did? Go Ms. Brown for inspiring us all and go Caille Millner for doing such a wonderful job capturing this story. You're both heroes!



4. After reading this book and having met Ms. Brown in person during a family situation in June, I was totally impressed and influenced by this Woman of courage. Ms. Brown happens to be the God Mother of my step-son who lives in Tulare, Ca. She and I started our conversation about this new generation of young people. It finally led to her being a book writer. One thing I can say about her during the 30-minute or so meeting is the need for properly educating our youth. If everyone cared as much as she does about education for all on the same level, then maybe more of our children would realize how important it is. The parents, neighborhood, and the churches should take a more visible interest in seeing that all kids, poor and rich would get these tools for enriching their lives.
   I would say, Ms. Brown is most humble and not a star-struck person. She has truly been blessed by God. I can't imagine how she did all this and kept her sanity. God Bless this beautiful woman. I recently retired as a Job Counselor/Placement and mentor for young job seekers from the State of California/EDD. I share in her need to impress upon our children the importance of getting an education, it is the substance needed for a successful and stable lifestyle .
   Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to express how much Ms. Brown has influenced me. I am hoping to get her to autograph my book someday.
   Bettye Sullivan, Fresno, CA.



5. This book is written the way that an average person speaks, which is to say that it rambles a bit and frequently repeats things; but it's an easy read that I think every reader (both young and old) should find very approachable. As literature goes, it's not a great work of linguistic mastery. That being said, this is an excellent book that I wish everyone would read, because there's an extremely important lesson for all of us here.
   
   Oral Lee Brown first recognized the very root cause of the brutal cycle of poverty that persists in America (it's the education system, people!), and then she tackled that problem in one of the most extraordinary ways I've ever heard of. Her story is brilliant and inspiring. And as I said before, I hope that it reaches as many people as possible, and will serve as an inspiration to us all. Great story, great lady, 5 stars.

5 comments about Recollections: An Autobiography.

1. If you have read Man's Search for Meaning, this autobioraphical reflection from Frankl is very good. It is good to read about his life from his recollections. Doesn't take long to go through and I would suggest reading after Man's Search for Meaning. Frankl writes in such a way to make 'things' easy to relate to.



2. It is just wonderful to know about this special men in our world who has suffered to the core of his being and brought a great point of view in sicology to the worls



3. It was so interesting to read Frankl's youthful experiences, and learn about his pre-concentration camp life in Austria under the Nazi's. I had not been aware of his wife's forced termination of pregnancy.



4. Viktor Frankl has presented us with snap shots of the key events in his life. These recollections were never intended for publication but through the encouragement of his publisher this slim volume was made available for readers. Thus begins our journey in looking at the life of the founder of Logotherapy and the author of "Man's Search for Meaning."

   Frankl's life is filled with interesting portraits. We learn of his mother's patrician background and the fact that she was descended from a family of prominent rabbis. His father was a struggling student and was director of the government's Ministry of Social Services.

   We get to see this inquisitive young man as he is impacted by Freud, Hirschmann, Schilder and Adler as he begins to step int the field of psychoanalysis. Through his philosophical questionings and debates with these giants in the field we find Frankl developing his own methodology. March of 1938 became a turing point for the young man as his country is invaded by the Nazis and he is placed in a concentration camp. From that experience wee see a new personality arising who meets the psychological, emotional and spiritual tensions in his life with utmost grace.We see a man who has the opportunity to leave Austria and avoid the concentration camps but he elects to stay and care for his parents.

   Unfortunately this memoir is not a full autobiography of Frankl. You receive sketches of his life and end up wanting more. Read in conjunction with Man's Search for Meaning, the reader can gain further insight on this great personality. I believe this book serves as a supplemental text for the author's Man Search for Meaning." Hopefully a full scale biographical work will come out on Frankl. Until then, this slender volume will whet your appetite to learn more about this great man.




5. "Recollections" is episodic, much like sharing a cup of coffee with a casual acquaintance and trying to divine their life story from those conversations. Dr. Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning" is a landmark book for many seekers--including me--and I jumped at the chance to read this so-called autobiography of a giant in the field of diagnosing modern society's malaise. The book is a pleasant read, with Dr. Frankl's humor guiding the narrative. There's not much in the way of how Dr. Frankl coped with returning from concentration camps to find every member of his family--including his young wife--dead. The late Dr. Frankl's narrative is light and episodic, like afternoon conversations instead of Freudian analysis.

