Average customer rating:
- "Elsewhere" takes you on a magical journey...elsewhere!
- "Elsewhere" takes you on a magical journey...elsewhere!
- Best quick read that leaves you wanting more
- Your Attention May Drift Elsewhere
- Great Concept, Poor Execution
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Elsewhere (Ala Notable Children's Books. Older Readers)
Gabrielle Zevin
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0374320918
Release Date: 2005-08-11 |
Book Description
Is it possible to grow up while getting younger?
Welcome to Elsewhere. It is warm, with a breeze, and the beaches are marvelous. It’s quiet and peaceful. You can’t get sick or any older. Curious to see new paintings by Picasso? Swing by one of Elsewhere’s museums. Need to talk to someone about your problems? Stop by Marilyn Monroe’s psychiatric practice.
Elsewhere is where fifteen-year-old Liz Hall ends up, after she has died. It is a place so like Earth, yet completely different. Here Liz will age backward from the day of her death until she becomes a baby again and returns to Earth. But Liz wants to turn sixteen, not fourteen again. She wants to get her driver’s license. She wants to graduate from high school and go to college. And now that she’s dead, Liz is being forced to live a life she doesn’t want with a grandmother she has only just met. And it is not going well. How can Liz let go of the only life she has ever known and embrace a new one? Is it possible that a life lived in reverse is no different from a life lived forward? This moving, often funny book about grief, death, and loss will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.
Customer Reviews:
"Elsewhere" takes you on a magical journey...elsewhere!.......2007-09-23
Everyone asks the question, "what happens when people die?" Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin will make you think twice on this subject. Reading this book was very addicting, and I nearly cried when I turned to the last page because I never wanted the story to end!
The author paints vivid pictures to help the reader feel like a part of the story. By using strong, descriptive words, I was allowed to imagine myself in Liz's shoes. For example, this was proven when Liz, who was killed in a bicycle accident, first goes to Elsewhere, the afterlife and watches her family from Observation Deck, or O.D., through binoculars because she misses them.
I noticed that the author likes to describe people surrounding the main character. I believe that the author does this so the readers can connect themselves with the characters in the book. The first time I read Elsewhere, I thought the author did this just to help readers "get to know characters", not connecting with them. The second time I read this, I realized that she actually connects with the characters by not only limiting the point of view for Liz only, but she shows her other friends' perspective, too.
One of the themes in Elsewhere is death. When Liz died, she's transported to Elsewhere and eventually learns to deal with the fact she died, and may never see her loved ones again. Liz realizes how she is an angel watching over Earth when she frequently goes to the O.D. I figured that Liz thought death is like a new beginning because she has a backwards life in Elsewhere. Her time there is like a human life on Earth, except she ages backwards, and Liz discovers that "a life lived forward isn't too much different from a life lived in reverse."
This book is hard to put down because of the brilliant descriptions, interesting themes, and makes you think about death and the afterlife. Elsewhere has something for everyone: some fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, this book has all. This is a beautiful book, woven and crafted straight from the heart. I now hope that the spiritual world is like Elsewhere, because someone I knew had recently moved on, and it is believed "she is O.K. in heaven." The idea of Elsewhere is a source of comfort for me whenever I am upset about her death. I hope that she's living her death like the one Liz does in Elsewhere, so she will be watching us from some kind of O.D., and knowing that we miss her a lot. The author takes a normally depressing subject, and turns it in to a hopeful book on this fifteen-year-old girl, which is hardly sad at all! If you enjoy any type of story, be sure to read this ten-star book!
"Elsewhere" takes you on a magical journey...elsewhere!.......2007-09-23
Everyone asks the question, "what happens when people die?" Elsewhere, by Gabrielle Zevin will make you think twice on this subject. Reading this book was very addicting, and I nearly cried when I turned to the last page because I never wanted the story to end!
