I Never Did Tell You Did I? (Unsent Letters)

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I Never Did Tell You Did I? (Unsent Letters)
Susan Smith Nash
Manufacturer: Avec Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1880713322

Book Description

Through a series of letters she writes to friends and family, a woman in her early forties attempts to understand the world she finds herself in but never expected. As she enmeshes herself in new dilemmas, she reflects back on the experiences that have brought her to this seemingly impossible reality. In Susan Smith Nash's hands, this familiar if important rite of passage tale becomes startling and strange, terrifying and at times grotesque. No experience in _I Never Did Tell You Did I?_ ever turns out to be simply private; gender problems, family problems, work problems intersect with international economics, politics and violence in a swirl of misunderstanding and danger both emotional and physical. The story takes us through the shock of day-to-day life in Oklahoma, Vermont, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kenya, and many other surprising locales. Ultimately, the narrator's search for love in a time of desperate loneliness requires her to look, no matter how disturbing it may be, at the sources of the world's great contemporary disasters.

***************

Susan Smith Nash, whose honest and benevolent gaze is democratic and inclusive, is a funny, invincible letter-writer. In these unsent letters, we are reminded of how vision and "re"-vision are a living process inspired by hope but purely grounded in wisdom. ---Maxine Chernoff

*******************

Book Description

Packed with everything from ancient recipes for glues, varnishes, and paints to spiritual preparations of herbal tinctures and oils, including magical formulae and practices of alchemy, The Alchemist's Kitchen will appeal to anyone fascinated by the past and by the occult world. Guy Ogilvy takes you inside medieval laboratories and kitchens, revealing the hows and whys of mythical recipes and concoctions.

Customer Reviews:

Symmetry: The Ordering Principle.......2007-02-16

This is an excellant little book. Very nice paper and illustrations. It is more of a concise introduction. Would definately consult a chemistry manual if you are planning to conduct any of the distillations. But, all and all very nice. I actually purchased it as a gift for my mother, but I did read it first.

Great little book, very interesting. Perfect for the coffee table........2007-01-14

I have most of the books in this series and this is my current favorite. It's filled with interesting information and is a great quick read. Don't be thinking you'll be the next Alchemist on your block, it's more for entertainment than practicality, but it's a fun read none the less.

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Better, but...
Where Do They Come From?
Turtledove doesn't give good value
Great Turtledove imagining of alternate histories with some problems
curious notions

Curious Notions (Crosstime Traffic)
Harry Turtledove
Manufacturer: Tor Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Alternate History | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0765346109
Release Date: 2005-11-29

Book Description

In a parallel-world 21st-century San Francisco where the Kaiser's Germany won World War One and went on to dominate the world, Paul Gomes and his father Lawrence are secret agents for our timeline, posing as traders from a foreign land. They run a storefront shop called Curious Notions, selling what is in our world routine consumer technology-record players, radios, cassette decks--all of which is better than anything in this world, but only by a bit. Their real job is to obtain raw materials for our timeline. Just as importantly, they must guard the secret of Crosstime Traffic--for of the millions of parallel timelines, this is one of the few advanced enough to use that secret against us.Now, however, the German occupation police are harassing them. They want to know where they're getting their mysterious goods. Under pressure, Paul and Lawrence hint that their supplies comes from San Francisco's Chinese....setting in motion a chain of intrigues that will put the entire enterprise of Crosstime Traffic at deadly risk.

Customer Reviews:

Better, but..........2007-09-07

I started reading this with a bit of trepidation, having been somewhat disappointed with the earlier book in this series, Gunpowder Empires. I was pleasantly surprised that the characters were fleshed out a bit more and the plot had more twists than the first book. Still not up to what I've come to expect from Harry Turtledove, but definitely a step in the right direction. I still feel that this should be classified as juvenile fiction. It was not a disappointing read, just not a satisfying one.

Where Do They Come From?.......2006-07-11

Curious Notions (2004) is the second novel in the Crosstime Traffic series, following Gunpowder Empire. Lawrence Gomes is a CT employee living in San Francisco in an alternate timeline where Germany has won the Great War. Paul Gomes is his son. They are storekeepers in the Curious Notions shop where electronic gadgets are sold to get money to buy foodstuffs for the home timeline.

In this novel, Lucy Woo is a Chinese girl who works in a shoe factory in this alternate San Francisco. Charlie Woo, her father, is a radio repairman who knows a lot about the current electronic industry. He has been puzzled over the gadgets sold by Curious Notions for some years.

