The Wandering Hill: The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2 (Berry Bender Narratives, No 2)

Amazon.com

The Wandering Hill, the second volume in Larry McMurtry's The Berrybender Narratives, retains the humor of the first installment, Sin Killer, while establishing a more meditative mood. Picking up where Sin Killer left off, The Wandering Hill finds noble English family the Berrybenders waiting out the oncoming winter at a high plains trading post, delaying their hunting expedition through the frontier-era American west. Tight confines force the spirited, bickering Berrybenders to contend with one another, as well as an assortment of colorful attendants and raw trappers. Conflict has arisen between fiery and very pregnant heroine Tasmin and her stoical, evangelical mountain man husband Jim Snow, a.k.a. Sin Killer. Selfish, randy patriarch Lord Berrybender, having lost a leg, seven toes, and three fingers thus far on their journey (though not his "favorite appendage"), is slowly losing his sanity. Malicious youngest child Mary begins an odd pseudo-sexual friendship with naturalist Piet Van Wely, while "foppish" heir Bobbety's no less ambiguous relationship with priest Father Geoffrin inspires his father to accidentally stick his son in the eye with a fork. In between many such self-inflicted disasters, three children are born, fierce native tribes attack, a man is sewn into a buffalo carcass, and many lives are lost, often in the presence of a strange, mobile hill whose legendary appearance signals impending doom. McMurtry, meanwhile, continues the momentum he built with Sin Killer, offering graceful storytelling, wonderfully dimensional realism, and deadpan wit. The wintry Wandering Hill, however, diverges from Sin Killer's madcap activity to further consider the inner lives of many of its splendid characters. McMurtry will have his fans clamoring for an answer, though delighting in his wandering path toward a resolution. --Ross Doll

Book Description

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry continues his epic four-novel telling of The Berrybender Narratives with a new adventure that is both a grand literary achievement and riveting entertainment as forged by a master wordsmith....

The indefatigable Tasmin Berrybender and her eccentric family trek on through the unexplored Wild West of 1830s America -- and suffer the harsh realities of the untamed wilderness, including sickness, brutal violence and death, the desertion of trusted servants, and the increasing hardships of daily life in a land where survival is never certain. Filled with larger-than-life legendary figures such as mountain men Jim Bridger and Kit Carson, vividly rendered action, irresistible good humor, and an ever-changing cast of characters that readers will treasure, The Wandering Hill proves again that Larry McMurtry still reigns as the first statesman of the Old West.

Customer Reviews:

The Wandering Attention.......2007-06-04

"The Wandering Hill" is the 30th book by Larry McMurtry that I have read. His best work was his early books through "Lonesome Dove". Since his heart attack, he seems to have lost his ability to write about "normal" people, preferring, instead, a cast of zany characters with a token normal person or two. I have not cared for this outrageous personnel and keep reading his latest books out of some sort of sense of loyalty. I was disappointed with the cast of the Berrybender's first novel, "Sin Killer", but read "The Wandering Hill" because it takes place a few miles from my home. Indeed, the visiting nobility (Berrybenders aside) are familiar names to local historians but their activities in the book don't match those of local lore.

I was getting frustrated with these crazy, obnoxious folks when it occurred to me that McMurtry is resurrecting the old Western "Dime Novel". The basic outline is there; use famous names to get the reader's attention but make up everything else. The Dime Novel idea that the more outlandish the story the better also fits right into McMurtry's style of late. What I can't figure out is whether or not Larry McMurtry is doing this on purpose (as some sort of tribute to that "genre") or has his talent evaporated to this level.

The essential problem with McMurtry, of late, is that his works lack depth. The "action" in these recent Westerns seem like what you'd get if Sergio Leone was directing the Keystone Cops. McMurtry's strength, for me, was always the relationships his characters had with one another. We were generally glad to meet up with the same characters in future novels. We start to get some of that quality of work in "The Wandering Hill" in the last 50-60 pages but it wasn't enough. Since they've left my neck of the woods, I don't care to meet up with the Berrybenders again.

