College Acct Chaps 1-15

Book Description

A facilitator helps groups of people to enable them to interact more effectively in a wide range of situations and occupations, including workplaces, organizational planning, leisure and health activities and community development. Facilitation is an emerging and exciting profession.

Customer Reviews:

Home Medical & Health Guide In 4 Volumes.......2005-01-10

This set contains 4 volumes with 1363 pages. The information is very comprehensive, practical and complete. It is designed for home use and also can be found in the reference sections of libraries. The information is given in the language of the layperson and is not complicated. The index is easy to use and is comprehensive.

Volume I: Your body, The first dozen years, The teens, The beginning of a family, The middle years and The later years.

Volume II: Diseases of each body system, Diabetes and other autoimmune diseases, Cancer, Other diseases of major importance and Surgery.

Volume III: Skin, hair, teeth, gums, aches & pains, allergies, women's health, physicians, nutrition & weight control, mental health, substance abuse, environment & health, health insurance, home care of the sick, health care delivery and voluntary health agencies.

Volume IV: Medical emergencies, Commonly prescribed drugs and Physical fitness.

Great for every family.......2002-06-07

This four volume set is very informative and useful. It contains sections on emergency care, women's health, pediatric health, each area of the body (digestive system, allergies, etc). While it does not diagnose, it does give important information on symptoms, causes, and treatments on just about every medical problem. The index is easy to use and comprehensive. I highly recommend this set.

Every family must have this book.......2000-12-30

I have read the 1992 edition of this book and have had benefits from using it in making a healthy and far-from-diseases family. The most valuable thing in this book is it's simple and non-specilistic language that makes it very attractive and easy-to- understand for any ages. And more, it includes some aricles about mental and physical health that rarely appears in other similar titles. Now, since beeing a scientific writer, I am going to translate it into Persian to be used by more and more families.

The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

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The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

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The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia
Unknown
Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000QY805M

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The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia

The New complete medical and health encyclopedia

Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia.......2001-03-08

This 4 volume set of medical and health encyclopedias is excellent way to provide answers to health questions. Chapeters include "your body, muschles, circulatory system, nervous system, lungs, digestive system, infants, children teens, adults, diseases, women's health, allergies, nutrition and weight control, mental and emotional disorders, medical emergencies, generic drugs, and more.." Very informative, and up to date.

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The New complete medical and health encyclopedia

Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

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The New complete medical and health encyclopedia

Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

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The New Complete Medical And Health Encyclopedia
Wagman And The J G Ferguson Editorial Staff
Manufacturer: J G Ferguson Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000JFA94I

The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia (4 Volume Set)

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The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia (4 Volume Set)
Richard (edited by) Wagman
Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0894341510

Product Description

Provides for you answers to your health questions and serves as a guide for you in learning about and understanding the medical terms and conditions that you or your family may experience during your life.

The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia (4 volumes)

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The New Complete Medical and Health Encyclopedia (4 volumes)
Richard J. (editor) Wagman
Manufacturer: J.G. Ferguson Pub. Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000QH5XFE

the new complete medical and health encyclopedia (a-z index reference guide, vol .4)

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the new complete medical and health encyclopedia (a-z index reference guide, vol .4)

Manufacturer: standard educational corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Medical | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000HZF75Q

Book Description

"Describes new modification methods and applications for natural, synthetic, thermoplastic, and thermoset polymers that result from economic forces, commercial processes, and the latest research and development. Features chemical and physical technologies such as sulfonation, alkylation, acid/base hydrolysis, hydrogenation, stress orienting, annealing, crystallization, and more."

Book Description

Although natural phenomena can be described by a few simple and symmetric basic laws they exhibit an astounding variety of behaviours. This can be explained by a process known as symmetry breaking, which can cause an ordered state to form with topological defects. The dynamics of further evolution are determined to a large extent by the dynamics of such defects. This book covers the structure and dynamics of vortices in a variety of nonlinear field models with spontaneously broken symmetry. Point vortices or vortex lines can correspond, depending on the physical setting, to quantized vortices in superfluids or superconductors, dislocations in non- equilibrium patterns, rotating spiral waves, disclinations in liquid crystals, singularities in optical fields or strings in relativistic field theories. This book is unique in considering vortices in these different settings, but also emphasizes the analytical methods that allow an understanding of the common theoretical structure underlying defect dynamics.

