Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

Relationship counselor John Gray focuses on the differences between men and women--men are from Mars, and women are from Venus, after all--and offers a simple solution: couples must acknowledge and accept these differences before they can develop happier relationships. In this unabridged version, Gray gives a spirited delivery of his message, especially when role-playing typical male/female interactions. Although it takes some time to adjust to his slightly nasal tone, the information is sound and gives both men and women helpful hints on improving themselves and their union. (Running time: 9.5 hours, 6 cassettes) --Sharon Griggins

Book Description

Once upon a time Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set in: they forgot they were from different planets.

Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus has helped millions of couples transform their relationships. Now viewed as a modern classic, this phenomenal book has helped men and women realize how different they really are and how to communicate their needs in such a way that conflict doesn't arise and intimacy is given every chance to grow.

Customer Reviews:

Awesome book.......2007-10-09

Its not only great for learning about your partner, but about yourself too. This is a great book.

P-E-R-F-E-C-T!!!.......2007-09-06

It's amazing book. Another one that I love and recommend - How to be a Super Hot Woman: 339 Tips to Make Every Man Fall in Love with You and Every Woman Envy You

If you are having a hard time in your relationship..........2007-09-03

I am a skeptic when it comes to self-help books, so I wasn't too excited when my husband purchased Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus for the two of us to read.
We had been together for seven years and our relationship was at an all time low. A number of things had happened and we had grown apart.

Then we read the book and saw ourselves on most of the pages. Many thoughtful and open discussions followed. It was the beginning of a recovery process which lasted a few months and has a perfect outcome. We are so close and so in love now - the centers of each others universe.

My favorite piece of advice from this book is setting time aside to spend with each other uninterrupted by TV, reading, etc. We do this at least a couple of times a week. Sometimes we just sit together in silence and relax; sometimes we discuss something trivial that's on our minds... These are perfect moments.

Obviously, it is hard for me to write all this because it is very personal. However, I sincerely hope to help another couple through this book and save them months of anguish. I wish someone had given us Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus a few months earlier.

A Classic!.......2007-08-30

Almost everything you wanted to know about the opposite sex!
Just great! A must have!

Why is this book so popular?.......2007-08-24

The reasons why this book gets two stars from me are as follows:

POSITIVE:

- Gray did make a few good, common sense points: Do nice things for your partner, don't try to fix your partner, be direct in making requests.

- Some real-life examples are true to life (such as the wife who keeps trying to coax an answer to "Is anything wrong?" out of her mate.)

NEGATIVE

- Gray is extremely self-righteous, which is very annoying.

- The book is VERY repetitive, which makes it hard to read.

- The Mars/Venus analogy gets annoying after a while.

- His gender assumptions are extremely rigid, without much room for individuality.

- Some of his examples are hair-raising: he tells the story of how his wife tore giving birth, and ran out of pain killers a week after delivery. When he came home from work, she told him that she was in pain all day and felt abandoned. His reaction? He exploded, shouted at her, and stormed off. What normal man would do such a thing??

- His dislike for the word "could" is hard to explain. He claims that "could" must be replaced with "would", or the husband will not respond to any requests.

- He claims that it is natural and important for women to fall into deep depressen regularly where childhood issues resurface and she has nohing left to give this world. If her man does not support her, she will fall into a panic. WHAT?!?

- His phrase dictionary is plain ridiculous. Here is an example: If a woman says "I am so tired, I can't do anything" a man will hear "...Picking you was a big mistake" unless he has read Gray's true interpretation. Uh-huh!

- The most offensive part of the book, though, is this assertion in the introduction: "About 10 percent of women will relate more to being from Mars. This is often simply a result of being born with higher testosterone levels than most other women." WHAT?!? If my readers don't agree with me, then they have a hormonal problem. This statement unsubstantiated, false, nonsensical, and brazen. Interestingly, he does not address the fact that some men may not find themselves in these pages, either.

Overall, the book deserves two stars, considering that it had a little bit of merit to it.

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Special Edition (Wrox Professional Guides)

Average customer rating:

Comprehensive but not in depth
Great ASP.NET 2.0 Reference
Encyclopedia of ASP.NET
A Professional Level Book in Every Way

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Special Edition (Wrox Professional Guides)
Bill Evjen , Scott Hanselman , Devin Rader , Farhan Muhammad , and Srinivasa Sivakumar
Manufacturer: Wrox
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0470041781

Book Description

ASP.NET allows web sites to display unique pages for each visitor rather than show the same static HTML pages. The release of ASP.NET 2.0 is a revolutionary leap forward in the area of web application development. It brings with it a wealth of new and exciting built-in functions that reduce the amount of code you'll need to write for even the most common applications.

With more than 50 new server controls, the number of classes inside ASP.NET 2.0 has more than doubled, and in many cases, the changes in this new version are dramatic. This book will alert you to every new feature and capability that ASP.NET 2.0 provides so that you'll be prepared to put these new technologies into action. Greatly expanded from the original best-selling Professional ASP.NET 2.0, this new special edition adds hundreds of pages of new coverage of advanced and new techniques relating to data and data sources, the provider model, personalization, membership, role management, localization, configuration, migration, and Altas.

Bonus CD-ROM and DVD
* The bonus DVD includes a 180-day trial of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional
* The accompanying CD-ROM features a valuable library of chapters from other key Wrox books. It contains more than 1,000 pages from more than 15 Wrox ASP.NET 2.0, C# 2005, VB 2005, .NET 2.0, and SQL Server 2005 books.