The author paints vivid pictures to help the reader feel like a part of the story. By using strong, descriptive words, I was allowed to imagine myself in Liz's shoes. For example, this was proven when Liz, who was killed in a bicycle accident, first goes to Elsewhere, the afterlife and watches her family from Observation Deck, or O.D., through binoculars because she misses them.
I noticed that the author likes to describe people surrounding the main character. I believe that the author does this so the readers can connect themselves with the characters in the book. The first time I read Elsewhere, I thought the author did this just to help readers "get to know characters", not connecting with them. The second time I read this, I realized that she actually connects with the characters by not only limiting the point of view for Liz only, but she shows her other friends' perspective, too.
One of the themes in Elsewhere is death. When Liz died, she's transported to Elsewhere and eventually learns to deal with the fact she died, and may never see her loved ones again. Liz realizes how she is an angel watching over Earth when she frequently goes to the O.D. I figured that Liz thought death is like a new beginning because she has a backwards life in Elsewhere. Her time there is like a human life on Earth, except she ages backwards, and Liz discovers that "a life lived forward isn't too much different from a life lived in reverse."
This book is hard to put down because of the brilliant descriptions, interesting themes, and makes you think about death and the afterlife. Elsewhere has something for everyone: some fiction, non-fiction, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction, this book has all. This is a beautiful book, woven and crafted straight from the heart. I now hope that the spiritual world is like Elsewhere, because someone I knew had recently moved on, and it is believed "she is O.K. in heaven." The idea of Elsewhere is a source of comfort for me whenever I am upset about her death. I hope that she's living her death like the one Liz does in Elsewhere, so she will be watching us from some kind of O.D., and knowing that we miss her a lot. The author takes a normally depressing subject, and turns it in to a hopeful book on this fifteen-year-old girl, which is hardly sad at all! If you enjoy any type of story, be sure to read this ten-star book!
Best quick read that leaves you wanting more.......2007-09-17
After reading a few reviews on Amazon I decided to purchase this book. I am so glad I did. I read this in one sitting and could not stop thinking about it after I finished. I went to bed and dreamed about it!
Zevin takes this life after death subject and presents in such a way that you can't help but want to discuss it with others. You begin to think about all the possibilities of what really does happen after death.
I laughed, I cried. I was moved. READ THIS BOOK TODAY!
Your Attention May Drift Elsewhere.......2007-09-08
This YA title will probably earn 5 stars from girls, especially girls with Lurlene McDaniels-type affinities for the topic of death, because this novel is all about the living end (read: "the afterlife"). In truth, the whole concept of death being life in a mirror world is great, and ELSEWHERE kind of, sort of had me hooked at the get-go, but then it LET go as the chapters wore on.
Don't get me wrong. Author Gabrielle Zevin gets "A" for effort. Her earnest protagonist, Liz, is a likable 15-year-old who gets killed by a hit-and-run taxi cab driver. She "wakes up" on a cruiser heading for an alternate world that looks suspiciously like our world except you can't die there (because you already are) and the dogs talk (more than just "woof," I mean). Lizzie is upset because she missed the prom, misses her best friend Zooey, loves her mom, dad, and brother Alvy, and will never a.) get her Massachusetts driving license (a.k.a. "License To Kill," if you know anything about Massachusetts), b.) lose her virginity, and c.) grow big boobs (you know, all the real important stuff in life).
The catch about Elsewhere is that everyone ages backwards until, on their birthday, they are sent down a river to be reborn as another baby on Earth. The Buddhists are clapping, and it sure beats Hell (with all that smell of smoke), Heaven (with all those harps and angel feathers), or Nothing (with all that depressing "nothingness"), but still, it's a bit too sweet to swallow.
The side characters include Lizzie's grandmother Betty, who takes her in, a girl named Thandi who was shot in the head the same day Lizzie was hit, a drug-overdosed rock star named Curtis "Surely You" Jest, and a love interest named Owen who died at 26 but has "backed in" to being just two years Lizzie's senior. Oh. And the bad news is, all these living dead folk in Elsewhere can pump "eternims" (coinage of the realm) in a binocular-type set up to watch us living alive folk do things like wash dishes, scratch our elbows, and use the bathroom. (Yeesh.)