One morning shortly after Paul and his father took over the store, Inspector Weidenreich dropped in to inspect their identification and business permit. He finds nothing out of order, but questions Paul about their source of supply. Paul denies any knowledge of the buying side of the business and refers the Inspector to his father, who is not in the store at the moment. The Inspector leaves, but promises to come back to see Paul's father.

When Lawrence comes in a few minutes later, he is less than pleased to learn of the Inspector's visit. Paul's Dad pulls several names out of the phone book and, when the Inspector returns, gives him the names as suppliers of the gadgets sold in the shop. Charlie Woo is included in this list. The Germans promptly take in Charlie for questioning.

Lucy Woo is rather angry about the situation and visits Curious Notions to express her opinion. Paul passes on her complaints to his Dad and arrangements are made to release Charlie Woo. Paul continues to see Lucy after that and they have several conversations. However, Paul underestimates Lucy's intelligence and gives her some significant hints about his origins.

In this novel, the Germans continue their investigation of Curious Notions, leading to the apprehension of Paul's Dad. Now Paul is on the run with the entire German empire on this tail (at least it feels this way). Lucy thinks about the clues and comes up with the Crosstime Secret. Everything is really going well . . . Not.

This novel shows another aspect of being an agent for Crosstime Traffic: a sufficiently advanced society is more difficult to fool. Even worse, such a society is probably capable of developing crosstime travel if the secret comes out. Crosstime Traffic has made a major mistake in opening Curious Notions.

Of course, flooding the alternate timeline with perfect counterfeits would be even more disastrous to the Crosstime Secret. Such an operation would require large quantities of small bills, thus making the juxtaposition of two identical bills very likely. Moreover, the transposition device would be fixed in place since the foodstuffs would have to delivered to the homeline. Thus, the Germans probably would soon learn of the counterfeits and would quickly follow the trail back to the device itself. Voila tout, no more Crosstime Secret!

Highly recommended for Turtledove fans and for anyone else for enjoys tales of alternate history and travel thereto.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Turtledove doesn't give good value.......2006-06-25

I read this book, and I'm unhappy with it. There are gaping logic holes in it. For one thing, the crosstime trading company is supposed to have been in business for some decades now, and have policies set in place. However, they send a teenage boy (just out of high school) and his father on a very critical assignment. Father and son do not work together well, even beyond the normal teen/parent squabbles. True, Turtledove is writing for teenagers, but he should not assume that they are all brainless and senseless (even though some of them are, quite a few are not). The company is portrayed as very efficient, and quite inflexible. It surely would have had protocols in place that would require a junior agent to work in less sensitive areas at first. The father is also borderline incompetent, again, not someone who should be sent on a dangerous and critical assignment. What's more, the reader is told several times that a certain thing cannot be done under any circumstances...but at the end of the book, whoops, it seems that this thing CAN be done after filling out a lot of paperwork.

I was very disappointed in this book. The world/time setting is interesting, and I believe that the plot and character problems could have been avoided quite easily, while still having a very tense atmosphere. It's quite readable, which is why I gave it two stars, but the reader would probably have a much better experience with a Heinlein juvenile, even as dated as they are. Heinlein always put as much thought into his juveniles/YA books as he did in his books intended for adults.

Great Turtledove imagining of alternate histories with some problems.......2006-04-02

In a world where Russia reacted just a little more slowly to the outbreak of war, Germany was able to pump its entire army into France, avoiding the Battle of the Marne and defeating France, England, and Russia in detail to end World War I. Years later, it discovered the atom bomb and defeated and occupied the United States. Now the Crosstime Traffic corporation watches the Germans carefully, and does everything it can to be sure the Germans don't learn the secret of the ability to pass across alternate planes of earth. While it watches, Crosstime trades with this plane, dumping archaic VCRs and other electronic equipment that is completely outdated in the home plane, but fully up-to-date in a world where science has moved a little more slowly (in the absense of cold-war competition).

Teen Paul Gomes and his father take up operation of the San Francisco branch of Crosstime Traffic, buying produce from California's central valley and selling electronics. Although Crosstime hasn't realized it, both the Germans and the Chinese Tongs have noticed that the shop, Curious Notions, sells equipment that is ahead of what even the Germans produce for themselves. They may not guess the crosstime secret, but they certainly suspect something. Paul's father's clumsy attempt to divert German attention to the Chinese gets Lucy Woo's father arrested--and Lucy goes to Paul to complain.

