Guide to Fashion Merchandise Knowledge

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Guide to Fashion Merchandise Knowledge
Ruth Tolman
Manufacturer: Milady Pub Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Accounting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Accounting | Accounting & Finance | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0873502841

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Guide to Fashion Merchandise Knowledge Vol. 1
Ruth Tolman
Manufacturer: Milady
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000W40PD6

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GUIDE TO FASHION MERCHANDISE KNOWLEDGE VOL. 1
Ruth Tolman
Manufacturer: Milady Publishing Corp.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RRO87W

Book Description

Have you ever left a meeting grumbling 'Typical male!' or 'Typical female!'? Although we all know that men and women behave differently, we can still be surprised or confused sometimes by each other's behaviour. Most of us have worked with someone whose style was more like what we'd expect from their opposite sex. Has their attitude ever irritated you or brought you to boiling point?

The Gentle Revolution opens our eyes to the dynamics of puzzling behaviour in others when masculine and feminine differences are in play. It encourages us to understand what's behind workplace hassles and to respond in a way that enables men and women to value and enjoy working together.

Offering an array of practical solutions, this book shows you how to:

understand the sources of conflicts between men and women at work

sort out problems exacerbated by differences in masculine and feminine styles

balance the masculine and feminine qualities within yourself

draw out the positives of both styles in your organisation. Rather than succumbing to gender stereotyping and apportioning blame, The Gentle Revolution identifies the eight definitive values that influence our traditional ideas of masculine and feminine. By completing several entertaining quizzes, you can determine which values most describe you, and discover the stumbling blocks you'll encounter as a result -- as well as the stepping stones to solutions. With plenty of real-life examples and a realistic approach, Helena Cornelius has written a book that no manager, employee or trainer can afford to be without if they wish to take part in the gentle revolution.

Book Description

The book reviews the present status of understanding the nature of the most luminous objects in the Universe, connected with supermassive black holes and supermassive stars, clusters of galaxies and ultraluminous galaxies, sources of gamma-ray bursts and relativistic jets. Leading experts give overviews of essential physical mechanisms involved, discuss formation and evolution of these objects as well as prospects for their use in cosmology, as probes of the intergalactic medium at high redshifts and as a tool to study the end of dark ages. The theoretical models are complemented by new exciting results from orbital and ground-based observatories such as Chandra, XMM-Newton, HST, SDSS, VLT, Keck, and many others.

Book Description

This collection of thirteen essays by prominent scholars explores the history of evolutionary thought in all of its cultural richness over the past two hundred years. Evolutionary ideas have undergone fundamental changes and are now found to have diverse sources and universal scope. They are no longer beholden to biologists' understanding of their own past, and do not focus exclusively on Charles Darwin. This volume aims to address the problem of the human significance of evolution. The contributors draw on contemporary sources as diverse as medicine, literature and natural history tableaux, as well as the resources of publishing history, feminine scholarship, and the histories of politics, sociology, and philosophy. The essays offer new perspectives on familiar figures such as Erasmus, Charles Darwin, Lamarck, Chambers, Huxley, and Haeckel, but also on many lesser known participants in the evolutionary debates.

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The best book I have ever read !!

Must Read!!!

The best fiction I have read in a long time

900 Pages of Pure, Real Writing

This book doesn't end, it continues

I Know This Much Is True (Oprah's Book Club)
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Popular Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
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She's Come Undone (Oprah's Book Club)

Black and Blue (Oprah's Book Club)

Drowning Ruth (Oprah's Book Club)

The Deep End of the Ocean (Oprah's Book Club)

While I Was Gone (Oprah's Book Club)

ASIN: 0060987561
Release Date: 1999-04-06

Amazon.com

Tony award-winning Ken Howard (1776, Child's Play) reads I Know This Much Is True with the conviction of a used car salesman and the charm of a seasoned politico. Reminiscent of a former football coach recalling his glory days, Howard's booming, rich voice is a beefy compliment to Lamb's powerful prose. Never to be mistaken as a ventriloquist, Howard makes little distinction when moving in and out of character--his voice barely cracks an octave for dainty female personalities. However, this understatement (so to speak) lends to smooth transitions and believable, down-to-earth narration. (Running time: six hours, four cassettes) --Rebekah Warren

Book Description

With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world.

