Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors

Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors
Average customer rating:

Not just for the wealthy

Great For Non-Inheritors, too: Fascinating and Captivating

Very helpful to show some of the struggles of wealthy

Opportunities for Young or Old Inheritors

An Important Book for the Right Reasons

Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors
Thayer Cheatham Willis
Manufacturer: New Concord Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Estate Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books
General | Administrative Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0972549404

Book Description

Do you possess great wealth, or are you working hard to accumulate it? In either case, this book is a godsend for you.

Based on her own experiences and those of her clients with the Dark Side of wealth, Thayer Willis shines a light into an area seldom thought about, let alone addressed, in our materialistic culture.

In Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth, Ms. Willis details the pitfalls that great wealth can lead people into: the morally corrupting and emotionally stunting effects that having material riches can cause, and the pain and heartache that ensue. More importantly, within these pages she provides the needed guidance that, if taken to heart, can lead troubled inheritors to more balanced and fulfilling relationships.

Customer Reviews:

Not just for the wealthy.......2007-05-19

Not just for the wealthy, Willis accurately describes the situation of young middle-class Americans born into a society of abundance. Her description of the Agression - Assertiveness - Passivity continuum and struggle we middle-classers' seem to have with entitlement was worth the book alone.

Willis case-study style makes each chapter enjoyable and easy to read.

Great For Non-Inheritors, too: Fascinating and Captivating.......2007-05-15

This book is fascinating and thought provoking! With all of the stories and case studies, it is a captivating and a very quick read. Although I am not a mega-inheritor, I could very much relate to the perspectives and suggestions made by the author. The book provides insight and compassion into the challenges of dealing with great wealth, and guidance that actually applies to anyone with any amount of money. There is so much sound advice in this book, that I think if the author re-titled it as "Navigating the Dark Side of Money", and removed the references to large sums of wealth, it could easily become a best-seller for the main-stream, moderate-income population! The author is geniune and honest about the importance of Christianity in her life, yet - as a non-Christian - I did not find it overbearing or at all inappropriate. Her commentary on spirituality is inclusive and I think would be well-received by anyone of any religion or spiritual practice. She even inspired me to look up the few Biblical references she made to add insight to her views!

Very helpful to show some of the struggles of wealthy.......2007-01-09

I read this book as part of my ongoing research on money and psychology. I found the author's story to be helpful in understanding the problems of meaninglessness, addiction and loneliness that sometimes come with wealth. Are there families who handle wealth well and give their children the character strength and knowledge they will need to manage the energy of money? Yes of course there are..they are not the ones having the problems. This book is really a good resource for those who are having struggles similar to Thayer Willis...to help them see some of the dynamics of the family and the dynamics of wealth that need to be managed.A good contribution to the field.Dr. Mary Gresham

Opportunities for Young or Old Inheritors.......2006-01-30

Excellent book for individuals, who have inherited money or have accumulated a large amount of wealth at any early age and retired. Gives examples of opportunities for enriching ones life and providing knowledge of how to maintain wealth for future generations.

An Important Book for the Right Reasons.......2003-10-02

Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth is an extremely valuable book for all the right reasons, because its focus is not on accumulating and multiplying material riches but on fostering the emotional and spiritual values so vital to coping with the destructive allurements, issues and challenges that confront many inheritors of material wealth today. It is a text on developing character and morality -- on protecting one's soul against the pervasive ravages of human greed.

Average customer rating:

inheritor, foreigner series
one world where HUMANS are the alien threat
Incredibly slow-paced
Jase: The perfect foil for Bren
A good read, but a couple of flaws

Inheritor: Foreigner 3 (Foreigner)
C. J. Cherryh
Manufacturer: DAW
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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Invader: Foreigner 2 (Foreigner)
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ASIN: 0886777283

