Return To Wholeness: Embracing Body, Mind and Spirit in the Face of Cancer

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"Over the course of a lifetime, almost half of all North American men and nearly 40 percent of North American women will get cancer." Those petrifying statistics, and a profound interest in mind-body medicine, drew Dr. David Simon, director of the Chopra Center for Well Being, to write Return to Wholeness. Where most books on cancer focus on treatment for eradicating the disease, this book refreshingly combines Eastern and Western healing principles to focus on helping the whole person heal--emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

Simon's book answers many questions that the newly diagnosed may have, among them, "How can I stimulate my inner healing response to maximize the benefit of my medical treatments? How can I be an active partner rather than a passive participant in my therapeutic journey?" It covers alternative therapies, including meditation, prayer, Ayurveda, journaling, visualization techniques, art and music therapy, and nutritional programs including vitamin, mineral, and phytochemical supplementation.

Return to Wholeness should be of special benefit to survivors living in constant fear or recurrence, or those who have had no obvious risk factors. "When a heavy smoker develops throat cancer, we may not question why his illness arose," Simon writes. "When someone [with excellent health habits] gets sick, our sense of order is threatened, and we search, often unsuccessfully, for some reasonable explanation. But, even if we cannot easily understand why someone's mind-body system allows cancer to arise, we can at any moment make choices to strengthen our immunity and improve our overall quality of life." --Erica Jorgensen

Book Description

"Beautiful. . . . If you are facing cancer or any other serious illness, I encourage you to allow the wisdom contained within these pages to nurture, guide, and support you."-Deepak Chopra, M.D., from his foreword

Return to Wholeness is a revelation. David Simon breaks new ground with the innovative, holistic mind-body approaches developed at the Chopra Center for Well Being. The guiding theme in this book is wholeness, as Dr. Simon demonstrates to readers the value of integrating the best of traditional and alternative medicines with ancient Eastern, Ayurvedic principles and practices in order to forge the most effective path to wellness.

Return to Wholeness features advice and recommendations on every aspect of living with illness, including designing a simple nutritional program to purify, rejuvenate, and provide balance; benefiting from the healing properties of vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and herbs; facing the toll exacted by chemotherapy and other medical techniques; incorporating various kinds of meditation, creative visualization, and aromatherapy into the larger Return to Wholeness program; and weathering emotional cycles through art therapy, journaling, laughter, and music.

"Return to Wholeness is magnificent. Reading this book made me feel embraced and uplifted by all that is healing and true. Return to Wholeness should be kept on the nightstand of everyone who has cancer or another illness or who is afraid of becoming ill." - Christiane Northrup, M.D. author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

"Return to Wholeness is the perfect book for anyone facing the diagnosis of cancer. . . . Powerful, powerful teachings you will not read elsewhere from a medical doctor." -Wayne Dyer, Ph.D., author of Manifest Your Destiny

"Gentle, compassionate, and yet thorough . . . a book that awakens the inner healer in all of us." - Louise L. Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life

"An excellent source of information and guidance to help one integrate one's life and approach to cancer."
-Bernie S. Siegel, M.D., author of Love, Medicine, and Miracles

"In every great challenge of life, we need guides who can show us the way. Dr. David Simon is a wise, compassionate physician who can help anyone on the journey through the experience of cancer." -Larry Dossey, M.D. author of Prayer Is Good Medicine and Healing Words

Customer Reviews:

Required reading for anyone touched by cancer........2001-03-21

Dr. Simon's book addresses many of the issues that are so often not dealt with by modern conventional cancer treatment centers. Too often cancer patient feel as if their real needs are not being met by doctors and hospitals. Dr. Simon focuses on treating the person, not just the diseasse. His books creates an entirely new perspective for the cancer patient by simply remembering that they are a person. He addresses the emotional issues cancer patients face as well as treatments for common side effects caused by conventional treatment. His advice on nutrition, sensory tools for healing, and assessing alternative treatment modalities is easily succint, but very insightful. Futthermore, his five day seminar lets you explore these issues much deeper. Realizing that I am much more than the sum of my phsyical parts is an important gift that Dr. Simon has helped to give me.

