Book Description

Book Description
From minor injuries such as scraped knees to major, potentially life-threatening conditions such as choking and shock, First Aid for Babies & Children Fast provides clear, step-by-step instructions for dealing with any childhood problem. Originally published in 1995, it has been completely revised and updated in line with currently accepted first aid techniques. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great resource for parents
This is a very good resource book for parents. It includes photographs rather than drawings, making it easier to understand the procedures being described. I think this helps parents who may have limited reading skills or for whom English is not their first language. This would be a great book to give as a baby shower gift.
... Read more

Book Description
First-to-Market: The Only High-Yield Exam Prep for the Pediatric Boards!

Written by veteran First Aid Editor Tao Le and a team of fellows, residents, and junior faculty from Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Stanford, and Harvard Universities who have just taken the exam, this resource covers what to expect on the exam, how to apply and succeed, and must-know high-yield facts.

• Includes clinical images, x-rays, CT, and MRI scans
• Can also be used to prep for the in-service training exam residents are required to take every year

Customer Reviews (2)

Pediatric Boards
I have mixed feelings about First AID for the Pediatric Boards.I used both this book and Laughing Your Way . . .There are helpful tables in First AID that are not found in other books; however, there is a lot of extraneous information more useful for a third year medical student on the pediatric wards than someone taking their pediatric board exam (i.e. how to describe a cardiac murmur).I found more helpful information in Laughing Your Way . . . , but would recommend First AID if you have the time after reading other material.

Good for review, but not complete
My experience with First-Aid books has generally been very positive. I've used the series during my studies for all my USMLE steps, and they've been very helful.

First Aid for the Pediatric Boards will not disappoint. It is well written, with a logical structure and a concise nature. However, in an effort to maintain conciseness, I feel some pertinent information has been left out.

This book is best used by people who study over a long period - and then you will have an opportunity to write your notes along the margins (which are, by the way, nice and spacious). This will turn this book into the perfect read for the two weeks prior to the exam.

If you use this book as your sole studying source, you might pass - but only if you memorize the book entirely. Your volume of information will be hovering along the "just-enough" level and you will not afford losing a single question.

Good luck to all of us! ... Read more

Book Description
An informed and excoriating attack on the tragic waste, futility, and hubris of the West's efforts to date to improve the lot of the so-called developing world, with constructive suggestions on how to move forward.

William Easterly's The White Man's Burden is about what its author calls the twin tragedies of global poverty. The first, of course, is that so many are seemingly fated to live horribly stunted, miserable lives and die such early deaths. The second is that after fifty years and more than $2.3 trillion in aid from the West to address the first tragedy, it has shockingly little to show for it. We'll never solve the first tragedy, Easterly argues, unless we figure out the second.

The ironies are many: We preach a gospel of freedom and individual accountability, yet we intrude in the inner workings of other countries through bloated aid bureaucracies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank that are accountable to no one for the effects of their prescriptions. We take credit for the economic success stories of the last fifty years, like South Korea and Taiwan, when in fact we deserve very little. However, we reject all accountability for pouring more than half a trillion dollars into Africa and other regions and trying one "big new idea" after another, to no avail. Most of the places in which we've meddled are in fact no better off or are even worse off than they were before. Could it be that we don't know as much as we think we do about the magic spells that will open the door to the road to wealth?

Absolutely, William Easterly thunders in this angry, irreverent, and important book. He contrasts two approaches: (1) the ineffective planners' approach to development-never able to marshal enough knowledge or motivation to get the overambitious plans implemented to attain the plan's arbitrary targets and (2) a more constructive searchers' approach-always on the lookout for piecemeal improvements to poor peoples' well-being, with a system to get more aid resources to those who find things that work. Once we shift power and money from planners to searchers, there's much we can do that's focused and pragmatic to improve the lot of millions, such as public health, sanitation, education, roads, and nutrition initiatives. We need to face our own history of ineptitude and learn our lessons, especially at a time when the question of our ability to "build democracy," to transplant the institutions of our civil society into foreign soil so that they take root, has become one of the most pressing we face. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (48)

Good...a little too far to the right for me, though
Provides a good balance to Jeff Sach's "The End of Poverty."If you haven't read Sach's book, read it first, then Easterly's "The White Man's Burden."Both provide a solution for increasing development among the world's poorest populations.As with most arguments, I think the answer lies somewhere in between their points of view.Read it with a grain of salt and it will temper your idea that MORE money is the ONLY answer.

White Man's Burden
White Man's Burden - An absolute masterpiece. The book clearly describes the differences between the two main development-schools as represented by Easterly & Sachs. A must-read for anybody interested in the field of development.

"idealism, high expectations, disappointing results, cynical backlash"
I have been a self-described Easterly fangirl since reading his excellent book The Elusive Quest for Growth. In that book, he had managed to be precise, supported, readable, humane and funny-- all at the same time. In the world of reading about development economics, this was no mean feat.

I had known that this book was out for a while, but had only gotten around to reading it after seeing Easterly here in Amsterdam. He was debating Jan Pronk about what he calls the difference between Planner- and Searcher-based methods of developmental aid. Planners, in his terms, prefer the sweeping top-down approaches to poverty eradication-- all governed by a central committee somewhere else. Searchers adopt a more piecemeal approach to solutions, looking from the bottom up without benefit (or as much benefit) from Utopian ideals. It was a very interesting debate. The audience was full of folks working in various NGOs and developmental organization. It inspired me enough to go ahead and buy The White Man's Burden.

The arguments that Easterly make feel so intuitively correct that they make me suspicious. The bottom line for him seems to be that real situations are individual, and solutions cannot be extrapolated from overriding principles. He is savage towards the unrealistic thinking of the neo-imperialists and unsparing of many of the political sacred cows. He points out that given limited resources, tradeoffs do have to be made. Too many people forget that even given unlimited funding (which is far from the case), resources can still be scarce-- attention, will power, distribution infrastructure, etc. He also says that if goals in aid programs are failing, then throwing more money at them will not help.

I think that Easterly's stand is often miscontrued based on the last point. I have heard detractors say that he is arguing towards limiting aid to the needy poor. There is no substantiation of that-- at least not in his books or in the lecture I attended. Instead, what he argues is that if unrealistic goals and cumbersome structures prevent aid from reaching the poorest, then adding more money on top of the pile will not fix the problem. For any experienced project managers out there, this is going to feel very "right". Easterly is not calling for less spending; he is calling for more sensible spending. He is calling for accountability, practicality, focus and honest evaluation. These are things that should be self-evident, but are apparently very difficult to achieve. He asks the very disturbing question whether the developed countries are more interested in selling their personal ideology in the form of a Utopian vision than they are interested in achieving real change on the ground where it is needed the most.

