The Tremor of Forgery (Highsmith, Patricia)

Book Description

Under the hot desert sun nothing is quite as it seems. Howard Ingham, an American writer, is sent to Tunisia to gather material for a movie, a love story too sordid to be set in America. But his director fails to arrive as scheduled and the erratic mails bring news of infidelities and suicide. Ingham—for reasons obscure even to himself—decides to stay on and work instead on a novel. Gradually, however, a series of peculiar events—a hushed-up murder, a vanished corpse, and secret broadcasts to the Soviet Union—lures him inexorably into the deep, ambivalent shadows of this Arab town; into deceit and away from conventional morality. And when Ingham finds an accomplice to murder, or perhaps something more, what is in question is not justice or truth, but the state of his oddly quiet conscience.

Customer Reviews:

the tremors of self.......2007-03-09

Separated from all that he is, a young writer is tempted to become much that he is not. He is tested, in several ways, with only his own antennae, sensitive to subtle and not-so-subtle moral and ethical malaise to protect him.

The state of mind of the main character has a disquieting, queasy-making effect on the reader. We dread his imminent personal disintegration, right up to the last few pages... when there is an unforced surprise which is a true and strong insight into - there is no other way to say it - how to live one's life.

An extraordinary book.

The Tremor of Indecision.......2006-03-02

Howard Ingham is an American writer in Tunisia, sent there to write a movie script. Luckily he has received a large advance and is staying in a hotel waiting for the arrival of the actors and director/cameraman. He's also waiting for a letter from his girlfriend Ina. Unfortunately, before he arrives, the director commits suicide after a short affair with Ina, but Howard stays on in Tunisia, unable to get going with his life. He makes various and assorted friends and Ina travels from New York to visit him. He decides he's crazy in love with her, then decides he isn't. He defends himself against a burglar, then is made to feel guilty about it. Howard can't really decide how he feels. I know how I felt: bored. Every meal, every can of beer is described.

There is one good thing: the dog comes back!

Highsmith at her best.......2003-06-30

Sometime after Patricia Highsmith's death in 1995, my local bookstore moved her books from the "Mystery & Thriller" section to the more general "Fiction" section, a final irony for a writer who had been largely ignored in the U.S. (except perhaps by mystery readers). Why this was so is not clear at all. Did Hitchcock's filming of her 1950 "Strangers on a Train" fatally pigeonhole her as a mystery writer? Or did the expatriate nature of her life, living abroad in England, France and finally Switzerland for so many years, allow us to lose sight of her as a great American writer? For make no mistake about it, Highsmith was a great American writer, as evidenced by perhaps her most serious and ironic work, "The Tremor of Forgery" (1969).

"Tremor" begins with novelist Howard Ingham's arrival in Tunisia, where he expects to spend a few weeks writing a screenplay with the film's director, who will be joining him shortly. The director never does arrive, leaving Ingham to begin working on a new novel while immersing himself in Tunisia, where everything in his life gets turned upside down. His new novel is "about a man with a double life, a man unaware of the amorality of the way he lived." Is this a description that fits Ingham as well? "In his book, he had no intention of justifying his hero." Could this be true of Highsmith too?

Within a few pages, Highsmith introduces the kind of exotica found in the great expatriate novels: Cafe de Paris, Herald-Tribune, Pernod, jasmine. And by the end of the second chapter she has also introduced the novel's themes: identity, loneliness, male bonding, and cultural relativism. The latter figures prominently as Ingham begins to change, unable to make the decision to return home after realizing the film will never be made. Already in chapter 4 he is "irked" when he hears some "Germans" speaking "very American American." And soon the African sun makes difficult "the sheer effort of imagining New York's unwritten conventions."

The backdrop for this novel is the June 1967 Arab-Israeli Six-Day War. While not a factor in the plot, this war, which coincides with the first couple weeks of Ingham's stay in Tunisia, provides a historical context for the reader. This is definitely not the world of Lawrence of Arabia. Nor is it really the world of Paul Bowles' "The Sheltering Sky" (1949). Rather, the world of "Tremor" is a precursor to our own troubled times. Which is not to say the novel could have been written yesterday. Some aspects of the novel make it almost a period piece. For even though the '60s can seem like only yesterday, those years were more like the previous century than like subsequent decades in many ways: international communication could be slow and unreliable, there were no cell phones, faxes, Internet, e-mail or credit cards. And in "Tremor" the characters still wear cufflinks.

Highsmith is not a humorous or witty writer, nor is she much of a stylist. However, there are many things to like about her writing. Two of the characters that Ingham meets in Tunisia are especially well drawn. Anders Jensen, a homosexual Danish artist, provides a European point of view on the "funny" Americans, with their annoying consciences. Francis Adams, a retired American, represents contradictory America during the Vietnam War (which is also raging, just out of sight) and stands for everything that Ingham's nickname for Adams conjures up: OWL (Our Way of Life).