Quality life with Cancer.......2001-03-18

This phenomenal book is a must have in a library of self-care literature. It reads easily and resonates with truth, leaving a profound impact. I recently returned from a week seminar with Dr. David Simon at the Deepak Chopra Wellness Institute in La Jolla,CA. My personal experience was transformational. I not only walked away with concrete, tangible tools to work with my cancer, I also deepened my relationship with myself and was taught many loving ways to embrace and empower myself through this difficult time in my life.

The nurturing environment was so safe and invitational to self-discovery of each individuals particular experience with cancer. I strongly recommend anyone facing cancer to invest in themselves with this wonderful program.

Comprehensive.......2000-11-10

Dr. Simon has shared insights into healing that take into account the coventional and integrative approaches to healthcare. He reminds us that we have entered into a phase of medicine that needs to consider a person's conscious awareness of health, so the appropriate modalities of care can be administered. David Simon utilizes eastern and western knowledge to make his work thorough and comprehensive. He takes into account the need for practicioners to be sensetive to the direction(s) a patient finds meaningful in their movement toward wholeness. This emphasis on consciousness incorporated in healthcare is a movement toward modern medicine paralleling the evolution of our time. I also recommend: What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living by Samuel Oliver

An absolute window into new thought and healing........2000-05-18

The book is easy to follow and interpret even if you are new to this type of thinking. After reading the book I was so motivated to find a way to heal my own spirit while facing cancer treatment that I decided to attend the one week program called Return to Wholeness at the Chopra Center for Well Being in LaJolla CA. I highly recomend the book and program outlined in the book to anyone who is facing the challanges of cancer treatment.

An amazingly brilliant and helpful book that changed my life.......1999-03-02

Dr. Simon's has written a book that everybody must read that is having issues with cancer. This book helped me and my family through a terribly hard time and turned the experience into a great learning experience that left me and my family healthy and happy. Dr. Simon's wise words will provide much needed comfort and assurance on many levels to those who's life has errupted into un-immaginable chaos. It is a well-written treasure not only for advice but for those trying to lead a more integrated life. This book is a must read for anybody that has spiritual or medical questions concerning cancer or life in general.

Book Description

Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour veteran of Vietnam tells the story of the most highly classified United States covert operatives to serve in the war: The Studies and Observations Group, code-named SOG. Comprised ofvolunteers from such elite military units as the Army's Green Berets, the USAF Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG agents answered directly to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs, with some missions requiring approval from the White House. Now for the first time, the dangerous assignments of this top-secret unit can at last be revealed!

Customer Reviews:

Slide-line observer.......2007-08-13

Excellent! As a Huey pilot who participated in a number of SOG insertions and extractions out of Quan Tri (CCN), it was interesting to read what was happening in between. At the time, we only told "were to put them and when and where to pick them up". We were not told their mission.... we did not have a need to know. I can tell you it was at times very exciting. There is nothing in the world like seeing tracers flying by or having the crew telling you we are taking hits. After my Huey was shot down, it was these guys who clipped me into the harness for my rope ride out. They were also the first faces that I saw when I awoke two days later in a hospital bed. They are truly the bravest of the brave... I recommend this book for anyone who wants to know what war is really about.

Good insight into military actions.......2007-05-19

A very comprehensive account of until recently unknown military activities in Viet Nam. I purchased the book because it had references to my brother-in-law, Walter Shumate and it provided me with some insight on his role in this action.

This is what soldiering is about..........2007-05-15

John L. Plaster is an excellent writer. Furthermore, his chronicling of SOG was a real eye-opener. I almost put this book down, but once I got past the first two chapters, I was there in the jungle.

Talk about Mission Impossible. From passive and active wire taps, snatch n' grabs, recon, and desperate defenses, one will get a little of everything here. These guys are definately masters of their craft. Professional, efficient, and tough.

This book blows all others away and tears open a gaping hole in the status quo, revealing the shadowy and seductive call of the S.O.G. genre, Americas most elite.

-H.G.

Some incredible stories of bravery and adventure.......2007-04-30

MAJ John L. Plaster has written an incredible book. Enhanced by the fact that the stories come from someone who did three tours himself as a SOG recon soldier, Plaster gives a vivid recounting of the missions and activities of the Special Operations Group (later renamed the Studies and Observation Group to make its mission less obvious to the enemy).