Other topics include examples of successful "Searcher" strategies for bringing change to the life of the poor; historical numbers looking at the effect of aid on growth; a discussion of the different aid agencies and their limitations; and some thinking about the role (or lack of one) in local governments when it comes to development initiatives.

The White Man's Burden is, as The Elusive Quest for Growth, precise, supported, readable, humane and funny. I think that it is in many respects a stronger book as it better integrates the stories of the poor with the structure. There are many fascinating pointers for further reading. I would have appreciated an annotated bibliography instead of just pulling references from the notes, but I guess that you cannot have everything that you want in a single book. Recommended reading.

the white man's sense of superiority causing the help not working
The more the West will be able to find searchers in the local situation for developing countries, the more the aid business will become effective for the sustainable development. Avoiding the PLANNERS's way of thinking will be helpful. The book has very concrete approach to understand how aid has been useless and how it may be made more effective.

David Suze Manda, a Congolese (DRC) Student in the International Master Degree in Peace, Conflicts and Development, at Universitat Jaume I,Castellon, Spain

Good, not great
This is a welcome counterpoint to books like Jeffrey Sachs' "The End of Poverty." It's written in a casual style, and with helpful explanations for economic concepts. I learned quite a bit. The book suffers for its length, however. The whole of Part III could be eliminated without detracting from the book's main thesis: that bottom-up, rather than top-down, solutions are required to assist developing countries. More attention should have been given to fleshing out that idea, rather than endlessly rehearsing failures of Western aid in poor countries. ... Read more

Book Description
Most futures depend on it.

This comprehensive, fully updated edition shows readers how to get scholarships, find the best financial aid packages for academic or sports skills, improve one’s chances of receiving financial aid, take advantage of the new tax laws to build a college savings plan, and much more. Also includes a newly updated yellow-pages directory with names, addresses, and information on where to inquire and how to apply for financial aid.
? A must-have purchase for anyone considering budgeting for or financing a college education
... Read more

Book Description
Does the scientific "theory" that HIV came to North America from Haiti stem from underlying attitudes of racism and ethnocentrism in the United States rather than from hard evidence? Anthropologist-physician Paul Farmer answers in the affirmative with this, the first full-length ethnographic study of AIDS in a poor society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Reading this book will change your life
Farmer's excellent historical ethnography of Haitian illness (as seen through the contemporary context of the world AIDS epidemic), proves the necessity of developing anthropological approaches to understanding health systems and implementing medical care.The diagnosis and analysis of sickness, disease, illness, and treatment should go hand-in-hand with the cultural understanding of local systems of blame, accusation, causation, and cure.Where most approaches to medicine are based on the "Westernized" first-world nations' understanding of the causes of illness (tainted as well, as Farmer shows, by systematic "blame the victim" and shame techniques), the adoption of these approaches in treating the illnesses of other peoples can be catastrophic.Three ethnographies make up the structure of a detailed historical inquiry )

The longstanding tradition of conceiving of illness through the lens of powerlessness shapes the contemporary lives of the people in Haiti with whom Farmer worked.Although they could see the effects of the illness, people in this region were obsessed with the cause of the illness, and felt the need to understand AIDS through a constructed narrative of blame.A deep belief in their religion led villagers to look for the source of witchcraft that could possibly be harming them, and elaborate stories about neighbors, jealousies, and rivalries flourished as a result.Any improvement in the standing of one member of the society (through wealth, status, relationships, acquisition of property or food, or political power through employment or marriage) adds to the structure of distrust and blame.

Farmer's book shows how disturbingly complex and deep the layers of mistrust, misinformation, and the effects of racism, are.Among the medical hypotheses for the probable exposure is the theory of Haitian sex-workers' contacts through gay tourists to the early strains of HIV.Farmer outlines the long history of Haiti as a gay tourist attraction, and Duvalier's encouragement of tourism as a boost to the domestic economy.Although the possible cause of the gay sex trade for HIV exposure has not been confirmed, medical establishments in the U.S. based their theories of causation on other factors, such as Haitian religious practices.These theories were, in truth, reinforcing longstanding ignorance and racist misunderstandings about Haitian vodou.Stereotypes and racial profiling of Haitian citizenship as a "risk factor" (one of the "Four H's" along with hemophiliac, homosexual, and heroin user), contributed to public policies against Haitian immigrants.Haitians' belief that they are being attacked by some evil sorcery in the guise of a fatal illness called sida falls into place amidst the context of extreme antagonism and injustice.

While reading this book, I was compelled to ask myself if there isn't some truth in Haitians' understanding of AIDS as the result of malicious sorcery.Haiti was the only American society to successfully result from the direct action of a revolution against slavery and colonialism.As such, the small nation governed by creoles and black ex-slaves presented a threat to North and South American colonial societies, which were firmly entrenched in slave labor economic systems.Historically, the threat of a repeat of the Haitian revolution must have terrified white European landowners.This terror of African power and strength has been passed on in a racist legacy, adapted to political policies and nationalist agendas, and still exists in ignorant beliefs about AIDS and its causes.Haitians believe that they are victims of a longstanding racist agenda, and they may in fact be right.Farmer's book begins to illuminate some of the complicated historical and ethnographic realities of the overlapping connections between illness and racism, and between causes and effects.

One of the 4-Hs shouldn't be.
This book dispels the common myths of Haitians and AIDS. It also shows very clearly the heavy involvement of the United States in creating the poverty Haiti has faced. This book makes use of statistics well, butunfortunately, at this point those stats are many years old. When Farmerwrote this book, only three people in the village of Do Kay had died ofAIDS. Now, with huge percentages of Haitians exposed to HIV, the picturemust certainly look different. This book is a geat candidate for a revisededition some time in the future.

Informative and thought provoking
I read this book for a medical anthropology class and found it incredibly interesting in its discussion of the politics and racism involved in the US treatment of AIDS in Haiti.It delves intohow the American presence andinfluences lead to and exasperated the widespread AIDS and poverty problemsin Haiti.

