Well written but doesn't deal with the central issues
922607
The book is very readable and the author is clearly well read. While the author does a reasonably fair job in laying out the central arguments of the new atheists, he neither provides much substantive criticism of the atheist's case or much of a defense of his own beliefs.  His criticism of atheism seemed to involve a lot of name dropping (Camus, Sartre, various modern theologians) and focus on what seemed to me to be minor issues (we can't be absolutely sure of anything so who are we to decide someone's beliefs are wrong?), but it doesn't tackle the major issues (is there any evidence for god/gods, are there any major flaws in science's approach to understanding the universe, is religion a fundamentally positive or negative thing).  His own beliefs were very unclear; he doesn't seem to believe God has any direct impact on the world, he doesn't seem to think the bible is particularly accurate or authoritative, he's very unclear as to what faith is (other than it's not what is traditionally meant by it), etc.

As someone brought up in a god free environment, I've never really understood why a rational person would believe in the supernatural. I'm glad I read the book to try to get an understanding of the theistic point of view; but based on this book, the theistic point of view seems to lack any solid arguments in it's favor.
3484873
My feeling about this book is neutral - sometimes it was hard to put down and other times I had to skip paragraphs because it was dragging. Although her story is an interesting and well written one, the endless footnotes and numerous digressions about how inconsiderate and/or insensitive someone in her life was, etc. are a bit distracting. Definitely a good book for someone doing research because she includes a long list of references in the back of the book.  Note: Do not expect a book that glamorizes eating disorders because this DEFINITELY does not.
4579461
Secrets and Lies is well-written and full of interesting stories, but ultimately it doesn't offer help in dealing with the issue at hand. When someone uncovers a family secret (or reveals one), there must be some expert advice on how to handle it. This book does not offer such advice. However, it is imminently readable, and gives compelling examples of actual situations.
443534
Well written and destroys common arguments made in favor of gun control, but the intro and the ending sections have some segments that are to be taken with a grain of salt, such as the idea that smoking doesn't contribute to lung cancer.
3595965
This may just be the way I approach prison issues, but I believe that the current crisis in U.S. prisons -- overincarceration, privitization, horrific health problems, racism, inadequate educational programs -- do not necessarily need a wide historical analysis to call attention to themselves. I am, like Davis, a socialist, but I think the mess that is the prison industrial complex can be described in a way that will make liberals, not just radicals, agree that the system needs to change right away -- and I think that this is more important than focusing on the more abstract idea of prison abolition. When I heard her speak at a prisoner conference last year, she focused on the difference between being a prison reformer and a prison abolitionist: a difference that is addressed in this work. This book as a whole is an argument for prison abolition. But prison reform is more urgent, and more possible. I find it hard to focus on her arguments as a result.

I recommend to people interested in an intro to contemporary prison issues Christian Parenti's book Lockdown America -- he is as angry as Davis, but his book provides more statistical and descriptive evidence than she does as to why you should be angry as well. Articles written by prisoners themselves are collected in the 1998 collection The Celling of America ed by Daniel Burton-Rose and 2003's Prison Nation ed by T. Herivel and P. Wright. (Note that Prison Nation includes articles written by non-prisoners as well.)

Prison activists and those who are currently reading into the american prison system should read Davis' book, but I urge those looking for an introduction not to start here.
1193072
This book, while well-written, is primarily focused on boys sexually harassing and stalking girls through lack of social awareness.  I had intended it for a girl who needed to understand that controlling one's temper is more important as she grows older. Some of the book applies to her and is helpful, if a bit simplistic, but so much of it doesn't apply that she probably won't listen to the advice.
1903294
It Israel a good try to adress the complex issue of change in bblical way, but complex writing doesnt help. Concepts ar excellent, but redaction hinders the purpose. Needs careful reading
4523119
This is a very well written book.  However - it was also a very 'modern' book - which obviously will appeal to the younger generation  (if they are interested in history).  The author is obviously biased on certain issues.
I had to re read the first two books in order to follow the story line.
2284107
Well written and some very good points but I feel the author does not take into account the supernatural abilities of God and tries to reason using mere mortal standards when clearly, if God made the laws of physics and determined our physical capabilities then He can certainly augment and alter them at His choosing. I will still read Mr Shuey's other two books as well because he provides very compelling and logical arguments.
2837512
The first half of the book provided elegant examples of basic economic principles.  Most of the concepts would be familiar to anyone with a basic familiarity with economics, but it was well written and very engaging.  The second half covers more complex topics: successes and failures of auctions, health care systems, the benefits of globalization and the growth of China.  These are fascinating but complicated topics and, unfortunately, his coverage is very superficial.  Although I think he is right in his conclusions, he dismisses differing opinions with an inadequate sentence or two.  He should either have spent the time to develop and analyze the issues properly or should have stuck to more conceptual topics.
221498
This is a well written book, covering a very interesting subject matter.  It provides great insights into the way humans behave and how that applies to marketing.  Where it is disappointing is that the examples of application of these principles were all around big business like coke or Loriel. Sure, it's impressive when a company goes from $400M to $billions, but at $400M or even $40M there's already a pretty good marketing budget to get the message to market at scale, but most who read this book probably aren't in that league yet.