SOG retells the stories of multiple Medal of Honor and Distinguished Service Cross winners (as well as a few stories of deserved MoH winners who for whatever reason weren't awarded).

The only weakness of the book that one could find may be the lack of context for the missions undertaken by SOG. Plaster writes with either a lot of assumed knowledge on the side of his readers or else intentionally ignores these political and social considerations, reverting to the role of a Special Forces warrior with no time for politics. Whichever is the case that should in no way discourage someone from taking up this book. It is well worth the time.

Fighting Soldiers From The Sky..........2007-01-29

Having studied under a former college professor who is an ex-SOG member mentioned in Plaster's sequel, "Secret Commandos," I was eager to discover the nature of SOG operations during the Vietnam War, and was left in awe by the insane risks that these men took everytime they went out on a mission with their Nung or Montagnard counterparts. Plaster said it himself that after running an excessive number of missions, it became an oddity that a SOG member was still alive. But then again, these soldiers were forced to confront their own mortality on a regular basis, cheating death on one mission while losing a brother-in-arms on the next. After reading the stories of tremendous courage and selflessness that these men displayed in the face of annihilation by an unforgiveable and numerically superior enemy, readers must wonder what kind of individuals could not only stomach the intensity described by Plaster, but actually succeed in accomplishing their missions and leading their teams to safety. Having known a SOG veteran, I can honestly say that even at his old age, he is one of the few men I have ever met in my life who I would follow to hell and back.

SOG : The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam

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SOG : The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam
John L. Plaster
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000LNK4KM

Book Description

The authors introduce, in this research monograph on stochastic differential equations, a class of points termed isolated singular points. Stochastic differential equations possessing such points (called singular stochastic differential equations here) arise often in theory and in applications. However, known conditions for the existence and uniqueness of a solution typically fail for such equations. The book concentrates on the study of the existence, the uniqueness, and, what is most important, on the qualitative behaviour of solutions of singular stochastic differential equations. This is done by providing a qualitative classification of isolated singular points, into 48 possible types.

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Two-scale Stochastic Systems
Yuri Kabanov , and Sergei Pergamenshchikov
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540653325

Book Description

Two-scale systems described by singularly perturbed SDEs have been the subject of ample literature. However, this new monograph develops subjects that were rarely addressed and could be given the collective description "Stochastic Tikhonov-Levinson theory and its applications." The book provides a mathematical apparatus designed to analyze the dynamic behaviour of a randomly perturbed system with fast and slow variables. In contrast to the deterministic Tikhonov-Levinson theory, the basic model is described in a more realistic way by stochastic differential equations. This leads to a number of new theoretical questions but simultaneously allows us to treat in a unified way a surprisingly wide spectrum of applications like fast modulations, approximate filtering, and stochastic approximation.

Book Description

General George S. Patton and General Erwin Rommel. They served their countries through two World Wars. Their temperaments, both on and off the battlefield, couldn't be further apart from each other-but their approaches to modern warfare were very similar.

Written by a prominent military historian, Patton and Rommel takes a provocative look at both figures, intertwining the stories of the paths they took and the decisions they made during the course of the Second World War-and compares the lives and careers of two men whose military tactics changed the course of history.

Customer Reviews:

An academic study of two generals.......2007-09-17

I was hoping for a more readable book instead I felt as if I was taking a college course under Professor Showalter; at least it is not referenced page by page.
Many reviewers have noted the lack of maps and photos. I had to refer to an atlas of WWII battles as I read this book. It is not for the casual reader of history; the cryptic style of writing frequently leads one to refer to a standard history text to get "the rest of the story".
I found it overall quite uneven; many pages were spent on the youths of the Patton and Rommel but very little on events surrounding thier deaths. The author appears fascinated by the behavioral outbursts of Patton.
I believe with a heavy editor's pen and the addition of maps and photos, Professor Showalter would have a wider audience; however this style may not stand academic muster.

90 division limit for the US army?!.......2007-02-05

Several others have already commented on the curious and total lack of maps and photos. How can you have a book on battles and omit maps? Plus, the textual descriptions of key battles, like El Alamein, Tobruk, Kasserine Pass and the Allied invasion of Sicily are good but abbreviated. You can find far more detailed accounts elsewhere. For example, there are numerous books devoted to El Alamein or the Battle of the Bulge. Still, Showalter must be clearly aware that his book adds little new to the existing accounts of the battles it describes. Perhaps this was the reason for the omission of maps?

