S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)

Book Description

Thirty-four years ago, Violet Sullivan put on her party finery and left for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display. She was never seen again.

In the small California town of Serena Station, tongues wagged. Some said she'd run off with a lover. Some said she was murdered by her husband.

But for the not-quite-seven-year-old daughter Daisy she left behind, Violet's absence has never been explained or forgotten.

Now, thirty-four years later, she wants the solace of closure.

In S is for Silence, Kinsey Millhone's nineteenth excursion into the world of suspense and misadventure, S is for surprises as Sue Grafton takes a whole new approach to telling the tale. And S is for superb: Kinsey and Grafton at their best.

Customer Reviews:

Grafton's characters are becoming more real - - .......2007-09-05

Some popular writers get kinda lazy I think - but Grafton's characters are becoming more real to me as the series winds on.

This is a very enjoyable tale and as some of her characters were teenagers when I was I found the description of the life and times very realistic.

The last chapter also seemed to copy her formula of having at least part of the book with characters (in this case Kinsey and the perp) behaving in a totally illogical and unbelievable way. I can't imagine why Grafton needs to do that - in this case it seemed that it was - 'well this is the last chapter and I only have 20 pages left to spice the book up and finish it' - a huge disappointment. But I'd still recommend the book - and I wish she'd taken the needed several chapters to bring it to a realistic close.

Great plot with interesting characters.......2007-08-22

I thought Sue Grafton's latest mystery, "S IS FOR SILENCE" was just a wonderful story and one of her best books. I've read just about every book from the series and I have never been bored with any of the stories. In this book Sue Grafton has written a top-notched cold case story. The missing person, Violet Sullivan, was to most people in the town a tramp, who had drank too much and socializes with too many men. Most people believed that she just skipped town with a man 30 some years ago. Kinsey Millhorne is hired by Daisy Sullivan to solve the mystery of her disappearing mother. I hope I haven't given away too much of the story for those of you that haven't read it. I certainly wouldn't want to spoil your read. Overall, the author created a series of interesting characters and the development of the plot and that of Kinsey's investigation. This is a suspense filled story that I highly recommend.

Another thrilling, and gripping Mystery that I highly recommend is The Monopoly FactorThe Monopoly Factor by Robert L. Saunders. There is much to admire in this legal thriller of corporate deceit, creed and murder. And you will be reading non-stop and you can't help but cheer on Barry and Susan as they take on the evil CEO Carl Rudd and his henchman Brunner. Check it out you won't be disappointed. Bye.

The Pace Changes.......2007-08-19

The point of view shifts from Kinsey in this entry in the series and Grafton accomplishes this with complete confidence. Her flashback scenes capture a fractured view of small town America similar to that of a Jim Thompson tale, but with sensuality we haven't seen in any of her other books. She's still the master of the middle-class noir ala Ross MacDonald. If she's gearing up for what comes after "Z", I don't doubt she's up to the task.

Another winner in the alphabet series!!.......2007-08-05

S is for silence: the silence of the lost, the silence of the missing, the silence of oblivion.
Thirty-four years ago, Violet Sullivan put on her party finery and left for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display. She was never seen again.
In the small California town of Serena Station, tongues wagged. Some said she'd run off with a lover. Some said she was murdered by her husband.
But for the not-quite-seven-year-old daughter Daisy she left behind, her absence has never been explained or forgotten.
Now, thirty-four years later, she wants the solace of closure.
In S is for Silence, Kinsey Millhone's nineteenth excursion into the world of suspense and misadventure, S is for surprises as Sue Grafton takes a whole new approach to telling the tale. And S is for superb: Kinsey and Grafton at their best.

S is for....Say What?!.......2007-07-05

Warning, if you don't want to hear about the ending, don't read this post.

I would have given this more than 2 stars, but the ending was very disappointing. I had no problem with the story's frequent flashbacks or the occasional sex scenes, they added realism and emotion, but the ending seemed hurried and didn't make any sense.

The killer was a very minor character in the story and the only interaction he had with Violet that I can remember, was a chance meeting at "The Moon" where he asked to borrow money from her. She turned his money request down, but that hardly seems like motive enough for him to kill her and take her money. Especially since he was already going to get a ton of money from the bank account his wife had forgotten about. He and his wife's characters were only mentioned a couple of times and made me wonder "what do these people have to do with anything in the story"?

When it got close to the end and Kinsey figured out who the killer was, I figured there would be one final flashback describing Violet's last moments and the what, why and how of it all. There was no flashback and the ending left me thinking....Say What!?