2 comments about Autobiographical Study.

1. Am I a Freudian? Definitely not. But my life as many in the western world was and still is impacted positively by his understandings and writings.
   Freud's short work"An Autobiographical Study" is a good introduction or review, either, into his, as stated in the translator's note, "professional rather than personal" history. It was penned for inclusion into a larger work setting forth the state of medicine in the early years of the century. It was subsequently reprinted with his "The Problem of Lay-Analysis". Here published separately, it includes a postscript written by Freud in 1935, four years before his death.
   The type size, face and paper color of this edition make easy reading even for these old eyes of mine.
   I found it a quick read, footnoted where necessary, and insightful. It is a good place to begin a study of Freud or psychoanalysis. In chronological order Freud explains the beginning and growth of the key fundamental elements of psychoanalysis and techniques of it's practice. He further shows how his understandings had become a part of many other academic disciplines and places in ordinary life.



2. Almost one hundred years ago to the month (November 1899), Freud published his landmark book, "The Interpretation of Dreams," in German. The world hasn't been the same since then. No matter what you think of him (many who dislike Freud base their views on what others have said about him or done with his theories), he changed the concept of what it means to be a human being. This long essay (it runs 95 pages with index) came out in 1925, when he was at the height of his fame. It recounts the development of his career and his theories of sexual development. As such it provides an overview of the subjects for which he became famous. It isn't a personal book, concentrating on professional rather than personal associations. I would call it an intellectual memoir--but whatever you call it, it is well worth reading.

5 comments about Love At Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection (Science Matters).

1. When Harry Harlow started exploring the science of affection it was in the face of disregard and opposition in the world of medicine and psychology. But he was able to show that affection is vital to the proper development of the newly born, as too is the measured rejection of the newly born's parents when the time is right. Consequently we now encourage the bonding of parents and children through physical handling. (Perhaps more affectionate and supportive friendships outside the family have developed as a result also.)
   
   These were great insights for society and yet Harlow did face opposition. Just when he was saying the role of the mother (and father - but he was less vocal about that) was vital to the upbringing of the baby, the womens liberation movement was trying to get women more freedom - more equality on the basis of being the same as men. How could this new emphasis on the importance of the role of parents (principally women as men were traditionally the 'bread winners') be tolerated? To me, however, there is a mistake in this. We should not be treated equally because we are the same - but for the very opposite reason - because we are all unique. If we are to get the best from each unique individual then each individual must have equal rights and opportunity. Unfortunately Harlow's approach to opposition was often rude and confronting.
   
   After his death Harlow's research faced another challenge - this time from the animal liberation activists. Harlow had done his experiments on monkeys principally, and these experiments necessarily had damaging (and surprising) results for the animals experimented on. Harlow did care for the animals and provided for them as well as he could in difficult circumstances - for example, he always tried to 'restore' emotionally damaged animals. Although we may now regret the methods he and his students used, and certainly not want to repeat them for the sake of student exercises, we should not lose sight of the vital information that was uncovered.
   
   Deborah Blum's book is engaging and revealing - especially concerning the history of human behaviour with regard to affection and love. It is surprising how recent (1950s) some attitudes were that are now totally overthrown, at least in part because of Harlow's work.
   
   But does psychology have more lessons to learn from Harlow? It is my belief that this is so. I recently had a workplace experience where I was confronted by a workplace bully. But immediately I knew this bully was not picking on me - this was just characteristic behaviour that was applied to everyone they worked with. All the stories and rumours I had heard - and continued to hear with more clarity - suddenly had greater presence for me. To overcome my distress at this situation I used the free staff counselling service offered by my employer. Perhaps in doing that I was already demonstrating my capacity to manage, to cope. What, however, of my colleagues who I now had insight to the terrible behaviour of the bully for them? Harlow would not have been surprised that I had bonded with these people - to some more closely than others. But the psychologist/counsellor understood nothing of this - as long as I was dealt with (the immediate client) nothing else could be done. But the only thing that could really be done for me was to smash all the bonds I had built with my colleagues so that I was no longer concerned for them. Was that reasonable?
   
