Solid State Chemistry: Selected Papers of C. N. R. Rao (World Scientific Series in 20th Century Chemistry, Vol 4)

Book Description

Solid State Chemistry today is a frontier area of mainstream chemistry, and plays a vital role in the development of materials. The present work, consisting of a selection of Prof. C N R Rao's papers, covers most of the important aspects of solid state chemistry and provides the flavor of the subject, showing how the subject has evolved over the years. The book is up-to-date, and will be useful to students, teachers, beginning researchers and practitioners in solid state chemistry as well as in the broader area of materials science.

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Shows the link between musical style, perception, and probability

Music and Probability
David Temperley
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Musimathics, Volume 1: The Mathematical Foundations of Music

Musimathics, Volume 2: The Mathematical Foundations of Music

The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures

Sweet Anticipation: Music and the Psychology of Expectation (Bradford Books)

Music: A Mathematical Offering

ASIN: 0262201666

Book Description

In Music and Probability, David Temperley explores issues in music perception and cognition from a probabilistic perspective. The application of probabilistic ideas to music has been pursued only sporadically over the past four decades, but the time is ripe, Temperley argues, for a reconsideration of how probabilities shape music perception and even music itself. Recent advances in the application of probability theory to other domains of cognitive modeling, coupled with new evidence and theoretical insights about the working of the musical mind, have laid the groundwork for more fruitful investigations. Temperley proposes computational models for two basic cognitive processes, the perception of key and the perception of meter, using techniques of Bayesian probabilistic modeling. Drawing on his own research and surveying recent work by others, Temperley explores a range of further issues in music and probability, including transcription, phrase perception, pattern perception, harmony, improvisation, and musical styles.

Music and Probability--the first full-length book to explore the application of probabilistic techniques to musical issues--includes a concise survey of probability theory, with simple examples and a discussion of its application in other domains. Temperley relies most heavily on a Bayesian approach, which not only allows him to model the perception of meter and tonality but also sheds light on such perceptual processes as error detection, expectation, and pitch identification. Bayesian techniques also provide insights into such subtle and advanced issues as musical ambiguity, tension, and "grammaticality," and lead to interesting and novel predictions about compositional practice and differences between musical styles.

Customer Reviews:

Shows the link between musical style, perception, and probability.......2007-06-11

If music perception is largely probabilistic in nature this should not be surprising since probability pervades almost every aspect of mental life. Thus the author invokes a number of concepts from probability theory and probabilistic modeling, relying most heavily on Bayes Rule, an axiom of probability. In music perception, one is often confronted with a pattern of notes and wishes to know the underlying structure that gave rise to it. Bayes' Rule allows us to identify that underlying structure. The author also makes use of concepts from information theory such as the idea of cross-entropy. Cross-entropy shows in a quantitative way how well a model predicts a body of data. In chapter 2 the author surveys all the probability theory needed for the following chapters. He also shows a few simple examples, and discusses the applications of probability theory to other areas of study. In chapter three the author addresses a basic problem of music perception - the identification meter - and proposes a probabilistic model of this process.

Chapters 4 and 6 examine the problem of key perception from a probabilistic standpoint. The author first proposes a model of key perception in monophonic music (melodies). This model is then expanded to accommodate polyphonic music. With regard to both meter and key, the models proposed are not merely models of information retrieval, but also shed light on other aspects of perception. In particular they lead very naturally to ways of identifying the probability of actual note patterns. This in turn provides a way of modeling cognitive processes such as error detection, expectation, and pitch identification, as well as more subtle musical phenomena such as musical ambiguity, tension, and "tonalness". These issues are explored in chapter 5 with regard to monophonic music and chapter 7 with regard to polyphonic music. The final three chapters of the book explore a range of further issues in music and probability. Chapter eight surveys some recent work by other authors in which probabilistic methods are applied to a variety of problems in music perception and cognition: transcription, phrase perception, pattern perception, harmony, and improvisation. Chapter nine considers the idea of construing probabilistic models as descriptions of musical styles and thus as hypotheses about cognitive processes involved in composition.

