The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World

Amazon.com

David Abram's writing casts a spell of its own as he weaves the reader through a meticulously researched work that gently addresses such seemingly daunting topics as where the past and future exist, the relationship between space and time, and how the written word serves to sever humans from their primordial source of sustenance: the earth.

"Only as the written text began to speak would the voices of the forest, and of the river, begin to fade. And only then would language loosen its ancient associations with the invisible breath, the spirit sever itself from the wind, the psyche dissociate itself from the environing air," writes Abram of the separation caused by the proliferation of the written word.

In writing The Spell of the Sensuous, Abram consulted an engaging collection of peoples and works. He uses aboriginal song lines, stories from the Koyukon people of northwestern Alaska, the philosophy of phenomenology, and the speeches of Socrates to paint a poetic landscape that explains how we became separated from the earth in the first place. With minimal environmental doomsaying, Abram discusses how we can begin to recover a sustainable relationship with the earth and the nonhuman beings who live among us--in the more-than-human world. --Kathryn True

Book Description

David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment. He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with passion and intellectual daring.

"Long awaited, revolutionary...This book ponders the violent disconnection of the body from the natural world and what this means about how we live and die in it."--Los Angeles Times

Customer Reviews:

mixed.......2007-08-05

In this elegantly titled book Abrams argues about a "language older than words" - a language of immediacy imbued with connectedness between an (indigenous) person and her environemnt. The landscape talks and sensitive and attuned people listen and hear it speak. Abrams' `ecophenomenology' coincides with a plethora of similarly well-intentioned works that have appeared in recent years.

Abrams shares this basic idea with others - phenomenologists, philosophers, linguists, ethnographers and anthropologists many of whom performed research on indigenous peoples from around the world. For an indigenous person the intimacy between the landscape and the inner space of feeling is rather ordinary and normal, certainly nothing special. That someone has to argue that this communication even exists is, to someone living close to nature almost incomprehensible.

Be that as it may, Abrams quotes other people (indigenous folks and their observers) copiously and not always consistently. His own contribution I find a bit sketchy and perhaps even problematic. For example, he goes to great length trying to shift the blame for the ecological blindness of Western man from our absurd belief in a warlike, genocidal and jealous Hebrew deity to Greek philosophers and their use of abstract language. This is not a little disingenuous, since It is the followers of the 3 monotheistic religions that are the most responsible for dissociating humans from the polytheistic/pantheistic view of nature that honors harmony and awareness of a living landscape.... as evidenced in the stoning of ancient Hebrews who worshipped Astarte and the Earth Goddess(es), killings of pagans and mystics throughout the Medieval Europe and Arab world (e.g.; Suhrawardi in the 13th century).

Perhaps a more serious concern is that although Abrams pays lip service to the indigenous relationship with the landscape, he does this through the prism of his own logocentric viewpoint rooted in Western anthropology and phenomenology (quoting Husserl and Merleau-Ponty). His use of concepts aiming at disentangling himself from the conceptual double-bind reminds me of a fly ineffectually buzzing around spider's web. Apart from the Introduction - which is promising, as it suggests Abrams will use the book to talk about his personal experiences, insights or revelations, the book itself is a brainy, abstract and a superconceptual treatise, I personally had to skip pages as it sometimes simply got too boring. The diametric opposite of SOTS would probably be Jensen's Language Older Than Words - a brilliant personal expose on the same topic which, for reasons unclear to me, received much less attention. Be that as it may, the interest in SOTS signifies that ecophenomenology is here to stay and i personally am happy about it.

Finding Lost Connections with the World.......2007-06-12

This amazing study has put me back in touch with a truth I have always known in part, but now understand at a new depth. David Abram's understanding of language as the medium of all connexion with the world we are part of is profound and opens a realm of experience that few in the so-called developed cultures are now even dimly aware of. An enlightened and timely addition to the renewed human search for meaning.

An Awakening to Nature--The Call to Embodiment.......2007-05-27

Abrams tells the story of Earth--Gaia--as a living organism that speaks and breathes through us--and through all living things (and if we only listen, all things are living as they are part of Earth, the rhythm of all harmonizes into a breathing landscape). Abrams' work calls for a reawakening of nature, "who has lost [her] voice" (p. 138), a reawakening of our psyche that "lives the language of our lives more deeply" (p. 59). With the loss of nature, we have lost part of ourselves--we have abstracted ourselves from the environment, making the landscape irrelevant to our lives through the persistent valuing of technique and human over organic and alive. Through privileging human voices, we have forgotten to listen to the larger ecology, and have made our lives bare, commonplace. Wonder has been lost.

Abrams' works invites ecological pedagogy--pedagogy attuned to the sounds and rhythms of the lifeworld. Ecological pedagogy might use myth to reveal the energy of the world (Campbell). Myth is not a search for the meaning of life, but an "interior road map of experience", a revelation of human experience. Myth is a "singing of the universe...[that] calls us to a deeper awareness of the living itself" (Campbell). Through the retelling of myths, through the dancing or reenactment of myths (as Abrams tells us village elders do for Dreamtime (p. 170)), we can re-enliven the stories in our own time, and give more possibilities for meaning to our experiences.

Ritual might also be used in ecological pedagogy to guide us in re-enlivening the world. Rituals were performed before all important events in cultures with close ties to land--before hunting expeditions, before harvesting. We have forgotten that these matters hold meaning (i.e., we stop by Wendy's on our way home from work or school and don't give a second thought to where our food came from). Ritual is a way of offering homage to the earth, of showing appreciation and gratitude; but it is not only, or even primarily, for the earth, as Helen Payne (quoted in Abrams, p. 171) tells us is true for oral cultures. For the modern technological man, ritual would primarily reawaken the bond and awareness of the Other in nature, of animals and earth and sky. We have lost these words that "used to reverberate with meaning" (Van Mannen).

Insightful book........2007-04-19

I read this book when it was first published many years ago. After rereading it recently, I was struck by its insight and power to move me again.

Abram's is not only a visionary and a mystic but a slight of hand magician. This book is more than a eco-philosophy but shifts perceptual fields of awareness.

My only regret is the author has not written anything since this visionary work came out. Too powerful of a voice to fade into the past.

Journey.......2006-01-01

I read this book when my toddler daughter was just at a time when if I said something was a red herring she was looking for the fish, she seemed just exactly in the moment he was talking about in the text that I had long lost. Something as simple as feeling the rain on her face or trying to walk across the shine on the mall floor caused her to fear falling into the pool she saw from the surface or not knowing if it felt cold or hurt, this falling rain so rare out in her CA home, trying to tell me of rain as something changing her face. So of course I thought and thought about how real and valid her perceptions were and how close her knowing rode to experiences from the natural world. So I fell into his text and into the violet gathering patches of my childhood in West Virginia and away from the years of spraying, consuming, packaging, peeling, refining and defining within our cultural context. It was a lovely trip into feeling. I do so recommend the book.

