Book Description
Understanding the amazing force that links some of today's most successful companies
If you cut off a spider's leg, it's crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish's leg it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish.
What's the hidden power behind the success of Wikipedia, craigslist, and Skype? What do eBay and General Electric have in common with the abolitionist and women's rights movements? What fundamental choice put General Motors and Toyota on vastly different paths? How could winning a Supreme Court case be the biggest mistake MGM could have made?
After five years of ground-breaking research, Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom share some unexpected answers, gripping stories, and a tapestry of unlikely connections. The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships.
The Starfish and the Spider explores what happens when starfish take on spiders (such as the music industry vs. Napster, Kazaa, and the P2P services that followed). It reveals how established companies and institutions, from IBM to Intuit to the US government, are also learning how to incorporate starfish principles to achieve success. The book explores:
* How the Apaches fended off the powerful Spanish army for 200 years
* The power of a simple circle
* The importance of catalysts who have an uncanny ability to bring people together
* How the Internet has become a breeding ground for leaderless organizations
* How Alcoholics Anonymous has reached untold millions with only a shared ideology and without a leader
The Starfish and the Spider is the rare book that will change how you understand the world around you. BACKCOVER:
Advance praise for The Starfish and the Spider
“The Starfish and the Spider is a compelling and important book.”
—Pierre Omidyar, CEO, Omidyar Network and Founder and Chairman, eBay Inc.
“The Starfish and the Spider, like Blink, The Tipping Point, and The Wisdom of Crowds before it, showed me a provocative new way to look at the world and at business. It's also fun to read!”
—Robin Wolaner, founder, Parenting Magazine and author, Naked in the Boardroom
“A fantastic read. Constantly weaving stories and connections. You'll never see the world the same way again.”
—Nicholas J. Nicholas Jr., former Co-CEO, Time Warner
“A must-read. Starfish are changing the face of business and society. This page-turner is provocative and compelling.”
—David Martin, CEO, Young Presidents' Organization
“The Starfish and the Spider provides a powerful prism for understanding the patterns and potential of self-organizing systems.”
—Steve Jurvetson, Partner, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
“The Starfish and the Spider lifts the lid on a massive revolution in the making, a revolution certain to reshape every organization on the planet from bridge clubs to global governments. Brafman and Beckstrom elegantly describe what is afoot and offer a wealth of insights that will be invaluable to anyone starting something new—or rescuing something old—amidst this vast shift.”
—Paul Saffo, Director, Institute for the Future
“The Starfish and the Spider is great reading. [It has] not only stimulated my thinking, but as a result of the reading, I proposed ten action points for my own organization."
—Professor Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum
Customer Reviews:
Seek not stardom, just starfishdom.......2007-09-06
Whether or not you care about leaderless, borderless and/or decentralized organizations, labeled as starfish organizations, they probably affect your life in some way or another whether you have downloaded music or avoided it, dealt with PETA, looked up something in Wikipedia, had actions of al-Qaeda affect your life in some way like stricter restrictions at the airports, etc. In that sense, you might as well get to know something about them to make better use of them or be prepared to deal with them effectively when you have to. If you read this book, you will likely not just want to know or know more about them, but get involved to see what they're all about or get more involved.
Written from both an overview and hands-on approach, this book is not only useful as a reference but also as a manual on the issue. The book identified the qualities of starfish organizations and what makes them effective, how anyone and everyone could start, sustain and/or get involved in these organizations, the types of people key to such organizations and how to combat them if you're on the other side. The book also warns about the constant change involved with maintaining starfish organizations and how to deal with them. Guidelines are offered and useful real life examples illustrate them to bring to life what otherwise be just concepts.
I had two small criticisms about the book, but nothing major enough to deter it from getting the five star rating I felt it deserved. First was that a few more real life examples of starfish organizations and/or their actions could have been chosen to illustrate some of the points made. There were plenty of diverse examples, but so many more abound as I read and thought about traits and qualities of starfish organizations that if mentioned, readers would realize even more influence starfish organizations have had in their lives. Second was that it did not address how government could use this book to decentralize since decentralization could be so powerful but yet government is the epitomy of centralization. I work for government, and felt government badly needed this, but had to think it through myself to come up with uses for attracting colleagues to my Starfish and Spider for Lunch (and Learn) voluntary book review session. When I did, though, not only was I excited at the possibilities, but also at the challenge to try to convince senior management of this, although that will take time. I will contact the authors to address this issue in a follow-up companion, perhaps, as they are the experts on this, but if nothing else, my ability to customize an application to government should tell you something about the book's effectiveness as a manual.
Overall, for the excellent writing style, clarity, impact and general application to the masses, five starfish!
Peter NYC.......2007-09-06
This book is great. A must read for those interested in being flexible and evolving. Has important applications across multiple work environments.
Useful introduction, but there's more ... .......2007-08-29
It took me some time to warm to this book. Nothing much happens in the initial 80 pages. The first chapter develops two fairly tortuous case studies - the vicissitudes of fortune in the recording industry in the last decade and the struggle of the Apaches against the Spanish invaders - to introduce the theme of the book. Then follows a discussion of the morphology of decentralised organisations (in terms of power distribution, funding, etc). Chapter 3 illustrates these formal characteristics with a series of examples, ranging from Skype over Wikipedia to Burning Man. There is honestly not a lot of meat to chew on in these first chapters and some patience is required from the reader.