The purported value of the book is in its comparison of the experiences and, to some extent, the personalities and motivations of Patton and Rommel. Here, other reviewers have also remarked that this is quite a hard task. But Showalter seems to have done a reasonable job, including, I presume, interviews with Manfred Rommel, the general's son.

But at least for me, there were a few new snippets that I have not found in other texts. First was the deliberate decision by the US to restrict the size of the army to 90 divisions. In part because the navy and marines have to be built up to fight the Pacific war. But also, this let the US arm as heavily as possible those army divisions. So the US took advantage of its industrial prowess, to minimise its casualties. Fair enough. But in many other accounts of the war, I've never run into mention of this 90 division limit. I'm not saying it's a secret. Undoubtedly, there must be books mentioning it; perhaps even the official histories of the US army. Still it's surprising to know. Especially because Showalter asserts that one consequence was that after Normandy, Eisenhower was restricted in how aggressively he could march across Europe. Whereas with more troops, he might have been able to attack earlier into Germany.

Another useful insight was about how Patton and Rommel were regarded after the war, by the militaries of the US and West Germany. Books on World War 2 tend to end their accounts shortly after the end of the war, naturally. So it was interesting to read that ironically, Patton was more highly regarded than Rommel by the Bundeswehr. While the reverse tended to be true in the US. Typically, it is not easy to get any detailed accounts of the Bundeswehr, written in English. Partly because peacetime militaries generate less interest than wartime. But perhaps also because the Bundeswehr deliberately kept a low profile after the war, to discourage militarism. So Showalter's descriptions of Bundeswehr assessments, if accurate, are quite interesting and fill a gap in the general knowledge.

Nice summary of the careers of two major WWII generals.......2006-09-24

I bought this book at an airport bookstore, and really enjoyed it. For those that don't have the time to read full biographies of Patton and Rommell, this is the book for you. If you've already read separate biographies of the two, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this book.

Light Reading.......2006-09-18

This is not a bad book if you realize what it really is: a nice light-reading history. This is not for those who already have dozens of books about these two men. It is a book for those who haven't read much history, but would like to get a nice introduction to these two great generals. For that, it's a really good book.

I found that the author of this book seems to favor Rommel over Patton. Whereas Rommel is depicted as a competent professional soldier, Patton is often depicted as someone who is more concerned with his career and rank rather than military issues. The author paints Patton as a man on the verge of mental breakdown, and as a bit of a whiner. If you're a Patton fan, you might want to avoid this book.

A puzzling dual biography that roams from its objective.......2006-04-03

Showalter is to be commended first for attempting to write a history that he claims as "reader-friendly, by eschewing the academic apparatus that so often gets in the way of the story." On the other hand, to anyone with a bit of knowledge of the era and the personalities, Showalter may have a greater desire to obscure the origin of much of his work. Large parts of Showalter's history are literal quotes of earlier works. He does provide proper attribution once or twice, but for the most part the works he borrows from are unattributed.

His declared goal is to depict "two complex personalities in the contexts of their military cultures and the countries that sustained them. Focusing on the generals, it compares the U.S. Army and the Wehrmacht as military instruments, and American and German ways of war." Showalter never acheives this objective.

Instead he has written summary biographies of Patton and Rommel, occasionally inserting his own opinions of what made each man tick. There is nothing new in his observations, nothing that hasn't been previously opined.

Showalter writes in a disconcertingly colloquial way. Happily there is little of the academic style, which is a plus. But occasionally he throws in a little-used archaic word or, worse, slings jargon that many will not be familiar. He particularly uses a tired baseball cliche that I haven't heard in several decades.

The editing and proofreading are amazingly poor. Take this sentence that appears on page 409: "The other was in Paris, where another more group of officers . . ." Yeah, "another more." Huh?

There are no maps or photographs in the book. Military history without even simple diagrams? It doesn't work.

Ultimately this history doesn't really illuminate either Patton or Rommel beyond what is available elsewhere in more vivid detail. As to providing a comparison between the two men, it never even begins the task. Neither general could be said to embody the warrior's ethos of the age. Both men were unique and had strong personalties and favored what were considered unorthodox ways. Showalter could have done a much better job of examining how the men's individual idiosyncracies played out, but it still would not have fulfilled his original objective.

