The System: The American Way of Politics at the Breaking Point

Customer Reviews:

Classic political process book.......2006-12-19

Perhaps only Showdown at Gucci Gulch matches The System for a true focus on how big-time policy really gets enacted - or doesn't as the Clinton health care drive shows. Whereas the Gucci Gulch focused on Reagan's 1986 tax policy overhaul success, The System follows President Clinton's efforts to revamp healthcare in America. What makes The System more representative of the political process than Gucci Gulch is that healthcare reform failed. Because of Clinton management inexperience, and Gingrich "coagulation" and scare tactics, healthcare reform never happened. That may be for the better. Clinton's plan left little to be desired, though it was not the "socialized medicine" that the right claimed it was. Still, that does not mean it was a worthy plan. The real problem, however, that scoring political success for both sides trumped the search for wise policy. Most everyone at the outset agreed that there was something wrong with healthcare, but change failed to occur. And no one is absolved of blame by Johnson and Broder: the President, First Lady, the wider Administration, Congress, the press, interest groups, and the public all allowed this to happen. Again, that doesn't mean that Clinton's plan should have been adopted, but something could have been done to better deal with the many healthcare problems plaguing the nation.

Regardless, The System is a must-read for anyone who wants to see American politics as it really exists.

CREDIBLE?.......2001-09-08

I read this book a few years ago as a requirement for my Master's degree in public administration. I read along with interest because the story that unfolded read like some sort of sordid drama, like something you might see on prime time television. It had suspense, intrigue, and some of the most stunning ups and downs. And all this from a book that attempts to comprehensively explain the hopeful beginnings and hopeless endings of the Clintons' (both Bill and more specifically Hillary) attempts to implement universal health care in the United States. Think back, if you will, to the campaign promises Bill Clinton made in his first campaign. He vowed to fight for universal health care. Many Americans like this idea, but when it comes right down to it, most Americans do not trust the government to provide their health care and also feel that government intervention in private health care makes the system... socialist. Bill wanted to change this, and when he was elected, he appointed his wife, Hillary, to chair a committee to research and implement this new universal health care system. However, this was his first mistake. The American people at that time were very suspicious and skeptical of Mrs. Clinton, feeling that she did not embody what a First Lady should be. They also felt that she had demonstrated no real qualifications for this appointment. The writers of this book document the controversies and problems brilliantly. I felt confident about the facts... until I was happily reading along (the book, despite its daunting length, reads through smoothly and quickly) and found a most glaring and heinous error. The writers were discussing the positions of Fred Grandy, who, after leaving television, went on to represent his home state of Iowa in Congress. We all know Fred Grandy as Gopher on the tv show Love Boat. But this book said that he had been a star on the show Gilligan's Island! I started to exercise real doubt and skepticism about a book that managed to get through all stages of editing with such an easily spotted error on its pages. Whatever the case, if you want to know how the plan was formed and how it was unraveled quite easily not just by opposition Republicans but also by Hillary herself, you should indeed read this. Hillary and her policy wonk friend Ira Magaziner had many opportunities to compromise on some of the points in their health care plan which would have made it an easier sell to Republicans. In fact many Republicans offered to work with Hillary and Magaziner, but the stubborn duo insisted on having the plan intact... and ended up getting nothing. As did the American people.

Our rulers speak. Pay attention, proles!.......2001-06-21

If you read this book in the wrong frame of mind, you won't like it. The wrong frame is to believe that it consists of honest reporting about the U.S. health care system, and the Clinton health bill of `93. It's mainly not reporting. It's advocacy.

The key is found in the intro, where the authors define "The System" that rules USAmerica -- which includes the Presidency, the Congress, the media ... AHH! The fact that they think the media is part of the govt., just not elected, is itself worth the price of this volume.

Taken in this vein, it is quite good. We must have a national health system like a European country's , because ... well, because they feel embarrassed that we aren't like Europe. That the U.S. was settled, predominantly, by people who WANTED NOT TO LIVE IN EUROPE is unimportant to Johnson and Broder, who know better than to take the this self-govt. nonsense seriously.

What is serious is that the USAmerican public rejects 'socialized medicine.' So instead Clinton wrapped it up in his mess of a bill, and then tried to scare us into panic over our health care, saying the system would collapse if we didn't give control of it to the govt. Not true, and Johnson & Broder know it, but hey, can't let truth stand in the way of ruling.

Frequently THE SYSTEM is unintentionally funny, too, as when the authors take a break from reporting the `horse race' political aspects of the story to criticize the media for concentrating on the `horse race' instead of the policy substance, after which they trash the only attempt ever made to discuss the policy substance (Elizabeth McCaughey's famous piece in The New Republic) and go back to reporting the horse race. You sort of wonder if they read their own manuscript.

But have some sympathy. They do mention the policy substance from time to time -- our rulers think we spend far too much money on foolish things like attempting to save the lives of premature infants. Those resources should go to more important things, like health care for "homeless, drug abusing gay and bisexual men of color." I mean, would you want to defend THAT openly?

It's also very useful in assessing the nature of liberal bias in the press. The last chapter of the hardcover first edition, on sale in 1996, told us about good Pres. Clinton's attempts to `save' the federal budget before runaway health care spending wrecked it, and evil House Speaker Newt Gingrich's attempts to `cut health care spending,' when in both cases they were trying to do the same thing -- cut the rate at which spending on health care would increase in the future. That's one way you bias coverage -- describing things in such a way as to create the desired reaction, which in this case was to get us to run out and vote Democratic.

The last chapter of this paperback edition mentions the Kassenbaum-Kennedy bill, passed by Congress and signed by Clinton. All mention of it was carefully left out of the first edition. That's another way of biasing coverage -- leave out the `unimportant' stuff that might confuse the citizenry.

And if you practice your critical thinking skills as you read, you will learn a lot about the chaotic way Clinton ran his administration, how the Democrats lost control of the House after twenty straight wins, why the bill was so complex, and other fascinating stuff.

What you won't learn how the Clinton health plan would have worked, of course. Obviously, they were afraid of your reaction if you found out. That is probably the most important information in the book.

Stunning inside look at politics.......2000-01-07

The Clinton Health Care plan was a bold, dramatic attempt to transform the American health care system to take into account the fact that while America may provide the best health care in the world, far too many of its citizens are unable to afford it. Clinton's attempt, probably the most dramatic attempt at a government program since the Great Society, failed miserably and helped to elect a Republican Congress.

The battle the voters didn't see was the important one- the battle which nearly sank the Clinton Presidency and destroyed its ambitious health care proposal. The powers arrayed against the Clinton plan were formidable and well-financed, aided by the Administration's mind-numbing blunders.