Customer Reviews:

inheritor, foreigner series.......2005-08-07

Like one other reader, I had read CJ Cherryh's foreigner series and then later read Ursula K. Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness (actually I am currently reading it). They are interesting books to compare, because they both deal with a human agent trying to relate to an alien culture in which people think so differently that it is hard to follow their meaning, and dangerous misunderstandings can result.
I like Ursula K Leguin's book better. CJ Cherryh's character, Bren Cameron seems to be afraid to be a person. A lot of her characters, for example, her main character in the Faded Sun Trilogy, give up their own souls in order to survive in an alien culture. Also, Tully in the Chanur books. All her characters are always walking on eggshells to avoid offending.
The envoy in Left Hand of Darkness has his own life and agenda, and you begin to think as you read that he is wrong in his assessment of Estraven, but you can respect him. I don't have a lot of respect for Bren Cameron. He is a pain in the neck.
The aspect of CJ Cherryh's Foreigner Series that does fascinate me is the idea of humans getting so far away from Earth that they don't know where Earth is and having the opportunity to start a whole new culture not dependent on Earth. I don't buy the lack of curiosity the Mospheiran's seem to feel for their origins. But the concept is interesting.

one world where HUMANS are the alien threat.......2005-02-28

An accelerated pace and 3 months have passed since the end of "Invader".

Jase has settled in, the emissary from the orbiting space ship "Phoenix" which, like the bird of legend, returned from the unknown & unexplored reaches of deep space.

For a little history:
Cherryh sets her world with imposing aliens(Atevi) who are united by a single ruler, the aijii, under whom lords & council govern. Humans, lost on a space colonization mission, have settled on the Atevi world and exist in an uneasy truce, co-operating & trading only through one diplomat; Bren Cameron.

As the only contact between two species, Cameron is constantly protected by an extraordinary security force but his family is not so fortunate.
In a turbulent political climate on the human governed island, Camerons' family is endangered by radical factions & Yolanda Mercheson, the ships emissary has been threatened.

Against this background he must somehow train (Jase)the new Atevi ship-human diplomat in the tangled Ragi tongue, which has no word for trust, or love or even like. Yes, human and Atevi are biologically different, and a man alone in an alien culture must constantly rethink his most basic suppositions.

Jase & Cameron have made little headway after the initial friendliness of their contact & arrangements, but luckily Cameron's Atevi security have become his family.

Against the backdrop of the stars, and one alien homeplanet where HUMANS are the alien threat, the `space opera' plays out.

Well written, fast paced & enjoyable, an increasingly involving series. .

Kotori ojadis@yahoo.com

Incredibly slow-paced.......2005-01-12

This 3rd book from the Bren Cameron series is actually worse than the first two from the series. The diplomatic minutia reaches stifling heights, making the book virtually unreadable... I ended up having to skim the last third of this book - and I NEVER do that (I read about 4 books a month).

Working my way through this book reminds me of when I was a kid, and was made to force down food I didn't care for... sure it was edible, but it wasn't enjoyable.

There are just too many good science fiction books out there to deal with the sluggish pace found here... and I've still got three more books from this series to go!

Jase: The perfect foil for Bren.......2002-04-17

I am a huge fan of C.J. Cherryh's science fiction works; she is my favorite author despite my not being a science fiction reader. Next to Cyteen and Finity's End, this series is my favorite of Cherryh's science fiction work.

That said, the first time I picked up Inheritor, I had recently finished reading the first books in the series. As other reviewers note, Bren's point of view and overanalysis can be claustrophobic. His agonizing over small details is obsessive and the habit builds, one detail on top of the next, until it begins to seem almost humorous, and at the same time worthy of the reader's pity (for Bren, not the author). When yet another book in the series started along the same thread, I couldn't take much more. I put it down after the first two chapters, and took a break from the series.

I still retained a fondness for Bren, though, and recently I read Cherryh's newest in the series, Defender. I decided to go back to Inheritor and see what I had missed (particularly after one of Cherryh's writing colleagues, Jane Fancher, encouraged me to do so), and to my surprise, when I had finished it I found it to be my favorite novel in the Bren series.

First, this novel was the deepest of all the Bren novels in terms of human interaction. Jase doesn't drop from the skies, marvelously close to Bren's age, and fit right into the expected "friendly companion" role. They disagree. They miscommunicate. Bren isn't always dealing with a full set of informational cards when he tries to interpret Jase; Jase can't fathom Bren's atevi-habits, even when spoon-fed these mannerisms in plain language. It's one thing to understand something from the mind, another to understand it in the gut.