Overall, I can't recommend this history to the serious student of military history. It is, as I noted above, dully repetitious of earlier works. It brings no revelatory insights to bear on either general or on warmaking in general. Except for the awful editing and proofreading and the occasional lapses of the author into slang and archaic language, it is readable, but it is not overly interesting.

Jerry

Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century.(Book review): An article from: The Historian

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Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century.(Book review): An article from: The Historian
Niall Barr
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000R2ZBPA
Release Date: 2007-09-27

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2007. The length of the article is 527 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century.(Book review)
Author: Niall Barr
Publication: The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 69 Issue: 1 Page: 170(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Customer Reviews:

Fascinating.......2007-06-08

This book is quite fascinating. What Skates has done is write a history of the planning for the invasion of Japan. The invasion never happened; the planning did. What he is doing is exploring the alternatives to the use of the atomic bomb that U.S. leaders thought they had before them in 1945.

Skates explores all sorts of plans including airpower, deception, the possibility of employing special weapons (everything ranging from missiles to chemical weapons) and the planned inclusion of British, Australian, and Canadian troops. What he finds is that the invasion never was considered an alternative. It was going to happen. American policy makers always intended to use BOTH atomic weapons against Japan and then invade. In explaining his decision to use the atomic bomb rather than invade, President Harry S. Truman was making things up. It never an either/or choice for the United States. This book was published in 1994 and became hugely controversial in 1995 as part of the crisis over the "Enola Gay" display at the Smithsonian Institute. He found that planners never expected the one million dead that Truman used to explain his decision. There were a number of figures floating around, but at worst it was 124,935 casualties (both dead and wounded). "While there is little evidence except assertion and repetition to support the huge numbers used by Truman and Stimson after the war, the U.S. leaders, both civilian and military, were extremely conscious of the costs of Okinawa and reluctant to repeat those loses" (p. 82).

Many revisionists have attempted to use Skates's study to argue against the use of the atomic bomb because of the low numbers. In interviews, Skates has said that he does not believe the general revisionist claims that Japan was trying to surrender, believing that the evidence argues to the contrary.

Bomb or Invade Japan.......2006-12-02

Skates believes that invading Japan would have been preferable to dropping nuclear weapons. He spends most of the book describing how the invasion would have happened. He does admit that there would have been problems with the invasion. For instance, over half of the divisions would have come from Europe, however, most of the combat veterans in these units were being discharged and replaced with new draftees. Retaining the veterans would have caused severe morale problems.

Skates' main argument is that an invasion would have caused fewer casualties than died in the nuclear bombing. I believe he fails to sustain this argument. The War Department staff in Washington estimated there would be 250,000 to 500,000 American casualties in an invasion of Japan. After the war, some politicians casually made this a "half-million dead" and then "a million dead." In any event, the estimate of casualties included killed, wounded and missing. The original estimates were a not-unreasonable figure based on American experience with fanatical Japanese defenders of the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and one which a postwar examination of Japanese plans for the defense of the Home Islands bore out. There was no indication the Japanese would fight any less strenuously if their Home Islands were invaded. Indeed, it was a safe bet that the fighting would have been even more costly. And this doesn't even consider the Japanese casualties.

The Japanese consistently demonstrated a marked reluctance to surrender, either on the battlefield or at the negotiating table. The American people, in light of Germany's surrender in May 1945, were eager to get the war in the Pacific over with as soon as possible. The voters were making this wish quite clear to their elected officials and the chief among these, President Truman, was listening intently. He had been told that a blockade of Japan might have to go on for a year or more before Japan finally gave in. A successful invasion would not be noticeably shorter. The American people would have none of this and wanted something done. Nuclear weapons were simply another incentive for the Japanese to surrender, and no one was sure they would be any more persuasive than the fire bomb raids (which killed more people than the atomic bombs).