The Wandering Hill.......2007-01-23

Hard to put down once you start reading. Another first class novel by Larry McMurtry - my favorite author

More unpleasant prairie shenanigans!.......2006-09-12

Larry McMurtry has written some stunning books, particularly in the western genre. This is not one of them. His unmistakeable style was present but he seems to be trying to parody himself--unsucessfully. I read the first book and didn't like it much, and only read this one in a pinch. At times the sections were boring and I ended up skimming over several pages.

For me I need to find a character to like. Since the characters in this series are mostly vain, self-satisfied and brutish it was impossible to find anyone admirable or likeable. So therefore the rather thin plot of a group of people on a hunt through the American wilderness did not engage me. A disappointment!

Awesome finish.......2006-08-24

Throughout most of this book it seemed like a four star effort, not quite up to the hilarious standard set by Sin Killer, the first in this series. The Wandering Hill is not hilarious. It's a good action story with interesting and very unusual characters.

The final chapter of the book is what earns that final fifth star. It is an awesome scene involving Pomp Charboneau, Tasmin Berrybender, and Pomp's deceased mother Sacagawea. I could see it in a movie, bringing tears to everyone's eyes, including Tasmin's.

There is a sort of humor in death. Larry McMurtry kills his characters off more than just occasionally, and those he doesn't kill he will often maim. One of the oddest scenes I've ever read involves Lord Berrybender, his son Bobbetty, and a fork in the father's hand. Poor Bobbetty really gets it in this story, harmless and silly though the teenager is. He seems like a nice enough kid to me, completely unsuited to the wild, but having lots of fun, come what may.

Tasmin is still the star of the book, as she was in Sin Killer. She's amazing.

I'm really glad I discovered this series. Sin Killer just showed up in a drawer. I don't know who bought it or how it got there. It had been sitting there for a long time, maybe years.

Hilarious, Moving, Wonderful.......2006-07-11

I had not read the first in McMurtry's Berrybender Narratives, so this book came as a complete surprise, and I have to say that it stands alone as a Western masterpiece. I don't even know where to begin to adequately describe his colorful characters, both Indian and European, and the way the tale simply bubbles along like one of the streams in the story.

In a nutshell, the book begins with a very pregnant Tasmin and her "bad boy" taciturn mountain man husband in an uneasy situation. She talks to much, he doesn't talk at all. And here he is in the middle of the very voluble Berrybenders, from the old Lord who is now missing a leg, several fingers and heaven knows what else (but thankfully not, as he says, his "favorite appendage"), to the extremely foppish and whiney Bobbety (the son), to over-the-top younger sister Mary.

And then there is Cook, who stands ready to provide double duty as midwife; and the laundress Millicent, who has caught more than Lord Berrybender's eye.

There are tragedies and the stark reality of frontier life is certainly not glossed over, but the humor and just blank good humor of the book is entertaining in the extreme. I'm looking forward to catching up with the entire series.

The Wandering Hill (The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2)

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The Wandering Hill (The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2)
Larry McMurtry
Manufacturer: Recorded Books, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: 1402544383

Product Description

Author of more than 30 books, including Terms of Endearment (C1490) and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Lonesome Dove, Larry McCurtry has gained international fame for his eccentric characters and vivid settings. The Wandering Hill follows The Sin Killer (C1914) in a series as colorful as teh American West. The Berrybenders, a family of English sportsmen, have traveled to America to hunt buffalo and other big game. As winter strikes, they settle in a trading post near the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers. The aristrocratic and outspoken eldest daughter Tasmin has married taciturn trapper Jim Snow, and is pregnant with their first child. But if this union seems strange, it is rivaled by the anitcs of the licentious Lord Berrybender. The Wandering Hill offers a rich mosaic of a frontier rarely portrayed in American literature. With moments of the lightest humor entwined with scenes of jaw-fropping brutality, it is another triumph in the canon of Larry McMurtry's unforgettable novels.