Eat Well, Feel Well: More Than 150 Delicious Specific Carbohydrate Diet(TM)-Compliant Recipes

Average customer rating:

Apalling!
Excellent, creative specific carbohydrate cookbook!
A welcome addition to the SCD cookbook library
Refreshing!
a bit too gourmet for an all around cookbook

Eat Well, Feel Well: More Than 150 Delicious Specific Carbohydrate Diet(TM)-Compliant Recipes
Kendall Conrad
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Healthy | Special Diet | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0307339947
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Book Description

When her daughter was diagnosed with a dangerous digestive problem that left her weakened and sick, author Kendall Conrad started searching for a way to save her child’s failing health. The answer came when a nutritionist recommended the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). Created by Elaine Gottschall, this revolutionary program is extraordinarily effective in relieving the debilitating and often painful symptoms of ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, diverticulitis, IBS, Crohn’s disease, and other common ailments. Simply by eliminating virtually all starch and complex sugars and eating a balance of smart carbohydrates, good proteins and fats, and essential vitamins and minerals, many people experience a complete restoration of digestive health. For Conrad’s daughter, the results were incredible. Thrilled with her daughter’s rapid recovery, she began creating recipes for delicious dishes for the whole family, following Gottschall’s guidelines, without sacrificing an ounce of taste or variety.

In Eat Well, Feel Well, Conrad shares more than 150 recipes for quick and easy dishes for casual meals and elegant dinner parties alike. The appetizers and starters range from updated classics like Curried Deviled Eggs with Mango-Currant Chutney to such enticing, exotic fare as Thai Beef Salad with Papaya and Toasted Coconut and Egyptian Red Lentil Soup. Main course ideas include everything from Whole Roasted Red Snapper Stuffed with Fennel and Citrus and Ground Beef Chili with Navy Beans to kid-pleasers such as a simple Cheese Soufflé and Honey-Garlic Chicken Drummettes. Dozens of recipes for snacks, desserts, breakfast dishes, and beverages will help you integrate the SCD way of eating into your family’s lifestyle with ease, grace, and creativity.

If you or someone in your family suffers from a digestive disorder, these wonderful recipes based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet will revolutionize the way you eat.
Kendall Conrad appeared with Elaine Gottschall, the author of the global bestseller Breaking the Vicious Cycle, to share the story of her daughter’s near-miraculous recovery from a dangerous digestive disorder using the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Montecito, California.

Customer Reviews:

Apalling!.......2007-10-10

Gorgeous book -- but the recipes I've tried are worthless. I was really excited about the cashew butter tortillas, in particular, and even bought a tortilla maker. I have no idea how the author even calls the result a tortilla. It was more like a fried cashew butter cookie -- sweet and it crumbled the moment you picked it up. Save your money.

Excellent, creative specific carbohydrate cookbook!.......2007-09-28

I have enjoyed all the recipes that I have made from this specific carbohydrate cookbook. It feels the need for things you want and need and couldn't figure out how to make on your own. For example, spring rolls, cashew tortillas, and blueberry muffins. Some of the ingredients are harder to find, but if you plan ahead you can be well supplied for unexpected guests and special events with healthy, beautiful entres and good things for the kids.

A welcome addition to the SCD cookbook library.......2007-08-17

While I'm happy to have another SCD cookbook to follow, I was unable to give this one 5 stars for two reasons. First, the SCD can be an expensive diet to follow, and some of the recipes in this book make it even more expensive. It includes ingredients that are not available or are costly in your average grocery store, such as truffle oil, macadamia nuts, and Hachiya persimmons. Several different varieties of fresh herbs are required for some recipes. I found that going to get the ingredients for just one recipe put a dent in my grocery budget. This all leads up to the second reason for the 4 stars - it is a bit gourmet/fancier than your average cookbook. So while I don't think this is the best book for the average American family, I do think it is worth having if you are on the SCD. It does contain many simpler recipes as well that I've made successfully and were delicious. I would probably be more comfortable serving recipes from this book on special occasions as compared to other SCD compliant recipes.

Another comment I feel obliged to make is that I am both the patient requiring SCD and the cook in the house, so for me simpler is always better. The ingredients to some recipes require completing a previous recipe, and that can be overwhelming for me at times. If I were healthy and preparing these recipes for someone else, I would probably be less critical. If you enjoy cooking and have the time and energy to do it, this book may well become your all-time favorite. So far, Grain-Free Gourmet still tops my list, but I highly recommend recommend anyone on the SCD add this to their library. You can never have too many cookbooks when your choice of foods is limited.

Refreshing!.......2007-07-30

Wow, what a great variety of recipes. I don't have digestive issues, but my partner does, so it can be hard for us to eat together. Many of these recipes are delicious, easy to prepare, and have wide appeal to others not on SCD. My only complaint is the reliance on almond flour for some recipes-- hasn't anyone found a cheaper alternative?

a bit too gourmet for an all around cookbook.......2007-07-18

ingredients are a bit more posh than other scd diet cookbooks. this makes for nice looking fancy food. but unless you are employed full time as a chef...i dont know how practical it is for everyday scd diet cookiing, though it is a good place to look for ideas, or if you want to make a nice fancy meal.

Average customer rating:

Another Powerful Parable
Highly Recommended!
Easy to read and put into practice.
Another Blanchard success
A definant necessity

Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute
Ken Blanchard , John P Carlos , Alan Randolph , and John P. Carlos
Manufacturer: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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The 3 Keys to Empowerment: Release the Power Within People for Astonishing Results
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ASIN: 1576751538

Book Description

Empowerment is not about giving power to people but releasing the power people already have. So say the authors of Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute. Now more than ever, organizations are maximizing their effectiveness by tapping their most vital resource -- the talents of their employees.

This book presents a game plan for empowering employees by defining three essential keys: sharing information, creating autonomy through boundaries, and replacing hierarchy with teams. Revised throughout, this edition uses more contemporary examples and language to address concerns specific to younger employees.

Customer Reviews:

Another Powerful Parable.......2003-03-21

If the authors are right about how they defined `empowerment' and the three essential keys for achieving true empowerment, then leaders, managers, and employees of all organizations should read, discuss, and decide to apply this easy-to-read book's lessons. I am convinced this book has the potential to lead organizations to unheard of levels of effectiveness and productivity.

In typical Ken Blanchard fashion, the authors taught their important lessons through a logical and believable fictional story based on their years of research and experience. The story "guides readers step-by-step through one manager's struggle to discover the three essential keys to empowerment. By following the manager's odyssey to the Land of Empowerment, readers discover that they can take the same journey, which, like any heroic journey, is filled with paradox, challenge, and fitful stops and starts."

The authors defined empowerment as not giving power to people, but releasing the knowledge, experience, and motivation they already have. They then identified and explained the three essential keys for achieving true empowerment:
1. Share information with everyone
2. Create autonomy through boundaries
3. Replace hierarchical thinking with self-managed teams
These simple definitions are deceptively powerful when teamed with patience and persistence. I found the title of this book was most appropriate.

From my experience, the term `empowerment' is frequently spoken, largely misunderstood, and rarely applied to its maximum extent. This book took the mystery out of the concept of empowerment and left me with a great appreciation for what true empowerment is and how it can be achieved. I am excited about what it could release in me and others who read it.

Highly Recommended!.......2001-11-16

The author of The One Minute Manager switches gears and tells you not to manage your employees minute-by-minute. Instead, Ken Blanchard, along with John P. Carlos, and Alan Randolph, advocates and explains the notion of empowerment - giving your employees the information and authority to act and make decisions on their own, within a structured set of organizational goals and values. Presented as the story of a turnaround manager getting tutored by an empowerment mentor, the book establishes the fundamentals of the (now ubiquitous) theory of empowerment in a conversational and enjoyable style. We [...] recommend this quick, informative read, which will expand your management horizons in only a few short minutes.