"The System" has the entire story- the high hopes, the stunning reversals, the industry's toxic reaction to reform. The Clintonites quickly found that the old adage is true. No good deed goes unpunished.

"The System" is a very good book at who really calls the shots in American government and how little power people really have against the special interests. More valuable than ten years of civics lessons.

Shows Politics As the Messy But Necessary Evil It Is.......1999-12-30

This is an excellent book for any student of the political process.

The authors are biased. They believe the Hillary Clinton health care plan should have been enacted and present their study from this point of view. Their slant is annoying. However, it ultimately does not detract too much from a very able telling of the conceptualization, selling, manuevering and strategy employed by both sides over the struggle to socialize medicine in the United States.

Although never pretty or highminded as we are taught in civics class, the book shows a democratic (small "d") system at work. Both sides had true believers who were guided by philosophy and were trying to do what was "right." Both sides had craven opportunists driven by darker more mercurial instincts. The American Congress worked to examine the issue and resolve the dispute as the framers had intended: by providing a forum for parties on both sides of the debate to hash out their perspectives and come to a resolution (one must always keep in mind that an equally legitimate action of any legislative body is to say no to proposals that are unwise or do not have sufficient political support.)

Book Description

Much as Gail Sheehy did in Passages, Dr. Beck articulates a common signpost in women's lives, explaining the five stages which characterize how women arrive at their breaking point, how their age defines their experience, and how they can transcend crisis and move on to redefine their lives.

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The intersting book The Breaking Point
Bleh...
the elusive gold ring
Betrayal
True Friends

Breaking Point
Alex Flinn
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0064473716
Release Date: 2003-06-03

Amazon.com

Tripped in class, mooned in the hall, cola poured through the slats in his locker, spitballs stuck in his hair--how much more can Paul Richmond take at his super-snobby private school, expensive Gate-Bicknell Christian? Paul is there free because his mom works in the guidance office, but that fact makes him an instant outcast, his only friend a funny-looking, independent girl named Binky. Even worse off is David Blanco, whose mom is a cafeteria lady and whose father is the janitor. The jocks hound him unmercifully, even killing his dog. When Paul goes to David's house to offer sympathy, David rejects him angrily, saying "You'll be next." Binky, too, tries to explain the cruelty of the rich kids who surround them, but Paul yearns to be accepted anyway. So when cool, elegant, and charismatic Charlie Good asks for his help in computer lab, Paul is eager to comply, and later, when Charlie and his henchmen, Meat and St. John, come for him in the night for a game of mailbox baseball, Paul willingly does the bashing. Gradually he is accepted at school as part of Charlie's group, but for a price: having to hack into the school computers to change Charlie's D in biology. When David Blanco kills himself and the school simply ignores it, Paul is momentarily taken aback, especially when he learns that David had been Charlie's ally last year. But then Charlie reveals his real plan, for which everything else has been preliminary, and Paul has his last chance to say no.

Alex Flinn, whose Breathing Underwater earned high praise, does tribute to the great Robert Cormier in this dark and brilliant novel about the high price of acquiescence to evil. (Ages 14 and older) --Patty Campbell

Book Description

How far would you go to fit in?

Paul is new to Gate, a school whose rich students make life miserable for anyone not like them. And Paul is definitely not like them. Then, something incredible happens. Charlie Good, a star student and athlete, invites Paul to join his elite inner circle. All Charlie wants is a few things in return – small things that Paul does willingly. Until one day Charlie wants something big – really big.

Now Paul has to decide how far he'll go to be one of the gang.

The electrifying follow–up to Alex Flinn's critically acclaimed debut novel, Breathing Underwater, Breaking Point is a tale of school violence that explores why and how a good kid can go 'bad'.

Ages 12+

Customer Reviews:

The intersting book The Breaking Point.......2007-05-25

The very interesting book is about a shy teen named Paul Richmond. He starts going to a new school made for rich people. It is just Paul and his mom, who makes no money at all. The only reason he can go to this school is his mom works in the kitchen. When he is standing in registration he meets a nerd called Binky.
Charlie is the cool kid at the school. When Charlie and Paul become friends they are only friends out side of school. One day they are at Charlie's house and he says that they need to plant a bomb to stop the bad grade from reaching his dad. When the bomb is getting ready to go off Paul yells that there is a bomb. When the cops investigate Charlie does not come clean about it and Paul gets into all the trouble.
I read this book for a book project in school. I picked this book because it looked like a cool book and by the description on the back it sounded good.
After I started reading the book I got so interested in to the book that I read it every chance I got. It is one of those books that keeps your attention all the way through out the book. If you like a good action book you would love this book.
If you love to read a good book that you can't set down read this one. I loved reading it from start to finish, it was a great book.

Bleh..........2006-11-05

First off, I loved her book, Nothing to Lose. I just have to say that some of the issues in this book I would not let a child read. I think this book tells the reader that being influenced by peer pressure is the right way to earn friends and gain a social status, but this is not the way to make friends at all. Even though at the end of the book he has suffered the consequences of peer pressure first hand by being drunk, breaking the law more than once, and going to jail, I still think that some could get mistaken and get the wrong concept of this book. By the end, it explains that peer pressure is wrong and the influences by it are great, but I would never let my child read this book.

the elusive gold ring.......2006-11-01

Having been homeschooled, Paul Richmond is naturally apprehensive about returning to high school, particularly since he is less well-off than his ritzy classmates. He is picked on until a way out is offered by golden boy Charlie Good. In exchange for homework help, which gradually escales into antisocial acts, he will receive protection from the bullies. Dealing with the pain from his parents' divorce and his father's seeming rejection of him, Paul is unsure whether Charlie's friendship is genuine or simply based on what he can provide. Like "Shattering Glass" this book exploes what happens when an outcast hooks up with a popular teen with sociopathic tendencies. The language used by the characters is somewhat coarse, but not unusual for a teen novel published today.

Betrayal.......2006-10-01

I gave this book a five because it contains a lot of teen problems that most people aren't even aware of. It has the new kid in the school who thinks he has made friends with the coolest kid in school but he doesn't realize that he is being used for something absolutly terrible. That is where betrayal comes into play when Charlie Good sells him out for the bomb when it was his idea. The book just takes teen problems to the next level or to what people think about never doing but don't. That is why I think the book deserves a five.

True Friends.......2005-12-10

"Being popular isn't everything." If we all only believed this statement, I think life would be a whole lot easier for kids. This is the dream of every kid, "Being Popular," and "Being Cool." Some kids try so hard to fit in with the cool kids they forget about their old friends. Then when you don't fit in with the cool kids to treat you just like you did them. All of this just to be "Popular," its not worth it, people...trust me.