The portrait of Ingham is also interesting. A successful young novelist who continues to write well even during periods of personal turmoil, Ingham wrestles with a number of demons. His meditations on identity, particularly cultural identity, have weight and significance for many of his decisions (or non-decisions). Is cultural identity tied specifically to place, so that Antaeus-like we lose our cultural moorings once lifted clear of our cultural origins? Or are there values and elements of character that are indelibly burned into us, unchanging regardless of setting? At one point, it appears that Ingham's "character or principles had collapsed." But this is followed almost immediately by an incident that contradicts this statement, where Ingham's character reasserts itself, one more bit of irony.

Highsmith, in her mid-forties, was probably at her peak when she wrote this novel. Nearly every sentence is taut and firm. Her writing is like that of a "thriller" the way M. Night Shyamalan's movies are like those of traditional "horror" films in that much of one's enjoyment and expectations are based on knowledge of the genre, the more so the better.

Would "Tremor" make a good movie? Highsmith has been filmed before, by international directors from Britain (Hitchcock, Minghella), France (Clement) and Germany (Wenders). Would the movie of this novel be too slow, too thoughtful, kind of an anti-thriller where what you expect to happen doesn't quite, ending with a mystery that almost isn't? Or could it be a nice quiet "psychological" movie, a period piece, in an exotic setting, containing foreshadowings of today's resurgent, militant Islam? It wouldn't have to be a Hollywood production. It might work as a PBS-type TV movie, assuming PBS one day expands its sense of "Masterpiece" to mean more than just "anglophile." Too obscure even for PBS? Well, PBS broadcast series made from Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited" and Olivia Manning's "Balkan Trilogy" and "Levant Trilogy" and none of these is exactly a trendy or action-packed work.

Highsmith might well have been thinking of her own novel when she describes Ingham's attitude toward his novel as "a difficult book for him to think of in film terms." But it's still fun to wonder about that possibility. And even more fun to read and re-read her novel whenever we need a bit of something exotic in our reading lives.

Exotic beneath the surface mystery.......2003-01-02

Tunisia, its blazing desert and ocean side hotels, is a land of many scents and sensations. The writer, Howard Ingraham, witnesses an incident from which he then is forced to confront himself stripped of all, albeit illusionary, protective devices. Within this jasmine scented, bloody and sordid terrain, Ingraham is exposed as a haunted and uncertain man, a man who is incomplete morally and whose attempts at intimacy and love have been, in retrospect, as deformed as the cat's broken tails, a fixation, it so happens, of the Tunisian populace.

Highsmith has written some of her finest ambiguous characters into this novel. The blaze of the desert sun and the atavistic Tunisian forces suspend that pretense of American self-assurance that so often drapes those travellers.
This is a gorgeous setting, a camel ride and an evening under the desert sky suggests there are some parts of Ingraham's sexuality that have not been fully realized. Highsmith portrays the tensions of life as they are- subtle, mysterious and always in a state of flux. The alienated Westerner in the midst of third world contempt and superficial graciousness. Israel has just won the Six Day's War, and there is news that an American's car was overturned in a neighboring city. Are they plotting, these Arabs who seem to talk loud all the time, and whose language is alien. Ingraham by turn, moves within the Arab neighborhood, below his artist friend, his confidant and his moral interpreter.

Looking for a clean tying up of the mysteries? As in life, that is far more an interpretation and an acknowledgement of the nature of the human heart- and its reluctance to show itself.

The Tremor of Forgery.......2002-04-30

In what some consider to be Patricia Highsmith?s finest novel, The Tremor of Forgery explores a young writer?s descent into moral ambiguity under the hot sun of 1960s Tunisia. Stranded by a suicide, heat-induced torpor, and a growing severance from all Western ties, Howard Ingham finds himself the only witness, and perhaps even participant, in the disappearance of a local pick pocket.
The way that suicide and murder and espionage, such major events, play such a minor role in the action of the novel leaves an odd sense of dissonance in the mind in the reader (one listening to Parker and Gillespe?s ?A Night in Tunisia? may, in fact, get the same feeling). Highsmith juxtaposes her hero?s emotional ambivalence with his supplanting into Araby. Also at hand in the novel is an ongoing reference to Fyodor Dostoevsky?s Crime and Punishment that serves not so much as a retake as a running commentary. Though her references are tactful, fans of the Russian author will undoubtedly prefer his landmark work to a twentieth-century rebuff that emphasizes the sham values of the times. Interesting description and the anchoring to a larger work of literature cause this reader to give an otherwise dry work a modest score of four thumbs up (out of ten).

Managing the Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (Managing the Symptoms of)

Average customer rating:

great book, everyone with MS should own it!!
excellent resource!
Contains the seeds of excellence
Written especially for those with MS
From a survey of common symptoms to helpful exercises

Managing the Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (Managing the Symptoms of)
Randall T. Schapiro
Manufacturer: Demos Medical Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Multiple Sclerosis | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Nervous System | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Occupational Therapy | Allied Health Professions | Medicine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1932603360

Book Description

In clear language and using helpful illustrations, this comprehensive guide deals with both the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and the most effective, clinically tested ways to help patients manage the disease. All symptoms are discussed, from spasticity, tremor, and fatigue to bladder, bowel, and sexual difficulties. In addition, newer ways to manage complex and routine symptoms are explored. The book, now in its fifth edition, covers the most recent advances in drug therapies and other treatments, including new discoveries, recently developed medications, and medical breakthroughs. Also included are an overview of the disease, a glossary of common medical terms, a list of helpful exercises, and information on transfer and mobility resources. Organized to reflect the three areas of MS management — management of the disease, management of its symptoms, and management of lifestyle and general wellness issues — the book is an invaluable reference for MS patients, families, and providers.