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The real deal
The Silence of Thunder
This is THE book!
This Review Is Long Overdue!
The Thunder of Silence

The Thunder of Silence
Joel S. Goldsmith
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0062503421

Book Description

The famed lecturer and teacher explains the principle that there is an inner grace available to all and offers concrete directions for hearing and understanding the voice of God.

Customer Reviews:

The real deal.......2007-09-04

I consider Joel Goldsmith one of my most important "teachers." Not every spiritual master can speak to us, but Joel does it for me. I can disappear into his works and with each reading glean something new. His message is clear, concise, and to the point: That God lies within each of us if only we take the time and effort to find Him.

The Silence of Thunder.......2005-07-05

This book was one of the worst I've ever tried to read. It was so bad that I couldn't even finish it. The author spouted scripture, but really had no knowledge of God at all. Anyone who might want to read this thing would be brain-dead.

This is THE book!.......2005-03-29

As one reviwer said very well; "Words are inadequate to describe the beauty and truth within these pages."

This book merges Advaita Vedanta and New Thought in a wonderful and easy to understand format. I was glad to find a book that teaches the very core from which every school of Metaphysics and Yoga emerged, the non-duality (There's no Good or Evil, just unconditioned energy/mind and our thoughts/carnal mind and concepts give things a label).

If you want to learn real metaphysics, get it now, you won't be dissapointed. I have well over 700 metaphysical/yoga/self-help books, and this is the one I would choose, along with Silence of the Heart, by Robert Adams, if I had to go to a desert Island.

This Review Is Long Overdue!.......2005-02-27

I bought this book almost 25 years ago, as a hardback, from an Infinite Way Study Center. It became one of my favorite books and I have given copies of it to others who had an interest in learning more of the Truth as taught by Joel Goldsmith.

Yes, the thunder of God's presence reverberates after the still small voice heard in the silence of the cavern of one's being. And, when you finally have that spiritual realization and hear God's still small voice, it will come through roaring, as though thundering in your soul and you'll never forget it.

I've read this book over and over again. I even read it onto cassette tapes so I could listen to it in bed, with the lights out. An excellent, excellent source of spiritual growth.

Buy it. Buy two and give one away. You will be blessed.

Gail Gupton, Author: The 31-Day Diet of Spiritual Enlightenment and Seekers of Truth.

The Thunder of Silence.......2004-03-18

I highly recommend The Thunder of Silence to anyone on the spiritual path. It is a life-changer!

Silence of the Rational Center: Why American Foreign Policy Is Failing

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It's a pick for both college-level collections strong in political science and general-interest holdings alike.

Silence of the Rational Center: Why American Foreign Policy Is Failing
Stefan Halper , and Jonathan Clarke
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0465011411

Book Description

A stinging indictment, from two distinguished conservative scholars, of how American foreign policy is mismanaged, and an urgent call for a return to sanity

What has happened to American foreign policy? Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke argue that the members of what used to be called the foreign policy establishment are no longer doing the job of keeping our foreign policy informed and rational. Instead, hungry to coin the next Big Idea, they are in the business of advancing simplistic, glib mythologies. The result is that Americans are often presented with a fantasy world of nightmare scenarios rather than with explanations that lead to rational choices. Taking to task such well-known figures as Samuel Huntington, Noam Chomsky, and Jeffrey Sachs, Halper and Clarke argue for a revival of integrity within our foreign policy elite so that America's standing in the world can be restored.

A book that pulls no punches, The Silence of the Rational Center is both a penetrating diagnosis and a stirring call to reform in what is possibly the most important area of American political life.

Customer Reviews:

It's a pick for both college-level collections strong in political science and general-interest holdings alike........2007-04-19

While many are calling for alternatives to a buildup of troops in Iraq, few understand where such proposals come from and who shapes them. THE SILENCE OF THE RATIONAL CENTER: WHY AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY IS FAILING examines career professionals - academics, journalists, scholars and retired politicians - who are the real gatekeepers for foreign policy information. Public debate has taken second place to behind-the-scenes actions and influences: THE SILENCE OF THE RATIONAL CENTER seeks to examine these influences and consider how public voice can again help influence policy direction in the international community. It's a pick for both college-level collections strong in political science and general-interest holdings alike.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

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A daughter's discovery of her Jewish identity
Lawyer who knew nothing about the Holocaust or War World II?
"After Long Silence"
A ploy to sell out her parents and tell the world she's homosexual.
A second generation Holocaust memoir