Which leads to the most outstanding feature of the book... Jase's role as perfect foil for Bren. Jase brings out that which Bren worries over in himself, and shows Bren's knowledge and experience off to advantage. As another reviewer points out, we only see this world through Bren's eyes. An author at Cherryh's level would be hard put to use that tired device, "Bren looked into the mirror and noticed he had blond hair, and that his face seldom had any expression." (Having a constant poker face in this society ensures one's survival, a fact made plain in previous novels in the series.) Instead, during an argument with Bren, Jase brings subtleties like Bren's lack of facial expressions into the light for the reader to notice more closely: Jase understandably can't read Bren well without facial expressions to go on, and understandably Jase doesn't believe that a person without facial expressions really cares about him or his adjustment difficulties.

A side note: One oddity which had me bemused upon reading the first book of the series, and which continued into subsequent books including Inheritor, later won me over. This oddity is the astonishing similarity, technology-wise, of this alien world to today's Earth. Imagine! So far away in the galaxy that no one on the planet knows where they are in relation to Earth, so far into the future that man is folding space as easily as a t-shirt, on a distant planet... they are using windshield wipers. These windshield wipers are on the windshields of cars just like ours, and the rain that falls is just like the rain falling outside my window now.

Later, though, I began to appreciate this tendency of Cherryh's (it appears in Cyteen as well) deeply. Why? Because when one reads other science fiction novels, one spends a great deal of concentration just trying to figure out what the heck that device is in the character's hand, and in what kind of facility is the character standing? Much of one's focus is, by necessity, on decoding just the basic surroundings and tools of the era. By using technology, tools, and settings familiar to us, Cherryh puts the spotlight squarely on the characters and the subtlety of their thoughts and interactions -- what she does best, and exactly where the spotlight should be.

A good read, but a couple of flaws.......2000-12-12

Readers of the first two books in the series will find this one pretty familiar. The strength of the series has always been character and setting - the culture and politics of an alien race and its effect on a human protagonist caught in the middle of it all. This remains true in this book, where it's all thrown into sharp relief through the arrival of another human - this one an ambassador from space with no background in the race or culture who struggles to learn on the job as best he can. Though Bren remains the protagonist, the complex and baffling nature of atevi society is highlighted once more through the eyes of the newcomer, and the effect of Bren's immersion in atevi culture on his relationships with humans becomes increasingly apparent. All good stuff, and if you enjoyed it in the earlier books you'll enjoy it this time as well.

I did feel that the book had a couple of weak points. The first is Bren's tendency to analyze everything endlessly, including himself - often several pages will be taken up simply with a conversation happening inside Bren's head. Apart from frequently slowing things down a lot, this (in my opinion) takes away some of the subtlety and depth from the writing. Any subtext won't remain sub- for long, as Bren will notice it soon enough and agonize over it. I understand that this is a stylistic thing, and that this device may be necessary to some degree to establish the level of setting and character detail that the book requires. Still, after recently reading 'The Left Hand Of Darkness' (Ursula Le Guin) in which profound details of society, culture and character emerge from the most mundane conversations and actions, it's hard not to feel a bit shortchanged by this approach.

The second weakness, in my opinion, was the plot, which is becoming rather predictable and formulaic as the series progresses. The endings in particular all seem very similar and involve similar plot devices every time, to the point where they become little 'machimi plays' of their own based on established conventions. At the end of this book I kept feeling that I was re-reading one of the other two.

Book Description

Eight Neanderthals encounter another race of beings like themselves, yet strangely different. This new race, Homo sapiens, fascinating in their skills and sophistication, terrifying in their cruelty, sense of guilt, and incipient corruption, spell doom for the more gentle folk whose world they will inherit. Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, won the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature.

Customer Reviews:

3 1/2 Stars...A Masterful Muddle.......2007-07-16

Since reading "Lord of the Flies," I've stumbled over other Golding titles in hopes I would find the same brevity, clarity, and thought-provoking concepts. "The Spire" came close, but lacked the imaginative setting. "Pincher Martin" had the setting, but became so myopic as to be disorienting, eventually losing its footing.