Download Description

"PerfectBound e-book extra: Who Is Wally Lamb? The author addresses the National Endowment for the Arts. With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. "Dominick Birdsey is an epic hero and his story is an inspiring, darkly comic talk of redemption - a late twentieth-century Les Miserables."(Glamour) "Twice as thoughtful and twice as heart-wrenching as most published this year. An exercise in soul-baring storytelling - with the soul belonging to 20th-century American itself. It's hard to read and to stop reading, and impossible to forget." (USA Today) "...a fully developed and triumphantly resolved exploration of one man's suffering and redemption." (Publisher Weekly, starred review) "A work of astonishing craftsmanship, structural symmetry, and literary self-awareness.. Read it and weep." (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Customer Reviews:

The best book I have ever read !!.......2007-10-01

I loved this book. It actually was two stories going on in the same book.
The best, best, best book !! Don't hestitate for a minute to buy it and read it. It will stay with you long after your done reading it.

Must Read!!!.......2007-09-14

I read an average of about a book a week & this may be the best book I've read. The story feels real. The characters are flawed in a way that makes you feel more connected to them. The narrator of the story pulls you into his life of having a paranoid schizophrenic brother so well that you hurt with him & his family. It is well written, long but easy to read, funny, touching & tragic. I loved it.

The best fiction I have read in a long time.......2007-08-23

Wow. Even if you have not gone through the exact stuff the characters go through, you will be able to relate their exeperiences to your own life. A good read, even at close to 1,000 pages. It has everything you look for in a novel: incredible characters, good writing, great plot, and lots of emotion.

900 Pages of Pure, Real Writing.......2007-08-22

This book is everything you expect it to be, and all the things you don't expect it to be. It is real - sometimes too real, and yet, it still has a mini fantasy novella inside of the real story. Complex. It draws you in and makes you want to keep reading, while at the same time making you want to stop reading so you do not have feel the next blow, or the next disappointment the characters lives through.

This book doesn't end, it continues.......2007-08-20

This book is too complex with characters, plots and generations to even begin to summarize. I don't feel like writing a book report. There are many reviews for this book that take on that roll, so I will skip that part. What I liked most about this book is that there is no end, but instead a continuation of the journey that Dominick (the narrorator) struggled with throughout the book. Nothing "happened" for him, no one bailed him out or saved the day for him - he had to make good things happen for himself. Engaging and trusting with others to get and accept that help was the primary struggle for him. The insight into domestic abuse (physical and emotional) that Lamb exercises in the characters in the book will help readers to understand why some of the characters are self-destructive and some of the others are so selfless and open. The ending is, I think, what every reader will hope for - but it did not come easy. The book made me wonder if I could do that much for myself, if I have the strength to examine my life, my past and my family the way that Domick does. As soon as Dominick realizes that not everyone/everything is about him things start to open up and change. And because the jounrey was so long and patterns recognized, at the end of the book I had confidence that Dominick had made long-term changes that would hold. That's why I feel the book didn't end, but rather continued.

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I Know This Much Is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQJTTE

I Know This Much Is True (Audio Cassettes)

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I Know This Much Is True (Audio Cassettes)

Manufacturer: Recorded Books, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000GE07H6

Product Description

Unarbridged. 24 audio cassettes.