Author Harry Turtledove is at his best realizing alternate history worlds and a world where the Germans prevailed in WWI is certainly not a stretch. A less vibrant, less developed, and less electronically capable San Francisco is a believable outcome of such a war--and the war that followed and allowed Germany to occupy the United States. The economic notion of selling electronic devices retail and buying truckloads of produce is harder to swallow. Why, for example, wouldn't Crosstime have introduced a single product design (say a VCR) and manufactured it locally, selling through distribution (the way VCRs are sold in America today?). Selling through a single retail shop and buying single truckloads of produce seems incredibly inefficient--and exactly the type of thing that would call for attention from curious police.

CURIOUS NOTIONS (and indeed the entire CROSSTIME TRAFFIC series) is targeted largely to the young adult market with its teenage protagonists and the innocent romance between them. Turtledove's strong ability to create and describe alternate worlds, however, will help the series appeal to adult readers as well. A bit more work on the economics and Turtledove will have a definite winner in this series. Even without that, it's an enjoyable story.

curious notions.......2006-03-20

This will be short but not so sweet. Every once in a while I see a book by Turtledove, pick it up, read the cover and buy it.
When will I learn? Great ideas, poorly concieved story. H.Beam Piper is spinning in his grave. What do you people at TOR have hanging in your closets that you continue to publish Turtledoves garbage.

Amazon.com

Science fiction authors like to think big; their work spans galaxies and remakes worlds. The thus-far-fictional act of radically changing other planets to suit human desires is the theme of Worldmakers: SF Adventures in Terraforming, edited by Gardner Dozois, SF's greatest short fiction editor since the legendary John W. Campbell. Dozois has assembled 20 powerful, imaginative stories by many of SF's finest writers, from Poul Anderson and Arthur C. Clarke to Stephen Baxter and Bruce Sterling.

These stories were first published between 1954 and 2001; a majority are from the 1990s. The stories are often hard SF, but they don't sacrifice characterization for ideas or technology. SF fans will love this anthology if they don't mind that women make up only two of the contributors and not many more of the protagonists. Dozois has also edited a companion volume about remaking humanity, Supermen: Tales of the Posthuman Future. --Cynthia Ward

Book Description

When mankind moves out to the stars, the colonists of the future will remake the worlds they inhabit in their image. Included here are twenty stories from the most imaginative writers in the field, including:Poul Anderson * Stephen Baxter * Gregory Benford * Arthur C. Clarke *Greg Egan * Joe Haldeman * Philip Jennings * William H. Kieth * Geoffrey A. Landis * Ian McDonald * Richard McKenna * Laura Mixon * G. David Nordley * Robert Reed * Kim Stanley Robinson * Pamela Sargent * Cordwainer Smith * Bruce Sterling * John Varley * Roger ZelaznyThese are the stories of the explorers and pioneers who transform their destinations in the image of their distant home--exciting tales of alien landscapes and the struggle to make them suit human desires.AUTHORBIO: GARDNER DOZOIS edits the Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies and Asimov's SF magazine from his home in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has won the Hugo Award for Best Editor many times.

Customer Reviews:

Falls far short of the mark........2002-01-13

Terraforming...creating a living world from a dead one. What a
grand, mind-blowing concept! And, it ought to have that effect
on one's outlook.

But, reading these timid, tepid, boring stories of people nominally in the process of making new worlds, one is tempted to ask "why bother?"

If it was the intent of the editor to choose only such UN-inspiring works to demonstrate terraforming, I would say "hidden agenda"; if, however, these represent the very zenith of sci-fi thought on the subject of terraforming, then I would say, shame on sci-fi!

For me, terraforming DOES stir the blood, so I only experienced the tedium and lack of vision that this collection engendered; it in no way blunted my enthusiasm.

To catch the vision of terraforming, may I suggest:
"New Earths", James Oberg;
"Terraforing", Martyn Fogg;
"The Millennial Project", Marshall T. Savage;
"Entering Space", Robert Zubrin;
"The Case for Mars", also Zubrin;
you get the idea. THESE will give you a mental and emotional jolt that is hard to describe ("Wow! We really could make earth-like worlds, for people to live on!")

If you really must read this book, borrow a copy from someone, get it on loan from your local library, or buy it USED; otherwise, save your money.