It becomes more interesting in Chapter 4 where Brafman and Beckstrom discuss operational principles behind decentralised organisations (the need for pre-existing networks as a substrate, the role of catalysts and champions to activate leaderless organisation, "circles" as their chief co-ordination mechanism, and "ideology" as the glue holding everything more or less together). The role of the catalyst as a "servant leader" (term, however, not used by the authors) is further elaborated in the fifth chapter.
In chapter 6, the discussion turns to the question "What do you do, as an incumbent, when you are under fire from a starfish?" It transpires that there is not an awful lot to be done: you can try to morph them into a spider by activating internal cancer cells (greed and competition), you can try to dissolve or change the glue, the ideology that keeps the structure together or you can join them and become decentralised too (then it's starfish against starfish).
Brafman and Beckstrom maintain that it is not always necessary to go all the way and radically decentralise. There is such thing as a "hybrid" organisation (Chapter 7), which mixes principles of centralisation and decentralisation. Here the discussion suddenly gets denser and this is a part of the book that warrants repeated reading. A distinction is made between centralised organisations that give customers a voice (eBay with its peer-to-peer feedback is an example), those that put their customers to work (IBM developing open source applications) and those that decentralise parts of their internal structure. Towards the end of the chapter, however, the discussion peters out. "Appreciative Enquiry" is invoked as an approach to bring a whiff of decentralisation into companies who want to hang on to their centralised bureaucracies. It's a dangerous example that may tempt people into crass opportunism (that is, however, bound to backfire on them).
Finally, the authors hypothesise that in a given ecosystem there is no static equilibrium in terms of right mix of centralised/decentralised characteristics ("right" in terms of securing survival and the ability to extract economic rent). The "sweet spot" changes as a function of time, sometimes dramatically so. The desire for anonymity and the free flow of information are forces that push towards the decentralisation end, whilst the desire for security and accountability pull the system back to a more centralised mode of operation.
The book closes with a short epilogue that lists 10 simple guiding principles to make the most out of decentralised organisations or to defend yourself from their attacks.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book. It provides an intelligent and accessible discussion of a complex issue. With respect to the latter, the authors do a laudable job in keeping thing simple, but sometimes it's over the top. Particularly in the first halve of the book, their penchant for telling anecdotes and stories makes them err on the side of the trivial (a discussion on Wikipedia starts with "we all remember doing school reports in the sixth grade. Back then, research meant going to the library and hoping the that the Encyclopaedia Brittanica wasn't checked out ... and so on, and so on.) I was irked more than once by the patronising and befuddling prose of Brafman & Beckstrom. Admittedly, sometimes they hit it right. The title of the book, for example, is a very strong and aptly chosen metaphor for decentralised and centralised organisations, respectively.
Also I believe this book does not exhaust the potential of this fascinating subject matter. I think the discussion would have gained significantly in clarity and power if only a number of well known systems science principles (such as Ashby's Law of Requisity Variety, see Introduction to Cybernetics (University Paperbacks)) had been invoked to give the whole discussion a rock solid footing. I also missed a solid link to the burgeoning literature on the P2P movement. It is clear that the issue of property rights in central in making leaderless organisations work (Brafman discusses this as a way to sabotage starfish only) and people like Lawrence Lessig ("Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity) and Yochai Benkler ("The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom") have a lot to say about these issues.
A small point, but a fairly irritating one, is the use of the word "ideology" in the book. The authors ostensibly use this to refer to any set of beliefs that underpin a decentralised organisation. From my point of view, the word "ideology" refers to a more elaborate and closed system of abstract thought (and as such has a pejorative tinge to it). Many starfish (also amongst those mentioned in the book) thrive on a much more vague and fluid set of beliefs, norms and values. It's worthwhile to be more nuanced about this.
Morally speaking, the book leaves the reader in suspension. From an internal point of view, leaderless organisations are unquestionably superior - morally and aesthetically - to centralised organisations, not only because of their structural simplicity and elegance, but also because they rely so openly on trust (in my opinion THE key word in the book), on the belief that man is fundamentally good and ultimately because they are capable of drawing the best from people and providing them with truthfulness, meaning and purpose in their life. Problem is that not only Alcoholics Anonymous operates as a decentralised organisation, but Al Qaeda does too. So starfish can server all kinds of purposes, some more constructive than others. It all depends which side you're on.
Starfish is a mind-game.......2007-08-07
Have you wondered why decentralized organizations are growing like wildfire? Starfish and Spider will tell you why. I work in a starfish organization and it is not for the faint-hearted or the one focused on structure and procedure.
This book is an excellent story about centralized, decentralized and hybrid organizations. If you want to kill a spider, cut off its head. You cannot cut off the head of a starfish as it does not have one. If cut off the leg of an starfish, it will grow another.......starfish. This shows how decentralized organizations have always been around and take after the way that our brain's function. Once thought to operate in a hierarchy, latest research shows the opposite. Brafman and Beckstrom are great storytellers and weave the Internet with Al Qadea
This book gives examples of the characteristics of decentralized organizations such as flexibility, shared power and ambiguity and how the Internet has spawned a new generation of decentralized organizations. It is a fascinating book.