Along comes "The Inheritors." Reviews here gave mixed signals: "A mess." "A work of genius." "Bored to tears."

As with Golding's bestselling masterpiece, "The Inheritors" pulls us quickly into the story of an isolated people. This time, instead of marooned school children, we discover Neanderthal types who are utterly believable and likeable. This alone shows Golding's genius. He makes us care about these characters and see them as people we can relate to, and yet he gives little by means of communication or description. They act like humans with true personalities. Soon, though, the group is threatened by another group of pale-skinned Others. These intruders seem equally bent on survival, but by more violent means if necessary.

In many ways, this is an elongated short story. It could've been told in less pages, albeit with less ambience. While I admired the setting and characterization, I despaired for more plot, more action, more...something. In so many ways, this was a masterful book. In the end, however, it seemed to be a work of muddled beauty. It lacked impact. For those who love Golding's style, as I do, you will surely appreciate this book. For others, it may be a slight disappointment.

Golding's stylistic reach exceeds his grasp .......2007-03-30

Make this a 2.5 star review because I`ll give Golding the benefit of the doubt that his writing is way over my head. No reason to mark his novel down just because my poor Cro-Magnon pea brain couldn't follow it. However, I expected better execution in the writing from a Nobel Prize winner.

The story line and point of view are good. If this isn't a parable about the effect that human contact has with any other species, environment, or place, I don't know what is. Golding gets points for making me ashamed of my own species as he describes what happens when the peaceful Neanderthal world collides with Homo sapiens in very dramatic and unpleasant ways.

Perhaps that is his point; the Neanderthals were pushed out of existence because they were not as intellectually developed as their Homo sapiens `Inheritors'.

I caught on early that the Neanderthals' `pictures' were personal ideas and memories, and the `shared pictures' are ideas and memories transmitted telepathically. However, Golding tries to describe these pictures in a contrivance of words instead of pictures, and decides to constrain the description of the pictures to the individual's limited perception. That was a noble goal, and done well. However, when he cannot succeed via that route in describing events, he inserts an expository third-person (writer)point of view. That completely confused my pea brain about what was happening. Some scenes are terribly confusing because of this.

I likened my experience of reading `The Inheritors' to that of Anthony Burgess' `A Clockwork Orange', which IMHO was a more successful writing experiment. Burgess at least provided us with a glossary to define the futurespeak of his Droog culture. Golding could have invented a word-picture map.

I cannot believe that schools are recommending this as a reading assignment. But then in my day they were forcing the dreadful `Catcher in the Rye' on us.

A credible look at ancient peoples!.......2006-11-16

I looked at this book from the perspective of its title. There is a question of the fate of the Neanderthals, and this book gives one possible, and credible answer. The Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnon were very, very different, according to Golding.

The Neanderthals were simple, crude, and gentle, but with an understanding of their own mortality, and employing rituals for important occasions. They may have gone around unclothed, and with minimal tools, sometimes walking on all fours, but they were not "animals" in the common meaning of that term.

The Cro-Magnon people had already been building boats, had used the bow-and-arrow as a formidable weapon, developed a more complex social structure, knew how to ferment honey into liquor, and had an understanding of protection against the elements. These two peoples never seemed to develop a common view of each other, with the Neanderthal having more curiosity than fear, and more fear than curiosity from the Cro-Magnon. In all, a credible look at ancient peoples.

Most Difficult English Assignment I ever had..........2006-03-16

I had the honor of reading this book in my 9th grade Advanced English class and while I am an avid reader and love all different types of literature this book still makes me cringe when I see it on summer reading list.

While I've read review and I wish I read what they read because it seems like a very good book, but I could not make it through this book to save me. It was 10years ago I had to read this book and I often wonder if I picked it up today would it make any sense? But out of all the books I read throughout highschool and College this book is tedious and very difficult to read.

Even with a tutor and note taking I still did not pass the exams that were related to this book.