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If people give you heartburn, READ THIS BOOK

Requires emotional maturity

Beautifully Written

Difficult people force us to think and grow

Thank You book is a restorative gem-my story

Thank You for Being Such a Pain: Spiritual Guidance for Dealing with Difficult People
Mark Rosen
Manufacturer: Harmony
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Success | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0609600990
Release Date: 1998-03-03

Book Description

Thank You for Being Such a Pain is a pioneering spiritual self-help book for dealing with difficult co-workers, neighbors, and family members. Its insights, anecdotes, and guidelines will help you to overcome the distractions and energy drain, the minor annoyances and major distress that difficult people can cause. Based on the author's popular workshops, the book includes many instructive, practical, and spiritual exercises for doing inner work, enabling you to transform your difficult encounters and relationships into surprising and powerful sources of spiritual growth.

Mark Rosen shows readers how to go beyond just trying to cope with difficult people. His evocative and penetrating perspectives lead you to the deeper meanings that underlie your encounters, based on four basic premises: (1) life's seemingly random encounters are not so random; (2) pain and suffering are just as important for personal growth as love and joy; (3) learning how to transform enmity is one of life's most important lessons; and (4) healing relationship problems requires one to pay attention to the ongoing spiritual lessons that life presents.

From explaining why people are difficult and how your own personality causes you to view others that way, Rosen gently leads you to a deeper understanding of the spiritual forces at work in your life. Each chapter contains a section called "Explorations," composed of engaging exercises to strengthen inner knowing and change the nature of the troublesome relationship. For example, Rosen shows how bestowing a silent blessing on the difficult person can benefit you both, and he gives
illustrative scenarios with nasty co-workers and intrusive in-laws that show the principles of the book in action. Drawing on spiritual practices, psychological principles, and entertaining stories for this innovative practical approach and its enlightening exercises, Thank You for Being Such a Pain will change forever the way you see the difficult people in your life.

Customer Reviews:

If people give you heartburn, READ THIS BOOK.......2007-06-16

I read most of the first section with gritted teeth, since it sounded to me like the author was making excuses for bad behavior and invalidating my feelings. I highlighted sentences here and there that I felt were relevant and took the rest with a large grain of salt. But after I finished reading it the first time, was actively implementing his suggestions and seeing significant results, I started the book again and saw it in a completely different light. What formerly made me grit my teeth now made sense - it's not as much about them as it is about me and my reaction. It's also hugely about my perception.

The annoying people are still annoying and probably always will be. However, the practical suggestions in this book have helped reduce the annoying person's wear and tear on me. When I'm not all churned up over other people's behavior, I enjoy my life a lot more.

Now, I read a few pages every morning before I go to work and I'm on my fourth time through. The pages are wrinkly from highlighting and it's almost time to buy a clean copy and start over. I can't believe how different my days are and how I don't feel totally wrung out when I get home in the evening. I'm also actually starting to get along with people who used to really push my buttons.

I've purchased this book for three of my friends, who also thought it was awesome, but they'll have to write their own reviews. Thank you, Dr. Rosen!!!

Requires emotional maturity.......2007-05-24

It took me several efforts to really start digging into Thank You for Being Such a Pain. Though conversationally written, I had to adjust my scholarly mindset to be open to the author's diligent reiteration that the book is based on his own personal philosophy, which is by no means the voice of authority. Because of this, I suspect I would prefer to attend one of the author's presentations over the book alone. That said, the book is thought-provoking but requires emotional calm and maturity from the reader, and an openness to the idea that the number of difficult people in one's life might simply be all in one's head.

If you are a person in crisis, desperately searching for strategies to deal with a difficult co-worker, spouse, or friend, this might not be the first book you want to pick up; especially if your eyeballs are spinning in their sockets. If you're ready to calmly move beyond the sense frustration that grips your waking moments and you aren't opposed to having some scripture tossed into the mix, Rosen's book might prove helpful.

Beautifully Written.......2007-03-18

Yes challenging people create growth & opportunity for us. They may also drive us crazy or cause great suffering as well. Dr. Rosen's writing style & voice are both engaging & intelligent. It's a far more personal book than I would have at first guessed. I love this book so much I have purchased it twice & eventually friends in need of loving guidance have absconded with those copies. It is a remarkably thoughtful & intelligent book. One which you will find yourself returning to again & again. I only wish that in the 10 years since Rosen published this that he would please write another.