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The Wandering Hill - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2
Larry Mcmurtry
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000V2PRXM

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The Wandering Hill - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2
Larry Mcmurtry
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RJ260G

Amazon.com

Why is somebody shooting Walter Clive's horses at Three Fillies Stables in Lamarr, Georgia? That's what toothy, patrician Walter wants the droll, hulking Boston detective Spenser to find out. Walter worries that his racetrack phenomenon Hugger Mugger, worth millions, is next. So Spenser goes south to a place where "the heat felt like it could be cut into squares and used to build a wall," as he puts it in the crisp Chandleresque lingo that made him famous in dozens of novels.

The Clive clan is one weird bunch. Take Walter's daughters, his three "fillies." Penny is like her dad, all impeccable looks and icy efficiency. Stonie and SueSue take after their sinister mom, who left the family to live with a guitarist in San Francisco and changed her name to Sherry Lark. Penny helps Dad run the business, while her soused sisters cheat on their pathetic husbands, Cord and Pud. (Pud's short for Puddle; his dad was named Poole.) As unsightly family secrets spill, Spenser feels like he's in a Tennessee Williams play. Then someone on two legs takes a bullet, and the mystery gets tense. Spenser gets plenty of sarcastic mileage out of upper-class horse-country twits, crooked security guards, dumb jocks gone to seed, and wily Southern lawyers, and the story saunters well. What's best are the endless wisecracks, the unflattering thumbnail character sketches, and sharp sentences like this one: "Like all jockeys, he was about the size of a ham sandwich, except for his hands, which appeared to be those of a stonemason." --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Cd's 6 1/2 hours
Read by Joe Mantegna

Spenser is back and embroiled in a deceptively dangerous and multi-layered case: someone has been killing racehorses at stables across the south, and the Boston P.I. travels to Georgia to protect the two-year old destined to become the next Secretariat.

When Spenser is approached by Walter Clive, president of the Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening his horse Hugger Mugger, he can hardly say no: he's been doing pro bono work for so long his cupboards are just about bare. Disregarding the resentment of the local Georgia law enforcement, Spenser takes the case. Though Clive has hired a separate security firm, he wants someone with Spenser's experience to supervise the operation.

Despite the veneer of civility, Spenser encounters tensions beneath the surface southern gentility. The case takes an even more deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim, and Spenser must revise his impressions of the Three Fillies organization- and watch his own back as well.

Download Description

"""It's easy to see why Parker's snappy banter and cynical eye have kept fans turning pages for 25 years . . . his wisecracks, combined with Parker's shorthand flair for scathing characterization, make for a satisfying read,"" said Entertainment Weekly of last year's Hush Money. Now Parker presents Spenser with a deceptively dangerous and multi-layered case: Someone has been killing racehorses at stables across the south, and the Boston P.I. travels to Georgia to protect the two-year-old destined to become the next Secretariat. When Spenser is approached by Walter Clive, president of Three Fillies Stables, to find out who is threatening his horse Hugger Mugger, he can hardly say no: He's been doing pro bono work for so long his cupboards are just about bare. Disregarding the resentment of the local Georgia law enforcement, Spenser takes the case. Though Clive has hired a separate security firm, he wants someone with Spenser's experience to supervise the operation. Despite a veneer of civility, Spenser encounters tensions beneath the surface southern gentility. The case takes an even more deadly turn when the attacker claims a human victim, and Spenser must revise his impressions of the whole Three Fillies organization--and watch his own back as well. With razor-sharp dialogue, eloquently spare prose, and some of the best supporting characters to grace the printed page, Hugger Mugger is grand entertainment. "

Customer Reviews:

Murder most genial .......2007-08-19

Spenser is asked to travel down South to help find out why the horses in the Three Fillies stables are being shot, seemingly at random. Not too long after his arrival, the owner of the stable is himself shot and Spenser is asked to leave. A couple months go by and the lover of the stable owner re-hires him, saying that something strange is going on and she wants him to figure out who killed Walter Clive, because the police department is being stonewalled and no one is being allowed onto the property, herself included.

A small sub-plot involving a nanny is somewhat spuriously added in for no apparent reason, but I guess it gives Spenser something to do in the interim.