A Beautiful Work of Art.......2006-02-25

I read this book about six years ago and I still frequently think about it. The book is brilliant and as savage and ruthless, in its own way, as Shakespeare's Lear. I actually read the book in the first place because I had gotten interested in real Neanderthals: what did they look like, what were they like, where and how did they live, why did they die? etc. I soon discovered that these questions were largely unanswerable; frustrated, I remembered that Golding had written a "Neanderthal novel," and, science failing, I turned to art and read it. One of the chief virtues of the book is its invention of "Neanderthal consciousness," a rather uncanny and striking sensibility which is definitely superior to animals, and definitely inferior to humans. We are drawn into the intimate--outer and inner--details of their world, and in the end of course they die. Humans populate the book as well, but in a far different way. I cannot say too much more without giving away a critical feature of the book's structure, except to say that the reader has no idea how good the book is until he/she finishes it. You must read it all, and then you will know.
Why do the human beings behave the way they do in the book? Because they are human. It's what we do.

Average customer rating:

book review
Good All Around
a complete approach for inheritors
This is a great book!

The Wise Inheritor
Ann Perry
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Financial Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The Inheritors Handbook: A Definitive Guide For Beneficiaries (Bloomberg Personal Bookshelf)
Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall
Managing Your Inheritance: Getting It, Keeping It, Growing It--Making the Most of Any Size Inheritance
Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors
The Settlement Game: How to Settle an Estate Peacefully and Fairly

ASIN: 076790835X
Release Date: 2003-06-10

Book Description

The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small.

A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry’s insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier.

Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in “blended families,” parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing—or not sharing—an inheritance with a spouse.

With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one.

Download Description

The complete guide for managing the financial, legal, and emotional issues of inheritances large and small.

A death in the family is never easy, but receiving an inheritance, whether expected or not, can leave heirs feeling overwhelmed and even guilty at this change in their fortunes. Ann Perry's insightful examination of the challenges make managing a bequest a little easier.

Combining her practical know-how as a personal finance writer, the expertise of financial advisors, attorneys, and psychologists, and the wisdom gained from her personal inheritance experience, Perry deftly deals with such touchy subjects as selling the family homestead, divvying up property in "blended families," parceling out heirlooms, dividing a family business, and sharing -- or not sharing -- an inheritance with a spouse.

With refreshing candor, Perry addresses the guilt, grief, and unrealistic fantasies that can keep heirs from making the most of their windfalls, and also explores the unique, even life-changing, opportunities that a bequest can present. An excellent tool for estate planning, as well, this is essential reading for those who are writing their wills as well as those who are remembered in one.

Customer Reviews:

book review.......2007-10-08

This is an outstanding book! Great for those who inherit any amount of money.

Good All Around .......2004-09-15

Ann's book does a nice job of touching on a full range of emotions and feelings. The book wasn't heavy on specific advice, just all around good ideas that everyone should acknowledge when receiving an inheritance. It is a pretty light read with good examples and stories for anyone reading the book. I purchased copies for other members of my family to help them with our recent situation.

a complete approach for inheritors.......2003-08-19

Ms. Perry (the GO FISH heiress) has written a book that covers both the emotional and the financial sides of getting an inheritance. I found her advise on both sides to be sensitive and helpful. I recommend reading this book before giving or coming into an inheritance.

This is a great book!.......2003-06-25

This book was wonderful. My father died 10 months ago and I just read this book. I wish I had found it earlier. The subjects discussed in this book are hard to share with others. Finally I realized there were others out there that felt as I have. I am going to be purchasing copies of this book to give to my attourney, the funeral director and my appraisor. My hope is that they will give them away to someone who is just starting to go through this processes. If you are an inheritor you need this book! It is also good for anyone to know information about estate planning.

The Inheritors Handbook: A Definitive Guide For Beneficiaries (Bloomberg Personal Bookshelf)

Average customer rating:

Might be so basic it's not worth your time
Rare find.
Good presentation of "Plus's & Negatives" of alternatives
A very good book!
An excellent book for all people who may inheret someday.