Difficult people force us to think and grow.......2005-04-30

_The central idea of this book is that there is a spiritual reason that we encounter difficult people (and that they encounter us.) As the author states, we are not on this earth just to have fun- we are here to refine our character, develop our talents, and contribute our unique gifts toward the greater good. Often this means that we are provided with the ideal foe- one that pushes all of our buttons. Instead of automatically striking back, we need to try to find out why this is so. That is why this book is so useful, for it not only lists every known way of trying to deal with another person that you have a problem with, but also with how to try to understand their motives.

_Still, to his credit, the author recognizes that there are those that are so unreasonable that we will have no choice but to cut them off- and perhaps warn others. You just don't do this until you have exhausted all other options. Also, it is recognized that it is healthy and normal to have extreme emotional reactions to difficult people (how many authority figures have you encountered that considered your anger a worse sin than the offense that triggered it?)

_I've come to the conclusion that the author is correct in his views. There are no coincidences in this life- not if we are sensitive and introspective enough to recognize and interpret them. Plus, the purpose of this life is to learn and grow- and often that means the pressure of conflict. In and of itself, conflict is not good- it is the effort to understand both your motivations and that of others that is of value.

_This book isn't a cure-all for interpersonal conflicts by any means. However it is a good basis for a "reasonable man's standard" to use with dealing with others. Don't be too upset if you encounter people on which the approach simply will not work. Personally, over the years I've notice that there seem to be more and more people who simply cannot see that they are violating other's rights- or they simply do not care. Maybe that is why we are here- to be a thorn in their side....

And remember- some people are merely different, not difficult.

Thank You book is a restorative gem-my story.......2003-08-23

I am finishing an internship position working under a supervisor whose leadership style was a mix of authoritarian/ laisse faire. Metaphorically, I was in boot camp/ either sinking or teaching myself to swim. I was weak with writing paperwork and it often resulted in my supervisor ridiculing me to the whole department. I sometimes had to stand up to the supervisor without unleashing my wrangling emotions. I had to be very clear, justify my actions and not hold resentment. In other words, discipline myself. This book gives the mentholated rub needed. It is very helpful. It is very instructional, offering lots of techniques, warmth, and beautiful insight into a painful situation. Yes it is a gem of a book. It allowed me to stay in the training and learn to be more effective and efficient. The big bonus is that I grew emotionally. I learned to sit more with difficult emotions.

Average customer rating:

heart wrenching
An exquisite, heart-wrenching play

Thom Pain: (based on nothing)
Will Eno
Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1559362758

Book Description

"Astonishing in its impact. . . . One of the treasured nights in the theatre that can leave you both breathless with exhilaration and, depending on your sensitivity to meditations on the bleak and beautiful mysteries of human experience, in a puddle of tears . . . Thom Pain is at bottom a surreal meditation on the empty promises life makes, the way experience never lives up to the weird and awesome fact of being. But it is also, in its odd, bewitching beauty, an affirmation of life's worth."-Charles Isherwood, The New York Times

"Eno has emerged as one of the most original young playwrights on the scene. He is one of the few writers who can convert discomfort and outright agony into such pleasure."-David Cote, TimeOut New York

"Will Eno is one of the finest younger playwrights I've come across in a number of years. His work is inventive, disciplined and, at the same time, wild and evocative."-Edward Albee

When Will Eno's one-person play Thom Pain opened in New York in February 2005, it became something rare-an unqualified hit, which soon extended through July. Before that, the play was a critical success in London and received the coveted Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival. Dubbed "stand-up existentialism" by The New York Times, it is lyrical and deadpan, both sardonic and sincere. It is Thom Pain-in the camouflage of the common man-fumbling with his heart, squinting into the light.

Will Eno lives in Brooklyn, New York. His plays include The Flu Season, Tragedy: a tragedy, King: a problem play, and Intermission. His plays have been produced in London by the Gate Theatre and BBC Radio, and in the United States by Rude Mechanicals and Naked Angels. His play The Flu Season recently won the Oppenheimer Award, presented by NY Newsday for the previous year's best debut production in New York by an American playwright.

Customer Reviews:

heart wrenching.......2007-03-15

A bloody, brilliant, gnawingly humane cry from the gut. It broke my heart and was thought-provoking in the extreme. Eno is clearly gifted and just starting the ascension to the top of his game

An exquisite, heart-wrenching play.......2005-11-20

I have seen the play twice, and it is one of the most memorable nights I have had in the theatre in years. Whether reading the play will give you the same effect as a lone person standing onstage performing it for an hour is open to debate...but for drama students looking for an original reading, or anyone wanting to read the work of one of the most talented playwrights we have, it is highly recommended.