Overall, obviously, I really enjoyed this book - gave it 5 stars and all. However, I live in Georgia and there is one thing I noted right away. When Spenser first arrives at the Clive mansion, he is offered "iced tea" and the sugar is offered separately. Again, later in the book, characters are referred to as drinking "iced tea." I have to forgive Robert Parker, he is obviously a Yankee and doesn't know much about Southern culture; but no self-respecting Southerner would offer anyone "iced tea," nor drink such a thing. Down here we drink "sweet tea" with the sugar already added. If'n y'all want "iced tea," you are on your own. If someone wants tea without sugar, they have to ask for "un-sweet tea." It's a Southern thing and something to keep in mind if you write a book based in the South. :-) My nit-pick for the week. You're welcome.

How can you not love Spenser?.......2007-07-17

Spenser is just too much fun to share a mystery with! He almost always has me chuckling aloud when he succinctly puts others in their place, particularly when they are too consumed with their own importance. I agree with others that I missed Hawk in this book but I felt that I gained a more in depth understanding of Spenser's relationship with Susan, which made up the difference. Spenser showed some tenderness underneath that tough exterior and that is always one of his more endearing qualities. The mystery goes along and gets solved but it's the people development that I enjoy and this book does it well. One grows to care about them, even one of the murderers. Well worth reading. I listened to the audio casette version and it was poorly recorded which detracted a bit from the enjoyment.

Charming An Asp in A Southern Mansion.......2007-06-11

This # 27 in the Spenser series gave another easy in, opening with the journalistic, capital-letter "I" luxuriating in the prime narrative style for the private eye genre. In this First Person pose of panache, Spenser was lounging in his office chair, feet propped on the window sill, contemplating baseball. A potential client and his daughter interrupted the reverie by entering Spenser's domain, oozing varieties of slow southern charm. The father was one of Parker's perfect portrayals of the putrid-personal-quality of unfounded uppity (charm tarnished there). The daughter appeared to have the warmth of "Y'all come down he'ah" so well heeled, Spenser began believing it was the genuine asset.

Or, could a gorgeous young southern lady fool Spenser's radar-for-phoney, in a plot in which someone might have an opportunity to act in Clark Gable's role, concluding HUGGER MUGGER with the well used line from GONE WITH THE WIND, "Frankly, my lady, I don't give a ..."

I was surprised to discover from the opening scene that Hugger Mugger was the name of a highly prized race horse, but not surprised to discover that Spenser would be heading south to dig into down-home hospitality simultaneous to digging into dirty laundry and dark racing schemes. As usual, Parker perfected another geographic, sub-cultural ambiance, and had Spenser working up a sweat, worming his private-eye Boston-ways into a heatedly brewing situation.

I noticed Hawk's absence in this plot, but not until what was there had solidified my willing residence. I can see that what Parker was developing in Spenser and the series at the "Time of Hugger" wouldn't have been possible with Hawk's ebony perk included.

The ending in this one gave a couple delightfully subtle twists to revered old movies and recurring literary themes, in which one of the culprit's karma was paid with a panache of eyes, teeth, and irony... and another culprit got away with something in an unanticipated out-the-door scene.

Having reviewed all except the last few books in the Spenser series, I'm beginning to wonder if HUGGER MUGGER may have been the last of the breed of leisurely walks through other city ambiance complete with regular, detailed, and yummy weather reports? If so, it's going on my "relish the setting detail" list. POTSHOT (which was the first book in this series I read) had action and took place in Arizona, but the plot walk was not leisurely. (See my Listmania for Spenser entries in order, with blurbs.)

I've not read The Robert B. Parker Companion, but possibly it gives more detailed insight to some of the questions I and others have raised in reviews of this series.

Continuing to me to be the most awesome fact to me in on qualities and evolution of this series is that it can be read for pure entertainment, or with focused observation and appreciation of its layers of depth, in theme dramatized, and literary style applied. Of course, when a reader is seeking unadulterated entertainment he may be slightly disappointed at times when a book in the series slips off what might have been anticipated as a relished rut or beaten path, though most readers, myself included, seem to enjoy Parker's style sequencing and evolution in this series as absolutely accurate. On the other hand, if a reader becomes involved in the series as a fascinating study, most content and style shifts will be felt as refreshment and intrigue, cherished collections of red flags to observe gleefully through a magnifying glass.