Paul and his mom just moved to a new city knowing no one. With his mom's new job at Gate High, Paul gets into the school without having money like the other kids. Gate is a rich, private school that happens to have nothing but jerks in it, according to Paul. With his dad out of his life and no friends to count on, Paul is lonely. Everything is going terrible for Paul until the most popular, athletic kid comes and knocks on his window at night. Charlie is the kids name and you can pretty much call him THE PERFECT CHILD. He is the kid that everyone wants to be and it leaves Paul astonished when he thinks he's becoming his friend. Now everything has taken a big U-turn in Paul's, not so great life and everything is going pretty good for him, or so he thinks. Is Charlie really his friend or is he using him, is the question that is popping up in Paul's mind. Paul is thrown for a ride on this crazy roller coaster, that you don't want to miss.

It's through the tragic death of David Blanco a kid that got picked on all the time at Gate, that Paul has to find out who his real friends are. David was pushed to the limit at Gate and committed suicide. Why would David do a think like this? Binky warns Paul about Charlie but of course Paul does not pay any attention to her. A weird mysterious note shows up in Paul's locker that says "Ask Charlie about David's dog." This makes Paul really confused and scared. Who left the note in the locker and why would Charlie kill David's dog, it just don't make since to Paul. Paul has to go through many things that Charlie asks but the last task is a little bit more extreme. Will Paul accept the challenge or go back to his normal lonely life.

Paul's desire to be cool and popular leads him into doing some wrong things. Paul is caught in the middle of a tough decision and doesn't know what to do. Will Paul's dream of being popular lead him to devastation? This decision that he has to make with not only effect him but it could hurt many others. What will happen, is Paul big enough to say "No" or will he give in and say "Yes?"

The lesson to be learned in this book is that no matter how cool you think it is, being popular isn't everything. You really have to find out who your true friends are and stick with them. No matter if you're in a big fight with your friends work it out because they could be the only ones that you have. Work it out and try to be there for each other when in need.

This book is great for everyone, no matter what age. This book is a boy; girl read which they would love. Out of all of the books that I have read I would have to say that this is the best one. If I had to choose to recommend this book to only one group of people I would recommend it to the kids who are just starting high school. It is a big transition and can scare many junior high kids. This is another reason this is such a great book because it has such a varied audience.

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The book Brockmann fans have been waiting for - Gina & Max
Go read this. Now! Our big beefy security guard loved it!
Another great novel
Good Wrap Up
Mixed feelings

Breaking Point: A Novel
Suzanne Brockmann
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345480139
Release Date: 2006-07-25

Book Description

Uncommon valor in the line of duty and unconditional devotion in the name of love are the salient qualities of the daring men and women who risk it all in the heart-pounding thrillers of New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Brockmann. Crafted with precision and power, her characters come alive with a depth of emotion few writers have achieved. Now, with Breaking Point, Brockmann breaks even further through the pack and delivers a stunning payload.

As commander of the nation’s most elite FBI counterterrorism unit, agent Max Bhagat leads by hard-driving example: pushing himself to the limit and beyond, taking no excuses, and putting absolutely nothing ahead of his work. That includes his deep feelings for Gina Vitagliano, the woman who won his admiration and his heart with her courage under fire. But when the shocking news reaches him that Gina has been killed in a terrorist bombing, nothing can keep Max from making a full investigation–and retribution–his top priority.

At the scene of the attack, however, Max gets an even bigger shock. Gina is still very much alive–but facing a fate even worse than death. Along with Molly Anderson, a fellow overseas relief worker, Gina has fallen into the hands of a killer who is bent on using both women to bait a deadly trap. His quarry? Grady Morant, a.k.a “Jones,” a notorious ex-Special Forces operative turned smuggler who made some very deadly enemies in the jungles of Southeast Asia . . . and has been running ever since. But with Molly’s life on the line, Jones is willing to forfeit his own to save the woman he loves.

Together with Max’s top agent Jules Cassidy as their only backup, the unlikely allies plunge into a global hot zone of violence and corruption to make a deal with the devil. Not even Jones knows which ghosts from his past want him dead. But there’s one thing he’s sure of–there’s very little his bloodthirsty enemies aren’t willing to do.

Count on the intense action and raw honesty that Suzanne Brockmann consistently delivers, as she goes for broke in Breaking Point–and never looks back.

From the Hardcover edition.

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PRAISE FOR SUZANNE BROCKMANN

Gone Too Far
“Sizzling with military intrigue and sexual tension, with characters so vivid they leap right off the page, Gone Too Far is a bold, brassy read with a momentum that just doesn’t quit.”
–Tess Gerritsen

Into the Night
“She skillfully builds suspense. . . . With its complicated, complex characters and a sexy romance seasoned with humor and danger, Brockmann’s [novel] is absolutely irresistible.”
–Booklist (boxed and starred review)

Out of Control
“Brockmann consistently turns out first-rate novels that tug on the reader’s heartstrings, and her latest is no exception.”
–Publishers Weekly

Over the Edge
“A taut, edgy thriller.”
–Linda Howard

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

The book Brockmann fans have been waiting for - Gina & Max.......2007-09-19

A dynamic book that integrates multiple plots in delivering a complex central character and the strong woman determined to fight for her man. The emotional scenes of loss and devastation are written with a poignancy that makes the chracters live and breathe. Combine all that with suspense, drama and romance for a book that is almost impossible to put down.

Go read this. Now! Our big beefy security guard loved it!.......2007-08-08

Max Bhagat and Gina... at last! A few books ago Max - an elite FBI counter-terrorist agent - raged impotently as Gina was tortured and raped on a hijacked plane, unable to rescue her before it was too late. Eighteen years younger than him, Gina was brave and brilliant and strong, even when cruelly violated. Max fell in love with her but always struggled with the age difference. He used his dangerous job and his super-rigid control to keep them idiotically apart. It was cataclysmic for us readers when they finally went to bed together a couple of books later. Wow, yeah. (Still recovering.) Thankfully it's time for their defining love story, thankyou Suzanne Brockmann! A horrified Max now faces his worst nightmare: Gina is reported dead from a bomb blast in Europe. Fellow FBI agent Jules Cassidy - remember him, with the ability to morph from gay flirt to mega-alpha hero with a flick of his eyelashes, sweetie - goes with Max to identify Gina's body. Oh. My. Gosh. That is one incredible scene, with Max rendered inept and helpless and emotionally naked. Thank God for solid-as-a-rock Jules to help him through. To their shock, the dead body isn't Gina. To their further shock, they learn she's somehow tangled herself up with `Jones' - a dangerous ex-Special forces operative turned lethally criminal. And - just to emotionally cripple Max even further - Gina might be pregnant. This brilliant story, leaping from country to country and finally climaxing with guns blazing and raw, jagged emotion, shows why Brockmann has the ability to chain us to her pages. Her characters leap right into your heart, and the melting of iceman Max to `breaking point' has been a long time coming. Actually, I don't think he melts, I think he gets blowtorched by Gina! And omigosh, the kitchen table gets an amazing workout! Go Max, go Gina. Go read this. Now!