Customer Reviews:

great book, everyone with MS should own it!!.......2007-05-12

I bought this book because my MS has been acting up quite a bit. I found the book very informative and useful. I had some things going on with me and I wasn't sure if it was MS related. I checked out swollen ankles and my answer was there with tips on what do to. It saved me a trip to my doctor's office and time off work.

excellent resource!.......2006-06-09

how can anyone add to the previous review? this book is an excellent resource. it seems to be written, not so much for the clinician, but for those who suffer from ms. however, i agree with the previous reviewer, it could be improved, perhaps, by being more practical or in-touch with the experiences of the m.s. patient or caregiver. much of the management recommendations involve medications, which you may wish to discuss with your *ms specialist*. dr. schapiro offers some very practical suggestions for dealing with symptoms and coping. as new symptoms crop up, i first pick up this book. i, usually, augment it with visiting good web pages. definitely worth the price, used.

Contains the seeds of excellence.......2005-01-02

Symptom management is a hot issue for many people with MS, for obvious reasons. Once you've committed to taking one of the disease-modifying drugs, you are still left with the consequences of MS, an often dizzying array of interlocking symptoms. Facing up to life with MS means coping with symptoms that range from the inconvenient to the painful, debilitating, and disabling. It also means coping with the emotional fallout of both your current symptoms, and the likelihood that they will over time worsen and diversify.

I was attracted to this book because it is written by a doctor. I am reminded constantly when reading it, however, that while he is an expert on MS, he is experiencing MS symptoms only second-hand. In consequence, it is clear that on many issues, he just doesn't get it. I was also attracted to the fact that this book has been popular enough to go through four editions. This means both that it sells well, and that it is likely to be up-to-date. The world of MS research is moving so fast these days that the information in books very quickly becomes outdated. Which is, of course, a good thing provided readers keep their wits about them. Not all of the book appears to have benefitted from a rewrite, however. Parts of it were written in 1986 and are, as we will see, beginning to show their age.

It is my feeling that the presentation style of this book may run the risk of alienating a significant fraction of MS patients. The approach taken is top-down, and assumes that you need to know the mechanism (couched in college textbook terminology) of a bodily function or process before you can talk about it; but for many of the processes described in this book, it just isn't so. Often dry and technical for no good reason, it over-utilizes the passive voice. It lists a dizzying array of drugs, mostly dismissed with a few lines rather than given the in-depth description they deserve. It emphasizes the mechanics of coping, not the emotional side. In places it is downright patronizing about the emotions felt by a person with MS, a trait unfortunately shared by many medical professionals. For example, from Chapter 8, "A person with impaired mobility who does not use the right tool cannot accomplish the job of walking. Although it may be difficult at first, try not to have negative emotional feelings about using assistive devices. They are simply tools to improve mobility."

The visual presentation of the book is somewhat lacking. A significant fraction of people with MS have vision problems. I believe that this audience would be better served by a larger font size and the selection of a clearer typeface, both in the main text and in the figure labels.

The book is broken into 22 chapters and four appendices, which are divided into four major sections. The second section alone is divided into subsections, five in number, comprising of from one to seven chapters each. I am somewhat skeptical as to whether this division is of any practical assistance to the reader. The chapters are as follows:

1. What is Multiple Sclerosis? This chapter gives the standard explanation of MS, which will be of some interest to the newly diagnosed. It includes two excellent sections on "Choosing Your Physician", and "Complementary Medicine".

2. Managing the Disease Process: An excellent, if dry, description of the standard disease modifying drugs, current as of 2003. It should ideally be supplemented with more up-to-date information by the discerning reader.

3. Fatigue: This chapter is essentially the standard polemic on fatigue, including the usual tiresome lists of things you can do in everyday life to reduce the amount and effects of fatigue. These would be wonderful in an ideal world, but as many of us have to work and care for children while coping with MS, most of them seem bizarre if not totally divorced from reality. Some of them are merely condescending ("Plan ahead" and "Set Priorities" for example), others show a worrisome level of naivete (the person who wrote "Use the same grocery store on a regular basis and learn where various items are located" clearly does not do the family shopping, or shops in a quaint old grocery store where the shelves are not constantly reorganized in pursuit of a rapidly shifting and seasonal demographic), and some are antediluvian ("Use disposable diapers", honestly, does anybody in the western world use cloth diapers anymore?).

4. Spasticity: A good chapter that discusses the three major options, exercise, drugs, and surgery. I was disappointed that there was no mention of either yoga or acupuncture, which in recent years have become popular in the MS community for managing spasticity.

