From Melos to My Lai : Violence, Culture and Survival

Book Description

Did Ajax and Achilles ever suffer from Post-traumatic stress syndrome?

In this absorbing account, Vietnam veteran and classics scholar Lawrence A Tritle offers an incisive analysis of war and its impact upon the soldier and civilian from the classical age to the present day.

Tritle discusses the links between battlefield experiences that affect the participants and victims of war in every age, drawing examples from sources as diverse as the Iliad, Michael Herr's Dispatches, Thucydides' account of the Pelopenesian Wars, and the Oliver Stone film Platoon. Each instance sheds light on some of the most puzzling phemonena of war and shows how the heroes of epic responded to battle with their own forms of "shellshock," battle-madness and bonding. Tritle examines such issues as:

How can ordinarily decent men can commit acts of extraordinary savagery?

Attitudes toward the "enemy"

The impact of war on waiting wives, lovers and civilian bystanders

Remembering the fallen soldier: from the classic Athenian funeral speech to the Vietnam Wall

How veterans live with physical and psychological injury

This memorable book is for readers who wonder about the meaning and experience of battle, about the impact of war and violence on our culture, and for anyone interested in the culture of ancient Greece.

Customer Reviews:

A Much Needed Connection.......2002-02-01

With impeccable scholarship and remarkable insight, Lawrence Tritle has unearthed and exposed the history of the ordinarily unremarked trauma of war. While deaths are faithfully recorded and wounds usually obvious, the lasting effect of war on the remaining warriors and those close to them has only recently been examined. Shay's "Achilles in Vietnam" was the first to look back at the Illiad and draw a parallel between the "post traumatic stress disorder" found in Vietnam vets and the descriptions of the effect of the Trojan war on Achilles.
Lawrence Tritle has used the juxtaposition of a remote massacre in the Peloponnesian War and the massacre at My Lai some 2500 years later to connect the experience of Greek warriors such as the Spartan general Clearchus with Vietnam veterans to demonstrate that the emotional damage of war, while sometimes recognized, but usually quickly forgotten between wars, is universal.
This book is a great service to Vietnam veterans who can take some comfort that the battles they have fought within themselves have been fought by a long line of others before them, almost always in darkness and silence. For the historian this is a fresh view of war,well researched and analyzed An impressive achievement.

A failed attempt to compare two historical periods.......2001-06-26

I felt rather disappointed reading this book. I seems to me that the author failed in giving a convincing picture. His comparisons of the Vietmam experience and classical or Homeric Greece are either superficial or forced. I suppose that the book may attract persons more involved in the Vietnam affair than I but I am convinced that this is caused by the Vietnam experience and not by the comparisons with classical Greece.

"The Truth of War Shines a Blinding Light".......2001-06-23

"From Melos To My Lai: Violence, Culture and Survival" explores the relationship between combat experiences recorded from antiquity to the present day, with a particular emphasis on the experiences of the ancient Greeks during their various conquests and those of Americans during the Vietnam War. Through his comprehensive research, Dr. Lawrence A. Tritle provides compelling evidence confirming that "shell shock" and "combat fatigue" were present in ancient civilization and long before the condition was recognized as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Because I am a veteran myself, and have worked professionally in the field of Trauma and PTSD for most of my adult life, I am often puzzled at the claims of those disputing the authenticity of war's psychological effects. What does not surprise me is that the majority of these claims are frequently made by individuals who are neither combat veterans nor mental health professionals. Even more disturbing is the idea that somehow our veterans suffering from PTSD warrant less recognition for their combat induced psychological wounds then those that received a battle related physical injury. In "Melos to My Lai," Tritle works valiantly to dispel any myth that PTSD is somehow a fabrication of sympathy seeking Vietnam veterans.

Although it has been called by many other names throughout the ages (Combat Fatigue, War Neurosis, Delayed Stress, etc.), there is no doubt that PTSD is indeed an ugly reality of war. The following information on PTSD among Vietnam War veterans is taken from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Survey (NVVRS, 1990) report and provided by the National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD): "The estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD among American Vietnam theater veterans is 30.9% for men and 26.9% for women. An additional 22.5% of men and 21.2% of women have had partial PTSD at some point in their lives. Thus more than half of all male Vietnam veterans and almost half of all female Vietnam veterans - About 1,700,000 Vietnam veterans in all - have experienced "clinically serious stress reaction symptoms." 15.2% of all male Vietnam theater veterans (479,000 out of 3,140,000 men who served in Vietnam) and 8.1% of all female Vietnam theater veterans (610 out of 7,200 women who served in Vietnam) are current cases of PTSD (Current means 1986-88 when the Survey was conducted)."

