Measuring and Monitoring Biological Diversity: Standard Methods for Mammals (Biodiversity Handbook)

Customer Reviews:

Measuring Mammals, the difinitive work........2000-10-05

I am a mammalogist new to the field. I designed my first investigation, a mammalian bioinventory of a park in Costa Rica in 1999. The Wilson book was extremely helpful, and I cited it no less than 10 times in my permit application. I reccommend this publication to any persons hoping to work with mammals or currently employed sampling mammal diversity.

Customer Reviews:

Highlander is a Highlander.......2006-12-02

I loved this book. My family heritage is from most of Northern Europe but I am fascinated by the Highland blood from Scotland through my Mother and by the Polish/Slovak of my Father. Marcinek is the original Polish family name and my family's ancestral village is just across the Polish border from Podhale in Slovakia. This book gives me a window into the life of my ancestors. Many things are strangely familiar to stories I have heard and traditions in the family. Jan Gutt-Mostowy and Maria De Gorgey have done a fine job of making this a little history of the Goral (Polish Highlander) rather than just a travel guide book. The book is split into 4 parts. The first is about the Highlands themselves and their settlement. The second is all about the Highlanders themselves with chapters on Agriculture, housing, dress, food, folklore, customs, art, songs and dance. The third part is the traveler's guide broken into different cities and regions in the Podhale with a rich mixture of history rolled into it. The fourth and final part is about the Polish Highlanders in America, the mass immigration and history up until today of a unique culture's attempt to survive in the new world. This book has renewed and fanned the love of my Father's ancestry and given me knew avenues and ideas to reclaim my heritage. This is an excellent book for anyone with an interest or links to the Tatra Mountain Region of Poland and Slovakia.

Podhale: A companion guide to the Polish Highlands

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Podhale: A companion guide to the Polish Highlands
Jan Gutt-Mostowy
Manufacturer: Hippocrene Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006F71PQ

Book Description

Impulsive Control in Continuous and Discrete-Continuous Systems is an up-to-date introduction to the theory of impulsive control in nonlinear systems. This is a new branch of the Optimal Control Theory, which is tightly connected to the Theory of Hybrid Systems. The text introduces the reader to the interesting area of optimal control problems with discontinuous solutions, discussing the application of a new and effective method of discontinuous time-transformation. With a large number of examples, illustrations, and applied problems arising in the area of observation control, this book is excellent as a textbook or reference for a senior or graduate-level course on the subject, as well as a reference for researchers in related fields.

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Impulsive Control in Continuous and Discrete-Continuous Systems
Boris M.; Rubinovich, Evgeny Y. Miller
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSNZN2

Book Description

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is the story of a sixteen-year-old who retreats from reality into the bondage of a lushly imagined but threatening kingdom, and her slow and painful journey back to sanity.

Customer Reviews:

Regardless of her actual diagnosis, a great read.......2007-08-01

INPYARG is a well-written book from the perspective of a highly intelligent adolescent girl. Recent mental health professionals that have analyzed the work do not see her symptomology as schizophrenic/psychotic, but as severe depression, loneliness, and possibly autism, a combination of which led to her "creative" inner detached world.
Regardless of what her diagnosis may be today, Green does a wonderful job of capturing the mindset of someone with severe mental illness who is crying for help and simultaneously fears the change that is associated with mental health. A must read for anyone in the field, and highly recommended to anyone else looking for a good read.

Vivid Unreality.......2007-06-14

Deborah is sixteen years old and for years has known that something is not right with her. She always feels isolated from others, unable to make friends and to make good connections with the world. Her parents like to pretend that everything is fine, though, and nothing is wrong with her at all. They have a status to keep up, and having something wrong with their daughter would reflect badly on them. But finally Deborah is so sure something is wrong, she has to do something about it. She makes a feeble attempt to kil herself by giving herself small cuts on her wrist. The result of this cry for help is a stay in a mental hospital, where she is finally able to meet with a doctor who will help her to figure out what is wrong and how she can go about fixing it.

