Audiobook Books

Im still listening to this but all I can say is wow. It will really put your mind, your thinking in a better place. It will definitley change your life positively if you let it. The author speaks eloquently and simply to get the message across very clearly..all i kept thinking was this should be required education in school. a real gem.

Rosenberg provides here a direct contribution to peace building, in our hearts, with the people around us and by reverberation, all around the world. It is an important work that has its roots in the universal wisdom that connects our human history sometimes with strong threads, sometimes with thinner ones. In a few words, it is a remarquable work, in spirit and in reality. The only thing missing is a booklet, a workbook that would support the practice and exploration suggested in the audio cd. I highly recommand it.

Should be a requirement to learn these skills in school and all business, not just your personal life. A little dry in delivery, but very useful.

This audiobook is a really neat exploration of how to communicate honestly to positive ends.

The cds are dotted with Rosenberg relating conversations that employ each technique he discusses. While actual tapes of the conversations would have been more illustrative, they are still believable.

The message is really about how to enact harmonization instead of blunt decisions in disagreements, as well as exploring your own values and how to communicate those values to others.

Nonviolent communication is a very effective tool for anyone looking to create a bridge of understanding and establishing healthy boundaries through thoughts and words. It moves away from the aggressive, competitive and confrontational models that so many people learn from parents, in dysfunctional relationships and at work. My cousin took "Assertiveness Training" back in the 70s. She said that NVC though took that to the next level by introducing compassion, understanding and nonjudgment though observations, feelings, needs and requests.

I've recommended this series to many people [including my cousin] and especially those who have problems with coworkers and bosses. I thought it amusing that even one of Dr Rosenberg's participants conceded that working with parents can be the biggest NVC challenge of all. Nonviolent communication may not be the solution, but it does help.

One particular story Dr Rosenberg imparts among many is about how his grandmother -- a Jewish immigrant for whom English was a second language -- invited a homeless man into the house for a bit of food and rest. When she asked the man his name, he said, "Jesus the Lord." Without a hint of irony or judgment, the grandmother introduced the man to the rest of the family as Jesus. She fed him and gave him a place to stay without a second thought for his gruff appearance or his unusual name. In her own way, by living NVC everyday, she provided the framework for Dr Rosenberg's works.

A few items to nitpick -- and by no means a slight or a reason not to buy the audiobook. In fact, go ahead and buy it now.

Sometimes using NVC language can seem a bit stilted and unnatural. For example Dr Rosenberg often says the phrase, "This meets my need to..." It works in writing and even when Dr Rosenberg says it. But personally, it sounds stilted and just doesn't quite roll off the tongue for many of us. Instead, I personally say, "This works for me. Does this solution work for you?"

Another nitpick: I paraphrase a bit but Dr Rosenberg gives one particular sentence as an example of violent communication: "Minorities don't take care of their property." Then he offers a nonviolent-communication example: "I've never seen the minority family down the street take out the trash." I wondered if bringing up that the family a "minority" is truly germaine. Is bringing up a source of division and stereotype such a race or nationality truly nonviolent or would it be more kind to refer to the family as "the Smith Family" or even as "the family two doors down"?

Last small nitpick [and a bit of a spoiler]: Dr Rosenberg tells a compelling story of a patient who was uncommunicative and unresponsive due to severe psychological trauma. Dr Rosenberg describes how the woman finally broke through by writing a note to him in perfect NVC language. "Help me to express what is going on within me..." Not only did she become NVC fluent after 4 or 5 treatments, but she had the fine motor skills to write this out. So why then did she seem unable to pass him the note until he had to pry her fingers open? There must be more to the story than what we're being told, but it is a bit of a small plot loophole in the overall scheme of what is a great tool for communication and for expressing compassion while at the same time holding one's own integrity.

This audiobook introduced me to the grander realm of NVC and I've since attended some workshops where "jackal" and" giraffe" are introduced. Like me, you may find that you already use many of these techniques, but NVC just ads a few more tools to the toolbox.

A thought-provoking an informative book, it provides new insight into the mind-brain system and has made me rethink my own thought processes. Sounds redundant, but it's true! Love the book.

This is an outstanding book; easy to read, useful tips, and written in a way that will engage the reader.

This book is great. It's a must for anyone who wants to know how to prolong and promote healthy brain functioning. It's full of useful advise on achieving this. It's one of the books that shall be read many more times 'cause it's that informative.

Good reading for how we can improve our brain power. Lot of medical details (maybe too much for me sometimes). Good information on foods that are good for your brain and also exercise and sports.

This is an excellent book: informative, clear, and packed with practical suggestions. Current brain research coupled with a wealth of individual case studies makes this a valuable guide.

This is a great collection for you. If it have the Power of Intention it would be an excellent collection!

If you're looking for a guide to get to the top of Maslow's Pyramid Dr. Dyer is an excellent guide.

I had only recently been introduced to Dr. Dyer's material. I find what Dr. dyer has to say very uplifting without sounding preachy or what my friend calls, 'airy-fairy'. He uses examples from Walden, Thoreau, and other great thinkers/visionaries. He messages are light and easy to listen to in the car or even while you are trying to meditate.
This particular set is a real bargain. I don't feel like I need to purchase any of Dr. Dyer's other CDs since this set comes with 4 of his "classic" recordings. I highly recommend it.