The NVVRS report also contains these figures on other PTSD related (or comorbidity) problems of Vietnam veterans: 40% of Vietnam theater veteran men have been divorced at least once (10% had two or more divorces), 14.1% report high levels of martial problems, and 23.1% have high levels of parental problems. Almost half [of male Vietnam theater veterans currently suffering from PTSD] had been arrested or in jail at least once - 34.2% more than once - and 11.5% had been convicted of a felony. The estimated lifetime prevalence of alcohol abuse or dependence among male theater veterans is 39.2%. Keeping this, and numerous other comparable studies in mind, it is not hard to correlate the experience of war to the behavioral reactions of our returning veterans.

As for the question of cross-cultural diagnostic validity with regards to PTSD, I believe the author makes clear parallels between the two cultures examined in the text. Tritle successfully shows how timeless human adaptation to extreme stress really is. Although the diagnostic criteria for PTSD listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) needs to be continuously and carefully weighed against cultural considerations, we know that there are no doubt certain elements innate to human behavior.

If you recall, Shakespeare eluded to human behavioral syncronicity when in his work, "The Merchant of Venice," the character Shylock explains: "If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that." If Shakespeare and Shylock are correct in saying that we as humans do share these seemingly cross-cultural indubitable characteristics, why then is it difficult to suppose that like other mental disorders such as schizophrenia or depression, that PTSD could not have existed in the ancient world as well?

From Melos to My Lai, is an intimate look at war and its timeless affect on human nature. Drawing from sources like those of the Athenian historian Thucydides to Homer's,Iliad, Michael Herr's, Dispatches and films like Platoon, Tritle has afforded the reader with a remarkably accurate glimpse into the mind of the combatant, as well as the many innocent victims of war over the centuries. Tritle provides a unique approach to the study of war focusing little on the history of tactics, battles and campaigns. Instead, the principle concern of the book is to show "how societies sustain conflict and violence for prolonged periods, and how the experience of surviving that violence ripples through societies and cultures from one generation to the next."

From the impact of war on waiting wives, lovers and civilian bystanders, to how ordinarily decent men commit acts of extraordinary savagery, Tritle discusses the human response to extreme stress (PTSD) and violence in every age. From Melos to My Lai is a must read for anyone interested in the impact of emotional and physical trauma on the human mind, or for those merely curious about the plain truth regarding the costs of war. Most importantly, the work is an essential resource for the professional working to treat those that suffer with the consequences of violence.

A compelling look at the experience of war.......2000-09-05

I recently read a book review in a liberal magazine that suggested that "heroism" in future wars would be displayed by "soldiers" typing away at keyboards, protected by distance from physical harm. Naturally, that magazine did not publish my letter disputing its view. That someone could publish such stupidity suggests that the truth about the nature of state-organized military violence has disappeared from the consciousness of certain sections of the American public in the 3 decades since the end of American participation in the Vietnam War.

Of course, "the truth", whatever it is, may have already been hidden from Americans during the Vietnam War. Or, it may be hidden from protected "civilians" - like me - for all time. Which is why I found this book, which examines parallels in personal experience in the Vietnam War and Classical and Homeric Greek soldiers fighting over 2 thousand years ago, so interesting.

The author's stated purpose for writing this book is "to show how the experience of surviving [sustained conflict and violence] for prolonged periods, and how the experience of surviving that violence ripples through societies and cultures from one generation to the next". Most of the book consists of comparisons between the military and civilian experience of war as revealed in historical writing and plays produced by Homeric and Classical Greeks, and history books, novels, and movies about Vietnam. The comparisons are intermixed with some of the author's own combat experiences in Vietnam. Using this material the author attempts to show that the secret life of those who have been exposed to violence is very similar through the ages. Certainly anyone with an interest in warfare in ancient Greece and modern military history will find this interesting material. I think the author makes his case, at least as far as the existence of strong parallels between Classical Greek and American experiences of war. But possibly he overstates his case when he argues for the ubiquitous of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among both Greek and American war veterans.