After Long Silence: A Memoir
Helen Fremont
Manufacturer: Delacorte Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0385333692
Release Date: 1999-02-09

Amazon.com

In her mid-30s Helen Fremont discovered that, although she had been raised in the Midwest as a Catholic, she was in fact the daughter of Polish Jews whose families had been exterminated in the Holocaust. Fremont's tender but unsparing memoir chronicles the voyage of discovery she took with her older sister, ferreting out information from Jewish organizations and individuals and worrying about its impact on their angry, overpowering father and reticent, nightmare-plagued mother. Fremont has the courage to paint a nearly unsympathetic portrait of her parents' secretiveness and initial reluctance to have their children dredge up the past; as the narrative unfolds, readers comprehend the tormented roots of their behavior without forgetting the psychological problems it created for their daughters. Fremont's re-creation of her parents' ghastly ordeals--her mother narrowly escaping the murder of nearly every Jew in her hometown; her father surviving six years in the Soviet gulag--is a triumph of dogged research and sympathetic imagination. Her book tells a deeply American story of identity lost and reclaimed, complete with Fremont coming out to her parents as a lesbian, yet it also achieves understanding of the dark European past and its icy grip on her family. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Helen Fremont was raised Roman Catholic in America, only to discover in adulthood that her parents were Jews who had survived the Holocaust.  Delving into the extraordinary secrets that held her family together in a bond of silence for more than forty years, she recounts with heartbreaking clarity and candor a remarkable tale of survival, as vivid as fiction but with the eloquence of truth.

When Helen was small, her mother taught her the sign of the cross in six languages.  Theirs was the tender conspiracy of a little girl and her mother at bedtime, protected by a God who could respond in any language.  What she didn't understand was that she was being equipped with proof of her Catholicism, a hedge against persecution, real or imagined.

It wasn't until adulthood that she began to comprehend the terrible irony of her mother's gesture, as she and her sister discovered their parents' remarkable, long-held secret.  She knew that her father had spent six years in the Siberian Gulag, surviving nearly on will alone; that her mother's elder sister, fearless and proud, had married an Italian Fascist whose title and connections helped them to survive during the war.  But their faith, their legacy as Jews, was kept hidden for decades.

After Long Silence is a searching inquiry into the meaning of identity, self, and history.  It's about the devastating price of hiding the truth; about the steps we take, foolish or wise, to protect ourselves and our loved ones.  No one who reads this book can be left unmoved, or fail to understand the seductive, damaging power of secrets.

Customer Reviews:

A daughter's discovery of her Jewish identity.......2007-05-14

From today's perspective, it is difficult to comprehend just why a couple who survived the Holocaust would hide their Jewish identify from their daughters for years, insisting that they are Polish Catholic refugees in the USA. This memoir, however, explains how their fear of a repeat pogrom drives them to deny their heritage, keep secret their loss of religious identify, and assuage their horrific memories and guilt at surviving.Fremont and her sister's quest to discover the truth causes their parents much pain, but the author is clear that the family's pain had dominated their lives since birth.

Lawyer who knew nothing about the Holocaust or War World II? .......2006-04-11

I was very surprised to learn that Helen Fremont was able to become a lawyer and knew nothing about the Holocaust. What kind of education did she obtain? How was it possible that she wasn't interested in her parent's history? Even if they were Roman Catholics.
Book is full of historical errors (Warsaw was captured within hours, it was safer to be a Pole in the streets a Lvov during the German invasion)
It bothered me that the street names were Misspelled (Owacowa instead of Owocowa, Mariacki Platz insead of Plac Mariacki)
The story itself was very interesting. I wish however it was written by her parents.

"After Long Silence".......2006-01-07

This is one of my favorite books of all time. It is a real eye opener even after years of hearing, learning, and reading about the Holocaust. I plan to read it again.

A ploy to sell out her parents and tell the world she's homosexual........2005-08-01

This book was required reading my first year in college. It eneded up consuming the entire year in a depessing and dire atmosphere. Every class we talked about the book, it's themes, it's techniques.

Never once did anyone dare to say they disliked the story. How could you say you disliked a personal story about the Holocaust and the ending in which she relays to the entire world that she is homosexual. You couldn't voice an oppinion against this at the risk of being "A Nazi" or a "Homophobe".

I'm risking that to tell every person here that this story was terrible. It was about the author harassing her Holocaust surviving parents over and over again about their terrible ordeal. They wanted to have it in the past, over with, gone, and forgotten. The memories were too hard to dredge up and frankly they were none of their daughter's business. BUT the author Sherlock's the information and writes this book. She then said in the end that she was homosexual when this information had nothing to do with the story. The entire book was a way to "come out" with all the stress on her parents and none on herself.