   And what of psychology offered to one of a married couple privately from the bond that links them. What is the risk that this will actually prise apart the bond that needs to be strengthened or at least maintained? I'm not sure how psychology should handle these matters but it continues to alarm me that the insights of Harlow are still being overlooked in areas where they should not be. Is it the impact of the womens liberation and animal liberation movements that have denigrated the research sufficiently to block its use in other areas?
   
   other recommendations:
   'Workplace Monsters' John Clarke (Random House Australia)
   'Conditions of Love' John Armstrong
   'A Crystal Age' W H Hudson



2. Fifty years ago I had psych classes at the UW, and I helped tend the rats in 600 N. Park. I learned about Harry Harlow, Carl Rogers, and schools of thought in Psychology. Now, finally, I understand and see the importance of what was going on here.
   
   Deborah Blum has clarified the conflicts in behavioral science during the first half of the 20th century as my instructors never could. She has given human faces to the names that were listed in the semester timetables, but whom most students never saw. And Harry Harlow's flaws are not whitewashed, but they are understandable.
   
   Younger readers will be aghast at the parenting style that was advocated by child health professionals over 50 years ago. Many of us, although we were not neglected or abandoned, were not cuddled and made to feel cherished. Harlow, among others, was able to disprove the validity of a sterile upbringing in creating a human adult.
   
   And it is truly a page-turner, well written and captivating.



3. This book was in great shape and is an excellent read for those who want to understand



4. This is one of the most interesting and well written books I've ever read on this or any similar topic. To anyone who studies or has studied attachment, Blum offers an amazing look at how this early research changed the face of psychology. To anyone who has read countless poorly written descriptions of boring research studies, this book is an oasis.
   
   I don't believe Blum has portrayed Harlow through rose-colored glasses. On the contrary, anyone reading this book might even wonder whether Harlow's neglect of his own children was a good thing, given his lack of compassion and indifference toward the suffering he caused. My copy is well-worn and has been loaned out many times. I highly recommend this book.



5. This is an extremely interesting book in terms of underlining how damaging scientific fads can be. The early twentieth century fad of data and cleanliness may well have led to the deaths many children as cleanliness was preferred over attention.
   
   Unfortunately, Harry Harlow is less interesting, and provides an abominable contrast to the subject. Harlow ignores both wives and his children in search for - as he wrote in his school's yearbook - 'fame'. He becomes a chain-smoking alcoholic. Bizarrely, Blum emphasises Harlow's visionary understanding of love with, at times, an almost 'here comes superman' manner. She appears incapable of reconciling her argument that Harlow is the scientist of love with the fact that he ignored his wives and all his children!
   
   If anything, I read the book as reflecting one man's selfish, desperate desire for achievement and fame. Thanks to his interest in monkeys, he and his students seemed to fall over the answer. Not exactly visionary.
   
   A good read though, reflecting the pitfalls of faddish thinking, and also how scientific discoveries (if the fact that a child needs its mother is a discovery) occur. The book also reflects how difficult it can be to refute incorrect arguments.

5 comments about Deep Water Passage.

1. A page turner and a universal story of a woman's courage. There is not a false note in it.



2. Our Story Circle Reading Circle (in Austin TX) read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is the story of a 43-year old woman who kayaked around Lake Superior in search of the rest of her life. It was a summer-long journey--65 days of incredible challenge, of angry storms, high seas, and painful physical trials. But more than that, it is a journey into the soul of a woman who is willing to risk all that she already knows about herself (as a wife, a mother, a friend) in order to learn what she does not know about her own inner resources. "When we deliberately leave the safety of the shore of our lives," Linnea writes, "we surrender to a mystery beyond our intent." It is within the circle of those mysteries, beyond any willed intention on our parts, that transformation takes place. As readers of this memoir of courage and physical challenge, members of our Circle felt that we too had surrendered to the mystery of the journey, and were transformed by it.
   
   by Susan Wittig Albert
   for Story Circle Book Reviews
   [...]
   reviewing books by, for, and about women



3. I admire this woman for the undertaking, kayaking around Lake Superior. But the descriptions of downpours, thick fog and cold water 24/7 was as depressing as her thoughts of her lost friend. Beautifully written, this book is not for the joyful-at-heart as it touches on a subject we all must face with time: the passing of a loved one and mid-life doubts.
   
   The book worked because as the journey moved on around the lake, Ann described the boulders, the lichen, the flora and the immediate surroundings, all which were backdrops to her thoughts.
   