Book Description

This richly illustrated book recounts the childhood years of Fagerberg in the central Arizona town of Prescott. Recounting the people, places, and activities of a small community in the West, his stories bring to life the day-to-day activities of school, social events, fads, commerce, and travel during the early part of the twentieth century. The book contains historical photographs, illustrations, maps, and indices.

Customer Reviews:

He Should Have Dropped Out.......2004-07-12

This book is, well, strange. The author is obviously bright, and possesses at least some degree of self-awareness. Despite this, it seems to have taken him three years to figure out what should have been obvious in three weeks: namely, that he had no desire to study law or to become a lawyer.

This passage (pp. 130, 131) is typical:

"What I did care about - or thought I did - was my third class: Poverty Law.... But if poverty law was the right field to go into, (the professor) never convinced us that it was interesting. He said that poverty lawyers should use arbitrary rules to benefit their clients, exploit the loopholes, because 'the poor do not have resources, all they have are the rules'. But the rules were boring. It was not interesting to know that when a rule says you have ten days to file, you do or do not count the days at both ends. But that was what poverty law entailed: knowing the arcane rules involved in such things as meeting income and the asset requirements of various programs. During a break one day, I heard one student tell another, 'This is as bad as tax'. Maybe we were just painfully naïve, but we still held out the hope that doing good, if not remunerative, could at least be interesting".

Well, law is concerned largely with "arcane rules". What did he expect?

Kahlenberg's solution to his dislike of law school was to opt for as many non-legal elective courses as possible. Most of these were taught at the Kennedy School of Government, which he greatly preferred: "Its purpose - to take on the great social and political problems of our time, involving issues such as health care, foreign relations, and poverty - was so much more grand than that of the law school (which is concerned with) a narrow field more akin to accounting" (p. 173). Yet even the Kennedy School is attacked for being insuccifiently theoretical: "the school's emphasis on mechanics and management over vision is a perenial concern" (pp. 173, 174).

Kahlenberg writes, at considerable length, about the need for Harvard Law graduates to perform "public service": a phrase which he never defines but clearly restricts to working in Washington as a staff member for a powerful Senator or an important Senate committee. He fails to explain why this sort of employment is more relevant or admirable than the private practice of law, of which he writes disparagingly (p.155):

"By the end of the summer, I had come to believe that most high-priced attorneys did not wear white hats or black hats; they wore no hats at all. They just came to work every day to do jobs that were of little social importance".

I would respectfully suggest the following: (1) the vast majority of jobs in this world can be argued to have "little social importance" (which in any case is an obviously subjective description); (2) the writing of speeches for some hack politician, or policy papers that will be read by few and acted upon by none, is a job of less "social importance" than the provision of legal services to private clients.

Although I myself am a lawyer, I freely admit that it's not for everyone. Why did it take Kahlenberg so long to figure out that it was not for him?

It was only at the tail end of his final year, upon deciding not to take the Bar exam or to accept a job with a law firm, that realization set in: "I wondered whether I had gone off the deep end. Being a press secretary had nothing to do with law whatsoever. Had I just wasted three years of my life and a lot of money? Was law school a big mistake?" (p. 223). Yes, Richard, it was.

Interesting Point, But Poorly Written.......2004-06-16

This book has some strong points, but they are outweighed, in my opinion, by the negatives.

First, in terms of subject matter, Kahlenberg's very liberal--despite what he may profess, he seems (to a moderate like me) much more liberal than your average Democrat--slant to absolutely everything about which he writes taints the entire book. Apparently, he seems to think that only liberals can provide useful public service or enhance the nation's government. One might think that, with seven years of formal education, Kahlenberg might realize that things are not so black-and-white, and that people of all ideologies can be (and are) public servants dedicated to helping their fellow citizens.