Average customer rating:

Accessible and Direct
Pain = Growth

Pain of Being Human
Eugene Kennedy
Manufacturer: Galilee Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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Joy of Being Human

ASIN: 0385068883
Release Date: 1974-01-15

Amazon.com

The elegant style and pragmatic tone of Eugene Kennedy's writing are typified in the following passage: "We may thank God that we can feel pain and know sadness, for these are the human sentiments that constitute our glory as well as our grief." As a psychologist, Kennedy is concerned with the mature person and notes that maturity is marked by the acceptance of the distress that is part and parcel of our relationships with others. Escape into drugs, work, vapid entertainment, or even prayer, is not a solution. We must accept the pain as well as the pleasure of relationships, for "close and affectionate relationships with other people are the prime signal of healthy personhood."

It is interesting that there is no place for solitude in Kennedy's world. Perhaps he is right that the primary obligation for all of us is the difficult work of loving others.

Customer Reviews:

Accessible and Direct.......2004-05-18

The structure of Kennedy's venture into human mechanics allows for the reader to start, finish, and continue at any point in the book. With chapters not totaling more than five or six pages each, every idea is explored with concise consideration. I often found myself looking at the chapter titles and skipping to whatever section was applicable for that point of time.

Despite the melodramatic title, "Pain of Being Human" is one of those books you keep near your nightstand for daily reflection. It takes a Christian perspective on life and introduces morals that make sense in the modern world. I am not a religious person and I still gleaned so much insight from the text without getting the feeling I was being preached to.

It is a definite good choice and should go under the category "Self-Help book with dignity."

Pain = Growth.......1998-02-03

The Pain of Being Human crystalises all those thoughts you had about existence - but never wrote down. Lucidly written without the usual psycho-babble that psychologists like to impress us with. Another book that gave me greater insight into the pain of being human, was the inspired "The Autobiography of Jesus of Nazareth and the Missing Years" by Richard G. Patton. Patton's Jesus is faced with the unimagined dilemma of his own spirituality being confronted by his immense humanity. I enjoyed both these books but came away with a greater understanding after reading Patton's book. Admittedly Patton's book is written as a novel where Kennedy's book is written as a dissertation. Kennedy's book is accessible and sure to become a standard on Psychology. Recommended

Average customer rating:

On Being Human and" Pleasure and Pain"
G. Marian Kinget
Manufacturer: University Press of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Consciousness & Thought | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

In this volume, G. Marian Kinget's classic work, "On Being Human," can be read for the first time in light of a second, previously unpublished work, "Pleasure And Pain." Taken together, these two works offer a new generation of readers a comprehensive picture of the insights, principles, and goals of humanistic psychology. "On Being Human," Kinget's pioneering work, which arose from the original humanistic revolution in psychology, systematically describes the characteristics that make human beings different from all other forms of life. In this work, Kinget explores man in his full nature not solely as a biological organism modified by experience and culture. She presents a person as a symbolic entity capable of pondering his existence, and lending it meaning and direction. Man is the only animal who knowingly exists in space and time, manifesting transcendental and metaphysical concern throughout history and culture. "On Being Human" presents the fundamentals of any valid approach to psychology as well as to other fields concerned with the individuality of the human being. It describes the specific human capacities for reflective thought and declarative language, and it discusses the unique ability of humans to devise culture and question origins. "Pleasure and Pain" considers the interdependence of human pleasure and pain. This idea, which leads to unnecessary fears and unwarranted expectations, goes unrecognized in a contemporary western society focused on the accumulation of pleasure without any awareness of the duality of the pleasure-pain experience. Kinget refutes the widespread fallacy that fun lies in the means, when it actually lies in the subject, and she discusses the human potential for autonomous "management" of the pleasure-pain dimension of human existence.

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The Pain of Being Human
Eugene Kennedy
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VK6G3Y

Pain, sex and time;: A new hypothesis of evolution

Average customer rating:

Pain, sex and time;: A new hypothesis of evolution
Gerald Heard
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

Sadism: A documented study of the strange ecstacies that some human beings find in the infliction of pain

Average customer rating:

Sadism: A documented study of the strange ecstacies that some human beings find in the infliction of pain
L. T Woodward
Manufacturer: Lancer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007ERM1Y

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