In summary, this book is a good one in demonstrating that a probabilistic perspective opens the door to a new and powerful approach to the study of music creation. Highly recommended for all who have an interest in algorithmic composition. The following is the table of contents:

1. Introduction 1

2.Probabilistic Foundations and Background 7
2.1 Elementary Probability 7
2.2 Conditional Probability and Bayes' Rule 8
2.3 Other Probabilistic Concepts 14
2.4 Early Work on Music and Probability 19

3. Melody I: The Rhythm Model 23
3.1 Rhythm and Meter 23
3.2 Previous Models of Meter Perception 26
3.3 A Probabilistic Rhythm Model 30
3.4 The Generative Process 31
3.5 The Meter-Finding Process 36
3.6 Testing the Model on Meter-Finding 41
3.7 Problems and Possible Improvements 43

4. Melody II: The Pitch Model 49
4.1 Previous Models of Key-Finding 50
4.2 The Pitch Model 56
4.3 Testing the Model on Key-Finding 62

5. Melody III: Expectation and Error Detection 65
5.1 Calculating the Probability of a Melodic Surface 65
5.2 Pitch Expectation 66
5.3 Rhythmic Expectation 71
5.4 Error Detection 74
5.5 Further Issues 76

6. A Polyphonic Key-Finding Model 79
6.1 A Pitch-Class-Set Approach to Key-Finding 79
6.2 The Generative Process 83
6.3 The Key-Finding Process 85
6.4 Comparing Distributional Models of Key-Finding 89
6.5 Further Issues in Key-Finding 92

7. Applications of the Polyphonic Key-Finding Model 99
7.1 Key Relations 99
7.2 Tonalness 108
7.3 Tonal Ambiguity and Clarity 116
7.4 Another Look at Major and Minor 121
7.5 Ambiguous Pitch-Collections in Common-Practice Music 125
7.6 Explaining Common Strategies of Tonal Harmony 131

8. Bayesian Models of Other Aspects of Music 139
8.1 Probabilistic Transcription Models 139
8.2 Bod: The Perception of Phrase Structure 143
8.3 Raphael and Stoddard: Harmonic Analysis 147
8.4 Mavromatis: Modeling Greek Chant Improvisation 151
8.5 Saffran et al.: Statistical Learning of Melodic Patterns 156

9. Style and Composition 159
9.1 Some Simple Cross-Entropy Experiments 161
9.2 Modeling Stylistic Differences 166
9.3 Testing Schenkerian Theory 172

10. Communicative Pressure 181
10.1 Communicative Pressure in Rules of Voice-Leading 182
10.2 The Syncopation-Rubato Trade-Off 184
10.3 Other Examples of Communicative Pressure in Rhythm 191
10.4 "Trading Relationships" 197
10.5 Low-Probability Events in Constrained Contexts 202
10.6 Conclusions 205

Statistics in Musicology (Interdisciplinary Statistics,)

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Statistics in Musicology (Interdisciplinary Statistics,)
Jan Beran
Manufacturer: Chapman & Hall/CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1584882190

Book Description

The study of music by means of mathematics dates back centuries, however applications of statistical methods to questions in musicology and performance research are still very rare. The advent of "intelligent" music software, computer digitization, and other advanced techniques and technologies has precipitated the need for standard statistical models to answer fundamental musicological questions. Statistics in Musicology offers an unprecedented introduction to statistical and mathematical methods developed for use in music analysis, music theory, and performance theory. This unique book explores concrete methods for data generation and numerical encoding of musical data. It addresses topics ranging from simple descriptive statistics to formal modeling by parametric and nonparametric processes. Self-contained chapters present methods in one of two categories: classical methods of mathematical statistics and exploratory data analysis, and new methods developed specifically to answer questions in musicology. Bach may not have approached composition with the systematic intent of Schönberg's 12-tone works, but analyzing his music can certainly be approached mathematically. Presenting numerous illustrations and examples of music spanning from the 12th to the 20th century, Statistics in Musicology summarizes various ideas proven to be useful in musical analysis and provides the basis to conduct your own analyses. Jan Beran is a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Konstanz, Germany. He is also an accomplished concert pianist and composer.

Empirical Musicology: Aims, Methods, Prospects.(Statistics in Musicolog)(Book review): An article from: Notes

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Empirical Musicology: Aims, Methods, Prospects.(Statistics in Musicolog)(Book review): An article from: Notes
David Huron
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1699 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Empirical Musicology: Aims, Methods, Prospects.(Statistics in Musicolog)(Book review)
Author: David Huron
Publication: Notes (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Page: 93(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Product Description

Host to the U.S. Navy for nearly six decades, Bahrain has been a steadfast American ally in the turbulent Middle East. Its unique relationship with the United States evolved through a series of friendships between Bahrain s ruling Al Khalifa royal family and top U.S. Navy flag officers assigned to the fleet in the Gulf. Over the years it has become a strategic partnership critical to global security.

