Product Description
William Pryor, a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, was a heroin and then alcohol addict for twelve years in the sixties and seventies. He brushed death several times, but, against overwhelming odds, survived, and, in 1975, was one of the first patients at the first American-style addiction treatment centre in Europe. He grew up in Cambridge in the stifling bosom of privilege; was sent to Eton, which he loathed, and rapidly descended into full-blown addiction as he traveled through Parisian garrets, Greek tavernas and Indian ashrams - and even Trinity College Cambridge. He became part of the sixties avant garde counterculture as a dadaist beat poet in the company of members of Pink Floyd. His experiences - and subsequent transformation to non-addiction - have given him a unique insight into the world of hard drugs and addiction, and his clarity of vision as to the way forward for all those involved in the fall out of the War on Drugs will be invaluable both to the victims and to those engaged in attempting to help them. William presents a compelling argument as to why drugs should be decriminalized. He also gives a powerful analysis of the pervasive mythology of Alcoholics Anonymous and how it traps people in the idea that addiction is an illness.
Customer Reviews:
Arguing strenuously against the "war on drugs" mentality.......2004-06-13
The Survival Of The Coolest: An Addiction Memoir is the true story of one of the great-great grandsons of Charles Darwin, his addiction to heroin, near-death experiences, and eventual treatment and recovery. Arguing strenuously against the "war on drugs" mentality that pervades today, The Survival Of The Coolest tells of a life where drugs were an effect, not the cause of the author's severe problems. An invaluable, soul-baring personal testimony of descent and redemption, offering a real-world viewpoint of the problem of drug addiction from one who has been there firsthand.
Addiction tale with a positive outcome.......2004-01-31
As a Darwianian scholar, I'm always fascinated by anything Darwin, so I picked up this book. William Pryor, Darwin's great-great grandson grew up in a world of priveldge that few will ever comprehend. Yet he felt empty and his search for fulfilment and identity took him into the world of hardcore drug addiction at the height of the beatnik movement. He 'hung out' with some of the biggest names in rock and roll forever searching for the illusive answers. When he finally hit rock bottom, and opted for a 'clean' life he found at least a portion of the identity he had been seeking. His recovery has allowed him to build a successful business career as a renowned entrepreneur in Britain and gives him the right to discuss drug-addiction and recovery from a vantage point that few of us ever want to know. This book should be required reading by all those in the recovery field and anyone who was ever baffled by the illure of illicet drugs.
Average customer rating:
- Journey of a soul
- "Survival of the Coolest"---An Appreciation
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Survival of the Coolest
William Pryor
Manufacturer: Clear Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Drug Dependency
| Recovery
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Substance Abuse
| Recovery
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Self-Help
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1904555004 |
Book Description
The Survival of the Coolest is the story of a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin's death-defying journey into the interior of heroin addiction in the 1960's and back out again. William Pryor's privileged Cambridge background, growing up on the edges of the Bloomsbury phenomenon and in the bosom of the Darwin dynasty, was no proof against addiction to heroin and other psychosomatic substances. Coolest is a compelling, lucid and honest account of a descent into addiction by a privileged beatnik manning the counter-cultural barricades with the likes of Alex Trocchi, Syd Barrett and Viscount Billy Bolitho. Brought on by a police sting as he tried to run a bohemian bookshop in Torquay, Pryor's subsequent crash-landing at what Alcoholics Anonymous describes as 'rock bottom' marked the end of his addiction in 1975. Twenty-eight years later and still clean, William Pryor throws some much-needed light on the nature of addiction and recovery and on the mythologies, folklore and downright lies that surround a condition that affects a large proportion of the population. Dorothy Rowe, the psychologist and author of over 40 books, said The Survival of the Coolest is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why a War on Drugs and Just Say No can never work, and why some people become addicted to drugs while others do not. Norman Marshall (a director of Transform, the drug legislation consultancy) wrote: I must say found it absolutely riveting. it is ultimately a very uplifting read about (obviously) Survival, redemption, forgiveness and being seen. I don't know that I have ever read a book that quite so ruthlessly lays bare its subject, with a coolness and objectivity that takes all the pretentiousness, self-pity and selfishness of young William and makes them understandable, forgiveable, deeply human.