Informative and thought provoking
I read this book for a medical anthropology class and found it incredibly interesting in its discussion of the politics and racism involved in the US treatment of AIDS in Haiti.It delves intohow the American presence andinfluences lead to and exasperated the widespread AIDS and poverty problemsin Haiti. ... Read more

Book Description
We know that to err is human, but the HIV/AIDS hypothesis is one hell of a mistake. I say this rather strongly as a warning. Duesberg has been saying it for a long time. Read this book. --Kary B. Mullis, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1993 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (97)

People can't come to terms with the enormous "conspiracy" of modern health care.
The main problem is that many average people, and the vast majority of medical related people simply cannot come to terms with the INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS CONSPIRACY that exists in the corporately controlled monopoly that we call Health Care. Accepting the obvious absolutely devastates our views / perceptions / and assumptions of the World around us. Quite literally. People won't go there psychologically, and their minds ignore, down-playor ridiculously refute any evidence proving that our so-called "health care" system is about as criminal, as diabolical, and as evil of a system that has ever existed on planet Earth. The proven central premise that sick, uncured, drugged people are huge sources of profit, while truly healthy people threaten the very existence of our better named "sickness creation and maintainance" system, demonstrates that there is NO ECONOMIC INCENTIVE TO CURE ANYTHING. Period. Unfortunately, reading publications, journals, and websites from all the groups that are economically tied to this system, will not spell it out quite like that. But are you really that naive to expect so?

The AIDS drama is very similiar to the cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and osteoporosis dramas, in that our "top, scientific medical men" (who all come through the Big Pharma controlled assembly line of medical schools) consistently misunderstand, misdiagnose, and mistreat the suffering every second of every day, while Big Pharma, Big Oil (as most drugs are petrochemicals), medical supply companies, big for-profit hospitals and clinics, the various foundations and national associations, a variety of politicians (especially Congress), and all of the doctors themselves (especially the various researchers) make enormous piles of money. All of these legally named and classified diseases (and this is crucial to monopolizing the treatment protocols) are huge cash cows to the system. Meanwhile, the common sick person not only gets little to no results in helping or "curing" (which modern medicine no longer even talks about) their afflictions, but the method of so-called "treatment" often accelerates what they already have, OR creates entirely different problems that are then treated with other drugs and dangerous procedures. And around and around we go.

Horse doctors from the 1920s were of much greater value to the common patient than the best Ivy League trained modern specialists of today. A modern MD wouldn't recognize a vitamin deficiency if it bit him on the butt, and don't even mention any conditions relating to modern food, water, and medicine toxicities (he'll just name it fibromyalgia, or ADHD, or early onset Parkinson's, or manic depression and send you on your way with 2 minutes of blither-blather and a handful of pills). Modern medical people, either knowingly or unknowingly, are simply drug pushers, misdirecting fear mongerers, and money collectors for global-wide corporations. And like with any corporate agenda, profits for shareholders are the ONLY LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY. The medical corporations have no other legal responsibility, and they simply laugh when the issues of ethics or morality are brought up.

Business is war, and any corporate entity will do whatever is needed to exist, profit and grow, and this includes destroying competition (like the entire realm of common sense "natural" medicine), partnering up with allies(forming powerful medical monopolies), changing legal parameters (creation of the AMA and the FDA, for example), creating a mind manipulated army (which is why they build, fund, and control medical institutions), and CREATING A NEED FOR THEIR PRODUCTS in the market place (either real or imagined through various forms of propaganda). It is in this last area that this book excells in. It explains how the system creates huge markets for their products. And it will lie, cheat, steal, bribe, and ultimately kill to do so. Possibly introducing HIV into the human population, then misrepresenting what HIV is, then creating a bogus syndrome (AIDS) and linking it with shameless causality, then spreading fear like never before, then making many billions from off-the-shelf drug protocols (AZT was shelved previously because it was determined to be too toxic even for chemotherapy - which really is saying something!) is just another day at the office for these corporate pirates. Have I shattered your World yet?

The author's questioning of the causal link between HIV and AIDS is certainly needed and well done. Clearly, AZT and other drugs and conditions lead to what has been termed AIDS. Fine. But, my main issue is the author's down playing of what HIV really is, how it developed, how it got introduced into the human population, and what consequences it has in our bodies even without the toxic treatments. These concerns he blows off, which is unfortunate because they really are at the heart of the "conspiracy". For example, does the author actually believe that HIV jumped species from some Green monkeys??!!

Others brave researchers have done excellent work in showing HIVs most likely man-made beginnings (as in an agent of germ warfare created at Fort Detrick, Maryland), it's introduction into the human population in the late 1970s via bogus Hep-B vaccines in specific cities in the US and in Africa, and the intended affects on certain target populations (genocide of the gay population and black Africans mainly). And I'm unsure of why the author doesn't go down any of these paths. Too controversial even for him? Not his area of expertise? Not aware of the research? Doesn't believe in the extent of the evil agenda? Or is this author using some classic misdirection? Hard to say, but understanding the abuse this guy has taken and what he's sacrificed to get his info out, I would tend to think he's above board. Regardless, this book only tells half the story of the HIV / AIDS drama (at best), thus the 3 star rating.

HIV Does Not Cause AIDS
... That is the theme of this astounding book.In this highly persuasive piece, Dr. Peter Duesberg explains exactly why no cure for AIDS is in prospect despite more than twenty years of research and uncounted billions of dollars spent on AIDS research. (And many lives lost.) His answer is simple: AIDS is not caused by the HIV organism or any virus.Thus all attempts to "cure" the disease by killing the virus will be, and have been, uniformly unsuccessful since no virus is the cause of AIDS.

The reader is initially astonished to learn in this book he fact that no scientist has ever performed an experiment to establish a proof that HIV (or any virus) causes AIDS.Dr. Duesberg explains that Koch's Theorem, the accepted means of establishing that a specific organism causes a given disease, has never been applied to AIDS research.Attempts to do so have failed, and in fact the presence of HIV in AIDS patients who have succumbed to the disease is so low as to be nearly undetectable.Inexplicably, scientists, such as Dr. Duesberg, who question the present AIDS orthodoxy (that HIV is the cause of AIDS) have been made outcasts.