This story follows Deborah's thoughts as well as the thoughts of her doctor, an older woman who has never seen a patient as young as Deborah but who thinks she will be able to help. Through their therapy sessions, the doctor learns that Deborah has been living her entire existence in a fantasy world that exists in her own mind, with its own language, gods, rules, and logic. The doctor's challenge then becomes to teach Deborah about the real world around her, so she will be able to decide whether she wants to continue to live in this fantasy of her own creation or to live in the real world with other people.

It was fascinating to read about a fantasy world that was so vivid, it could overshadow reality. I felt like I gained a better understanding of how terrifying and disorienting a disease like schizophrenia would be. Although I don't know how realistic the treatment aspect of this book was, I liked the mental illness descriptions.

eye-roller.......2006-12-13

I've been trying to finish this book for about 2 years now and everytime I pick it up I roll my eyes at each instance of her slipping into her fantasy world.

The book's language is way too advanced to describe a young teen and seems more like it was written by the psychiatrist instead of 3rd person narration. Every time the fantasy world is described I keep imagining the author sitting at her typewriter trying to invent nonsense words.

Everytime I try to keep reading I want to throw it into traffic.

A look into the life of a girl suffering from schizoprenia.........2006-12-06

I thought this was a good book. For me personally, it wasn't the type of book I would always choose, and I couldn't really get into it. It took me awhile to finally get intreseted in the book, so it was easy for me to forget about it and set it asid.I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was an extremely well written book. It goes into great detail about a teenager suffering from schizophrenia. In my opinion though, it was a bit slow moving, and it could be confusing at times. When I first began reading the book I was confused because it didn't state that she had schizophrenia right away. Therefore, when it went from the real world to Deborah's world I got confused at times, until I finally found out exactly what the problem was with her, 18 pages into the book.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden tells the story about a 16-year old girl, Deborah Blau suffering from schizophrenia. She is brought to a mental hospital, without her consent, in an attempt to make her situation better. Her mother and father keep her condition quiet, and they don't even tell their youngest daughter, Suzy, the real reason why her sister was taken away, and why she will be gone for such a long period of time. This books tells you about Deborah's journey from a world of her own, back to the real world, hopefully to her own light at the end of the tunnel.

I recommend this book to teenagers, around the ages of 14 and up. I would also say that you should be able to comprehend things easily because towards the beginning of the book the lack of detail of what was going on, and exactly what was wrong with Deborah made it hard to understand.

Not Your Typical Beach Read.......2006-08-25

Living in two separate worlds is an idea that seems to only be portrayed in science fiction or fantasy novels. However, for Deborah Blau, this concept is part of her reality. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden reveals the story of Deborah, an adolescent diagnosed with schizophrenia who comes from a background of mixed feelings within her immediate family, an overpowering grandfather that holds expectations for her that seem almost out of reach, and anti-Semitic discrimination from her peers. Instead of a lengthy exposition, the plot begins with Deborah's parents finally making the decision to remove her from high school and send her to a mental institution for intense psychological treatment.
The reader learns about Deborah's dark history and the deep processes of her mind through her thoughts and consultations with her therapist, Dr. Fried. Since setting is primarily in the different wards of the mental facility, leaving little room for any major plot development outside of Deborah's successes and failures while receiving treatment, the character development is paramount in this novel. The author, Joanne Greenberg, does a superb job of depicting dysfunctional characters that not only serve the purpose of comic relief because of their erratic behavior, but also reveal deeper, more melancholic aspects of the life of a mentally ill individual.
Greenberg juxtaposes the horror of mental illness with the relative safety it provides for the affected from facing the challenges of the real world. This is the core of Deborah's conflict within her mind. She must decide between her imaginary place, Yr, that offers safety yet keeps her locked away from the world, or she must face her fears and experience life with both its challenges and opportunities. The friendships that she makes in the institution highlight the novel's stress on the importance of building relationships for personal growth and allow her to accept the fact that most people have problems and possess the ability to work through them.
Dr. Fried is the epitome of a knowledgeable, patient, and committed therapist that is dedicated to helping Deborah release herself from the depths of Yr and to bringing her back to a relatively normal life. Though the novel is focused on Deborah's life in the mental facility, there are several parts that allow the reader to experience, through heartfelt descriptions, the effect that her institutionalization has on her family. Her parents learn to accept and ward off judgments from others that stem from Deborah's "label" of being mentally unstable. Despite their problems, the Blau family members are readily supportive of Deborah and hope for a successful recovery.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is an absolutely fascinating book because it provides clear insight into the complicated lives of the mentally ill and stresses that people should neither fear nor revere these individuals due to their altered state of consciousness. Rather, society should endeavor to view them and their issues in an unbiased manner, for there is not a person living without some type of challenge that he or she must face.