Some principles of decentralized organizations;
1. when attacked, they become even more open and decentralized.
2. it is easy to mistake starfish for spiders.
3. an open system doesn't have central intelligence, the intelligence is spread throughout the system.
4. open systems can easily mutate.
5. the decentralized organization sneaks up on you.
6. as industries become decentralized, overall profits decrease.
They stand on 5 legs;
1. Circles
2. the Catalyst
3. Ideology
4. the pre-existing network
5. the Champion
If you want to learn more about community, trust and openness in the 21st century, this is a must read. If you are interested in how organizations like Al Qaeda can thrive with many in the world looking for them, read this book.
Elusive Nodes.......2007-07-31
This book offers an excellent discussion of the extremely elusive concept of networked type of organizations which social scientists refer to as organizations where decision making power is distributed and whose structure is flat. Such an organization consists of semi-autonomous nodes or cells linked and given cohesion by one or more factors such as kinship, mutual experiences, ethnic culture, or common ideology. In the 21st Century the Global Telecommunications Network (sic) serves as an enabler to networked type of organizations. The book, "Networks and Netwars" (Rand 2001, Amazon.com) provides a formal explanation of networked type of organizations, but will leave many folks still wondering about the anatomy of a networked type of organization.
The book quit effectively uses examples and the analogy of a starfish to both demonstrate and explain how networked type of organizations actually work in practice. This is very important and helpful because such organizations are becoming increasingly more common, but are very difficult for persons used to hierarchical organizations to understand. The book explains for example how the command and control system for al Qaeda cannot be knocked out because it does not exist. More ominously the book notes that as the U.S. increasingly centralizes its efforts against al Qaeda the harder it will be to cope with terrorist operations and threats.
There are now several first rate books available now on networked type of organizations, but this one is probably the best because of the clarity with which it explains what networked type of organizations are and how they really work. It is a shame that the U.S. Intelligence and National Security Communities appear unable to come to grips with geographically dispersed cell of one or more individuals using distributed decision making, and linked by such tenuous ties as personal relationships and shared ideology. This book offers some suggestions for dealing with networked type of organizations, but one is left with the impression that nobody is listening.
Average customer rating:
- Great Hard Science Fiction
- First-rate science fiction novel, definitely among the best I have ever read
- Science fiction with good characters
- So atmospheric, so dark, so good
- Fascinating.....
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Starfish (Rifters Trilogy)
Peter Watts
Manufacturer: Tor Books
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ASIN: 0312868553 |
Amazon.com
Peter Watts's first novel explores the last mysterious place on earth--the floor of a deep sea rift. Channer Vent is a zone of freezing darkness that belongs to shellfish the size of boulders and crimson worms three meters long. It's the temporary home of the maintenance crew of a geothermal energy plant--a crew made up of the damaged and dysfunctional flotsam of an overpopulated near-future earth. The crew's reluctant leader, basket case Lenie Clarke, can barely survive in the upper world, but she quickly falls under the rift's spell, just as Watts's magical descriptions of it enchant the reader: "Steam never gets a chance to form at three hundred atmospheres, but thermal distortion turns the water into a column of writhing liquid prisms, hotter than molten glass."
Watts is investigating monsters. Gigantic deep sea monsters, surgically-altered-from-human monsters, faceless jellied-brain computer monsters--which monsters are human, which are more than human, which are less? Watts keeps the story line stripped down to showcase the theme of dehumanization. The anonymous millions who live along the unstable shore of N'AmPac come under threat (a triggered earthquake, and perhaps a disaster that's slower but even more pitiless) from their own dehumanized creations. But Watts is less interested in whether Lenie can save the dry world as in whether she can save herself. In Starfish, Watts stretches the boundaries of humanity up, down, and sideways to see whether its dimensions reveal anything we'd be proud to be a part of. --Blaise Selby
Book Description
Peter Watts is a new science fiction novelist of extraordinary talent. His first stories appeared in Canadian SF magazines in the last few years and now he delivers a powerful and original novel of the not-too-distant future and the exploitation of the geothermal resources of the deep Juan de Fuca Rift in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by multinational corporations. Unfortunately all the volunteers who are surgically altered for employment at the bottom of the ocean in these experimental stations are psychotic. And one of the central questions is how many of them can survive, or will be allowed to survive, long enough to become sane, while worldwide disaster approaches from below.
Customer Reviews:
Great Hard Science Fiction.......2007-04-23
Peter Watts takes his reader to the depths of the ocean and the very edge of the human psche. This hard science fiction book is the first in what was to be a trilogy, but turned out as one of a four part series. Watts brings the reader a fast paced and intrguing look at the future of mankind which as the reader finds hinges on the past of all life on this blue dot. I would highly recommend this book to any science fiction fan. In fact, I have just ordered the other three books in the series.