When it came to the actual structure of the book, I tired of his endless rants on how HLS can change people. Yes, I understand--and can sympathize--with his point, but I prefer not to be absolutely bombarded with a single idea over and over again without so much as a single additional insight after the first 100 pages. Moreover, detailed descriptions of two or three firm interviews were interesting--fascinating, in fact. But having to read what amounted to the same story (with different firms and different attorneys that eventually all blended together) some 20-30 times was tedious at best.

Once again, I get his point that all corporate firms are the same, that they are extremely successful at attracting HLS students away from public work, and that they work against progressive change and the common good rather than helping the public. But there has to be a less mind-numbingly dull and long-winded--not to mention pretentious and arrogant--way to communicate the point.

If you absolutely must read this--as you probably should if you have any intention of going to HLS or any other "name" law school--borrow it from the library, but do not waste your money purchasing the book.

Inspiring and thought-provoking!.......2004-03-22

Broken Contract is the chronicle of Richard Kahlenberg's struggle to justify his classical liberal ideals with the harsh reality of law school: most entering law students have a desire to use the privilege of an education in the law to help the poor and downtrodden of society, "but upon graduating, the vast majority [scramble] to fill the ranks of the nation's top corporate law firms" (from the front flap). Through the framework of his struggle with these powerful opposing forces, Kahlenberg presents us with a fascinating look at Harvard Law School, its culture and the nature of the law education of the late 1980s. He paints a portrait of everyday life as a law student, scrambling for Law Review positions, summer internships, judicial clerkships and ultimately, for a job after graduation.

As Kahlenberg searches for a job and dogmatically asks each interviewer about the firm's pro bono work (he is interested in little more), he occasionally comes across as an elitist; his sense of noblesse oblige is mildly nauseating. Throughout the book, Kahlenberg operates on the assumption that class-action lawsuits are morally right, that cases brought by poor people are just, that all big corporations are evil, that people have to sell-out to earn big salaries and that "conservatives" are willing to do anything to guarantee the rights of the rich.

However, don't let these relatively small negative aspects of the book deter you from reading it, even if you identify yourself as a conservative. His larger point is this: "since each of us struggles daily with good and bad impulses, we might want to restructure our social institutions in order to make it a little easier to do good" (235). This book does not target a certain ideology, except perhaps greed. Kahlenberg does not pull any punches and the targets of his criticisms span the ideological spectrum (although he does let a few more land on the right side of the spectrum).

Broken Contract rates a full four and a half stars. Broken Contract challenged me to think critically about my motivations for attending law school and broadened my perspective on life in general and on the legal community in particular.

Whiny limousine liberal.......2003-11-08

If you want to read the story of a guy who thinks it would really be nifty to do important public service work while still pulling down six figures, this is the book for you. Kahlenberg makes law students like myself who are legitimately dedicated to public interest law look like idiots. From tacky comments about distinguished lawyers he labels "sell-outs" for their choice to move to private work to the hilarious account of his (very sincere, I'm *sure*) questioning an interviewer at Arnold and Porter about whether a liberal would feel comfortable at the firm (like they're going to tell you no) the book is pretty useless. Kahlenberg wants you to think he's really upset that he just tried and tried and couldn't get a public interest job, but let's face it -- he went to Harvard Law. If he was the least bit honest at any time, the book would be worth reading. There's no way Coles read this book before agreeing to write the foreword.

Irritating and Disappointing.......2002-04-12

This book is a compendium of irritating whinings by a naive liberal intent on saving the world. I was very much disappointed. Skip. Or borrow the book from the library.

Broken Contract - A Memoir of Harvard Law School

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Broken Contract - A Memoir of Harvard Law School
Richard D. Kahlenberg
Manufacturer: Hill and Wang, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VZND4E

Book Description

A biography of the one electable Democratic presidential candidate with the guts to provide a real alternative to George Bush.