This indeed was a sad story, but because of the desparate and self centered needs of the author. It's easy to have a best seller when you make your subject matter a taboo subject to disagree with.

Read it if you want and form your own opinions. This is just mine.

A second generation Holocaust memoir.......2005-06-21

After Long Silence by Helen Fremont is a second generation Holocaust memoir. The author's mother and aunt survived the Holocaust by disguising themselves as Polish Catholics in Italy. Her father escaped from Soviet Siberia and walked across Europe at the end of the war to join the sisters in Rome.

What makes this story so interesting is that, after the war the sisters never came out of hiding as Catholics and convinced the author's father to maintain the pretense as well. They migrated to the USA and had two daughters that they raised as Catholics. It is only when the daughters are in their 30s that they start to suspect that their parents are keeping something from them.

Helen Fremont blends together the two stories of her and her sister uncovering their parents Jewish past and their parents Holocaust survivor tale in a wonderful way that shows the intergenerational impact of lies and deception in a way that is still sensitive to her parents' desire to put the past behind them.

Haunted Weather: Music, Silence, And Memory (Five Star Fiction S.)

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Fresh, thoughtful and stimulating
big ideas spoken in a quiet voice

Haunted Weather: Music, Silence, And Memory (Five Star Fiction S.)
David Toop
Manufacturer: Five Star (ME)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1852427892

Book Description

"Not just a deeply thoughtful and richly populated survey of modern experimental music, it's a meditation on hearing itself."- Guardian

Digital technology has changed the ways in which music is perceived, stored, distributed, mediated, and created. In the eye of the storm stands David Toop, shedding light on the most interesting music now being made, wherever he finds it. Haunted Weather is an intensive survey of recent developments in digital technology, sonic theory, and musical practice.

Customer Reviews:

Fresh, thoughtful and stimulating.......2005-04-01

Rather than argue a thesis, Toop's style is the chase down a thread of meaning via the points at which various thoughts and anecdotes cross over. This perfectly suits the nature of his subject matter- the vast, largely uncharted terrain of non-genre-based music, for which a dominant narrative and vocabulary do not yet exist as with, say, rock 'n roll or classical.

The book meditates on, among other things, the boundary between performer and audience, environmental sound and music, improviser and composer, and the role of digital technology in mediating or enhancing these distinctions.

As a journeyman music writer, critic and musician, Toop has spent a lot of his time travelling. This seems to inform his writing style as he is constantly in motion, moving quickly between personal recollections, excerpts from correspondence with diverse musicians, and lengthy quotes from various topically obscure yet philosophically related texts.

These (non-)random stop-overs make the book a slow read, as the reader is left to do a lot of the piecing together. Yet this is part of the pleasure to be found in Toop's writing- like a brilliant but challenging piece of music, the book offers an experience in which the mind of the reader is engaged as more than just a passive receptor of received ideas and emotion.

big ideas spoken in a quiet voice.......2004-09-30

Beautiful, challenging and nourishing.

I read this upon its UK release in July and still find myself dwelling upon some of the ideas raised. Reading it challenged me to use my ears afresh, and to think about what music can be.

Silence & Solitude: Yellowstone's Winter Wilderness

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Silence and Solitude
Great photograhic experience
Breathtaking and beautiful
Yellowstone' great resident photographer strikes gold

Silence & Solitude: Yellowstone's Winter Wilderness
Tom Murphy
Manufacturer: Riverbend Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Nature & Wildlife | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Photo Essays | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1931832005

Book Description

A remarkably artistic photographic portrait of Yellowstone's longest season.

Customer Reviews:

Silence and Solitude.......2007-02-18

Very nice photos. Exposition moderately good for this sort of book. Too much "I shot this when....." Makes a nice complement to more serious works, but certainly not part of the core literature.

Great photograhic experience.......2003-11-02

Exactly what I hoped it would be - beautiful photographs. For someone who enjoys both Yellowstone and the winter season beauty, I recommend this book.

Breathtaking and beautiful.......2003-05-12

I've always loved Yellowstone in Winter. Since 20 years I fly from Germany to Montana to spend several freezing months each year in Yellowstone, because I'm under the spell!!! Reading this book and looking at the absolutely beautiful photos from Tom Murphy makes me want to jump into the next plane and fly to the land of fire and ice.
There are a lot of books out there about Yellowstone, but nothing captures more the magic of silence and solitude than this one.