   There was a distinctive difference in the wilderness between the Canadian and American sides of Lake Superior that she detailed along the way. Fewer but more interesting people were found on the Canadian side and some of the shore descriptions were so detailed I could smell the water and trees.
   
   But there were times I fast-forwarded to get away from the depressing parts (when she talked about old times with her dead friend) and read more of the adventure of the trip, as she and her partner amassed miles, met up with friends or strangers along the shore, built a campsite for the night, etc. That she was able to finish the entire circumference is in itself amazing, not because she did it (she is afterall an endurance athlete) but because of the strong demons she had to fight inside.
   
   I recommend this for people who love the seas, lakes, kayaking and pushing oneself to ones physical limits.



4. I couldn't put this book down! I was there with every storm, every breathless moment of this incredible journey! I was exhausted when I finished this page-turner strictly from the adventure standpoint, but the emotional journey which parallels the physical is equally compelling and I found the author's honesty to be refreshing and comforting. This is a beautiful book to read and re-read when your own life's journey makes you wonder if you're on the right path and it makes a wonderful gift as well!



5. Linnea's book is one of only a handful of kayaking books really worth dipping into. Her prose and purpose are conveyed perfectly to the reader. Both kayakers and students of water will enjoy this work. Only Chris Duff's book comes close to matching it for creating lingering memories. Both works figure strongly in my book which reviews outdoor water recreation - Deep Immersion: The Experience of Water. Linnea writes with passion and enjoys getting wet and immersing herself in Lake Superior's coasts. As Thoreau wrote " That part of you that is wettest is fullest of life" (quoted from Profitably Soaked: Thoreau's Engagement With Water; Green Frigate Books, 2003).

5 comments about My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderers.

1. Dr. Morrison, if she is in fact an MD, seems to skip over the blindingly obvious in her assessment of these killers. I mean does she honestly belive that relentless phsyical and mental abuse from childhood and rape at 16 would have NO IMPACT on a serial killer? Is she serious? Does she actually still retain a license for practising medicine/psychiatry or, hopefully, has she been disbarred?
   
   
   It seems hard to tell as she veers from a fruedian perspective wherein all physiological inputs are null and void to a purely frightened and judgemental one, that the killers did it soley because they wished to where in fact she bases her judgements. Frankly, as a former defense attorney, I would run a mile before I let her get her hands on my client.



2. Her 'life' among the serial killers? Her life is among children and she will occasionally go get to visit the lesser known serial killers. What a pathetic attempt to capitalize on the 'serial killer' phenomenon...and to advance her own silly theories. Oh, and her *epiphany* that serial killers are addicted to killing? DUH! I think I figured that out when I was about 17 and had just begun studying serial killers.
   Do NOT waste your money.
   If you want a real expert, watch Dr. Michael Stone on "Most Evil"



3. Unfortunately Dr. Morrison reveals herself in this book and in her various TV interviews/documentary appearances as far too emotional, self rightous, and just plain in error when it comes to certain facts regarding serial killers.
   
   If I were to list all of these erroneous comments, this review would fill the computer screen. Let me just point out one error. Pg 24 of the paperback version...."No serial murderers are addicted to drugs, drink or even smoking"
   
   Interesting....tell that to Jeffrey Dahmer who used alcohol heavily in order to facilitate his killings. He was an alcoholic even in high school and would drink to the point of blacking out.
   
   This is just ONE brief example of heavy alcohol use by a serial murderer indicating an addiction versus normal social drinking. So how can Dr. Morrison make such an erroneous blanket statement as "NO serial murderer is addicted to........."?
   
   Just by nature alone, serial murderers are addictive...they are addicted to murder for one. It's not a stretch that, aside from killing compulsively, certain of these indivduals may also demonstrate other compulsive behavior such as addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, smoking, etc.
   
   Bottom line...don't confuse yourself with glaring errors by reading this book. Instead turn to those written by more learned & practical minds such as Robert Ressler, Dr. Park Dietz and others.



