Although Fungaroli's book is geared to adults who haven't finished college -- and some who never started -- returning students can benefit at any age and any degree level.
Her information is dead-on accurate. She's frank and realistic about options of attending prestige schools, finishing up those last few credits, ending unsupportive relationships and more.
A friend of mine was just like one of her interviewees: needed a few credits and sold himself short. A quick letter to the registrar and presto -- he got credit for life experience and an extra summer school course!
I'm recommending this book to my clients who ask, "Am I too old for school?" As she would say, the answer is always a firm NO.

Finally, a one-stop resource for everybody touched by the increasing number of adult students returning to college. Business professionals striving to recruit and retain top talent are faced with a need to understand why and how their employees want to get a degree -- 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The real-life stories, tips and telling statistics in this book provide an essential training tool for any organization.

Spouses, kids, friends, and parents will also gain much from the insights offered by Dr. Fungaroli,particularly if they use the book to communicate with their loved ones, who have taken the big step to go for what they want by returning to school. Professors working with nontraditional students will find a worthwhile teacher training resource here too. As a consultant and Ph.D. student, I have been looking for this very book for almost a decade. If you are planning the next chapter in your life and a college degree is in the picture, get this book!!!

I can see it now. Legions of us, aging, intelligent, eager, interested, heading back to college with Dr. Fungaroli's book firmly in hand. Traditional Degrees for Nontraditional Students has just the right combination of gentle encouragement and hard-hitting practical advice to help those of us who may be anywhere from 10 to 60 years older than traditional college students. She brings us up to date on the realities of getting admitted, doing the work, and enjoying the journey every step of the way. My guess is, she has created an army of returning scholars by writing this book. What a wonderful gift to the world. What a wonderful gift to each us us who reads this book with such eagerness and hope.

this book will become "the given" at baby showers.

I received this treasure of a book as a gift when I became pregnant; I poured over the warm, charming photos and gentle guidance then and continue to refer to the sensible, timeless advice now that I have a newborn.

This gorgeous, calming, smart book plus one or two outfits from The Gap and you're all set for any baby shower. I bought this book when I had my second child, when one thinks one knows it all, and I still learned so much that has made both my and my baby's life easier, happier, calmer.

This book was one of the most riveting of any fire related books,I have ever read. The attention to detail ,from the initial alarm, until the conclusion of the incident, was flawless. If Sean Flynn were not familiar with the workings of a city fire department, then he took the time to become more knowledgeable than most civilians could ever hope to. He not only covered the technical aspects of the fire, but the human side as well. This book easily falls among the ranks as those written by other noted authors as Dennis Smith, and Leo Stapleton.

The title at the beginning of these comments is from St. Florian, and was on a medal recovered from the spot where one of the men fighting this fire died. The medal should not have survived, silver melts at 1,600 degrees, a body is incinerated at 1,800 degrees, and the heat in the building had reached 3,000 degrees.

I came to read this book from a rather unusual direction. Worth Magazine just did a profile of the most generous Americans, not necessarily those who gave the most money, but as a percentage of what they have, their reasons, and other intangibles beside the traditional yardstick of amount only. Actor/comedian and member of this very special group is Dennis Leary. Of the 6 men who died in this fire, one was his cousin and another was a childhood friend. His foundation has raised $2 million for firefighters in Worcester MA and NYC. His organization was cutting checks 3 months after September 11th in NYC; he has no use for bean counters.

Sean Flynn's book, "3000 Degrees", is easily one of the most powerful books I have read in 2002, it is the first of many books I will now read on Firemen, and others who put themselves in lethal harm's way, for the rest of us. As I read this book, I asked the same question I often ask when men and women put the lives of others before their own, not for a single moment, but every day, for years and often for decades. Some members of a team are the rescue members, and these men enter the building without any fire fighting equipment, like hoses, to protect themselves. They go in looking for victims and are unprotected against flame and other lethalities except by their experience and luck. They are in a burning building looking for you and me before the houses may even be turned on.

Firemen are not drafted; they are not military, although some served prior to becoming Firefighters. The serve their own communities, but adjacent ones when needed, and generally walk in to situations that may kill them to save people they do not know, or to be sure a building is empty of persons. The latter was the case on December 3, 1999. Six men died in a building that was boarded up, and devoid of human life. It had many lives within it for several hours, and then 6 lives became the only bodies that the building would ever contain.