As naval historian David F. Winkler examines these developing relationships, he offers a fascinating overview of Bahraini history, the entry of American humanitarian and economic interests, the establishment of an American naval presence in the Cold War, the Arab-Israeli conflicts, and the downfall of the Iranian shah, among other subjects. The author tells the story from both Bahraini and American perspectives.

Given U.S. commitment to the region and its concurrent objectives of combating the global war on terrorism and establishing democracy, this book provides an important historical context for those interested in a crucial facet of American foreign relations. While many works describe the history of U.S. diplomatic and military involvement in the Gulf, this is the first to cover in depth the history of the U.S. Navy in Bahrain.

Customer Reviews:

Notes, a bibliography, and an index round out this evenhanded and thoroughly detailed history .......2007-08-04

Written by naval historian and U.S. Naval Reserve commander David F. Winkler, Amirs, Admirals & Desert Sailors: Bahrain, the U.S. Navy, and the Arabian Gulf the fascinating story of the strategic partnership between the United States and the Middle Eastern nation of Bahrain, who has hosted the U.S. Navy for nearly six decades. Heavily researched, Amirs, Admirals & Desert Sailors gives an overview of the establishment of an American naval presence in Bahrain during the Cold War, repercussions from Arab-Israeli conflicts and the downfall of the Iranian shah, operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the attack on the USS Cole, and more. Amirs, Admirals & Desert Sailors concludes with the inception of the modern Iraq war in 2003, leaving events after 2003 to be covered by future chronicles. Notes, a bibliography, and an index round out this evenhanded and thoroughly detailed history that takes both Bahraini and American perspectives into full account.

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Review of Desert Sailor by Bob Rock
Review of Desert Sailor
Desert Sailor, view from an ex-sailor/marine
Better Than You Think

Desert Sailor
James W. Fitch
Manufacturer: Infinity Publishing (PA)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

This sailor's memoir leads from the U.S. Navy's peacetime "Pineapple Fleet" in Pearl Harbor to a secret convoy transporting the "Flying Tigers" to Asia. After the disaster at Pearl Harbor, his ship raids Japanese bases in the central Pacific. He watches Doolittle's bombers take off from the Hornet to bomb Tokyo, then proceeds to the carrier air battles of Midway and Santa Cruz. At Guadalcanal he is wounded when his ship sinks. From hospitals in New Zealand he moves to New Guinea, then to a destroyer at Okinawa, shooting at kamikazes. Post-war service in China and Japan round out his story.

Customer Reviews:

Review of Desert Sailor by Bob Rock.......2003-06-03

I know I've run across a good book - when it makes me cry.

This is an excellent account of the Navy's Pacific war from inception to finish - recounted by an ordinary seaman who was in the middle of it - from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle raid, to Chennault's Flying Tigers, through all the major sea battles, and on to the sudden unexpected end.

I cried silently when I read of that 18-year old boy from Las Vegas, New Mexico, 9000 miles from home in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so far from home nothing survived a mail trip in its original form. Letters from home written over a period of several weeks would arrive all in one bundle, wrinkled, stained, dirty - how many large and small ships and airplanes did it take to get them there into a war zone where no one was supposed to know where they were? What did it take for military and civilian mail service to find that ship and deliver their precious cargo? News from home was welcome, but distant - removed - late. And suddenly, without warning 5-watt station KFUN in Las Vegas, New Mexico homes in on a little radio set in a crowded living compartment for crew, and for the brief few moments it takes the radio waves to perform their unpredictable bounce off the stratospheric layers of the earth, "home" is instantly right there - in the middle of the Pacific. What a shock! What an unbelievably wonderful moment, when all that was lost is suddenly right there - right now! I guess it's my own remembered moments of home being so far back in time and space, I wasn't really sure it ever existed. And then a busted up letter arrives and speaks that it is still all true. Maybe it was that reminder in the book that made me cry - the first time.

Again, in the middle of the battle of Midway - so eloquently described I could feel the heat, and the noise and the fear and the marvel at the bravery of men dedicated to their individual duties, everything happening at once, attacks from above, behind, below - no one could comprehend it in its entirety. How can anything live through all that? I cried again. I was never there, but now have at least an inkling of what it would have been like.
It's a damn good book. I'd say you'll never forget what you read, especially since there is information here you won't find anywhere else. I am the author of another book on the Pacific war, FROM HERE TO THERE.