Not a lot happens in this book, and the large amount of dialogue and short, simple sentences begin to take their toll after awhile. Throw in a few unrealistic plot turns plus characters acting like you wouldn't expect them to act, and you see why some readers' attention might drift elsewhere. Nevertheless, the book's a gamer, quite unique, and recommended for girls of a sentimental drift. Otherwise, my advice is to look both ways before crossing the street...
Great Concept, Poor Execution.......2007-08-25
I began reading this book with high hopes because of the back cover. However, the more I began to read, the more ANNOYING the way it was written got to me. There were many many times when I wanted to rewrite the parts for the author for the sake of the book's moment. I have never even thought that a book might not be worth the money but this one certainly was not worth my money. I think I just might return it. It's in well enough condition seeing as how little it took me to read it. I loved the dogs, though. Aldous Ghent was also quite hilarious. I give this book two starts, though because I do believe it had some good moments. Overall, I give it a huge PUHLEASE and I WISH I LIKED YOU MORE.
Average customer rating:
- Milan Kundera, one of my favorite authors
- Spend your time elsewhere.
- Among Kundera's most inspired
- Life is Elsewhere
- A quiet meditation on life and art
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Life Is Elsewhere
Milan Kundera , and
Aaron Asher
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0060997028 |
Book Description
The author intially intended to call this noel, The Lyrical Age. The lyrical age, according to Kundera, is youth, and this novel, above all, is an epic of adolescence; an ironic epic that tenderly erodes scarosanct values: childhood, motherhood, revolution, and even poetry. Jaromil is in fact a poet. His mother made hima poet and accompanies him (figuratively) to his love bed and (literally) to his deathbed. A ridiculous and touching character, horrifying and totally innocent ("innocence with its bloody smile"!), Jaromil is at the same time a true poet. He's no creep, he's Rimbaud. Rimbaud entrapped by the communist revolution, entrapped in a somber farce.
Customer Reviews:
Milan Kundera, one of my favorite authors.......2006-10-29
I finally borrowed another of Milan Kundera's books to read from the university library. I didn't enjoy it as much as I did The Unbearable Lightness of Being. However there were still a lot of incisive and thoughtful passages.
What I like most about Milan Kundera is his marvelous skill in capturing the essence of his thoughts in words, and also the thoughts themselves which reveal a kindred soul in deep contemplation of human and life. Whenever I read his books, I feel a longing to write something as deeply revealing as his books.
Life is Elsewhere is about the life of a young poet named Jaromil. The viewpoint is erected at his demise, as the writer tells us. The poet and his mother's relationship are one of the main subjects in this book. The writer says he meant to name the book The Lyric Age but changed the title at the last moment because the publishers worried that no one would buy a book with such an abstract title.
Many critics see this book as a satire of literature, of literary talent, and of life. However, as I read the book, I didn't perceive it as a satire. I felt it to be honest, sometimes brutally so, but still with sympathy and self-pity wrapped around it. Every aspiring artist is bound to go through some of what Jaromil went through.
It especially makes one wonder how literary genius can be defined or if it even can be defined. The writer himself writes in the preface that Jaromil is not a bad poet. I kept that in mind as I read the book. Jaromil is in fact a very sensitive though naive and immature poet. Nobody can be the absolute judge of literary talent.
Spend your time elsewhere........2006-03-09
I bought the book after reading the 1st chapter where "the Poet is conceived". Unfortunately, it was downhill from there.
This book tired me out so much with the way it rambled on and on. It seemed far too self righteousness and preachy; it was almost pretentious. It was also difficult to empathize with it's main character who was a pathetic, untalented, mama's boy poet.
Having read and enjoyed a few other Kundera books, I really tried to give this a chance. It was a struggle to finish it. If you don't like ending up hating the protagonist, your time is better spent reading something else.