Customer Reviews:
Journey of a soul.......2003-07-02
I really liked this book because I learned about how the mind works to keep the body, mind and soul enslaved in addiction, and redmeption. The writing was so smooth and flowed so nicely it was easy to read and a joy to read. I liked this book alot and is why I've bought two more to give as gifts.
"Survival of the Coolest"---An Appreciation.......2003-06-16
Powerful, poignant, shocking and real, William Pryor's Survival of the Coolest is an addiction memoir that not only tells a courageous and riveting story, but also attempts to penetrate to the very heart of the cause of addiction.
William's story begins with a look into his privileged, yet emotionally empty, background. With the legacy of English landed gentry on his father's side and the Darwinian-Bloomsbury heritage on his mother's side, William could not help but feel the pressure of his genes. As a great-great grandson of Charles Darwin, he was expected to live up to this god of science and to excel in whatever he did so that family appearances would be maintained. Unfortunately, young William found that parental love was linked to an excellence that he could not meet. And so, he grew up feeling empty, isolated---invisible.
Yet, William was blessed with his own extraordinary gifts of creativity, sensitivity and intelligence that cried out for a supportive environment. As a result, he was forced to look outside of the family nexus in order to seek his identity and something that could "fill the hole in my belly." And so, he plunged into the Beat Culture of the early sixties where he could mix with the artists, the poets, the musicians and the philosophers---the rebellious social/cultural visionaries who lived on the cutting-edge. Syd Barrett and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, Donovan and Mick Jaggar were among those who, in one way or another, interacted within his circle. William reveled in Jazz and saw its rebellious vitality and creative immediacy as "...the refreshing opposite of the classical stiffness of home. How strange: my heroes were black Americans: Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Thelonious Monk! The only white was Gerry Mulligan and he was a junky" (16).
Unfortunately, one of life's realities is that anything that is good must also have its dark side. And so, it was here, in this exciting new world, that William began his slide down the steep slope of addiction. He experimented with numerous consciousness-altering chemicals ranging from opium to cocaine to alcohol and much that lay in between. He became hooked in 1963 at the age of 18 and struggled through addiction hell for twelve years until, finally, at the age of 30, he was able to crawl through to the other side.
Explicit in detail, genuinely human and deeply insightful, William's description of his life of chemical dependency gives the reader a clear picture of the losses, the struggles and the humiliations that accompany an addict's life. Above all, he writes of the pain of having to spend one's entire life in constant search for the next fix just to feel "normal" again. Yet, every fix perpetuates the vicious cycle of pain and relief: "Addiction feeds on itself: you need the stuff to wipe out the pain of needing the stuff (23)."
In 1967, after four years of addiction, friends led him into the sphere of an authentic Indian mystic. Upon making the trip to India to see him, he became convinced that real spirituality, which is gained from conscious contact with something deeper within one's being, is the answer to the search for real meaning and happiness in life. He returned home convinced, but his addiction had to run its course.
Ultimately, William's story is a positive one. He acknowledges that positive things can come from negative circumstances. Nothing is ever a waste of time. William's spiritual life is the source of this positive attitude and, along with it, the insight into what he sees as the basic cause of addictive behavior.
According to William, all addictive behavior, which includes not only drugs and alcohol, but also addiction that is based upon sex, gambling, shopping, eating disorders, workaholism and so forth, originates from a fundamentally universal human condition---the need to fill the "gnawing hole in [the] belly." Addiction is the hell of desperately trying to fill the loneliness, the emptiness, the dry wilderness within the soul. This is the "original pain," the "root pain," "the great nostalgia" with which each of us is born. It is the primary precursor pain of all addictive behavior. If a child receives enough love early in life, it is easier to cope with this pain; if not, then it becomes overwhelming. Each of us, out of necessity, has become very skilled in developing our own ways of coping with it, of hiding it, and distracting our attention from it.