5. Weakness: I actually learned something about proper exercise in this chapter. I only wish that this chapter were longer than 2.5 pages.

6. Tremor and Balance: Another good chapter.

7. Paroxysmal Symptoms: At just over a page in length, I wish this chapter could have been longer also.

8. Mobility: Putting it All Together: This chapter illustrates many of the minor presentational flaws in the book. For example, one must ask oneself why the use of the word "Ambulation" in the section heading "Walking (Ambulation)"? What advantages does it bring? Isn't it a gratuitous use of terminology? Doesn't it just serve to intimidate the less well educated reader? The author shows here and elsewhere a disregard for the MS sufferer who is on a limited budget when he states "Leather soles wear with time amd need to be replaced frequently, but their advantages far outweigh this minor problem." The problem of replacing leather soles may seem minor to somebody on a physician's salary, but must seem daunting to somebody trying to live on a Social Security Disability allowance. Nonetheless, this chapter provides some excellent advice.

9. Pressure Sores: Another good chapter. Some discussion of the relative merits of some of the choices presented, such as sheepskin versus gel pads for wheelchairs, would be a useful addition.

10. Bladder Symptoms: An excellent chapter. I'm in two minds as to the applicability of the figures, however. I found them confusing. I suffer from DSD (detrussor sphincter dyssynergia) myself, and was surprised to see the disorder described but not mentioned by name.

11. Bowel Symptoms: An excellent chapter.

12. Speech Difficulties: A very good chapter that should perhaps be longer.

13. Swallowing Difficulties: A good chapter in the sense that I already do the things that he recommends to compensate for swallowing difficulties.

14. Vision: A chapter that is again too short, particularly given that many MS patients are diagnosed during their first bout of optic neuritis.

15. Pain: It's nice to see a doctor who admits that a significant fraction of people with MS experience pain. I can't begin to count the number of people with MS who have confided to me that their doctor has pooh-poohed their report of pain, responding that pain isn't a "normal" symptom of MS. The truth is that chronic pain can be debilitating and can seriously affect the quality of life for MS patients and their caregivers.

16. Dizziness and Vertigo: This chapter is again too short, and contains almost no useful information aside from a drug list.

17. Numbness, Cold Feet, and Swollen Ankles: This chapter seems to exist solely for the author to blow off these symptom. Terms such as "annoying" and "nuisance" are used over and over. Despite the author's claims (and methinks he protesteth too much), numbness can significantly reduce quality of life. This chapter would benefit from a serious attempt to analyze and advise courses of action with less condescension.

18. Cognition Difficulties: This chapter contains the usual frustrating list of bullet points containing didactic and quite impractical advice, including "make lists" (I do, but I lose them), "organize your environment so that things remain in familiar places" (but I have young kids), and "carry on conversations in quiet places" (and on which planet exactly are these quiet places to be found?)

19. Diet and Nutrition: This chapter, written by Daniel Kosich (who has a PhD), is sound but "old school", based on the traditional food pyramid. There is no mention of Atkins or other diets currently under investigation. Some of the advice, such as reading food labels, is a good idea. If your diet is the traditional American meat-and-potatoes fare, then this chapter will probabaly be an eye-opener for you. But if you show any degree of dietary sophistication, it will probably be ho-hum.

20. Exercise: A chapter with some solid messages, such as the fact that "no pain, no gain" does not apply to people with MS, but it consists mainly of pointers to other chapters, indicating perhaps that a reorganization of material is overdue.

21. Sexuality: The clinical approach in this chapter is a big turn-off. It leads me to ask whether there are ways of coping that are more sexually attractive. Although some interesting advice, such as the use of a bag of frozen peas as a sex toy, does slip through the clinical facade here.

22. Adapting to Multiple Sclerosis: An excellent chapter. It however does not mention the use of on-line forums and support groups for those unable or disinclined to join group counselling sessions.

There are 47 pages of appendices, as opposed to 142 pages of ordinary text. I'm used to the appendix being a minor organ, not almost a quarter of the organism. I'm led to wonder why these are appendices at all and not chapters? The appendices are as follows.

A. Glossary: I found the Glossary useless, neither comprehensive nor particularly well explained.

B. Exercises for Spasticity: A great section with many well-explained diagrams.

C. Transfers and Mobility: Another great section with many well-explained diagrams.

D. Resources: A somewhat shabby list of books and electronic references. This should be replaced by a web page that is updated regularly by the author.

This book contains an Index, which I applaud. So many MS books do not, which is particularly frustrating when searching later for misremembered topics. This Index was however obviously not done by the author. If it were done better, it would have perhaps uncovered some of the inconsistencies in the book, such as the subject of drinking water. The Index refers us to pp. 115-116, omitting references to fluid intake on p. 76, 81, 118, and 133. In all we are exhorted to drink "six to eight glasses per day", "8 to 12 cups daily", and "eight glasses of water per day" in three different places in the text, leading one to wonder at the disappointing quality of editing of this book.

In summary, this is a good book in the sense that it contains much useful information, but its primary weakness is in presentation. It does not appear to be designed to be read by the patients who have the very problems that it describes. It could become an excellent book if the author would take on a co-author who knows how to write for a general audience, is compassionate, and has first-hand experience with managing the symptoms of MS.