What you will learn from this book
* The idea of the server control and its pivotal role in ASP.NET development
* How to create templated ASP.NET pages using the new master page feature
* Techniques for debugging and handling errors
* How to work with data from enterprise databases including SQL Server 2005 and Oracle(r)
* Ways to package and deploy ASP.NET applications
* How to retrieve, update, and delete data quickly and logically
* How to implement the cultures and regions features to localize your web site into multiple languages for different visitors
* How to use the new "Altas" add-in for ASP.NET 2.0 to add Ajax-style capabilities to your ASP.NET applications
* An understanding of how to use and extend the new pro?vider model for accessing data stores, processes, and more
* How to keep track of your application's performance and health with new monitoring tools
* When and how to migrate your ASP.NET 1.x applications to 2.0

Who this book is for

This book is for experienced programmers and developers who are looking to make the transition to ASP.NET 2.0.

Wrox Professional guides are planned and written by working programmers to meet the real-world needs of programmers, developers, and IT professionals. Focused and relevant, they address the issues technology professionals face every day. They provide examples, practical solutions, and expert education in new technologies, all designed to help programmers do a better job.

This book is also available as part of the 5-book ASP.NET 2.0 Wrox Box (ISBN: 0-470-11757-5). This 5-book set includes:

Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Special Edition (ISBN: 0-470-04178-1)
ASP.NET 2.0 Website Programming: Problem - Design - Solution (ISBN: 0764584642 )
Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Security, Membership, and Role Management (ISBN: 0764596985)
Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control and Component Development (ISBN: 0471793507)
ASP.NET 2.0 MVP Hacks and Tips (ISBN: 0764597663)
CD-ROM with more than 1000 pages of bonus chapters from 15 other .NET 2.0 and SQL Server(TM) 2005 Wrox books
DVD with 180-day trial version of Microsoft(r) Visual Studio(r) 2005 Professional Edition

Customer Reviews:

Comprehensive but not in depth.......2007-03-09

This is a nice book for people who have the basic idea of ASP.NET. This Book covers almost all topics for .Net2.0 . It is a very good reference book for newbie.
Unfortunately, this book isn't in-depth for lots of topics, basically it just introduces most common cases, and you probably can't find what you want for some topics. (Eg implement Sorting and Pagation for ObjectDataSource, Crystal Report, memory management, ADO.NET in depth, .Net Virtual Machine etc). The source code is another down side for this book. Most of the code doesn't run, also the connection string wasn't right at the first place, I have to spend hours and hours to get it right.
In conclusion, it worth to buy, if you just want learn asp.net in a fast way. It will give you the solution for most tasks. Pretty good reference book.

Great ASP.NET 2.0 Reference.......2007-01-22

This is a great ASP.NET 2.0 reference book. It is absolutely packed with information covering all areas of the product. The book is also somewhat unique in that all code snippets are provided in both VB and C#, making it useful to all developers.

The authors are fantastic technical experts and speakers on .NET and ASP.NET. I think you can learn a lot from this book.

Encyclopedia of ASP.NET.......2007-01-21

Wrox is a great publisher of quick and massive volumes with multiple authors. I'm a teacher and look for good values that combine clear technical information and a broad range for a low cost. This is a good choice if you have experience with ASP.NET, know your web architecture (query strings, cookies, sessions, etc.), and don't want an extended tutorial. The reasoning for why you use these things wasn't clear but the details on how to use them exceeded most of the current fare which is why I chose to teach from the text recently. The quantity of code that was provided in VB and C# was excellent but the topics were out of order for classroom use. For the ASP.NET beginner, I feel it needs to be supplemented with a more tutorial based text and then this makes an excellent companion volume.

A Professional Level Book in Every Way.......2006-10-25

This is a monumental book. Almost sixteen hundred pages of hi-tech stuff. It is not for the faint of heart. It is intended for people who have at least a general understanding of how the web works with particular attention as to how a database driven web site is set up and works. Knowledge and experience with earlier versions of ASP (Active Server Pages) would be very helpful, but so would experience using other technologies such as Cold Fusion, PHP, or Java. Such knowledge is to provide you with the concepts of doing a dynamic web page consisting of a framework or template with the actual data being displayed coming from a database.

The book builds on this basic understanding to start with a very simple page and go on to much more complex tasks such as the building XML web services. Along the way every aspect of ASP.NET 2.0 is discussed.

ASP.NET 2.0 is the second major release of ASP.NET, Microsoft's main concept for programming dynamic web pages. The focus of the new release is on productivity. A major goal of the development team was to reduce the number of lines of code needed to program a page by two thirds. On the whole they suceeded.

In addition, the book contains two CD-ROMs. One is a 180 day trial version of Visual Studio 2005. The other has about a thousand pages from about 15 other WROX books that you may find helpful in looking up background information. The book is in reference format rather than tutorial. It will be very helpful for quite a long time.

Average customer rating:

good
XRay of men and women's thoughts
the most redundant book I have ever read

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus
John Gray
Manufacturer: Thorsons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0007152590

Customer Reviews:

good.......2007-06-13

its condition is good but it came late than i expected. because delivery time changed.

XRay of men and women's thoughts.......2007-03-05

I was really surprised to discover how well the human mind has been portraited in this book. Highly recommendable to better understand your significant other.

the most redundant book I have ever read.......2007-02-24

This book makes presents several valuable points:

--Men believe in the adage that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
A woman, on the other hand, might say that "if it ain't broke, upgrade it."
Consequently, when a woman offers advice or criticism to a man, the man could misunderstand that she considers him inadequate.