Among Kundera's most inspired.......2006-03-04
Although 'Life is Elsewhere' is not one of Milan Kundera's most celebrated novels, it is without doubt one of the most intimate and beautifully written.
Detractors and critics of Kundera often gripe that his characters are unpleasant, underdeveloped and shallow human beings. All these critics need to do is read this novel to see how incorrect this assertion is. Within 'Life is Elsewhere' we see an intimate account of the life and development of a young poet named Jaromil, with a specific focus on his relationship with his mother. The beautiful manner in which this relationship is rendered allows us to appreciate a subtle interplay between the poet's relationship with his mother, and his relationship with the female sex in general.
When one hears of a novel about such a relationship, one is tempted to picture the story of a man who is utterly dominated by a controlling and posessive mother, however this is not how Kundera develops their bond. Here what we find is the story of a mother and child relationship whose closeness transcends the usual maternal bonds. Intertwined with this relationship is the poet's passion for his art and his use of it to express and promote his socialist political ideologies.
The skill, beauty and dexterity with which Kundera interweaves the many facets and relationships of this novel, as well as the depth of character present, should be enough to assuage even the most ardent of his critics.
Life is Elsewhere.......2005-05-27
In Kundera's book you meet Jaromil at the moment he is concieved. His mother loves him so much and has so many great hopes for him. She wants him to become a poet. Once Jaromil grows old enough to write, he starts writing poetry. Throughout the novel, you meet all of the people that change Jaromils life: the Painter, the Student, the Redheaded Girl, the Man in his forties, Xavier, and many others. I rated this book three stars because, although it was a great read, it was a little hard to follow. By the time I reached the end of the book I had forgotten what happened in the beginning. I enjoyed that not all the characters had specific names, they were only called what they were, a painter or a poet or something like that. I have never read a book so filled with poetry and thoughts like this before.
A quiet meditation on life and art.......2004-01-16
Life is Elsewhere is the first novel by Milan Kundera that I have read, and it was the first he wrote. The edition I have, however, was edited and touched up to confirm to the more accurate French translation with the help of the author, so I am assuming it contains a little more maturity than when he wrote it thirty years ago.
The story is very simple, it is about a struggling young poet's first twenty or so years of life, from birth to death. He is the only named character (excluding Xavier, but don't worry about that), and this adds to the sense of familiarity we feel with him.
Another important character is his mother, and we are often privy to her emotions and thoughts away from her poet son. She is quite obsessive about him and wants to make sure his life is how he wants it poetically, but as he grows older, she becomes rather jealous of his growing attraction to females that aren't her.
I really enjoyed the narrator's tone of voice, at times he was an impartial observer, at other times he made little comments about the characters/predicaments, and at other times he threw all that away and started having a one-sided discussion with the reader - even indulging in little flights of fancy away from the main story. I have no idea if this is a Kunder staple or not, but it really worked in this story and I wouldn't mind seeing it again.
The poet is a selfish character, moreso as he becomes older, and this can sometimes be hard to read. He treats his girlfriend very poorly, and looks at life and love with the obsessive attitude of a teenager, which can sometimes be a little difficult to read. He considers his art and drive to be greater than any others, and this makes him arrogant, but he truly is a great poet so this is moderately understandable.
In summation, I very much recommend this book. It was very sad in places, and when it wasn't sad, it was a great meditation on life.
Average customer rating:
- A very reflective read
- A Gift to Wanderers
- From Elsewhere: Being E.T. in America
- A life-saver for wanderers
- A handbook for wanderers
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From Elsewhere: Being E.T. in America
Scott Mandelker
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1559723041 |
Book Description
From Elsewhere takes a close look at the most radical New Age group--those who claim extraterrestrial (ET) identity. Adapted from the Ph.D. research of Scott Mandelker through 25 interviews, From Elsewhere follows the lives of 25 'Wanderers' from their unusual childhood to the rare events that lead to an extraordinary sense of self. Detailed case stories trace their growth from confusion to clarity, dealing with society, intimacy, and life-mission. Their ideas on UFOs, human history, and the fate of planet Earth make fascinating reading.