Yellowstone' great resident photographer strikes gold.......2002-08-05

It has been my pleasure to know Tom Murphy for almost a decade. From the time I first saw his work, I knew I was in the presence of a consummate artist who thoroughly knew his subject. Silence & Solitude will finally allow the rest of the world to see the beauty and power of a Yellowstone winter through his eyes. It is poignant, passionate and highly literate in its narration. Enjoy!

Speaking to Silence: New Rites for Christian Worship and Healing

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Wonderful Resource for Ministry

Speaking to Silence: New Rites for Christian Worship and Healing
Janet S. Peterman
Manufacturer: Westminster John Knox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Ritual | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0664228801

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Resource for Ministry.......2007-08-17

Many times pastors and lay leaders doing pastoral care are called upon to offer comfort and support in situations that standard liturgies just do not address. Experienced pastor Janet Peterman offers a variety of rituals that address healing and comfort in some of these situations in her new book Speaking to Silence. She says, "Our ministries sometimes call us out to be people in places where we have never been before. Many of the worship resources in this book came into being as I stood in those places in my ministry. I came to understand that ritual is uniquely capable of bringing a word from God in the context of real and sometimes desperate human need." Peterman offers a broad base of what she calls rituals that could be used in the home, personally, in church, and with the wider community.

In the book's introduction, Peterman shares how God put this project into her heart. On the evening of a Pentecost Sunday, she was called to a hospital. Even though she was tired from a large church celebration, the situation was one that she could not ignore. A pregnant woman, an out of towner, went into labor early. Her baby did not survive, and the mother would not give up her child's body until a baptism was performed. The hospital had called several clergy persons, but Peterman was the only one, who would respond. So with sterile water and a metal hospital basin, she baptized the child and turned her back to God. For weeks after this event, Peterman says, "...I came to ask myself a different question. Not what had I done, but what if...? What if Christian tradition provided a recognized alternative to use in such circumstances? What if this mother knew from the worship practices of her church that should a pregnancy ever end in loss - whether miscarriage or stillbirth - that the Church had a word from God and that this Word included an affirmation of the uniqueness of this child or pregnancy; an acknowledgment of the parents' grief and of the death they experienced; and words of reassurance about God's love in Jesus, arms stretched wide open on the cross, arms of saving mercy wide enough to receive this child?"

Her writing is divided into chapters with the headings: "Understanding Ritual;" "New Rites for Christian Worship: Rituals Signs of New Life and New Community;" "Making Holy What Has Been Violated;" "Rituals in the Presence of Death;" and "Creating New Rituals for Christian Worship."

Some of the situations where Peterman brings ritual to trying times are worth noting. One is a visible sign when work is difficult. Sometimes a community experiences a plant shut-down and members of the congregation lose their jobs or are moved to somewhere else. She offers a ritual that addresses this grief and loss in a personal way as well as for a faith community. Also offered is a blessing of a new dwelling, which addresses the entry of an individual into a nursing home. This ritual recognizes the loss of the familiar, of independence and personal space. Many find this kind of a move demoralizing and depressing. Families often feel grief, because they know what it means for their loved one, and they experience guilt for not being able to provide care in familiar surroundings. Another ritual recognizes the grief and trauma of someone facing losing a body part. Another ritual that this writer found helpful, because my mother has Alzheimer's disease, addresses what Peterman calls grieving death in life.

The book concludes with a section on creating new worship materials, which includes listing needs; a listening exercise; looking at Biblical texts that address a named need; a concordance exercise, which helps to identify keywords related to a given situation that help in exploring Biblical texts; exploration of existing worship materials; looking at and identifying appropriate symbolism; and so much more.

This is a wonderful resource that will help pastors and lay leaders expand the worship and pastoral care ministries in their congregations.

Welcome, Silence: My Triumph over Schizophrenia

Average customer rating:

I have met Carol North a number of times
Dr. North gives words to symptoms of mental illness
Absolutely Breathtaking
excellent book
A brave narration about an illness.

Welcome, Silence: My Triumph over Schizophrenia
Carol S., M.D. North
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Schizophrenia | Mental Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0671528343

Customer Reviews:

I have met Carol North a number of times.......2006-12-15

I've heard her speak, have attended meetings with her, and have interacted with her on a daily basis. I've also read her papers as well as this book. She is a brilliant, focused and remarkably authentic person. I recommend this book wholeheartedly.