I now own 8 CD's by Wayne Dyer and listen to them over and over again. This set is the best one yet! It has in my opinion, the best 4 CD's that Wayne Dyer has ever made. Whenever I listen to Wayne Dyer, it is like having a very wise and good friend talking to you. He is very real and listening to his CD's have truly made a positive change in my life. This set has especially made a wonderful difference in my life!

Can't say enough about Dr. Dyer. I love all of his works. He is truly gifted as a speaker and author and as always eloquently communicates an important message. Each time I listen to the cd's I hear something I did not hear before. A must-have for spititual seekers.

I agree with the many other reviewers who point out that "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" is not a particularly easy read. It is very detailed, parts of it are repetitious and there are many extraneous minutiae, such as, for example, the names, affiliations, appearances and capsule biographies of obscure traffic researchers. Most of these details could have been omitted or put into footnotes. Speaking of which, several reviewers disliked the 90 pages of unnumbered endnotes. I actually found these quite interesting, since most of them substantially expand on the main text rather than just list references. I didn't find them at all hard to deal with--I simply kept a second bookmark at the proper place in the endnotes section.

You can't help but learn something from this book. In particular, the Law of Unintended Consequences is alive and well in the endless conflict between logical traffic engineers and the perverse, often illogical driving public. The effects of efforts to improve roadway or vehicle safety are often exactly the opposite of what well-intentioned planners anticipate. For example, contrary to most traffic planning rules, and even common sense, there is considerable evidence that removing road signs, rather than erecting more, is a good way to reduce collisions. Likewise, the elimination of barriers between roadways, bicycle lanes and sidewalks in Dutch villages led to a great reduction in collisions--dire predictions to the contrary. This is fascinating, albeit somewhat academic, stuff, which unfortunately is not very useful in everyday driving.

What IS particularly useful, however, is Chapter Nine, "Why You Shouldn't Drive With a Beer-Drinking Divorced Doctor Named Fred on Super Bowl Sunday in a Pickup Truck in Rural Montana: What's Risky on the Road and Why." Vanderbilt shows how most drivers' perceptions of risk on the road are completely wrong. For example, many car drivers think semi-trucks are the greatest danger on the road. But studies show the REAL danger arises from the car drivers' themselves, and their reactions to the presence of the much larger vehicles. The study of risk is exceptionally complicated, but Vanderbilt does a great job of putting it in terms nearly anyone can understand. He discusses, in this very entertaining and informative chapter, the risks associated with various types of vehicles, alcohol consumption, gender, sex, age, time of day, type of roadway, speed, cell phones, seat belts, and many other factors. He explains why two highly touted vehicle safety improvements--the Center High Mounted Stop Light (CHMSL) and Anti-Lock Brake Systems (ABS)--had nowhere near the effect on reducing crashes as their proponents assured the public they would have. Much of this chapter is information you can use the next time you hop into your car and head off to work or to the mall.

I recommend "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)" if you are at all interested in the technical, psychological and sociological esoterica of automobiles, their drivers, the roadways on which they operate and the environments with which they interact. It's a bit heavy going in some parts, but it's worth sticking with to the end. You may even become a better driver from having read it.

Sitting in traffic one often wonders about the cause of the delay and what can be done about it. The idea that drivers could still be sitting in congestion long after the cause has dissipated is fascinating and consistent with day to day observations. This book examines traffic congestion, accidents, driving patterns and the implications for road design. It is written for the casual reader rather than the specialist.

The first chapter is a long and meandering discussion of driver psychology which made me think that Driving would have been a more appropriate title than Traffic. It is more about people than about vehicles and less about the mechanics of traffic flow than about human behavior. This is both enlightening and frustrating, because the author seems to imply that much of what determines traffic cannot be quantified or rigorously modeled. This makes the tone somewhat unscientific. Much of the discussion of driver behavior relies on quotes from various authorities rather than a critical evaluation of their data. Presumably a conscious choice was made not to include charts, diagrams or equations. A pity, because the subject matter would have been better illuminated with visual aids. The examination of interesting concepts like rolling traffic jams strikes me as superficial.

The book's biggest flaw is the poor editing. The material is presented without much organization, with disparate ideas not only sharing the same chapter but often the same paragraph. Because of the meandering and halting flow (akin to downtown traffic) the author's thesis is unclear. `What is the bottom line?' one wonders. Findings of different researchers are lumped together with no effort to divide them into arguments for or against a particular conclusion or to distinguish between stronger and weaker lines of reasoning. The author presents the opinions of different experts but makes no attempt to seriously evaluate them or to present a contrary opinion. The result is a curiously bland discussion with no hint of any disagreements within the field.

In summary, Traffic examines issues of interest to any driver and touches upon interesting concepts. The lack of critical analysis and poor organization detract from what could have been a fascinating book.

I really enjoyed Traffic. It is packed with interesting and useful facts. I read the first hundred pages or so in an hour, then had to get into my car and drive. I found my habits, visual search patterns, and thinking to have changed greatly. It didn't change how I drove, it changed my perceptions of what was going on around me.

I had a hard time putting this book down and would recommend it to anyone who drives regularly or better yet, who deals with "traffic"

my only complaint would be the end notes are quite lengthy (though informative). it also is hardcover, which i prefer for longevity, but dislike for price reasons.

have enjoyed reading this to my wife as she drives through heavy traffic. Am reminded often of the small blue car which was passing us on the right while we were in a long traffic line and I could see no hands on the wheel. Driver was well over 80 mph and busy texting with both hands. Traffic is our life.