Another great novel.......2007-08-06

For those of you who have read Brockman's books, this is the book that reunites Gina Vitagliano with Max Baghat, and Molly Anderson with Grady Morant. And as usual, where there is Max, there is Jules. For the prospective reader who is not familiar with the author's books in this particular series, you will be able to follow the story despite major character events having occured in previous books. Following is a 'brief' summary of the major story lines in the book.

Jules and Max Baghat are FBI agents, but their job is put to the side when they must journey abroad to retrieve the body of Max's long time love Gina. Max and Gina have individual personal problems resulting from their past imvolvement with a terrorist hijacking, as well as the obstacle of a large age difference, that has put their romance in chaos. When Gina fears she will never get Max to let it all go and embrace the relationship, she flys off to Kenya to join a group giving medical and spiritual aid to the natives. But news of her body being found in the ruble of a suicide bomber's wake in Germany sends Max and Jules off to identify her body...only it's not Gina. So, the mystery and race to find Gina ensues.
Back in Kenya (at the time before the suicide bombing) Gina has found a friend in an slightly older woman, Molly. They work hard together to combat disease, sickness, and the tough issue of female genital mutilation. Molly is an old hand at foreign aid and work, and has been waiting for the love of her life Grady(a man who is hunted by foreign drug lords/psychopaths who she met in a preivious book) to find and return to her. Lo and behold, Grady comes to her in Kenya...in disguise. The three of them join together to save girls from an impending FGM and end up the victims of a horrid scheme to capture Grady. Gina and Molly become hostages after sepaerating form Grady, and so he must join forces with Max and Jules to save the two women, who mean more to them than their lives.

Weaved into the book are the past events of Gina and Max while at a rehabilitiation center (Max was shot in the last book). All of their issues are dragged out into the open, and though we allready know that the conflict will be too much and Gina will leave Max for Kenya, these "flash-backs" are an integral part of the big picture.

So this book is broken down into these revisted past events of Max and Gina, the present-past of Gina and Molly and eventually the addition of Grady, Molly and Gina's kidnapping, Max and Jule's search for Gina with the addition of Grady, and then the eventual culmination of it all when all these characters finally come together to overcome those evil men who seek to capture and kill them all.
----------------------------------
Some other reviewers have not given this book the credit it deserves, in my opinion.

In regards to the lack of Seal Team 16 or Troubleshooters, that one reviewer was dissapointed in, it must be said that the book does not imply that it would involve those groups. This book is not of a lesser quality or off course among those of Brockmann's book's that do invlove TS or the seals. And while the main characters were introduced in books that did involve those special teams, they are not directly linked to them so it would have been a bit of stretch to bring them all together again, so soon. The settings, foes, and allies of this book work perfectly and would not have been quite as good if the Seals and TS teams had been more than mentioned as being possibly involved.

As for the oppinion that there is a lack of passion between the characters, and that they are one sided, Well, I have to strongly disagree. Brockmann does an excellent job of exposing the character, flaws, wants, and needs of our protaganists.
The book manages to flow wonderfully as it bounces back and forth between the relationship struggles of Max and Ginaa (fter max's injury at the end of 'Gone Too Far'), Gina's trials in Kenya (where we also get Molly and Grady's story), the suspense of Max and Jules's frantic search for Gina and Molly, and the reunion and climax of the plot.
As for those prospective readers who are worried about the suposed "lack of passion" mentioned by other reviewers, you will only be dissapointed if the only reason you read Brockman's books are for the sex scenes, which she is very good at writing. While the book does not have as many intense -sex- scenes, that are in some of her other books, there is in no way a lack of passion. The emotions of the couples are pulsing with passion as it struggles in the face of life and death events.

This is an excellent book, which I first read and have just finished listening to (produced by brillianceaudio). If you love a novel that has realistic characters and problems thrown into intense events of drama, action and suspense than this is a book that you will love.

Good Wrap Up.......2007-06-06

Her books are always action packed with a little bit of humor. I thought it was a good wrap up to story lines used in the background of some of her other books.

Mixed feelings.......2007-05-26

I'm new to Ms. Brockman's Troubleshooter series, but now a big fan. I did a marathon read of the series over vacation and found each and everyone of the installments well worth the read . . . except, Gina got on my last nerve! With a choice between Alyssa Locke and Gina Vitagliano why in the world would Max Bhagat want Gina? It just didn't play for me.

Breaking Point (Tom Clancy's Net Force, No. 4)

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Better than the last one.
Foreshadowing
An Old Assassin
Forgettable Potboiler
My First Clancy Book

Breaking Point (Tom Clancy's Net Force, No. 4)
Tom Clancy , and Steve Pieczenik
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425176932
Release Date: 2000-10-10

Book Description

In the year 2010, computers are the new superpowers. Those who control them control the world. To enforce the Net Laws, Congress creates the ultimate computer security agency within the FBI: the Net Force.

Reeling from a shattered personal life, Net Force Commander Alex Michaels is informed that top secret information from a joint Air Force-Navy venture has been accessed and downloaded. The research involves an atmospheric weapon with the capability to drive half a country into madness using low frequency wave generation. Now the technology has fallen into the wrong hands -- and testing has begun...

A powerful examination of America's defense and intelligence systems of the future, Tom Clancy's Net Force TM is the creation of Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik.

Read by Stephen Lang

Customer Reviews:

Better than the last one........2005-03-24

This was my second book by Clancy. The first one was a major flop in my opinion. This one was not to bad. It had a few flaws, but what book doesn't. At the beginning he put in a few to many characters, and I had a little trouble remembering exactly who did what. Also some of the characters were of a type that did not seem to fit with the story.
Near the end, things started to get a bit confusing. Some of the happenings just didn't seem to fit the rest of the book.
Also, it started out with almost everyone in a one guy and one girl situation. Farther in, it started getting into the sex stuff more than I would have liked. Not as bad as some books I have read, but still more than I liked.
Even so, it was a big difference over the last one, and a very good read. I would definitely reccomend it. Read and enjoy.

