Open

This is a wonderful collection of short chapters, or at times paragraphs, of tips for therapists gathered from a long and illustrious career of an intelligent and thoughtful psychiatrist.
At times, one wonders if these aren't just common sense; why write about them? But if you're familiar with the sad state of American psychotherapy and its erosion by the modern label-em-and-packege-em health care system along with the frighteningly narcissistic and selfish crop of therapists being turned out, then you'll understand why Yalom's 'Open Letter' is in great need. Freudian psychology and all its subjective claptrap are certainly dead artifacts of the past century, but the compassionate rules of what WORKS in therapy have been captured by Yalom. He's done this before three decades ago in a heavier work called, "Existential Psychotherapy". Yalom deals mainly with the here-and-now, with the full compassion ('with'-'suffering') of another person in helping them find their own path. And as Thomas Paine said "...for what path could be better?"
Yalom brings smart humanity and humbleness to the art of therapy. His little stories are quite enjoyable even if you are not interested in the technique of therapy. His "Open Letter" could've easily been addressed to anyone.

This is the latest book by Irvin Yalom, whose books I've been following over the years. From the very first page of the introduction, Yalom's writing is gripping & right to the point. He mentions turning 70 years old, which has made him feel a need to "pass on" his knowledge & some of his experience to younger generations of therapists & patients. This is what he tries to do in this substantial book, a book of tips, long on technique & short on theory (as Yalom himself says).

Each "tip" that Yalom gives comes from years of experience & in most cases, makes perfect sense. Something that should be noted is that his book is not written, I think, for the non-psychologically trained reader. It's aimed towards psychotherapists, & tries to steer them in the direction of good choices & good therapeutic work with clients / patients. Most tips may seem like common sense to most psychologists / psychotherapists, but if you think a little bit more about them, most of them are not used as often as they should be. Also, apart from the more obvious tips, Yalom offers a whole range of extremely innovative (& maybe some times controversial) pieces of advice. These chapters alone are, in my opinion, well worth the price of the book, since they make you sit down & think.

All in all, a great reference book for psychotherapists which comes alive through wonderful, clear writing, & lots of lively clinical examples.

Psychiatrist and Stanford Professor Yalom does it again in this existential psychotheraputic tip sheet designed for counselors and therapists (as well as therapists in training). With more than 80 one- to four- page "chapters" in just 250 pages, it's like having the "therapist's therapist" on your shoulder. This is Yalom's swan song and is grounded in more than thirty-five years of experience in facing life with clients in the here and now. Mazel Tov!

My wife and I first went to Tahiti in 1976.Since that time we have bought land and built our vacation home on Moorea,and will always love French Polynesia.We have read almost every guide book ever published and Jan's book is at the very top of the list.Don't go to Tahiti without it as it covers all the questions you will have.This book is much better than the coconut radio for information.

Jan Prince does an amazing job depicting the islands we visited. I am so glad I picked her book up first. It is quite thorough (even though dated as the US dollar's value has changed). I have to agree with her suggestions of "The Best Hotels". We stayed in Hotel Bora Bora, Kia Ora Sauvage, and the Manihi Pearl Beach Resort and had experiences beyond compare. Ms. Prince also mentions several Polynesian residents (ie. boat owners and hotel managers, and a multitalented Patrick on Bora Bora) who we had the good fortune to meet. I also used Lonely Planet and Hidden Tahiti to research our vacation, both useful but I learned the most from Ms. Prince. I only regret it's size; I chose to bring Lonely Planet with me because it weighed less.

This wonderful book has been highly recommended by my Tahiti specialist Jean-Louis aka Meherio from FlyTahiti.com.
The suggestion to purchase this book was found on Polynesianislands.com Tahiti forum with many similar recommendations from long time Tahiti travelers.
According to our travel agent, this book could almost have been the only thing to pack prior to our trip with the children, great advice and suggestions that helped us to keep within our family budget and maximize the fun. We also loved the restaurant suggestions on Moorea like, Le Bateau restaurant or the children's favorite, the Aito restaurant near the Sheraton.
This book stays on my desk in the office as to keep our promise to return and try the Fare Hamara which we could only see from the road, as it appears to be the true flavor of life on Moorea by Bali Hai! This book is must for any traveler to read before and after visiting Tahiti and her islands!
DPK

I was first exposed to Ned Hallowell's writing and his work in the Harvard Business Review article, "The Human Moment". What struck me then and again after reading this latest work is how much of Ned's insight on relationships applies to our business lives and how we manage relationships with associates and customers. There's no question that Dr. Hallowell has hit on one of life's real opportunities -- the chance to make true connections. This book helps us to understand and appreciate the value these relationships bring to ourselves and our families. What the world of business often lacks is a sense of how relationships are the key to our success and that we need a strategy and a process to do it successfully. Ned has uncovered a very compelling message with the evidence to support it! I'll have the opportunity to hear him speak at a conference in Minneapolis next week and can't wait to have a "human moment" with the author of this masterfully written book.