4. This book is written by a claimed profiler. However, there is no profiling in the book. My favorite book by a profiler is Mind Hunter by John Douglas. In that book (plus Obsession), he goes into details of the crime scene and what things mean. You learn what it means if the killer covered the face of the viction (they knew them and were ashamed), young versus old crimminals, etc. Helen's book has very little details about crime scenes (we like to figure it out, that is why CSI is a popular TV show). No profiling information on the clues in the scene to help investigators find the UNSUB (unknown subject, I learned this from the Mind Hunter book), etc. Helen spends more time on her personal thoughts, thanksgiving dinner, her children shouldn't watch her TV appearances about killers, tea in the afternoon, going to Brazil, etc. and too little on crimes. She also is all over the place with her theories. At the end of the book she claims that DNA is encoded to make a serial killer, and with a stretch relates this to Minority Report, etc. However, there is a compelling arguement from other profilers that some event triggered the change. Ted Bundy was social until his long time girlfriend dumped him. Ted switched and targeted young girls with long dark hair (just like his ex had), and many of the others have abusive households. Helen talks about tv appearances and helping in the insanity defense for crimminels - I get the feeling that she is all about feelings, not a fact based person (John Douglas says that once the monster is created - it cannot be reversed - done). This book does touch on Ed Gein (leatherface from Texas Chainsaw masacre, Norman Bates, and others), John Wayne Gacy (the clown who rape/murdered young buys), and Bobby Joe Long (brutal rape and death of women). However, even a short TV special on Bobby Joe Long had many more details of the tracking and catching of him than this book. Helen claims it was seeing a missing person report on TV that led Long to let her go (he felt sorry for her?). But from other reports it seems that she talked to him and told him that she wanted to be his girlfriend - this threw off his circuitry. This second explanation makes more sense in the literature. Helen also discusses hypnosis (a relaxing state where both parties agree to participate) as a scientific method, acts as if satan worship killings did happen (this media hoax was uncovered), throws in Freud psychology (just about all scientists today believe he was just a weird guy with an infactuation for women). Helen seems to be touchy feeling through the whole book, I felt he was this, or that. She constantly talks about how the men treated her with disrespect because she is a woman - it really sounds like she is trying to prove something with this book. Detailed, insightful profiling and crime description rather than fluffed up theories that DNA can pinpoint all future serial killers would go a long way towards gaining respect in the community. This is my least favorite of this type of book, and I LOVE these types of books. I recommend you instead read Mind Hunter by John Douglas, Obsession by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker, or The Evil that Men Do by Roy Hazelwood. You will learn details and how the profiler's mind and experience work. The last book by Hazelwood even has a crime scene in the back that you try to apply what you've learned about profiling in. I did pretty well, because I read about profiling by Douglas, Olshaker and Hazelwood, not anything from this fluff piece by Dr. Helen (note: beware of someone that constantly reminds you that they have a PhD rather than presuade you through knowledge and facts - Helen, this means you! The only positive for this book, given the others, is that it had some non-US serial killers like a French guy (Gilles de Rais) from the 1400s. But not enough to warrant purchase. Get Mind Hunter instead!



5. No need to repeat many of the negative comments made by other reviewers. The main problem is the book succeeds neither as investigation nor as theory nor does it serve well as an introduction to serial murder for the general reader. The result amounts to a disjointed and often pointless text, despite Dr. Morrison's evident sincerity. As an admitted layperson, I'd still like to offer several background points that might be kept in mind when discussing the serial phenomenon.
   
   First, for good methodological reasons, researchers look for commonalities among the various case histories, as does Morrison. Such commonalities may then lay the basis for theory develoment and the possibility of devising more effective means of detecting and controlling this societal menace. Thus, there's good reason for Morrison's type of approach. However, I have yet to encounter a researcher or commentator who raises the possibility that there may be in point of fact no single factor or combination of factors that explain all the cases, that is, no so-called magic bullet.
   
   Morrison's genetic theory represents a reductive approach to a single physiological factor that would then account for all the cases. There are other magic bullets proposed by other researchers. However, the best we may be able to scientifically accomplish are separate groups of causal factors that explain some cases but not all, such as an "abused as a child" category or a "necrophilia" category or a "just plain sudden urge to kill" category, with no further reduction possible. Or, put another way, why must there be a single explanatory factor or group of factors to explain this wide-ranging phenomenon. After all, the world and the human mind are pretty complex and dynamic factors to deal with. Again, I'm not saying that research must not continue to look for a universal causal explanation. I am saying research must be prepared for the eventuality that there is none.
   