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I Know This Much is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

ASIN: B000L9XY58

2 Book Set By Wally Lamb; I Know This Much Is True; She's Come Undone

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2 Book Set By Wally Lamb; I Know This Much Is True; She's Come Undone
Wally Lamb
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VU3ZVA

Product Description

2 Book Set By Wally Lamb; I Know This Much Is True; She's Come Undone.

5 Books: A Short Guide to a Happy Life (Quindlen) / One True Thing / Black and Blue / Blessings: A Novel / I Know This Much Is True (Wally Lamb) / What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Unboxed Set of Books)

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5 Books: A Short Guide to a Happy Life (Quindlen) / One True Thing / Black and Blue / Blessings: A Novel / I Know This Much Is True (Wally Lamb) / What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day (Unboxed Set of Books)
Anna Quindlen , and Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WJLR88

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I Know This Much Is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Harper Torch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000JC2PFC

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I Know This Much Is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OES20M

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I Know This Much Is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OB4DEY

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I Know This Much Is True
Wally Lamb
Manufacturer: Regan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NXVYL8

Book Description

The story of Jordan's ruler in the turmoil of the Middle East.

A key figure in the quagmire of Middle Eastern politics, the recently deceased King Hussein of Jordan led a life full of drama never far from the brink of danger. He was barely sixteen when his grandfather was gunned down at his side in Jerusalem. He survived several attempts on his own life while he faced one political crisis after another, both domestically and in his affairs with neighboring Israel. He was extraordinary if only for his longevity in office, nearing forty-six years at the time he died. His personal life, no less eventful, included four marriages, once to an Englishwoman and most recently to the American-born Queen Noor. His televised appearance at the Wye meetings while he was fighting for his life as a cancer patient at the Mayo Clinic brought him near center stage in the American-brokered peace agreement. Once again, it confirmed him as a man of substance, whose fascinating story Roland Dallas tells in this biography.

8 Pages of Black-and-White Photographs Notes/Index

Customer Reviews:

Review on King Hussein: A Life on the Edge.......2000-12-04

The book explains the very dangerous and exciting life of the late King Hussein. This movie would give insight into the very harsh world of a Middle East peace process and the leader that made it happen for his country, Jordan. This movie would be a great tribute to such a great leader.

When King Hussein was young, he witnessed the assassination of his grandfather and was almost killed by the same gunman. His father was mentally unstable, making him unfit to be King. King Hussein had numerous wives and many children. His goal of keeping peace between Jordan and the neighboring countries was accomplished, and King Hussein was known as a peacekeeper. His life was never far from the brink of disaster. He was the master of survival, escaping many assassination attempts at the same time facing a political crisis. He had many loves: fast cars, classic guns, and beautiful women. His life was so very important that it must be made into a movie.

King Hussein was one of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. He was a precious source of stability and peace in a particularly unpredictable region of the world, the Middle East. His whole life would be a great movie of his struggles and accomplishments as leader of Jordan. His life was very important in the lives of his peoples and the peoples of neighboring countries. King Hussein was very well respect as to give a eulogy at the funeral of the former prime minister of Yitzhak Rabin. His life was peacefully ended in 1999 due to his cancer, but even in his final days at the Mayo Clinic, he contributed to the peace process by a televised appearance at the Wye meeting. No one could write a script as interesting and exciting like the life of King Hussein. The movie would give great respect to such an extraordinary leader of the Middle East.

Well written but disappointing...........2000-06-08

As someone who has studied the Middle East extensively, I found this book to be well-written, but ultimately -- and unfortunately -- just a rehash of secondary sources. In other words, although there's nothing particularly wrong with this book, there's nothing particularly great about it either. No inside insights into what made the enigmatic King Hussein tick, for instance, which could have been very helpful and interesting but which would have required the author to interview people who knew the King well. It also would have been interesting if the author could have untangled the many seeming contradictions in King Hussein's reign, but unfortunately he either tried but was unable to do so or just did not do the necessary legwork needed to discover some of these answers. Ultimately, it appears that the author, or perhaps his publisher, was more interested in rushing out the "first book on King Hussein since his death" than in doing a first-rate job. That's unfortunate, and ultimately a disservice to this fascinating man and also to the events he lived through and played a role in.