I loved Dr. Hallowell's book, "Connect", and I want to recommend it strongly. Like most excellent ideas, it seems deceptively simple at first, i.e. people feel better when they are connected to other people and to institutions and ideas, than they do when they isolate themselves. But as a counselor who has worked with runaway, homeless, and delinquent youth for the past 17 years, I can attest to the fact that this simple idea is not necessarily an obvious one. I have seen countless angry and despairing families who feel that their problems are so shameful that they have isolated themselves from all who might have helped them...extended family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and their religious leaders. Children who have been abused within their families feel alienated from all adults, and therefore seek support in gangs or drugs. What helps these youth and families is when they begin to reach out and tell their problems to others, and if they had followed Dr. Hallowell's guidance, their connections with friends and families might have helped them long before the problems became serious. When Dr. Hallowell talks about his own childhood problems and relationships he reveals that he knows that relationships can be painful as well as rewarding. I appreciate his courage in talking about his own childhood instead of staying safe and intellectual. It is this courage of his, far more than his degrees, that helps me understand and believe what he says. "Connect" is readable and wise. The world would be a better place if everyone read the book and followed its precepts.

This is an excellent writing. Dr. Hallowell's incite and awareness of the human need for connecting in all, and any, walks of life is of most important to the human race to enable us to better relate to the entire world...NEAR AND FAR!!!

It's much more fun to follow NASCAR now that I know the stories behind the racers and the events,and the history of the sport. This book is a fast, fun read! I've given this book as gifts with good results.

'Wide open' gives you an up close and personal look into the lives of three NASCAR drivers. It allows you to feel the emotions felt by some of the drivers. You get a chance to know them personally and as a result you realize that they are real people with a heart. You are given a chance to see the business side of NASCAR, how it came to be and the men that made NASCAR what it is today. As you read, you will become so involved in the lives of our NASCAR ledgends that the thought of putting the book down is impossible. You will laugh and cry as you read. Once you've finished the book, you will have bonded with the heros of NASCAR racing. Enjoy!

Amazing! A true page turner! I never imaged what a nascar driver goes through in a typical season. The book truely captures the essence of nascar. I will recommend this book to all my friends.

I read this collection of life stories and events with an admitedly negative attitude toward it because of my dislike of the first book of this collection. Nevertheless, I thought that this volume was even worse than it's predicessor. I don't believe that this book has any literary value to it at all. It most certainly didn't make me feel better about my life. Personally I believe that these events are things that happen to everyone in their lifetime. Merely reading about them AGAIN had even less appeal to me than it did the first time.

I read this book in a low period of my life, when my feath in humanity was at it worst. Every stories of this book stired up my emotions, and even brought up some tears, (sometime at the wrong place: since sometimes I read at work between customers. When a customer walked in and wondered why I was crying, I simply replied that I was reading the nicest story book, and I gived them a small resume of the story. Most of the time the person is interested to read the book. So I give them the title and the author.) Or at home, when I want to relax after a busy day, I read some stories. The problem is that I can not put the book down until I read it all. When I go to the library, I look for new books from the same serie. It' s a real addiction!... But a good addition, because it lifts up the spirit

i loved all the stories esspecialy the one on life and love. this book is one i could read over and over again.

I read this book for my Political Science course... Excellent reading of facts that obviously won't make the corporate propaganda newspapers... How can anyone ignore the hundreds of thousands of the innocent Iraqis that have died as a result of the inhumane sanctions? And the reasons for the sanctions - violation of UN resolutions... resolutions in which the main offenders, United States and Israel, go unpunished.... Such crimes against humanity are enough to make an athiest into a beleiver in an Ultimate Judgement...

Chomsky and Clark deserve credit for risking their reputations that'll undoubtedly be smeared by propaganda slanderers....