First-rate science fiction novel, definitely among the best I have ever read.......2007-04-16
_Starfish_ by Peter Watts is one of the finest hard science fiction books I have ever read. It had many elements of what make a great science fiction novel. It extrapolated an interesting and believable though often surprising future, the science was realistic and well-explained (and in this book was discussed at some length in a final chapter on references) yet the author didn't forget that the book was a novel, not a science textbook, many disparate elements were woven together to form a great story (in this case deepwater biology, plate tectonics, microbiology, artificial intelligence, and psychological trauma), the characters were interesting and well-developed, and the book had that rare quality of making you feel very smart, of allowing you to piece together shocking and developing story elements, the author allowing you to form conclusions, neither watering down something nor going over the reader's head with too much jargon or hard to grasp story logic. Hard to believe that this is the author's first novel! Many science fiction authors don't do nearly as well after years in their profession.
I don't want to say too much about the book's plot as I wouldn't want to spoil it for the prospective reader. I will say that the plot's main setting is unusual and interesting and what originally attracted me to the book; a deep sea geothermal power station on the seafloor of the Pacific Ocean (specifically, Beebe Station, located near the Juan de Fuca Ridge hydrothermal vents). The station is populated by a bio-engineered crew dubbed "rifters," people who had been altered physically and mechanically to able to live and work in such an incredible harsh environment, a realm of crushing pressure, arctic-temperature waters (except around the scalding vents), and alien darkness. The type of people able to live in such an environment is a key plot point of the book and makes for some very unusual and memorable characters.
Though Beebe Station and the rifters are dominant in the book, they are not the only story elements. Other notable characters are Patricia Rowan (a CEO of the Grid Authority or GA, which owns Beebe Station and employs the rifters) and Yves Scanlon (a psychologist who works for the GA), characters which become important later in the novel as events come to entangle the rifters in a mysterious and mounting catastrophe.
I will say the novel has a climatic ending and a sequel was clearly meant from the beginning as there were several loose ends. I am currently reading that very sequel, _Maelstrom_, and find it thus far a worthy follow-up, beginning right where the action left off and exploring further Watt's detailed and interesting (if scary) world.
Science fiction with good characters.......2007-02-16
This is the best "science fiction" book I have read in a long time. As a female reader, I tire of "Spaceman Spiff" stories and have leaned more toward fantasy. _Starfish_ is set in the deepest ocean, an environment as hostile as outer space. The time and place are earth in the near future, seen through a pessimistic lens. There's environmental problems, population problems, corporations have taken over everything, etc. These ideas are not original, nor are they really what the book is about.
_Starfish_'s main character is Lenie Clarke, a courageous woman with a troubled past. She arrives at the underwater outpost Beebe Station, not because it was her life's ambition, but because she has exhausted her other options. Lenie is a complex and extremely well-drawn character. The author did an excellent job creating a character that the reader doesn't identify with, but still develops a great affection for.
As her teammates join her at the station, they each explore their new environment and learn to engage with one another. At Beebe, they are in uncomfortably close quarters. Outside, they have infinite space, but in a medium that is ultimately hostile to their biology.
The conflicts are on several levels. Lenie and the other team members have inner conflicts aplenty. Lenie repeatedly confronts and challenges the deep ocean that is her new home. Finally, the story is framed by a more complex socio-political conflict that Beebe Station, even though it is thousands of feet beneath the surface, cannot escape.
This book stayed in my head for a long time after I read it. _Starfish_ deserves better than a plane trip, but a time when you can pay attention.
So atmospheric, so dark, so good.......2006-11-09
Lounging around the house, I picked this book up and started it. And then, a few pages into it, I put it down. It scared me. The world that Watts drops you into, right at the beginning, is so strong... so well created.... so evocative.... It just gives you chills... Makes you hear every echoing bang and strange creak and feel the terrible pressure overhead. I put this book down and turned on the TV, in fact.... Wanted some bright, technicolor, mindless drivel....
But then, two days later, after finding that I was thinking about it... I picked Starfish up again and..... read it straight through. I think I finished it around 3:15am last night (and got three hours of sleep before having to get up for work). This one goes in my list of very, very, very good books.
Again, Watts drops you right in the middle of it and you have to work to figure out what is happening. He assumes the reader has intelligence, which is really refreshing. Yes, there are some tidbits that we've experienced before (Sphere and The Abyss come to mind). But just tidbits. This is so much more. And pretty damn perfect. With one exception (the evil bureaucrat's speechifying explanations near the end). These few paragraphs were kind of jarring -- a simple plot mechanism, when I expected much more from such a skilled writer.
HOWEVER -- this does not detract a lot from my review. The rest of the writing was great, the characters are haunting, and the science folded into the story is fascinating. I can close my eyes and be down there, in the silty darkness with the fragile monsters...
Wow. Congratulations to Peter Watts.
I haven't been this affected by a science fiction book IN A LONG TIME!
Fascinating............2006-07-08
Starfish delivers a captivating tale. I find it a plausible glimpse into our not so distant future.
I was intrigued as well as a bit terrified of Watts depiction of human beings bio engineered to live on the ocean floor. Terrified, because I placed myself within the characters shoes and I struggled to determine how I would retain my sanity constantly hearing the overwhelming pressure of the hand of the ocean trying to crush my undersea habitat and swimming in total darkness with monsters attracted by the slightest amount of light..
