Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration and Popular Resistance in Mexico

Book Description

Is the current model for economic globalization good for the poor or the environment? Are there alternatives? Amid rising worldwide protests that corporate elites wield too much influence over global economic governance, this book on Mexico' s experience under the North American Free Trade Agreement offers insights into both questions.

With a focus on labor, agricultural, and environmental issues, Confronting Globalization tells globalization's untold stories: its social and environmental costs and the grassroots search for alternative paths. Indigenous coffee farmers fight for a place in the global market. Sweatshop workers demand safe working conditions and basic labor rights. Corn farmers organize to prevent the flood of imported grain from driving them off the land. The editors carefully set the context and clearly draw the rich lessons from these compelling stories, offering a rare grounding in how trade policies affect vulnerable communities and the environment, and what those communities are doing to defend themselves and promote their own homegrown alternatives.

Customer Reviews:

Globalization as seen from the bottom in Mexico.......2003-10-08

A Review:
Confronting Globalization:
Economic integration and popular resistance in Mexico
Wise, Timothy A., Salazar, Hilda, Carlsen, Laura eds., 248 pages (paper),
Kumarian Press, Bloomfield, CT 2003
....)

Globalization and trade policies such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have had disastrous effects on Mexican communities Confronting Globalization is about what some of these communities are doing at the grass-roots political level to defend themselves. The setting is contemporary Mexico. This book provokes discussion of the lessons of the social and environmental costs of the NAFTA. The editors have gathered the real stories of real communities and the community members organized to address conflicts. The book ends with thoughtful guidance for us to ponder as corporations and governments sally along with new hemispheric-wide economic agreements. This kind of guidance is very rare these days as most of us hunt for workable paradigms to guide social justice actions in the future.

The basic premise of the book is that increased trade and investment result from reduced barriers, but these should not be an end in themselves. National governments should go further than global economic integration and judiciously use the fruits of free trade as a means toward an end of improving their own society, environment, and economies. This book not only shows how communities and local democracy have been weakened by globalization, but lessons are examined and recommendations are offered as important considerations for future agreements. The promise that globalization can strengthen us all has proved hollow, and here we see how and why it has failed - and we can see what must be different in our immediate tomorrows.

The editors use nine case studies of actual communities that have been impacted by neo-liberal trade policies. The setting of this book is stories of how these communities are defending themselves from the onslaught of corporate power and stories of how laws have weakened the national ability to protect the people of a country. Locally-based alternative policies can be viable alternatives but they must be protected and nurtured by national and international agreements.

With a focus on environmental, labor, and agricultural issues the book documents how the past ten years of free trade have resulted in an exclusive focus on corporate profits. This book shows how, with detailed citations, these agreements result in a weakening of democratic government, deterioration of the environment, and declining labor conditions. For example, the authors document how rural Mexico, heavily dependent on small-scale agriculture, is in crisis. Grain imports from the United States and reduced supports to small farmers have resulted in four-fifths of the rural Mexican population living in poverty, and half of those people live in extreme poverty. Small farmers just can't compete on such unequal terms. Is this free trade? Who benefits? Who loses?

These authors do an excellent job of supporting their thesis with facts that are annotated. For example, the editors of Confronting Globalization document how Mexican per capita growth was 3.4% from 1960 to 1980. Since 1985 Mexican per capita real growth has been just 1%. Job creation in Mexico does not nearly keep up with the increase of the population. New workers are entering the economy faster than jobs are being created. Manufacturing has seen a net loss of jobs since NAFTA took effect. NAFTA critics predicted American jobs would migrate to Mexico. Some did. But the jobs created in Mexico are not good jobs - manufacturing wages are down 12% under NAFTA, and about 60% of the Mexican workers do not receive any of the benefits legally mandated by their government.

How can this increasing impoverishment of our neighbor be good for the United States? Who gains from international trade agreements and who are the real losers? Read this book and you will come away with a solid grounding in the basic lessons of free trade. Talk of globalization usually means talk of economic conditions, but costs to the environment, agriculture, and worker well-being are ignored. States must include these sectors when considering future agreements such as the Free Trade Area of the Americas.