Easy to read and put into practice........2000-01-09

If you are a new manager or a manager with outdated skills, this novel little book will have an absolutely positive impact if you follow the simple three keys to success. The book is based on a story of a real or contrived (who knows) manager and his adventure in discovering the importance of empowerment and why his technics have failed with his employees. Within the first week of reading this book, I used one of the exercises that was recommended. This simple exercise showed me that my employees are infact on track to becoming empowered. If your employees are struggling to complete everyday work because of a motivational problem instead of an ability problem, this book will show you how to get your team to respond. After you read this book, you may discover that the problem is supervisory and not employee related. However, this read gave me ideas of how to correct both!

Another Blanchard success.......1999-11-01

As usual, I am never disappointed by Ken Blanchard's books and tapes. The subject of empowerment is brought home successfully and I walked away from this easy read with more insight than before.

I also suggest a related top-selling book that has as one of its themes empowerment: "The Leader's Guide: 15 Essential Skills"

A definant necessity.......1999-08-08

This is a very easy read. The format was entirely different than I expected and initially I was unimpressed. The format proved extremely useful and made the book simple to reference

More Balls Than Hands: Juggling Your Way to Success by Learning to Love Your Mistakes

Average customer rating:

Liberate your Heart, Body, Mind, and Soul
A Good Read!
I'm Inspired!
Metaphor of the Millennium

More Balls Than Hands: Juggling Your Way to Success by Learning to Love Your Mistakes
Michael Gelb
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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

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How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day
Present Yourself!
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ASIN: 0735203377
Release Date: 2003-08-26

Book Description

The bestselling author of How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci shows how learning to juggle literally and metaphorically will help you become better at what you do, both in business and in life.

As we struggle to get more done in less time, to balance our work and our personal life, and to adapt to constant change, we often feel that we're "juggling too many balls." Now, in More Balls Than Hands, leading organizational consultant Michael J. Gelb, a former professional juggler, shows us how to keep all those balls in the air.

The first lesson in juggling is...let the ball drop. Beginning with this first counterintuitive lesson, Michael J. Gelb offers proven methods that organizations can use to create a "mistake positive" culture, showing how any business can flourish and succeed if it sets the stage for learning, growth, and innovation in the workplace. In addition, Gelb introduces five "Keys to High Performance Learning" that offer immediately applicable strategies for strengthening anyone's learning speed and power. For people eager to increase their learning potential, ratchet up their productivity, and teach others to do the same, More Balls than Hands communicates life lessons in a vivid, completely original, and utterly entertaining way.

Customer Reviews:

Liberate your Heart, Body, Mind, and Soul.......2006-02-17

If only I could have started my life with the wisdom in this magnificent book!

This important book by the best-selling author of "How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci" has many virtues, but its shining achievement is to introduce the reader to a "mistake-positive" way of life and being. In the time since reading it, I am finding myself transforming, in very positive ways, how I approach life, and how I interpret and experience myself and others. Increasing energy, enthusiasm, openness, and resilience to the challenges of life are a few of the benefits that have begun to manifest themselves. My personal and professional relationships are improving. I feel more alive and excited about my future than I have in years. While perfectionism has advantages, it also has many disadvantages-it can hold one back from full participation in life, and it can interfere with one's resilience in bouncing back from failures. This book is excellent medicine for perfectionists.

Michael Gelb is a pioneer in the fields of accelerated learning, creative thinking, and leadership development, and President of High Performance Learning, which he founded thirty years ago. In "More Balls Than Hands" (This title often generates laughs when I mention it to women!) Michael masterfully brings to life five principles of high performance learning and living:

1. Create a clear vision of what you want, and then keep comparing your vision with reality, thus stimulating your brain's natural success mechanism to bring reality in line with your vision.
2. Transform your attitude toward mistakes and failure, thereby liberating tremendous energy and enthusiasm for learning and growth.
3. Unleash your natural genius through the power of play.
4. Achieve more with less effort by cultivating relaxed concentration.
5. Develop your coaching skills so you can bring out the best in people at work and at home.

Throughout the book he ties all these themes together with the powerful metaphor of juggling. As he says at the end of the book:
"The juggling metaphor can serve as an inspiring reminder of the secret of life. Is there one word that expresses that secret? Yes. The word is *balance*."

This book is about much more than learning and juggling the demands of today's world. It is about the secret of life-how to live well and wisely, how to create the lives and world we want, written by someone who lives what he speaks. The book is a true education, a treasure trove of wisdom, rich with colorful, compelling examples and illustrations. A sheer pleasure to read!

A Good Read!.......2004-08-30

The best and most useful part of this book comes near the end, where author Michael J. Gelb gets down to basics and offers instructions on how to juggle. The first part of the book consists of a series of exhortations and homilies about the advisability of relaxing, letting yourself make mistakes, practicing to be perfect and other personal attitude guidance. Those who thirst for such encouragement will find the first part of this book a godsend. It includes quotations from Lao Tse, Vince Lombardi and Leonardo da Vinci. All of the advice is highly meritorious, even the advice that you ought to take a break or two every day to juggle. That looks like fun whether you favor New Age nostrums or not. We recommend this book to anyone who must multi-task. Even if juggling doesn't smooth out your work life, at least it will help you relax.

I'm Inspired!.......2003-08-31

Every time I read one of Michael's books, I feel inspired for greatness, and this book is no exception. Michael has a gift of taking things that are familiar and looking at and applying them in unique ways. In this book, Michael talks about the importance of creating mistakes in a safe environment and using them to accelerate learning to become a better leader, coach, parent, or person. He makes it feel safe to venture out into new territory by teaching that success means pursuing your goals and dreams with much childlike passion that success and failure become irrelevant. I especially love how he frames examples throughout the book with expert quotes that provide meaningful and often thought-provoking context. The quote by Dr. Glenn Doman, Institute for the Achievement of Human Potential, provoked a great family discussion about how important it is for a child to view learning as fun and the positive impact a person can have to help inspire that belief. In the last section of the book, Michael takes a unique approach to teaching juggling, in which he applies all the principles in the book. I never would have thought that dropping balls on purpose would help me learn to juggle, but it did. And it gave me a new confidence that I can do anything!

Metaphor of the Millennium.......2003-08-24

Michael Gelb has captured the metaphor of the millennium in juggling. It is something that jugglers and non-jugglers alike can relate to at a gut level, because most of us have anything but time on our hands. A single issue of the New York Times is said to contain more information than the average person in the Middle Ages was exposed to in a lifetime. And it just starts there. MORE BALLS THAN HANDS gives you more than just the metaphor, but stories and testimonials from the workplace, as well as practical coaching on how to juggle. The book is readable and doable, and can be enjoyed on many levels. The only thing that could make it even better would be illustrations for the tips on the advanced juggling beyond 3 balls. ...

More Than Sex: Reinventing The Black Male Image: Reinventing the Black Male Image

Average customer rating:

Every black man should read this book
"a must-read capable of transforming the lives of black men"
Wow...what an eye opening book..The truth needed to be said!

More Than Sex: Reinventing The Black Male Image: Reinventing the Black Male Image
George Edmond Smith
Manufacturer: Kensington
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

Customer Reviews:

Every black man should read this book.......2006-04-27

Dr. Smith;

When I read your book, "More Than Sex: Reinventing The Black Male Image", back in 2000, and I just had to commend you on producing a must-read capable of transforming the lives of black men-and I was speaking from personal experience. I was, at the time, a 40-year-old, soon-to-be divorced, devoted father of three. I'd been separated from my wife for more than two years (our second separation) and celibate for all of that time, as I began to cope with the frustrating realization that I had been a consistent failure in my attempts to establish the kind of lasting, fulfilling, healthy, loving relationship with a woman that I've longed for since I was a little boy. I am the oldest of four children of divorced parents. I hadn't seen my father since I was 12, and with the exception of my paternal grandparents, there are few, if any, examples of healthy marital relationships among the aunts and uncles on either side of my family. I knew what I was looking for in a marriage; I had only during those two years at the conclusion of my marriage come to realize that I hadn't a clue as to how to achieve it. That is, until I read "More Than Sex."