Why this pain, and what is this pain? It is a known truth that, whether we are conscious of it or not, everyone is actually always seeking something more in life. Perhaps this is a symptom of a longing for transcendence, of reaching beyond our selves into something that is far more essential. William writes that this pain is "the ultimate blues or bireh in Sanskrit: the pain of separation from the source, an elemental reminder of the origins of my being" (214). And so, the way that we deal with the pain can either be the cause of addiction or the means to the ultimate cure of the human condition. William says it best:
"My recovery, my going back to a state of health, has revolved around the position this pain holds in my inner life, around how I hold it, what I do with it. It cannot be made better, but it can be either grasped or shrunk from...[this pain] goes beyond, to the purpose of life. Grasp it and you're in love and living dangerously. Deny it and you're merely existing." (211-212)
Furthermore, he adds:
"I am not a negative, and both `alcoholic' and `addict' are negative. I can now mother the child my addiction gave birth to, the child of creativity. The only incurable illness I have is the great nostalgia, the longing for the yearning, and this I welcome!"(220)
Thank you, William, for opening my eyes!
Customer Reviews:
Great Baseball Book!.......2006-10-28
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I thought the author did a marvelous job of capturing the essence of Rogers Hornsby's personality, warts and all. By the time I finished it, I felt that I really knew what Hornsby was like.
I also had a small personal connection to Hornsby that served to increase my enjoyment of this book. When I was ten years old in 1960, living in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnwood, my grandfather, who was retired and living with my family, somehow became friends with Rogers Hornsby. What was the one common interest that brought these two guys together? You guessed it - playing the horses! Almost everyday, from the time they met in 1960 until Hornsby died in 1963, he would drive his car to our house, and then ride together with my grandfather in my grandfather's car to Arlington Park Race Track. Knowing of my love for baseball even at the age of ten, my grandfather introduced me to Mr. Hornsby and even had him sign a baseball for me - unfortunately long since lost! I also spoke to him numerous times on the phone when he called our house.
Mr. Alexander makes it vividly clear that, other than his love for baseball, the major constant in Hornsby's live was his addiction to playing the horses. It's now very clear to me why these two old codgers became fast friends - their love of horseracing.
An Outstanding Biography of Baseball's Greatest Right-Handed Hitter.......2006-07-15
This is an outstanding biography of the hitting machine, Rogers Hornsby, perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). The story that Charles C. Alexander tells explores the rise and fall of this remarkable baseball player, an individual who could work magic on the diamond but had real difficulty off of it.
Signed out of Texas to the St. Louis Cardinals, he had a "cup-of-coffee" with the team at the end of the 1915 season, hitting a measly .246. Hardly a stellar debut, but after working hard all winter the next year Hornsby made the Cardinals and batted .313 while becoming the everyday second baseman. He went on to compile a career batting average of .358 and established the highest single season batting average when he hit .424 for the Cards in 1924. Indeed, from 1921-1925, Rogers' overall batting average was .402, a truly amazing accomplishment. In 1925 Hornsby became player-manager of the Cardinals and the next year his team captured its first National League pennant by edging Cincinnati in the final week of the season after an August spurt had shot them into pennant contention. The season was made perfect by the Cards' first victory in the World Series, coming at the expense of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and the rest of the New York Yankees.
Always an abrasive force on the Cardinals, the year after his World Series success the owner shipped him off to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring. It was only the first time in which Hornsby's personality led to adversity for him. But there was room for only one massive ego on the Giants and within a short time manager John J. McGraw shipped him to the Boston Braves. From there he went to the Chicago Cubs, back to the Cardinals, and then to the St. Louis Browns. He finally retired in 1937. Hornsby lived another 26 years after retiring from MLB, always hovering around the fringes of it but never truly a part of it. He eventually died in 1963, bitter about his fate.
Charles C. Alexander is an outstanding historian, the author of several other books on baseball as well as on other subjects. This is a superb addition to his path-breaking series of studies on a range of subjects.
OK, as far as it goes.......2001-05-11
This is the third book I've read by Alexander, which I suppose is evidence that his books are readable.
In the end they all share the same strengths and weaknesses.
For a straightforward narrative of the key points of Hornsby's career and life, this is perfectly OK.
But the book really stays on the surface. For example, there is never any in-depth discussion of techniques of batting or fielding. It's like reading a book on Napoleon without finding anything about the nature of warfare in the period.