   Another point relevant to Morrison's text. Men certainly seem more prone to serial murder than women. Maybe that's just the result of the slanted coverage having to do with decades of reporting on "the weaker sex", or maybe the disproportionality results from women being more covert and less physically brutal than men. But in terms of the public record, serial murder appears almost exclusively a male preserve. Now, I don't know much about brain chemistry or its topography, or how men's and women's brain make-up may differ in that regard. Still, it appears that Morrison's physiological (genetic) theory must explain why this disparity exists. I wish she had at least mentioned this leading fact somewhere in the text and dealt with it in some fashion.
   
   A final point. Suppose Morrison's correct and researchers locate a common physiological factor (say, a certain chemical imbalance) present in all serial case histories. Now, it's not clear to me from the text whether Morrison would hold the presence as a predisposing factor or a determining one. If the former, which certainly seems the more likely of the two, then resarchers would still have to search for additional factors as to why some with that chemical imbalance become serial killers, while others wth that same factor do not. On the other hand, if the chemical factor is held as a determining one, then its presence would guarantee that the possessor becomes a serial perpetrator-- a pretty extreme and seeming highly improbable possibility. Nonetheless, if the imbalance merely predisposes, then additional factors such as something within the person's life experience will need to be ferreted out in order to provide a fuller explanation than a mere "predisposes" provides. I wish Morrison had dealt more explicitly with this pivotal question.
   
   My own belief, for whatever its worth, is that many (if not all) instances of serial murder result from male sexuality and difficulties in dealing with this basic drive. Of course, that may not be the magic bullet so many researchers seek, but problems with sexual release does appear to characterize a dynamic at play in many cases (e.g. Bundy, Gacy, Corll). Be that as it may, serial murder remains a fascinating topic for public speculation. Too bad Morrison's is not a better book on the subject.

5 comments about Adventures of a Psychic: A Fascinating and Inspiring True-Life Story of One of America's Most Successful Clairvoyants.

1. This is an incredibly awful book. I clung to every word she said and honestly felt enlightened. That was before I did some more research on the book. Now I feel sick to my stomach and can't believe that I ever liked this book.



2. I've seen Sylvia Browne a few times on the Montel Williams show
   and have always been amazed by the gift she seems to
   have . . . so when I came across the CD version of her book,
   ADVENTURES OF A PSYCHIC, I decided to give it a listen.
   
   Doing so enabled me to learn about her fascinating life
   story . . . I also appreciated the point she made several
   times; i.e., that despite her desire to help others, her abilities
   have not enabled her to guide her own actions.
   
   Brown contends that all people have psychic abilities . . . I'm not
   sure that listening to and/or reading ADVENTURES OF A
   PSYCHIC will help you discover yours . . . yet if you're open
   to what might be a new way of thinking about yourself,
   you will gain better insight into the events that help shape your life.
   
   That Browne was also the narrator of this program added
   to my enjoyment.



3. What a load of tripe! This Browne lady is not only a felon, but a liar when it comes to her education, psychic abilities and being a non-smoker. She doesn't even write the books her name is attached to. Even watching TV is more entertaining than this garbage.



4. I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed with Sylvia Browne. I have watched her for years on the Montel Williams Show. When I first bought this book, I was disappointed once I started reading about Francine who I come later to know as part of Sylvia Browne's psychic abilities. By studying psychics like Sylvia Browne, I gain a better understanding of myself more than her. I don't agree with her a hundred percent of the time but it doesn't mean that I don't love her or admire her ability. She's here to help us. Her life has been traumatic, difficult, and messy at times. That's because psychics too are human and make mistakes. We're terrible with predicting ourselves but we can guide our family and friends to better lives if they only listen to advice. Maybe the book is beneficial in helping us unload the stress of our lives. No, being human and alive is not easy. Psychics tell me that I'm going to live to be about 90 and I'm scared. I don't want to live that long. I'll outlive all my family and friends and be all alone. If Sylvia Browne might be outrageous, outspoken, and opinionated, it doesn't mean that she gets it wrong most of the time. All psychics make mistakes and are not perfect. But if you love Sylvia Browne, you will love this book. But by reading it, i had to seek out my own knowledge and it's been a whirlwind adventure of trying to become more psychic, intuitional, and better atuned to natures and our surroundings. We don't have to pack up and move to find serenity, peace, and love. We just have to close our eyes and let your mind go there. This book and other books about the paranormal are not suggested for skeptics, atheists, and those who seek to disprove her claims. That's such a waste of energy!