Foreshadowing.......2003-11-06

The American Heritage Collegiate Dictionary defines foreshadowing as presenting an indication or event beforehand. If you use that definition, then Breaking Point is full of foreshadowing.
The first example that is evident of foreshadowing in this particular novel is in the prologue. In this particular portion, the narrator presents a character, an old man, who is a stock character, who is talking about his peaceful country, and then his thoughts drift. He begins to think about how much he loathes his family. How they are so cruel to him. His thoughts go as far as to murder. Then, very suddenly, one of his relatives comes out of the shack with a knife. The old man goes crazy, and kills everyone in the village. This ends with a man laughing over a machine. This particular event foreshadows the plotted mass destruction of the world with a machine that controls people's minds. So, this event essentially summarizes the entire work in just 6 pages. That is how critical the use of the literary device foreshadowing is to this novel. Without it, one would simply not know what on earth the doctor was doing with the HAARP device.
This event is just one of the many times the literary device foreshadowing appears in this novel. It is vital that the reader pick up on this hint. If one does, one can discover the key to this particular novel.

An Old Assassin.......2003-11-01

My book is about Alex Michaels who is the head of the net -force task force. Net - Force is part of the FBI in Washington DC. Michaels and the task force stop people from selling drugs on the internet. They also stop people from hacking into government files. During the time Michaels finds out about HAARP, a low frequency weapon which has the possibility drive a country insane. The U.S Air Force and the Navy were making the weapon.

I liked the characters because they were all suspicious in their own way. Alex and his wife divorce his wife and she went out with his Toni. There was an assassin who quit because he was getting old. He quit to become a body guard. I did not like the pace because it went fast and then slow. I also did not like the point of view because it changed between characters, which made it hard to follow.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes spy thrillers. The book was a great read I would recommend this to people who like a challenge.

Forgettable Potboiler.......2001-10-01

Occasional bits of good writing in describing the thinking processes of some of the characters, but otherwise bland. A friend who read it broke out howling with laughter at a scene in which various characters shoot it out in pitch blackness in the middle of a June night. I asked him what was so funny. He pointed out that the scene takes place in Alaska, where in the middle of the summer it is so far north that it never gets darker than twilight, particularly a week or so from the longest day of the year. A little research by the author(s) about one of the most important settings for the novel would have helped. When I read it, I broke out howling at a description of a sports event involving throwing a boomerang to try to get the longest flight time. The book quotes flight times of up to 18 minutes. The book revolves around characters who are supposedly power users of the internet, who can rapidly access the most obscure facts. Too bad the author(s) aren't up to doing basic research on the internet themselves.

My First Clancy Book.......2001-08-20

This is the first time I have read a Tom Clancy book. I was interested because of the computer angle. I REALLY enjoyed this! Lots of characters and sub-stories, although most of the characters are not delved into very deeply. That was O.K. with me because I was looking for action, not emotions. This book has LOTS of action! The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because of the schmaltzy anti-feminist ending. Other than that, I would HIGHLY recommend it!

The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis Is Transforming Today's Women

Average customer rating:

What a waste of money
All the stories together....
a carbon copy?
Interesting to read about the variety of women's lives
Extremely worthwhile reading!

The Breaking Point: How Female Midlife Crisis Is Transforming Today's Women
Sue Shellenbarger
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0805077111
Release Date: 2005-03-10

Book Description

In the tradition of The Second Shift, a groundbreaking work that identifies and explains the phenomenon poised to redefine our culture When Sue Shellenbarger wrote about her midlife crises in her award-winning Wall Street Journal Work amp; Family column, the volume and emotional intensity of the responses from her readers was stunning. As she heard story after story of middle-aged women radically changing course in search of greater fulfillment, a trend began to emerge: an entire generation of women was experiencing the tumultuous transition of midlife in ways not seen before. To capture this paradigm shift, Shellenbarger combines original research data and interviews with more than fifty women who've navigated their own midlife crisis. Long stereotyped as the province of men, today the midlife crisis is reported with greater frequency by women than men. Emboldened by the financial independence to act upon midlife desires, exhausted by decades of playing supermom and repressing the feminine sides of themselves to succeed at work, women are shedding the age roles of the past in favor of new pursuits in adventure, sports, sex, romance, education, and spirituality. And in the process they are rewriting all the rules. Beyond defining a new phenomenon, The Breaking Point shows how various options women use to cope with the turmoil of midlife-from playing it safe to dynamiting their lives-have a profound impact on their families, careers, and our culture at large. Provocative, insightful, and resonant, The Breaking Point is sure to be one of the most controversial and talked-about publications of 2005.

Customer Reviews:

What a waste of money.......2007-07-07

This book was recommended to me and I foolishly bought it without checking the reviews on amazon. That'll teach me! I should have borrowed the book from the library and saved the money for a really useful book. I am a white middle class 53 year old woman with a rollercoaster of a past. I did not feel a connection with any of the (probably) white upper middle to upper class women who had untapped talents and had been personally selected by the author or had referred to her for inclusion in this "study" (and I use the term loosely). I am coping with middle age just fine without breaking a collarbone or having sex with multiple partners. What do I have common with the CEOs or most of the other women in this book? Nada. Well, the lesson I learned from this book was not the one the author intended: check the amazon reviews before I buy a book!

All the stories together...........2006-04-25

...add up to more than any one book can offer.

I've been reading this book, along with several others that, together, help give us the "big picture" of what it means to be a woman in midlife. Our mothers didn't have these stories to share--or didn't believe that they had permission to speak the stories aloud. These books break the silence that so often accompanies stories of aging in our "growing younger" culture.

Also recommended: KISS TOMORROW HELLO: NOTES FROM THE MIDLIFE UNDERGROUND BY 25 WOMEN OVER 40.

a carbon copy?.......2006-03-23

This book reminds me of another book on the same subject by Martha Beck called Breaking Point: Why Women Fall Apart and How They Can Re-crete their Lives. I was very surprised at this similarity. Beck's book puts the situation into a well articulated social, political, historical and economic context. While Shellenbarger's seems to be more of just the stories. I'd recommend both for people to compare and enhance their understanding of the topic.

Interesting to read about the variety of women's lives.......2005-11-13

This book covers the midlife stories of a large variety of women. It has a number of interesting stories. None of the women really reminded me of myself, but then I'm a biochemist, an ecological economist and a patent attorney, which makes me pretty different from the typical woman. I'm 43 and certainly hope there will be some changes ahead for me in the next ten or so years. This is a great book for getting yourself excited about trying something new.

The author goes into considerable detail about her own midlife crisis. I thought it was rather odd that she describes climbing mountains in an ATV as communing with nature. As a hiker, I have an entirely different opinion of ATVs. I hope that other women do not follow her example on this point.

This book is very optimistic about what the future holds for women. I hope she's right, but I would recommend pairing this book with Howard Kunstler's "The Long Emergency" for a contrary view.