A thoroughly readable and informative biography........2000-02-11

Hoping to improve my knowledge of Middle Eatsern history and politics, as well as find out more about this fascinating man, I tried Dallas's book. It was fast-paced, dynamic, gripping and very revealing. I highly reccommend it.

King Hussein.......2000-01-11

I completely enjoyed reading this book. It is a well written biography of a great man. King Hussein lead his country from obscurity to that of an important player in the Middle East, during the Arab-Israeli Crisis and through the long and at times extremely troubled road to Middle East Peace. I highly recommend this book to all who are interested in the Middle East, and who want a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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Jordan: A Land for All Seasons
The Queen Alia Jordan Social Welfare Fund
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000XBZRG8

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Touches your heart

My life drastically changed

A Second Chance to Say Goodbye
Marianne Michaels
Manufacturer: Infinity Publishing (PA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Animal Wisdom: Communications With Animals

ASIN: 0741412764

Book Description

Death is the end of a life, not the end of a relationship, explains renowned spiritualist Marianne Michaels. For twenty years Marianne has been successfully teaching people who have lost someone close to them how to communicate directly with their loved one on the other side.

Comforting, informative, and empowering, A Second Chance to Say Goodbye is the roadmap to a new meeting place for those who have crossed over and their friends and family members.

Customer Reviews:

Touches your heart.......2003-09-12

Author Marianne writes a wonderful account about her work as a Medium. She takes the reader on a personal journey of her life and how these experiences have enriched her soul as she helps others.It is a book about understanding the soul. Each of us has lost someone very dear to us. Grief, depression, and overwhelming sadness can be better understod by reading this book.
Marianne Michaels touches the inner being with her gifts.
She writes to tell us that if we try to touch the sky-we can, and by doing so, we will speak to the spirits that we lost and grief is soon just a memory.

My life drastically changed.......2003-01-11

After my life drastically changed as a result of reading, "A Second Chance to Say Goodbye" by Marianne Michaels, I found myself compelled to share this book and Marianne's gift with others.

Marianne Michaels, one of America's most respected spiritualists, has just released her first book entitled, "A Second Chance to Say Goodbye". In this book, Ms. Michaels empowers her readers with skills to create a new relationship with passed loved ones. In addition, this book describes Ms. Michaels's deeply personal experiences of losing loved ones and as a medium. Maybe the most moving part is the actual case histories of her clients. Also illuminating is the section on the most commonly asked questions about the afterlife. Marianne gently and lovingly encourages each of us to live the best life possible and teaches us to see death in a comforting new light

Marianne Michaels and her book is truly remarkable and can help anyone who has lost a loved one or who is just curious about the afterlife. The book is an easy and facinating read. After reading other books by famous spiritual mediums, I have found this book to be the most captivating and informative. After reading this book, I purchased the accompaning meditation CD and have experienced great results. Simply, this book is a must read for anyone who wishes to enrich one's mind and spirit.

Average customer rating:

An excellent book for coping with grief

A Mother's Account of the Texas A&M Bonfire Tragedy

The Chance to Say Goodbye
Janice Cross Kerlee
Manufacturer: iUniverse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
South | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595190340

Book Description

On November 18, 1999 a tragic accident at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas claimed the lives of twelve young people and injured twenty-seven others when the annual bonfire to celebrate the Texas vs A&M football game collapsed during the final stages of construction.

Eleven young people died at the scene, but the twelfth victim, Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr., lived almost forty-two hours before succumbing to his injuries. Seven months after his death, his parents left their secular life in Memphis, Tennessee and moved to College Station to work as volunteers in campus ministry at the very school where their son had died. What happened to cause this couple to make such a life-changing decision?

The Chance to Say Goodbye answers that question while telling the tale of a young hero, who on that fateful night refused aid for himself until his friends had been helped. It is a book that will help parents who have lost children deal with their grief and teach friends how to help in a time of need. Finally, it is a book that testifies to the mighty works of God and his ever-present love.