Watts covered all bases by coming up with a believable explanation of how people could face these undersea dangers and still remain "sane".
Add to that not one but two world ending threats as a cliffhanger and you have the makings of a great book. I loved it.
Euftis Emery
Author of Off the Chain
Book Description
Starfish have arms, but no legs. They have feet, but no toes. When starfish get hungry, they slide, glide, and feel their way in search of something to eat.
Starfish aren't fish, but they are living animals. Learn how starfish move, eat, and grow in Edith Hurd's poetic text, illustrated with Robin Brickman's vivid watercolor collages. Read and find out all about starfish, the stars of the sea.
Customer Reviews:
Not recommended.......2005-08-02
There is very little actual information in the book. My 4 year old wants to know WHY, HOW, WHEN, WHERE for everything... this book is very short and has very simple drawings. Did not meet our needs.
Great for youngsters.......2001-10-18
I found this book very helpful and informative for my kindergarten class. It is both simplistic enough for them to grasp the information and stay "engaged" as well as, complex enough for children to learn several attributes of a starfish...and remember it! There is also a great activity supplied at the end of the book. It's been a winner for me at home and at school. Great for beginners to science.
For text, 1 star; for looks, 5 stars!.......2001-06-24
Many first readers are repetitive, and this title from the Let's-Read-and-Find Out Science series is no exception. The text is insulting - the endnote that says "Starfish are not really fish - they are sea stars" could most certainly have been included, but the book is dumbed down by the text talks down to the reader (or read to). An attempt at poetic prose comes out stilted and forced, and there are some difficult words for a stage one reader, such as tangle, oysters, and different.
The book shows great diversity, but makes no attempt to connect this microcosm to the larger picture. The book compares the different varieties without going into detail about any one. This is not a book that can be used for school reports.
The appendix is titled "Find out more about starfish" but instead of listing things like specific habitat, lifespan, number of young, how much sea stars eat per day, etc. the note about sea stars is offered. Further activities include copying and coloring starfish and making a collage, or going down to the ocean to observe them. Other (better) books on the topic are recommended.
This is not a satisfying book, and since this is a topic of great interest to children, it is a shame that such a poor job was done. The only redeeming qualities of the book are the gorgeous watercolor collages by Robin Bricklaw. The muted wash backgrounds make the animals stand out in color and depth.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent!
- Superb on many levels
- Not what you'd expect, but GREAT!
- One of the best books I have ever read
- One of her very best books for children (and adults)
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The Arm of the Starfish (Laurel Leaf Books)
Madeleine L'Engle
Manufacturer: Laurel Leaf
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ASIN: 0440901839
Release Date: 1979-12-15 |
Book Description
When Adam Eddington, a gifted marine biology student, makes the acquaintance of blond and beautiful Kali Cutter at Kennedy International Airport on his way to Portugal to spend the summer working for the renowned scientist Dr. O'Keefe, he has no idea that this seemingly chance meeting will set into motion a chain of events he will be unable to stop.
Caught between Kali's seductive wiles and the trusting adoration of Dr. O'Keefe's daughter, Poly, Adam finds himself enmeshed in a deadly power struggle between two groups of people, only one of which can have right on its side. As the ddanger escalates, Adam must make a decision that could affect the entire world--which side is he on?
Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2007-06-26
Dear Reader,
I found this book to be very enjoyable. It was well written, exciting and the plot was clever. I had only read A Wrinkle in Time previously by Madeline L'engle, but I though that The Arm of the Starfish was superior.
It is the story of a 16 year old boy by the name of Adam, who goes out to become a assistant to a famous scientist over the summer. On the way he meet a beautiful girl, a fat priest, and a redheaded child. Right off the adventure begins with a warning from the beautiful girl, Kali, concerning the priest and child. However, the priest and the child seem to think that it is Kali that is in the wrong. As the plot continues the book Adam is forced to take a side, deciding whom he will follow, giving the reader an interesting view into right and wrong. There is never a dull moment as Adam is forced to play the double agent as he gets mixed up into the lives and schemes from both opposing sides.
Over all this was a very rewarding read. I believe that I am going to check out some of L'engels other books for young adults.
Sincerely,
Frank Opinion
Superb on many levels.......2007-04-24
The Arm of the Starfish is my favorite L'Engle book for many of the reasons previous reviewers have cited. I also agree with the last reviewer that there's more here than meets the eye. The names of most of the characters are significant. For example, the real life fourth century namesakes of Didymus, Macrina and her brothers Basil and Gregory, and Chrysostom and his teacher Diodore, shared an important belief (you might be surprised) around which the story revolves and climaxes.
Except for the Bible and C.S. Lewis' The Last Battle, I've never read a more powerful last two to three pages of a book. Thanks to Starfish and what it represents, for me too, everywhere there seems to be light.
Not what you'd expect, but GREAT!.......2007-03-29
This book will take you by surprise, if you are used to the generally famous Madeline L'Engle fare. This is maybe her least-famous book, but it deserves HIGH praise. As an English professor, this is one which I will file away to teach or reference in the future.