5. A common sense approach to life-keep it simple.Many of the things she
   wrote about were things I felt I already knew on some level and this was the first time I had seen them in words.
   Reassuring,comforting,thought provoking and humorus.

3 comments about In the Footsteps of Adam: A Memoir.

1. The Norwegian born Mr Heyerdahl was an
   athlete, explorer and writer par excellance,
   who wroter twenty very good to great books
   and this is his best. The greatest explorer
   in our cultures history, I highly also rec-
   ommend the books, 'On the Seventh Day' and
   'Kon-Tiki'. Actually all his book s are worth
   getting, provided the price is right here on
   amazon.com or alibris.com.



2. This is a greatly written book. For all Thor's sense of humor and eye for the paradox often shines through. We hear a lot about his obstacles getting his travel adventures accepted in scientific circles as real research and also get a side of Thor indicating that he is a very determined man. We hear about his romantic life and philosophy about he important things in life. A great book that will teach you not only about geography and archeology but will make you laugh and think deeper about life.



3. To use Thor's own words...
   "There is nothing for modern man to return to. Our wonderful time in the wilderness had given us a taste of what man had abandoned and what mankind was still trying to get even further away from. Progress today can be defined as man's ability to complicate simplicity. Nothing in all the procedure that modern man , helped by all his modern middlemen, goes through before he earns money to buy a fish or a potato will ever be as simple as pulling it out of the water or soil. Without the farmer and the fisherman, modern society would collapse., with all its shops and pipes and wires. The farmers and the fishermen represent the nobility of modern society; they share their crumbs with the rest of us, who run about with papers and screwdrivers attempting to build a better world without a bluprint."

   All this author's books are GREAT reads! If you are a city dweller you will especially appreciate his adventures as he asks the question- "Were we meant to live in jungles made of plants or concrete?

3 comments about Pauli and Jung: The Meeting of Two Great Minds.

1. Wolfgang Pauli and Carl Jung were among a handful of geniuses who transformed the physical and psychological landscapes of the 20th century. Their thoughts about the nature of mind and matter, and the dark side of Western science's "will to power," are especially meaningful today given the material and psychosocial challenges of the 21st century.
   
   I found especially interesting Pauli and Jung's interests in parapsychology and the mind-matter interface. When intellectual giants seriously entertain controversial topics that confuse lesser minds, I pay close attention.
   
   Lindorff's recitals of Pauli's dreams, and Pauli and Jung's symbolic analysis of them, will probably not appeal to readers expecting ordinary biographies. But for those of us who are interested in rational, intuitive, and symbolic ways of knowing, this is a magnificent book.



2. This is a response by the author to a review of Dr. Rohrde, who apparently formed a judgement of my book without attempting to digest its contents. Pauli was a serious thinker who happened to believe in the collective unconscious. With Jung's help, he sought to understand his dreams, which he saw as opening his mind to the relationship between psyche and matter. Pauli saw this as having far reaching importance to him personally as well as to the future of scientific exploration.



3. "Pauli & Jung: The Meetings of Two Great Minds," David Lindorff, IL, Quest Books, 2004 ISBN: 0-8356-0837-9, HC 299/244 pgs., Notes 28 pgs., Apps. 8 pgs., Index 17 pgs., 9 1/4" x 6 1/4"
   
   This Ph.D. author worked & taught eletrical enginnering, later a Jungian analyser for 24 years in New England. No previous books.
   
   Chapter I stands alone to provide a meaningful chronology of the life & times of Wolfgang Friedrich Pauli (1900-1958), a child prodigy born in Vienna of Jewish parents but raised as Catholic. He studied at Univ. Munich, did physics research at Hamburg & later at Zurich's ETH. He soon became acquainted with renowned physicists as Bohr, Rabi, Born, Planck, Heisenberg, Fierz, Oppenheimer (visiting) & Einstein. At ETH he sought help in 1932 from C.G. Jung, psychologist, for despondency. When the Nazi anti-Semitism intensified, he left Europe for a position at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies in 1940, Einstein already arrived in 1933. Pauli received the 1945 Noble Prize in physics for discovery of the "exclusion principle."
   