As for the commenter below... Of course the Holocaust is "the most heavily documented event in history"... Its been the subject of the grossest revisions in history.. 50 years from now, people will still be documenting their experiences in the Holocaust...

I am writing in response to the first review here. I just want to say that every intellectual person in the world takes Professor Chomsky seriously. I live in Canada and I remember that in each of his lectures in Toronto there was enormous attendance to listen to him. He is the conscience of the West. He is a person who did not sell himself to the corporations. You can read this book and learn a lot about U.S. foreign policy and its impacts in the lives of people around the world and especially Middle East. After reading this book without any bias you can demand that US foreign policy makers and their suppurates should be charged for crimes against humanity.

This is like one of my first times reading a book like this and It was very insightful and I am very much looking forward to reading more from choamsky in the future. If you don`t agree with the positions taken you will definitely get some interesting facts and I was actually impressed that the issue of Islam religion verses Jews and Christian religion is not really mentioned at all here and by the subject matter you might have thought that that would carry the whole discussion. Very much looking forward to hearing more from this guy.

I thought self hypnosis was all about, "sit down, relax, take a deep breath and space out." I was wrong. This book is a life changer! It is so practical.

The authors start out explaining just what hypnosis is and how it works. They sort of take the mystery and magic out of it...like seeing how a magic trick works, and then show you how to use your mind as a theater or TV screen to change all the pictures in your mind.

I really didn't expect to learn how to control pain. I bought the book because Hogan cowrote it and I was absolutely 100% happy with what I'm learning about self confidence, weight control and reducing pain. I probably will never use the section on have a child with hypnosis. Hee hee.

This is a really remarkable book about something everyone should use!

This is Kevin Hogan's best book to date. No doubt his collaboration with co-author MaryLee LaBay added some punch. Hogan has a way of writing about complex things in a very simple way and he has outdone himself here. Chapters on Pain Control, Learning, Childbirth, Self Esteem, Weight Loss are all top drawer. The foundation for self hypnosis laid in the first several chapters is well done and again, easy to understand. This one is a winner.

I was concerned that this might be another boring book about self hypnosis but it was nothing of the kind. This book is new and fresh.
The authors start off by explaining just what hypnosis is. (I was a bit surprised by how common trance is in every day life!)

Then they go through many of the common ways that self hypnosis can help people. Memory enhancement, learning, smoking, weight loss, self esteem, pain control. It was all here.

This book is much better than most of the stuff you pick up off the shelves that tell you to sit back and relax and veg out for a half hour. I thought the approach to hypnosis was innovative and exciting.

Five stars plus!

With the whispering assassin, Diehl has created a verysatisfying hero. Christian Hatcher is the strong, silent type who is also a gentle, caring lover. He's a fairly simple - even gullible - character, driven for most of his life by other people's ambitions and machinations, but finally starting to realise his own value to himself.

Nonetheless, he is set on an adventure by the one person he really wants to see either dead, or in jail: the self-same man who framed nhim and sent him to Lops Boxes.

But who is manipulating whom? The plot thickens. There's a man-eating tiger, there are scenes of insane barbarity and passages of tender intimacy.

One note: you'll have to put yourself firmly into the '80s, when the action happens.

The plot, as I said, is convoluted, although based on a simple premise: Hatcher, a man wronged, is asked by his betrayer to find an old friend, the son of a respected, dying General.

Great stuff. Another book I've stopped lending out...

First among equals? Yes. I've enjoyed all William Diehl's books - but this is his best, by a short whisker. Buy it. It's a great read.

As you read this story you will find that Christian hatcher is a man that was pulled from his prision cell to complete his role in the middle of a large and complex puzzle of spies thieves and drug lords. This story moves like a well written movie, all the splendor of the orient are displayed here. William Diehl one of the best modern writers outdoes himself, he creates a world that captures the imagination and takes the reader beyond excitement. The book is a must read for lovers of action hero types. Christian hatcher can match wits with Sherlok Holmes, has the finesse of James Bond and the destructive indifferent side of the terminator, three traits that are very difficult to mesh together in a single story or character. To william Diehl, thank you for writing such a captivating book, Outstanding writing, keep up the good work.

This was the first Diehl's book I bought at college bookstore when I was a college student in late 80's (since the book was written in 1987, I probably bought it during that year or after). After I finished the book, I just loved it! That lead me to buy and read all of Diehl's books afterwards. All of his books or most were good. I bought a used Thai Horse book at used bookstore today because I wanted to read it again. I guess I just love Hatcher's character and perservence and that he never gave up hope.