Christian audiences will thrill to decipher this book, as L'Engle is duly noted for her writing as allegory. Who do these characters represent? Why do they do what they do? This would make an excellent debate for highschoolers reading this book..... and the trick is, you would not even guess you were reading fiction written by a Christian author. This is what L'Engle does best: she communicates her points through a great story without ever losing her focus.
Don't miss this book! If you can get past your own expectations, you will LOVE the ride.
One of the best books I have ever read.......2007-01-26
I just finished reading this amazing book and I can hardly keep myself from reading it again. I enjoyed Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quartet, but I was cautious about this one. I didn't see any familiar characters. Where was Meg? Charles Wallace? Calvin? Sandy and Dennys- are they even remotely mentioned? But I opened the book and was immediately hooked.
One aspect that I like about ML'E's fiction works is the science part. Tesseracts, kything, "X", midichlorines- they are all written about in such a believable way that more than once I have Googled these things just to see if they really are "made up". The Arm of the Starfish is slightly different, not as Sci-Fi, but an idea is introduced that sounds so plausible and groundbreaking, you have to wonder if research really IS going on with the arms of a star fish.
The characters, too, are extremely believable. Adam Eddington, the highschool boy who goes to work a summer job under Dr. 'O Keefe (a.k.a. Calvin, though it took me half the book to figure out), is the central character. He gets caught between two groups of people, and he can't figure out which side is the "good" one and which one is the "bad". Not to mention his new girlfriend, who seems to flucuate back and forth between the two. You can easily sympathize with him; ML'E twists the plot around almost every chapter and you have no clue who is trustworthy. My favorite character, though, would be Joshua Archer, a young man on the American Embassy who becomes Adam's friend immediately, even though Adam doesn't want to like him. He is the most developed person in Arm of the Starfish, and the character who says some truly beautiful things about life.
The climax was extremely suspensful (including the climax of a different kind at the close of the story) and I cried my eyes out at the end.
This is a beautiful story; definately one of my favorites.
-Michaela R.
One of her very best books for children (and adults).......2006-03-22
I have read almost all of Madeleine L'Engle's fiction, and this is my favorite book of hers written for children, hands down. Don't let that stop you from reading it if you are an adult! This is a crisply plotted, tense novel that moves with speed and grace. Attention, screenwriters: It would make a great movie! It deals with universal issues and moral dilemmas that many people face, and it provides juicy, admirable characters to identify with in their struggles with life. I'm telling you, it will be time well spent if you give it a read, and you will come out of the experience changed, if you have the courage to let this book touch you.
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- Sponebob rocks!
- We love Spongebob!
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New Student Starfish (SpongeBob SquarePants)
Jenny Miglis
Manufacturer: Simon Spotlight
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Spongebob Naturepants (SpongeBob SquarePants)
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Spongebob Superstar (SpongeBob SquarePants)
ASIN: 0689861648 |
Book Description
There's no place SpongeBob loves more than boating school. And when his best friend, Patrick, wants to come along, SpongeBob is sure this will be his best day ever! But things go from bad to worse when Patrick goofs off in class and lands them both in detention. SpongeBob's perfect academic record is on the road to ruination -- and it's all his ex-best friend's fault! Will SpongeBob and Patrick be able to put aside their differences and work together? Patrick's first day of school will be a day they will never forget!
Customer Reviews:
Sponebob rocks!.......2005-03-16
I have read this book so many times that I have memorized the story but I still love to read it. SPONGEBOB IS THE BEST!
We love Spongebob!.......2004-01-02
My sons love Spongebob and thoroughly enjoyed reading this book!
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Starfish (Welcome Books)
Lloyd G. Douglas
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0516237438 |
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My kids loved it!.......2007-03-22
I used this book as a reward for two reluctant readers and they loved it. It captured their interest and was a pleasure to read and look through.
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Starfish, Urchins, & Other Echinoderms (Animal Kingdom Classification)
Daniel Gilpin
Manufacturer: Compass Point Books
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ASIN: 0756516110 |
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Good to read if you want to know........1998-01-09
Thorn in the Starfish is a great book to read if you are interested in finding out about how the immune system works. It is unlike other Desowitz books by explaining how a system works, rather than presenting information in a fun to read manner. It still includes the fun stories about how different aspects of the immune system were discovered.
The book does a remarkable job at explaining the immune system to people with some knowledge, and for people with no knowledge of how it works beforehand. He runs through the different types of cells, what they do and how they work with each other. He covers what you want to know about the immune system so that you know what happens when you get sick. However, if you have a deeper understanding of immunology, if maybe best if you find a good textbook, because this book covers most of the basic information, that one wants to know, and does not go too deep into the issues.
If you want to read this book just because it is by Robert Desowitz, be warned, that though it is a good book, it is not like the other books that he has written. It is still enjoyable but in an educational sort of way. Otherwise, it is well worth reading.
Book Description
How can my son develop friendships when he has poor social skills?
What can we do to get the school services that our daughter needs?
Anne Addison is a mother of a boy with ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome and developmental delays, who shares her techniques and strategies for overcoming the little and large challenges of raising an exceptional child. Translating her successful business skills and health care knowledge to the world of special needs, Anne shows how she determined her way into her son's world to learn what she must do to change the course of his life.