Excellent review of the allied invasion plans.......2005-09-30

This book is a really thorough look at the Allied (American) plans for the invasion of Japan. What is valuable is the perspective in which these plans were developed, from the start of the war right up to the Japanese surrender. I would have liked more detail on the nitty gritty of the Japanese plans. The big picture perspective from the Japanese standpoint was outstanding, in my opinion. The Japanese had really studied American tendencies and the US troops would have faced a very hot reception on Kyushu during Operation Olympic. I'm sure there will be people who disagree with Mr. Skate's assertion that if Kyushu were taken, actually not if but when and with how many casualties, taking Tokyo would have been relatively easy. But Mr. Skates seems to back up this claim with facts gleaned from the historical record. The book is somewhat of a dry read, but very informative. Highly recommend!

No conclusion.......2005-03-30

Advertised as an alternative to the Atomic Bombs released on Japan to end World War II, Skates spends most of the thesis explaining military capabilities, background of contemporary leaders along with government and public opinion concerning the end of the war. As little as two chapters actually deal with alternatives. While the background is vital in understanding the options, more time could have been utilized to further develop alternatives. Skates uses a certain degree of presentism to disclaim the decision of the bombs to end the war. Despite flaws, argument of alternative well expressed and researched.

A Costly Alternative to Ending the Pacific War.......2003-03-05

As early as mid-1943, the American joint chiefs had begun to analyize the alternatives to ending the war in the Pacific. This book describes one alternative; the invasion of Japan itself. The invasion was to take place in two assaults; one, scheduled for November 1, 1945, was to involve the southern Kyushu area while the other, scheduled for March 1, 1946, was to occur in the Kanto plain area near Tokyo. After the island of Okinawa was secured in June, 1945, the Americans turned their attention to the coming invasion. The Kyushu portion of the invasion had the endorsement of President Truman and the joint chiefs. The invasion would have been on a scale never seen before. Thousands of ships, planes, and men would land on Kyushu and begin their drive northward. However, due to ULTRA intelligence intercepts, the Americans learned that the Japanese build up on Kyushu was much larger than expected. Many divisions of men and upwards of 10,000 aircraft were poised to meet the Americans. The Japanese were also prepared to meet the Americans on the beaches, differing from their customary approach of leaving the beaches uncontested and fighting it out inland. If the Japanese defense of Kyushu failed, there would be little left to defend the Kanto plain with, so the road to Tokyo would be wide open.

The author takes the view that Japan was a defeated nation ready to surrender due to the blockade and bombing missions being employed by the Americans. He points out that Japan had virtually no navy or air force and that the remaining elements of the imperial army were so poorly fed and equipped that they would be no match for the Americans. I tend to disagree on some points. The Japanese have always been fanatical fighters, and would be even more so if their home islands were invaded. Furthermore, the kamikazes, if employed in force, could have done tremendous damage to the invasion force. Inevitably, the Japanese would succumb to the Americans, but not before they inflicted serious damage. Also, he points out that the atomic bombs were used to send a political message rather than an end to the war. Again, he feels that the Japanese were a defeated nation ready to surrender, but the build up on Kyushu leads one to believe otherwise. The atomic bombs, in my opinion were wisely used. Yes, they caused great loss of life on the Japanese side, but the invasion would have cost many more. Furthermore, the American public wouldn't have stood for a prolonged battle against the Japanese after the invasion. They wanted the men home as soon as possible, and the invasion would have kept them fighting for at least another year.

Overall, I thought this book did a good job of explaining the logistics and construction of the invasion plans. The organization is good, and the book is well-researched. It gives good information regarding a possible invasion, but little information about the atomic bomb.

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Imagine my surprise!

Readable for sure...but horrifying on a million levels!

A page turning blast! A beach read or one nighter

1 word describes Aaron Tonken: L O S E R

the real hollywood and it's greed

King of Cons: Exposing the Dirty, Rotten Secrets of the Washington Elite and Hollywood Celebrities
Aaron Tonken
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

"In a LAND of MORAL IMBECILES,I knew I could be KING."

He was one of the most prominent producers of fundraising events in the country, throwing monumental charity bashes, securing millions of dollars in donations for the sick and needy. The trouble was, some of the people profiting were greedy politicians, and many of the "charity cases" were really only pampered Hollywood stars. It's a true-life spectacular that only Hollywood could produce.

Now, the story that shook the industry will finally shatter the faÃ§ade of Hollywood's philanthropy and Washington's populism, once and for all exposing how empty are the real lifestyles of many of the rich and famous, and what really happens to charity money meant for the poor.