Another astounding argument that Dr. Duesberg makes convincingly is that AZT, the medication of choice for AIDS patients (endlessly drumbeated by the news media as the "treatment" for AIDS), is itself deadly dangerous.AZT is the cause of symptoms that lead to death, which symptoms are themselves indistinguishable from classic AIDS.AZT was originally intended to be used as a cancer treatment, but is so toxic to patients that it could not be used to treat cancer.In fact, AZT prevents all cells from reproducing, and a human being cannot take AZT in dosages sufficient to kill viruses and expect to live.

Duesberg makes a persuasive case that the US Federal Government, through the Center for Disease Control, has utterly centralized AIDS research by controlling almost all funding for it, with the result that the research is hopelessly politicized.As one wag put it, centralized planning for research works no better than the centralized economic planning which brought about the demise of the old Soviet Union. In any case, no cure for AIDS is in prospect after countless billions have been spent, and many lives lost.Further, AIDS has distinguished itself by stubbornly refusing to expand beyond its original risk groups--drug users, gay men, and hemophiliacs receiving regular transfusions.Although many predictions have been made that AIDS would quickly become a disease afflicting countless non-drug using heterosexuals, nothing of the sort has happened.In fact, AIDS has been relatively stable in its prevalence since its existence was first announced in the 1980s, with most or all of its increase consisting of a widening of the definition of AIDS.This redefining of certain traditional diseases by now classifying them as "AIDS" explains the so-called epidemic of the disease in Africa.Here, Dr. Duesberg is very persuasive.

Dr. Duesberg offers an alternative hypothesis for the cause of AIDS.He notes that since World War II there has not been a major epidemic in modern industrialized countries excluding AIDS.There is one health problem that has mushroomed, however--recreational drug use.Dr. Duesberg makes a convincing case that the characteristics and incidence of AIDS correlates very closely to the demographics of recreational drug use.The reader can judge for him or her self.I am soundly persuaded.

Orthodox AIDS scientists, politicians, journalists, and activists have desperately sought to marginalize Peter Duesberg and the growing group of scientists who agree with him."The science is settled" they say.Dissent from the orthodox theory of AIDS is a moral, not a scientific issue, they say.(Come to think of it, where else have we heard this argument lately?)

In practice, the phrases "the science is settled" or "there is a consensus" is media code for the media's announced intent to favor one side, and deny coverage to the other, in a given controversy.

In point of fact, Dr. Duesberg is convincing that the news media have badly let the public down by failing to explain the problems and contradictions inherent in the "HIV-Causes-AIDS" orthodoxy.Why do we believe that this theory is correct when it fails to fulfill Koch's Theorem?The media should be asking this question.Instead, it has meekly fallen into line.

I predict that this book is destined to one day be heralded as a seminal work.Duesberg makes a strong case that the science of virology has run amok, aided by the US Federal Government, powerful drug companies, and misguided activists who want to be told a "magic bullet" cure is the key to solving the AIDS problem.This is a disturbing work that will shake the most skeptical reader's confidence in scientific orthodoxy.And make no mistake, a shake-up is overdue and vital.

Duesberg is right about both AIDS and the politics of science
Contrary to popular belief, Peter Duesberg is not a quack. In fact, he is a widely acknowledged expert on retroviruses such as HIV.His credentials are impecable: he is a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Nevertheless, Dusberg is regarded by the uninformed as a quack because he has dared to scientifically investigate whether the retrovirus HIV actually causes the complex of diseases known as AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) -- which has widely been asserted without proof -- and has had the courage to report that research shows the answer is that HIV is not the cause of AIDS.

In this excellent book Prof. Duesberg discusses in detail, but in a highly readable manner, both the retrovirus HIV and the syndome AIDS and shows that they are not the same things. In fact, AIDS is not itself a single disease but, rather,is a complex of more than 20 separate diseases. The one commonality of the diseases in the AIDS syndrome is not HIV infection but the fact that they rarely infect people with healthy immune systems. In general, people who acquire any of the AIDS diseases have deficient immune systems. In poor countries, especially in Africa where the incidence of AIDS is high, immune deficiency is mainly due to severe malnutrition. In the developed world, including the U.S., immune deficiency is often caused by deleterious lifestyle behavior, including drug use. A person whose immune system is severely weakened is then vulnerable to the diseases in the AIDS complex. Immune-deficient people often also catch HIV which is why HIV and AIDS often -- but definitely not always -- are found together. However, HIV can also occur in people who do not suffer from AIDS and never will. A positive test for HIV antibodies merely means that at some time a person has been infected with HIV, not that they are infected with HIV now or that they have or ever will have AIDS.

Another point which Prof. Duesberg covers in this book is that modern science has become highly politicized, and that disagreement with current scientific dogma is strongly discouraged and often punished by inability to publish in recognized scientific journals. This is one reason why Duesberg has difficulty presenting his case to the public. As a scientist with 44 years experience at a major research institution, I regret to confirm that science has indeed become politicized and dogmatic. Please read this book if you want to know the truth about AIDS and modern medical politics.

So why aren't we all dead yet?
I read Dr. Duesberg's fine book the year it came out.It is complex in places so it took me some time and I had to reread certain parts to fully understand what was being said.It was well worth the time and energy to understand rather than take 'the authorities' word for it.

I knew that if he was wrong within ten years there would be such a large number of deaths due to AIDS that it would be impossible to refute the fact that it truly was an 'epidemic' and that Dr. Duesberg was totally wrong.

Well, where's the epidemic?

Thank you, Dr. Duesberg for your honesty and courage in the face of continuing herd mentality, sheep like belief in the 'authorities' and thank you most of all for putting your own career and reputation on the line for your integrity.It will be at least 50 years more before you are seen as the voice of reason and honesty that you are.Dr. Sammelweis faced the same idiocy from his peers as you face from yours.Of course there is not as much money to be make on washing hands or not washing hands as there is on the trillion dollar research scam of AIDS.

Thank you, Dr. Duesberg from all of us intelligent enough to follow your writing and honest enough to flip off the media and the government authoritiies to whom money and power come before honesty and caring about people's lives and health.

The truth will out.But not today I'm afraid.

2007 Update: will any and all reviewers that disagree with Dr. Duesberg's book please cite contradictory EVIDENCE and not simply opine that such evidence exists! An epidemic is just that.And there simply is no epidemic. Period! This was the media hype that created all this fear of a harmless "passenger virus" of which we all have many.The only epidemic is the epidemic of bleeting sheep that continue to tell us how horrible HIV is and how we simply must start on chemotherapy as soon as it is diagnosed.Baaaahhh!