Customer Reviews:
A very reflective read.......2006-08-30
After reading From Elsewhere I have this book an excellent read!
Very reflective and I resonate with many of the stories told by the 25 people in the book. I especially love Soren's story we are both very similar.
I highly recommend this book. Each time i read it I discover something new!
A Gift to Wanderers.......2006-02-24
After my own "awakening" I went searching for others like me. I quickly found Scott Mandelker's book, "From Elsewhere." It was a relief for me to know that I was not alone. Reading the experiences in this book helped me a great deal as I have also told Scott. This book is helpful to all of the Wanderer's, Walk-ins and others that know they are "From Elsewhere." Thank you Scott for such a wonderful gift.
From Elsewhere: Being E.T. in America.......2002-03-14
Almost everyone is still asking the question: are we alone in the universe?
But almost every metaphysician knows that the answer is simply "No" From elsewhere is a book that proves that we are not alone in the universe and it gives the reader a lot of valubale information about the extra-terrestrials amoung us. I found this book to be very interesting and I am certan that you will too if you read it!
A life-saver for wanderers.......2000-07-25
Synchronicity brought "From Elsewhere" my way and I am eternally grateful. It is very difficult going through life as a lonely observer with a growing stack of unanswerable questions. This book addressed those gnawing issues for me. The answer to all of them: I am a wanderer. I agree with the Knoxville reviewer about the book probably being unpalatable to most non-wanderers/walk-ins. That is simply because few people are open-minded enough to ask the questions that Dr. Mandelker poses. These questions shake the very foundations of society's cherished beliefs about life. It is a tribute to Mandelker's courage that he dares ask them.
As a wanderer, I particularly appreciated the author's personal story in the appendix. That autobiography plus the quiz that the other reviewer mentioned, convinced me of my origins. I really wasn't surprised that I'm from Elsewhere. That was probably the most stunning discovery of all. I hope sincere, open-minded people will delve into this book. It deserves the attention of all devoted seekers of truth. Dr. Mandelker's sincerity, courage, and solid, though unconventional reasoning make this work a stand-out. Thank you, Scott.
A handbook for wanderers.......2000-04-29
I must say this book was an eye opener for me. After 50 years of life I would have thought I would know my roots and why I just don't seem to fit into this world. After reading a quiz that I found on the net that suppose to indicate if one is a wanderer, I found that I answered virtually every question yes. So I ordered this book, and boy does it ring true. It has given me a new outlook on life, and at last I know my mission. For wanderers it is a must read. For those who are not wanderers it probably is of little interest.
It explains much of what had been a mystery to me, like why I came to have healing touch so easily, and why all my close friends have told me at one time or the other they are from elsewhere. Also it directed me to the RA books which have given me additional insight. Both are a must read for wanderers!
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While the Eyes of the Great are Elsewhere
William, L Biersach
Manufacturer: Tumblar House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0971278652
Release Date: 2005-01-31 |
Book Description
In the words of Mr Biersach: "This little tome - or collection thereof-is intended as a word of encouragement for those Catholics who, against all odds, are attempting to hold on to their Faith for dear life, or perhaps trying to rediscover it in the midst of the rumbling chaos... "
And in the words of his good friend, Charles Coulombe: "Our fate . . . begins with our reply to that question asked of His disciples by Jesus Christ and continually referred to by Mr. Biersach in this book: "Who do you say that I am?" Mr. Biersach not only shows us in many ways how we must answer that question, but why we must. Moreover, he does so joyfully. The message he brings us is good news; there is a way out of this world of sin and shadows, and our eternity can be unparalleled bliss. That being so, Mr. Biersach bids us, as would his patron St. Phillip Neri, to begin the quest for Paradise with hope, with happiness, and with humor. Never, in this writer's admittedly short experience (a mere four decades), has his message been so timely and so needed."