Senator Bob Graham of Florida is the one electable Democrat running for President who provides a real alternative to George Bush. And S. V. Date is uncannily suited to write Graham's biography: an acclaimed novelist (praised by The New York Times Book Review for his "hilarious political satire"), Date is also a veteran journalist who has covered Florida politics since 1995 and has access to Senator Graham and his intimates.

Date reveals Graham's motivations and the sheer drive and talent that turned a country boy into a multimillionaire, two-term Florida Governor, United States Senator (since 1987), and now, a presidential candidate willing to speak unpopular truths. While most Democrats hemmed and hawed, Graham-"a modern-day Paul Revere" (The Washington Post)-unequivocally opposed the Iraq war, stating repeatedly and forcefully that it was diverting funds and focus from preventing future terrorist attacks in the United States.

The biography offers a balanced portrait of Graham. Date explores both the compromises Graham made to get to the top and his quirky side, including Graham's ritual of filling small notebooks with every detail of his day, as well as his inclination to break out into an occasional bad song, including the self-penned "I'm a Florida Graham cracker. Be a Graham cracker backer!"

Senator Graham Cracker, like the man himself, is straight-forward, funny, and smart.

Customer Reviews:

Bob Graham - One of America's best Governors and U.S. Senators.......2007-04-15

1979 was my first introduction in person to Bob Graham. The circumstances were odd, but ever since then, I have come to appreciate his service to Florida and to the nation.

On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the first inmate to be executed in Florida following the resumption of capital punishment. The night before was an all night vigil in front of the Governor's Mansion. I was there. Bob - against the advise of his advisers - walked out the front door of the mansion to speak with us.

Subsequent to that I had many opportunities to speak with and to observe him up close. Reading this book though has - with the hindsight of history - helped me to better realize what a gem both Florida and the nation has in Bob Graham.

Bob, thank you.

And by the way, last night at the Florida Wine Festival - a fund-raiser for the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallahassee - I won the dinner with you and three of my friends at the Governor's Club in Tallahassee. Looking forward!

And thank you S. V. Date for a most informative and well written book.

Next book for me to read is your newest book about the real (and scary) Jeb Bush.

Intriguing, Detailed, Fair, and Poignant--an Excellent Read........2004-06-15

S.V. Date's book is an easy read - you can read it over a weekend - but it is surprisingly deep and well-researched. The book, written in the straightforward prose one expects from a seasoned newspaper reporter, is especially strong on Graham's bumpy yet successful ride as a politician in Florida. The author's observations of Graham are positive, yet balanced, looking at Graham's strengths and weaknesses, his moments of true leadership and his worst mistakes. On the whole, the book left me with a favorable impression of Graham -- he comes across as a bright, patriotic and hard-working leader who tried to make peoples lives better.

Quiet Passion A Biography of Senator Bob Graham

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Quiet Passion A Biography of Senator Bob Graham
Date S. V.
Manufacturer: Penguin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UF6YKA

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Happy As a Big Sunflower: Adventures in the West, 1875-1880
Rolf Johnson
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N791D2