Dr. North gives words to symptoms of mental illness.......2005-02-05

I found this to be a very helpful book,as I also suffer from severe mental illnesses. Dr. North is a very talented doctor,and I have had the pleasure of meeting her. She doesn't just name symptoms,she elaborates and gives life to the symptoms;she gives them names. The only problem I have with this book is that I do not believe Schizophrenia can be cured by dialysis. I'm not sure if this means Dr. North still suffers from it,or whether she really had it at all. There are other causes for some of the symptoms,like toxins in the blood for example.Nevertheless,I had my family read this book!

Absolutely Breathtaking.......2001-05-06

I've always been torn over what I want to do with my education, but after reading this book I'm positve. Med school. On to psychiatry I go, and I have this book to thank for helping me make up my mind. The story of Carol North is gripping, you feel for her, and you don't really think of her as 'insane' as you read. I recommend this book. Don't just check it out from the library, buy it.

excellent book.......1999-10-13

This is an outstanding story of Dr. North's struggle with schizophrenia and recovery. It is quite intense reading. Of course the ending is very dramatic.

It seems to me that there are a few things Dr. North did which contribute to the skepticism with which some people view her account. First, she changed names and other identifying details so that facts are difficult to verify. Second, she told the story in fairy-tale format, with dramatically worsening symptoms followed by miraculous cure with few details of life after recovery. Third, she chose not to have any other medical doctors involved with this book. If her psychiatrist had written an introduction and the doctor who proformed the dialysis had written an afterword, the story would have been better documented.

Finally, it seems to me that adjusting to being "normal" after spending one's formative years seriously mentally ill would be a major struggle in itself. I hope she follows up someday with "my life after schizophrenia" and includes real names and places.

Even with these caveats, it's a wonderful book that deserves five stars, in my opinion.

A brave narration about an illness........1999-02-01

While it has been some time since I read "Welcome Silence", I have to admire Dr. North's intestinal fortitude in presenting her experience with an illness that may have been many sided. The biochemistry of other illnesses that are mistaken for schizophrenia have been elucidated recently. The observation that dialysis was curative in this case suggests a circulating toxin, which certainly could have been the case. As some people have said, "If you don't have the disease now, you never did." Wouldn't be the first time would be my guess, but I think Carol North MD was one of the first brave souls to put her experience in writing. The differential diagnosis of schizophrenia in this day and age must also include scams, in as much as there are people who say they can pay individuals to make someone schizophrenic. Rather a sad state of affairs, I should think. Joseph W. Arabasz MD Past Division Chairman, Department of Anesthesiology and Past Medical Director Respiratory Therapy, Cook County Hospital, Chicago, Ill. Diplomat, American Board of Anesthesiology

Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (Open Media)

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:(
Please don't let this book "inform" your view on US/Afghan relations...
Afghan suffering
The book on Afghanistan we have been waiting for!
What's really happening in Afghanistan--and why

Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence (Open Media)
Sonali Kolhatkar , and James Ingalls
Manufacturer: Seven Stories Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Afghanistan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1583227318

Book Description

In the years following 9/11, US policy in Afghanistan has received little scrutiny, either from the media or the public. Despite official claims of democracy and women's freedom, Afghanistan has yet to emerge from the ashes of decades-long war. Through in-depth research and detailed historical context, Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls report on the injustice of US policies in Afghanistan historically and in the post 9-11 era. Drawing from declassified government documents and on-the-ground interviews with Afghans activists, journalists, lawyers, refugees, and students, the book examines he connections between US training and arming of Mujahadeen commanders and the subversion of Afghan democracy, to the sad state of warlordism, women's oppression, and poverty today. Bleeding Afghanistan boldly critiques the exploitation of Afghan women to justify war by both conservatives and liberals, analyzes uncritical media coverage of US policies, and examines the ways in which the US benefits from being in Afghanistan.

Sonali Kolhatkar and James Ingalls are the co-Directors of the Afghan Women's Mission, a US-based non-profit organization that works with the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). Their writings have appeared in Z Magazine, Foreign Policy in Focus, Alternet, Commondreams and Counterpunch. In February 2005, Kolhatkar and Ingalls traveled to Afghanistan to witness first-hand the results of US policy, and to understand how ordinary Afghans felt about the war. Sonali Kolhatkar is the host and producer of Uprising, a popular, daily, drive-time program on KPFK, Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles. James Ingalls is a Staff Scientist at the Spitzer Science Center, at the California Institute of Technology.

Customer Reviews:

:(.......2007-08-01

I read 5 pages before the hatred steaming off the author through his words made me put it down

Please don't let this book "inform" your view on US/Afghan relations..........2007-06-04

This book simply does not present a balanced perspective on the history of US involvement in Afghanistan. I defy the authors to claim that they began to research this book without a very specific thesis regarding the supposed culpability of the United States for all that is wrong in Afghanistan.