Review of Desert Sailor.......2003-06-03

I just finished this book. I am no literary critic, nor does my training in writing go beyond English 1A, however I loved this memoir. If it has not been published in hard covers and advertised widely, that is most unfortunate.

DESERT SAILOR puts a very human face on life in the Navy during WWII. It is also an invaluable chronicle of the day to day life of a sailor at the time. As a teenager, I followed avidly every campaign in the Pacific. My bedroom wall was plastered with "war maps" of the Pacific campaign that were published regularly in the daily San Francisco Examiner. And I have read many books since, so I was at least somewhat familiar with every campaign this account describes so well.

I have probably read at least two dozen books on the Pacific campaign, including Toland, which I consider among the finest. But none did the job as well as Jim Fitch did, of making it so personal. Having an older brother and older friends in the Navy at the time, so much of what I found here sounded very familiar.

The author comes across as a pretty regular guy, right down to the drinking and carousing on leave. I absolutely loved his "letter to Radio Tokyo," and his description of the officer with sadly no sense of humor. I am still laughing about the streetcar incident in San Francisco The volume describes many warm, poignant moments that virtually every serviceman must have experienced. I was most delighted in the manner in which the narrator shaped up the commander of the troop transport on his return home. The bureaucratic vicissitudes and the screwups were described with good humor and perspective.

This sailor obviously went through hell when Northampton was sunk but I did not detect one iota of self-pity, either for the pain and suffering or for discomforts which would bring nothing but whines from many of today's young people.

I am most thrilled to have been able to read this saga, aptly titled Desert Sailor, and have recommended it highly to several friends.

Desert Sailor, view from an ex-sailor/marine.......2003-05-31

DESERT SAILOR By James W. Fitch
Reviewed By Larry W. Nees rampartz@sonic.net

This fascinating book begins in the summer of 1941, just before young Jim Fitch, from small town New Mexico! enlisted in the US Navy with his older brother.

The reader is moved easily through the travails of a raw recruit, who always looked to big brother for answers. But, when the two separated the author takes us on a fast rite of passage from carefree young teen, to green Navy boot, and, finally, to salty sailor of the seven seas.

As a crewmember of heavy cruiser, USS Northampton, part of the 1941 so-called "Pineapple Fleet," there is a carefree Hawaiian summer followed by liberty in the land Down Under, where Aussie folks broaden small town New Mexico horizons.

A stroke of fate, mishap in rough seas, prevented the young sailor's ship from being tied up in Pearl Harbor on December 7. The day after the Japanese sneak attack USS Northampton eased into the burning harbor. Fitch's vivid descriptions of the devastation and destruction rained on the US Fleet, are as lucid and intense as any book written on that subject since it happened almost 62 years ago.

His first impression: "Pearl Harbor was wrapped in ungodly quiet. ...

I remember hearing only the burbling underwater exhausts of

many small craft as they worked at picking up dead sailors."

Then his poignant account: "Arizona* tall tripod foremast was pitched forward at a crazy angle, and the boxy foretop dangled high above the drowned void which was left where her forward magazines exploded."

The next day USS Northampton went back to sea with its young crew certain they were sailing into the jaws of death as a powerful Japanese force awaited them.

Fitch recalls watching Jimmy Doolittle's raiders take off to bomb Tokyo in April 1942, as Northampton escorted their aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. He takes the reader on board ship in late 1942 during the terrifying night a Japanese destroyer torpedoed Northampton in the Battle of Tassaforanga. After abandoning the mortally wounded ship, the badly burned young sailor fought for this life throughout the night' surrounded by fiery seas, until being picked up and rescued many hours later.

After a period of rehabilitation he returned to sea duty on various naval vessels, the last a destroyer on terrifying picket duty around Okinawa. Its purpose was to pick off Japanese kamikaze planes or take the hit before they reached larger targets.

This book is a must read for not only naval historians but anyone interested in the trials and tribulations of our young men during those darks and uncertain days of World War II. Young people today could benefit and learn about everyday sacrifices of members of the Greatest Generation, as well as events of that time which have been abandoned in many school history programs today.

DESERT SAILOR is one of those fascinating "can't-put-it-down" books. The pages seem to have wings and fly by. It gets a two-thumbs up from this comer and likewise from many who have read it.