--Men like to be considered competent, whereas women like to be cherished.
This difference could result in an misunderstanding.
When a woman asks questions such as "Do you have enough cash?" or "Did you remember your umbrella?" she is treating others as she would like to be treated, but not as a man might like to be treated.

--When men share their problems, they want solutions.
When women share their problems, they want empathy.
This difference results in situations in which a woman shares her problems, the man offers solutions, and the woman becomes angry because the man "is just not listening!"
The difference could also result in a man feeling blamed for a problem whereas in fact he is not.

--A man often wants solitude when he is thinking about a problem.
A woman should be careful not to bother a man with questions at such a time.

--A woman could have mood swings for no discernible reason.
A man should respect those mood swings and not take them personally.

--When a man wants help, he asks. When a woman wants help, she doesn't.
A woman could make a mistake by offering help when a man doesn't ask.
On the other hand, a man could make a mistake by not sensing when a woman wants help.

--Women count all gifts and favors equally, regardless of size or amount.
Many small gifts and favors are better than one large, expensive gift or favor.

--If a woman asks a man for a favor and the man hesitates, she should allow a few seconds for the hesitation rather than hastily interpreting that hesitation as a refusal.

However, this is not enough information to warrant three hundred pages.

Postcards from Mars: The First Photographer on the Red Planet

Average customer rating:

Had some damage
So, who is profiting from this great book!
Mars at ours fingers
spectacular
Mars Photography - with a bonus

Postcards from Mars: The First Photographer on the Red Planet
Jim Bell
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0525949852

Book Description

The first photographic tour of the surface of another planet has now been accomplished. Those who thrilled to the lunar beauty of Full Moon and the IMAX smash Roving Mars will marvel at this awesome, vivid, beautiful portrait of what it is like to take a stroll on Mars.

The most fantastic of all journeys—the Spirit and Opportunity mobile robot missions to the surface of Mars—produced over 150,000 astonishing photographs. While the images were made available on low-resolution computer screens as they were sent back across millions of space miles, no one until now has done the painstaking work of editing, cropping, and processing these massive (often larger than 100 megabytes) images.

The person to do it is Jim Bell, the scientist and photographer who led the photography team on this historic expedition. With his unique perspective, these photographs take us from the brave launches of these robots, to the alien landscape they discovered and the mysteries of the planet that they have helped to solve.

Over 150 lavish full-color-process prints bring the colors and textures of Mars to vivid life on the page. Four of the most impressive pictures are presented in their entirety as gatefold images— which extend over three feet in width—providing a view of the surface of another planet unprecedented in its detail and clarity. Postcards from Mars is the perfect gift to give readers who have their feet on the ground and their eyes on the heavens.

Customer Reviews:

Had some damage.......2007-09-27

A beautiful book for a good price. However, the book came with a damaged corner that was not related to the packing. It should have been rated at a lower level.

In fact, this has been the only book I have ever received with this kind of damage.

So, who is profiting from this great book!.......2007-05-16

This book is simply fantastic! The photos are "out of this world". However, my only concern is that as a tax payer, who funded these missions to Mars, how is it that someone is profiting from these photos taken by United States of America vehicles? Why isn't the money from this book going to the USA to offset the cost of the mission?

Mars at ours fingers.......2007-05-16

Spirit and Opportunity rovers are in good health after
three years of hard working in freeze dusty environment.
All this history and images are excelent exposed in this
great book.

spectacular.......2007-05-15

Beautifully written and coreographed , this book is spectacular. The photos from the Mars' surface are superb. What backs up the visuals are the insightful information from an scientist who wrote the book and created it. It is very readable and has a lot of interesting information. It is not a book to instantly read through but to read in sections and savor. I am glad I found the review in USAtoday otherwise I might not have even known about it.This is my review and I think it is a great book for those who want to find and learn about Mars up close.

Mars Photography - with a bonus.......2007-05-07

I expected great photographs in this book and I was not disappointed. They are outstanding. What I didn't expect were the detailed text descriptions of the science and engineering that went into this mission. In addition to being a great coffee table book, it is also a book that I have spent many hours carefully reading. That was a bonus that I didn't expect, but one that I deeply appreciate. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this wonderful project.

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (The Leadership Network Innovation)

Average customer rating:

High growth church
Humbling, Helpful, Honest and sometimes Painful
no 3-point breakdown, or filled with theological buzz words...
I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Compelling Truths

Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church (The Leadership Network Innovation)
Mark Driscoll
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0310270162

Book Description

An inside snapshot view of the innovative Seattle church called Mars Hill and its Acts 29 network, providing--with a touch of sarcasm and humor--both principles and practices shared from the people actually doing missional church ministry with people often untouched by today’s traditional and contemporary churches.

Customer Reviews:

High growth church.......2007-06-27

Interesting review of a Seattle church that went from storefront to megachurch status in nine years. Author is as much entrepreneur as minister - much like high growth business owners, he constantly started and killed ministries, hired/fired staff accordingly, and shifted locations on a regular basis and took risks in doing so. He also identifies the types of people he wants and doesn't want as church members and shows how technology can be used to attract and communicate with parishioners.

Humbling, Helpful, Honest and sometimes Painful.......2007-06-21

This book had the interesting effect of making me laugh, wince, and take notes, sometimes all on the same page! At the end of the day, I could not put the book down. I was captivated by a transparent pastor's heart who struggled day after day to put Jesus before his city in effort to see many converted.

The book chronicles the life of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington where Mark Driscoll has been the Senior Pastor since its inception. Driscoll takes readers through the various stages of growth from a small broken down Bible study with "Indie Rockers" and "artsy" folks to a thriving megachurch of over 4,000 impacting one of the most unchurched regions in the US.