Also, there is very little meangingful discussion of Hornsby's relative baseball greatness. Alexander doesn't need to become a zealous SABRmetrician, but some basic statistics about Hornsby and others (beyond saying what the average batting average for the league was in a given year) seems called for. Alexander doesn't even include a table or appendix with Hornsby's basic statistics.
I've given this 3 stars, because for the general reader it's OK. If I were rating it as serious history, I'd give it a 1. You come away from this book unaware that there have been lots of serious books written about baseball and its relation to society. Alexander's attempts to provide historical context are embarassing--on the order of, "The same continued hot, dry weather than made the Great Plains a Dust Bowl was present on Opening Day 1936 [my paraphrase, to be honest]".
In short, there is the same strain of intellectual laziness in this book that I saw in his others.
Good effort on a colorless character.......2000-06-14
Alexander captures Hornsby and his times perfectly. While not as readable as the author's previous "Ty Cobb", this is due more to Hornsby's general colorlessness than in Alexander's writing. As enigmatic as Hornsby was, Alexander does a great job in telling the life of the man who hit for the highest average in the 20th century.
Most Complete on Hornsby.......2000-05-03
Mr. Alexander extensivly researched the life of Rogers Hornsby. This book represents the fruit of his labor. The book can get dry in places while describing Hornsby's on field achievements-letting the feats speak for themselves; just as Hornsby would have wanted it. This is hardly a flaw for those who want to know the truth and not the myth of the best righthanded hitting machine EVER.
While not hated like Ty Cobb, Hornsby certianly had just as few friends. He was cold, short with people, humorless and offensivly blunt. His personality got him traded, fired, divorced and shunned. Alexander doesn't try to add personality where Hornsby didn't have one. He let Hornsby's baseball tunnel vision be the focus. Blunt- just like Hornsby.
Book Description
Rogers Hornsby has the highest career batting average of any right-handed hitter and the second highest career mark overall. "The Rajah" won seven batting titles and hit over .400 three times. He was also one of baseball's most successful player-managers, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a historic World Series triumph over the Yankees in 1926. Hornsby had an unrivaled passion for baseball; as a young player, he once even donned a disguise to play in a women's league. But his unyielding drive to succeed often alienated him from lesser players, and his penchant for the racetrack made him powerful enemies in baseball's higher ranks. Jonathan D'Amore presents a fascinating look at this outstanding hitter and complicated man. It has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing in professional sports. Baseball's All-Time Greatest Hitters presents biographies on Greenwood's selection for the 12 best hitters in Major League history, written by some of today's best baseball authors. These books present straightforward stories in accessible language for the high school researcher and the general reader alike. Each volume includes a timeline, bibliography, and index. In addition, each volume includes a "Making of a Legend" chapter that analyses the evolution of the player's fame and (in some cases) infamy.
Average customer rating:
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Rogers Hornsby
Charles C. Alexander
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
Baseball
| Biographies
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Baseball
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| Historical
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Books on Cassette
| Audiobooks
| Formats
| Books
ASIN: 0786113790 |
Average customer rating:
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Rogers Hornsby (Baseball Legends)
Jack Kavanagh
Manufacturer: Chelsea House Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Sports & Recreation
| Biographies
| People & Places
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports & Activities
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 079101178X |
Average customer rating:
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The Image of Librarians in Cinema, 1917-1999
Ray Tevis , and
Brenda Tevis
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Reference
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0786421509 |
Book Description
From its earliest days to the present, the onscreen image of the librarian has remained largely the same. A silent 1921 film set the precedent for two female librarian characters: a dowdy spinster wears glasses and a bun hairstyle, and an attractive young woman is overworked and underpaid. Silent films, however, employed a variety of characteristics for librarians, showed them at work on many different tasks, and featured them in a range of dramatic, romantic, and comedic situations. The sound era (during which librarians appeared in more than 200 films) frequently exaggerated these characteristics and situations, strongly influencing the general image of librarians.
This chronologically arranged work analyzes the stereotypical image of librarians, male and female, in primarily American and British motion pictures from the silent era to the 21st century. The work briefly describes each film, offering some critical commentary, and then examines its librarian, considering every aspect of the total character from socio-economic conditions and motivations for leaving or not leaving the library, to personal attributes (such as clothing, hair, and age) and entanglements with the opposite sex, to commonly used props, plot situations and lines ("Shush!").