For a well-researched and very balanced perspective on US activities in Afghanistan read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and spare yourself the largely illogical rant presented in this book. I wish I had... my eyes hurt from rolling so much.

Afghan suffering.......2007-03-04

The book raises important moral and ethical problems for US supporting fundamentalists in the fight against communism during the cold war, and later using the same fractions for fighting the Taliban. The authors' good knowledge on what's going on in Afghanistan shows how the civilian population has suffered during 30 years of war, and how they continue to suffer. The rest of the book including coverage of US policies in general, western imperialism, racism, and media conspiracies are less founded in real facts. To exemplify they try to prove western racism by presenting statistics of media coverage of the Bosnian conflict compared the lack of media coverage of the Afghan civil war. Omitting to add the failed intervention in Somalia, the following genocide in Rwanda, and shadow that WWI and WWII genocides lay over the Balkan conflicts - shows just short of astounding narrow perspectives by the authors. If you can look past the traditional anti western rhetoric, there are still Afghan voices in the book that deserves to be heard.

The book on Afghanistan we have been waiting for!.......2007-01-20

This is a must read for anyone who truly cares about the Afghan people and their country. It gives very detailed information on the US involvement in the country, that began way before September 11th to what is going on today. It is a book that is hard to stomach at more times than most because of the details given, but it is also vital information in understanding Afghanistan today. It also shows that Afghanistan is far from a success. This book is not only long overdue, but truthfully one of the most powerful books you could ever read on this country. The authors should be commended for not only writing it, but writing it with such love and care for the Afghan people themselves.

What's really happening in Afghanistan--and why.......2007-01-18

Finally a book that looks at what's happening in Afghanistan from the viewpoint of Afghans. This is a well-written and well-informed account of just why Afghanistan is the way it is. A bit of spoiler: It has a great deal to do with the United States' criminal support of fundamentalist warlords. These men, who have risen to power in the new "democratic" government, are the same ones who abused human rights with impunity in the 1990s and paved the way for the Taliban. While providing an insightful background in Afghan history that shows their firm grasp of the facts not propaganda, the authors have written their most penetrating analysis on the ways in which Afghanistan has been misrepresented by both liberal feminist groups and conservative media. This is not yet another attempt to cash in on the temporary cool of a war-torn country. It is a genuine effort to draw attention to the vast injustices that are being perpetuated with US aid and collusion as well as to the many Afghans who face death to bring peace and justice to their country.

The Greatest Sedition Is Silence: Four Years in America

Average customer rating:

I get it
I don't get it.
Five Star Journalism
The Emperor's Clothes are ........
When the so-called "Right" Tells You It's Bad...

The Greatest Sedition Is Silence: Four Years in America
William Rivers Pitt
Manufacturer: Pluto Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Civil Rights & Liberties | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Activism | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0745320104

Book Description

This passionate and controversial book is the work of one of America's most outspoken and talented new journalists. William Rivers Pitt's caustic critique of the last four years of American government gives voice to the growing tide of dissent and outrage with America's leaders both inside the country and in the wider world.

Burning with anger, this incisive and readable book argues that, under George W. Bush, America makes a mockery of the values of liberty and truth that it purports to stand for, and that it is now more important than ever to speak out.

William Rivers Pitt reveals how the crisis in American has been engineered by a group of Christian conservatives, whose attempts in 1998 to bring down the Clinton government led to a perversion of the American electoral process, resulting in the illegitimate installation of George W. Bush into the Presidency by five like-minded conservative Justices of the Supreme Court.

In the aftermath of September 11th, America has in many senses lost its way. Citizens are counseled to "watch what they say" by the White House, just as questions of deadly import are ignored by the government and the media. In their rush to defend "liberty", George Bush and his allies are actually endangering the freedom of the individual, as laid down in international law. Yet how do we save freedom by limiting it? Why, after all this time, have there been no answers regarding what really happened on 9/11?

Pitt's message is clear: seeking answers and demanding truth is not treasonous. In these dangerous days, with all that is at stake, the greatest sedition in America is silence.

Customer Reviews:

I get it.......2006-02-21

A reviewer below posted that he doesn't get it. That "Sedition means incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority. Therefore, Pitt is saying that the greatest (best) way to rise up against Bush is Silence. The best way to counter Bush is to say nothing?"