Wow, compelling, thorough and shocking reading
This book is an essential read for anyone who wants to know the truth about AIDS, Human Papiloma virus and other misrepresentations of the truth. I found this book hard to put down although shocking. The author leaves no doubt about his assertions with thorough explanations and a complete list of references. I am greatful for having read this book and I will be writing to my health minister for an explanation and to voice my protest. Thankyou Amazon. ... Read more

Book Description
The new “bible” for NBDE Part II preparation!This high-yield, comprehensive review of topics examined on the National Board Dental Examination (NBDE) Part II is written for dental students by recent dental graduates who aced the boards. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Very Helpful!
In preparation for the dental boards I purchased as much material as I could find.First Aid NBDE Part II is organized and easy to read.It provides helpful "tricks" to memorize information.The clinical pictures and illustrations were instrumental in my understanding and memorization of difficult topics.It is a very solid core book for studying for the boards.

Excellent Information
This book is very clear and informatitive. I now feel confidant enough to take my test and know that I can pass without any problems.

Not good enough
It seems as though this book was rushed to be published. It not only has a number of grammatical errors, but factual as well. If you're smart enough to catch the errors, then good for you. If not, you'll risk getting some important points wrong on the boards. I find myself having to cross-check with our core text books repeatedly and I've only studied 4 sections of the book so far. I used the FIRST AID for the USMLE to study for the NBDE part 1. That text was great and helped me score a 91%. Unfortionately, this book is disappointing and frustrating.
This will probably be a good book in a few years once it's really edited.
Happy studying everyone

IT'S A VERY INTERESTING AND HELPFUL BOOK. MY DAUGHTER NEEDED FOR HER STUDIES.
IT'S A VERY INTERESTING AND HELPFUL BOK. MY DAUGHTER NEEDED FOR HER STUDIES IN DENTISTRY POSTGRADE ... Read more

Book Description
This new edition of the highly successful short guide to the examination of the peripheral nervous system has been revised with new color illustrations and photographs throughout. As the standard short text on the subject, it's an essential reference tool for medical students, residents and clinical neurologists. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Indispensable
Every physician, regardless of specialty, should own this short book.For neurologists, its one of the small number of things you should have available for all patient encounters.

Great book
A must for every neurology resident. Very good pictures showing anatomy and physical exam appropiate for almost every muscle.

Seth@nmtmidwest
Aids to examination of the peripheral nervous system is a nice compact, quick reference book to primarily peripheral neuropathies and at the end, briefly of radiculopathies.The images of both muscle tests and cutaneous sensory areas are very clear.Text is short and to the point.Very helpful and well worth the low cost!

Buy this book!
I absolutely hate peripheral nerve disorders.That's probably because I'm not good at diagnosing them.But, if I had this book at the start of my training, perhaps things would be different.This book is an absolute gem.It has great illustrations and has complete listings of movements, muscles, nerves, and roots.It has diagrams of the plexuses as well.There is a handy table in the back on most common muscle movements, etc.It's biggest drawback is that it does not fit in a hospital coat's pocket.

Reliable, pamphlet sized, clinical reference
New edition of a handy clinical reference that has been around for 50 years. Early editions had photos in B&W, color in this version adds nothing. For every muscle there is a photo of a clinical evaluation showing position of the limb etc and the instructions ("The patient tries to flex against resistance"). For each muscle there is listed the spinal segments and periferal nerve. Included are standard sensory maps and plexus diagrams. Fits into your instrument bag or white coat pocket. Worth getting if you see only 5 neuro-muscular problems a year! ... Read more

Book Description
This unique desk reference on hearing aids gives unprecedented access to the major hearing aid manufacturers and their product lines, in a convenient “at-a-glance” format. Nine major manufacturers are profiled, with background information on each company including history, research and development, philanthropic activity, and warranty information. Following each profile is a comprehensive listing of that manufacturer’s most current hearing aid products. This compendium of hearing aid information is essential for audiologists, hearing scientists, and anyone involved in the hearing aid industry. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Superd
Superb study of an HIV/AIDS prevention programme in a South African township. Focussing on mineworkers, sexworkers, young people and (political)stakeholders.
Using several concepts of the social sciences, like empowerment, critical consciousness and social capital, she describes and analyses behaviour of the aforementioned groups in relation to the HIV epidemic in South Africa.
Making use of findings from 'The Summertown Project' she comes to a clear and lively story of the choices people from a marginalized community make.

I used this book for my final thesis on a research I did at an AIDS project in South Africa. It helped me to prepare myself on the things I was going to experience and to put my research in a broader perspective.

Not only for HIV education efforts!
This is an exceptional and courageously written book. It is a'must read' for anyone involved in efforts to get groups of people to change their behavior. Limitations of public education efforts identified in this book can be applied to numerous public health endeavors. Without the insights of this author, we will continue to make attempts to apply programs that will fail because we have failed to understand the context in which the undesirable behavior patterns occur. This is a tough, sobering and realistic piece of work.
I also found it a pleasure to read, profoundly interesting, although often tragically so.

Damocles Sword
There are few books about AIDS that are worth reading, let alone reviewing. The vast majority remain constrained by the rigid confines of their conceptualisation, almost none daring to suggest that their conceptualisation might be wrong. The author of this book is one of the very few who dare do this and as a result has produced a book which is not only outstanding intellectually but should also be mandatory reading for anyone who has an interest in programmes that attempt to have an impact on any one of the multitude of epidemics of HIV infection. In fact it should be mandatory reading for anyone who has an interest in programmes that attempt to change the way people are in relation to what are called the development problems of today.

The book describes the author's experiences with a project that started out by trying to reduce the risk of infection by HIV amongst three groups in a mining town in South Africa - female sex workers, male miners, and young people. There were two approaches to doing this: peer education and the "promotion of partnerships between a diverse array of community groupings of stakeholders to coordinate and support the variety of local HIV-prevention efforts in such a way that maximized their overall cumulative effectiveness". The interventions chosen were all invested with the glowing approbation of the international `AIDS project' community as prime examples of what should be done in such situations. In terms of having any impact on the epidemic or on the sexual culture of the area the project has so far been a failure. The author analyses the reasons for this failure in a number of analytical contexts.