The work comments on whether librarians and library work are depicted accurately and analyzes the development of the public's image of a librarian. The accompanying filmography lists librarian characters and notes stereotypes such as buns and eyeglasses. With bibliography and index.
Book Description
In its march to becoming the world's first hyper-power, the United States has been as dependent on its soft power - the allure of American lifestyles and culture - as it has been on the hard power of military might. In Weapons of Mass Distraction, Matthew Fraser examines the role of American pop cultural industries in international affairs.
Fraser focuses on the major areas of soft power - movies, television, pop music, and fast food - and traces the origins, history and current influence of these on U.S. foreign policy. He describes how the American film, television, and music industries enjoy a ubiquitous global presence that has made them indispensable to the U.S. government, which has often gone so far as to fund them directly, including the White House-sponsored radio station in the Middle East launched with the hopes of winning over Muslim youths with American pop songs.
A Coca-Cola lobbyist once famously declared that "The best barometer of the relationship of the U.S. and any other country is the way Coca-Cola is treated." Fraser proves this claim isn't to be taken lightly. He charts the global spread of the fast food industry, the role of Coca-Cola and McDonald's in American foreign policy and the recent rise of their opponents: the anti-globalization movement.
Do things really go better with Coca-Cola? Fraser's answer is a resounding yes. While American soft power remains a contentious issue, he believes it promotes values and beliefs that are ultimately good for the rest of the world. Still, what are the future implications of American soft power? Will national identities decline as the world order is transformed into a state of "electronic feudalism" where there is no central power? Weapons of Mass Distraction provides an engaging, enlightening, and provocative look at the future of American foreign policy and popular culture in the 21st century.
Customer Reviews:
very interesting book!!!!.......2006-05-13
This book is an awe by any means. Chronology of movies, TV, music and fast food in the U.S. Very valuable information inside, though. After I rented it from the local libary, I decided to get one for myself too.
Boring.......2006-04-01
1- I'm sorry but i found it to be a very boring book.
2- The author's opinion is not consistent with the title, which is somehow deceiving to sell.
No politics here........2005-07-11
It was very refreshing to read a book with actual facts and figures, rather than one on someones opinion on how they (or their party) would do things. That said, it is surprising more people haven't taken notice to the amount of propaganda our government spreads, and with our taxes. While Fraser gives many examples of past activites he also cites some current ones, leaves you wanting to know what/who is influencing my opinions without trying to do just that himself.
Average customer rating:
- Mostly inaccurate and dogmatic - but some nice drawings :)
- Inacurrate and forced
- Looks nice, but a poor fit to the Kalevala
- All you ever wanted in a tarot, and more!
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Kalevala Tarot
Kalervo Aaltonen
Manufacturer: U.S. Games Systems
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards
Tarot
| Divination
| New Age
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| New Age
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 088079187X |
Customer Reviews:
Mostly inaccurate and dogmatic - but some nice drawings :).......2003-01-10
In the companion book, Aaltonen makes several interpretation errors which undermine the validity of his joint work with Taina Pailos. For instance, he mixes characters Ainikki and Annikki, which are clearly different personalities coming from different sources of oral tradition. He also misinterprets Lemminkäinen as having slain the swan of Tuonela (p.159), while the Kalevala recounts that he was killed before he could do it. Ukko is mistaken for Virokannas (p.99), and the fight between Väinämöinen is interpreted as courtship for Aino (p.153). Some cards are drawn according to these "false" interpretations. Furthermore, some of the cards meanings are far-fetched. A lot of the Smith-Waite symbolism is held on to, with some weird modifications (antlers replacing a crown..). Aaltonen really tried to cover the Kalevala but I would have come up with characters/scenes for most of the cards. I especially disagree with the Court cards and the treatment of the Kullervo cycle. Some characters who are introduced are simply non-existent in the Kalevala and Finnish oral poetry altogether. The interpretation of the cards, described in the book, is very dense. The