Book Description

MY MEMORIES OF EIGHTY YEARS BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS 1924 COPYRIORT, 1921, 1022, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER 8 SONS Printed in the United States of Amerla TO MY WIFE MAY PALMER DEPEW THIS BOOK GREW FROM HER ENCOURAGEMENT FOREWORD For many years my friends have insisted upon my putting in permanent form the incidents in. my life which have interested them. It has been my good fortune to take part in history-making meetings and to know more or less intimately people prominent in world affairs in many countries. Every one so situated has a flood of recollections which pour out when occasion stirs the memory. Often the listeners wish these transcribed for their own use. My classmate at Yale in the class of 1856, John D. Champlin, a man of letters and an accomplished editor, rescued from my own scattered records and newspaper files material for eight volumes-My secretary has selected and compiled for publication two volumes since. These are principally speeches, addresses, and contribu tions which have appeared in public Several writers, without my knowledge, have selected special matter from these volumes and made books Andrew D, White, Senator Hoar, and Senator Foraker, with whom 1 was associated for years, have published full and valuable autobiographies. I do not attempt anything so elaborate or complete Never having kept a diary, I am dependent upon a good memory, I have vil viii FOREWORD discarded the stories which could not well bo published until long after I have joined the majority. I trust and earnestly hope there is nothing rn those recollections which can offend anybody, li lias boon my object so to picture events and narrate stories as to illumine the periods through which I have passed for eighty-eight years, and the people whom I have known and mightily enjoyed, C M, I X CONTENTS PAGE L CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 3 II. IN PUBLIC LIFE 17 II L ABRAHAM LINCOLN ..,.. 52 IV. GKNJKUAL GRANT . . 67 V. ROSCOK CONKLING . 75 VL HORACE GRKELKY 87 VIL RirrmuiKOKD B. HAYES AND WILLIAM M. EVARTS 99 VIII. GKNHRAL GARFIELD . . 107 IX. CHESTER A. ARTHUR , . . 116 X. GKOVER CLEVELAND , f 124 XL BF. NJAMXN OAHKISON 129 XIL JAMES G-ELAINE , 141 XI I L WILLIAM McKiNLEY . , ..,,. 147 XIV. THEODORE ROOSEVELT .,.,. 158 XV. UNITED STATES SENATE , 175 XVL AMBASSADORS AND MINISTERS ..,,, 191 XVI L GOVERNORS OF NEW YORK STATE . . . , , 209 ix x CONTENTS FAC. K XVIIL FIFTY-SIX YEARS WITH THE NEW YORK CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY . ........ 2- XIX. RECOLLECTIONS FROM ABROAD ...... XX. ORATORS AND CAMPAIGN SPEAKERS ..... XXL NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTIONS 339 XXII. JOURNALISTS AND FINANCIERS ....... VJ4 XXIIL ACTORS AND MEN OF LETTERS ...... 3 K XXIV. SOCIETIES AND PUBLIC BANQUETS ..... 3 4 INDEX ...... . 41 MY MEMORIES OF EIGHTY YEARS I CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH It has occurred to me that some reminiscences of a long life would be of interest to my family and friends. My memory goes back for more than eighty years. I recall distinctly when about five years old my mother took me to the school of Mrs. Westbrook, wife of the well-known pastor of the Dutch Reformed church, who had a school in her house, within a few doors. The lady was a highly educated woman, and her husband, Doctor Westbrook, a man of letters as well as a preacher. He specialised in ancient history, and the interest he aroused in Roman and Greek culture and achievements has con tinued with me ever since. The village of Peeks kill at that time had between two and three thousand inhabitants. Its people were nearly all Revolutionary families who had settled there in colonial times. There had been very little immigration either from other States or abroad acquaintance was universal, and in the activities of the churches there was general co-operation among the members. Church at tendance was so unanimous that people, young or old, who failed to be in their accustomed places on Sunday felt the disapproval of the community...

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As secretary of state it was my duty to have the papers all prepared for execution as soon as the college had voted, and to attach to them the great seal of the State, and then they were sent by special messenger to Washington to be delivered to the House of Representatives. Mr. Greeley, at the opening of the session, said to me: "Chauncey, as I am not very familiar with parliamentary law, I wish you would take a seat on the steps beside me here.

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My Memories of Eighty Years
Chauncey M. Depew
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLJWTA

My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Comfort Edition]

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My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Comfort Edition]
Chauncey M. Depew
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Font Size 13 | Alternative Formats | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1425084923
Release Date: 2007-06-07

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"My Memories of Eighty Years is an autobiographical novel by Depew. He narrates about the things happening around him, and the people he gets to meet in his surroundings. Considered as one of the masterpieces, this is surely a must read!"