One problem is that the author appears too willing to accept what appear to me to be exaggerated claims about the post-war toll of the Vietnam War on American servicemen. For example, he writes that suicide has claimed "from ten to one hundred thousand Vietnam veterans" and cites without criticism a newspaper story that 300,000 veterans became hobos. The later number is especially suspect, since less than 4 million Americans actually served in Vietnam, most in non-combat roles. Another problem is that the nature of PTSD itself is a poorly defined psychological condition, the nature and even existence of which is still subject to considerable argument. A third problem is that even if the PTSD occurred frequently in Vietnam and existed in ancient Greece, that doesn't mean it would necessarily exist across all cultures.

Book Description

"During the night we would hear screams, then shots from our wounded that we left behind. Minutes later more screams, then more shots. We did not want to give away our positions. For me, and I suspect for all that survived that day and night of fire fighting, bayonet charging, bomb dropping, then trying to get back to our wounded, none was as haunting as it is today - the long night of occasional interruptions of screams and then shots. We knew our men left behind in the heat of battle were being executed by the Viet Cong."

Book Description

Rarely has a writer and thinker of the stature of Ayn Rand afforded us access to her most intimate thoughts and feelings. From Journals of Ayn Rand, we gain an invaluable new understanding and appreciation of the woman, the artist, and the philosopher, and of the enduring legacy she has left us.

Rand comes vibrantly to life as an untried screenwriter in Hollywood, creating stories that reflect her youthful vision of the world. We see her painful memories of communist Russia and her struggles to conveyy them in We the Living. Most fascinating is the intricate, step-by-step process through which she created the plots and characters of her two masterworks, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and the years of painstaking research that imbued the novels with their powerful authenticity.

Complete with reflections on her legendary screenplay concerning the making of the atomic bomb and tantalizing descriptions of projects cut short by her death, Journals of Ayn Rand illuminates the mind and heart of an extraordinary woman as no biography or memoir ever could. On these vivid pages, Ayn Rand lives.

Customer Reviews:

An Important Book About an Amazing Woman.......2006-01-08

If you happen to be an intellectual struggling through the travails of achieving very long-range goals, then this book has a mother load of precious gems for you to mine. You have to work at it, though. You have to want it. You have to already know what it's like to sit day after day in front of a white piece of paper and force yourself to work—especially to solve difficult mental problems on your own. Serious intellectual work is tough going, and this book will show you just how tough it was even for one of the brightest minds the world has ever known, yet it will also help you to see how that same mind overcame those challenges.

For me, reading this book was a little like having Ayn Rand come back as a ghost to hover over me, urging me on in my struggles to be a fiction writer, promising me that I will succeed if I work hard enough, employ good study methods, always engage my own values, and above all use reason as my guide.

This book is not for everyone. Though David Harriman did a remarkable job of selecting the right content and sorting it for clarity and readability, it remains just what the title states: Ayn Rand's personal journals. It is not a diary. There's nothing here about personal hobbies, romance, or life's milestones. Only her writing notes were included so that the reader can see a straightforward record of the orderly mental processes that she applied to her work.

Personally, I found this book to be challenging, informative, and highly inspirational — a fascinating look into a fascinating mind.

An Excellent Companion to the Letters.......2004-04-22

The JOURNALS OF AYN RAND is an important addition to the large body of work by and about Ayn Rand. This work is put out by Rand's Estate, which worked with scholars associated with the Ayn Rand Institute (ARI). JOURNALS contains an introduction and notes by editor David Harriman which are, for the most part, helpful. There is a forward by Leonard Peikoff which is pretty much what you would expect.

Rand wrote out her notes in complete sentences, so there is a good deal of lengthy philosophical and other matters contained in this book. One of the best parts her notes for a work Rand started after THE FOUNTAINHEAD, called THE MORAL BASIS OF INDIVIDUALISM. It's over 60 pages long. Particularly revealing are the notes for an early story called "The Little Street" which is highly Nietzschian in tone, as even the editor had to admit. (Peikoff's forward attempts to downplay the influence of Nietzsche on Rand's thought.)