Tim Jackson, Joe McGuirk, Paul Brotherton, Jay Lyons, Tom Spencer, and Jerry Lucey died, because as one person involved in the fire wondered, that 6 of his friends had died because, "two misfits were too scared to dial 911". These misfits not only started the fire, accidentally, they did not report it, but because it is not against the law to fail to report a fire in Massachusetts, even if you started it, neither person was convicted of anything.

Now Julie and Tom continue to live their lives which up until the night they started this fire were notable only for the similarities they shared. They were the personification of life's losers, living illegally, living in filth, living any way they chose as long as it required nothing from them, no effort. And if that meant going to jail, breaking the law, and living in their own filth like no animal would do, that was what they did.

They killed these 6 men by their actions, even if you call their act one of omission as opposed to commission, the men are dead, and Julie and Tom started the fire, Julie and Tom ran, and Julie and Tom did not bother to let anyone know the building they illegally were squatting in was empty. That their illegal residence was barely worth the water to contain the blaze, much less the lives of 6 men, a host of new widows, and a large number of now fatherless children, never occurred to Julie and Tom.

They went to Media Play and listened to music while the fire spread, books were out for Tom, he's illiterate. And while the candle falling over and causing the fire was called an accident, it probably would not have fallen if Tom did not try to force himself on Julie. Tom was in the mood, Julie was not, so 6 men died.

The men who fought this fire and died and those who fought it and lived are all remarkable people. They are people that few of us can measure up to. Are you willing to take a job where you place your life at risk every day, not for fame, or money, or even job security? I don't think you are; I'm not.

Firemen are willing to make the sacrifice, so are Policemen and women. So the next time you are tempted to park in front of a hydrant, don't, next time you get nailed for speeding, take the ticket, call the officer sir or mam, and act like an adult. Don't whine because your radar/laser detector did not allow you to get away with speeding. Want to speed, pay the ticket; don't blame the officer who stops you.

30,000 Firefighters from all over the world came to Worcester to pay their respects to these men and the families that were left behind. So the next time you pass a Firehouse, think about the people in side, you probably don't know them, and they don't know you. Would you die for them, they are prepared to die for you, every minute of every day.

Like many of Worcester, MA, I watched this fire and was overwhelmed by its power. The loss of life was without equal. This recounting is a great tribute to the Fire Department and all the men present at this fire. Many of us listened to the events unfold on scanners; others watched as the flames colored the night sky. Sean Flynn tells all the details and the humanity of these life shattering event. No matter where you live, this book is a must read to understand what firemen and women do everyday. As well as to see their lives through their family and friends.

I just finished this absolutely mesmerizing tale (or really two tales in one) and have come back to order kamikaze cowboy. Not everyone could open up his or her lives like this, but this is a life worth sharing. It is so refreshing and exhilarating to see such a fine actor have such other admirable qualities and the ability to articulate them to the world. I spent my afternoon curled up with this book, and read it cover to cover in one sitting. After all the books I've been required to read by higher education, by the so-called best writers, they all pale in comparison to And Then We Went Fishing: A Story of Fatherhood, Fate and Forgiveness. I recommend this book to everyone and anyone!

This true life story is told with no holds bar'd the autor bears his soul for everyone to read. This gripping tail leads you on a a journy of forgivness showing that once you learn to let go of the things which haunt you life can realy begin. It is one of the most compelling books that I have ever read and as the two stories weave their way in and out of each other with skill.Although the book is VERY personal to Mr Benedict it does have a lesson which we can all learn

This book came my way as a gift from a friend. I'd read 'Kamikaze Cowboy' several times over the years and was interested in this new chapter. The intermingling of past and present events was remarkably effective. Once again, the book hit a personal note for me. The feelings I had about my own father's death were paralleled in the story of the death of Benedict's father, and I experienced a little of the release he felt at the birth of his son. Life goes on, and we only have the power to choose the ultimate direction of our own. Thanks, Dirk.

The title of this book was appropriate for me, since it was the first memoir of the Vietnam War that I have read. It was my 'baptism' into seeing the war through the eyes of combatants rather than historians and journalists. The story details the experiences of one of the thousands of heroes who served their country in some of the worst conditions imagineable. I found myself feeling very grateful for their sacrifice, and thankful that I was born a generation too late to serve in this hellish conflict. From humping through a rice paddy to facing death at a 'hot' LZ, I was astounded at the stamina, fortitude and bravery of our troops. Hats off to Lt. Gwin and all who served in Vietnam. And thanks! A must read, ESPECIALLY if, like me, you weren't there yourself.