The authors role with a large marketing agency means his experiences are drawn from working with large budgets for company's like Volkswagen who constantly rate a mention.

The book is full of useful observation, but doesn't really provide a roadmap for application to small or medium businesses.  It leaves you with the message to just think about the six steps. How to actually apply that at a similar scale to Marlboro, Volkswagen, Loriel etc, no suggestions provided.
2854437
This book has a strong personality that the reader will fine attractive, but the book ultimately suffers from a lack of centralized principles that drive the reader towards a structured understanding of how to interpret and manage behavior. The book is also very widespread and is bound to include at least one section that has nothing to contribute to your life (it talks about family, children, couples, work relationships, etc.). -Ryan Mease
712841
An important and necessary topic.  And a reasonably well-written book.  My primary complaint is that Gilpen Faust's treatment of religion suffers from some relatively serious shortcomings.  There is a tendency in contemporary historiography to treat religion almost entirely (or even primarily) as a mode of "justification" for this or that way of thinking, action, etc.  This provides for a very superficial view of religion, and one that is almost entirely instrumentalist.  It fails to grapple with the aspects of religion which cannot be simply presented as means for justifying belief or behavior, and tends to reduce nearly all aspects of religion to that mode.  A reasonable sense of what it means to study religion as an academic (historical, theoretical) subject does not allow for that kind of not terribly well-conceived reduction, and that kind of reduction is very often a cover for the author's ignorance of religion (including theology, doctrine, etc. when applicable).  There is no such thing as "religion" in general or abstract, as the term serves really as a categorical shorthand, and that also complicates this kind of reductive approach.  The fallout of this reductive approach is that religion is seen to justify behaviors or beliefs, but one is left with no actual conceptualization or information as to how those behaviors or beliefs function to produce, reinforce, inform, etc. whatever is being described.  And when identical theological or doctrinal or lived-experience modes of religion - Christianity, to be precise, in this context - are seen as modes of justification, yet result in vastly different and even incompatible beliefs or behaviors, there is no further analysis of how and why and by what means this works to accomplish what it is said to accomplish.  In her book, religion (meaning, again, Christianity, not "religion" in general) is seen to justify slavery, abolitionism, Confederate nationalism, and American (federal) nationalism.  It therefore looses any actual explanatory capacity when treated in that way, and this problem is compounded when what is apparently justified by religion is something presented as external to religion.  What is internal or external - or typically religious vs. political - is extraordinarily hard to sort out when a seriously informed sense of Christianity is taken into account, yet that is precisely the work that needs to be done.  Gilpin Faust is here among the many, many contemporary historians whose work fails to demonstrate that the author has approached her topic with the kind of intellectual preparation necessary to do the work that she proposes to do.

On other accounts, her portrayal of Confederate nationalism is both interesting and largely persuasive.  It is simply that religion is such a central and important part of that historical phenomenon - as it was for the North as well, and the shaping of American nationalism (and especially American exceptionalism - of which Lincoln was a preeminant example).  The work of Eugene Genovese is a good counter-example to Gilpin Faust when it comes to the treatment of religion.  His approach could be improved upon, but it seems to me to quite studiously avoid the reductive genericism of treating religion simply as a mode of justifying various kinds of beliefs and behaviors.  And there is often in his work something approaching a theological sensitivity to nuance and complexity that is lacking in Gilpin Faust's work.
3434714
The widespread practice of sex selective abortion in Asia and other places is an important topic and this book deserves praise for creating awareness of it, but unfortunately this book falls short as a good overview of the issue.

First, she never explores the question of why people in India, China and the other countries examined have a preference for boys over girls, which you would think is the most important issue. Sex selection isn't occurring in many parts of the world, even though abortion is common. Despite her claims to the contrary, local conditions and choices made by individuals in these specific countries are central to this story.