Written especially for those with MS.......2003-08-09

Ably written by Doctor Randall T. Schapiro (the Medical Director of The Fairview Multiple Sclerosis Center) and now in an newly updated and expanded fourth edition, Managing The Symptoms Of Multiple Sclerosis is a practical, informative, and medically sound instructional guide to dealing with the day-to-day difficulties induced by MS, ranging from bladder and bowel difficulties, to spasticity, tremors, physical weakness, and sexual problems. Managing The Symptoms Of Multiple Sclerosis is especially commended as being a "reader accessible" resource written especially for those with MS and their medical/familial caretakers.

From a survey of common symptoms to helpful exercises.......2003-08-09

This updated fourth edition of Dr. Randall Schapiro's Managing The Symptoms Of Multiple Sclerosis uses clear language and illustrations to explore all the common symptoms of MS and tested, proven treatments for it; from tremor and weakness to bladder and sexual difficulties. From a survey of common symptoms to helpful exercises, Dr. Shapiro covers the latest information on MS and its impact.

A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector

Average customer rating:

The REAL truth behind the polygraph
A very misleading book
Nails in the Coffn of the Polygraph Myth
A tremor in the blood uses and abuses of the lie detector.
Finally a book that brakes the legend of the polygraph

A Tremor in the Blood: Uses and Abuses of the Lie Detector
David T. Lykken
Manufacturer: Plenum Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Legal System | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Criminology | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Forensic Science | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Criminal Procedure | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0306457822

Customer Reviews:

The REAL truth behind the polygraph.......2005-09-05

I feel very strongly about this book because not too long ago a relative of mine was accused of a crime they didn't commit and was coerced by the local police dept into taking one of these tests. Fortunately, we were able to come up with many resources (including this book) to dispute the validity of the polygraph in court. Lykken's book isn't perfect by any means but it's one of the few honest books out there that explain how the mysterious polygraph works and the byzantine government reasoning behind using it. This is a book that the government definitely doesn't want you to read because it would invalidate one of their most effective "witch hunt" interrogation techniques.

A very misleading book.......2004-08-06

Dr. Lykken contradicts himself through out the book. How can you say the polygraph doesn't work, and then promote the GKT for the detection of truth? His work research is indirect conflict with and has been discredited by other researcher such as Rakins, Honts, Kirscher and Abrams (and many others). Interestingly, since he first wrote this book, the Guilty Knowledge Test has been almost universally accepted as being worthless and little better than a coin toss.

Nails in the Coffn of the Polygraph Myth.......2003-02-01

The word science has been associated with all sorts of hogwash and chicanery, none more harmful than the myth that there is a machine that will reliably detect lying. I know of no better example of [pseudo] science than the continued use of the polygraph.

As I write in my book, "Communication Research" (2003; p 411; Allyn & Bacon), "[Lykken's] book should receive a Pulitzer prize. It is must reading for anyone who has an association with lie detectors or polygraphs ...or for anyone who would like to go on an intellectual joy ride while swooping to an understanding of how an entire society can be duped by pseudo "science." Lyken reviews virtually all known research about lie detection with brilliant scientific rigor. He concludes [as does the National Academy of Sciences in a recently published independent report] that there exists no credible empirical evidence"... for the test's validity (Hocking et. al.; 2003; p 411; Allyn & Bacon).

I challenge anyone to read Lykken's review of polygraph research and disagree with his conclusion that "it is madness for courts or federal police or security agencies to rely on polygraph results" or that the mythology surrounding the test is a deeply entrenched mythology similar to children believing in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny (p 279 - Lyyken).

Lykken's book is written with the rigor and documentation of a first rate college text, yet is fascinating and readable. It is an important work, one of the best and most valuable books I have read in 30 years of teaching social research methodologoly at the university level.

Five stars are not enough to do Professor Lyyken's work justice.

A tremor in the blood uses and abuses of the lie detector........2000-02-01

Dr Lykken is one of the only scientists who has done any research on polygraph that draws a half negative conclusion other researchers like Dr Raskin totally disagree with him. This book is interesting reading and contradictory in its content. On the one hand Dr Lykken says that polygraphs don't work and on the other he promotes a guilty knowledge test using the same polygraph as a good way to detect guilty knowledge. He invented this test so he promotes it in this book as the best type of polygraph test. I found this book to be very biased and not very convincing due to the fact he contradicts himself a lot. While it is true mistakes are made using polygraph it is no different than any other forensic method as nothing in forensics is 100% accurate. While Dr Lykken makes some good points it is obvious he makes a living out of producing anti-polygraph material. If what he states in this book where tottally true the NSA,CIA,FBI,Police and law enforcement agencies across the US would not rely so heavily upon them.