Better Than You Think.......2002-12-06

This book allows those of us who only wonder what it might have been like to be in the "thick" of the war to taste, smell and hear the events of that time. Jim Fitch does an excellent job of relaying the events of the war as a sailor with no idea of what the outcome would be. Jim's descriptions are colorful and memorable.

Camel Fables From the Sailors of the Sudan

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Camel Fables From the Sailors of the Sudan
Thurlow, R. Weed Jr.
Manufacturer: Infinity Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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Product Description

Camel FablesÖ is a collection of stories about the camels and drivers that survived in the deserts thousands of years ago. The mystery of how a camel can live in such an environment parallels that of the horse. Throughout our life, we are confronted with challenges. Solving them is not easily learned. As the camel and driver in these stories use simple logic, so should we today. A comical almost foolish method becomes an answer to the problem. Foolish far fetched ideas, were the camels way to survival. Classic stories like these this gives one food for thought in a strange different way.

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Desert Sailor -- A Favorite of Mine

Desert sailor: A war of mine
James T Hewitt
Manufacturer: Canadian Peacekeeping Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1896551173

Book Description

Derived from the author's diary written while in the Gulf War, as well his recollection of conversations with the members of the Multinational Mine Counter Measures Group, Desert Sailor is an entertaining and highly informative first-hand account of a little known yet extremely hazardous aspect of the Coalition effort during the Gulf War: the finding and clearance of Iraqi naval mines and the aerial laying of mines by the Coalition. Complete with several pictures and maps, as well as appendices on the development of mine warfare and a glossary of terms. Desert Sailor is a personal recollection that is sure to be enjoyed by both the interested public and the military professional.

Customer Reviews:

Desert Sailor -- A Favorite of Mine.......2002-02-02

Mine warfare is a field not much written about in popular histories of naval conflict. There seems to be a kind of distaste for these sneaky, patient weapons that prevents gentlemen historians from tackling the subject. Fortunately, James T. Hewitt, a Canadian mine warfare expert is not a historian, but a Gulf War vet who mined (pardon the pun) his own diary for this book.
Hewitt was attached to American naval forces during the Gulf War in 1991. Although Canada had sent three warships to the Gulf, none were mine hunters, and Hewitt's expertise was needed elsewhere. He was aboard the USS Tarawa when it hit an Iraqi mine off the coast of Kuwait, and warned off other American ships that risked standing into danger by wandering into the same minefield. Shortly after Tarawa hit a mine, so did the powerful missile cruiser USS Princeton. Both ships survived, but the mines laid by the Iraqis did more damage to the Gulf allies navies than any other form of weaponry employed. Hewitt also mentions the Silkworm missile attack on venerable battleship USS Missouri (a near miss) and his own adventures ashore in Kuwait after the war ended.
Desert Sailor was a treat to read. It takes on a subject that is little discussed and treats it both with respect and some irreverence. Hewitt's style is breezy, humourous and self-deprecating and altogether enjoyable. My only complaint is that I wish it could have been longer, especially his rundown on the history of mine warfare, which is, nonetheless, well written and informative. For people wanting info on a little-known aspect of naval conflict and the Gulf War, this is a damned good start.

Desert Sailor: Growing Up in the Pacific Fleet A Memoir

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Desert Sailor: Growing Up in the Pacific Fleet A Memoir
James W. Fitch
Manufacturer: Infinity Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PSKJUI

Amazon.com

Imagining Robert is an account of Robert Neugeboren's 30-year history of mental illness. In this moving memoir, his brother Jay describes the tragedy of psychosis and illustrates the redemptive power of writing. The author imagines his brother as two people--one hospitalized, the other communicative and lucid--and crafts a story of his brother's thoughts by weaving together Robert's exquisitely written letters about this unfolding family tragedy. The instability of the author's own children and his manipulative mother's affliction with Alzheimer's disease multiply the pressure he feels, threatening his own mental health. His careful words seem an attempt to organize the confusion around him. The imagined friendship with the brother he lovingly cares for serves as an important source of self-examination. Neugeboren's prose restores his brother's dignity by refusing to let the details of how Robert has suffered in psychiatric institutions go unrecorded.