One thing I found interesting is that most of the journal entries are before 1955. However, Rand didn't start writing philosophical essays until after that. JOURNALS includes some notes for the articles that make up INTRODUCTION TO OBJECTIVIST EPISTEMOLOGY, but that's about it. Editor Harriman tells us that Rand made only brief outlines for her philosophical essays, and felt that publishing them wouldn't add much. I would like to take Harriman's word for it. But was there no benefit to publishing these outlines? This might be a minor point, but for the fact that there are reasons to question the accuracy of the JOURNALS. Prior to this book, some small portions of Rand's journals were published by ARI-associated scholars. In an entry dated January 20, 1947, the previously published version contains a reference to Albert J. Nock, which is left out in the version published in JOURNALS. There are other changes as well, such as the removal of "duty" in a passage on ethics. [Sciabarra,"Bowlderizing Ayn Rand", Liberty, Sept. 1998.] This isn't a big deal to fans and casual students, but to scholars attempting to sort out the influence of other thinkers on Rand's thought, it is a big problem.

Interesting background material but her novels are better.......2000-08-27

I was initially disappointed. The early pages are difficult to read and mostly seem to restate stuff that shows up in more polished form later. However, you can see the transition from quasi-Nietzschean ideals to a more mature Objectivism, and in particular the transition of the primary virtue being independence (The Fountainhead) to rationality (Atlas Shrugged). Interesting elements: Rand's notes for a movie about the invention of the atomic bomb, including what she was trying to convey and what she learned from her interviews. Her notes on books about architecture, her response to what she considers silliness, and her adaptation of what is said to characters in the book.

Most of the notes from Atlas Shrugged deal with analyzing the psychology of the "parasite." This goes on for pages and seems rather tedious since it comes across as largely speculation-no evidence is cited. More interesting are the notes from the interviews she conducted about how to depict a steel mill and other settings that occur in the book.

Also noted that she wants to believe in the existence of a soul (i.e., the element of a human being that thinks and is not part of conventional matter). That was rather striking!

I am inordinately proud of myself for finishing it in one day, though I wonder at the same time how much I missed. Can't see myself rereading it anytime soon, though. If I reread anything, it will probably be Atlas Shrugged or possibly The Fountainhead.

An essential take on the evolution of Ayn Rand!.......2000-02-11

I agree with Stephen Cox, who writes on The Daily Objectivist website: "One of its best features is the large amount of plain good writing that one discovers here, much more than one might expect to find in an author's working notes. Rand does very well in the medium of brief and (as she thought) temporary comments. The volume contains many shrewd observations, vital expressions of personality, and spirited confrontations with intellectual problems." A great insight into a great mind!

Dear Diary.......1999-12-19

Interested in Ayn Rand's personal life as well as her philosophy? "Journals" offers an interesting look at the famous author.

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Mildly Interesting
A Truly Interesting Perspective
Rand Analyzes the Issues of Her Day in This Timeless Classic
Not bad at all
More current events than philosophy, but still good...

Ayn Rand Column
Ayn Rand
Manufacturer: Second Renaissance Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Essays | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1561140996

Customer Reviews:

Mildly Interesting.......2006-08-12

THE AYN RAND COLUMN is a collection of columns that Rand wrote for the LA Times in 1962. It also contains a number of other essays by Rand which, for the most part, haven't been published. Even longtime fans of Rand will find something new here.

No doubt Rand's uncritical admirers will insist that "the material is just as timely now as it was in 1962" but quite a bit of it is dated. Nonetheless, the book has its merits. Rand was a good writer and these columns highlight her ability to write short, punchy pieces that get to the point and occasionally make insightful and important points. There are also no diatribes against religion, "mysticism," religious people who worship death, etc. that tends to mar her more serious philosophical essays. Rand claimed never to compromise, but she certainly knew her audience.

So chalk up a minor success for the Ayn Rand Institute.