   MAJOR FLAW to my mind: - more than half of the treatise, nay 75%, deals with Pauli's recital of dreams spanning sme 25 years (periodically from 1932 - 1957) for Jung to analyze. So now we have embarked on a phantasmal supernatural & primordial journey into the imaginary discarnate world of apparition, archetypal imagery bearing a host of titular Greek names as 'manadala', "acausal connecting principle" of 'synchronicity' embracing ESP, anima/animus, where basic treatment involves introducing the Ego to the "collective unconsciousness." etc. For mythologists this could be a precious piece of prose, but frankly I'd expect readership to be severely wanting. The book is not about God nor about religion, but much closer to an ideology embracing magic, mystery, palmistry, phrenology, & peeking at Peking tea leaves. Speaking of leaves, I'd leave this one alone.

5 comments about William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism.

1. Richardson's biographies of Thoreau and Emerson are two of the best books I've encountered in my life of voracious reading and this is one is just as wondrous. I cannot read any of these books in public, because they all make me want to weep and clutch my chest and shout, "At last! Everything has been revealed!"
   
   I wish I could explain why Richardson's biographies are different from anyone else's. It's not just an artful piling up of delightful and distressing facts. Instead it's like the doorbell rings and you have a new best friend: William James. There's something magical and occult about this. It's not like he went to the research library, it's like he drew mystic diagrams on the floor.
   
   Richardson writes that one of James' gifts was "his uncanny ability to pick up redemptive ideas from his reading." And it is Richardson's gift too, to fill each page with life-giving ideas. These biographies are as purely inspirational as a strong Lao coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Reading them makes me prone to fits of euphoria.
   
   Richardson points toward the sources of James' genius-- one of the most important of which was James' own depression and heartbreak. He writes, "James had a remarkable capacity to convert misery and unhappiness into intellectual and emotional openness and growth. It is almost as though trouble was for him a precondition for insight." How hopeful that is!
   
   Richardson's compassion for his subject spills out, somehow, to the reader, and makes one feel that one's own nonsense and bleakness do not render one disqualified for a whole human life. What more can I ask for?



2. More than an interesting read, not only into the life of one of the gotfathers of psychology and pragmatism, but of the period. Well written.



3. I would suggest reading this book first before reading some of William James other books. This book gives you an overview and thought process to give the reader a context for understanding all of his work. I am 35 years old and know of no one in my age that reads William James but I just wish this book came out years ago before I read all of his work.



4. I need not repeat the summaries set forth below by other reviewers, since these explain both Richardson's method -- to tell the life story through the work -- and the essentials of James' theories. What I will say is that, even if you have no background in philosophy or psychology, you should read this brilliant, passionate biography. James wrote for a popular as well as a professional audience; he was open and curious to all experience, and wished to be inclusive rather than exclusive in disseminating his ideas. Richardson is clear and succinct in explaining James theories -- often in the man's own, crisp, evocative language and clarifying analogies. Moreover, the concepts that James developed have in many cases become part of our popular vocabulary, including through organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, which Richardson reports took inspiration from James' Gifford lectures, published in the U.S. as "The Varieties of Religious Experience."
   
   I had not read James for many years but, since reading this biography, have purchased a collection of his writings and am re-reading many of his works. You will come away from "In the Maelstrom of American Modernism" with a better understanding of both American values and ideals, and the history of U.S. higher education. Most importantly, however, you will come away with enormous admiration for the radiant personality that was William James, or as Richardson exclaims (using italics, not caps) at the end of this great work, for "the SPIRIT the man." When I finished reading, I not only wanted to read William James; I was sorry that I had not known him or had him as a teacher. That's how good this book is -- for every reader.



5. This book will resonate perfectly with scholars trained in philosophy and psychology. Biographer Richardson traces William James' evolving thought patterns with a thoroughness no writer could exceed. For the average reader, though, I suggest the book will have value mostly because of the interesting lives of William James and his novelist brother Henry.
   
   Certainly I had been unaware of William's lifelong health problems. Too, the book provides fascinating tidbits about his courtship with his eventual wife Alice. Note his highly formal writing style in a love letter to her: "My duty is to win your hand if I can. . .What I beg of you now is that you should let me know categorically whether any absolute irrevocable obstacle already exist to that consummation."
   
   Another highlight for me--William James' rejection of "copied religion." He has no use for the person whose "religion has been made for him by others, communicated to him by tradition, determined to fixed forms by imitation and retained by habit." James noted that "the founders of every church owed their power originally to the fact of their direct personal communion with the divine."
   
   I enjoyed the book as a life story well told.
   
   The Complete Communicator: Change Your Communication-change Your Life!