My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Edition]

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My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Edition]
Chauncey M. Depew
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Font Size 11 | Alternative Formats | Formats | Books
ASIN: 142508396X
Release Date: 2007-06-07

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My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Large Edition]

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My Memories of Eighty Years [EasyRead Large Edition]
Chauncey M. Depew
Manufacturer: ReadHowYouWant.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1425085881
Release Date: 2007-06-07

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MY MEMORIES OF EIGHTY YEARS, Signed Copy

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MY MEMORIES OF EIGHTY YEARS, Signed Copy
Chauncy M. Depew
Manufacturer: Charles Scribner's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LUV2Q0

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[Told through the ages series]
Frances Nathan Wolff
Manufacturer: The Young Churchman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B00085G9E8

My first eighty years: Memories of a man of Sullivan County, Indiana

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My first eighty years: Memories of a man of Sullivan County, Indiana
Damon Wilsey Pugh
Manufacturer: Indices Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006PGHQA

My mountain memories;: The outstanding incidents and ideas of my eighty-five years

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My mountain memories;: The outstanding incidents and ideas of my eighty-five years
Alza Campbell Huffman
Manufacturer: Dorrance
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0007ENRWW

Amazon.com

Despite the fact that it opens with a paralyzing wrestling injury, Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel by Steve Fiffer is one upbeat memoir. After exposing the reader to the numbing psychological aftershock of the injury he suffered at the age of 17--"The accident had fractured more than my fifth cervical vertebra, broken more than my neck. It had fractured reality, broken time"--the book quickly gives way to a sincere and sustained optimism, free of self-pity and sentimentality. The horrific event is effectively turned into a defining experience rather than the primary focus of the rest of his life. Just seven months after being told by doctors that he would never walk again, he manages to enter his first class at Yale University on crutches rather than in a wheelchair. That he would someday walk again seems less a dream than an inevitability: "I wasn't supposed to walk again. I wanted to walk. So I did." But there is much more to Fiffer's coming-of-age tale than his efforts to retrain his legs. In poignant descriptions of personal awakenings, sexual stirrings (and frustrations), and the common desire for acceptance, "becoming whole" extends far beyond the task of dealing with a broken vertebra. He may not be a dollar bill, he explains, but "three quarters, two dimes, and nickel" add up to the same thing in the end.

Some of the book's more colorful and moving passages feature Dick Woit, a former pro-football player who subsists entirely on Cool Whip and whom Fiffer enlists for some tough love. In the manic guru-cum-trainer's first meeting with Fiffer, Woit refers to him as "Crip," promptly instructs him to hit the deck and perform some sit-ups, then declares his effort, and current physical state, "pathetic." Thus motivated, Fiffer begins regularly attending Coach Woit's gym to battle for control of his legs and his life. His struggle to walk makes his story intriguing, even suspenseful, while his grappling with larger issues makes it universal and inspiring. Told with candor and plenty of humor, Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel beautifully defines the subtle differences between simply enduring an unimaginable twist of fate and actually making something good of it. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

What would you do if you were seventeen years old and broke your neck? It's tough enough to stand on the verge of adulthood without the extra burden of not being able to stand at all. Steve Fiffer had his whole life ahead of him in December 1967 when he fractured his fifth cervical vertebra in a wrestling accident at school, shattering his dreams. The diagnosis was quadriplegia, and his parents were told that he would never walk again. Steve, however, was not content to accept such a fate. He had always been taught that he was a leader, not a follower, and he was not going to take this news lying down. Within five months he was out of the hospital, within seven he was on crutches, and within nine he was beginning his freshman year at Yale University. And most remarkable of all, he never lost his wisecracking sense of humor or his hunger for all that life has to offer.

Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel is Steve Fiffer's story of his coming of age, and of how he created a normal life for himself despite his injury. Steve refused to be consumed or defined by his physical condition; he may not be a dollar bill, he explains, but he's still "three quarters, two dimes, and a nickel." His battle to come back from his injury casts into sharp relief the drama of becoming an adult and wrestling with issues of identity, relationships, and ambition. We join him around the dinner table as he rebuilds his once-distant relationship with his father and gains a new appreciation of their bond; we agonize with him as he tries to find true love (or at least lose his virginity) despite his self-consciousness about his physical awkwardness, and we join him at the Lawson YMCA in downtown Chicago, where he rebuilds his body under the watchful eye of the manic physical-fitness coach Dick Woit, a retired football star who puts Steve through a sort of boot camp to raise his sights even higher and propel him off his crutches for good. Part guru, part drill instructor, Woit helps Steve to develop the mental toughness to put the injury behind him and to embrace adulthood and all its responsibilities.