The author is very well placed to analyse the history of the project. She herself as a social psychologist had been involved in the township in 1995 in trying to understand the reasons why there is such a high prevalence of HIV infection amongst the miners and sex workers despite their obvious knowledge of the existence of HIV and the ways in which it is transmitted. The studies themselves form part of the opening chapters, and provide very good insight into the conditions of these people's lives and the enormous social factors that influence their lives and decision-making. The following chapters describe the way the project grew as a result of a drive from some local people for work that would affect the growing numbers of people with AIDS and from a group of scientists and professionals (including the author) who had an interest in the area. One chapter provides the initial theoretical justification for the various actions that were taken, with heavy leaning on the writings of Paulo Freire on the conscientisation side, Pierre Bourdieu for social capital, and on the experiences of peer education with sex workers in Zimbabwe of David Wilson and others.

The book will be invaluable for the discussion of the importance of the social context for behaviour, and indeed will be read by many for that alone. It also details the very many ways in which the project's ideals fell by the wayside (the rates of sexually transmitted infection in miners actually rose during the period of the project, there were many difficulties with the peer education approach for young people in school, the stakeholders were far from unified in their vision or even interest) or were partially successful (there were several changes amongst the sex workers), and again these experiences will be as interesting as they are familiar to many who work with such projects.

However this book goes far beyond such a discussion. She points to the inadequacies of our current theoretical and modelling frameworks for such interventions; to the fact that the stakeholders who were involved did not see themselves as part of the epidemic or as people whose behaviour had to change; to the fact that the designers and researchers of the project had much discord and competition amongst themselves; to the great mistrust that developed between the researchers and much of the `community'. In fact, although the author tries to scotch the problem with the definition of `community' by stating that in this case the term `community' refers to the people in a geographic area, the tension behind this definition continues throughout the book as it is acknowledged that only a few of the many individuals and groups in the area were in fact being requested to change their ways - the paternalism and continued power of the `senior' stakeholders continuing throughout.

The value of the book is still more. The lessons drawn in the concluding chapter smack of a level of desperation in the author to find lessons, and this may perhaps be the only weakness of the book. In these lessons the author still struggles to keep the idea going that somehow in a better world the interventions could have had an impact if only people had carried them through according to the wishes of the project designers. The deep question the author raises in the mind of the reader is whether such approaches can ever work in relation to an epidemic (as opposed to being valuable for a few individuals or groups). This question is not actually present in the book (although there are numerous hints of the author's disquiet concerning the mismatch between the daily reality of people's lives and the wishes and interests of the project managers) but it hangs over ever sentence as did the sword over Damocles. As for Dionysius in relation to those who wield power, it is a question hanging over all those who praise mindlessly the black art of development.

Compelling critical analysis of HIV prevention efforts
If you are interested in how to prevent HIV, in community development work, or in what happens when academic ideals meet local community realities, then this book will stimulate, inform, surprise, and even galvanise you. This important book offers a unique view of the inside workings of an actual community HIV prevention programme as it unfolded. It details the failures of the programme, in order to insist that we must make much more effort to address the hard questions of economic and gender inequalities and political will. By making visible the everyday power dynamics among community members, stakeholders and project workers, the book makes a major contribution to understanding the problematic process of community development. ... Read more

Book Description
A standard Greek reference tool allowing students to learn vocabulary quickly by listing words according to their frequency of use in the New Testament. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

If it's so outdated, why is it still going strong years later?
People have criticized Metzger's work for being outdated, superseded, not having all the features other books have, etc. Perhaps the reason this little book is still so popular is because people misunderstand its virtues. It is not the amount of lexical data and mnemonic tips that made it worthwhile, only to be bettered by books with more data & tips. Metzger was a giant in the field, and while none could deny that Bauer, Spicq, and Moulton/Geden are better for understanding word meanings than Metzger's glosses, Metzger's slim volume is always ready at hand for quick, easy study.

Not trading mine in...

Handy Quick Reference
Metzger's Lexical Aids has been in my library for many years.I use it as a quick reference on New Testament Greek if I don't want to pull out more exhausitve aids.I espccially like the way he has created several indices including an index of Greek roots and a sort by number of occurrences.

This aid was particularly useful when I first started to learn the Greek but I find myself, even today, going back to it for a quick lookup.I recommend this book for students of New Testament Greek.

I have used other resources as well, many of which were recommended by the late Dr. Gene Scott and continue to be used by his wife, Pastor Melissa Scott.But none seem to be as well worn as my "Lexical Aids".

Great, and affordable little book!!!
I bought this book after reading Dr. P.C. Comminos review. This is a gem of a little book. Here's how it's set up: list words by their frequency (from 500 occurances all the way down to 10), words classified according to their root, ino-european family of languages (helps you see the big picture), prepositions in composition with verbs, principal parts of important verbs, feminine nouns of the second declension, and an index of greek words. Yes I got that from the table of contents.

Total length of this book is 100 pages. It is inexpensive and comprehensive for it's size. A superior product given that it is only 100 pages. You can get this book for under ten dollars. There are few purchases that qualify as "No brainers" in my humble opinion. This is one of those "NO BRAINERS." As a side note if your learning greek you should check out Dr. PC Commino's profile. I have found it very informative, and have never been steered wrong by him.

Dynamite comes in small packages
Zillions of would-be Greek experts produce books aimed at `helping' students study Greek. The difference between Metzger's little work and many of these is that Metzger was de facto an expert in New Testament Greek (unlike many others who simply pretend to be) and his book actually is helpful. This faithful servant of God, who died earlier this year, helped produce the critical edition of the Greek New Testament and was also editor of the NRSV translation of the Bible. This book contains lists of NT words that occur frequently as well as other mnemonic tools aimed at helping students master Greek vocabulary. What sets this work apart are the stunningly accurate definitions provided. I have used other similar works, but none are nearly as helpful in providing the same accurate definitions. Greek students should work through this book in their first year of Greek and memorize its contents fully. This will put them on a very firm footing when they begin to translate passages from the New Testament.

Great for 'Word Association' Learners
Depending upon the style in which the reader learns best, this book may be a great asset.

If you learn via "word association" or by using cognates of words, this will help you tremendously. In most cases, a cognate is listed in the definition, which will enable the reader to associate a modern word to the Greek equivalent. Additionally, words are ordered by root (in the last half of the book) further enabling the student to remember and associate words of like definition.

If you learn by any other method, unfortunately, this book will be nothing more than a long list of words. Although it will be of service to you, it will not be the tremendous service to you that it is to word association types.