Spenser's charm remains and regenerates,
Linda Shelnutt

A Hawk-less Spenser finds another ally to watch his back when it must be watched.......2007-04-01

Spenser is once again on the case, demonstrating that Parker's greatest strengths as a writer are his quirky characters and exceptional dialog. The Clive family owns a horse stable and someone is shooting their horses, so they request Spenser's services. While three horses have been shot, only one was fatal and that was not one of the valuable racers. The others seem to have been done in a way to deliberately avoid killing the animals. Their prize horse is called Hugger Mugger, hence the title of the book.
As is always the case with a Spenser story, nothing is as it first appears. The Clive family is dysfunctional and we know that someone in the family is guilty, but they are all so unusual that there are reasons to suspect them all. As usual, Spenser initially gets nowhere, but when Walter Clive, the patriarch of the family and the one who hired Spenser is killed, the plot thickens. After Walter's death,, Spenser is removed from the case, but then one of the other members, who is antagonistic to those who fired him, hires him back.
This is the story where Spenser meets Tedy Sapp, who aids Spenser when he is needed. Hawk is only briefly mentioned, so Tedy is the one who covers Spenser's back when the need arises. The villain in this story is very weak, a fact that even Parker acknowledges in the dialog between Spenser and Sapp as they prepare for the final physical confrontation. Of course, Spenser wins in the end, and he has as many trysts as possible with Susan Silverman. Some of the best dialog is between Spenser and the local deputy sheriff, an honest cop who wants the case to be solved, but needs Spenser's help to avoid stepping on the wrong political toes. Their conversations are wry, brief, ironical and very funny. However, I did miss Hawk.

Enjoyable Spenser novel, but Nothing Special.......2006-11-04

I read a lot of Robert Parker, and I thought HUGGER MUGGER was just okay. This novel has a relatively weak plot, and there is very little mystery about who committed the crime. Horseracing is part of the storyline, but it plays a relatively small role. Those expecting a Dick Francis experience will probably be disappointed.

There is no Hawk in this novel, but quite a bit of dialogue with Susan Silverman. There is also a rather silly subplot involving a nanny that has absolutely nothing to do with the main story -- Parker just seemed to throw it in for kicks.

Still, I found HUGGER MUGGER more enjoyable than 90 percent of the crime fiction I read these days, simply because I really enjoy Parker's incredibly good writing and dialogue. This is a fast, funny, enteraining read. This is pretty typical of Parker's later Spenser books -- fun, but not particularly original or memorable.

Product Description

ORDERS ARE ORDERS Angela Bekker is a rising star in the Ghost Bear Clan. Devoted to duty and honor, relentless in the pursuit of flawless victory -- a prime example of Clan excellence in mind and body. So when she receives orders to form a new Trinary fro scratch, she jumps at the chance to have her own command. Especially since they are to be stationed on the planet Toffen at the leading edge of Ghost Bear space. But what is an honor for some is an opportunity to strike for others. Led by the bloodthirsty Dirk Radick, forces of Clan Wolf launch an assault to take the valuable planet from the inexperienced troops. But the hunters soon become the hunted, as the Stalking Bears live up to their name. Only when the smoke clears does Angela realize that great honor comes at a great price -- one that she may not be willing to pay....

Mechwarrior 2: Roar of Honor (Mechwarrior)

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Clan war at its best
Best BattleTech Novel Yet
Read This Book or Suffer a Severe Lack of Excitement
Clan warfare at its best.
Clan warfare at its best.

Mechwarrior 2: Roar of Honor (Mechwarrior)
Blaine Lee Pardoe
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

High Tech | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0451457617

Book Description

A brand-new adventure for BattleTech and MechWarrior fans...