Book Description

"[Neugeboren] is the first writer to capture what it's like for the millions of families who must cope with a problem for which, most of the time, there is no solution. It's that portrait of a loving relationship that gives Imagining Robert its great power."--Book of the Month Club News "Novelist Neugeboren has written a detailed, exquisitely painful, and always thoughtful account of his younger brother's long struggle with mental illness. [It] may bring understanding to those who can barely imagine such horrors and comfort to those who have and felt it alone."--Publishers Weekly "An uncommon tale of brotherly love, and a passionate defense of the notion that dignity belongs as much to the mad as the rest of us."--Kirkus Reviews Jay Neugeboren and his brother, Robert, grew up in Brooklyn in the years following World War II. Both brothers--smart, talented, and popular--seemed well on the way to successful lives when, for reasons that remain ultimately mysterious, Robert had a mental breakdown at age nineteen. For the past forty years Jay has been not only his brother's friend and confidant, but his advocate, as Robert continues to suffer from the ravages of the illness that has kept him institutionalized for most of his adult life. Imagining Robert tells the story of these two brothers and how their love for one another has enabled both to survive and to thrive in miraculous, surprising ways. It reveals how even the grimmest of lives can be sustained by the power of love. Jay Neugeboren is the author of thirteen books, including two collections of award-winning stories, two prize-winning novels, and two nonfiction titles. His most recent book is Transforming Madness: New Lives for People Living with Mental Illness, winner of a "Ken" 2000 Book Award from the New York City/Metro Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent! Sucks you in, well written, educational,..........2006-09-07

I learned alot about the life of someone with a non-trivial emothional problem(s) and how society (and families) treats them. I also experienced an absorbing personal story that made it hard for me to put the book down. Well written, highly absorbing, educational, and highly recommeneded.

A Moving Memoir.......2006-08-04

I absolutely loved this book. Reviewers here have complained that it's not just about Robert, but about the author and his life. I loved that fact. I too have a brother w/ a mental illness, and I too am a teacher and I like to write. I found all of these stories -- the story of Robert, Jay's connection to him, Jay's struggle to tell Robert's story, and Jay's life as a father -- all equally compelling. I finished the book in 2 days and sent an effusive email to the author, who sent me a kind email back that very same day. This book moved me deeply, made me think and want to write.

Exploitation of sibling..........2006-08-04

This book was terrible, it was an expolitation of his brother, and a shameless way to promote his other books. No matter the situation, the author found a way to make a reference to another book he had wrote. It was poorly written, and jumps around quite a bit. Don't waste your time or money on this book, or any book of this author's.

Well worth reading........2000-01-06

As someone who has made a career of helping the mentally ill, This book broke my heart. Yet I believed the problems existed as stated.

As the parent of a child who, as a teen, developed the need for the safety of psychiatric hospitals, I cried for Jay and his family.

As someone who became clinically depressed after my child's serious suicide attempt, I easily understood the need for what sometimes seemed like unrealistic optimism.

This book offers something for anyone involved with people who are mentally ill. Read it. Keep it. Learn from it.

Let us all kneel before the Great Jay.......1999-11-01

First, the good things: it must have taken courage to write the book, because of the possibility of betraying the privacy of the family. At the same time, the writing process must have been immensely satisfying. I imagine Jay finishing it, sitting back, smiling, and saying "If God takes me tomorrow, that's ok; the story has been told." In fact, Jay came to visit my college English class, and he told us that's exactly what he was thinking. I know how difficult it is to tell a true story about oneself in such remarkable detail, which is why the book earns three stars. But based on its execution, I'd rather only give it two. Here's why...

Is this book really about Robert? How many times does Jay congratulate himself on rising above a background that was out to get him? He went to Columbia, you know. And did he mention he's a writer? He throws that in so many times, you just KNOW he views being a writer as the noblest and most enviable profession in the world. The phrase "my accomplishments" crops up an awful lot, especially in a book supposedly dedicated to a mentally ill brother. Also, did Jay mention he's a writer?

And yes, the sentence structure was maddening (pun intended). A sentence can go on for an entire page, sometimes to such ridiculous lengths that I'd walk down the hall and read it aloud to my friends, just to show them with what I was dealing. I understand this problem a bit, though. I imagine Jay sitting at his desk with so much to say, afraid that if he doesn't put as much down as possible, as soon as it comes into his head, he'll lose it. So he erects a quick parenthetical fence and sends it down.

Basically, when I'd finished reading the book for my English class, I wished that Robert could come to visit instead of Jay. Much as Jay tries to overshadow him, Robert is the star of this book and a truly fascinating character. I realize that I only know about Robert through Jay's writing, so I respect Jay for that. But the book irritated me to no end. I guess I'm just not sensitive enough.

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