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A Life Elsewhere
Segun Afolabi
Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0224076027
Release Date: 2006-05-30 |
Book Description
An impressive debut collection of stories of Diaspora; of people making their lives in new lands, of the universal need to establish family and identity in a world where the boundaries of geography, culture and language are increasingly fluid.
Average customer rating:
- Interesting premise, dense writing
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Organisms and Artifacts: Design in Nature and Elsewhere (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology)
Tim Lewens
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life (Life and Mind: Philosophical Issues in Biology and Psychology)
ASIN: 0262621991 |
Book Description
In Organisms and Artifacts, Tim Lewens investigates the analogical use of the language of design in evolutionary biology. Uniquely among the natural sciences, biology uses descriptive and explanatory terms more suited to artifacts than organisms. When biologists discuss, for example, the purpose of the panda's thumb and look for functional explanations for organic traits, they borrow from a vocabulary of intelligent design that Darwin's findings could have made irrelevant over a hundred years ago. Lewens argues that examining the analogy between the processes of evolution and the processes by which artifacts are created -- looking at organisms as analogical artifacts -- sheds light on explanations of the form of both organic and inorganic objects. He argues further that understanding the analogy is important for what it can tell us not only about biology but about technology and philosophy.
In the course of his argument, Lewens discusses issues of interest to philosophers of biology, biologists, philosophers of mind, and students of technology. These issues include the pitfalls of the design-based thinking of adaptationism, the possible conflict between selection explanations and developmental explanations, a proposed explanation of biological function, and prospects for an informative evolutionary model of technological change. Emerging from these discussions is an explanation of the use of the vocabulary of intelligence and intention in biology that does not itself draw on the ideas of intelligent design, which will be of interest in the ongoing debate over intelligent design creationism.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting premise, dense writing.......2004-09-23
If you listen to biologists talk for just a few minutes, you're likely to hear how some organ has function X, how well a protein is designed for purpose Y, or how some piece of DNA has meaning Z. These aren't creationists, but hard-headed scientists discussing the blind operation of nature. Nothing in nature "means" anything in the sense that a human word has meaning, nothing has "purpose" in the sense that some intelligence has assigned a goal to the object. They why do serious people use such anthropomorphic terms?
Most of all, why does this language lead to such stunning successes in understanding the mechanisms of life?
That is Lewens' goal, to figure out just what the thought processes are behind those words. His search isn't just intellectual word-play, it's a search for the basis of human understanding in biology. As in any experimental science, biological tests are phrased as questions: do real-world facts contradict the statement in question, yes or no? The scientific outcome of the experiment is just a physical phenomenon, but the answer to the question is semantic. That is the point that Lewens addresses: how the meaning of the question maps into physical phenomena, and how results map from phenomena to meaningful answers. The meaning of the question is the most fundamental factor in the scientific process.
Lewens does a very good job in this analysis. He avoids the dogmatic absolutism that seems to characterize other philosophers' answers. Biologists, after all, are usually happy to look at any one problem in two or three ways that contradict each other. Lewens seems to place more importance on what the practicing scientists believe than in philosophical theory - a habit that lends relevance to his work, or avoids immediate irrelevance. Despite his generally sound foundation in scientific fact, Lewens still shies from answers in statistical form; future work should address that weakness, but it did not detract from the general thrust of his discussion.
Lewens has chosen an important field of study, and has addressed it with respect for the people who work in that field. He succeeds in showing that philosophy can be a constructive force in modern life and thought. I have to admit, however, that many of his distinctions were drawn so finely that the details blur together for me even a little while later. There are times when the words matter, but scientists tend to putter along quite happily without approaching this level of fussiness. This book is interesting, but not easy to apply within the field that it addresses.