One of the few narratives to come out of Vietnam that digs deep under the camouflage of a sensitive yet tough infantry officer.AUTHOR Larry GWIN took over thirty years to reveal this wonderful memoir,and readers will surely feel the wait was worth it. BAPTISM is not merely an I-was-there war story,even though it blasts its way through some of the bloodiest encounters of the war. Rather,this book is the haunting story of a man who was proud to answer his country's call to arms,urged on by family history and the single mindedness of Yale ROTC training (ranger,airborne all the way).To such an idealist,the mud-and-blood sacrifice and idiotic blundering inherent in war was almost certain to offer a very painful baptism indeed.Whether he is describing the anguish of seeing comrades blown to bits by friendly fire or an act of cruelty imposed on a boom-boom girl,the author's eye is merciless and all revealing.Gwin deals with the twilight of war,bringing those of us who were grunts back to the alien landscape we struggled against but did not understand.His book is lyrical at times,all about the death of valor and the angry rebirth of an American fighting man,"doomed from here to eternity". VETERANS will recognize the honesty of this book,while civilians,especially women,will better understand the flak jacket that conceals every combat soldier's heart. A MAGNIFICENT book. It should be enjoyed along with Joseph Galloway's and Hal Moore's WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE AND YOUNG,a best seller that provides a big picture of the FIRST CAV in combat, and covers some of the battles and firefights so poignantly described by LARRY GWIN.

After reading the first chapter of Larry Gwin's book, I was hooked. This memoir, a story of a naive 1st lieutenant who is sent to Vietnam, survives a nearly disastrous battle, then is horrified by the reality of war and death and suffering, is well-written and spellbinding. He writes openly and honestly about himself, warts and all, as well as his fellow officers (the good, the bad, and the cowardly) and the "grunts" in his platoon. Many of the NCOs and enlisted men who go into battle with lieutenant Gwin prove to be brave in the face of death and loyal to their buddies who are either wounded or dying..."No one is left behind." I felt as though I was there with lieutenant Gwin as he and his men are airlifted into a hot LZ, praying to come out alive and in one piece. While this is a story about the horror of war, there are quite a few light moments which are humorous. All in all, this book is a real page-turner. Perfect for a rainy afternoon's read in a comfortable chair.

   "Called a 'spiritual rabbi,' Fine helps struggling kids to find'transformations born of crisis.'  Applying principles of what he calls the Path to Meaning and Hope, Fine has developed an eight-step program 'useful to people... working through...spiritual emergencies.'  Based as they are on the teachings of the Hebrew philosopher Maimonides, Fine is clear that the steps he has designed are not a replacement for therapy or twelve-step programs.  They can, however, 'help you take the risk to discover who you are and where you are going.'  The stories of these kids and their lives on the street are told with honesty and respect, humor and faith.  Without being condescending, this is a book that highlights the indomitability of the human spirit.  Heart-warming!"  --NAPRA ReView - Fall, 1997  New Age Publication Alliance 

I never thought I would read a heart pounding thriller based on a real life rabbi and gripping inspirational tales from the street. Want to learn about life after midnight in NYC, then read this book.It reads like a novel and yet is a true tale of NYC street life. Why this book is not a bestseller is beyond me. This is a powerful book that features true to life stories of teens caught in the web of drugs, prostitution, family violence and world that does not care. In that world walks Yehudah Fine, a real time hero whose human side is so real and vivid you feel after reading the stories in his book that you know him and the kids who he loves and cares about.This is a one of a kind read that will give you hope springing from the darkness forever. It will inspire you and make you cry.

"Religion is for people who wish to avoid going to hell. Spirituality is for people who have been there." So wrote Abraham Twerski, founder of Gateway Rehabilitation Center, in his cover blub for Yehudah Fine's book, "Time Square Rabbi." Rabbi Fine (who prefers to be called "Yehudah") has that rare balance of religion and spirituality, combined with a down-to-earth love of sports, music, and life itself, that enables him to reach lost teenagers on the mean streets of New York.

His writing style is clear and poignant, combining good descriptive details with well-written dialogues. Each story illustrates one of the 8 steps in a recovery program that Yehudah has developed, based on the writings of Maimonides. Although the characters and stories are composites (to protect the kids' privacy), they are so well done that they virtually leap off the page.