Who knew? A book called "Traffic" that really isn't about traffic. Funny thing is, that doesn't detract much from the book. I've long looked for a book that would explain the science of traffic to me, how traffic jams happen, how they're managed, what makes them worse or better, the things traffic engineers think about that I never consider as I'm driving. I always thought it would make for a fascinating book, so when I saw "Traffic" I was thrilled to read it.

Just one problem: it really isn't about any of that.

Instead, "Traffic" might be better titled as "Driving." Which would be fine and then you would know what you were about to read. The good news is you wouldn't be disappointed, because Vanderbilt has put together a fascinating little book about how humans cope with the absurdly complex task of driving when we're clearly not designed for it. He explains how we do better than you might expect and how we frequently fail.

The end result is a solid book that presents somewhat of a bait-and-switch to its reader. I'd recommend this book for anyone who is fascinated by the idea of how humans handle driving a car and how the people who manage the roads sometimes manage us while we're behind the wheel without our even knowing it.

this audiobook is a very insightful resource for men living in today's society. The real life strories of these and many more men give hope to all struggling with sexual addiction or purity issues. More often than not lack of knowledge into these issues causes many to slip into depression, confusion, guilt and shame. These CD's are a liberating tool for any man that is desiring freedom or freedom for others when it comes to sexual immorality. Truly an eye-opener.

Informative, get to hear other people's stories, gives you tools to deal with the issues, offers support and guidance. It is a must for every man whether your religous beliefs and practices are active or not. You don't have to follow or believe the exact same things they talk about in terms of religon to get use out of this.

Excellent book on tape. Easy to listen to, and addresses the issues of distraction that every man faces on a daily basis.
But what makes this book helpful is that it not only addresses these issues, but provides helpful tools and skill set to overcome the distractions we face.
It is well written and easy to comprehend.

I actually chose to stop reading this book because it caused my mind to go places I was trying to KEEP it from going. I only got about half-way through when it happened too many times for me to be comfortable with. I shared this with a couple friends who read it and they felt the same way. The author, although with good intentions, gets too graphic in places. Rather than just sharing his feelings or thoughts, he goes into detail about what he was seeing that caused the thoughts and feelings. If you are a person who struggles with maintaining pure thought life, read this book with caution. My wife really enjoyed the companion book for women.

I picked up this book when I was a junior in high school and I still read it on occasion, now that I'm in college. It's one of my most favorite books in the world, I urge you to not be swayed by the target demographic age. Pick this book up, whether you're a kid or an adult. It's a book of healing that can be understood by any age group.

This book is about an angry kid with an alcoholic father named Cole who is abused and beats up a kid named Peter. Cole has to live on an Alaskan island by himself as part of Circle Justice. He changes with some wise help along with this experience on the island. I got into this book from the beginning! It's a page turner with a somewhat predictable ending, but a good read!

This is an excellent story about Cole, an angry abused boy, who was mad at the world and his personal journey of dealing with his anger and becoming a better person through Circle Justice or Restoration Justice. He beat up Peter to the point of causing him permanent harm and never took any responsibility for his actions until he faced death and began questioning his life. This is a story about helping others and how the Circle Justice system works which Native Americans practiced for years.

The idea is to restore the criminal to become a good citizen and not just punish them. Instead of jail or a detention center, Cole was banished to live for a year on an island in Alaska alone. At the end of the year, the Circle Justice group, made up of all those involved, would meet again and determine if he should go to jail or not. Cole had a traumatic experience while on the island and after just three days was hospitalized after being mauled by a spirit bear. After his rehabilitation he went back. Peter tried committing suicide twice and Cole learned much while on the island, including how many mistakes he made and wanted to make things right if he could.

I really liked this book a lot and had trouble putting it down. I was anxious to see what would happen next. There is no boring part in it. There are many themes running through this book such as abuse, justice, survival, anger, forgiveness, healing.

My little one had to do a book report on Touching Spirit Bear so we read it together and shared the ideas. What an excellent story, written in language that a 12 year old can understand and with an deep message of self responsibility and healing of the spirit.

I highly recommend this book!

What a moving incredible story. I went out and 4 more copies immediately to give to friends either working in child detention or who have problem teenagers. A must listen for anyone who cares about the troubled teens of today.

Easy and interesting read on the present financial crisis.
Only drawback for me is that it contains much on China which is not very well researched.

This extremely well-written book describes the current financial problems of globalization. It is easy to follow, easy to understand, and eliminates jargon. It's a great example of communication out of the Frank Lutz 'words that work' school.

The problems of globalization, as the book described' are critical as a major period of entrepreneurial prosperity may be coming to an end. The availability of `oceans of money' started with a liberalized program in the USA during the early 1980's and later elsewhere with the rejuvenation of pension funds and other financial instruments. Capitalization/reserve requirements of banks were reduced, capital gains taxes were cut and a variety of new investment vehicles freed up large sources of capital. Smaller businesses were funded as the need to invest capital continued to grow and consequently, new wealth, new jobs and prosperity resulted. Moreover, many countries established sovereign funds that needed to be invested too. Rapid machine computation facilitated an explosion of capital transfer and global investment. Because the USA was perceived as the safest haven with the highest level of global transparency, it benefited from these changes. Moreover, the USA with labor market flexibility, higher education, a benign political environment, innovative strategies and quality of corporate management is considered the prime country in which global funds invest. However, the USA is not an island, but is interconnected and therefore subject to global economic events. But is it fading?