The Inheritors Handbook: A Definitive Guide For Beneficiaries (Bloomberg Personal Bookshelf)
Dan Rottenberg
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Introduction | Investing | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Budgeting & Money Management | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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Estate Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books

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The Wise Inheritor
Managing Your Inheritance: Getting It, Keeping It, Growing It--Making the Most of Any Size Inheritance
Sudden Money: Managing a Financial Windfall
How to Settle an Estate (How to Settle An Estate)
Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors

ASIN: 068486908X

Book Description

THE ONLY GUIDE YOU'LL NEED TO WISELY MANAGE YOUR INHERITANCE AND MAKE IT GROW FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS...

You're not alone. Sixty million Americans stand to be on the receiving end of an inheritance in the coming years. Planning is crucial if you hope to preserve your windfall, save on taxes, and avoid family squabbles. In The Inheritor's Handbook, expert Dan Rottenberg offers a comprehensive guide through the inheritance process that gets to the heart of the complex issues, both financial and emotional, that beneficiaries face. He demonstrates how future heirs can discuss money and wills, choose advisers, manage investments, and much more. Using real-life examples, Rottenberg provides tested solutions to sensitive inheritance issues -- before the time of death, at the time of death, and years later. The Inheritor's Handbook is the only book you'll need to help you manage the difficulties, decisions, and opportunities that come with inheriting.

Customer Reviews:

Might be so basic it's not worth your time.......2000-01-20

If you're looking for solid guidance as an executer or fiduciary, go elsewhere. "How to Settle and Estate" is the better choice. The handbook gives a scant 7 pages of practical advice on what to do if/when someone close has died. Things like: Contact the funeral director, determine your parent's wishes concerning the funeral, ascertain whether your parents have already paid for their funeral, notify friends, locate the original copy of the will - - you get the idea. I was very disappointed especially given the glowing reviews provided by others.

Rare find........1999-03-08

Most books on estates and trusts are simply clueless in dealing with anything except for numbers and laws, as seen from the perspective of someone setting up a trust.

This book views the subject as a set of human issues, from the perspective of a trust beneficiary.

Though there are no other books on this subject matter to compare this one with, I thought that it did the job well.

Good presentation of "Plus's & Negatives" of alternatives.......1999-01-28

This book is very well written and organized without being "over legal." My recently deceased Father, who was an attorney speciallizing in Estate Law, always down-played Trusts (although he set one up for himself.) From this writing, I now see why they are not for everyone. I plan to purchase a copy for each of my siblings, as our Mother ages, to keep us on the same "wavelength."

A very good book!.......1999-01-06

As a potential beneficiary, I found this to be a very helpful and very readable primer on estate planning, the legal issues, and the emotional fallout that can occur as a result of inheritances. The advice given is all good. The appendices and lists of other contacts are very good. I was disappointed, however, that the author did not include any discussion on: the importance of titling of assets to aid in the estate planning; and how election of beneficiaries for insurance policies, retirement accounts, trusts, and financial accounts can affect the estate plan.

An excellent book for all people who may inheret someday........1998-12-29

This book is well-written and is split into sections for persons who may inheret, persons who's loved ones have died, and persons who have already inhereted. It discusses how to approach parents to determine what plans they have made, and what to do if they do not want to discuss their plans. It explains what a person should do in setting up "his" own estate, and discussing it with children. It lists a large number of resources (support groups, financial, philanthropic, and psychological advisors, and extensive printed materials). If you plan to leave money to anyone, or any entity, this is a good book to read.

Average customer rating:

Mysterious..
the devil is in the details
I can't believe she wrote this...
Sharon's Book Review
Good two thirds of a novel

The Inheritor ("Light")
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Witch Hill
Heartlight ("Light")
Gravelight ("Light")
Ghostlight ("Light")
Witchlight ("Light")

ASIN: 0312862938

Book Description

Leslie Barnes has just bought her first home, overlooking San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. It seems the perfect place for Leslie and her sister, a brilliant young musician....but as soon as they move in, a plague of dark events begins, unsettling both women. To her horror, Leslie realizes that she is living in a vortex of magickal power. She must become the guardian of that power and protect it from those who seek to use it for evil. Trained as a psychologist, Leslie is in over her head when dealing with the occult--until she meets Claire Moffatt, a charming medium, and Claire's mentor, Colin MacLaren, world-famous psychic investigator. Together they stand against evil and enable Leslie to claim her full inheritance.