In his narrative Driscoll explains, from first hand experience, some of the gestational development of the now prominent Emergent Church. Driscoll himself was involved, and in fact a leader in, a movement in the mid-90's to mobilize missionaries to their culture, impacting them with the gospel of Christ. As this movement expanded and gained traction Driscoll had to separate himself from it:

"I had to distance myself, however, from one of the many streams in the emerging church because of the theological differences. Since the late 1990's this stream has become known as Emergent. The Emergent Church is part of the Emerging Church Movement but does not embrace the dominant ideology of the movement. Rather the emergent church is the latest version of liberalism. The only difference is that the old liberalism accommodated modernity and the new liberalism accommodates postmodernity." (p. 21)

So here Driscoll is distinquishing between Emerging and Emergent...himself clinging to the prevailing positives of the Emerging movement (missional, theological, active) while distancing himself from the atheolgoical wing of the movement (Emergent).

In many ways this book appears to be a living apologetic of the Emerging movement while distinguishing Driscoll as one of its most outspoken and able leaders. Perhaps this is why we see Driscoll speaking at a conference along with Brian McLaren, the outspoken leader of the Emergent wing.

In fact Driscoll references McLaren in Confessions:

"Although I sincerely love Brian and appreciate the kindness he has shown me, I generally disagree with many of his theological conclusions. Because he comes from a pacifistic Brethren background, such things as power and violence greatly trouble him. His pacifism seems to underlie many of our theological disagreements since he has a hard time accepting such things as the violence of penal substitutionary atonement, parts of the Old Testament where God killed people, and the concept of conscious eternal torment in hell. Curiously, it is also Brian's pacifism that makes him such a warmly engaging person who is able to speak and write about theologically controversial issues while being gracious. Ironically, my love for and disagreement with Brian are both borne out of his pacifism. But I find it curious that, from my perspective, he is using his power as a writer and speaker to do violence to Scripture in the name of pacifism." (p.99)

His point here about pacifism and violence to God's word is worth the price of the book. That is the type of silent violence that characterizes the neo-liberalism named Emergent.

I love the resolve of Driscoll throughout the book. There were resistance and trials at every bend and still God graciously moved the church and its leadership through each. In fact, Driscoll regularly attaches the growth to the respective trials. On one occasion Mars Hill tried to do concerts and preaching outside by the river and were mooned and flashed by boaters going by. This, according to Driscoll, increased interest in the community and ultimately attendance.

There are so many pages that are outright hilarious. The following is a quote concerning a worship pastor:

"I really liked Tim because he is one of the few manly men whom I have ever seen leading worship. I am not supposed to say this, but most of the worship dudes I have heard are not very dudely. They seem to be very in touch with their feelings and exceedingly chickified from playing too much acoustic guitar and singing prom songs to Jesus while channeling Michael Bolton and flipping their hair. Tim was a guy who brewed his own beer, smoked a pipe, rock climbed, mountain biked, river rafted, carried a knife in his belt, and talked about what he thought more than what he felt.

We clicked because I drive a 1978 Chevy truck that gets single digits to the gallon and has a bacon air freshener and no functioning speedometer and because I fashion myself as the self-appointed leader of a heterosexual male backlash in our overly chickified city filled with guys drinking herbal tea and rocking out to Mariah Carey in their lemon yellow Volkswagen Cabriolets while wearing fuchsia sweater vests that perfectly match their open-toed shoes." (pp. 146-7)

Mark Driscoll is definitely a guy that I would want to have at a barbecue but may be reluctant to have speak at my church...but ironically both for the same reasons.

Overall I really enjoyed the book. From a pastor's perspective it was awesome; refreshing and encouraging. The positives for this book are found in Driscoll's willingness to share the ecclesiastical lab that he has worked in for the last 15 years. Driscoll understands church, leadership and has a passion to reach and change culture for the glory of Christ.

At the same time I am reluctant to openly recommend it. Driscoll does use crass language throughout the book (which is alarming and curious in light of 1 Tim. 4.12 & Eph. 4.29), and so therefore I am not comfortable putting it on a top 10 list. At the same time, from what I have read in the blogosphere and its relative outrage of Driscoll's language, I think they have, in large part, overreacted and missed the many of the great points and lessons of the book.

Driscoll also sympathizes with Rick Warren, even crediting him with significant pastorly influence on him. This is not surprising considering Driscoll's continued affiliation with Robert Schuller and company at the Crystal Cathedral. This is curios and I do not understand why he is holding hands with these guys who are not straightforward about the truth of the gospel (Warren) and who deny the truth of the gospel (Schuller).

Driscoll also makes it clear that he is charismatic, even asserting regularly that he receives additional revelation from God, prays and speaks against demons (however, Driscoll does say that he does not speak in tongues).

As an aside, I look forward to the upcoming Desiring God Conference where Driscoll will be on the panel with conservatives such as John Piper, DA Carson & David Wells. I would love to be a fly on the wall when DA Carson and him chat about life and ministry and Driscoll mixes in a reference to Jesus as a dude....oh the diversity of the body... "Christ is all and in all" (Col. 3.11).

no 3-point breakdown, or filled with theological buzz words..........2007-06-17

I really liked the book. I like the honesty from Mark, his willingness to be vulnerable, the insights to tough situations and early challenges of building a Christ-centered Mars Hill, the humor, and its "rough draft" form. On a side note...this air filter kicks some serious butt---->Duracraft DY-012 Oscillating 3-Speed Tower Fan :>

I LOVE THIS BOOK!.......2007-06-13

No punches pulled. This not ecclesiology for those who like organs, robes, cut flowers, tapestry upholstery, "preacher voices", and Psalty.