The student of global trade agreements will be familiar with challenges of national pressures as the regions struggle to integrate. There are many articles and books about trade agreements of the 20th and 21st Centuries but documentation of how these changes have impacted contemporary Mexican civil society, and in turn our society, are not common. Confronting Globalization is important because these stories detail how communities have responded at the grassroots level with a wide diversity of social responses. It should be required reading for the university-level scholar, the politicians who create trade policy, and social activists who seek to ameliorate the harm caused by globalization. The clearly delineated recommendations are essential considerations for future action.

2003-08-15
...

Pondering labor, agricultural, & environmental issues.......2003-09-18

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Timothy A. Wise, Hilda Salazar and Laura Carlsen, Confronting Globalization: Economic Integration And Popular Resistance In Mexico presents informed and informative essays from a variety of expert contributors pondering diverse labor, agricultural, and environmental issues within the context of contemporary globalization. Looking at the social and environmental costs that globalization extracts upon Mexico's land and people; exploring grassroots searches for alternate paths; and ranging from sweatshop workers' struggles for basic labor rights to the efforts of corn farmers to keep the influx imported grain from forcing them off their land, Confronting Globalization is very highly recommended reading for students of international economics, social activists, and governmental trade policy makers.

Heart Attack Survivor: A Field Guide
Average customer rating:

Husband Read From Cover to Cover

blahhhhh book

Too much emotion, not enough facts...

Definitely a Chicken Soup Book

A Handbook for Mental and Physical Health

Heart Attack Survivor: A Field Guide
Brad Henson
Manufacturer: Crow Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Health & Stress | Business Life | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Stress Management | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Heart Disease | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Heart Attack!: Advice for Patients by Patients

The Cardiac Recovery Handbook: The Complete Guide to Life After Heart Attack or Heart Surgery, Second Edition

Take a Load off Your Heart: 109 Things You Can Actually Do to Prevent, Halt and Reverse Heart Disease

The Cardiac Recovery Cookbook: Heart Healthy Recipes for Life After Heart Attack or Heart Surgery

The Healthy Heart Cookbook: Over 700 Recipes for Every Day and Every Occasion

Accessories:

Philips HeartStart Home Defibrillator (AED)

RESPeRATE Blood Pressure Lowering Device

Omron HEM-780 Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor with ComFit Cuff

ASIN: 0971278806

Book Description

Heart attack survival means actively creating more opportunities to change your approaches to life. To live free of additional stress and fear you have to know whether any of the physical activities you have enjoyed all of your life are causing you to "flirt with cardiac arrest." You must change the "Type-A personality" behaviors and attitudes while you have time to do so. This book is about how to live a life free from the stress, fear, anger, negative feelings, and other unresolved lifestyle challenges that contribute to heart attacks. In this book, you will discover how to:

See your heart attack as a second chance at life.

Create revolutionary ways to change personality flaws which are making you susceptible to heart attacks.

Engage the power of laughter, meditation, imagination and balance to heal yourself from within.

Break the grip of feelings of loss and denial after heart trauma.

To establish new stress reduction techniques to live a fuller life.

Dismantle fear and apprehension to break free forever.

Overcome resistance and reluctance to exercising.

Immediately lower your risk of future heart attacks.

Eliminate all of your dependency on credit card stress triggers forever.

Safely resume sexual activity after heart trauma.

Have an enriching, releasing and satisfying experience every day.

Build monumental spousal support, connection and communication.

Avoid feelings of withdrawal and isolation

Use attitude, faith and healing to prevent future heart troubles.

Use proper nutrition for ultimate longevity- giving you the best guidelines for diet, vitamins and other important supplements to lower your risk factors.

And much more… STOP: BEFORE YOU READ ANOTHER WORD... Before one more minute of your life goes by unchanged... Before someone you love who is at a high risk for heart disease dies of a heart attack... Stop! Buy this book now so that you or someone you love will experience the most profound "life-changing moments." This book presents a heart and mind-shifting breakthrough integrated, customized action plan created by Brad Henson for breaking the patterns of the "heart disease" lifestyle forever..

Customer Reviews:

Husband Read From Cover to Cover.......2006-11-04

My husband is recovering from a recent major heart attack. He couldn't put this book down. It is very inspirational and informational for anyone faced with such a life alternating traumatic episode. Excellent for family members to read as well.

blahhhhh book.......2006-06-27

I was really disappointed with this book. The author seemed to build himself up on his website but that turns out to be only self-promotion and has little basis of truth. Many other books out there, get the job done a whole lot better. Keep looking before you buy!