Every parent should read this book. Yehudah pulls no punches about how these kids ended up on the streets. For many, it was an escape from unbearable home situations. In other cases, the parents kicked their kids out of the house with no idea what would happen to them out there. In still other cases, kids from "good homes" set out with high hopes and unrealistic fantasies, only to be victimized by the predators that roam "The Way Beyond." That's Yehudah's name for the street culture that exists in the same physical space as up-scale Manhattan, but in a different world entirely. Like real life, some of these stories have happy endings, others do not. But all of them will make you think. As the subtitle says, this is a book about finding hope.

It seems Mr. Rabbit is in a bit of a fix. After losing that race to Turtle, he's in a bit of a financial jam. So, he goes to Bear and makes a deal.

The Rabbit family will plant and harvest the crops on Bear's land. Rabbit will split the crops with Bear 50/50. All Bear has to do is decide which half - tops or bottoms - he wants.

Unfortunately, whether the crop is potatoes, lettuce, corn, or radishes, Bear keeps picking the "wrong half".

This is a hillarious story that kids of all ages will appreciate. For visual interest, the book is designed to flip from top to bottom (as opposed from left to right).

Janet Stevens' artwork alone is worth the cost of the book!

Enjoy!

This children's book is a retelling of an African-American folktale about a lazy bear and an industrious rabbit, a trickster, who grows different crops on the bear's land. Sometimes the bear wants the top of the crops while the hare takes the bottoms. Other times the bear demands the bottoms. Each time, the hare grows a crop which makes him the "winner" in the deal. The book was a 1996 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustrations in a book for children.

Mr. Rabbit, sore from his loss in that race with Mr. Turtle, is a bit down on his luck. So, he strikes a bargain with Mr. Bear.

The rabbit family will plant and harvest crops on Mr. Bear's land and split the proceeds 50/50.

"Tops or bottoms," Mr. Rabbit asks.

Whether the crop is corn, potatoes, or lettuce - Mr. Bear just doesn't seem to "pick" the right half.

This is a great story - for everyone!!

Janet Stevens' illustrations tell a story all their own. Simply wonderful!

The book opens top to bottom (instead of left to right) to re-inforce the idea of "tops and bottoms".

I definitely reccomend this book - it's a true winner!!

As a senior at Harvard I've read a lot of books for college students and I found this book simple yet informative. It's tips from student's for student's. Short sweet and smart. I feel like this is a good book for college freshman but it didn't help me much after my first semester. I also purchased Major In Success by: Patrick Combs and I found it to be extremely helpful for making the most of all my college years. Major In Success is the perfect companion to this book.

What I liked the best about the book is that it's told in students' own words -- students from a number of colleges commenting on topics ranging from how to schedule classes to handling homesickness to handling finances to getting along with that up-all-night roommate. You're getting the real scoop on college life from the people who are LIVING it, not what the admission literature says. As a student affairs professional, this is the kind of "quick read" resource I'm going to buy (on Amazon, of course) to make available to my students.

Now THIS is a really great little college book. It's literally filled with extremely useful advice from the first page to the last, all from the lips of college students who "learned" from their mistakes. Very fast and entertaining read as well, definitely an excellent buy for anybody about to enter college.

Just an extra note, this 505 tips for making college easier is similiar to the title "101 Things College girl should know" and "101 Things College guy should know."...this is a MUCH better buy for your money. The latter 2 books are the most useless excuses for books I've found...with tips like drink 8 glasses of water a day and...similiar common sense. Buy "505" instead, you'll be glad.

I truly enjoyed Philip Van Munching's "Beer Blast," so much, in fact, that I consumed it in a couple of sittings. "Beer Blast" is well-researched, highly opinionated and very funny. However, the humor does not betray Mr. Van Munching's affection for his subject, which is apparently profound. To me, the fact that Mr. Van Munching looks at the beer industry through the lens of his own and his family's experience makes it all the more interesting. Because his observations often are colored by that experience, it lends them a certain validity, even when they are less than "objective." (and who ever said that objectivity was such a worthy aspiration, anyway?)
So much writing about beer is either of the trivializing wink-and-nudge variety (the kind of writing you'd never seen applied to wine, I might add), or, in the case of my segment of the business - microbrewing - uncritical cheerleading, which itself tends to be trivializing and, frankly, boring, too. "Beer Blast" is neither boring nor trivializing. I'd recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in beer.