After reading your book, I'd simultaneously:

1) gained a clear understanding of the choices I made, and their consequences, that led to a failed 14-year marriage, 2) recognized patterns of behavior that pretty much doomed the long-term health and survival of my past romantic relationships with women, 3) learned how to recognize and avoid unhealthy relationship behaviors in myself and in potential partners (and thus allowed one potentially destructive, post-marital relationship to end, and subsequently resisted the temptation--based almost entirely on physical attraction-- to revive a fruitless past relationship) 4) learned what to expect and to offer to achieve the long-term, committed, healthy, loving relationship I've longed for all of my life.

As a result, for the first time in my life, I was able to have a relationship where I felt I had more than a clue as to what I was doing, the motivations driving my choices and my own expectations and sense of accountability. I constantly referred to passages in your book (highlighting the most instructional sections) to avoid backsliding into old, unhealthy behaviors and to remind myself of the new, healthy relationship behaviors you reveal and I've tried to adopt. The result was truly more than sex: a level of harmony, joyous friendship, mutual trust and respect, honest communication and deep emotional intimacy that I have never experienced in any relationship. Beyond that, the sexual attraction and energy we enjoyed was nothing short of mind-blowing--and we hadn't even had intercourse yet! (We were between the Infatuation and Barriers of Control stages of our relationship.)

Today, I am happily remarried (becoming the father of a fourth child as a result). It hasn't been easy, but I am far more sure of myself, and far more confident in my ability to recognize and maintain a healthy, committed, mutually supportive relationship with my wife. I continue to recommend your book to anyone who will listen. I tell them that we think that because we fall in love, it means we know how to love, which is like thinking that because we sometimes get caught in rainstorms, we know how to swim. Thanks to you, I've learned that love is a feeling, but loving is a choice. Thanks to you, I have a better understanding of who, how and why I choose to love.

Thank you, and thank God for inspiring you to write this book.

"a must-read capable of transforming the lives of black men".......2000-04-23

Dr. Smith;

I read your book, "More Than Sex: Reinventing The Black Male Image", a couple of months ago, and I just had to commend you on producing a must-read capable of transforming the lives of black men-and I'm speaking from personal experience. I am a 40-year-old, soon-to-be divorced, devoted father of three. I've been separated from my wife for more than two years (our second separation) and celibate for all of that time, as I began to cope with the frustrating realization that I had been a consistent failure in my attempts to establish the kind of lasting, fulfilling, healthy, loving relationship with a woman that I've longed for since I was a little boy. I am the oldest of four children of divorced parents. I haven't seen my father since I was 12, and with the exception of my paternal grandparents, there are few, if any, examples of healthy marital relationships among the aunts and uncles on either side of my family. I knew what I was looking for in a marriage; I have only during the past two years come to realize that I hadn't a clue as to how to achieve it. That is, until I read "More Than Sex."

After reading your book, I've simultaneously:

1) gained a clear understanding of the choices I made, and their consequences, that led to a failed 14-year marriage, 2) recognized patterns of behavior that pretty much doomed the long-term health and survival of my past romantic relationships with women, 3) learned how to recognize and avoid unhealthy relationship behaviors in myself and in potential partners (and thus allowed one potentially destructive, post-marital relationship to end, and subsequently resisted the temptation--based almost entirely on physical attraction-- to revive a fruitless past relationship) 4) learned what to expect and to offer to achieve the long-term, committed, healthy, loving relationship I've longed for all of my life.

As a result, for the first time in my life, I am in a relationship where I feel I have more than a clue as to what I'm doing, the motivations driving my choices and my own expectations and sense of accountability. I constantly refer to passages in your book (highlighting the most instructional sections) to avoid backsliding into old, unhealthy behaviors and to remind myself of the new, healthy relationship behaviors you reveal and I've tried to adopt. The result is truly more than sex: a level of harmony, joyous friendship, mutual trust and respect, honest communication and deep emotional intimacy that I have never experienced in any relationship. Beyond that, the sexual attraction and energy we enjoy is nothing short of mind-blowing--and we haven't even had intercourse yet! (We are between the Infatuation and Barriers of Control stages of our relationship.)

I've been recommending your book to anyone who will listen. I tell them that we think that because we fall in love, it means we know how to love, which is like thinking that because we sometimes get caught in rainstorms, we know how to swim. Thanks to you, I've learned that love is a feeling, but loving is a choice. Thanks to you, I have a better understanding of who, how and why I choose to love.

Thank you, and thank God for inspiring you to write this book..............

Wow...what an eye opening book..The truth needed to be said!.......2000-01-15

I just finished Dr. Smith's book, and I have to tell you, it's really quite interesting! The author talks frankly about Black men and how they are driven by their sexuality. Anger, impotence, self-esteem, and their relationships with Black women are discussed. Perhaps the most wonderful part of the book would be the story about Dr. Smith himself. He is a Black man who came from an impoverished home, his father dying in prison and having an uneducated mother to becoming a physician. He shares true stories from patients that he's met throughout the years, and many of them I can identify with. It's about time someone talked about Black men with candor!

Thanks for writing such a wonderful book!

More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement
Average customer rating:

More than Interesting

Explains Biological Enhancement For Everyone

Unusual because it mixes realism and optimism so well

Wired Brains, Hands, Even Arms & Legs.

Brave new world or genetically-enhanced pipe dream?

More Than Human: Embracing the Promise of Biological Enhancement
Ramez Naam
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Biotechnology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
Biotechnology | Bioengineering | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Biotechnology | Biological Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Radical Evolution: The Promise and Peril of Enhancing Our Minds, Our Bodies -- and What It Means to Be Human

Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future

The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology

Redesigning Humans: Choosing our genes, changing our future

Designer Evolution: A Transhumanist Manifesto

ASIN: 0767918436
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Book Description

What if you could be smarter, stronger, and have a better memory just by taking a pill?
What if we could alter our genes to cure Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s?
What if we could halt or even reverse the human aging process?
What if we could communicate with each other simply by thinking about it?

These questions were once the stuff of science fiction. Today, advances in biotechnology have shown that they’re plausible, even likely to be accomplished in the near future. In labs around the world, researchers looking for ways to help the sick and injured have stumbled onto techniques that enhance healthy animals—making them stronger, faster, smarter, and longer-lived—in some cases, even connecting their minds to robots and computers across the Internet. Now science is on the verge of applying this knowledge to healthy men and women, allowing us to alter humanity in ways we’d previously only dreamed possible. The same research that could cure Alzheimer’s is leading to drugs and genetic techniques that could boost human intelligence. The techniques being developed to stave off heart disease and cancer have the potential to slow or even reverse human aging. And brain implants that restore motion to the paralyzed and sight to the blind are already allowing a small set of patients to control robots and computers simply by thinking about it.

Not everyone welcomes this scientific progress. Cries of “against nature” arise from skeptics even as scientists break new ground at an astounding pace. Across the political spectrum, the debate roils: Should we embrace the power to alter our minds and bodies, or should we restrict it?