Not really. Opponents of dissenting voices have long used the term "sedition" to criticize those who disagree with the party in power. The McCarthy Era being the time that springs to mind. Those who disagreed with Senator Joe McCarthy were called seditious and "un-American." Congress even set up a committee to investigate these un-Americans. Pitt is being ironic by pointing out that it is actually contrary to what our nation was founded on to allow a group (in this case the Bush administration) to damage our nation. Since America was founded by those courageous enough to stand up to a tyrannical King George, it is actually "un-American" not to stand up to this one and block his efforts to further erode the Bill of Rights, distort our national purpose and place environmental policy, tax policy and our military power in the hands of corporate oil interests (as it says in the Publishers Weekly review above). To remain silent in such a situation is more sedition than speaking out which is actually in keeping with the idea that gave birth to this nation. Clear enough?

I don't get it........2006-01-26

I don't get it. The title is "The Greatest Sedition Is Silence : Four Years in America." I know that Pitt is pro-America/anti-Bush and that he is writing to say that "We the people" have hurt our country by being silent to the horrors of the Bush administration.

Here's where I get confused. "Sedition" means incitement of resistance to or insurrection against lawful authority.

Therefore, Pitt is saying that the Greatest (best) way to rise up against Bush is Silence. huh? The best way to counter Bush is to say nothing?

Five Star Journalism.......2005-01-08

What more can one say... the truth hurts, but it needs to be said. As a researcher I know a thing or two about how hard it is to find the facts. It's not just documentation, itself a major task that goes well past the norm of a 9-5 type of job. Rather, it takes dedication, long sleepless nights, and what's even harder is putting your work into words. Mr. Pitts is and always will be this American Historians' journalist hero. If his name is on the book, it's as close to the truth as one can ever expect.

In a world where hero's are far and in between, just having the guts to write the factual truth should be enough, but if anyone can step up to the plate and prove Pitts is wrong, well, I'd like to see it. Thanks Mr. Pitt for giving me the truth when no other media had the nerve or cared to.

The Emperor's Clothes are ...............2004-12-24

My personal 9/11 was on 20th September 1999, when suddenly the nightmare in June 1999 was realized when the Professional Terrorists KPMG turned up, supposedly to re-organize company management... instead with perfect power suits and perfectly mouthed lies, they destroyed all, and my engineering career, finances and colon lay in ruin. (Only skydiving has saved my colon.) A taste of the corruption that is rife in large companies run by MBAs and now in the US government.

The second wake up was Gore Vidal's interview on Australian ABC radio from the August 2001 Edinburgh book festival, in the aftermath of 9/11, a very chilling foretelling interview indeed!

[...]

Thus I discovered hope. For here I find hard truth.

In addition we lost the Columbia Space Shuttle to "software" only testing and the use of the MBA's tool "PowerPoint".
I fear NASA's situation will only worsen. Given the strong anti-science stance and actions of the current US Government and much of the US population, scientists and engineers like myself deeply . Who will understand the technology of today, tomorrow, when we are forced to swallow "Christianity" and the 7000 year old Earth?

Electrical Engineering teaches one that, "Any system with improper, incomplete and/or false feedback will fail in time either castrophically or otherwise." This applies beyond just electrical systems...

I am grateful to have Willam Rivers Pitt raising the flag.
To tell the truth, is to give hope, and that is to create good.

Thank you,

Ps. According to the Evangelicals now coming into Australia from the USA, I am a Devil Incarnate and a Satanic person. As I have found reincarnation a truth...and dared to mention the "r" word. I am still waiting for these same Evangelicals to put their faith, as George W. does, into action, and have me arrested as a terrorist!

Yes, Carl (Sagan) you did warn us in "CONTACT".
You Carl knew what was coming... from the people for the people.

Bonsai'd
Down_Under
Get this book!
... and get your children to read George Orwell's 1984 too.

When the so-called "Right" Tells You It's Bad..........2004-12-23

you should probably read it, especially if you're concerned about your own rights.

Face it folks, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution are in tatters and the Theocratic Right Wing is responsible. BushCo has done more damage to this country than Bin Laden or a thousand terrorists groups could ever do. Bush and Bin Laden make such a good team, I'm surprised they're not having tea and crumpets at Blair's flat.

We, The PEOPLE did not defend the Constitution, nor did our elected representatives. Now, when we need it, it won't be there to defend us.

It's a dark, dark day in American history. Mr. Pitt brings that darkness to light. And Light is the natural enemy of the Right.

If you care about your civil rights, the rule of law and the future of the great experiment that was once America, you should read this book.

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