Download Description

On November 18, 1999, a tragic accident at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, claimed the lives of twelve young people and seriously injured twenty-seven others when the annual bonfire to celebrate the University of Texas versus Texas A&M Thanksgiving football game collapsed during the final stages of construction.

Eleven young people died at the scene, but the twelfth victim, Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr., lived almost forty-two hours before succumbing to his injuries. Seven months after his death, his parents left their secular life in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to College Station to work as volunteers in campus ministry at the very school where their son had died. What happened to cause this couple to make such a life-changing decision?

The Chance to Say Goodbye answers that question, while telling the tale of a young hero, who, on that fateful night, refused aid for himself until his friends had been helped. Author Janice Cross Kerlee offers help to parents who have lost children. She assists them in dealing with their grief and teaching their friends how to help in a time of need. Finally, The Chance to Say Goodbye testifies to the mighty works of God and His ever-present love.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book for coping with grief.......2002-08-28

This book is an inspiring account of how one family used the tragedy in their life from their son's death as a means to reach out to others. It is a great book for those searching for answers as to why bad things happen to good people.

A Mother's Account of the Texas A&M Bonfire Tragedy.......2001-08-23

This is a wonderful book written by the mother of the 12th and last student to die when the TAMU Bonfire collapsed prior to the annual football game with the University of Texas. The account centers on the impact of the lost of this remarkable young man on his family, his many friends at home and the new friends in Texas. The admirable and inspirational way everyone reacted to this family's loss and the decisions made afterwards by the writer and her husband make very worthwhile reading.

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The Chance to Say Goodbye
Deborah R. Gemmill
Manufacturer: Beachcomber Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

The Chance to Say Goodbye: Hope for Grieving Parents

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A Biography

The Chance to Say Goodbye: Hope for Grieving Parents
Janice Cross Kerlee
Manufacturer: iUniverse Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

South | Regional U.S. | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Grief & Bereavement | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Parenting Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0595298206

Book Description

Eleven young people died at the scene, but the twelfth victim, Timothy Doran Kerlee, Jr., lived almost forty-two hours before succumbing to his injuries. Seven months after his death, his parents left their secular life in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to College Station to work as volunteers in campus ministry at the very school where their son had died. What happened to cause this couple to make such a life-changing decision?

Customer Reviews:

A Biography.......2004-05-21

I had hoped for a story that might help me in dealing with those I counsel. While it is a well-told story of one young man's life and influence, it is of no help at all in assisting other grieving parents who might not appreciate the extravagant emphasis on the Texas A&M spirit and on their son, rather than on their personal struggles with grief.

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Excellent updated summary of the H. Clinton career.

Very good

Hillary Rodham Clinton : A First Lady for Our Time
Donnie Radcliffe
Manufacturer: WARNER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | United States | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Living History

The SEDUCTION OF HILLARY RODHAM

Hillary's Turn: Inside Her Improbable, Victorious Senate Campaign

Hillary Clinton: The Inside Story: Revised and Updated

Hillary's Choice

ASIN: 0446600636

Book Description

Covering all aspects of America's new--and controversial--President's wife, this comprehensive biography offers an unprecedented view of our first baby boomer First Lady, and provides a better understanding of lawyer, board member, and commision member Hillary Clinton.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent updated summary of the H. Clinton career........1999-06-22

Good anecdotal material coupled with some excellent insights into the First Lady's life and personality.

Very good.......1997-09-29

I read this book twice, and I loved it both times!

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: A FIRST LADY FOR OUR TIME.

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HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: A FIRST LADY FOR OUR TIME.
Donnie. Radcliffe
Manufacturer: NY, Warner, 1993. 270 pp., illus. Fine copy of first edition in dust jacket.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDUVYM

Book Description

Against My Better Judgment: An Intimate Memoir of an Eminent Gay Psychologist is an extraordinary and moving account of the life of a gay man in his late 60s after he loses his companion of 40 years to cancer. A leading professor of psychology at Harvard University, Roger Brown bravely comes forth with his compelling story of grief, loneliness, and a relentless search for intimacy, healing, and self-acceptance. Readers gain insight into a stage of life experienced by gay men of which little is written or spoken due to the ageism that characterizes homosexual culture.