Finally a book that brakes the legend of the polygraph.......1999-08-23

Having been accused of a crime I didn't commit just because I failed a lie detector test, it was a big reveal for me to see that some people do believe that the polygraph test is bogus. Dr Lykken's book proves that with a polygraph test everything can happen : an innoscent person can look guilty, and a guilty person can look innoscent. The machine doesn't show you if you lie, it only shows you if you are nervous. Through several cases, the book shows you how Americans have had a blind believe it the device, ever since it was invented and how innoscent people have been sent to jail because of it (but they have been released later, when REAL evidence was found). I recomment everybody to read this very informative book.

Average customer rating:

Marco Breuer: Tremors, Ephemera
James Elkins , and Gemma De Cruz
Manufacturer: Roth Horowitz, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0967077435
Release Date: 2001-01-02

Book Description

Marco Breuer: Tremors, Ephemera documents two groundbreaking projects by Marco Breuer. Tremors consists of Icamera-less pictures:' working in the darkroom, Breuer employs an assortment of household tools-- a hot plate or an electric pan, for example--and moves them with varying degrees of pressure across photographic paper, registering their movement as an irregular, seismographic trace. The paper responds to the heat from the tool by recording a latent image, which, once developed, turns the emulsion a range of colors from deep umber to burnt sienna and charcoal black. In Ephemera, Breuer goes one step further in relinquishing his commitment to a particular medium and literally attacks standard drawing paper, using the format of generically-designed, handmade books. The pages document direct activities taking place deep within the book cavity--an ignited fuse creeps through the book gutter, leaving a snake-like trail, fanning out in a smudge of brown smoke; an electric shock mars the heart of a centerfold in an explosive display of colorful splashes.

Average customer rating:

a damn decent read...

Tremor of Intent: A Novel
Anthony Burgess
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0393004163

Book Description

From the author of A Clockwork Orange, a brilliantly funny spy novel.

Customer Reviews:

a damn decent read..........2006-08-22

i hate giving huge descriptions about books and how the characters are and the problems of the book. to put it simply if you like anthony burgess and you like spy stories with a great ending then pick this book up. the history and development of the main characters was probably one of the most interesting aspects of the book. the two main characters are spies and one of them has left the side of "good" to be with the "bad". the one that remains on the good side is basically threatened by the "good" side in order to bring the other spy back. both characters go through some interesting development and get into some real trouble like a 250 lb child molester who doesnt just have his eyes on the children. the ending is definitely something unexpected but for those who read anthony burgess, they already know this. burgess has an incredible of keeping your interest the whole time. spies on adventures and their sexual prowess, as well as, their naievity and insanity that comes with job. overall an intersting read for any fan of burgess. you will definitely root for the good guys the whole way. anthony burgess hands down, was and continues to be one of the best writers in modern lit

Movement Disorders Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Health Information About Neurological Movement Disorders, Including Essential Tremor, Parkinson's Disease, ... Ceberal Palsy, (Health Reference Series)

Average customer rating:

Movement Disorders Sourcebook: Basic Consumer Health Information About Neurological Movement Disorders, Including Essential Tremor, Parkinson's Disease, ... Ceberal Palsy, (Health Reference Series)

Manufacturer: Omnigraphics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Personal Health | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Nervous System | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Family Health | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 078080628X

Average customer rating:

Best information available
Great Resource
Very Helpful
Essential Tremmor-Explantations and Answers

Essential Tremor: The Facts
Mark Plumb , and Peter Bain
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0199211272

Book Description

Essential Tremor is the most common movement disorder in the world, and affects between 4 and 40 people per 1000 of the population amongst all ethnic groups. Characterised by shaking hands, this disorder can affect the head, voice and legs, and is often made worse by physical and emotional stress. Essential Tremor: The Facts provides a comprehensive guide to understanding this disorder and minimising its impact upon the lives of sufferers, their friends and families. It begins with a close look at what essential tremor is and how it should be diagnosed, as well as details on who gets the disorder, the causes, and how it affects sufferers day-to-day lives. Current treatment options are covered, along with patient advice on how to cope with the stigma of essential tremor, as well as the disability and social handicap it invokes. The book concludes with a chapter on the future and prospects of a potential cure.

Customer Reviews:

Best information available.......2007-08-15

This is by far the best information available for anyone with ET. It has become my Bible!

Great Resource.......2007-07-08

I've had ET since I was a very small child - I'm in my mid thirties now. This is the best source of information for ET that I have ever seen.

Very Helpful.......2007-03-10

Great for anyone that has ET, it helps us to understand it better. I have had ET for 37 years and it does get worse getting older.

Essential Tremmor-Explantations and Answers.......2007-02-19

This excellent compilation of the facts surrounding Essential Tremor was like looking at myself in the mirror for the first time. It's comforting to realize that many have this same functionality disorder. And it's likewise great to have all the information about Essential Tremor from diverse sources in one clear book.

I may not like what I saw in the mirror, but I am very glad to have read about my reflection.

Average customer rating:

No Clive Cussler
Nice filler while waiting for the next Cussler adventure...
Very Enjoyable Read
Off and Running
Cussler's protege

Tremor
Craig Dirgo
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000GG4HJS

Book Description

Over a hundred years ago, Nikola Tesla created a device for transferring electricity without wires. It was supposed to be his greatest triumph. Instead, his invention spawned a nightmare so terrifying that it was hidden from the world...until now.