Distilling the most radical accomplishments being made in labs worldwide, including gene therapy, genetic engineering, stem cell research, life extension, brain-computer interfaces, and cloning, More Than Human offers an exciting tour of the impact biotechnology will have on our lives. Throughout this remarkable trip, author Ramez Naam shares an impassioned vision for the future with revealing insight into the ethical dilemmas posed by twenty-first-century science.

Encouraging us to celebrate rather than fear these innovations, Naam incisively separates fact from myth, arguing that these much-maligned technologies have the power to transform the human race for the better, so long as individuals and families are left free to decide how and if to use them.

If you’ve ever wondered about the boundaries of humanity, More Than Human offers a vision of a world where we use our knowledge to improve ourselves, unhindered by the fear of change.

Customer Reviews:

More than Interesting.......2006-07-23

Whether you are a technoprogressive biohacking singularity buff, or you think "H+" is just a hydrogen ion, this book will definitely interest you. Providing an incredibly optimistic view of the biotechnological advances soon to be made, Ramez Naam gives us a comprehensive overview of the potential benefits of human enhancement technologies. This book is nice in that is covers many aspects of current research in transhumanism, from mind-machine interfaces to gerontological engineering, unlike most books which are slimmer in scope. It is well written and well researched, although very obviously one-sided. If you want to get both sides of the controversy, read this, some Kurzweil, then check out Leon Kass or Francis Fukuyama. Although I don't agree with them, I suppose it's good to know your enemies =) Even if you've never heard of transhumanism, check this book out.

Explains Biological Enhancement For Everyone.......2006-03-26

Ramez Naan does a great job here detailing rapidly growing and maturing biological enhancement technologies. This is a very diverse field, ranging from life extension medications, genetic modifications, to minds hooked directly to the internet, and even mind-to-mind connections may be possible. Such mind/computer links may become natural extensions of ourselves, Naam writes. Idle speculation this is not, Naam gives many examples of present day uses, and also discusses research projects now under way, in addition giving extrapolations sometimes for up to several decades into the future. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I recommend THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR, by Ray Kurzweil, a very forward-looking book.

Unusual because it mixes realism and optimism so well.......2005-12-06

Most futurist manifestos are not well founded in reality. Naam did his homework, and has pages and pages of endnotes to prove it, and to lead the curious reader to the original sources. I share his extreme optimism about all these present and future avenues for human enhancement, but needed some better arguments on which to base my optimism. He provided more than enough, including thoughtful analyses of economic, ethical, and societal ramifications. To sum it up, it is all going to happen, whether we want it or not, and we better begin to get used to the ideas now, and prepare for enhanced humans of all sorts. Getting scared and putting regulations on things does not work--He has many examples of that. If we embrace change it will all go much more smoothly and sooner! I hug the future warmly.

Wired Brains, Hands, Even Arms & Legs........2005-10-06

What if we could communicate with each other simply by thinking about it? I try that all the time but I don't know if it works. Now, researchers have developed techniques to connect a human's mind to robots and computers across the Internet. Using brain implants to restore motion to the paralyzed and sight to blind people allow some patients to control robots (and computers) simply by thinking about it!

'Serenity' is closer to the truth, though based in 2046, with the behavior modification used on rebellious recruits. It gave power and strength to a skinny little girl, River, with fighting skills of a giant. I saw the tallest man I ever did see at the post office the other morning, and it was scary seeing how long and skinny his legs were.

Is it good to alter our minds? I've watched the hypnotist at the fair make "normal" volunteers from the group watching act silly and do ridiculous things. I had decided that he'd hypotized them with his melodious, deep voice, as his personality was not spectacular.

Labs worldwide are dabbling with cloning, stem cell research, and genetic engineering as shown so clearly in the movie, 'The Island,' craeting ethical dilemmas as to the "rightness" to change people in this manner. The United States of America have imposed severe limits on government funding for stem cell research, but have left the private sector to do what it wants. Though embryonic stem cell science got its start in the States, the rest of the world is fighting to take the lead.

We were not granted life extensions, which may be possible in the future, but at what cost? Will it make life better for the "altered" or will it turn them into robots as in 'The Stepford Wives"? Bodies are flexible; by contrast, "our computers are simple, rigid, specialized things. An e-mail program will never learn to handle voice-mail, despite the similarity between the two." Voice mail is available on some of the Internet carriers now, but you would need a new, energized system with plenty of memory space.

Should we fear change? Ramaz Naam doesn't think so. Thanks to him, I am able to use Internet Explorer to clear out the junk in my daily computing so this old computer will go another day. He was also intrumental in developing Microsoft Outlook, but that is something I haven't tried. I am still a novice on the computer, learned word processing some years ago, which come in handy on these reviews.

Brave new world or genetically-enhanced pipe dream?.......2005-08-25

The basic thesis of Ramez Naam's book is that with our ability to shape (especially to enhance) our biological nature through the tools of our culture--in particular, genetic engineering--we will transform humanity into "a plethora of forms," which will eventually result in thousands if not millions of new species. Naam contends that we will spawn "a new explosion of life as sudden and momentous as that of the Cambrian explosion" some 570 million years ago. (p. 233)

That's the upside. What is also possible (although Naam does not dwell on this) is that with biological enhancement tools that are presently coming into discovery and use, we may transform ourselves into beings who will have satisfied their every desire, and with that satiation, have put an end to desire. The result may very well be the end of human evolution, biological or cultural. And following that, the end of the species that began as a big-brained walking ape six million years ago.

Or none of the above.

This is the exciting part. We have no idea where cultural evolution is going to take us. We have no idea whether we will develop the ability to stave off natural disasters (rogue comets; nearby supernovae; unstoppable pathogens) or overcome our propensity to self-destruction in the form of perpetual war or the poisoning of our environment. Yet, modern Luddites and social conservatives notwithstanding, we will indeed use the tools we develop to initially prevent and cure ailments and deficiencies, and ultimately to enhance our abilities to enjoy and to get the most out of life.

This is what this book is all about. Naam begins with the fuzzy distinction between using genetic engineering to heal or to enhance, and makes two telling points: (1) it is often impossible to distinguish between a procedure done as part of the healing arts, or one done to enhance our abilities; and (2) whether we like it or not, given human nature (as it now exists!) if the enhancement tools are there, promising greater intelligence or greater beauty or longer life, then we humans will inevitably use such tools. If the Bush administration or some other Luddite-mentality government tries to suppress these tools, people will just go elsewhere. And those societies that fall behind will fall very far behind. The genetically enhanced will inherit the earth, and indeed it isn't much of a stretch to imagine a future in which those who have enhanced themselves are so far in advance of those who have not as to constitute superior beings. Will the Luddites become pets?

More immediately--keeping these ideas in mind--will it only be the rich who will benefit? Naam argues--and I think convincingly--that yes, at first only the rich will use the tools to better themselves and their children, but then lagging only ten or twenty years behind will come the total mass of humanity. Naam compares this process to that in the present day pharmaceutical environment in which initially the new drugs are very expensive, but after they go generic they become affordable to the masses.

There is so much in the book that I will not be able to get to even a fraction of it. So let me say that Naam has anticipated a lot of the criticism that will be leveled at his position and he has done a good job of answering it. The idea that we can somehow stop genetic engineering to save our human nature is shown as bogus since human nature is an ever evolving, ever changing abstraction. Even the concrete species itself (which is us) has changed mightily over the eons from Australopithecus to homo sapiens. And whether we lift a finger or not, we will eventually change again or go extinct. That is the main point. We cannot stop change. We cannot hope to preserve the present human "endowment." We can only hope to engage change, and with our intelligence make life better for ourselves and those to come, people who will be different from us, and going far enough into the future, very different from us.