Against My Better Judgment reveals deeply personal truths that will prepare gay men for what to expect in the later stages of life. Universal in nature, these truths will speak to readers from various lifestyles and of all ages. Readers will recognize the book as a story of looking for love in all the wrong places, but will also see in it a process of discovery--both internal and external.

In the aftermath of his lover's death, Brown turns to prostitutes for companionship, for relieving repressed sexual energy, and even for love. Through his unique relationships with three young men, he does not find the romantic love he so desperately seeks, but discovers that his idea of human nature has been formed by his particular life position and association with people who share his values, knowledge, and privileges. Once he goes outside his social and intellectual circle, he acquires a new perspective on life and realizes how far from universal truth his notions of humanity have been.

Readers of Against My Better Judgment will gain a different perspective on the complexities of love, relationships, fidelity, human nature, and the hardships of life inevitably faced by all humans--straight, gay, or bisexual. Gay men, lesbians, psychologists, widowers, therapists, and anthropologists, as well as sensitive readers of any background, will heighten their understanding of what it means to be human. This remarkable story makes a tremendous contribution to existing gay literature and the timeless struggle of art and literature to make sense of the universe and the place of humans within it. Echoing life, Against My Better Judgment, with its brutal honesty, intrigues and repels alternately, just as it elicits both sadness and laughter.

Customer Reviews:

...And Beyond His Full Comprehension or Control?.......2004-06-26

Well, a 65-year-old distinguished social scientist at Harvard loses his male lover of 40 years, and also retires. And for the next five years, to cope, he pursues young men, specifically "escorts," a.k.a. hustlers or male prostitutes or callboys. Pursues them with money, and with love, but also for their love or companionship. The book is his candid memoir of that turbulent interlude "with" the three "boys" Grant, Skip, and Patrick..

You can imagine the dismal results. Especially because underlying his five-year pursuit seems to be his life-long volatile personality structure. (Should the social psychologist, have undergone psychoanalysis earlier? A graduate of same, I think so-I fear so.) Anyhow the resulting book is both case-study, and possibly "literature," as in dynamic truthtelling, even perhaps the genre of tragedy.

Brown seems driven by an unresolved neediness garnished with a Jekyll-and-Hyde syndrome. Saccharine lovingness toward the boys, and then the sour sauce of hatred from their inevitable joltings and jiltings of the professor. Who at the end sees himself as "an old fool irrelevant to their young lives."

Specifically, Brown's style of relating to these young panthers is not heroic at all but tragicomic. A combination of attempted bear hug... ritual mating fire-dance... co-dependent orbiting... pugilistic hatred when rebuffed... and operatic laments by the "maiden" ever spurned...

Better he wrote it than not. At the end he stops with boys because his five-year foray was inconclusive. He had hoped that ambiguities would be resolved, meaning clarified. "That never happened." He stopped learning anything new. He found no satisfying closure toward enlightenment. "The obscurity all remained and new ones were added but I saw that that was the way it would always be."

Perhaps we the readers can learn more. That the unanalyzed, or unexamined, life is unworthy to live. That to "know thyself" truly-one's motivations, goals, identity-is as vital as the Greeks said it was twenty centuries ago. Brown says this on the next to the last page: "It is a lonely universe, one of many it seems, and in passing through it one needs close company, a Primary Other." Well, first, if one possesses one's own true Self, one is less lonely. And second, neither his problematic, troubled 40-year "marriage" nor his hopeless liaisons with the boys, show him as consonant with his true Self. And so I can feel that there in Brown's fantastic footsteps, but for the grace of Psyche, go we. Myself, anyhow...

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