symbolism is heavy, involving colors, notions of modern psychology, self-help material, shamanism (animals..), and sometimes end up being inconsistent (as demonstrated by the pine and birch). I found that the cards' interpretations often overlap each other, because the symbolism is too dense, especially if you also try to take in account the Crowleyan kabbalstic diagrams of pages 10-16 (with no text!). The catchy sentences printed in the booklet in order to summarize the meaning of each card, sometimes have little to do with the book. It seems as if he has thrown in a lot stuff (mainly copied or transmitted from Crowley) very quickly without checking the correspondences at all, in order to add substance to his book. You can read my full-length review at home.primus.ca/~matti
Inacurrate and forced.......2003-01-07
In the book accompanying the Tarot deck, Aaltonen makes many mistakes who undermine his own understanding of the Kalevala and the credibility of his work. 1)On page 159 he mistakingly writes that in the Kalevala, Lemminkäinen achieves the three tasks that Louhi set for him, including killing the Swan of Tuonela. In fact, he doesn't kill the Swan, but gets killed himself just before. Lemminkäinen's death is an important scene in the Kalevala and one wonders how Aaltonen could forget it altogether. 2)On page 75, he pretends that the name Ainikki was given to two different characters in the Kalevala, eg, the sisters of Ilmarinen and Lemminkäinen. In truth, Ilmarinen sister is not Ainikki, but Annikki, a wholly different person (associated sometimes with with Tapio's daughter in other Finnish folk songs, while Ainikki was associated sometimes with Kyllikki and the character which became Aino). 3)On page 99, he states that Marjatta's Son was brought before Ukko. That's a mistake since he was rather brought before Virokannas, sometimes called ukko Virokannas (meaning : old Virokannas, while Ukko with a capital U designates the god Ukko). 4)On page 153 and on his Three of Stakes, he describes Väinämöinen and Joukahainen fighting for the courtship of Aino. In the Kalevala, they are not fighting for her at all; she is Joukahainen's sister whom Joukahainen promises to Väinämöinen ultimately to save his own life. 5)On pages 14 and 16, Aaltonen lists a bunch of people which he says to be of Kaleva clan, and among them, he lists Louhi, the mistres of Pohja! (clearly not Kaleva). That'S for the Kalevala. Now, about the Tarot, his book contains a series of kabbalistic diagrams of the sephiroth and the links between them grouped together and associated with several cards, suits or characters. Most of these diagrams are, in substance, copies from Crowley's Book of Thot (or any other book who copied from it) and Aaltonen doesn't give any explanation or reference. What's more, the kabbalistic associations that he makes with the Tarot cards are incoherent with the associations he makes betwen the Kalevala and the Tarot cards (already poorly fit). His choice of court cards is dull, introducing a lot of characters unknown to the Kalevala! Some of the card designs just try to reproduce the Smith-Waite cards with funny substitutions, such as antlers instead of a crown, bears instead of horses and so on. I also found that the cards' interpretations often overlap each other, because the symbolism is too dense. The catchy sentences printed in the booklet in order to summarize the meaning of each card, sometimes have little to do with the book.
Looks nice, but a poor fit to the Kalevala.......2000-07-15
As a tarot deck, this one is attractive. The accompanying book has brief descriptions of the various characters from the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic, and their histories. Unfortunately, the fit between the characters and the meanings given for the cards is often very forced -- a disappointment to me as a Kalevala lover. I guess I'll stick to keeping the Kalevala and tarot separate.
All you ever wanted in a tarot, and more!.......1999-02-23
I have read many tarot collections, and I have enjoyed them. But this satisfies all my longings of a tarot deck. The main basis of my enjoyment of this deck is that you do not have to know anything about the Kalevala in order to enjoy the cards. Kalervo Aaltonen has produced a wonderfully well thought out masterpiece that should be remembered along side the greats. It encompasses true imagination with real life. It has touched me in a way that I can not describe. It brings out the tales in me, and I feel like one of the Kalevala people, so much of the deck works for real life personal events to so many different people that it is uncanny. And you begin to wonder if there is some truth in the tales. I recommend this book, to all adults. Including sceptics of tarot cards as the knowledge that I have obtained about the Kalevala is applaudable. I congratulate Kalervo for such a heart - rendering masterpiece.