In any case, a great resource, especially for the price. ... Read more

Book Description
AIDS Update 2008 presents a balanced review of current research and information on HIV infection, HIV disease, and AIDS. AIDS Update 2008 places this discussion within a biological, medical, social, economic and legal framework, helping readers to more fully understand this modern-day pandemic. ... Read more

Book Description
With more than a billion people now living on less than a dollar a day, and with eight million dying each year because they are simply too poor to live, most would agree that the problem of global poverty is our greatest moral challenge. The large and pressing practical question is how best to address that challenge. Although millions of dollars flow to poor countries, the results are often disappointing.

In Making Aid Work, Abhijit Banerjee--an "aid optimist"--argues that aid has much to contribute, but the lack of analysis about which programs really work causes considerable waste and inefficiency, which in turn fuels unwarranted pessimism about the role of aid in fostering economic development.

Banerjee challenges aid donors to do better. Building on the model used to evaluate new drugs before they come on the market, he argues that donors should assess programs with field experiments using randomized trials. In fact, he writes, given the number of such experiments already undertaken, current levels of development assistance could focus entirely on programs with proven records of success in experimental conditions.

Responding to his challenge, leaders in the field--including Nicholas Stern, Raymond Offenheiser, Alice Amsden, Ruth Levine, Angus Deaton, and others--question whether randomized trials are the most appropriate way to evaluate success for all programs. They raise broader questions as well, about the importance of aid for economic development and about the kinds of interventions (micro or macro, political or economic) that will lead to real improvements in the lives of poor people around the world. With one in every six people now living in extreme poverty, getting it right is crucial. ... Read more

Book Description
The Annual "Bible" of USMLE Step 1 Preparation!

This newest compendium of the latest questions, most frequently tested facts, and mnemonics pertaining to the USMLE Step 1 test is based on information gleaned from students who have just taken the exam.

• More than 900 must-know facts and mnemonics
• 24-page color insert that includes x-rays, clinical photographs, pathology slides assists in image recognition and analysis
• 100+ Clinical Vignettes
• Includes the famous First Aid Book Ratings which features hundreds of medical test prep resources rated by students
• Valuable test-taking strategies

Customer Reviews (33)

Kaplan Q bank+ this book =all you need to pass and do well
I think the key to studying for the Step 1 is to restrict your studying materials.It's better to know everything in one book (THIS BOOK) than some of 5-6 books.So many questions from my USMLE came straight from this book that if you studied this and memorized every syllable, you will pass and pass well!Just supplement this with the Q bank to get yourself into question mode and you will be just fine.

This was pretty much all I used and I made a 225/94.

the king of kings
you need this book starting from your first year of medical school, through wehn you take your step 1. use this book by its guidelines and you will be rewarded. pick it up, open it and read the first feww pages and follow what advice they give as a beginning medical student.also make sure you pick up the latest version.I used this book through my 2 years in college and i made 229/95 on my step 1.

Great book for review
It is a good book for review but the subjects change one to another to fast and dont have any link between the subjects. You will need comprehensive books if you dont know a lot about the subjects. Good for highlight the most important topics for the test.

Step 1
No magic, just study, I did it with KAPLAN, and the last week before the exam I just read this.
Helpfull.

Good for more than just the boards
First Aid has helped me in tests throughout the year.I actually wish I had had it last year, so that when the time comes to study for the boards, I'd be extremely familiar with the book.That said, the book is systems based, and the curriculum at my school is subject-based, so I'm considering getting an older edition of the First Aid for the biochemistry, anatomy, embryology, and histology sections.The mnemonics are great, and since I'm a visual learner, I really like the diagrams and pictures, especially for neuropathology.

I'm really glad I bought it early in the year.Don't put off buying this book simply because Step 1 is eight months away, it's value goes beyond USMLE. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Using Your Kitchen-Aid more
This is a good book for people who want to use their KitchenAid mixer more. There are many recipes that the home cook can use and enjoy. ... Read more

Book Description
In l978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as "one of the most liberating books of its time." A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of the patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is - just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment, and highly curable, if good treatment is found early enough. Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic. These two essays published together as Illness as Metaphor and Aids and Its Metaphors have been translated in many languages all over the world, and continue to have enormous impact and influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.AUTHORBIO: Susan Sontag has written four novels, The Benefactor, Death Kit, The Volcano Lover, and In America, which won the 2000 National Book Award for fiction; a collection of stories, I, etcetera; several plays, including Alice in Bed; and five books of essays, among them Against Interpretation, and On Photography, which won the National Book Critics' Circle Prize for criticism. Her books are translated into twenty-three languages. In 2001 she was awarded the Jerusalem Prize for the body of her work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Correct on metaphor; incorrect on mind-body link and HIV causation
Sontag is spot-on in her analysis of metaphors of AIDS: the military metaphors, the latency metaphors, and the plague metaphors. Her observations are keen and insightful in this regard. It is troubling then, that she seems unwilling to follow her own analysis and that she dismisses "psychological" aspects of disease causation in favor of a purely materialist understanding. Does she not realise that the "de-interpretation" of illness metaphors is itself a psychological act that affects patients? How does she reconcile her dismissal of psychological states with the fact that her very own writings on illness and AIDS are themselves psychological and therapeutic?

Sontag forgets that metaphor itself is a social-psychological phenomenon. If she had kept this fact in mind, she might have arrived at the conclusion that the basic medical and scientific paradigm of AIDS is itself flawed and kept alive solely through metaphor. At many points, she appears to be on the cusp of piercing the HIV mythology, pointing out discrepancies and exposing flaws in the science. For example, she recognizes the use of the latency period as a way of holding people in a perpetual state of "just haven't gotten AIDS...yet". She observes that the "AIDS tests" test for antibody, not virus, and that objectively healthy people are claimed to be ill based solely on infection (what would later be codified as "HIV disease".) She plainly points out the distinctions between "AIDS" in Africa vs. North America and Europe, and rightly discerns the racist motives behind an "African origin" of AIDS, yet she accepts the racist scientific wisdom (which has not been borne out in 20 years) that the African situation is the "true" AIDS situation and that North American and European AIDS will explode into the heterosexual population.

It's too bad she wasn't willing to follow through on her train of thought. That a thinker of her intellectual acumen was able to come so close to grasping the essence of the HIV mythology, and then, at the last minute, get derailed and capitulate to conventional wisdom, is a testament to the enormous power of group-fantasy.