Ghost Bear Commander Angela Bekker has been sent to the strategically important planet of Toffen, only to face ambush by a rival clan. Are her unorthodox tactics and sheer bravery enough to pull her troups through this galactic Hell?

"If you're not a BattleTech fan, you might well become one after this game!"--Starlog, on the MechWarrior game MechCommander

* An exciting new series series in the Battletech universe

Praise for MechCommander:

"Blowing stuff up was never this cool."--USA Today

"The best command decision a BattleTech fan can make is to take part in this adventure."--Starlog

Customer Reviews:

Clan war at its best.......2002-07-06

The new defenders on a planet in the Ghost Bear territory is a small, green unit,with freebirths. But they get thrown in a battle with the toughest Clan Wolf unit ever made. This is a great book with, nonstop action that doesnt get u time to breath. Pardoe shows the clans in a way never been shown before. Ive been reading btech for a long time and this is my first mechwarrior book but is as good as stackpole's old books in btech. I recomend this book to everyone that can read! LOL!

Best BattleTech Novel Yet.......2002-04-12

Angela Bekker, a skilled 'Mech Warrior from Clan Ghost Bear is chosen by the Khan to form a new Trinary to protect the front-line world of Toffen. By almost anyone's standards a single Trinary is an insufficient amount of forces to defend such an important planet. Therefore, Toffen is seen as a ripe target by Clan Wolf who sends an entire Cluster to take the world. Now Angela and her green unit must repel the attack of one of Clan Wolf's most skilled and experienced group of warriors.

This book is by far the best BattleTech novel I have ever read. From start to finish it is filled with excitement. Pardoe describes everything in such detail that it makes seem like you're actually out on the battlefield witnessing the events in the book. This is a must-read book for anyone even remotely interested in the BattleTech novels.

Read This Book or Suffer a Severe Lack of Excitement.......2002-04-10

Angela Bekker a Ristar from Clan Ghost Bear, is order by the Khan to form a trinary to defend the front line world of Toffin. With such inadequate defenses on such an important world, the Wolf Clan takes the opportunity and launches an assault. With an elite cluster of top notch assault `Mechs, the Angela and her green unit is out classed in technology and experience.

This book was written with fantastic skill and detail. Only the most experienced writers such as Michael Stackpole and Carl Deuker. Every battle is described so well that I felt the temperature rise as the Wolves were surrounded by the horrific cane fire. The plot twists and turns and you never know what is going to happen next. If you're in need of some serious entertainment (for example you've beaten all your Xbox games) then this book is exactly what you want.

Clan warfare at its best........2001-04-15

Pardoe presents a novel based on Clan Ghost Bear that has everything you'd expect from a book about Clan warfare. He features well outlined characters (for btech novel standards), a grim competetion between 2 Clans/2 mech forces/2 elite clan mechwarriors, and a plot with intruiging twists and interesting informations about the long neglected Ghost Bear Dominion.

The fighting scenes are solid, and both sides receive ample credit, and not the typical 'one side rox, one side blows' clichees found in so many btech novels. Personally I especially liked the fight ensuing from the ambush laid by SCom Constant Tseng's star, cuz it showed in a brilliant manner how clan RoE works and can be used to own advantage.

With this book, Pardoe rejuvenated the true spirit of clan society, and I only hope, that whoever is responsible for the Btech story and timeline plot, doesnt erase this amazing aspect of the btech universe.

Clan warfare at its best........2001-04-15

Last, but not least, I woulda given this book 5 stars, if not for some blunt errors bout CGB... Goddam, CGB didnt accomplish a draw on Tukayid, they WON their separate campaign against ComStar...(okay, I admit, I'm a long time CGB fan *grin*)

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ROAR OF HONOR (MECH WARRIOR)
BLAINE LEE PARDOE
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Mechwarrior | Strategy Guides | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000H869DW

Book Description

TAKE AN ACTIVE ROLE IN YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Both easy to use and highly informative, The Complete Guide to Psychiatric Drugs is an indispensable reference for both patients and professionals. Now in a revised and expanded edition, this up-to-date handbook supplies current information on the newest and most commonly used psychiatric drugs as well as the latest details regarding side effects, dosages, and precautions.