Too much emotion, not enough facts... .......2006-02-21

I expected this book to have advice on how to mangage your risk factors after a cardiac event -- What I got was a "self help" book that rambled on about the series of emotions you may experience and how to deal with them. It was a lot of "touchy-feely," without any good solid advice on how to handle the physical situation your body is in. This was exacerbated by a maudlin tone and what I felt were cheesy and poorly written personal anecdotes.

Other books I purchased did a great job at addressing the serious issues of depression, anxiety and stress management while still providing excellent advice and education on medications, health care, exercise, diet, and other "key levers" to maintaining cardiac health after a serious cardiac event. As alternatives to this book, I would highly recommend both "Take a Load Off Your Heart: 109 Things You Can Actually Do to Prevent, Halt and Reverse Heart Disease," and "The Cardiac Recovery Handbook: The Complete Guide to Life After Heart Attack or Heart Surgery."

Hope this is helpful.

Definitely a Chicken Soup Book.......2003-10-02

This book is not what I was looking for. Guess I should have read the reviews. I am not saying it is not a good book. I was looking for more than a feel good book. Being a heart attack survivor myself and only being 45 years old I was looking for a book on what it feels like to actually survive a heart attack. If you like the Chicken Soup books and want a feel good book I would recommend this book. If you or a loved one has survived a heart attack and want to read from someone who has been there. I would recommend "An Arrow Through the Heart".

A Handbook for Mental and Physical Health.......2002-09-09

Having been working in medical and pharmaceutical research for over 20 years, I have never before come across a handbook for mental and physical health like Heart Attack Survivor: A Field Guide by Brad Hanson. This book gives not only a warm and wise discernment of what is important in daily life, but is also a highly practical guide to how to avoid a too early ending of anyone's life. In the stressful world we are living in, this is a book that should be in everyone's possession. Highly recommended!

How to Make It Big As a Consultant
Average customer rating:

Most informative!

Practicum At Its Best

poor overview

A consolidated course in entrepreneurialship.

How to Make It Big As a Consultant
William A. Cohen
Manufacturer: AMACOM/American Management Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Consulting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Questions & Answers | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Streetwise Independent Consulting: Your Comprehensive Guide to Building Your Own Consulting Business (Adams Streetwise Consulting)

The Consultant's Quick Start Guide: An Action Plan for Your First Year in Business

The Seven C's of Consulting: The Definitive Guide to the Consulting Process, Second Edition

The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants and Professionals

The Consultant's Toolkit: High-Impact Questionnaires, Activities and How-to Guides for Diagnosing and Solving Client Problems

ASIN: 0814470734

Book Description

With over 70,000 copies in print--this is the classic guide to success in the demanding world of consulting.

A consultant is an entire company all rolled up into one person! A consultant acts as marketer, salesperson, subject expert, legal adviser, accountant, negotiator, and more! In other words--consultants need help!

That's why HOW TO MAKE IT BIG AS A CONSULTANT keeps selling and selling. Written by a veteran consultant (with hundreds of consulting engagements to his credit), this up-close-and-personal guide is filled with highly-focused, detailed advice on every aspect of starting up and maintaining a highly lucrative consulting career.

Completely updated, the third edition includes new chapters on how to do effective research, and how the Internet can provide a multitude of business opportunities. All the basics that make this book a favorite are still included, such as how to:

* Understand what clients think they need (and analyze if it's what they really need) * Market the business--both directly and indirectly * Create the structure for an assignment (proposals, pricing, contracts, scheduling) * Solve clients' problems (using the Harvard Case Study Method) * Structure and run the business (all the legal, tax, and insurance issues) * Grow and evolve to become an outstanding consultant--one that clients turn to again and again.

Customer Reviews:

Most informative!.......2007-01-10

I have just started my own consultancy business and this book has provided me immense insight and confidence.

Practicum At Its Best.......2005-10-15

Due to deregulation, a national company holding a monopoly in the transportation industry requested my consulting services to prepare for this upcoming change. Using Dr. Cohen's book as my reference and bench-mark, I could easily follow and prepare a solid consulting proposal, and when accepted, to work it out and present it successfully. I strongly recommend this book to consulting novices and veterans alike.

poor overview.......2003-08-26

This book is just poor. The information is just light weight, the suggestions on how to sell yourself will make you come across as either an amateur or scam artist. What should be the most important section on contracts is severely lacking. This book is not for people who are actually serious about going into contracting.