Poor Susan
Susan Sontag disparaged the idea that dis-eases are caused by mental states, and her resolutely taking this position illustrates the great and willing blindness of this talented but dis-eased anti-white racist. She had such a beautiful basket of blossoms to offer, and between their leaves and stems crawled poisonous snakes she could not free herself of because she wasn't willing to look in her own basket. Unfortunately her work is forever tainted with her hatred.Sad -

this book misses the point
i think Susan Sontag is missing the political nature of illness.as far as i'm concerned there is a culture of blaming the victim in our society that is not limited to medicine.the victim is blamed because the victim has little power.the ill person is blamed because the tobacco companies are powerful, the oil companies are powerful, the sugar companies are powerful, the retail chains are powerful, the manufacturers are powerful, the health insurance companies are powerful and the governments are powerful.they have armies of lawyers to defend them; they have armies of doctors, scientists, and psychiatrists to fabricate pseudo-scientific evidence to support their self interest, but the victim is powerless to defend themselves against blame.this isn't about language, it's about politics of money and power.language is only one of the tools that the powerful use to blame the ill, and victims more generally.

THE DISEASE CALLED METAPHOR
On top of the mutation, bug or dysfunctional cell that produces cancer, in ILLNESS AS METAPHOR, Sontag introduces the reader to an accompanied malady called metaphor.A metaphor, of course, is nothing but a comparison, a verbal picture attempting to make the abstract more concrete.But by depicting surprising similarities between two unlike things, by equating a disease like cancer or AIDS to a hopeless human condition, catching the metaphor may become as bad as the disease.Metaphor may even prevent the patients from healing themselves.

Sontag discusses how diseases like AIDS, syphilis, TB, leprosy and cancer can be stretched out as metaphors.The more mysterious the cause of the disease, the wider the application of that disease as metaphor.The author shows the fallacy in extending military terminology, military metaphors, to the fields of medical treatment.There are no magic bullets, bodies are not being invaded by alien cells and diseases need not become battles to the death.In other words, metaphors will never cure any ailments, words will never become an antidote to any illness.After one conquers the disease one must then eliminate the metaphor that surrounds that disease.

This book changed my life
This is a quote from the book that I would consider its thesis statement:

'Theories that diseases are caused by mental states and can be cured by will power are always an index of how much is not understood about a disease.
Moreover, there is a peculiarly modern predilection for psychological explanations of disease...Psychologizing seems to provide control...over which people have no control. Psychological understanding undermines the 'reality' of a disease.'

Sontag traces, historically, the ways different diseases and the people who contracted them have been viewed. She spends time discussing tuberculars--waif-like, pale, romantic--and cancer patients--repressed, the 'cancer personality,' shame--then goes on to debunk these notions by stating that once the cause, cure, innoculation is found, the 'myth' or popular psychology of the disease no longer holds.

In this edition, in the final chapter about AIDS and its metaphors Sontag writes that she'd written the first part of the book (all but the AIDS chapter) while a cancer patient and in response to reactions she saw in fellow patients. She saw guilt and shame; and she saw these as impediments to people's treatments. For she knew she had an illness and she set about to cure it medically, in the best possible way, while others passively accepted the 'metaphor' handed to them and, thus, did less to help themselves best. She felt frustrated or saddened by their psychologizing and self-blame and wished to write to others that their physical illness is a physical illness and the best route to recovery is to think only of how to find the best medical treatment.

And she wrote this by demonstrating the history of myths that surrounded illnesses and the way these myths evaporated as soon as its true mechanism (the virus, or otherwise) was found.

Some holes in her argument can be found in the field of Health Psychology, which has proved that optimism generates faster post-operative recovery or a heartier immune system, among other 'psychological' correlates of disease to illness. Still we speak of a "type A" personality and a possibility of a heart attack, etc., which I believe is not entirely unfounded -- stress creates a drop in immune response and other health deficiencies.

However, I am a patient and a former psychotherapist. I was reared in psychology as others are toward priesthood. I grew up sent to therapists for any ills and was raised with the thought I be nothing but a therapist when an adult -- which I did become. Then I became diabled, from physical injury. My own disability is largely pain-related; the pain is severe and in locations that make it impossible to function. Much of my injury does not show up on contemporary tests -- EMG's, CAT scans, MRI's, bone scans, sonograms.

So I turn to psychology. I know I've got a physical injury. But if it can not be cured (and I go back to my original quote: that which is least understood, we psychologize), perhaps I am, in part, a cause of it. This had been a comforting notion to me: if I can do this to myeslf, I can also undo it. For me, psychologizing helped put me in the driver's seat.

Sontag at first put me in the driver's seat in a new, determined, knowing way. I know my injury is not something that is "in my head." At first, Sontag's argument was a weight off my shoulders, an eye-opener. I underlined the passage above: yes, that's right; they don't know what's wrong with me so they blame me. A doctor once said to me: "When I can't find anything wrong with someone I assume there is nothing wrong with her."

Sontag set me in motion. She went into motion, knowing cancer wasn't a word to whisper (remember when we whispered that 'c' word?), but something to pursue with a vengeance. Her book was liberating. I know I don't want to be sick, unable to do the things I want to, regardless of how neatly one can analyze my personality and show otherwise. This is physical.

Then reality. I've got sometihng and it isn't curable and it is debilitating. I am in doctors' offices all the time; fighting beaurocracy all the time. I wanted my psychologizing back. My security blanket had been removed with this "epiphany" of sorts. If it's not in my head, and I can't cure myself, and doctos can't cure me, I'm incurable. Her philosophy, then, became saddening.

I began to analyze her: perhaps she recovered so well because of her strong personality, her [psychological] strength. It's a chicken/egg question.

Sontag writes things that are clear and other things that can be argued. Overall, her essays have changed societal thought -- from Against Interpretation to On Photography to Illness as Metaphor and various others; she is brilliant and a powerfully good writer. Anyone who can make us look at something in a new way, make us think something through in a new way, is easily well-worth reading.

Anyone who is ill, particularly chronically, undiagnosed or misunderstood should read this book. Agree with it or not, but read it. Read others that say the opposite, read about your own illness, but read this book: I would call it mandatory. ... Read more

Product Description
Here's the first comprehensive first-aid book written just for kids about what kids can do and when to get help! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Too much for younger kids, too simple for older kids.
This was a pretty good