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Brilliant
Oh, my.

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg
Manufacturer: NAL Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Classics | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0451211200
Release Date: 2004-02-03

Book Description

Aided by a brilliant psychiatrist, and accompanied by her deeply concerned-and terrified-parents, Deborah must undertake a three-year struggle to resist the allure of madness, and rejoin the real world. Poignant and compelling, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is a "convincing and emotionally gripping"* read that introduces an unforgettable young heroine-and stands as a modern classic on the topic of mental illness.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant.......2007-01-14

Simply the best.

This I have decided is in the top 3 best books I have ever read. It is absolutely brilliant.

If I would have known the impact this book would have on me I would have read it long ago! I have never related so much to a character in my life-and what a character she is! This is the most intelligently written, luscious book, I have ever read.

I will not ever be able to put this book into words that do it justice. You must simply read it for yourself.

Oh, my........2005-05-08

This was a deeply moving, INSTENSE book that shook me when I read it and took me right through Deborah Blau's experiences of being Schizophrenic. It was an amazing read! I recommend it to everyone willing to read something like this!

Average customer rating:

Still as powerful as when I first read it in the 60s.
Courage to Heal

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Hannah Green
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: B000FBKTD2

Customer Reviews:

Still as powerful as when I first read it in the 60s........2007-08-14

This novel is astounding, no matter what side, if any (the book has no apparent agenda regarding the subject) you you may take in the meds/other therapies discussion, simply for its power to evoke the harrowing and heartbreaking experience of mental illness through the eyes of the sufferer, Deborah, in a way that goes right to the soul. If I could write like anyone in the world, I would want to write like Greene/Greenberg.

If you have not read this book, I suggest you read it. You won't soon forget it. Don't be turned off by what you think the writer is going to say regarding the relative merits of medications versus other treatment methods. That is not what the novel is about at all; it is Deborah's story, and the novelist doesn't exploit it. What it IS about is the experience of a very ill young woman going from bondage toward a freedom (and all that freedom means).

Courage to Heal.......2006-05-06

Schizophrenia, youth, family, anti-semitism, the 1940s. Sometimes things break down despite the best of intentions. Highly sensitive youth are particularly prone to damage in a schizoid society that--despite its gadgets and inventions--has very far to go in becoming a world fit for human beings. Occasionally, an artist survives, through unbelievable and steadfast courage and support and faith in the person to heal. Drugs do not change someone from within. Only genuine human bonds can do that, as Dr. Fried did for Deborah. Only by taking the side of the patient can humanity be cured of its demons. Trendy as dismissing psychotherapy in lieu of drugs is, this book speaks the truth, eloquently and courageously.

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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
HANNAH GREEN
Manufacturer: Holt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GKVNTQ

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Journey to Wellness

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0030437253

Customer Reviews:

Journey to Wellness.......2004-11-18

Hannah Green is a pseudonym for Joanne Greenberg, and I Never Promised You a Rose Garden relates the story of the author's experience in a mental hospital as she struggles with a serious mental illness. She is helped by the wise, kind Dr. Fried (aka Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann) who delves into Deborah Blau's deep, powerful, and mysterious inner world, which is Deborah's reality.

This in itself is extremely interesting, but I also was intrigued by Deborah's fellow patients and the rules of their own society. Most of the hospital staff is completely unaware of the meaning behind the patient's statements (their unique code) and the reasons for their specific behavior.

The time frame for the story is roughly around World War II. I was amazed to read about the Antisemitism that existed in this country back then, and I cringe at the terrible stigma placed on the patients simply by being in a mental hospital.

This is a book to read slowly and carefully. In this day and age of managed care and psychiatric drugs, I wonder if a great deal has been lost by eliminating psychotherapy from the treatment of mental illnesses.