Extremely worthwhile reading!.......2005-09-07

This is a must read book for any woman approaching mid-life or well into it! Very insightful reading and most women will be able to relate to the information provided. The examples given of other women's experiences through this time of many changes are most helpful. I would very highly recommend this book.

The Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of Jose Robles

Average customer rating:

A light page turning thriller with a surprising set of on-line reviews
Comintern-agent?
Hollywood will never make a movie of this great story, but somebody should
"They have sown the wind
Two novelists observed by a third

The Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of Jose Robles
Stephen Koch
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1582432813

Book Description

"[A] pungent mix of literary biography, history and international political thriller.... A story steeped in intrigue, duplicity and nefarious figures, all told with...imagination and bold interpretation." (Baltimore Sun)

When John Dos Passos and Ernest Hemingway went to Spain to witness the Spanish Civil War firsthand, the devastation they met was far from impersonal: As Spain was unraveling thread by thread, so was their friendship. They had arrived in Spain as comrades, leftist writers-in-arms. But when Dos Passos's friend Jose Robles went missing, Dos Passos's search for Robles would eventually take his literary career and his friendship with Hemingway to the breaking point.

"A gripping narrative.... [The Breaking Point] dexterously navigates the political minefields of the era and has the pace and drama of a detective novel. There are many books on writers and the Spanish Civil War. This is one of the most important and original, and one of the very best." (New York Sun) "A definitive account of this defining moment in 20th-century intellectual history." (Weekly Standard)

"What makes The Breaking Point such stampede reading-a kind of Guernica-is precisely Koch's partisanship, a furious choosing of sides in the bloody past, back when history was breaking hearts." (Harper's)

Customer Reviews:

A light page turning thriller with a surprising set of on-line reviews.......2007-01-18

I was thrilled to read this book. As a young man, my first reaction when I read the early Hemingway was literary enthusiasm, an enthusiasm that waned as I matured. I also have been ambivalent about Dos Passos. I was never quite convinced by the official story that Dos Passos' writing got progressively worse as his politics did too. I have read the late Dos Passos and the early Dos Passos. Whatever "changed" about his work to justify condemning the later works to oblivion while keeping the early works in print was lost by me - the late Dos Passos was as good a writer as the early Dos Passos.

This book filled in a lot of gaps and lacunae in my own understanding of Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the 1930s. It should be noted that for many decades there was an official story about Spain, America, and communism in the 1930s. In the official story, the Spanish civil war was a real war fought to win between the leftist republicans (the good guys) and the fascists of Franco (the bad guys) and in the end the bad guys won.

The fall of the Soviet Union has turned the official story on its head, but only for those who have paid attention. Anyone unfamiliar with this change in our historical understanding of the nature of the role of the Soviet-Stalinist machine in the US, Spain, and elsewhere should review the "annals of communism" series published by Yale.

In general Koch makes a good case as a detective, putting forth a plausible hypothesis that fits the the post-soviet facts. Koch's argument is consistent with what we now understand the situation in Spain in 1936 to be. I found nothing Koch says about Hemingway or Dos Passos that is inconsistent with what I already knew about these two and their relationship. And Koch hangs all the facts together in a fun, vulgar, cheap, pot-boiler, pulp fiction style that actually makes it fun.

What I find amazing are the reactions other readers have had to this book on Amazon. They range from the enthusiastic (like me), to those who find Koch's style awful, to those who are upset by either Koch's post-soviet notion of the history of communism, Spain and America in the 1930s or by Koch's depiction of particular people, most notably, Hemingway. Koch is not a bad writer. But he has written this book in a rather crass, tabloid style that, in my mind, fits the material of his story perfectly. Heavily footnoted, academic prose would have suffocated the story Koch is telling. Instead, we get a chummy narrator who cajoles, contradicts himself, back tracks, and then sets the record straight. It is all quite entertaining and easy to read. If you want the footnotes, they are in the back of the book, and should be consulted in due course. As I mention above, some people have difficulty believing that Stalin was able to play the world as we now know he did. Everyone got played. Hemingway the least of them.
As for Koch's depiction of Hemingway, there is nothing outrageously new here for anyone who has ever done any sort of real research into Hemingway. Hemingway changed women like he changed underwear. Hemingway was drunk most of the time. Hemingway had a peculiar moral compass that placed great importance on personal bravado and acts of courage. Hemingway was a politically uncommitted, largely disengaged, and easily influenced by the times. Hemingway had the ego of a rock star. And now we know, Hemingway, like dozens of others of his generation, got played by the Stalinists. Is any of this controversial? And yes, To Have and Have Not was a cut-and-paste job. Who can fault Koch for opining that the book was trash?

For me, Koch's story does what every good piece of non-fiction should do - send me to the end notes to find out what books to read next.

Comintern-agent?.......2006-10-12

A very nice read, with much feeling for the atmosphere of the period. However, Stephen Koch has written a book halfway between fiction and non-fiction, and it is too often unclear where fact ends and fantasy begins. In many cases historical facts are presented incorrect. This is especially problematic where negative qualifications of (at the time) living persons are given without a shade of proof. A small example, is his qualification of Joris Ivens's Dutch cameraman John Fernhout (in the USA known as filmmaker John Ferno) as a 'Comintern-apparatchik' (page 62). On the basis of the available archive material in the Netherlands and the USA there is no reason whatsoever to assume that Fernhout had anything to do with the Comintern. Never in any research about Dutch persons and their connections with the Comintern or Soviet-services did Fernhouts name turn up. He is mainly remembered as, well, Ivens's cameraman, and as the filmmaker in the household of Crownprinces Juliana of Holland during her exile in Canada in Woldwar II. In Stephen Kochs book, Fernhout is just one of many people who are called Comintern agents rather rashly.
The main matter I would like to adress is Stephen Kochs verdict on Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens, who is one of the main characters in his book. The author says Ivens was a 'Comintern agent' and 'Comintern apparatchik'. It is fair to admit that Ivens's position was a lot more complicated than that of others. Stephen Koch writes himself that his judgement on Ivens is based on my book 'Living Dangerously. A Biography of Joris Ivens'. But I never used the term 'Comintern agent'.
There is no doubt about the fact that Ivens was a member of the Dutch communist party at the time, and that in the thirties he was in almost permanent contact about his filmwork with communist and Comintern organisations. Unfortunately Stephen Koch does not define what a Comintern agent is, but I would suggest that such an agent was at least
1) Not free to do what he liked. Defecting or disobedient agents were liquidated or called back to Moscow and never heard of again.
2) He would have some serious secret mission.
I have called Ivens a freelance communist. In my view he was one even as a partymember. He was completely loyal to party politics, but nevertheless remained largely independent at an organisational level. The relationship between Ivens and Comintern organisations was one of consultation between two parties rather than one of giving or receiving orders. An obvious exception was his work at Meshrabpom Studios in Moscow - a studio that was part of the Comintern apparatus - where he was an employee before he went to the United States.
As for the secrets, in Spain Ernest Hemingway was fully aware of the fact that Ivens was a card carrying communist. John Dos Passos knew that he was an unconditional admirer of the Soviet Union well before they departed for Europe (Ivens's views were apparent even from his public speeches in the USA). It was clear from the beginning that Joris Ivens would be the director of their film 'Spanish Earth' and would thus have a decisive say.
The secret mission from Moscow that Stephen Koch suggests is: Ivens came to destroy the literary avant-garde of which John Dos Passos was considered the main representative in the US. For this reason Ivens was supposed to stir up contradictions between Hemingway and Dos Passos. This theory is a red line through Stephen Kochs book, but in my view this is mere speculation and hardly realistic. Such a plot would have been contrary to communist policies of the time: every Western artist, modern or old-fashioned, was hailed by the communists as long as he or she sympathized with practical communist policy. In general I don't believe in, and see no proof for, the suggestion that Ivens's doings connected to Hemingway and Dos Passos were concocted on forehand since 1936 or even earlier.