Customer Reviews:

Mysterious.........2007-05-20

Although at times, the story diluted in a overly descriptive prose,Zimmer Bradley excel in keeping the reader intersted in the story ,keeping the mystery alive throughout the pages of the book .The quality of the author's writing is certainly estabilished through her previous works ,she wont disappoint you with this one.Gripping,mysterious this novel is a real page turner.

the devil is in the details.......2006-04-18

I love this book and can't believe the bad reviews it has received here. This is a modern gothic/dark romance, and perhaps not for everyone. If you like Barbara Michaels modern gothics, or Mary Stewart's Thornyhold, you'll like this. MZB builds on her knowledge of San Francisco, and puts a wealth of detail into the book, that makes you see and hear and feel the setting with the characters. I could totally relate to the main character, on her own, buying a house with a questionable history, and struggling to deal with a supernatural world thrust upon her unwanted. This is a book to curl up and relax with, and feel a little chilled at reading. MZB also considered this book at least equal to anything she'd written. It is also part of a series that begins, I believe, with Dark Satanic, and has several novels after it, but this stands well on its own.

I can't believe she wrote this..........2005-01-31

I generally adore MZBs work, and really enjoyed the later books in the so-called "Light" series, but I find it completely impossible to get into a book where the none of the main characters are likable, and are only very remotely even believable.

Leslie, the protagonist, starts out as a closed-minded snob, who is fairly rude to everyone she meets, despite being a therapist. She breaks up with her fiance because he's a chauvinistic pig, only to start dating a man she knows has raped, killed and tortured for purely selfish gain. On the scale of good and evil, I'll take the pig, thanks. Of the main supporting characters, one is a mean-spirited spoiled rotten brat (the younger sister), and the other is the murderer/rapist.

Some of the book is nonsensical, some is self-contradictory. But mostly all in all it's a boring drawn-out plot with annoying people doing stupid, annoying, and evil things. And the end? It makes me want to puke. Definitely not her best work, and definitely a disappointment.

Sharon's Book Review.......2002-04-18

Marion Zimmer Bradley has written another well-known book The Mist of Avalon. It is on the bestsellers list of New York Times, as well as this book should be. The reading keeps you wondering where it will take you next. With the turning of a page, you are not sure what to expect.
The Inheritor holds your attention while the author introduces her characters to you. There are Leslie, a doctor of pschology and her sister Emily, a conservatory student of music. The book opens simply with Leslie looking at a house because the apartment that Leslie and Emily share has become too small for them. She looks till she finds this wonderful little number that gives her the feeling of home.
The book becomes more intense from there. With the turn of a page, you wonder what will happen or who will pop up. I would recommend this book to any reader that enjoys a suspense reader with a twist of an ending.

Good two thirds of a novel.......2001-05-19

The Inheritor is an early attempt at occult fiction of the type that came to fruition in books such as Ghostlight. All things considered, this is a good idea for a novel. The problem is, it needs about a hundred extra pages to resolve all the character development and side plots that Bradley builds up. The story centers around a psychotherapist named Leslie and her sister, Emily. Leslie has been experiencing psychic phenomena before the story begins, and "The Unseen" seems to be tracking her down. She buys a house in San Francisco (the book was written in 1984, before the idea of a normal person buying a house in San Francisco would have been the most fantastic element of the story) which happens to be a vortex of occult power. The place was owned by another psychologist, an occultist named Alison Musgrave who died without training a succsessor. The reason she didn't train a successor is because the person who would have filled that role, a musician named Simon, had a nasty habit of sacrificing cats and junkies in the garage. Leslie is, of course, sleeping with Simon. These could have been the ingredients of a very good book, if Bradley were to follow through. However, so much is left unfinished that the novel feels like a Persian carpet with a thousand frayed ends.