A consolidated course in entrepreneurialship........1999-08-08

This book covers the basics for starting your own service based business; concept clarification, proposal development, promotion, entering into contracts, fincial record keeping advise. It was fun to read and I am going to systematically work my business idea through the steps before hanging my shingle.

Average customer rating:

HOW TO MAKE IT BIG AS A CONSULTANT
William A. Cohen
Manufacturer: Amacom
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RAYBCQ

Average customer rating:

How To Make It Big As A Consultant
William A. Cohen
Manufacturer: Amacon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KABMVQ

Average customer rating:

How to Make It Big as a Consultant

Manufacturer: AMACOM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HFLUFM

Customer Reviews:

What a great book!.......2000-01-15

My husband and I had been trying for some time to learn how to sell our custom framing services to the U.S. Government. We found this book on Amazon.com, ordered it, and within a matter of weeks we were selling to Uncle Sam. We're a "mom & pop" type of operation so our sales are certainly not on the scale of IBM or Chrysler, but we're looking forward to continuing expanding our sales to the world's largest buyer. Thanks for this timely book!

Customer Reviews:

Every Businessperson Should Have This Book.......2003-08-17

While memos have been replaced by e-mails, the "rules" are the same. This book provides key information on how to write effective memos/e-mails. The book presents model memos, both strong and weak, and helps illustrate the importance of writing concise memos. I picked this book up from someone who was throwing it away, and it has proved to be invaluable in helping advance my career.

When bombarded by e-mails, messages that are not clear are simply ignored. My father is a retired english professor, but he could not write an effective memo to save his life. Memo writing is a skill, not an art. I would encourage the author to offer a second edition called, "Send Me an e-mail." The content is still relevant today.

How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist
Average customer rating:

The bare basic

Needed a good proofreader-- ironically.

Cuts to the chase

Honest Writing

A Decent Review of Medical Transcription

How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist
George Morton
Manufacturer: Teresa Castaldi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Guides | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Shorthand | Business Skills | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Medicine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Medical Transcription Career Handbook, The

The Independent Medical Transcriptionist

Hillcrest Medical Center: Beginning Medical Transcription Course

The Medical Transcription Workbook

Medical Office Transcription: An Introduction to Medical Transcription Text-Workbook

ASIN: 0966347005
Release Date: 2007-02-15

Product Description

HOW TO BECOME A MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST gives a balanced overview of the profession from an insider\'s perspective - facts and information that you won\'t find in \"get-rich-quick\" magazines, advertising or sales pitches. Here are some of the subjects addressed in this valuable book:
- 11 unique skills that make a successful medical transcriptionist. Do you have them?
- Is there a future in medical transcription?
- The medical transcriptionist\'s income and workplace.
- The pros and cons of medical transcription.
- All the different educational approaches compared. Which is the best for you?
- Home-based medical transcription.

Customer Reviews:

The bare basic.......2007-09-06

I really don't know anything about being a medical transciptionist and for me found this book to cut through the chase and get to the meat of this great career. The author puts no punches, and lays out this career exactly as it is. For those with rose colored glasses and a dream of instant wealth, this book will help you see through that fog.

Needed a good proofreader-- ironically........2007-02-28

George Morton, How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist: A Career for the Twenty-First Century (Medical Language Development, 1998)

I have a problem with any book that stresses accuracy repeatedly while sporting even a handful of spelling and grammatical errors, much less one where you can't go ten pages without encountering another awkward phrase, punctuation gaffe, or outright typo. While this sort of thing is becoming increasingly more common in the professional publishing world-- much, one would think, to the chagrin of professional publishers-- it has always been the province of the self- and vanity-published. How to Become a Medical Transcriptionist, published by a teacher and conductor of seminars, sits solidly in the latter category, and it shows.