Hollywood will never make a movie of this great story, but somebody should.......2006-09-05

This book is absolutely important for people interested specially in the following topics: Spain, 20th century history, communism, literature (Dos Passos, Hemingway), politics, and modern history in general. It is recommendable for any book reader also because it is masterfully written. Like a detective story, the author has done a tremendous work of investigation.

By the way, this follows Stephen Koch's previous work "Double Lives", which is, I believe, the "intellectual father" of this new book, since they are very related.

There is much to be amazed of, much to learn about, in this story. The role of the Soviet Commintern in world politics and its consequences in our social lives is something that I can't stop being amazed at. How they handled people, propaganda, ideas, and changed evil into good and viceversa in (mostly) everybody's minds deserves more attention from us, the people, so we don't go through the same story again.

There are three contending sides in this political/criminal story: the communists (aka Stalinists) and their servants (propagandists, artists, hit-men), the independents (non-stalinist communists, anarchists, and other revolutionaries), and the vanity fair people (rich, stupid, intellectual and irresponsible fellows who lent their names to one or the other side of the battle that caused the lives of many REAL working-class people. This book is a good incentive to pause and reflect upon the miseries that many irresponsible self-called intellectuals have caused on us, common folk. They never fought, they never risked their lives, but they helped to provoke (and still do) the wars and dictatorships of the 20th century immensely. From Marx (who never met a factory worker in his rascal life) to Picasso, Garcia Marquez, Hemingway, Dos Passos, Hammett, Orwell, even Einstein or Delano Roosevelt, were practically puppets in the hands of the soviet agenda.

Here we have the Stalinists (Commintern) killing thousands of anti-fascists and saying they were fascists, and at the same time pacting with the nazis in Germany in order to share Europe between the two countries. And everybody believed it! But what this book is about is not so much the big picture, but the involvement of some of its most relevant artistic protagonists. We deal here with very personal and human stories.

Jesus was right, you mustn't hate your enemies, you must love them.If you go out looking for enemies, whether it is "the rich" or the "Jews", you may find him where you never thought: in your own side. Robles looked for enemies among the rich in Spain (paradoxically, he was one of them), took sides with those he thought were the "good" side against those he thought were the "fascist" side; well, he got himself his due reward.

Or also:
"Judge not, that you be not judged." Matt. 7:1 (Robles judged wrong)

"They have sown the wind .......2006-08-01

and they shall reap the whirlwind."

"Breaking Point: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and the Murder of Jose Robles" is Stephen Koch's excellent examination of the destruction of the friendship between American writers Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos during the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil War served as a crucible on which many relationships (between people and between people and their ideology) were either forged or broken. In the case of Dos Passos and Hemingway once they entered the political whirlwind of the Spanish Civil War that friendship was irretrievably fractured.

It is not well-remembered that, at the height of his fame, Dos Passos was placed on the same pedestal as Hemingway, Fitzgerald, and Faulkner. The first two volumes of his masterpiece, the USA Trilogy (42nd Parallel and 1919) had been enormous successes. By the time Volume III, "The Big Money", was released in 1936, Jean-Paul Sartre hailed him as "the greatest writer of our time". Edmund Wilson's review went so far as to claim that Dos Passos was "the first of our writers, with the possible exception of Mark Twain, who has successfully used colloquial American for a novel of the highest artistic seriousness." Dos Passos' literary reputation began to change during the Spanish Civil War. Dos Passos, along with Hemingway and many other literary figures including George Orwell made his way to Spain to assist in the Republican cause. Like Orwell, Dos Passos was deeply affected by the brutal infighting amongst Republican supporters. In the case of Dos Passos, he was deeply distressed by murder of a friend, anarchist and Johns Hopkins Professor Jose Robles, apparently executed by Stalinist cadres for his nonconforming radicalism. Hemingway mocked Dos Passos for his unmanly concern for his friend. Dos Passos reports that he told Hemingway that "the question I keep putting to myself is what's the use of fighting a war for civil liberties, if you destroy civil liberties in the process?" Hemingway replied "civil liberties, [__ _ _ ]. Are you with us or against us?" It is no surprise that Dos Passos' next book was criticized severely. The New Masses magazine referred to it as a "crude piece of Trotskyist agit-prop". Dos Passos never reclaimed the popularity he had achieved with the USA Trilogy.

The Civil War proved to be the point in time during the first half of the 20th-century at which many intellectuals and artists (literary and otherwise) of the left had to face an apparent conflict between their personal sense of morality and their ideology. Until the Civil War the various factions of the European and U.S. left seemed to live together (with the exception of post-revolutionary Russia) in a fractious and far from symbiotic relationship. However the Civil War transformed what had merely been a dysfunctional relationship among various Marxist groups, anarchists, and socialists into one that was physically dangerous and fratricidal. Although Koch's "Breaking Point" focuses on the relationship between Dos Passos and Hemingway (and Dos Passos and Robles) the story also paints a broader picture of a time and place where many intellectuals and artists (literary or otherwise) on the left had to face an apparent conflict between their personal sense of morality and the socio-political imperatives of their ideology. Orwell and Dos Passos resolved this conflict on the side of their personal morality. Others were not so well-inclined. "Breaking Point" paints a vivid picture of the life of the 'intelligentsia' in the crucible that was Spain.