When Aaron Tonken arrived in Los Angeles in the early nineties, he had nothing, not even a high-school education. Yet within just a few years, he was a friend and business associate of the leading lights of Hollywood and the most powerful people in Washington. Tonken produced many of the biggest charitable and political functions ever seen on either coast, honoring former presidents Ford and Clinton, and raising money for the preferred charities of some of the biggest names in showbiz.

But hidden behind the glamour of these galas was a sordid tale, as Tonken became the central character in a tragicomedy featuring demanding stars and politicians grasping for big-dollar campaign donations.

In King of Cons, you'll read how Aaron Tonken:

Helped Hollywood darlings use money from their own charities
Was mentored by Peter Paul-ex con, Fabio manager, and business partner of Spider-Man creator Stan Lee
Got sucked into the criminal underworld of Los Angeles-the con artists, grifters, and porn kings.
Was bullied by the diva behavior of Roseanne, Paula Abdul, Natalie Cole, and members of the cast of Friends
Was approached for payments for appearances or performances at charity events by Cher, Sylvester Stallone, Lance Bass of *NSYNC, and the Democratic National Committee
Got involved with Denise Rich, ex-wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich, the subject of a controversial last-minute pardon by President Bill Clinton

From his bizarre days as a virtual prisoner in the decrepit mansion of Zsa Zsa Gabor to his entanglements with hustlers, con artists, and the Clintons, Aaron tracks the whole sordid story of how he squandered millions of dollars from charities in the world of celebrity politicians and politicking celebrities.

Customer Reviews:

Imagine my surprise!.......2005-12-20

I had never heard of Aaron Tonken - I just bought this book because I like Hollywood scandal. Well! About halfway through the book, I did a Google search for him and imagine my surprise when the first 10 hits were news stories about Tonken's arrest and how it might affect Hillary Clinton!

Wha??? This got my attention because I have no love for Shrillary or her heinous husband and enjoy anything that takes a poke at them. So I scanned on ahead to get to the "meat" of the book - the part that was driving the FOBs nutty.

Tonken talks in the book about his Clinton fundraising efforts, but this by no means is the Clinton bash book the critics made it out to be. Shrill and Bill are mentioned along with many other famous names that cheated charity for their own personal gain. Sure, the Clintons are the most powerful of the bunch, but many celebrities, including the whole cast of "Friends", get a major drubbing as well.

As for the book itself, Tonken couldn't be more self-serving and pathetic. He gets taken for a ride over and over and over, yet is so star-struck that he keeps going back for more. He tries to pretend that he's some choirboy and didn't realize what he was doing was wrong - that he was all for the charities every step of the way. But we all know that's horsecrap. I've spearheaded a few charitable events myself and I can't believe it's that different in the big time.

So this book gets 3 stars - 2 for revealing petty Hollyweirds for the selfish greedy pigs they are, and 1 for good dirt. He loses 1 star for his pure ignorance and another for trying to pass himself off as a naive do-gooder who got taken.

Readable for sure...but horrifying on a million levels!.......2005-08-01

This book definitely qualifies as compelling entertainment to those who find the "behind-the-scenes" behavior of celebs interesting, but I'm STUNNED at this guy's "moronitude." He doesn't let himself entirely off the hook in his misdealings, but he plays himself off as a victim..when his CONSTANT weakness in fulfilling the insane demands of certain nightmarish celebrities makes him contemptible beyond belief. I wanted to like Tonken - he tells a breezy story & is apparently paying the price for his participation in financial scams...but I didn't find much of a soul there. To get involved with Roseanne at the late date he did shows judgement that can't really be justified. I would have liked to hear more about the (perhaps few) GOOD Hollywood/Washington, D.C. people - he alludes to them from time to time but goes back to the same self-indulgent nonsense of the others. It's a good read but it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Nothing he wrote was a true shock (except, as mentioned before, Ray Charles' alleged cavalier acts)...but as seen through the eyes of someone who clearly has NOT learned from his misdeeds, it didn't really satisfy.