The downside was securitization, a process of spreading out investment into multiple income streams to reduce risks. Securitization also involves arcane practices that are difficult for most policy makers, bankers and financial institutions to fully understand. In the process are no longer tied to the risk of the borrower, making capital easier to lend. Even riskier is the overlay of lack of transparency in many countries, including China. Eventually, underpriced and hidden risk will lead to major market corrections, as we have seen recently. Moreover, global forces and lower international trade barriers have diminished the role of government to influence their own economies.

We now see increasing political risk in the USA that may kill the goose that laid the golden egg. The rising tendency of anti-global trade pacts, envy, class warfare, and populism, are placing the US at economic risk. American politicians, according to Smick, have only one option and that is to make the American economy the most attractive destination for global investment on a LONG-TERM basis.

The wild card in all of this is China and I cannot detail the intricacies in Smick's chapter. China's approach includes widespread investment for strategic advantage, and a lack of transparency. Also it is involved in widespread commodity stockpiling. There, foreign investment is controlled. Chinese banking does not understand credit risks and are viewed instead as social and political instruments. In short, their economic system is extremely unstable and a bursting of its bubble will have worldwide cascading consequences

The chapter on Japan's economic activities is well worth reading, as is the chapter on the sterling crisis of 1992.

But perhaps the biggest change during the past 25 years is the diminishing role of central banks. As private entrepreneurs and government sovereign funds accumulate large amounts of cash, the role of central banks has diminished. With diminished governmental roles, people's vulnerabilities are increasing and one of the consequences is political pandering in the form of abetting class warfare,. We see it today. That is the underlying cause of the current backing-off by congressional democrats from free trade. It is a disaster in the making
The closing chapter on "Surviving and prospering in this age of volatility" would require a long review in itself. It is not only worth reading, but needs to be reread to fully comprehend the economic mess we are in today and possible solutions out of that mess.

Other reviewers have suggested both major presidential candidates should read this book. I can only concur. In fact, everyone needs to read this book to navigate the choppy waters ahead.

The impact of so-called free trade agreements have been a Pandora's Box for many in the United States who have had to suffer through off-shoring and trade imbalance. Smick argues persuasively that the influx of capital from globalization has fueled a level of growth and innovation that is unprecidented and that tampering with that with protectionism or poorly conceived legislation to control complex financial instruments, such as Mortgage Backed Securities, will result in a contraction in the global economy that could be catastrophic. Americans need to understand what has been created. Given that the Chinese are consciously accumulating vast reserves that they can use as an ocean-sized war-chest to exert vast global influence, we must find a way to safely level the playing field. I did not appreciate how difficult that might be until I read this book. It is very well written and terrifying!

Excellent overview of the current (29 Sept 2008) macroevents and the how we got here. Fascinating for me as I remember the 70's gas lines and lived in DC in the 80's -- Mr. Smick, clearly walked the halls of power and understand how we got into this mess. Note - he seems to be quite balanced in that both Dem's and Republicans are at fault. He gives Bill Clinton a lot of credit for pushing thru NAFTA, Welfare reform and cutting Capital Gains by 30% thus allowing all of us to benefit from globalization.

He also suggests that China is in a large bubble and what the impact is to us. I was there a few years ago and they and Dubai are clearly over the top (dot commish even) so it will likely get ugly for all of us when China blows.

The only disappointment I have is the last chapter "Surviving and Prospering in This Age of Volatility". This is about how to govern better not what you can do in your personal investments. Interesting but not something I can act on, except perhaps voting.

Best quote was from Marc Leland, former US Treasury official... "Globalization is like the two institutions we know as democracy and marriage. Both institutions at times can be problematic, but the alternatives are highly unattractive" Reminds me of Churchill's famous quote "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

This is an on point book about the current crisis that captures the reasons why there is and should be fear in the markets today. He tells us how the world that he knows from the inside was never what it appeared. While he is part of the hedge fund and central bankers club, his skepticism of their abilities remains high. He explains how he invested in China Cement early, and despite the vast growth of the country and industry, lost money (probably the only time). Even he will need to turn this book into a blog, as events overtake the markets. I wonder what he advised regarding the U.S. takeover of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and AIG.

Predictably Irrational is one of several popular books about the way people really make decisions and judgments. This growing sub-genre includes Nudge, Sway and Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me).

Ariely lucidly explains the findings of various experiments about decision making. It's easy to find applications in marketing: offering options that serve as anchor points and recognizing the power of "free." These findings are useful but I would like to see more discussion of the implications for everyday life.

For example, most of us cannot predict how we will behave when we're swept up by strong emotions. Yet every day judgments are made by jurors in courtrooms based on, "Well, if I were in that situation..."

Ariely points out the futility of taking too long to make certain decisions. One friend kept dithering over the choice of a digital camera, only to forego months of memories captured on film.

Similarly, he feels he took too long to evaluate a job offer from Stanford. But for major life decisions, a lengthy process can be rational, even if you sacrifice current productivity. You have a greater likelihood of identifying the fact or factor that will be the ultimate deal-breaker.

Ariely created an experiment to demonstrate that keeping options open comes with a high cost. So, he says, keeping one job or one residence for a long time can have a high payoff. Maybe. But often outsourcing options or industry shifts will kill a career. As a career consultant, I advise clients to focus on marketability, not security.