Amazon.com

Born in Brooklyn in 1865, Mary White Ovington carried, throughout her long life, a fine sense of the abolitionist spirit that had so quickened her parents' generation. A lively but somewhat unfocused intellectual, she drifted through social circles and movements until, at the age of 36, she met the African American educator Booker T. Washington and, shortly afterward, the activist W.E.B. Du Bois. Her eyes, writes Carolyn Wedin, opened wider when she took a tour of the South in 1906, in the wake of a series of bloody race riots. Ovington returned to New York convinced that matters could improve for African Americans only through well-coordinated political organization that would demand, among other things, voting rights and social justice. In 1909, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, Ovington issued a call to renew the struggle for political and civil liberty. Organizing parades, antilynching protests, and conferences, the resultant National Association for the Advancement of Colored People became an important vehicle for the emerging civil rights movement, one whose leaders and members endured many hardships as they spread their message across the country. As Inheritors of the Spirit reveals, Ovington's life stands as an example of moral courage and dedication to a noble cause. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

"By highlighting the life of a key figure in the NAACP Wedin has given us a welcome addition to the literature of that organization."âLibrary Journal

"In its densely researched, sensitively interpreted, and crisply written evocation of her subject's career, Professor Wedin's biography opens a wide window onto much of the inner life of the NAACP as it evolves from a virtual one-person show scripted by the incomparable (and sometimes insufferable) Du Bois through the unflappable stewardship of James Weldon Johnson and the manic operational brilliance of Walter White to become, in classic Weberian progression, a well-honed bureaucracy of lawyers, accountants, field secretaries, and lobbyistsâand, overwhelmingly, of African Americans . . . a vibrant, valuable chronicle of an eighty-year dedication to economic, racial, and gender justice."âfrom the Foreword by David Levering Lewis

The Inheritors
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The Inheritors

Manufacturer: Pocket Books, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000H0B5UW

William Golding Three Novels: Includes Pincher Martin, Free Fall, the Inheritors
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intriguing and beautifully written

No wonder he won a Nobel

No wonder he won a Nobel

No wonder he won a Nobel

William Golding Three Novels: Includes Pincher Martin, Free Fall, the Inheritors
William Golding
Manufacturer: MJF Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Golding, William | ( G ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1567312209

Customer Reviews:

intriguing and beautifully written.......1999-06-23

Like the other reviewer here, I was assigned this book in my junior year of high school by a well-meaning teacher who was so frustrated by his students' lack of interest (or comprehension) of Free Fall that he simply gave up. Three years later I picked my copy off the shelf and gave it a second try. Although there are still times when I have to blink and reread a paragraph several times to absorb the frenetic stream-of-consciousness style of narration, I am constantly in awe of Golding's exquisite writing. To all brave readers, give this one a chance.

No wonder he won a Nobel.......1999-02-06

I heard about 'Freefall' from my old English taecher, a man called Mr. Breen. You could never have said that we got on very well, probably as a result of his compulsive, patronising behaviour and my downright laziness and inability to accept authority. Anyway he was a man who liked to tell stories, and one of his favourites related to a curious book by the name of freefall. It was two years later and I was about to come and live in Paris when I saw the book in question in the token airport lobby bookstore . I bought it, and then read it. It is hard to explain the feeling that you get when you are so intimately touched by a piece of literature that you become almost posessive about it and protective when you find out that someone else has obtained the same sense of enjoyment out of it as yourself. That is why I greet the fact that I am the only one to have reviewed this book with a mixture of elation and sorrow. The story revolves around the analysis of the narrator's life (Sammy Mountjoy), and tries to ascertain where it was that he lost the ability to manipulate his own fate - where he lost his freedom. We are presented with various episodes from his life as he tries to find out 'where it happened'. The obscurity of his period in the concentration camp is somewhat baffling, but the rest of the novel is written so beautifully and with such convoluted yet clear language that it is a joy to read. This novel is far too good to miss, but remember, I got there first.

No wonder he won a Nobel.......1999-02-06

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The inheritors
William Golding
Manufacturer: Harcourt, Brace & World
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006AXZPG

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