From every day life skills such as getting dressed and going to bed to crafting a circle of friends, effectively working with the school, encouraging hobbies and interests and negotiating public situations, Anne shares easy-to-implement strategies and solutions to the myriad of problems facing parents and those who work with children who are behaviorally challenging. One Small Starfish is a deep and compassionate story of one mother's struggle and triumph to raise a child beyond what the world thought he could be. A must-read for parents, educators, therapists and anyone working with special needs children.
Customer Reviews:
An Excellent Resource Tool.......2006-12-30
This is one of the best books about a child with Asperger's that I have ever read. Despite the word "perseverate" which is a damning and harmful word (it also speaks to intolerance) which is better replaced with "repetition/special interests," this is an excellent work. Anne Addison deserves a round of applause for this stellar work. I love the Beatle influence by entitling a chapter "Getting By With a Little Help From Your Friends." That Beatle influence - it's a good one!
Her second child, Jack was born in 1991, a year after his sister Sarah. While Sarah was described as a low maintenance child, Jack had behavioral and sensory issues from the beginning. I like the way Addison looks back at Jack's early behavior and realizes what might have caused it, such as a meltdown he had at age 2 when he wanted a juice box while visiting an unfamiliar relative.
I also like the way she describes her son's schooling; the resource tools she used and the overall layout of Jack's classrooms. Jack initially had a good school experience in pre-kindergarten, but that came to a crashing end the following year. Claustrophobic and highly active (Jack was also described as being ADD/ADHD), Jack was forced to sit in a closet for a time out. The boy was understandably scared out of his mind.
When Jack was in second grade, his world unravelled. He had a meltdown in class; was not well matched for the teacher he had that year and engaged in dangerous behavior such as jumping out of a moving car. He was subsequently hospitalized and the experience sounded nothing short of traumatic. Jack's day in the emergency ward until he was sprung was horrifying enough, but the two month sentence he served in a local hospital (December 1998 - February 1999) sounded horrifying to me. The one thing I took issue with was Addison's wondering if being there on Christmas would affect Jack. Of course it would! The boy probably felt he was being punished and to serve time in a hospital on Christmas - ouch! On Christmas Eve, he wrote a note saying he wanted to get out of that place and who could blame him? Another horrifying event was Jack being locked naked in a seclusion room while Addison waved good-bye. That was very upsetting and one can't help but wonder if Jack felt that was being sanctioned.
The only good thing to come of this experience that I could see was that Jack was on a strict behavior modification program. That helped him learn what social boundaries are. Once released, Jack attended the hospital school (Partial Hospital Program - PHP) until more suitable placement could be found.
After many trials and errors with medication and different types of therapies, including alternative methods such as one that involved manipulating the boy's head and neck, an appropriate school was found for Jack. Readers soar with his progress and growing development.
Since autism/Asperger's (a/A) is a sensory condition, Jack's behavior made perfect sense from a sensory, sensible standpoint. He disliked haircuts because he didn't like the way shorn hair felt on his skin. He found parties too loud and confusing. He understandably didn't like the physical therapies because of his sensitive sensory issues. He had to follow a detailed, routine sequence to perform many routine tasks such as dressing and brushing his teeth.
There were two things that I found confusing: In the chapter entitled What's Going On With the Other Kids in the Family, John is called "Ken" twice. In the Sample Medication Log, Jack is called "William" twice. Who was Ken? Also, the chapters did not line up with the Table of Contents and were off by one number.
Parts of this book were funny. When Jack was asked to cheer a neighbor's daughter whose mother had just died, Jack juggled pillows because he said he thought that would cheer her up. Jack's behavior was logical and he was doing what he thought was right at the time. I thought that was funny.
I like the way strategies are included in this book along with a good resource guide. This is the book parents of children on the spectrum have prayed for. Be sure to get this and make it a very close friend. You will find it to be an invaluable resource and you will be mighty glad to have it close at hand.
Great Reading!.......2006-06-28
This is a great personal story of a mother's struggles and successes in raising a son with Asperger's. After years of meeting with teams of professionals and individuals in the field, she has come up with alot of very useful information for anyone that has or works with kids with asperger's.
A Must Read!.......2006-06-21
This is a touching, in-depth look at a mother's personal account of life and daily struggles of having a child with autism. She tells of the importance not just to "survive", but really deals with one's own attitude and how that affects the overall picture. I thought One Small Starfish was very well-written, stressing the need to cheer your child on and teaching them to be the best they can be.
I'm having a hard time with this one.......2004-06-07
As the mother of a young boy with ASD, I am a devotee of 1st person narratives dealing with the autism experience. Anne Addison's book shares many practical, fairly easy to implement suggestions, but the book got under my skin as well. This book is indeed easy to use and read. However, the author just has too much money to throw at situations to create a realistic portrait of raising a special needs child. I cannot "hire" the "help" that Anne is able to hire for fulltime babysitters, housecleaners, and random other folks who keep hearth and home for her. Nor can I afford (and I don't believe that the majority of us out there can) to fly my child around the country to the have consultations with the leading experts in the field, as Addison repeatedly does. Yet, these means are frequently recommended to the readers.