For the here and now, Naam sees biotech and neurotech enhancements as "investments in valuable human capital." (p. 76) I believe this is the primary reason the United States must overcome the backward mentality of the Bush administration and support not only more stem cell research, but encourage a greater investment in all forms of biological engineering. If we don't we will fall behind those who do.

For others who see the ghost of eugenics in his position, Naam has an effective answer. He writes, "the only people advocating state control over the genetic makeup of the population are those who would like to see genetic enhancement techniques prohibited. The advocates of human enhancement, on the other hand, are arguing for individual and family choice, the opposite of state control." In other words, "...the prohibitionists are the ones upholding the eugenic side of this debate." (p. 166)

Naam gets very specific about the enhancements possible or at least conceivable, including brain-computer interfaces, brain implants, human cloning, electrical stimulation of the brain, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (which takes in vitro fertilization one step further), etc. Near the end of the book, he sees us communicating not only ideas and words, but thoughts, feelings and emotions to others directly from our brains as one would communicate through a wireless network. Eventually we will have "the flexibility to do what we like with the contents of our thoughts, feelings, and imaginations..."

Since all of this may sound scary (yet exhilarating), Naam adds, "and society will respond with new social norms to guide our choices." (p. 219)

Oh, brave new world that has such things in it!

The book is fascinating. Naam has not only done his homework, he has thought out the consequences of what he has found and provided the reader with some guidance.

More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson

Average customer rating:

Innovative thinking
Innovative thinking
A great how-to book for OD practitioners
Great
Great

More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson
Rich Teerlink , and Lee Ozley
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Organizational Behavior | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Total Performance Scorecard: Redefining Management to Achieve Performance with Integrity
Results-Based Leadership
The Drucker Foundation , The Organization of the Future (J-B Leader to Leader Institute/PF Drucker Foundation)
Treat People Right!: How Organizations and Employees Can Create a Win/Win Relationship to Achieve High Performance at All Levels
Imaginization:The Art of Creative Management

ASIN: 0875849504

Book Description

In the late 1980s, Harley-Davidson beat back an assault by Japanese competitors and engineered a remarkable financial turnaround. But it subsequently faced an even more formidable challenge: maintaining and improving on its success in the absence of an external crisis. To answer this challenge, then-CEO Rich Teerlink, partnering with organizational consultant Lee Ozley, threw out the top-down strategies that had just saved the company and began building a different Harley-one that would be driven not by top management, but by employees at every level. What happened next is the stuff of turnaround legend.
More Than a Motorcycle is the story behind the story of the purposeful transformation of an American icon, as told by the two individuals most deeply involved in that decade-long process. The book chronicles the victories and setbacks along Harley's difficult journey from a traditional "command-and-control" culture to an open, participative learning environment.
Teerlink and Ozley deliver three fundamental messages: people are a company's only sustainable competitive advantage; there is no "quick fix" to effect lasting, beneficial organizational change; and leadership is not a person, but a process to which everyone must contribute. They provide practical, reality-tested prescriptions for critical tasks like developing employee alignment, building structures that support participation, and implementing effective reward programs. Finally, they draw lessons from the Harley experience-lessons about values, trust, and community-that apply broadly to any business.
An against-the-odds story of a business road less traveled, this book encourages today's leaders to look around the next bend-and to give every employee a view of the road from the driver's seat.

Rich Teerlink is the retired Chairman and CEO of Harley-Davidson, Inc., and speaks internationally to corporate and educational institutions. Lee Ozley is an organizational consultant and coach. Both are Corporate Fellows at Auburn University's Graduate School of Business.

Download Description

More Than a Motorcycle is the story of the purposeful transformation of an American icon. While the business press was celebrating Harley-Davidson's remarkable financial turnaround in the late 1980s, the company's leader, Rich Teerlink, was deeply concerned. He knew that the storied motorcycle maker faced a new and even more formidable challenge: maintaining and improving upon its success in the absence of an external crisis. Partnering with longtime organizational consultant Lee Ozley, Teerlink did something extraordinary: he began building a different Harley. The new Harley would be driven not by its top executives, but by its employees at every level. What happened over the next twelve years is the stuff of turnaround legend. While the media has long celebrated Harley, this candid inside account goes behind the headlines to reveal the highlights and lowlights, the victories and setbacks, and the breakthroughs and dead ends experienced by Teerlink, Ozley, and others as the company engaged in this change effort. Part corporate biography and part memoir of a rare CEO/consultant partnership, the book chronicles Harley's difficult journey from a traditional "command-and-control" culture to an open organization in which employees no longer went along for the ride, but took new levels of responsibility for charting their course.

Customer Reviews:

Innovative thinking.......2002-07-15

Rich Teerlink, retired CEO of Harley Davidson, and Lee Ozley, organizational consultant, have teamed up and written about Harley Davidson's transformation from a hierarchical command and control organization to what they call a "Circle Organization". The book primarily focuses on Harley's organizational change from 1987 to present. Many aspects of the organization are covered in good to great detail. In order to survive and meet growing demand and increasing global competition, Harley Davidson had to transform itself and undergo a radical process of organizational change. Attributing the traditional command and control structure to the American railroad empires of the nineteenth century, Harley sought to make change and break from this traditional form of an organization. As the authors' state, "This is a book about planting seeds and encouraging other people to nurture the seedlings". This book reads like it was written about a start up company that was an unexpected overnight success. Harley really had to toss out all of their old ideas on organizational operations and start from scratch. What is amazing is how this was done without creating animosity from within the organization.
The authors take you through the proposed and enacted plans that helped transform Harley. The Joint Vision Process was formed so that employees on all levels could share the same goals for where they and Harley wanted to be. Both Rich and Lee believe that the people within an organization have the biggest impact on an organization. They shaped their plans with this as the number one factor and this book gives excellent insight on how they implemented their ideas.

Innovative thinking.......2002-07-15

A great how-to book for OD practitioners.......2002-02-04

I'm not sure most execs would have the patience to stay with this book, but for change agents, team facilitators, and other large-system OD practitioners, this book contains valuable, comprehensive how-to information.

In true STS style, Ozley (the obvious primary author) does a wonderful job integrating Harley's new systems and methods with the real-folks' feelings and reactions as they go through an extensive organisation and culture change.

More Than a Motorcycle could easily be a companion volume to Marvin Weisbord's classic Productive Workplaces, maybe even its sequel.

Great.......2001-10-22

Great story whether your a turnaround person or motorcyclist

Great.......2001-10-22

Great story whether your a turnaround person or motorcyclist

Chronic Heartburn: Managing Acid Reflux and GERD Through Understanding, Diet and Lifestyle -- Includes More than 100 Recipes

Average customer rating:

Good Overview and Handy Recipes
A Disapointment
A GERD Sufferer
"Chronic Heartburn" Is a Sweet Dish
Great recipes!

Chronic Heartburn: Managing Acid Reflux and GERD Through Understanding, Diet and Lifestyle -- Includes More than 100 Recipes
Barbara E. Wendland , and Lisa Marie Ruffolo
Manufacturer: Robert Rose
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Healthy | Special Diet | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Natural Foods | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Gastroenterology | Internal Medicine | Medicine | Subjects | Books

General | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Eating for Acid Reflux: A Handbook and Cookbook for Those with Heartburn
Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Acid Reflux: Nutrition You Can Live With (Tell Me What to Eat)
No More Heartburn: Stop the Pain in 30 Days--Naturally! : The Safe, Effective Way to Prevent and Heal Chronic Gastrointestinal Disorders
Heartburn & Reflux for Dummies
How to Stop Heartburn: Simple Ways to Heal Heartburn and Acid Reflux

ASIN: 0778801349

Book Description

44% of Americans experience heartburn and acid reflux on a regular basis.