A Truly Interesting Perspective.......2001-07-11

A long time admirer of Rand's work, I found this a refreshing perspective on her. While I'd come to know her characters and read her philosophical works, I really didn't feel I truly understood her until I read this book. I cannot compare it to letters or the like because I have not read them. But, this work is like looking in on practical applications of her philosophy. For example, her discussion of the value of Christmas to atheist such as herself is very enlightening. In addition, her discussion of the monopoly of force still rings in my mind years after I first read it. Being born in the 70's, growing up in the 80's & 90's, her philosophy brings me much joy compared to the pink socialism that I have seen throughout my life and been frustrated by. I think this work should be a supplement to any serious reader of Rand and would highly recommend this.

Rand Analyzes the Issues of Her Day in This Timeless Classic.......2001-01-02

What many regard as the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, Philosopher and Novelist Ayn Rand was known for crafting novels of Hugoesque proportions that presented the heroic elements of the ideal man, as well as writing epistemological treatises on the art of logic and the process of concept formation that focused on the most abstract and fundamental issues to man. In *The Ayn Rand Column*, Rand shifts to a different gear as she writes short crisp pieces on the current issues of her day.

*The Ayn Rand Column* contains over 35 pieces by Rand ranging from the brief, but concise pieces such as an "Introduction to Objectivism", "The Secular Meaning of Christmas", and "Why I Like Stamp Collecting" to the more lengthy "Textbook on Americanism", "Modern Management", and "The Fascist New Frontier." The collection also features an introduction by the book's editor Peter Schwartz, that helps ties the pieces together.

My favorite piece in the collection is Rand's "War and Peace" where Rand makes the case for why today's peace movements are *not* advocates of peace, but of gang-rule, statism, and thus dictatorship. Quoting Rand,

"Professing love and concern for the survival of mankind, these [peace] movements keep screaming that...that armed force and violence should be abolished as a means of settling disputes among nations, and that war should be outlawed in the name of humanity. Yet these same peace movements do not oppose dictatorships; the political views of their members range through all shades of the statist spectrum, from "welfare statism" to socialism to fascism to communism. This means that they are opposed to the use of coercion by one nation against another, but not by the government of a nation against its own citizens; it means that they are opposed to the use of force against *armed* adversaries but not against the *disarmed*..."

And after some discussion of the concretes events to support her claim, Rand concludes:

"...Let all those who are seriously concerned with peace, those who do love *man* and do care about his survival, realize that war cannot be outlawed by lawless statist thugs and that it is not war but *force* that has to be outlawed."

If I may make a brief philosophical assessment: Wow!

What is most illuminating about this collection is Rand's ability to dissect what, at first glance, appears to be a concrete, trivial issue--say the much-maligned "commercialized" gift-giving during Christmas--and shows how it relates to some timeless philosophical principle of vital importance (Sorry! You'll have to read the book for the principle). To use a popular metaphor, Ayn Rand was a woman who could see the forest (abstractions) for the trees (concretes), and vice-versa.

Though this book uses the issues of the 1960's to reveal the work of philosophy in action, it is of value to the modern reader of today, as the philosophical principles Rand elucidates are timeless.

Not bad at all.......1999-12-06

If you would like a quick, easy-to-read introduction to Ayn Rand's philosophy...if you would like to see how Ayn Rand applied her philosophy...if you simply would like a glimpse into the objectivist world, then this is the book. This is a compilation of numerous articles on various issues that touched America, including the death of Marilyn Monroe. Some of the articles may shock you, but all require a second read-through. Keep in mind, though, that Ayn Rand was a narcissist who had a closed-minded view of who her followers were and who they weren't; that prevented her from portraying objectivism for what it is -- a great "philosophy of philosophy," a method of interpreting human actions and a guideline for having your own ideas.

More current events than philosophy, but still good..........1999-12-02

As most of the essays in the book were written as newspaper op-ed pieces, they occasionally suffer from "current-itis"; i.e. they were designed with the assumption that the reader would have familiarity with the events being discussed. To that end, I would recommend that people who would like to get the most out of this book brush up a bit on their early-'60's history first.

With that caveat, however, I would strongly encourage anyone with an interest in Ayn Rand's writing to read this book. It is a good example of how to put some of the more abstract parts of Objectivist philosophy into real-world practice. Rand's book "The Romantic Manifesto", for example, becomes more clear in the light of her essay on the television show "The Untouchables".