Book Description
It's little wonder that longtime Windows users are migrating in droves to the new Mac. They're fed up with the virus-prone Windows way of life, and they're lured by Apple's well-deserved reputation for producing great all-around computers that are reliable, user-friendly, well designed, and now--with the $500 Mac mini--extremely affordable, too.
Whether you're drawn to the Mac's stability, its stunning digital media suite, or the fact that a whole computer can look and feel as slick as your iPod, you can quickly and easily become a Mac convert. But consider yourself warned: a Mac isn't just a Windows machine in a prettier box; it's a whole different animal and a whole new computing experience.
If you're contemplating--or have already made--the switch from a Windows PC to a Mac, you need Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition. This incomparable guide delivers what Apple doesn't: everything you need to know to successfully and painlessly move to a Mac.
The latest reprint of this book has been updated to reflect the new generation of Mac models that run on Intel chips. There's even a new appendix that guides you through the installation of Windows XP on your Macintosh (using adapter software like Boot Camp or Parallels), so that you have the best of all worlds: a single, beautiful machine that can run 100 percent of the world's desktop software. (Note to people who've already bought the book: This appendix is available as a free PDF download from missingmanuals.com.)
Missing Manual series creator and bestselling author David Pogue teams up with 17-year-old whiz kid and founder of GoldfishSoft (www.goldfishsoft.com) Adam Goldstein to cover every aspect of switching to a Mac--things like transferring email, files, and addresses from a PC to a Mac; getting acquainted with the Mac's interface; adapting to Mac versions of familiar programs (including Microsoft Office); setting up a network to share files with PCs and Macs; and using the printers, scanners, and other peripherals you already own.
Covering the latest in Mac OS X v.10.4 "Tiger," Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition explains the hundreds of innovative new features to the Mac OS and how you can understand and make the very most of each.
Whether you're a novice or a power user, Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition, teaches you how to smoothly and seamlessly replace (or supplement) your Windows machine--in a refreshingly funny and down-to-earth style--with a mighty Mac.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect companion.......2007-09-26
Until a few months ago, I would never have bought anything but a PC. For some reason, I decided to buy an iMac. I love it now. But this book made it possible. At first, I was confused and knew I had made a monumental mistake by not buying yet another trusty PC. Oh, yes, I looked back wistfully and yearned for the weekly (if not more frequent) updates to keep those pesky viruses, worms, maggots, whatever out of my computer. But then I found this book, and combined it with one other (MAC OS X, Tiger Edition) and discovered another dimension of computing. I love my iMac. I love these books. And if you are new to the Mac, they are invaluable!!! I even bought a set for my son in college, who also decided to surrender his idolatry of the PC and switch to a Mac Book. He feels the same! Easy to read. Easy to find what you need. Easy to follow directions!!! They're great!
Very Useful for New Intel Mac Switchers.......2007-09-21
This book will save you time in the transition from PC to Mac, now increasingly common as buyers are attracted to the new Intel Macs. You can probably figure out most of the operating system differences on your own, but the hints in this book justify the price.
The switch, by the way, is also worth it.
Switcher's manual.......2007-09-18
Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Tiger Edition
Great book!
It tells you all the things us poor PC users would take ages to learn.
The language is easy, fun and very, very clear, although sometimes it tends to err on the verbose side of life.
Good buy for the money
Not exactly What I Expected.......2007-09-09
I haven't read the entire manual. Due to some cerebral related problems, I have a very short attention span, and short term memory loss. So I was really hoping for some sort of clear cut index comparing Microsoft OS to Tiger OS. There was an index, but it wasn't wired that way. Other then that, It seems to be a comprehensive publication. Since the problem really sits with me, I guess I should have given it a better score.
Tedious........2007-08-23
I have seen so much hype about the Pogue "Missing Manual" books that I had to try this one having just switched to the mac after being a long time PC user. This book helped me in some ways but was tediously written. I don't like the author's writing style and some of the contents were irrelevant to me. I would try another book if one were available.. Writing a 500 page book on how to use a computer for a person already able to operate a PC seems like overkill to me. I read about half of it while awaiting being called for jury duty but by the second half had to skim it. It is more like a boring textbook than a primer and transition book. I wouldn't recommend it to the average reader making " the switch".
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Broken