The church is in turmoil. What should it look like in the 21st century? what is a missional church? How, exactly, are we to be salt in a no-sodium age? The story of Driscoll's planting experience with Mars Hill Church in Seattle is one that EVERY Christian should read and heed. (And no, mainstream keyboard/skit/sermonette formulas are not the answer either.) We gotta open the BIBLE, preach tough sermons that proclaim the truth in a culturally relevant way, and get over ourselves. Read this book and let's get busy...

Compelling Truths.......2007-06-10

Just so we all know, i fit comfortably within Mark's theological framework, which i understand some people struggle with. I guess i simply see it as truth and i don;t see it as being arrogant, in fact one of the things i loved about the book was Mark's refreshing honesty and humility that shines through every page.

Mark is a brilliant writer, easy to read with hilarious yet insightful stories which add to his commentary on the growth of Mars Hill. it is wonderful to hear a guy stating his full reliance upon God and belief in the power of the gospel for salvation, and then to see him living it out, mistakes and all.

For anyone younger, in particular i believe, who is considering planting churches or who is involved in frontline ministry i wholeheartedly recommend this book to you.

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band

Average customer rating:

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
One of the best books I've read lately...
A great read
Best book I've ever read!!!
Great book

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
Tommy Lee , Vince Neil , Mick Mars , Nikki Sixx , and Neil Strauss
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060989157
Release Date: 2002-07-09

Book Description

The most influential, enduring, and iconic metal band of the 1980's reveals everything a tell–all of epic proportions.

This unbelievable autobiography explores the rebellious lives of four of the most influential icons in American rock history.

Motley Crue was the voice of a barely pubescent Generation X, the anointed high priests of backward–masking pentagram rock, pioneers of Hollywood glam, and the creators of MTV's first ⯯wer ballad.⟔heir sex lives claimed celebrities from Heather Locklear to Pamela Anderson to Donna D ᄲ rico. Their scuffles involved everyone from Axl Rose to 2LiveCrew. Their hobbies have included collecting automatic weapons, cultivating long arrest records, pushing the envelope of conceivable drug abuse, and dreaming up backstage antics that would make Ozzy Osbourne blanch with modesty.

Provocatively written and brilliantly designed, this book includes over 100 photos, many never before published, for the most exciting and insightful look ever into the Crue.

Customer Reviews:

The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band.......2007-10-13

I am not into any music really. My favorite reading is autobiographies. I am older than any of the authors of this book. My daughter was cleaning her house and lent me this book to read. I thought "oh sure, what do I want to read this for" but I took it anyway. That was less than a week ago. Once I opened it I hated to put the book down. I finished it last night and now wonder if there will ever be The Dirt II.

One of the best books I've read lately..........2007-10-11

If you are a Motley Crue fan or just a rock n roll fan in general, this book is a definite read for you. I read it in 2 days, I just couldn't put it down it was that good. I thought the most interesting person in the book was Nikki Sixx (wow, the things he went through in his life will amaze you that he IS still alive). Read the book, I don't think you will be disappointed. Great read!!

A great read.......2007-10-09

I just finished reading the book The Dirt, a semi-autobiography of the 80's band Motley Crue. It's a great read that is pretty mesmorizing. All four band members write about their childhood, the crazy period where they become the most famous band in America and then the post-fame period where they turn to drugs and amazingly hot chicks.

The middle section of the book is how the Crue got from a great live act to becoming a hit. They were constantly selling out shows on the LA Strip but none of the record labels wanted to sign them to a record deal. This was the early 80's and the entire industry thought that New Wave was the thing to be and Rock was dead. A 20-year old intern at Electra convinced the head of A&R to let him sign them. They then rel-released their first album and went on the next year to sell 5 million records. Even with that success, the label wanted to drop them because they didn't like their image. After the next year when they were the top selling artist of the year did Electra decide to stick with them.

Throughout the book Nikki Sixx emerges as the only one who understood what the band's direction was. He wrote most of the songs and consciously decided they should be a crossover from hard rock to mainstream. He also seems to be the glue that held the band together. He also was dating Lita Ford for most of their early days but eventually broke up when they went on tour for 18 months. They toured with Ozzy, who was even crazier than they were. He eventually married Baywatch star Donna D'Errico.

You also read how much drugs they took in both their early days. They were constantly doing coke, heroin, and anything else they could get their hands on. As a result they destroyed almost everything in the path and they hooked up with anything that moved. Both Nikki Sixx and Tommy Lee overdosed and almost died, Vince Neil got into 3 drunk driving accidents, and Mick is a full-blown alcoholic even today.

You also read about Tommy Lee's marraige to Heather Locklear and Pamela Anderson (who he dated for only 4 days before they were married). Also about Vince's solo band and all the tragedies they've encountered along the way.

The beginning is pure rock and roll and the end is just sad. You would never think that their lives would be so hard but they all really struggle just to make it day to day. I guess a bunch of ego and booze and drugs will do that to you.

Note: i just saw here they're making a movie from the book with Val Kilmer and Christopher Walker rumored to play Ozzy and David Lee Roth.

Best book I've ever read!!!.......2007-09-30

Art is a piece of work that moves you & this book did. I laughed, I was disgusted, I even cried. This is twenty years of a band strugling though fights, overdoses, suicide attempts, mariages, deaths, prison (it's all here!). I love how the story is told by different people so you can hearing everybody's version of what happened (crazy how everybody remebers things differently). You get to hear what happened behind closed doors & what wasn't in the tabloids. It truly was an awesome read - very hard to put down!