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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0451077229

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Hopeless Treatments

one flew under the cuckoo's nest
ami amara
Manufacturer: Lulu Enterprises, UK Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1847538274

Book Description

'ONE FLEW UNDER THE CUCKOO'S NEST' (2007) takes place in New Hope Hospital, England. Dominic's head is crammed full of voices, Lisa is in a daze and Nathan is twitching. Together, they rock back and forth, holding themselves tightly because no one else will hold them. They are alonetogether. Jason visits his schizophrenic wife, Bernie. She's been moved to the locked ward. He finds her curled up on the floor in a catatonic state. Hard as he tries, he is unable to reach her. He desperately wants to help her but at the same time, he can't cope. Together, they both feel so alone. After the advent of 'Care in the Community', Jason feels totally imprisoned and starts to go under. He is now expected to look afte Bernie 24-7. Heading for burnout, with no one to turn to, he sees no future. There is no exit from his hell. No one seems to care about the carer! This book is a noir read with insight, humour and pathos.

Customer Reviews:

Hopeless Treatments.......2007-10-08

One Flew Under the Cuckoo's nest is a dark commentary on the dismal state of mental health care in modern society. The book follows Bernie as she battles through a schizophrenic fugue trying to make sense of her own mental state. She struggles through her treatment trying to make sense of her life, her passions, and her circumstances. Over medicated, undertreated, she is caged like a beautiful bird beating her wings against the constraints of the facility in which she has been placed.
Bernie's fight to free herself from her illness takes her on a journey through a system filled with caregivers, misguided family members, and health care professionals who are each sympathetic to her problems. What is missing is any empathy for her loss of rational thinking.
The ward is filled with those who are ill and require the help of those who are trained to help them. The working conditions and the feeling of hopelessness of those who are in a position to treat the mentally ill become themselves ill in the process. Do they treat the ill because they themselves are ill or is the madness like a virus and "catching" and they become mad themselves? The fruitless work, the ineffective therapies, and the failure of the public health care system to effectively care for the mentally ill are all dynamically presented in One Flew Under the Cuckoo's Nest.
The cacophony of the sterile hospital environment leads the reader to ponder what is causing more damage to the patients? The never ending cycle of medication, psychotherapy, and shock therapy leave the reader to feel the despair and desolation of the patients. Do the treatment and the environment of the ward cocoon the patients or lead them further down into the depths of their individual madness?
Amara's frighteningly realistic depiction of the book's characters leaves one wondering if the world has truly gone mad. Her work thoughtfully addresses the very real stigma associated with mental illness in modern society. The mentally ill sit locked away behind a door, unseen and in deafening silence waiting for release from their illness. Their release is often into the only community left open to them in their fragile mental state...the society of the disenfranchised, the Society of the Perpetually Homeless and Hopeless.
This book raises multiple issues about the care of our mentally ill members of society as well as the troubling trend in the collapse of the mental health care infrastructure. Seeing the plight of the ill through their own eyes leaves the reader with the conviction that more must be done. It also leaves one with a feeling of despair that we really do not have a clear notion of what that `more' is that must be done.

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Life is not beautiful

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Hannah Green
Manufacturer: Pan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0330320459

Customer Reviews:

Life is not beautiful.......2004-03-23

Have you ever felt you can go on in life, and you just want to give up? Try reading, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,by Hannah Green where she talks about a mental ill girl called Deborah. Deborah is sent to a mental ill hospital where she meets Dr. Fried which tries to help her. Deborah goes through the tuffest four years of her life. She feels like giving up all the time, but her doctor tells her, "I never promised you a rose garden." Deborah goes on even with her health problems and confronts the world. Read this book and you will see what problems she goes through.

Average customer rating:

Excellent book!

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
Joanne Greenberg
Manufacturer: Signet
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0451131363

Customer Reviews:

Excellent book!.......2005-09-01

This book is an older edition, but the content is fasinating. The picture of mental illness took the reader along for a ride. I studied psych and work with MI and this was a day inside of their life. I recommend this book-a classic!

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I Never Promised a You A Rose Garden
Michelle and Fay, Allison Le Grand
Manufacturer: Greywood Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JR4W4E

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