Second, Ariely shows that money changes relationship dynamics. As he says, your family would be insulted if you offered to pay for Thanksgiving dinner.

But while he advocates a greater role for social norms (p. 88), money norms often smooth difficult transactions. The New York Times magazine recently featured an article by an unmarried professional woman who needed a kidney. She wished she could just pay for what she wanted instead of being forced into difficult conversations that threatened her friendships.

Many of us who move frequently have learned to pay packers and movers rather than seek help from well-meaning friends. After all, your helper might drop your new high-definition TV on the sidewalk (maybe breaking a toe in the process).

The absence of money also affects relationships. When strangers email to ask how to resolve a challenging career question or fix a troubled website, I often wonder what goes through their minds. When friends ask, they risk the friendship.

Third, Ariely suggests (p 121) that we apply lessons from auto maintenance to motivate individuals to undergo medical exams. This reasoning seems flawed.

Tests won't prolong lives the way regular oil changes prolong the lives of car engines. After a diagnosis of disease, you should consider false positives. You embark on a journey of life-changing (and life-threatening) medical procedures, lifestyle changes, battles with insurance companies and endless waits to deal with rushed, indifferent or even rude medical staff. A better analogy would be to compare medical exams to auto diagnostics (which car owners rarely choose) or else compare teeth cleaning to oil changes.

Insurance creates economic disincentives that muddy the waters. I know several people who had tests that came back negative -- no disease. A few months later, these folks developed symptoms that suggested a need to repeat the tests. In every case, the insurance company said, "No -- you get one a year." One person told me her doctor ruled out her disease based on a test she'd taken a few months earlier. So skipping a routine exam can be rational.

Any benefits of early detection accrue to the individual, not society or insurance companies. Those who stay alive while making ongoing demands on the medical system will cost more than those who are rushed to the hospital in crisis and die shortly afterward.

In any case, Ariely discusses how doctors resist research findings that point to the effectiveness of placebos. Just what is rational thinking, anyway?

Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ariely's writing entertains as well as informs. We all need to base our decisions and our lives on how human minds really work, not what "everybody" knows.

With this week's headlines about the dizzying volatility of the stock market, we've seen investors jump in and out of the game as they've responded to the most powerful emotions on Wall Street: fear and greed. Surprising? Not if you're Dan Ariely, behavioral economics guru at MIT. This may be the most entertaining econ book you'll ever read, as you laugh at other people's foibles and then wince inwardly as you recognize some of the described behaviors in your own life. It may make you swear off shopping, at least for a while.

The basic premise of the book is that yes, people behave irrationally where money is concerned (thank you, Alan Greenspan!). But Ariely's contribution is to prove, through research so far-ranging it will make you pity his research subjects, a.k.a. Poor Sod Graduate Students, that people behave irrationally in quite predictable ways. We will, for example, almost always report more satisfaction with a product if we know it was expensive--even if that means we give high marks to an ineffective medical placebo. On the other hand, we will also go to ridiculous lengths to obtain any product that is "free," a fact that marketers realize and routinely exploit. That chapter reminded me of the Simpsons episode where Lisa asks Homer in disbelief if he is drinking blood. "Correction!" Homer responds. "Free blood." Bottom line? We'll do just about anything to get something for nothing.

There were a couple of great anecdotes in the book. One was about a company that introduced one of the first bread machines in the world. The trouble was, nobody bought it; people who already routinely made bread at home didn't understand why they would need a machine to help them do it, and those who didn't already make bread weren't about to start. The company's marketing folks hired a consulting firm, which advised them to also introduce a very high-end bread machine to sell right alongside the other. It would have all the bells and whistles and be super-expensive, out of reach for most consumers. The point of this exercise was not to push the high-end model but the basic one, which started to sell like gangbusters. Apparently consumers love and need choice, and they always want to feel they're getting a deal. When faced with the option of the high-end machine, they both a) felt justified in buying the less tricked-out version and b) felt that they were part of a movement that was trendy, exciting, and upper-class. Interesting. It's similar to the phenomenon in fancy restaurants that might have a $40 entree. Very few people order it, but its presence on the menu sure makes them feel better about the $26 entree they actually choose.

Another fascinating revelation is that the presence of an honor standard or system really does work. Ariely find that people were less likely to steal or cheat when reminded of the Ten Commandments, for example, even when they couldn't remember what all the commandments were. Just being reminded of some sort of honor benchmark (which could be anything, not just something religious) helps to prevent cheating. Also, people are less likely to steal when the results of their thievery are direct. In an informal experiment, when Ariely put Cokes in his refrigerator at work, they disappeared readily. When he put actual cash in the fridge, no one touched it. As he points out, stealing food and beverages is out of someone else's pocket, as if they had stolen cash, but most people stop short of stealing actual money. This is why white-collar criminals try to justify their behavior as victimless crime.

It's not a perfect book, and some of the research is too anecdotal to convince Ariely's fellow economists, but for the general reader it's fantastic--well-written, story-driven, and even funny. High marks.