Great book.......2007-09-18

From page one your are on a journey, as told by each memeber of the band, from the worst part of L.A. and Motley Crue's beginnings, to their rise to super stardom in the world of rock and roll. I was never much of a Crue fan when they were in their prime, but as I got older, I started to like their music and enjoyed reading about their beginning and the typical crazy road that most rock stars take.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Microsoft Windows Group Policy Guide (Pro-One-Offs)

Average customer rating:

Great Book, lots of solid information.
Just what I needed
number one book I now use
Thanks
EVERYTHING you'd ever want to know about group policy

Microsoft Windows Group Policy Guide (Pro-One-Offs)
Darren Mar-Elia , Derek Melber , William R. Stanek , The Microsoft Group Policy Team , and D. Melber
Manufacturer: Microsoft Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0735622175

Customer Reviews:

Great Book, lots of solid information........2007-04-10

This is a well written book. There is a ton of good information regarding group policy that you will not find anywhere else. The book comes with a resource CD which contains the book in PDF format, which is nice to have. I would recommend this as a must for any windows admin.

Just what I needed.......2007-01-19

I have found this book to be a great resource as I customize our network/station access. It is well written.

number one book I now use.......2006-10-13

After visiting Darren's website and exchanging emails, I bought the book. Sure I've got other GPO books on the shelf (and the table and the floor) but this book as quickly became "THE" number one book I use. Just in the first few days with this book, I was able to resolve 4 of those annoying non-critical items that mean nothing to end-users but annoyed me every time I saw it occur. And in the days after that, I was not only able to get many other backlogged GP items resolved, but even threw in some razzle as well. I especially found their discussion of the GPMC and RSOP modeling very helpful - I've been struggling to master both (and with those other books) and with the short time with the book, I've picked up both quickly. I'm by no means a master on this (yet) but getting there quickly and this book has and will help. Writing style is short, crisp and to the point - the kind I like. The only negative is that my co-workers keep stealing it! :)

Thanks.......2006-03-14

I made a great purchase in Amazon, the books are brilliant and delivery was very fast.

EVERYTHING you'd ever want to know about group policy.......2005-10-25

I got this because it was recommended to me. Plus I couldn't live without Stanek's Windows Server 2003 Inside Out and he's a coauthor of this so I was fairly certain it would be worthwhile. Initially, I spent most of my time in the first few chapters as will most admins. The first chapter covers how group policy works with solid depiction of default policy and what it should/shouldn't be used for. The next chapter drills into everything you need to know about GPO creation, linking, delegation, RSoP, and GPMC. Chapter 3 is where I finally learned how GP processing and refresh work from low to high - something even Moskowitz's book doesn't do a good job of detailing. There's also detailed discussion on copy, import, backup, and restore - again something not covered well in Moskowitz's book. Chapter 4 is about deploying Group Policy with design considerations, best practices, and migration details. Chapter 5 is about hardening clients and servers using policy. I would have paid the cover price for these 5 chapters (200+ pages) alone. The rest of the book drills chapter by chapter into nearly every area of policy, policy optimization, policy customization (550+ pages).

Rawsome!: Maximizing Health, Energy, and Culinary Delight with the Raw Foods Diet

Average customer rating:

really great and well researched book!
Pick up a blender, a dehydrator, a food processor, and this book!
Pretty Good
Very good for Raw Beginners
Great Book!

Rawsome!: Maximizing Health, Energy, and Culinary Delight with the Raw Foods Diet
Brigitte Mars
Manufacturer: Basic Health Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Nutrition | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 1591200601

Book Description

A raw foods diet advocates exactly that: raw foods. No cooking, no grilling, no steaming, no application of heat of any kind. Why? Because eating food closest to its natural state engenders a tremendous exchange of energy between food and body. The result, over time, is a feeling of buoyant, radiant health. Tackling head-on the skepticism likely to greet proponents of what the world sees as a "fad" diet, renowned nutritionist and long-time raw-foods adherent Brigitte Mars presents historical data, case studies, and scientific evidence confirming the efficacy of raw foods diets in: Increasing energy levels Boosting immune system function Improving digestive function Dispelling depression Supporting emotional stability Clearing the skin Sustaining overall good health In addition, Mars points out the environmental benefits of the raw foods diet, making a case for eating raw foods as a means of reducing waste, making the most of agricultural practice, and reducing the human footprint on the earth. Whether the reader wants to jump right into an all-raw diet or just wants to introduce more raw foods into the diet, Mars offers gentle encouragement and practical instruction. Readers will find advice on planning a balanced diet to meet their nutritional needs, combining foods for best effect, preserving raw foods, equipping the raw kitchen, sprouting, juicing, and every other technique that makes the raw foods diet simple, delicious, and healthful. In-depth profiles describe the nutritional and health benefits of hundreds of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seasonings. Perhaps most important, Mars provides more than 200 kitchen-tested, real-people-approved raw foods recipes. Under Mars_s instruction, readers will enjoy making everything from juices and shakes to salads, soups, dressings, yogurts, crackers, spreads, dips, vegetable burgers, curries, vegetable pastas, wraps, and more.

Customer Reviews:

really great and well researched book!.......2007-09-04

Out of all the books on Raw Foods I have read and recipes I have implemented, this book by far exceeds the standards of research I was expecting. The book gives decidedly more detailed information on nutritional, vitamin, mineral and green living approaches along with great Tips to hone any raw foodists repertoire. It is very carefully written as well for the newbie to raw food and goes slowly to educate you on the best approaches. I have found the recipes to be delicious and quite easy to create even for the novice. Kudos to Brigitte Mars!