Also, even if one is not especially interested in period current events, there are some essays of broader scope included after the columns. Of particular note are her essay "The Fascist New Frontier" (an invaluable antidote to the floods of Kennedy worship pumped out by the mass media), and her explanation of why atheists can celebrate Christmas. I believe that both long-time Objectivists and people who are new to the philosophy can find something useful in this book. Furthermore, even if you have no interest in Objectivism, the book is still an enlightening look at a pivotal time in American history.

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The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies Volume 3, Number 2 Spring 2002
R. W. Bradford
Manufacturer: The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies Foundation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OPVSGG

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JOURNALS OF AYN RAND
Ayn; Harriman, David (ed.); Peikoff, Leonard (foreword) Rand
Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O5TRP0

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Journals of Ayn Rand

Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HKGRCS

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Journals of Ayn Rand

Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HK78X0

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Journals of Ayn Rand

Manufacturer: Dutton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HK55C6

Book Description

It is a sad fact that a growing number of families are facing the loss of a pregnancy. As more women are becoming pregnant at an older age, and as the use of fertility drugs increase the chances of a multiple-fetus pregnancy, the risk of pregnancy loss is escalating every year.

A Silent Sorrow has long been considered the "bible" for families seeking emotional and practical support after a pregnancy loss. Now completely revised and updated to reflect recent findings in medical procedures, laws governing pregnancy termination, and the complex issues surrounding pregnancy loss and reproductive technologies, this straightforward yet sympathetic guide reaches out to couples who have experienced pregnancy loss and helps them to understand and move through the mourning process. The authors address the issues of why and how men and women grieve differently; the potential impact of pregnancy loss on one's career; how to cope with ending an impaired pregnancy; the dual burden of pregnancy loss and infertility, and how to handle pregnancies that occur after such a loss. A Silent Sorrow draws from interviews with bereaved parents to illustrate coping strategies that have proven effective in such difficult situtations. Well organized, easily accessible, and filled with practical suggestions for each topic it covers, A Silent Sorrow is a positive first step for bereaved parents and their families, providing support and guidance to help resolve the grief and enable them to look to the future with hope.

Customer Reviews:

Best book on loss I've read.......2007-10-07

"A Silent Sorrow" covers all types of pregnancy loss and still birth, as well as new born death. My husband and I experienced early loss at 7 weeks. I found everyone around me, including myself, minimizing the loss. Many comments like "at least you know you can get pregnant", "at least it was early", etc., were not helpful. The worst was the fact that no one thought I should be anything more than disappointed and we should just "try again". When we were unsuccessful at "trying again" I went further into depression. After 3 years of ineffective coping (not to mention my marriage was in terrible shape and we'd separated) I found a therapist who works with women with miscarriage, loss, and infertility grief. It was the best thing I ever did for myself. This therapist is the one who suggested this book. She said it is one of the best for early loss. I felt a huge release immediately after reading the part about early loss. The authors validated all the feelings I had shoved so far down and ran away from. I realized I had a right to grieve and moron the loss of my child. Yes, the baby was only with me a few weeks, but it was the a lifetime of hopes and dreams for the children of my future that instantly made that child so close to my heart. I am happy to say with the guidance of this book, the book Unsung Lullabies, After the Affair, Getting the Love You Want, my grief therapist, a great couples therapist, and an excellent RE...my husband and I are back together and expecting a child. Best of luck to those that in need of this book. My heart goes out to you!

Excellent Book.......2007-05-20

This book was a fantastic source of support and guidance for my husband and me. The author uses lots of interview research to come to her conclusions and uses current medical sources. The chapters are topical and provide you with additional resources if you wish to read further or refer you back to a particular chapter review. We both finished this book and were so impressed with the resources in the appendices. I FULLY recommend this book, even if it's been years since your pregnancy loss.

For me, the best of the books on perinatal loss........2007-03-16

After the stillbirth of our daughter this Christmas, I read quite a few books about this kind of loss. For me, this was the best book of the lot. It alone of all the books that I dealt with covered a loss after a crisis pregnancy (and talked about its affect on both your job and health). I found it matter of fact on difficult subjects (which I liked) and I particularly liked that it did not tell me what to feel. Many of the other books which focused more on the emotional side had the effect of feeling as though they were crowding me. This is obviously a matter of taste and personality.