[This review is also posted at The Review Revolution: janariess.typepad.com]

At first glance, the title of Dan Ariely's book seems to be an oxymoron. (It certainly catches one's attention.) Can irrational thought and/or behavior be predicted? Perhaps if it is repetitive? (The judgment and behavior of at least some people can be repetitive and thus predictable.) So I began to read his book with curiosity but also, yes, with some skepticism. Here are a few of my reactions. First, he learned a number of "lessons" from what he calls "experiments" in his life, each of which struck him as being counterintuitive. For example, everything is relative...even when "it shouldn't be"...or in fact isn't. That is, our mind can "play tricks" on us and thus we tend to see what we expect to see, hear what we expect to hear, etc. Images and sounds are relative to their context or frame-of-reference within which we place it. Or consider the frequently expressed observation, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" or one or more of self-serving juxtapositions such as "He's a tightwad whereas I'm frugal...she's narrow-minded whereas I'm a specialist...They're stubborn whereas I stick to my convictions." Ariely's other lessons also, directly or indirectly, involve illusions and delusions of one kind or another. They explain why we can't make ourselves do what we want to do, why we overvalue what we have and especially what we purchase, and "why a 50-cent aspirin can do what a penny aspirin can't."

As I worked my way through the first few chapters, I was reminded of a joke I heard years ago. This fellow arrived just in time to tee off for another round of golf with three friends. They played every Saturday morning. "Hey, I've got great news! Just bought the best hearing aids that money can buy. They cost $8,000 each but they're worth every penny. It's a whole new life for me. Never been happier." "You spent $16,000 on two hearing aids? That seems expensive." "Nah, like I said, worth every penny." "What kind is it?".... The fellow glanced at his watch. "Exactly 7:30." To paraphrase Descartes: It is if I think it is.

Also, Ariely shares what he learned about the differences between conventional economics and behavioral economics. Contrary to "the far-reaching conclusions" that generations of economists have developed "about everything from taxation and health-care policies to the pricing of goods and services," asserts that human beings are far less rational than standard economic theory assumes. "Moreover, these irrational behaviors of ours are neither random nor senseless. They are systematic, and since we repeat them again and again, they are predictable." (Hence this book's title.) Ariely makes a convincing, at times humorous but nonetheless rational argument to support modification of standard economics, "to move it away from naive psychology (which often fails the tests of reason, introspection, and most important - empirical scrutiny)." He collaborated with a number of colleagues when conducting various experiments that enabled them to "slow human behavior to a frame-by-frame narration of events, isolate individual forces, and examine those forces carefully and in detail." The results of the experiments illustrate general principles of human behavior (e.g. the decision-making process) within and beyond the workplace.

Finally, I admire the extent to which Ariely succeeds in explaining the fundamentals of economics and social science for a reader such as I who knows essentially nothing about either. (Oh sure, I have some scraps of information and countless opinions but....) For example, in Chapter 9, Ariely describes an experiment that he conducted with two MIT professors to answer questions that include "How to explain violence? Why does it happen? Is it an outcome of history, or race, or politics - or is there something fundamentally irrational in us that encourages conflict, that causes us to look at the same event and, depending on our point of view, see it in totally different terms...We came up with a simple test - one in which we would not use religion, politics, or even sports as the indicator. We would use glasses of beer."(I do have extensive prior experience with beer!) The details of this experiment are best revealed within the narrative but I will indicate that the material in this chapter provides a number of revelations that help to explain "the hidden forces that shape our decisions."

Congratulations to Dan Ariely on a brilliant achievement!

Blame Malcolm Gladwell - but after Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking social psychologists of the type he featured in that book have been coming out of the woodwork to publish in the pop science market in alarming numbers figuring, reasonably, enough that there's a bit of money to be made on the side. I'm guessing royalties from articles in the International Journal of Psychology would pale in comparison.

One of the latest is Dan Ariely, whose unique selling point is a horrific accident he sustained as a student Israel which left him with burns to 70% of his body. His book does what it says on the tin, by way of explaining a number of social experiments that he and his colleagues have run in the last few years, loosely themed around the observation that we don't always act as sensibly as logic would dictate.

Which is fine - as you would expect, some of the examples are eyebrow raising - but it really shouldn't be news and it certainly doesn't require Dan Ariely to tell us that our liberal western societies aren't as rational as we like to think (incontrovertible proof of that, not offered in Ariel's book, being the politicians we elect and the amount of attention and money we collectively devote to cosmetics, fashion, celebrity and professional sport), especially as deeper epistemological examination reveals the idea of "rationality" is incoherent anyway.

But just as some anecdotes are enlightening, the implications of others are not nearly as plain or convincing as Ariel thinks they are, and some of his experiments struck me as being particularly glib, superficial and susceptible to plenty of alternative interpretations.

And what Ariel's book lacks is any further theoretical drive: OK, we re predisposed to behave in silly or odious ways - but what's your point? In what underlying way are our irrational proclivities linked? What conclusions can we draw; what can we learn; what strategies can we adopt to counteract the harmful effects of our fecklessness?

Ariely implies, but doesn't say, that some sort of regulation is required to save us. But given that it was our irrational proclivities by which we arrived at these politicians (and the political institutions through which they organise themselves) I'm not sure he leaves us any better off than when we started.

Olly Buxton

I borrowed my Mom's copy of Nudge but couldn't get into it. It was a little more academic than my payrate, so to speak. I got this book instead and I am glad I did. Arely takes a breezy fun approach to Behavior Econmoics that made it easy for me to digest. He offers no advice, just information about some of the hidden aspects of human behavior. Gread Read, Bottoms Up!!