Pick up a blender, a dehydrator, a food processor, and this book!.......2007-05-12

As a fourteen year veteran of vegan living, I recently began the transition into a raw diet. Rawsome! has been very instrumental in my learning process, and recipes that I hadn't dreamed possible are deliciously spread through the pages. From general preparation principles to cakes to almond "cheese", this book is a fundamental 'must have' for vegetarian raw foodists.

*I would recommend picking up sprout bags, a dehydrator (w/sheets), and a blender and/or food processor to help along with general food preparations.

Pretty Good.......2007-05-12

Some of the recipes are great and some of them are terrible. I have not found a recipe for the dehydrater that tastes good and wish I never bought one.

Very good for Raw Beginners.......2007-05-02

This is my first Raw title and I quite enjoyed it! It lays out information in an easy to follow structure and the content was very informative. She gives an account of her personal experience followed by what raw living is and isn't, reasons to go raw, how to equip your raw kitchen, eating with your family and friends etc. A lot of this info is very useful. The encyclopedia would be good for those who don't know a lot about the foods around them. Luckily I have a copy of the Doctor's Book of Food Remedies which is very comprehensive and it also tallies with what I have read in this book although this book adds some that I wasn't familiar with. I have not tried any of the recipes as yet (time constraints) but I HAVE read through all of them. Most of the ingredients seemed very accessible until I got to two of the recipes in the dessert section which called for 'agar flakes'... ??? Needless to say a more experienced raw foodist would know what they are and where to find them. If you have no clue you could just omit them or nix those recipes from your experiment list :)

I like that she gives little tips throughout the book like what to use in place of rice, variations on flax crackers, sandwich ideas etc. I also love that in her recipes she tells you the shelf/fridge life of the products and where the best place is to store some of them.

If the book is so great why did you minus a star?? - 1. Many of the recipes call for tahini and although it may be readily available to a lot of people, I have found some very simple recipes online for it so it would have been useful to include a recipe here in the book for those who would have found this product unable to obtain or who would prefer to make their own at home 2. A LOT of the recipes contain salt (which to be fair can be omitted) and since I haven't used salt since the early 90s, it's something I noticed especially. Instead of salt I flavour my food with fresh minced garlic, onion and chives which salt sensitve individuals can try. (This can possibly be dried and stored but I've never tried it so can't say how that works) 3. A lot of recipes call for Nama Shoyu which again may not be accessible to everyone so an alternative seasoning could be provided.

On the whole I'm glad I purchased the title and would definitely recommend it to anyone who's interested in purchasing.

Great Book!.......2007-04-06

Rawsome is great for beginners because it has tons of nutritional information that is thoroughly researched. The book doesn't feed you all the junk science many other recipe books do and it also has great recipes! This book is a great addition to everyones raw library. The book has a sprout chart for a guide, it also has a seasonal chart for when some vegetables and fruits are in season. This recipe book has references in the back so you can always go check out other books and websites. I found the information to be very beneficial. If you need a book with more than recipes and don't feel like reading tons of testimonials and junk science this book is for you!

An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Average customer rating:

An Anthropologist on Mars
Brilliant, But Blind To Childhood And Prenatal Emotional Trauma
the mind is fascinating
An Awesome Romp Through the Pluriverse.
Second the motion Broadening our sense of the 'human'

An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales
Oliver Sacks
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Neuropsychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0679756973
Release Date: 1996-02-13

Amazon.com

The works of neurologist Oliver Sacks have a special place in the swarm of mind-brain studies. He has done as much as anyone to make nonspecialists aware of how much diversity gets lumped under the heading of "the human mind."

The stories in An Anthropologist on Mars are medical case reports not unlike the classic tales of Berton Roueché in The Medical Detectives. Sacks's stories are of "differently brained" people, and they have the intrinsic human interest that spurred his book Awakenings to be re-created as a Robin Williams movie.

The title story in Anthropologist is that of autistic Temple Grandin, whose own book Thinking in Pictures gives her version of how she feels--as unlike other humans as a cow or a Martian. The other minds Sacks describes are equally remarkable: a surgeon with Tourette's syndrome, a painter who loses color vision, a blind man given the ambiguous gift of sight, artists with memories that overwhelm "real life," the autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire, and a man with memory damage for whom it is always 1968.

Oliver Sacks is the Carl Sagan or Stephen Jay Gould of his field; his books are true classics of medical writing, of the breadth of human mentality, and of the inner lives of the disabled. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Book Description

To these seven narratives of neurological disorder Dr. Sacks brings the same humanity, poetic observation, and infectious sense of wonder that are apparent in his bestsellers Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. These men, women, and one extraordinary child emerge as brilliantly adaptive personalities, whose conditions have not so much debilitated them as ushered them into another reality.

Customer Reviews:

An Anthropologist on Mars.......2007-03-08

If you are interested at all in brain research, you will find this book fascinating.
The author celebrates the human strength to overcome disabilities and the true creative drive that may be buried in each of us. I highly recommend this book for learning and also for inspiration.

Brilliant, But Blind To Childhood And Prenatal Emotional Trauma.......2006-12-17

Although I don't agree with many of Oliver Sacks's conclusions, I found this fascinating book a worthwhile read. It is packed with superior case material - and largely presented in a very readable format (and unlike in some of his other books, he reins in his footnotes!). Some of the chapters, like "Prodigies" or "An Anthropologist On Mars" or "To See Or Not To See," are downright brilliant and provide wonderful and unusual insights into the workings of the human brain - and the universals of human experience. Other chapters (such as "The Colorblind Painter" and "The Landscape Of His Dreams") are weak and drag on, rehashing the same relatively minute points ad nauseum.