//wiredweird
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The chaplain's daughter: An account of the life of Elizabeth Van Horne in army posts at Sitka, Fort Vancouver, Fort Douglas, and elsewhere with her father, Chaplain Thomas B. Van Horne
Aaron DuBois
Manufacturer: William-Frederick Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B0007FRUUG |
Average customer rating:
- Genius Discussion on Ooze to Vertebrates
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Chemical Evolution: Molecular Evolution Towards the Origin of Living Systems on the Earth and Elsewhere
Melvin Calvin
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Textbook Binding
ASIN: 0195003128 |
Customer Reviews:
Genius Discussion on Ooze to Vertebrates.......2005-04-27
Wow! Hey! I found this gem in a free give away box at a community college I was attending. Forget that, buy it! Melvin Calvin is the guy responsible for the Calvin cycle in photosynthesis. He takes Stanley Miller's 1950s reaction chamber experiments to the nth degree and breaks down paleo-biochemistry in a way that would convert the new Pope Benedict over to being an evolutionary Marxist! He really dissects reaction chamber mechanics down to minute detail and the biochemistry is truly encompassing. The electron micrographs are pretty sophisticated as well. Anyone who wants to credibly debate those "life could not have evolved at random" types would do well to read this book. Calvin goes step by step through how macromolecular life evolved on earth, replete with detailed explanations and graphics. Sort of a dry, scientific treatise on organo-molecular evolution, but worth every minute.
Average customer rating:
- Finally, An Explanation For What I Have Been Going Through
- Examining Hierarchies
|
Clueless at the Top: While the Rest of Us Turn Elsewhere for Life, Liberty, and Happiness
Charlotte Childress , and
Harriet Childress
Manufacturer: Cypress House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1879384566 |
Customer Reviews:
Finally, An Explanation For What I Have Been Going Through.......2006-03-07
I was working for a dysfunctional organization. I experienced frustration, feelings of inadequacy, and eventually physical symptoms. I watched the best people leave, like rats deserting a sinking ship. Finally I left too. As I analyzed the evolution of the problems at work, the words "clueless at the top" expressed the problem precisely. When I saw the title of this book I had to read it and I'm glad I did.
Anyone who has ever worked in a bureaucracy will recognize the signs. But are you aware of the dangers? The problems inherent in a hierarchy and the stress that results has led many people to quit the rat race and find a better way.
Despite our founders vision of equality, we still live in a culture of hierarchies. Like children comparing age on the playground, we enter each new situation and quickly size up the pecking order. Charlotte and Harriet Childress expose the insidiousness of hierarchies and explain why we should care.
Join the authors on a journey of discovery. Uncover the signs of a hierarchy and you will understand why they are detrimental. Most rewarding of all, you will realize that we do not have to live with hierarchies. Clueless at the Top will give you the vision to create healthy alternatives and live freely by your own direction.
The freedom you feel when you understand the cause of your unhappiness is worth the price of the book. The positive approach to a better way of living is the frosting on the cake.
And if you think that this book doesn't pertain to you, I dare you to read it and find out why you may be "cluless at the top."
Nancy Illing, author of SPARKS Ignite Imagination
Examining Hierarchies.......2004-10-24
Clueless at the Top is an amazing book. It examines a complex subject using the deceptively simple and very accessible means of anecdotal tales that remind me of parables.
The idea of the book is that our society is made up of many hierarchies. You might simultaneously be at the top of one hierarchy and the bottom of another. For example, if you are a white woman and a single parent who has a job as an executive in a Fortune 500 company, you are at the top of the race hierarchy, the bottom of the gender and marriage hierarchies, and the top of the employment hierarchy.
But the book doesn't simply suggest that you find out which hierarchies you are a part of. It analyzes our country, historically and in the present, and the effects of the hierarchical system on all of us. We lose power when we participate in the hierarchies. The Childress sisters urge us to dismantle the hierarchies and create a true democracy where everyone is equal and everyone has equal access to life, liberty, and happiness.
Average customer rating:
|
The Collector's Bag: Traveller's Tales from India and Elsewhere
R. V. Vernede
Manufacturer: Colin Smythe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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Contemporary
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British
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General
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ASIN: 0861403525 |
Books:
- Ethnicity and Family Therapy, Third Edition
- Flipping the Switch...: Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability Using the QBQ!
- God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
- Heartbreaker
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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