There is some good information here, and this book is more detailed, and filled with more useful information, than most others I've read on the subject. Yet it's hard to take much of it seriously when the author is exhorting you to be detail-oriented. If you can get past that, you will find a great deal of useful information here; if you can, though, is this the right profession for you? ** ½

Cuts to the chase.......2004-03-30

George Morton did MT education a great service by writing this book. I was a perspective student, tired of trudging through all the commercial hype available on the internet regarding a career in MT. What I needed was a concise description of the day-to-day reality of transcription work. Morton provided it! He dispells the romantic visions of the perfect work-at-home-over-a-cup-of-coffee job; he describes the commitment required in obtaining an excellent foundation in medical terminology and pharmacology in order to perform transcription professionally and responsibly. He comments on the challenges of obtaining your first job when your resume is devoid of experience. He explains the grueling hours that can be involved in keeping up with private contracts to maintain happy customers. But he reinforces the truisms behind the IT-hype as well. You can work part-time. You can work from home. You can start your own profitable business - just be prepared to work. I loved this book for its impartial description of MT work - Thanks George!

Honest Writing.......2002-09-21

I am just starting a medical transcription training course and this was one of the first books I bought. The book is very honest and straigh-forward and he doesn't try to sugar coat the aspects of the job. Gave me an honest look at what to expect.

A Decent Review of Medical Transcription.......2002-05-10

This book is not "what you'll need to become a medical transcriptionist", as in books and equipment. Rather, it is a general "What is Medical Transcription?" along with things to think about while studying to be one.

I bought this book expecting the former but I'm not disapointed I read it. It explains the current situation in Medical Transcription as a job and answers questions like, "Is Medical Transcription right for me?" It also talks about the job itself and what one should expect - where does one work? are people paid well?

However, I am looking for a book that helps one study on their own to be a Medical Transcriptionst. Most courses seem pricey so I decided to just begin studying on my own. There are tapes of Medcial Dictation (with their transcripts) available on eBay. Unfortunatly, this book did not help too much in this regard except to ephasize the necessity of being competent with Medical Terminology and the importance of being certified by the AAMT.

If you're thinking about being a medical transcriptionst and want to read a gentle introduction to the field then this book is great but don't expect to read the exact steps to take for completing your own education.

Average customer rating:

What about the cottage? Survival Lessons in Family Life

Passing It On

Passing It On : The Inheritance and Use of Summer Houses

Passing It On : The Inheritance and Use of Summer Houses
Judith Huggins Balfe
Manufacturer: Professional Press (NC)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Subjects | Books
General | Practical Guides | Law | Subjects | Books
Real Estate | Practical Guides | Law | Subjects | Books
Estates & Trusts | Taxation | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Beyond the Grave revised edition: The Right Way and the Wrong Way of Leaving Money To Your Children (and Others)

The Big House: A Century in the Life of an American Summer Home

Family Wealth--Keeping It in the Family: How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations

ASIN: 1570874867

Book Description

A sociological study of the issues involved in sharing the inheritance of summer houses, Passing It On fills a critical niche in the literature on estate planning. It focuses on the family dynamics involved in sharing real property rather than on the legal issues of estate reduction, with extensive quotes from over 100 respondents, all summer-house heirs, about how they have managed to keep the property in the family over generations.

Customer Reviews:

What about the cottage? Survival Lessons in Family Life.......2000-07-27

Remember the old adage "the family that plays together, stays together"? Summer houses may keep some families together but not mine. The arrival of spring and the end of summer heralded two major operations-- opening and closing my in-laws' summer cottage. For me their summer cottage became a place of enforced drudgery where I tried to gain acceptance as a dutiful daughter-in-law-until I stopped going altogether. Sound familiar? If your relationship with relatives is heading in this direction get copies of Judith Balfe's books about ways families SUCCEED at sharing and passing on summer houses before it is too late. Even after it is too late Balfe's book still provides insights into how families work through problems of sharing and ACTUALLY HAVE FUN TOGETHER.

Judith Balfe, a sociologist of culture, has produced a compelling reflection on the meanings summer houses have in the lives of owners, their heirs and other users. Passing It On: The Inheritance and Use of Summer Houses focuses on how families reach agreements about what is fair and fun.

Deep feelings often rise to the surface when family members must grapple with questions about how to share the benefits and the burdens. By thinking through these issues families can begin to develop their own solutions building on the experiences of people who have actually worked things out.

A second and much shorter companion volume, co-authored with her brother, Ken Huggins a professor of education, is intended as a short practical manual for developing agreements in changing circumstances-How to Pass It On: The Ownership and Use of Summer Houses. This second book is designed as tool to help families talk about difficult issues and sort out trivial conflicts that could otherwise tear them apart--covering a wide range of issues from rules about sharing toilet paper and allowing pets to dealing with personality conflicts, divorce, taxation and ownership).