Acid reflux disease, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), is a serious affliction affecting millions of Americans. With GERD's severe symptoms not always responsive to treatment, the result is often a poor quality of life. This welcome book is a comprehensive resource to crucial medical facts and coping mechanisms for those who suffer from this condition.

Information from the most recent scientific studies is included on such key topics as:

Understanding the condition and its medical considerations
Signs and symptoms
Healthy eating habits
Conventional medical treatments, including drug therapy, endoscopy, and surgery
Effects on personal and family lifestyle

Since healthy eating is key to the management of acid reflux and GERD, the authors include 100 specially tailored recipes. These creative and tempting dishes are satisfying and delicious, and all will be well tolerated by those with acid reflux problems. They include:

Vegetable Spring Rolls
Chunky Tzadziki Spread
Super Soothing Vegetable Stock
Nonna Vertolli's Minestrone
Baked Spinach and Rice Casserole
Smoked Salmon Stuffed with Light Cream Cheese

Chronic hearthburn is a recurring problem affecting millions. For them, this encouraging book will be useful on a daily basis.

Customer Reviews:

Good Overview and Handy Recipes.......2007-01-18

This book gives a good overview of the problem, with a lot of basic information with a good level of detail, but in not too technical terms.
The diet recommendations are great, and helped me put together the best diet plan for me. I especially appreciated the explanations of why different foods are bad for you, because there are about 4 different ways foods can contribute to the GERD problem. One or two of the meal plan suggestions might be questionable, such as eating strawberries when you have severe pain, but otherwise, it does a great job. The recipes are helpful, too.

A Disapointment.......2007-01-04

I had high hopes for this book but they were not fulfilled.The information section would only be helpful to people who are totally new to the wonderless world of acid reflux it is also somewhat depressing.
The recipes are ok but they aren't that wonderful
This book is definently not the place to start if you need help with this problem
Good Luck to us all

A GERD Sufferer.......2006-11-05

Good book with good information and menu ideas. Not too much that I didn't already know.
Recommended to GERD sufferers.

"Chronic Heartburn" Is a Sweet Dish.......2006-06-05

In an area filled to the lid with cookbooks of every taste and portion, "Chronic Heartburn: Managing Acid Reflux and GERD Through Understanding, Diet and Lifestyle" is a welcome and well-prepared arrival for gastronomical considerations little served at present. For anyone who suffers heartburn, and thereby tends to view the kitchen with some trepidation, "Chronic Heartburn" is a gateway to culinary freedom and delicious experience. As enjoyable to read as it is written and researched, the book offers everything: causal information of acid reflux (including informative diagrams), treatment options (including herbal ones), lifestyle modifications, guides to foods that hurt and heal, charts for effectively managing heartburn, and over one-hundred recipes, from soups to smoothies to main-course meats and seafood. Among my favorites: grilled halibut with papaya salsa, Russian-style borscht and mango chicken. As one who, like many, does suffer bouts of heartburn, I've come across few books that so effectively take the worry out of dining.

Great recipes!.......2006-05-16

This book is not only informative with easy-to-comprehend details about the digestive system, but also a wonderful cookbook! It has healthy recipes that are good for people who suffer from heartburn, acid reflux, and other digestive ailments. Yet, these recipes are great for dieters, veggie lovers, and those who just want to eat healthy foods. The Smoothies and Juices are fantastic drinks with summer approaching! This is a must-have book for healthy eating.

Why Pride Matters More Than Money: The Power of the World's Greatest Motivational Force

Average customer rating:

Good Advice for Motivating People in Difficult Environments
Interesting stories, light on research
Fine Sentiment -- but not matched by the books contents
Living Your Values Will Motivate You More Than Added Money
PRIDE is cheaper than money

Why Pride Matters More Than Money: The Power of the World's Greatest Motivational Force
Jon R. Katzenbach
Manufacturer: Crown Business
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Peak Performance: Aligning the Hearts and Minds of Your Employees
Teams At the Top
Real Change Leaders : How You Can Create Growth and High Performance at Your Company
The Discipline of Teams: A Mindbook-Workbook for Delivering Small Group Performance
The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Collins Business Essentials)

ASIN: 0609610651
Release Date: 2003-04-08

Book Description

The book that turns our understanding of motivation on its head . . . and shows why most companies get it wrong.

There are few people with more experience and accumulated wisdom about the inner workings of business and how people can work together more effectively than Jon Katzenbach. His groundbreaking research has resulted in several important books, including The Wisdom of Teams and Real Change Leaders. Over the past several years he has turned his attention to one of the perennial questions of leaders everywhere: How do I motivate my employees?

Most everyone frets about how to devise schemes that will keep the troops revved up. Conventional wisdom—or at least the practice at most companies—often centers on money as the primary motivating force. Many also rely on intimidation, which like money generally has a short-term impact. But what Katzenbach has found in his research at many organizations is that both of these practices do little to build the long-term sustainability of an organization. For that you need a powerful force that has been—until this point—understood by few managers and implemented by fewer still: pride.

From the front lines to the executive suite, most people are motivated by feelings of accomplishment, approval, and camaraderie. It’s why the best employees strive well beyond performance levels that will yield them higher pay and why most true professionals relentlessly avoid retirement.

Why does Southwest Airlines consistently turn in the highest levels of performance and profitability of any company in the airline business? What can the U.S. Marines teach us about individual commitment that can be used in the for-profit world? How is General Motors overcoming its history of labor-management enmity through the efforts of “pride-builders” from both the union and the management side? By drawing on what he has learned from these and many other organizations, Jon Katzenbach provides a practical program for understanding the role of pride:

• Money is not the motivator most people think it is: Katzenbach shows why pay-for-performance programs by themselves result in employees who focus on self-serving behavior and skin-deep organizational commitment.
• Money tends to be a short-term motivational device and works best during times of growth, but pride works in bad times as well as good.
• Cultivating pride is an investment that yields high returns on workforce performance over time and is not nearly as costly as relying solely on monetary compensation and the turnover risks that accompany a “show me the money” culture.

Katzenbach shares unique insights and specifics about how the best mid-level pride-builders take advantage of the world’s greatest motivational force even in environments as challenging as General Motors and Aetna. He shows how managers at every level are missing a powerful lever if they are not instilling pride as a primary force for building their organization.

Also available as an eBook.

Download Description

There are few people with more experience and accumulated wisdom about the inner workings of business and how people can work together more effectively than Jon Katzenbach. His groundbreaking research has resulted in several important books, including The Wisdom of Teams and Real Change Leaders. Over the past several years he has turned his attention to one of the perennial questions of leaders everywhere: How do I motivate my employees?

Most everyone frets about how to devise schemes that will keep the troops revved up. Conventional wisdom -- or at least the practice at most companies -- often centers on money as the primary motivating force. Many also rely on intimidation, which like money generally has a short-term impact. But what Katzenbach has found in his research at many organizations is that both of these practices do little to build the long-term sustainability of an organization. For that you need a powerful force that has been -- until this point -- understood by few managers and implemented by fewer still: pride.