A page turning blast! A beach read or one nighter .......2005-07-02

There is something perverse about forgiving Aaron Tonken his stupidity because he dishes out honesty; after being pimped for so long by so many all cut from the same cloth.Birds of a feather do flock together pal! You just have to be sympathethic to the author because he really wasn't in it for the money- he wanted the approval of the glitteratti.Chapter after chapter he does the same thing, starting small and moving up the ladder.No matter the rung the story is always the same, ego driven behavior fuels monkey see monkey do greed and a sense of entitlement.This book is a riot, and so badly needed now that the last bastion of tabloids- the National Enquirer- has joined the star-pucker bandwagon and chooses to befriend the celebrities in the hope that something good will rub off on them- or that the favors will be returned.
Read the book though and note the genuine , compassionate and refined minority that Aaron does have dealings with , including The Reagans, Englebert Humperdink, Red Buttons,Charlton Heston,and some other less than household names. Have some fun and read the book-

1 word describes Aaron Tonken: L O S E R.......2005-04-05

This book gives a truly pathetic look into a man who chooses to be a perpetual victim. He supposedly lives this lavish lifestyle, yet has nothing to show for it. He's obviously not up front about all his financial gains from his swindeling. Nor do I recall him ever giving any amounts that were actually donated to these charities.
And poor Cynthia Gershman! He befriends her only to badmouth her & use her the entire time. Even after she becomes a widow, he discloses her private affairs to readers.
No, he's not a con. He's not smart enough to be! He got taken by the money sharks & was warmly welcomed by others, only to betray trusts.
The raw truth is, he couldn't hang! He was too greedy & wanted it all at any cost. THEN at the end, he has the audacity to mention the love of Jesus! What a hypocrite!
I only read this book because it was given to me as a gift & I felt obligated. The only people he conned were people into buying this piece of garbage.
I hope his cellmate's name is Bubba!

the real hollywood and it's greed.......2005-03-05

this book is the closest expose of the greed that runs rampant with the most unlikely hollywood and political celebrities. it gives the reader an insight not seen before and absolutely dispels and exposes who and what these people are really about. they are not what the public see's or how they are hyped by the media in a positive vain but rather greedy heartless and completely insensitive to the charities they are supposedly helping. you will be amazed at the their insensitivity.

Amazon.com

We owe the term conservation, in its environmental sense, to Gifford Pinchot, the head of the U.S. Forest Service in Theodore Roosevelt's administration. Having formulated the doctrine of multiple use for the nation's forests, Pinchot asserted that America's renewable resources could be made to last indefinitely so long as a certain amount of natural capital was kept in the bank and managed efficiently.

The idea of "conservation," writes historian John Reiger, precedes Pinchot by many years. Its foremost exponents were sport hunters, who had an interest in keeping the wild well stocked with a fresh supply of targets. Acting through organizations such as the Boone and Crockett Club and publications such as Field and Stream and American Sportsman, these hunters advanced a waste-not, want-not ethic that cohered with other conservationist measures, among them the establishment of the first national parks. One of them, George Bird Grinnell, wrote by way of explanation, "No woods, no game; no woods, no water; no water, no fish." That simple message carried, and by the 1880s thousands of hunters had adopted a code of sporting ethics that prohibited wanton, wasteful behavior and encouraged careful attention to the condition of wildlife in the field. Reiger continues the story to the middle years of the 20th century, when the forester Aldo Leopold developed the still-influential "conservation ethic."

Reiger's book, originally published in 1975 and substantially revised, has become a standard work, and it offers much useful material for students of American environmental history. --Gregory McNamee

Customer Reviews:

A Masterful Work From a true Lover of Nature.......2006-12-02

As a student at Ohio University, I have taken classes with Dr. Reiger for nearly two years. Taking History as a major along with English has afforded me the pleasure of receiving Dr. Reiger's views directly from the source. Naturally, I wanted to see what his book has to offer a student who has limited knowledge of conservation.

I was delighted to find that this work is extremely well written (not that I expected anything less from Dr. Reiger), and also written in such a way as to be easily followed by readers less interested in either history or English than I. A thorough perusal of this work will leave the reader with a fine understanding of the history of the conservation movement from a sportsman's perspective, perhaps the only 'real' form of conservation.

The only negative I can perceive is the amount of notes for each chapter. The astounding amount of side information is not an issue for my self, but for some less active readers it might cause problems.

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