Drawing upon his years of experience helping patients understand their illnesses and take charge of their treatments, top expert Dr. Edward Drummond covers vital topics that include:
* Is medication for you?
* What to discuss with your doctor before starting medication
* Do psychiatric drugs pose extra risks for you?
* How to start, monitor, and stop your medication
* Psychiatric syndromes and their treatment

The book also explores non-drug therapies such as dietary treatments, exercise, relaxation techniques, meditation, and self-hypnosis as well as information on how to combine drug, non-drug, and alternative therapies for maximum benefit.

The Complete Guide to Psychiatric Drugs: Straight Talk for Best Results, Revised and Expanded Edition gives you the facts so you can get better, with straight talk on the best new treatments for:
* Anxiety
* Panic Attacks
* Agoraphobia and Phobias
* Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
* Generalized Anxiety Disorder
* Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
* Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
* Bipolar Disorder and Mood Swings
* Depression
* Asperger's Syndrome
* Autism
* Pervasive Developmental Disorder
* Drug Dependence
* Anorexia
* Bulimia
* Binge-Eating Disorder
* Insomnia
* Acute Psychosis
* Schizophrenia
* Schizoaffective Disorder
* Delusional Disorder
* Alzheimer's Disease

Customer Reviews:

The Complete Guide to Psychiatric Drugs: Straight Talk for Best Results.......2007-01-04

This book is very easy to understand. It is a great resource for clinicians and therapists.

Get your questions answered with this book.......2004-09-29

Psychiatric syndromes like depression, anxiety, and bipolar are explained along with reasons why certain drugs are used instead of others.

About two pages are devoted to each medication. Common, expected side effects are described. For example, Paxil is said to take two to four weeks to cause improvement, even though side effects may appear in one to two days. Fatigue, weakness, and sexual dysfunction are the most common side effects. Your symtoms may return if you stop taking Paxil--even if taper off the medication gradually.

If you want to know how exactly drugs work, Appendix A shows the part of the synapse/neuron that is involved for each of the major classes of psychiatric drugs.

simple, comprehensive book (on a SICK SUBJECT).......2002-02-11

strong points: i'm a therapist who has many patients taking psychiatric meds, and while i don't prescribe them myself (nor have any desire to), i do need to know at least a thumbnail sketch about most of them. this book does the trick for me. it avoids the irrelevant and obscure detail of the Physician's Desk Reference and hits on the necessary basics (dosages, side effects, dangers, potential "benefits", brand versus generic names - and it has a good index!).

that said: this book, like all others of its ilk, almost completely avoids touching on the notion that medication in most cases can be terribly anti-therapeutic, and is prescribed by doctors for much the same reason drug addicts prescribe themselves the assortment of illicit drugs - symptom relief. these drugs cure no one, just keep people happily numb and in check, and are basically prescribed to help people improve their level of functioning IN THE SHORT TERM. if it were up to me, i'd restructure the whole system and do away with most of these meds entirely.

there's a funny thing i've noticed: when a patient comes to me and wants both therapy and medication (say, Zoloft), i can almost certainly surmise that he or she has less motivation for doing deep inner work (which produces the long-term gain) than someone who wants therapy alone and is resistant to taking medication. doing therapy (learning to know oneself at one's deepest level of being) is a painful process. medication takes away pain. you do the math.

and as for that idea that being on psych meds gives someone a "platform from which to do deep inner work"? as for evidence, i haven't seen it. but i do think it's a great rationalization!

Helpful Information.......2001-02-19

For the person who is contemplating phsychiatric treatment, "medication" can have an intimidating impression especially if it is a foreign subject. The book will help you make you this important decision by giving you updated information on the newest prescription drugs. For those who are uncomfortable, alternatives and non-drug options are discussed as well. A wide range of psychiatric syndromes are covered: Anxiety disorders, ADD, Bipolar, Depression, Developmental disorders, Drug dependence, Eating disorders, Insomnia, Pshychosis, and even Alzheimer's Disease. A wide range is covered..

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