From the front lines to the executive suite, most people are motivated by feelings of accomplishment, approval, and camaraderie. It's why the best employees strive well beyond performance levels that will yield them higher pay and why most true professionals relentlessly avoid retirement.

Why does Southwest Airlines consistently turn in the highest levels of performance and profitability of any company in the airline business? What can the U.S. Marines teach us about individual commitment that can be used in the for-profit world? How is General Motors overcoming its history of labor-management enmity through the efforts of "pride-builders" from both the union and the management side? By drawing on what he has learned from these and many other organizations, Jon Katzenbach provides a practical program for understanding the role of pride:

Money is not the motivator most people think it is: Katzenbach shows why pay-for-performance programs by themselves result in employees who focus on self-serving behavior and skin-deep organizational commitment.
Money tends to be a short-term motivational device and works best during times of growth, but pride works in bad times as well as good.
Cultivating pride is an investment that yields high returns on workforce performance over time and is not nearly as costly as relying solely on monetary compensation and the turnover risks that accompany a "show me the money" culture.

Katzenbach shares unique insights and specifics about how the best mid-level pride-builders take advantage of the world's greatest motivational force even in environments as challenging as General Motors and Aetna. He shows how managers at every level are missing a powerful lever if they are not instilling pride as a primary force for building their organization.

Customer Reviews:

Good Advice for Motivating People in Difficult Environments.......2005-01-19

Every management book has to be considered in light of the need for consultants to avoid offending clients, so at first I had a hard time taking General Motors and Kentucky Fried Chicken seriously as examples of how to motivate workers. BUT...I gave Mr. Katzenbach his chance, and his insights were excellent.

The point of this book is to explain what will motivate people to do their best independent of money. Whether you are a greedy, power hungry executive or a benevolent business leader seeking the happiness of your employees, this book outlines the problems with and approaches to encouraging your workers to do their best. Paying more money isn't a viable option for front-line workers, but encouraging pride in a job well done, team spirit, and a winning tradition cost nothing but effort and sincerity.

As I said, at first it was difficult to understand how GMC could be held up as a role model, but I was missing the point. Mr. Katzenbach is trying to show how good leaders can motivate people even in difficult circumstances, so GMC turns out to be a great place to look for managers succeeding in spite of the environment. The same can be said for why Aetna was used as an example--a company in trouble where some people still moved forward by rallying their troops.

I have seen many of these principles attempted to be used by insincere and manipulative managers with disastrous results (e.g. dramatic downturns in employee morale due to cynicism). If you don't really, really care about your people, you might as well use a whip beause at least they will respect your honesty. I have been a consultant for many years, and take my word for it--executives do not fool the rank and file.

But if you are a leader interested in everyone's welfare, then this book may enlighten you as to what to do. What I particulary liked was the pragmatic orientation of how to make your department or division excel even if the company as a whole was mediocre. Of course, when everyone works hard and becomes hugely productive and successful, don't forget to reward them financially, too!

Interesting stories, light on research.......2004-11-09

Coincidentally, I read Pride after reading Authentic Happiness, by Martin Seligman. Pride was filled with stories of various interest highlighting why money isn't always the compelling motivator. While I could relate to many of the examples, I was annoyed with his declarative conclusions based on those anecdotes. Seligman's book, on the other hand, was replete with descriptions of studies relating to the value (and power) of positive emotions (aka happiness). Applying what I learned from Seligman, I found Katzenbach more credible. (And Katzenbach will probably sound more credible in the business environment.)

Fine Sentiment -- but not matched by the books contents.......2003-10-30

This was a strange book. I'd read Katzenbach's 'Wisdom of Teams' many years ago and really enjoyed it. But I didn't enjoy this book.

I wholeheartedly embrace the sentiments expressed on the flyleaf, such as "pride in one's work ... and in the sense of accomplishment, camaraderie and emotional attachment that comes with it is the key to success ..."

But what did I actually 'learn' from this book that I could take away and use, to change myself or to share with others? The answer is -- nothing. Contrary to the flyleaf, I found it neither "inspirational" nor "practical", just 'light'.

Maybe the 19-page Introduction should have served as a warning, but there was just no substance to the book. If a College Student had turned this in as a paper, then I would have accused them of stringing together a number of disparate stories, but never once did it actually come to any conclusion as to 'why', 'what' or 'how'?

It just relies on the innate 'sensibility' that "show me the money" isn't the answer, but it didn't explain to me what 'is' the answer.

Living Your Values Will Motivate You More Than Added Money.......2003-08-13

The title of this book put me off. Why did I want to learn about how appealing to peoples' pride compared to paying them more?

When I got into the book, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the subject is how living in accordance with your values is more motivational than being paid more. I would have read the book much sooner if I had realized that.

The basic point is that focusing on money as a motivational tool causes game-playing where the individual and the organization are pitted against one another. Where the organization and the individual see themselves as living the same values, constructive, mutually supportive behavior follows.

The book has an extensive discussion of what the author learned from his mother and from Marvin Davis, former head of McKinsey & Company. That part could have been a lot shorter.

I was intrigued to read in detail what the author feels is important about Marine training. Many books refer to Marines as having good values, but assume that the reader already has mastered the subject. I found the approach described here to be revealing and helpful.

Many who are stuck in organizations that are not doing well and have limited options will find the examples from General Motors to be valuable for seeing how the desire to do a good job can overcome many obstacles. Like a team that has had a good meeting of the minds at half-time, you can come back to take on all comers before the game is over. It's very fine material.

Unless you like to read lots of cases, how to implement the book's lessons is summarized nicely in an article-length epilogue beginning on page 181. If you already agree with the author's premise, you can start reading there and save a lot of time.

Where else in life are values important? How can you help bring them out in a positive way?

PRIDE is cheaper than money.......2003-07-01

The author does acknowledge the influence of money in motivating people in the US economy. But only for self-serving pride. He says "feelings of pride based upon self-serving or materialistic gains are short-term, transient, and risky..." Money by itself doesn't create pride in the institution. He cites examples with The Home Depot, US Marine Corps and Southwest Airlines and how they create pride in their organizations. Read the five paths offered and a starter list for pride-building when seeking a process to instill greater institution-pride. According to the author, "the secret to success is applying the discipline and focus required to sustain institution-building pride among those employees who make a competitive difference to you." If you think it's all common sense to create pride, why do many organizations try to spend their way to success? Read the last page of the book first. Great story about an organization with lots of pride for 227 years [Semper Fi].

Results-Oriented Job Descriptions: More Than 225 Models to Use or Adapt-With Guidelines for Creating Your Own

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Good tool books
It's good Job Description tool!
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Results-Oriented Job Descriptions: More Than 225 Models to Use or Adapt-With Guidelines for Creating Your Own
Roger J. Plachy , and Sandra J. Plachy
Manufacturer: American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Advertising | Marketing & Sales | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0814478069

Book Description

More than 225 models to use or adapt—plus guidelines for creating your own.

Job descriptions that focus on results are essential now that businesses are demanding greater employee responsibility. In addition, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that we redefine job essentials.

This book provides a formula for preparing job descriptions that emphasize results. It gives users:

• more than 225 model job descriptions in 24 categories, from accounting and finance to warehousing and distribution
• a firm grasp of the distinction between job duties and job results
• writing exercises, including explanations of do's and dont's

Customer Reviews:

Good tool books.......2002-08-27

This book provid lot of job descriptions sample for us!

It's good Job Description tool!.......2002-08-27

This book provid a lot of job description sample, you can get knowedge for him!

czzc.......1999-06-09

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