Peter Egelston
Smuttynose Brewing Company
Portsmouth NH

If you want to learn how to make beer in your basement, you'll need to find a different book. On the other hand, if you want to learn how "The People" are manipulated into changing their buying/drinking habits, then you need to check this book out. Written with an insider's view, Van Munching shows that beer not only is big business, it's a fun big business. From the early Revolutionary War days to the present, the growth and decline of many breweries are chronicled. It was fascinating to learn how the "Giants" came to be, and discover the true parentage of supposedly local brews. It is written in an easy to read style. Even if you do not drink beer, and are involoved in marketing in any way, this would be a good book to study. It tells "How" to market successfully, but even better (and much more humorously) how not to market.

Now here's a book about something near and dear to my heart (and mouth). I bought this book when it first came out after hearing a radio interview with Philip Van Munching and finding him not only very informative, but also hilarious. This book is very entertaining and informative (and it always makes me thirsty for a cold one, but I digress).

Being in the Van Munching family it's hard to knock him for his emphasis on Heineken (is he supposed to know more about Miller and Anheiser Busch than his own family's company?) The book gives a very detailed background of the beer industry in the US but mainly focuses on the period beginning in the seventies which he refers to as the "Beer Wars" when Anheiser Busch, Miller and Coors began to take over.

Anyone interested in business, advertising and marketing in particular, will really enjoy this book. Oh yeah, and if you like to enjoy a cold one from time to time you'll also like this book. I've aleways been more of a microbrew drinker myself (beer snob) so I've never really enjoyed anything brewed by the big three. After reading this book I don't think I'll be enjoying anything from them anytime soon. Like one of the reviews on the back of the book says, " I don't know which one of them deserves my money less." Cheers!

I prefer war novels like "The Triumph and the Glory" to histories because fiction is capable of delivering such profound emotional effects on a reader. But the great history books, like "Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa" are so powerful that they transcend genre or category and proclaim the truth of our past in a truly unforgettable manner. This is one of the best books about men in battle I've ever read.

Utilizing his prodigious research skills, Retired Colonel Joseph Alexander has written what has to be the best all around account of Tarawa. Incorporating new material gleaned from sources as diverse as Col. Shoup's personal papers, translation of the Japanese war history (Senshi Sosho) and recently declassified ULTRA radio intercepts, he presents a superbly crafted telling of the horror and victory at Tarawa.

On the morning of 11/20/43 men of the 2nd Marine Division stormed ashore to face the Imperial Japanese Marines who defended Betio Island in the Tarawa atoll. These rikusentai were considered the best light infantry the Japanese had. In addition to the almost impregnable defensive positions prepared by the Japanese, the island was surrounded by a reef, which, due to tide and fortune, prevented the Higgins boats from crossing to the beaches. The decision to utilize LVTs (tracked amphibious vehicles, or more correctly, landing vehicle tracked) for the first time as troop carriers forever changed the history of amphibious assaults against strongly held enemy positions. Lumbering over the forbidding reef, LVTs carried their cargo of men and supplies where the Higgins boats could not go. This gamble represented a landmark in ship-to-shore movements and to this day amphibious assault vehicles are an essential element of any surface assault.

Mistakes were made and men died because of them. The initial three-hour naval bombardment and bombing and strafing runs by carrier aircraft were far too little. Gaps between the naval and air force shelling allowed the enemy to move reinforcements to the beaches from the southern and eastern areas of the island. Following the bombardments many defensive positions and large guns remained fully functional and they blasted into the oncoming LVTs and the Higgins boats at the reef's edge. Men of later waves were forced to wade ashore as LVTs became destroyed or were unavailable. Hundreds of men died in that surf, wading ashore. One thousand Marines died on each of three days of battle before the island fell.

It's the attention to detail that separates Alexander's work from other, well written histories of Tarawa. From the planning stages, to his telling of the build up of Japanese troops, to the inclusion of brief personal histories of the key personnel, to the epilogue summarizing the lessons learned and the errors made, this is an exceptional book well worth reading. To the serious student, it is the book on Tarawa that must be read.

This is an excellent book of the fighting at Tarawa in WW2. The author has done a great job in presenting the story, it was so well told that I found it hard to put the book down. Ever since I was a kid I have had a fascination for the USMC and after reading this book I remember why. What guts! The author also presents the Japanese defenders as humans, rarely done in many books about combat in the Pacific during the war. The author has researched his story well and has used numerous maps and a number of sobering B&W photos to assist his narrative. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great story, well done to the author!