Second, her decision to focus on the role of Western policies in lowering birth rates and promoting abortion overemphasizes the importance of the West and ignores other factors. The drop in birth rates and spread of abortion in Asia is not solely attributable to Western policies, but also has resulted from economic development, increased opportunities for women and local government initiatives. Misguided Western policies are only one part of the story, and probably not even the main part. I think this comes through if you read the analysis closely; an American official doling out $10 million dollars here and there, a Chinese government official reading Western population studies, and Western scientists exploring sex-selection technology in the 1970s do not really add up to Western policies playing a central role.

Finally, the last section on the consequences of large gender imbalance is very speculative. Again, the rise of militant nationalism and sex trafficking in China have many causes, and she describes these phenomena without making a convincing case that they resulted from the gender imbalance.

It is an important topic, but much of the book is anecdotal and speculative rather than driven by actual data, and I came away from this book without a great understanding of subject.
1453756
To be up front with readers, I need to disclose I was requested by the author to review this book.
Since I worked for a higher education institution for 18 years, I was interested in possible solutions to some of the critical problems facing this area.

Mr. Fishbein does a good job of identifying some of the main problems facing higher education today. The most obvious problem - exploding student debt - has been well documented. Also well documented have been the predictions that the student loan debt problem is the next major bubble to affect the U.S. economy much like the housing bubble that preceded it.

Much of Mr. Fishbein book reads like a basic economic text with plenty of theories on possible solutions. However, there is precious little documentation on how such solutions would be implemented other than idealistic statements of what could be done. For example, he states he would like to see colleges charge students based on their ability to get them jobs when they graduate. Nice thought, but how in the world would you implement something like that? The logistics would be very expensive and difficult to administer.

I give Mr. Fishbein credit for attempting to tackle a very complex problem, one that poses serious consequences for the future of the economy. Unfortunately, I'm not sure his major recommendations are practical. He sees benefits to establishing corporate universities but I'm unconvinced that abandoning public support for higher education is the best solution to the problem. Having worked at a public university I can document the many cases in which the reduction of tax support resulted in a substantial increase in the burden on students which in turn resulted in more student debt.

If we believe that public education is essential to producing a skilled workforce, then it is also imperative that some tax support is needed for the common good, just as a city supports a police force or a fire department. The degree of support and the degree students need to finance their own education through grants and loans, is the heart of the problem facing much of education today.

Best of luck to Mr. Fishbein in his business ventures.
2640731
[Note: This book was provided free of charge by Tyndale Press in exchange for an honest review.]

This particular book is written by a moderate Calvinist, which is something that often tends to concern me because I am a moderate Arminian and find that Calvinists are full of biased comments about free will and divine providence that show a distinct lack of intellectual honesty or fairness in discussion (which is ironic given their emphasis on divine justice). This book contains some of these problems, but they are mostly mild, as this is a book whose offensive and unbiblical Calvinism is mostly limited to the appendix and a few scattered references, throughout, and that makes this book a lot better, as its focus is largely on the biblical story itself, along with object lessons taken from the life of the author, the literature and speeches of others (like Billy Graham, for example), and thoughtful translation and commentary on the lessons of faith that we can take from the father of the faithful.

There were a lot of profound lessons that a reader can take from this book. The author seems to dwell particularly long on aspects of the family, given its importance in the story of Abraham and in our society. The author has some scathing things to say about people who endanger their teenage girls by subjecting them to bad social circumstances (by talking about Lots dysfunctional family), and also comments on such issues as single parenthood, the loneliness of being single, remarriage after being widowed, and the like. He talks about the difficulty and importance of seeking Gods will and not going ahead of God (using the example of Hagar). He spends a lot of time talking about unmerited grace, while also seeking to wrestle with the godly demands of righteousness, a common dilemma among Hellenistic Christians.

What makes this book a particularly compelling read is the fact that the author is clearly passionate about the issue of faith and exploring the deeper meaning of the speech and silence of the Bibles account of Abrahams life. The story itself has a strong narrative flow and some compelling passage analysis. The author also speaks with some honesty about his own struggles, although there are some readers who may find the authors comments rather scathingly anti-romantic (it seems to be a common problem among Calvinists) as well as somewhat priggish and self-righteous (as when the author claimed that the majority of his bunkmates in the military had sexually transmitted diseases). Those people who find the authors wit and commentary somewhat self-righteous will probably not appreciate this work, but those who are able to appreciate the authors somewhat awkward attempts at encouragement will find the prose compelling enough to serve as an inspiration to stay faithful and build trust and confidence in God, which is something we could all use more of.
2995924
I made it about a quarter of the way through the book and I just had to stop. While the writing was great, this book goes deep into subjects like rape, child molestation, suicidal thoughts, child neglect, depression, and eating disorders. I loved the author's story telling style, but the subject matter was way too much for me.