I've had this Bible for a while, but I no longer use it. The notes are not that informative. There's not much information in this Bible. I find it to be lacking in many areas. This is my personal reaction. When I first received it, I thought it was a a nice Bible, but upon serious study, I changed my mind.

I was reading the reviews of this Bible and found two which troubled me. You see, I believe that this is an excellent study Bible, I own one and am contemplating the purchase of another. The study aids and references are easily found and easy to read. It increased my understanding of God's word quite a lot. In fact my 12 year old sister likes this Bible because she understands the language better than in a KJV, however the changing of a few words seems to offend some of the readers of this Bible. In later reviews they refer to the changing of the word black in Song of Solomon 1:5 to dark. This is a perfectly acceptable translation of the word when one considers the translation from Hebrew to english can be dusky which is dark while not necessarily black. And in the second complaint from Song of Solomon 5:11 which is about being bushy headed. The original Hebrew word is translated as vibrating and pendulous meaning wavy and long. I see no problem with either translation. Please check your references before you slam an excellent and helpful translation of God's word. (I checked mine in the Strong's Concordance. It translates from the original Hebrew and Greek which our Bible was written in.)

I have found this Bible study the most exelerating and refreshing
enrichment since I have been studying the Bible. Everything you want to know is there! and more. I normally buy a discouse by a historian scholar but this kept my interest.

Gretel Ehrlich does for the state of Wyoming what other writers have done for other states: Terry Tempest Williams for Utah, Robert Michael Pyle for Washington, Bernd Heinrich for Maine, Jennifer Price for California, Scott Russell Sanders for Indiana. She has given it a space on the literary map. In this book she makes no really brilliant discoveries, which isn't surprising given that she is a relative newcomer to the ranch life she attempts to describe. She can be faulted, I think, for her idealized depiction of the lifestyle and landscape on a Wyoming ranch, and she never addresses some of the hard issues, such as reconciling the ranchers' alleged intimacy with the land with their pillage of that same land. But the prose is beautiful, and her insights about people and landscape are sound. I would tentatively recommend this book, but if you haven't read anything by Terry Tempest Williams, read her books first.

In these essays about Wyoming, the imagery of mountain and plain and weather calls to mind the sweeping landscapes of John Ford movies. Ehrlich, born and raised in California, retains her outsider's eye for detail, and is able to translate the perspective of someone trained in documentary filmmaking very effectively into the medium of words.

Her portrayal of the men who work in this environment is very different from the stereotypes we know from Marlboro ads, "Bonanza," and movie westerns. She finds cowboys often tender-hearted, quirky, and curiously courtly. Not to be outdone by the men in this world of extremes and hard work, the women she meets and befriends are tough-minded and independent. Completing her picture are the Native Americans, whom she portrays respectfully and with an ironic appreciation for incongruity, as they both recover and reinvent a lost heritage.

Hers is also a personal story. Beginning with the wrenching death of a close male friend, it recounts in her growing love for Wyoming and its people the discovery of a new life. And while her book is no heart-on-the-sleeve display of pain and recovery, one senses at almost every step the healing process that underlies the words. As slender as a book of poems, this volume of essays calls out to be read slowly and savored, word for word.

Gretel Erlich was a poet and filmmaker when she first came to Wyoming in 1976. She was so taken with everything about the place that she became a cowherd, which gave her time to write about the American West. Reading her books, however, is very much like seeing a film, for her filmmaker's eye and awareness of nuance and gesture is evident in the way she chooses her words.
In The Solace of Open Spaces, Erlich presents us with an eclectic bunch of frontier characters that she met while working as a ranch hand. Almost unaware of what's been accomplished, we readers find ourselves shedding former stereotypes of these people in exchange for seeing them for what they are: unique, quirky, interesting, inexplicable men and women. The Weather (and the word deserves that capital letter, as you'll see upon reading the book) plays as large a role as the people in Ehrlich's book.
About the title: When she arrived in Wyoming, Erlich was grieving the death of someone important to her. As she works hard at physical labor, meets new people, falls in love with the land, and sheds her past like sweat running down her back, healing from grief occurs - although she doesn't exactly say this.
Altogether, a beautiful book and a wonderful read.