Addison also came off like a "supermom," even though her advice was to try not to be one. I'm sorry, bot only a person who does not have to clean, watch her children, run errands and cook is going to be able to write all of the letters to insurance companies, teachers and other team members that she recommends.
This book did have some valuable insights. Her advice on hospitalization was particularly compelling, and worth the read for that alone.
"Parent friendly", highly recommended observations.......2003-01-06
One Small Starfish: A Mother's Everyday Advice, Survival Tactics & Wisdom For Raising A Special Needs Child is the true story of Anne Addison, a mother who worked hard to raise a child diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger's Syndrome, and developmental delays, and sensory integration problems. Facing the formidable challenges of teaching a child who is constantly pulled onto paths only he understands, Addison mastered the basic necessities of familial survival and helped her son learn how to cope in a dangerous world. One Small Starfish is a 372-page compendium of practical, "parent friendly", highly recommended observations and experiences from which the mothers and fathers of special needs children can draw information, advice, and hope. Addison's son is currently a successful student in a typical fourth grade classroom and, as other boys his age, actively participates in sports, church choir, and music.
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The Starfish Files: One Leader¿s Account of Insight and Inspiration Under Duress
Hiam Alexander
Manufacturer: HRD Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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ASIN: 0874258367
Release Date: 2005-07-01 |
Book Description
No matter how bleak a situation may appear, there is always hope for those who are open to new ideas and approaches in their work as leaders!
The Starfish Files
One Leader's Account of Insight and Inspiration Under Duress
Alex Hiam
Have you ever wished you could only somehow get your people to tackle their work with a more positive attitude, a little more initiative, a shared feeling of ownership, and personal responsibility for their success?
Here's a one-of-a-kind book that will inspire leaders—like you—to overcome problems and threats, break through to higher performance levels, and generate new enthusiasm in employees.
A unique story about leadership that you will enjoy, learn from, and share with others.
The Starfish Files uses an easily read story about some notes on business management and a leader's challenges to present a message that goes much deeper than good-sounding advice.
The book describes a low-ranking manager with a somewhat unprofitable firm who was struggling with performance challenges—and wondering how to produce improved results. During a seaside vacation, he became inspired and captured his thoughts in writing, thinking the material would be beneficial to other managers dealing with the same problems.
He gives the notes to a friend—a successful author and business professional—and asks him to take a serious look. More notes followed and The Starfish Files was created…a "lightly edited but completely authentic account" of the notes.
Today the low-ranking manager is associated with the senior executive's office of one of the world's largest and most successful organizations. And The Starfish Files reveal his uncanny knack for creating a high-performance work climate in which everyone has star potential and employees truly do accomplish amazing things.
Alex Hiam—a master storyteller with a lasting message
Author Alexander Hiam—one of the world's most recognized management experts—acknowledges that the challenges leaders face can seem daunting. As a result, many in a position to lead do not choose to do as often as they could. He believes a caring leader who speaks encouraging words or articulates a vision to a group creates a ripple effect. His compelling book, The Starfish Files, will show you how to create small ripples that begin a process of growth and change for you and others around you.
The Starfish Files is destined to become a classic!
Whether your organization consists of a handful of leaders or thousands, The Starfish Files is a reminder you can create a climate that maximizes success simply by focusing on these key areas:
• Building a considerate workplace where people take pride in treating one another with kindness and respect
• Maximizing optimism and hopefulness in their groups by managing with "emotional intelligence"
• Inviting creativity, participative problem-solving, and creative idea generation from their staffs
• Keeping people informed by sharing the power of performance-related information with employees who—in the typical workplace—receive little useful feedback
• Strengthening employees through developmental assignments
• Having the courage to be the "eyes" of their teams, providing the compelling direction and goals that give their work context and meaning
• Assessing the changing needs of employees and adjusting their approach to help everyone develop and fulfill their unique "star" potential
Alex Hiam specializes in leadership, motivation, and conflict handling skills in the workplace. He is the author of numerous books, assessments, and training programs on these subjects. His consulting clients range from Fortune 100 companies to nonprofits and government agencies. Alex developed the Strategic Leadership Type Indicator (page 44) line of assessment and training products for HRD Press, as well as the Dealing with Conflict Instrument (page 16). A previous book on leadership and morale, Motivational Management, was publi
Books:
- The Wilding of America: Money, Mayhem, and the New American Dream (Contemporary Social Issues)
- This Moment on Earth: Today's New Environmentalists and Their Vision for the Future
- To Love, Honor, and Obey in Colonial Mexico: Conflicts over Marriage Choice, 1574-1821
- Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs: Official Companion Book to the Exhibition sponsored by National Geographic
- Vampire Kisses 4: Dance with a Vampire (Vampire Kisses)
- Warriors Field Guide: Secrets of the Clans (Warriors)
- Why Didn't I Learn This in College?
- Windows Vista Inside Out
- Winter on the Plain of Ghosts: A Novel of Mohenjo-daro
- WORDS THAT WORK: IT'S NOT WHAT YOU SAY, IT'S WHAT PEOPLE HEAR
Books Index
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The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