Unusual surges of electricity are being tracked emanating from the former Yugoslavia. Special Agent John Taft of the National Intelligence Agency is dispatched to investigate the phenomenon, and uncovers a conspiracy of terror, led by a fanatical Serbian nationalist and powered by a machine capable of targeting any location on the globe-and causing apocalyptic earthquakes to strike on command.

Now, as the terrorists fell cities at will with their earth-shattering weapon, Taft must fight a battle on dangerous ground, against an unstable foe whose greatest desire is to control the world--or destroy it.

Customer Reviews:

No Clive Cussler.......2007-05-26

This is no Clive Cussler. The writing seemed amateurish and the plot implausible. Yes it was fast paced and exciting at times. But I have to say that teen readers, whom this should be targeted at, would probably love it. Needed work on the editing also.

Nice filler while waiting for the next Cussler adventure..........2007-03-30

Since I am a HUGE Clive Cussler fan, I was thrilled to hear about 'The Einstein Papers' some years back. It turned out to be pretty good Brain Candy--nothing intellectual, but then again, neither is most of the Bond movies--but it was fun and a nice way to fill the gap waiting for the next Dirk Pitt tale. When Dirgo teamed with Clive to begin the Oregon Files novels, I was equally excited. Unfortunately the first two books were just horrible. They had a TON of promise, but nearly zero payoff. Cussler wisely picked up on this, and hired Jack DuBrul to write the last two Oregon Files books, and they have been excellent (thankfully)...

...so after two abysmal books with Cussler, I was more than a bit skeptical about buying another book written by Dirgo. I went ahead and took the gamble and I gotta tell you it paid off. This sequel to 'The Eienstein Papers' was just as fun and a great escape while I waited for the next Dirk Pitt or Kurt Austin adventure. Again, nothing earth shattering, but just plain FUN. Sometimes readers fault an author because of bad editing or publishing errors, and by and large the author has little (if any) control over these things. I would prefer it we just judged the book based on the STORY alone. Based upon that, I'd say that while nobody will be comparing Tremor to Clancy anytime soon, if you know what you are in for before you start it, I think it is well worth the effort to buy and read.

I have ONE minor, almost insignificant problem...I felt that the overall plot of Tremor was slightly too close to Cussler's most recent Pitt novel with his son, 'Treasure of Khan'. The idea of using an electrical device to induce damage is also the focal point of that story as well. I have to admit however, that Dirgo goes into MUCH more detail, especially regarding the origin with Tesla, but it kinda spoiled the storyline a little. Seeing as I read Khan first, every now and then I kept having this feeling I had read this before. Again, a minor complaint, but one that was (for me at least) impossible to ignore--especially since Dirgo and Cussler have worked so closely together in the past.

If you HAVEN'T read Khan, I say this book will be exactly what will fill your void of action/adventure and will certainly fill the gap you may be experiencing during any dry-spell...but if you HAVE read Khan, just be aware that you MAY have a feeling of Deja Vu. I personally look forward to the next book in this series.

Very Enjoyable Read.......2006-05-12

I have to start off by saying that the action series is not my normal genre. I usually stick to fantasy/sci-fi, with an occasional foray into action with murphy and sapir's "Destroyer" series. With that said, I really enjoyed this book. From start-to-finish I was able to envision the whole thing in my mind, as if it were a movie being played out in my imagination. Unlike a previous reviewer, who obviously seemed not to have noticed the book is a work of fiction, I found the story to be really interesting. I've always been interested in Tesla-related stories. I'll be looking forward to the next book in the series...

Off and Running.......2006-04-21

Even though Dirgo's first book, "The Einstein Papers," wasn't that great, I knew Clive Cussler couldn't be wrong about him, and in "Tremor" it showed. The writing is more practiced, the editing tighter (though the copyediting was nonexistent), and the characters more alive. Dirgo is still going with a conglomerate cast rather than focusing on a single protagonist, but his characters are distinct enough to tell them apart, so it works.

Special Agent John Taft of the secret National Intelligence Agency is sent to Serbia to investigate some surges on the European power grid. Upon his arrival in Belgrade, as he checks out the security at the Nikola Tesla museum, he also checks out its curator, Nadia Slavja, and gets invited to her apartment for a night of passion. While she sleeps, he copies her keys, but he makes a mistake that turns his advantageous one-night stand into something more. When Nadia became suspicious of his motives, she spoke to her brother, a Serbian agent, and Taft winds up coming clean to the brother and sister and involving them in his scheme to save the world.

When the NIA ties the European power surges to earthquake activity, and it looks as if it's all made possible by a device invented by Nikola Tesla, a plan is devised to root out the perpetrator. The Americans make off with Tesla's papers, leaving a set of decoys planted with locator chips so when they are stolen they can be followed to the bad guys' lair.