Fahrenheit 451
At the tender age of 9, as my 30 year old father lay in a hospital dying of cancer, my grieving young mother packed me off to a theater nearby. The feature was Fahrenheit 451, the year was 1966, and I was amazed by the message in this movie, enough to go back every night for a week, and beg my mom for the book. Growing up, I often reflected on how I lost I would be without books, and vowed I would read voraciously through life, and never willingly be part of a society who believed in spoon feeding propaganda to people to make them complacent. Lo and behold, my America has crept in that direction. The message of the movie is not what Government can do to society, but what society allows those in power to do to control them. Reading is indeed the antidote to blind faith in bad leaders. This movie carries a timeless message, one I have shared with my children and grandchild, and everyone who I have lent it or given one to.

451 is a fantastic, entertaining story that also happens to be a dead-on commentary on American politics (especially the "look over there" strategy employed by the current administration). Well read too.

I do not want to tell much of the story, as the unfolding is part of the intrigue. However now that houses are fire proof the purpose of firemen is performing a service by burning books to maintain the happy social order.

Naturally one fireman goes awry after several emotional incidences from someone burning up with the books to a young neighbor with strange ways, which run counter to his carrier. This leads to all kinds of deviant things like reading. What are you doing now?

One big rift between the book and the movie [Fahrenheit 451 (1966) -- Oscar Werner, Julie Christie] is that in the movie the "written word" was completely removed (even from the credits); where as in the book the state was against was literature and not technical writing.

Books are just symbols of ideas that could have been on the screen also. There is deference between training and education. Among other reasons the book was a symbol of one mans superiority over another in a world of equals.

When Joanna Mason was six years old she witnesses an act so horrendous that no little girl should ever have to see. Joanna was the sole survivor of her family. Her mother, sister and brother were all murdered. Now thirty years later, the man who took Joanna's family from her has been released from prison.

Reggie is the nanny for Dr. Hunter. Reggie and Dr. Hunter have a really good relationship, so when one day Dr. Hunter disappears, Reggie worries but it seems that Reggie is the only one that is concerned about Dr. Hunter.

Then there is Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, she is on a mission to locate a missing person. Louise Monroe did not expect to see Jackson Brodie, a longtime friend. It seems Jackson Brodie has a mission of his own to accomplish. Before he can complete it, Brodie has a fatal accident.

There was a good connection with the characters, which helped me to stay interested in this book till the end. When Will There Be Good News? is the third book in this series to feature Jackson Brodie. I have to admit that When Will There Be Good News? is the first book Jackson Brodie book I have read. I thought it was a well-written novel. This story can also be read as a stand alone book. Kate Atkinson added some nice twists in the story line at just the right times. This story had a lot of depth in it. The lesson learned was that you may have made many mistakes in your life but when you are handed a second chance in live it is about how you make the most of it that really counts. For anyone who is looking for a change of pace in their everyday typical reading should give Kate Atkinson a try.

Shana's Review:

When Will There Be Good News? is nothing short of a delightful read. Atkinson gives us a sumptuous combination of wonderful well-developed characters, an engaging plot line, and the prose that I am quickly coming to expect of her - clean, subtle, and smart.

The novel is narrated alternately and in the third person by Jackson Brodie, Reggie Chase, and Louise Monroe. I quickly fell in love with all three. Incidentally, I have not read Atkinson's previous two novels featuring Jackson Brodie and did not feel this hindered my enjoyment of the story in any way.

Atkinson's skill as a writer shows in the adept way in which she ties disparate characters and story lines together. In the beginning, I couldn't fathom how this would happen, but when it did, I was amazed at how right it felt.

I would categorize When Will There Be Good News? as literary suspense. There were several questions that were not answered until the end. What is most amazing about Atkinson is that she gives us an intricately woven story but it doesn't feel complicated. Everything seems very ordinary, yet lovely, and brilliant, and even comic. I love that Atkinson's books are sprinkled with words that are unique to 'British English,' but not overly so.

Very rarely do I read a book that makes me want to buy up all an author's previous novels and devour them as soon as possible, but Kate Atkinson is quickly becoming this author to me. First, I was wowed by Behind the Scenes at the Museum, and now When Will There Be Good News? has completely captivated me and taken my adoration of this author up yet another notch.

"Case Histories" was one of the best suspense novels I have read in the last few years. However, "When Will There Be Good News?" blows the doors off Atkinson's earlier work. With this book, Atkinson establishes herself as the absolute best writer of literary suspense working today, and fulfills the promise of literary suspense by writing a novel that can stand comparison with the finest straight literary fiction, reminding us that she started her career by winning the prestigious Whitbread Prize for ambitious literary work.

The plot crackles with excitement, jumping from one to another of her four interlocking strands. This is one of those books where you come to the end of a chapter and the author cuts to another part of the plot and you say "damn!" because you don't want to wait to see what happens. But then when the next chapter ends you say "damn!" again. Pay close attention, because everything that Atkinson reveals that seems to be a throwaway just to advance characterization comes back to play important parts in the plot. There are reversals, revelations, and wrecks right up to the last page.

But the plot is not the best part of the book. The strongest feature of the book is the characterization. The characters are vital, believable, and intensely interesting. Jackson Brodie returns from Atkinson's two earlier books, and Louise Monroe from her last, with two more people added who are just as absorbing. Atkinson's characters are all beset with the burden of horrible events in their past and struggling to survive in the present, and Atkinson's sympathy and care for these victims of human (and sometimes literal) train wrecks absorb the reader in their lives.