Balfe and Huggins draw on their experience as brother and sister who worked through problems when they and their siblings had to deal with inheriting the summer residence from their parents.

In the main book (Passing it on) Balfe presents research from published sources and reports on a study of 125 respondents with summer houses in the U.S. and Canada. The respondents include "founders" (or the first generation of owners), heirs and other users of summer homes ranging from tiny cottages built on leased land to a privately-owned island off the New England coast assessed at US$8 million.

Some readers may prefer to skim the first three chapters about inheritance practices and theories of the function of summer homes and jump ahead to Chapter 4 when the voices of interviewees become stronger and practical advice abounds. But these are useful tools for thinking about the issues. Some accounts are hilarious depictions of the tensions of cottage life and others heartbreaking to read.

In this era of geographic mobility and family breakdown summer houses mean different things to different people- places to play, to express creativity, to work on projects or relax. They may sometimes provide a refuge for solitary retreats or romantic trysts, but in the warm weather months the summer house tends to fill up with relatives, in-laws and friends. These intense bouts of close contact make or break relationships. As people follow jobs to remote corners of the world and family elders retire in smaller abodes the summer home may become the only place where families can physically meet. In the words of one summer house user "This is where we are and do family"(p. 91).

Even within the same family inequities exist. Siblings frequently have different incomes and different levels of flexibility about vacation times; some live further away; some have many children; others none at all; some love pets others cannot abide them. Balfe presents a very useful analysis of various ways owners and prospective heirs plan for passing on the summer home and adapt to changing needs and tastes of family members. When is shared inheritance feasible? Do step-children have the same rights as blood relatives? Who gets to use the cottage during the best summer months? May brother's ex-wife who mother always preferred to her own daughters still have the place for a week each summer? And whose time is reduced as a consequence? Who pays for boat repairs? Should richer family members provide more funds for upkeep? How can handiwork for repairs, cleaning or renovations - or "sweat equity"- be taken into account? What financial, legal and administrative agreements need to be reached for successful sharing? How should owners plan for the next generation of users? When is multiple inheritance feasible?

This is a "must-read" for anyone faced with planning how to "pass it on". In fact I think it provides a useful set of guidelines for sharing other types of accomodation. I particularly liked the idea of the "Boast Book" - a journal of tasks and improvements left in the cottage in which sojourners record their contributions. Moments spent at summer houses certainly provide lasting memories. I wish my in-laws had talked about these issues long ago.

Passing It On.......2000-07-21

"Passing It On" is a major achievement. Written by a sociologist, but not dry/abstract: it's full of wonderful human-interest stories.

The book is about second (vacation) homes, and how families share and inherit and strive to keep them going. Author Balfe and her brother (Ken Huggins) have also written a companion book ("How to Pass It On") which gives more specific how-to information. The reader should buy and read both.

I married into a vacation home on an island in Maine. One of 24 houses on the island. First, it was owned by my in-laws; now it's owned by my wife and her brother; and we've set up a system to maintain/preserve the house. Both generations in our families (current middle-aged adults and their children) are very committed to the house; but this is not always the way it is - so I read "Passing It On" and "How to Pass It On" with both interest and concern.

In January, I sent a memo to 75 other people involved in houses on our island. There I said, "'Passing It On' and 'How to Pass It On' are an important resource for anyone who's facing dispostion of property (and that's all of us!). It's a scholarly work, but it also full of very human stories of people like us. So do buy and read. If lots of you have done that by next summer, and you'd like to talk with Judy, I'm sure she'd be very pleased to come to our island for a week-end."

Passing It On : The Inheritance and Use of Summer Houses.......2000-05-27

Although interesting, the book does not contain much practical information. It appears to be a college term paper that the author went on to publish. I do wish there were more usable ideas and realistic suggestions.

Customer Reviews:

Surprising reading in an automotive history.......1998-06-16

Before I read this book, I had no idea that a corporate history could be so interesting. But Goodyear has done everything, it seems, including help build NASCAR racing (go Mark Martin!) through its sponsorship and participate in the space program. Surprisingly, the text was engaging and read more like a novel than I expected. The pictures, too, were fantastic, especially the section on racing.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books