By turns poignant, darkly comic, and ultimately triumphant, Three Quarters, Two Dimes, and a Nickel is an affirmation of how the ordinary joys of life can win out even in extraordinary circumstances.

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Customer Reviews:

Self-indulgent and suffering from sadly stilted prose.......2005-03-13

I saw this book in a library and thought, Gosh, sounds inspiring, I'll take a look. I read it. What a waste of time. Why do publishing houses allow aggrieved hack writers to sob and take shots at the rest of the human race for 280 plus pages? Don't make my mistake. Save your time for another book.

A valuable book for those injured and their families.......2004-12-17

Being a spinal cord injury survivor, I found this book indispensible to my recovery and have recommended it to others who have been severely injured.

The book has been criticized for the fact it implies if you are willing to work hard enough you can walk again after a severe spinal cord injury. As has been said many times, if hard work were all it takes, many people in wheelchairs would be running the Boston Marathon. I think the readers who only see the above point of view are missing the author's message and the whole purpose of writing this book. The explanation of the title of the book within the book is the key to the entire book.

I recommend the book very highly to the recently injured and to their families.

Real life inspiration with a hilarious character.......1999-07-15

I want to train with Dick Woit! What a great character. I loved this book because the author doesn't portray himself as a superhuman martyr. Publishing this straightforward autobiography must have taken at least as much courage and guts as rebuilding his body did.

An inspiring, skillfully written account.......1999-06-30

I read this book aboard an airplane, not knowing the first thing about it, but being intrigued by its title. It turned out to be a coming of age story like none other I have read. The author's charmed, sixties' adolescence is drastically altered by a high school wrestling accident. The prognosis regarding recovery is anything but encouraging. The events through which Fiffer is led to his rehabilitation make a riveting account. Besides his own journey, we are also treated to a poignant look at a family -- especially a father -- coming to terms with an unforseen challenge. This is all told from the unique perspective of one who finds he must adapt during a period when a society must also adapt to a dizzying array of upheavals. How Fiffer takes his first and then ultimate steps on that road is what makes such a compelling perspective. The writing is clean and skilled. At all times, I felt like I was in the hands of somebody who had an unfailing instinct for what needed to be delivered to the reader. I recommend this book for anyone who is in the mood for an intelligent, well-told story, free of cliches and without a hint of self-pity. That's probably due to the fact that by the end of it, Fiffer seems to have achieved the kind of strength and enlightenment of one who has looked tragedy in the face and told it to take a walk.

I HOPED FOR MORE.......1999-06-01

This book was an impulse buy for me -- so much for trusting your instincts. Somewhere in the author's life is a good, inspirational story, I think, but it didn't seem to come out. The truth is that after awhile I really came to dislike this man -- how he treats people, how he holds petty grudges, how he uses the buddy system (from his father's business connections to NY Times columnist Ira Berkow) to win advantages in life. It was really bothersome after awhile. Typical is how he sneers about an old female friend, whom he -- oh, his mother does the speaking -- labels as a "user" and then he pouts when she can't afford to travel to his father's funeral. I wanted to slap him. He is so petty and so unforgiving of other people's human flaws at times that it overshadows his good points and what should be the heart of his story -- that he doesn't whine about his injury, that he does bust his butt to rehabilitate himself, that he does have a heroic spirit. Rather than a book about Fiffer, I came away wanting to read one about his mother, who put up with him and probably a lot else he didn't see, or Dick Woit, the trainer who helped him. They came away as people I wanted to meet, the real heroes of this story.

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