In fact, even though the book ends with a completely satisfactory resolution of the plot, the book left me eager to read Atkinson's next in order to find out what happens in the lives of these people.
Literary suspense series that carry the lives of the main characters from novel to novel have become common. There are many excellent practitioners out there, from Ed McBain to Tony Hillerman to Ian Rankin. With "When Will There Be Good News?" Kate Atkinson establishes herself as the best. As New York Times reviewer Janet Maslin said in her review, the book "shows off an imagination so active that `When Will There Be Good News?' can barely contain it."

If you like literary suspense or just like good writing, do yourself a favor and read this book.

(4.5 stars) Not a traditional mystery, Kate Atkinson's third Jackson Brodie novel grows instead out of the terrible traumas that children and young people must endure when people they love die violently. So marked are they by their sudden tragedies, that they never really escape their pasts, and spend the rest of their lives wondering "when will there be good news." Five separate plot lines evolve and begin to overlap here, and in each of these plots the main characters are all needy people hiding an inner loneliness from which they would like to escape. In the first plot, Joanna Mason Hunter is a physician living in Edinburgh, the happily married mother of a one-year-old, a woman who appears to have it all, but thirty years ago, she escaped a slashing attack which murdered her mother, sister, and baby brother. Though she seems to have put her past to rest, the murderer of her family is about to be released from jail.

Joanna's "mother's help" is Reggie Chase, a sixteen-year-old fending for herself in a rundown apartment that she shares with her delinquent brother. Reggie adores her job--and Joanna, who has no idea that Reggie's mother has died traumatically over a year ago. Jackson Brodie, a former police detective and a lead character in Case Histories: A Novel and One Good Turn: A Jolly Murder Mystery, is newly married for the third time, estranged from his twelve-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and prohibited from seeing the two-year-old he believes to be his son with his former girlfriend.

While working on a case in England, Brodie takes the wrong train and ends up in Edinburgh, where a crash near the house occupied by babysitter Reggie Chase brings Reggie and Brodie into contact. Meanwhile, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, a former girlfriend of Jackson Brodie, has also come to Edinburgh, to warn Joanna that the killer of her family has been released. In a final subplot, Joanna's husband Neil Hunter is in debt and in trouble with criminals, and Reggie, the babysitter, has found the house empty when she arrived to babysit. She is convinced that Joanna and the baby are missing and probably dead.

Atkinson's narrative is enhanced by her skillful pacing as she introduces new elements and surprises, and she is especially adept at individualizing her characters. Through flashbacks, she compares and contrasts their past and present lives, and the reader comes to "know" them. Connected thematically by their yearning for loving relationships, they are eventually connected through the plot's complications and mysteries. Ironies abound, and mistaken identities create some bizarre and sometimes darkly humorous scenes. Coincidence plays an important role in resolving the novel in dramatic fashion, and though no one will believe that these twists and turns are remotely realistic, they are great fun and completely consistent with the ebullient story-telling that Atkinson has made her signature. n Mary Whipple

Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel
Human Croquet: A Novel
Emotionally Weird: A Novel
Not the End of the World
Abandonment

"Run, Joanna. Run." So begins this riveting novel, a small girl witness to a harrowing crime that, thirty years later, once more intrudes upon the security of an innocent victim who has remade the past into a sustainable present. On a jagged trajectory, a convicted criminal is released, a former cop accidentally detours into Edinburgh, a train crash and a rendezvous with fate and a sixteen-year-old mother's helper clings desperately to the only "family" she has left. Atkinson threads lives together in a complicated pattern, a multi-colored skein that winds through connecting stories, each critical to the whole. Seemingly compartmentalized, in time the random associations prove cleverly orchestrated, one with another, from Dr. Jo Hunter and her helper, Reggie, to Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe and Jackson Brodie (from a previous novel, One Good Turn), even the incarcerated Andrew Decker, released after thirty years, his intentions for the future a cipher.

The author's unusual talent perfectly lends itself to a style of assembled perspectives, each protagonist caught up in personal circumstances, yet all routed to a final denouement. Atkinson is a facile puppet master, moving her pawns purposefully toward the final confrontation, as devastating as the opening chapter of the novel. The characters are wonderfully human, plagued with self-doubts and festering fears, most touched by the untimely, sometimes violent death of loved ones. For all the brisk application to the business of living, the shadowed ghosts of lost loved ones hover significantly, reminding us of the precious moments too often forgotten or left unsavored. This juxtaposition of life and death creates the exquisite tension that drives the story, the threat waiting in the wings for a random cue. A technique that sometimes irritated me in One Good Turn lends this tale a fragmented urgency.

There is class-consciousness coexisting with professionalism, the security of material goods and the paucity of poverty, all of it irrelevant in the face of death, the great leveler.
Still Reggie and Dr. Hunter are at the heart of all, the girl clinging to her employer and chubby baby as family in a hard world, Jo Hunter creating a safe place far from her traumatic childhood but is delivered into danger by the actions of a foolish man. That violence should interfere with best laid plans is the nature of Atkinson's novel: expect the unexpected, a litany of "the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time". DCI Monroe is another study in character, a bundle of contradictions between her obsession with "my ladies" (her crime case victims) and the certainly that she is a Bad Wife. Sampling bits of these odd pairings throughout the novel, the author blends them into seamless whole; even when the plot stretches unbelievably, it is engaging and compelling. Luan Gaines/ 2008.