Koch provides the reader with background information on the friendship between Dos Passos and Robles and between Dos Passos and Hemingway. This background also provides the literary and political milieu in which Dos Passos, Hemingway and their contemporaries operated. Koch does not paint a flattering picture of Hemingway. He comes across (rightly I might add) as a raging bully tormented by a lethal combination of arrogance and insecurity. This arrogance and bullying shows up in stark terms once the story moves to Hemingway's and Dos Passos' time in Spain reporting on the War. Dos Passos is confounded and depressed by the murderous political intrigue while Hemingway adopts his typical macho "war is war" posture and doesn't appear to give these horrors a second thought. Hemingway's arrogance and bullying is not news to be sure but it is always worth being reminded that there is no correlation between great talent and a pleasing personality. In fact, to the extent there is a correlation it is just as likely to be an inverse rather than direct one. Dos Passos, though treated better by Koch, does not come across as a hero either. Rather, there seems to be an indecisive, almost Hamlet-like aura to him and his ongoing inability to stand up to Hemingway's verbal and psychological onslaughts. Nevertheless, it is clear that Dos Passos had, like Orwell, a keener, far less naïve eye when it came to the political in-fighting that did as much damage to the Republican cause as Franco (and Hitler's and Mussolini's) bombs. Hemingway was a political naif who had neither the time nor inclination to question Stalin's and the Comintern's murderous intrigues in Spain. In many respect's Hemingway fit Lenin's definition of a "useful idiot" to a t.

"Breaking Point" is an excellent political and literary biography. It is well worth reading.

Two novelists observed by a third.......2006-05-29

Koch is the author of one of the most interesting books of modern criticism, STARGAZER, one of the first books to take Andy Warhol seriously, so in my book he may be forgiven many sins, but THE BREAKING POINT is pretty bad.

As history, who knows? I can't believe all the things he dishes out about the power of the Politburo to enforce the Popular Front and its supposed hegemony of US culture. And his condemnation of the filmmakers who made THE SPANISH EARTH is just unpleasant. Ivens was no Soviet agent, he was a committed documentarian. (That's not to say that THE SPANISH EARTH isn't a boring piece of schlock.) What sets Koch apart from other writers, however, is his incessant banality as a writer, as a stylist. He is incapable of writing a single sentence without committing some go for broke solecism. He will set your teeth on edge from page one, right from the moment you discover that he plans to refer to his two protagonists as "Hem" and "Dos" all through the text, thus stripping them even of the dignity of their names. (Martha Gellhorn becomes "the Girl.")

His rib poking gets painful around page 9 or 10. Yes, Dos Passos is great, but not for the reasons Koch cites. And despite what Koch asserts, without argument, TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and THE FIFTH COLUMN are not bad books. They are indeed among the most interesting US novels and plays of the last century. Koch is like a novelist attempting to enliven history with a novelist's little tricks, gleaned from the WRITERS DIGEST. Get right in there, focus on your characters, make them quirky, show what they're drinking and wearing. Imagine their thoughts. Tell us what they're thinking. Make one an angel, the other a devil, that way the reader will be able to distinguish them. Well, I loved STARGAZER but this one's for the birds.

Average customer rating:

Insightful and well-written
An essential book that parents and teachers should read
An essential book for parents and teachers

Breaking Point
Dorris, S. Woods
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Family Health | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1412201705

Book Description

Breaking Point captures the essence of teenage suicide and the "trigger" factors that cause it. Compelling new information with vignettes that remind us of each tragic loss.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful and well-written.......2007-02-25

This is an outstanding book, for professionals and casual readers alike. Dr. Woods breaks down the taboo of teenage suicide with personal anecdotes and a truly engaging style. She shows us that this subject, which might make us cringe, is a very real part of our world, with impacts ranging from the quiet lives of individual families to headline-grabbing events such as the Columbine massacre. Rock music lyrics, a teenager's internal tug-of-war between pressure to achieve and desire not to disappoint, gender- all these aspects and others are brought into the open and discussed in a way that is both interesting and scientifically sound.
The entire book is solidly supported with references from medical and scientific journals, yet the author's writing style makes this book completely engaging and a truly absorbing read. It is an empowering book: it not only lists signs that can indicate a greater risk for teen suicide, but goes on to describe ways of addressing them- some original and logical "do's" and "don'ts". Overall, I loved this book because of the undeniable importance of the subject and the author's terrific writing style.

An essential book that parents and teachers should read.......2006-11-10

A subject rarely talked about in public and even less in schools. Teenage suicide is a problem that we must actively deal with. Dr. Woods gives insight into the many ways that we as individuals can make a difference in another person's life and possibly prevent another person from taking their own life. Dr. Woods explores many cases of teenage suicide showing many different view points of triggers that can lead to suicide - signs to look out for and possible approaches to handle them. It is commonly believed that depression is the sign to look for in a person who is considering suicide. Often this is not the case as Dr. Woods illustrates.
The book does not cover all the reasons for suicide such as side effects of a medication, nor does it claim to be the definitive encyclopedia on the subject. More importantly it sheds a light on an epidemic that is prevalent in our society and should be discussed towards prevention and positive action.
This is an important book that parents and adults who work children with should read.

An essential book for parents and teachers.......2006-11-10

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Breaking Point
Jenny Roberts
Manufacturer: Discovered Authors
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1905108044
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

It's not the best of days for Cameron McGill. Home early from Amsterdam, after a major row with her girlfriend, she stumbles across a knife attack on the fog-bound Humber Bridge. The victim, Madga Swinson, is critically wounded and Cameron, much to her dismay, is held by the police for questioning. Desperate to clear her name, and fulfill a promise that she made to the victim, she starts to investigate and runs into hostile animal rights militants, violent thugs, a mysterious dyke called Beano, the alluring Angel, who only wants to get Cameron into bed... and the very unhelpful chief executive of an animal research laboratory. As the days pass she gets drawn into an ever-more sticky web of danger and intrigue, which ultimately - and dramatically - puts her own life on the line as well.

Breaking Through: Getting Past the Stuck Points in Your Life

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Breaking Through: Getting Past the Stuck Points in Your Life
An Anthology Edited by Barbara Stanny
Manufacturer: Powerful Woman Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Overcoming Underearning(TM): Overcome Your Money Fears and Earn What You Deserve

ASIN: 1934126012
Release Date: 2006-10-01

Product Description

We all need a little help when we're feeling stuck. The more than 60 stories in Breaking Through; Getting Past the Stuck Points In Your Life, will help you get unstuck and back on the road to your success. If your goals are set, but you find yourself stuck, Breaking Through will put new ideas, tips, exercises, mediations and processes in your toolbox. The contributors include: -Marcia Wieder - America's Dream Coach® -Lois Frankel - author of Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office -Olivia Mellan - author of Money Harmony -Ginita Wall and Candace Bahr - co-founders of Women's Institute of Financial Education WIFE.org

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