In addition to the expected chapters, the book also has an excellent section on Special Circumstances which discusses things like pregnancy loss and infertility. There are a number of helpful appendices and a list of relevant resources together with a categorized bibliography.

I wish that nobody needed a book like this one. But if you do find yourself in this club that nobody wants to join, this is a good book to help you find your way.

I resented this book.......2007-02-21

This book, while providing some basic information, fell woefully short of truly describing and explaining grief. It minimizes the experience of having a baby who is born still, and for that I regret having picked it up.

Comforting AND Smart.......2005-10-20

This book was _very_ important to me after my miscarriage, because it was a kind book that provided comfort but also didn't dumb itself down in order to address the very real and complex stages of grief. Kohn and Moffitt also give an excellent portrait of what people on many sides of the loss experience--mothers, fathers, family members, friends--as they all respond differently to pregnancy loss. I particularly appreciated the chapter on Early Pregnancy Loss, given that the authors discuss how this can be an especially "silent sorrow" and one that has its own special challenges of bereavement. Highly recommended

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Pies, Tarts, Pastries, Dumplings, Apple Crisp, and More

Lots of good info

Major disappointment.

ALL YOU'LL EVER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PIES

The Perfect Pie: More Than 125 All-Time Favorite Pies & Tarts
Susan G. Purdy
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Pies | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie

The All-American Dessert Book

Pie Pie Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites

ASIN: 0767902629
Release Date: 2000-06-13

Book Description

A warm slice of apple pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. A not-too-tart sour cherry pie with a soft, flaky, almond-scented crust. A towering lemon meringue pie with a tart lemony filling and a cloudlike meringue topping. Whether it's a buttery pastry or graham cracker crust, a fruit or chocolate cream filling, or a lattice crust or cinnamon streusel topping, who doesn't love a wedge of freshly baked pie?
But when it comes to making pies, most people hide in the kitchen corner. Not any-more. Not with expert piemaker and cooking teacher Susan G. Purdy by your side. From traditional classics like Old-Fashioned Apple Pie, Mississippi Mud Pie, and Key Lime Pie to inspired favorites like Rum-Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, Italian Ricotta Cheese Pie, and Grass-hopper Pie, The Perfect Pie features simple recipes for dazzling pies, tortes, tarts, and crisps. Flawless crusts and an enormous selection of fillings are as easy as pie. With step-by-step illustrations, clever shortcuts, and troubleshooting tips, Susan is with you every step of the way. The Perfect Pie guarantees that your pies will be perfect every time.

Customer Reviews:

Pies, Tarts, Pastries, Dumplings, Apple Crisp, and More.......2004-05-23

Each section provides a detailed tutorial followed by a variety of recipes. There are a wide number of crusts and fillings available to suit any need or occasion.

Lots of good info.......2002-08-23

I had never made a pie before reading this book, but I was interested, so I picked up a copy. It has a lot of good recipes and advice for the price, and the sections in the beginning about the different ingredients and their roles in pie fillings and crusts were very helpful. I don't like just following the steps in a recipe. I really like to know what's going on in the bowl/pan, and her details really helped me get a feel for how the process of making a pie should work.

Major disappointment........2002-04-04

Sometimes it only takes one bad recipe to ruin a cookbook for me, and that's what happened with this one. Susan Purdy's apricot-walnut pie turned out to be a soggy, way oversweet mess, and I didn't use half the sugar she called for. I've been making pies a long time, and I had questions about this recipe from the get-go. Her crust recipes are good, however, although it's annoying that she never tells you, when adding an ingredient like wheat germ to a crust, whether said ingredient replaces part of the dry ingredients called for, or is added to them. Seems like a major oversight in a book that promises to clearly communicate pie recipes.

ALL YOU'LL EVER NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PIES.......2000-07-02

IF IT HAS A CRUST AND YOU CALL IT DESSERT, SUSAN G. PURDY PRESENTS IT TO YOU IN THIS COOK BOOK. SHE DISPLAYS HER ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE ABOUT PIES IN LOGICAL PIE-MAKING ORDER AND USES A FRIENDLY CONVERSATIONAL TONE THROUGHOUT THE BOOK. FROM CRUSTS TO GLAZES TO GREEN TOMATOE OR LEMON MERINGUE PIE, YOU WANT MAKE IT!

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