Meanwhile, Taft's partner, Larry Martinez, teams up with a thriller author who fills in a lot of blanks on the capabilities of the Tesla device, while the evil perpetrator, Galadin Ratzovik, plays the stock market and prods his captive scientist into finishing his work on the device to effect his grand finale. Mid-mission, Taft gets called back to the States to work more closely with his partner and the author while the military takes over the search for the perp in Serbia. With the clock ticking and the Netherlands releasing a Serbian war criminal to protect themselves from a demonstration of the Tesla device, Taft and his cronies finally figure out what Ratzovik's plan really is, but will they get there in time to stop it?

This book began as a spy tale, following John Taft on his mission in Serbia, then deftly branched out into a full-blown, multiple-agency, across-the-globe mission with several teams following a multitude of leads, tightening their net as they go, until the conclusion explodes onto the pages. Going back to the multi-angle, intricate format of his "Oregon" Files novels, Dirgo delivers a page-turning adventure.

Cussler's protege.......2006-04-03

If you like Cussler, you will like Dirgo just as well. It's great reading and I couldn't put it down. It will fill in the gaps between Cussler's new books

A Tremor in the Bitter Earth: Book 2 of the Tielmaran Chronicles

Average customer rating:

Superb Brooding Dark Fantasy
rich storyline and character development
Witches & spells!!
Loved the book, just waiting for the third
A Tremor in the Bitter Earth

A Tremor in the Bitter Earth: Book 2 of the Tielmaran Chronicles
Katya Reimann
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Epic | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0812549341

Book Description

It is a time for celebration in Tielmark, at long last free from the age-old rule of the decadent but powerful Bissanty empire. Yet as the young glamour witch Gaultry Blas travels to witness the sacred rites which will renew her prince's magical bond to the land and its twin goddesses, she had no idea of the trials that await her and all Tielmark. Foiling an attempt by Bissanty assassins to taint the prince with dark, poisonous magic, she finds herself thrown into the midst of a sinister and dangerous plot. With one of the assassins as her unlikely ally, she must journey deep into the heart of Bissanty-where it will take all her skill and magic to uncover the last hidden ties that bind Tielmark's destiny to that of its depraved former masters....

Customer Reviews:

Superb Brooding Dark Fantasy.......2005-08-25

An amazing, fresh, sf-fantasy novel, with a gut-wrenching beginning. Lots of terrific creative new ideas such as the "Sha Muira" assassin that figures so prominently in the story. I really enjoyed the tension between Gaultry during the slow transformation of the young assassin. I enjoyed this book the first time I read it and I am now re-reading it once again. It is just as good on the second reading, although, the surprise element is gone. Now I look forward to reading the earlier book in this series, as well as the newer sequels to this excellent book.

rich storyline and character development.......2005-05-03

This book is not as exciting as the first, typical for a trilogy. I don't really like how much if focuses on Gaultry because I always wanted to hear more about Mervion. Maybe that will be in the third book. Sometimes I don't like reading about drama after drama and this book does have a lot of fighting and violence but overall it is very interesting and definetely well written. Just don't expect easy paced or light hearted!

Witches & spells!!.......2001-10-22

An engaging story, the heroin is strong & magical. The story is original & light. This book follows Gaultry -the Glamour/Witch- in her fight to free Teilmark from The Bissanty Empire's clutches. You get to know more about Bissanty & the way the people live & feel. I was intrigued by the religion they follow. I still want to know more about Mervion, Gaultry's sister & Martin.
My only remark is that sometimes Ms. Reimaan writing is a little distracting, like she is trying a little too hard to convey a thought or describe a scene.
All in all a very good story. Thank you Ms. Reimann. Can't wait to read the 3rd book.
Get it & READ IT!(...)

Loved the book, just waiting for the third.......2001-07-23

I greatly enjoyed reading the adventures of Gaultry and her companions.... once i had finished the two books in the series i just wanted to read more- there are so many questions i have about the characters. Katya really brought life to her book, to her story but i urge her to write the third book- i'm waiting with others to find out how Gaulrty lives the rest of her life

A Tremor in the Bitter Earth.......2001-03-03

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and thought that it was as satisfying as the first part in this series. New characters serve to help the action along; they are appealing and interesting. However, I thought that some characters, such as Mervion and Martin Stalker, should have had more attention payed to them. I eagerly await Reimann's third part to this series. There remain many questions to be answered.

Tremor Of Demons (DI Jim Meldrum) (DI Jim Meldrum)

Average customer rating:

Tremor Of Demons (DI Jim Meldrum) (DI Jim Meldrum)
Frederic Lindsay
Manufacturer: Allison & Busby LTD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0749081430

Product Description

When Edinburgh detective Jim Meldrum is called to investigate a recently discovered corpse, the only suspicious circumstances seem to be that the dead man has his slippers on the wrong feet. But when it turns out the deceased man has actually been clinically mutilated, Meldrum realizes that this will be a case out of the ordinary. Meldrum's private life is not helping matters. He can't stop dreaming about his ex-wife and is struggling to maintain a relationship with his daughter. As the case becomes even murkier, he also starts to regularly wake up next to prostitutes. Taut and gripping, Tremor of Demons, is the new Inspector Meldrum story from the pen of Frederic Lindsay.

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