Overall, however, Sacks's main weakness is his lack of understanding of emotions, particularly the emotional dynamics between parents and children. He does occasionally wax eloquent about emotional states and spirituality, but this comes across more as an intellectualization of emotions than a truly deep grasp of them. He has little respect for their power to mold neurological development, and sidesteps his own data that point in this direction. To me this is shoddy science, and he failed to convince me of his foregone conclusion that disorders like autism and Tourette's syndrome are neurological in origin.

In his chapter on Tourette's, Sacks presents a surgeon who appears to be acting out a huge degree of repressed hostility through his unconsciously motivated peculiarities. Sacks even opens the door a crack into why the surgeon might do it - that he was adopted and painfully isolated as a child, and it's not hard to speculate that he might be totally enraged at his rotten lot in early childhood life, and yet unable to express this appropriate anger through healthy avenues of expression, because that would only earn him MORE rejection. So instead (my gut tells me, though I lack the data to take it further) he acted it out through Tourette's. But Sacks never touches this one with a ten foot pole, or even speculates as to this possibility, and instead just idealizes this man for his bizarre outbursts, his violence, his hostility toward his own children, his terrible boundaries, and his occasional ability to rein in his symptoms and function super-normally. Had the surgeon not been so high functioning, and people not put up with his oddness and general offensiveness, I highly doubt Sacks would be putting him on such a pedestal.

But I really question Sacks's confidence in stating that autism has nothing to do with childhood trauma. My gut tells me that at least some autistic children were emotionally traumatized in early childhood or in the womb, and were reacting on a primal level to their mothers' emotional pathology. Every fetus reacts to maternal emotional pathology - and emotional health - at some level, and I feel the autistic response is just an ultra-extreme one, like the crème de la crème of a schizoid response, so much so that the parts of the fetal brain that develop healthy emotional relating and expression and self-reflection become stunted or dead. My viewpoint might be difficult to prove, but I see it as less difficult to prove than Sacks's neurological etiology, which he defends in the most convenient way of all - by not even considering any opposing points of view.

But in a world hell-bent on minimizing the blame on mothers for their children's problems, it makes sense why Sacks can get away with turning such a blind eye.

the mind is fascinating .......2006-12-09

on the whole i'd say the book was very good. i agree with previous reviewers that some chapters were more interesting than others, but all were well written and really described the situations beyond the hard science. i liked that he didnt delve too far in to explaining why patients behaved the way they did, i.e., didnt go on and on about dysfunctional neurons and brain injuries. it was neat to see that dr sacks stayed in contact with the people he wrote about/studied and to see their progression or regression.

An Awesome Romp Through the Pluriverse........2006-07-27

"Anthropologist on Mars" begins with a quote by geneticist J.B.S. Haldane - a quote that so beautifullly sums up the book's aim as to bear repeating:

"The universe is not only queerer than we imagine, but queerer than we can imagine."

Oliver Sacks's seven paradoxical tales aim at showing us just that. We are offered a mere glimpse of the neurological pluriverse and, in so witnessing, become able to appreciate just how 'queer' human nature can be.

Other reviewers have gone into great detail about the outline of each story, so I will leave that to them. What I wish to point out to prospective readers is Sack's ability, through his tales, to make the ordinary things about our brains that we take for granted, appear unique, fragile, and more special than we might have thought.

For instance, we witness two stories dealing with sight. First, we explore the case of a painter who loses ALL sense of color late in life. We also see its opposite - a blind man given sight late in life.

In the first case, we get a real sense of how integral the sense of color is for life. We watch this man describe how the world becomes infinitely duller and less interesting when all one can see is shades of gray. He is driven almost to suicide! In the next tale, we see how astonishingly hard it is to 'learn to see' and all the things the brain must do to achieve this (which becomes all the harder the older one is).

We also meet some folks who are autistic and, as such, lack the social instincts and abstraction that we who have them take for granted. Imagine, if you can, having to learn social rules (such things as body language, vocal inflection, and sense of humor) like one would learn algebra - not instinctually, but intellectually. And imagine being mystified by ideas like romantic love and the beauty of music. Temple Grandin - in the final of Sacks tales - shows us what this is like.

Through all of this, Sacks takes on the role not only of a neurologist and story teller, but of a philosopher. The philosopher takes the ordinary and puts it under a microscope to show us how breath-taking it really is. Just because most of us - the impaired call us neurotypicals - have brains that smoothly operate thus and so, does not mean that we all do. Some, like Virgil, have to work hard at seeing such basic things as 2D represntations of 3D objects. Others, like Temple Grandin, have to work at understanding the idea of sociality.

All in all, this is a stunning book that will make you think and marvel. Dare I say, if you are like me, you will never look at the human brain with quite the same lens as you did before.

Second the motion Broadening our sense of the 'human'.......2006-01-12

I recommend Dennis Littrell's review of this book on this site.He outlines clearly what the book is about, and gives us the basic story of each of the seven chapters, the seven cases that make up the book. He headlines his review 'extraordinary genius' and I share this feeling about Oliver Sachs.
What I find most remarkable about Sachs' work is his ability to patiently study, and work to help people who seem lost completely. Instead of being as most of us are repelled by these kind of often 'freakish abnormalities ' Sachs in studying the people and recounting their cases , makes their stories 'human'. He extends in a certain way our conception of what the human is, and increases our sense of how remarkable the human mind is.
He is also a most moving author whose human sympathy and compassion inspire.

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