5 comments about Quitting the Nairobi Trio.

1. " Pure Imagination"

   Come with me and you'll be
   In a world of pure imagination
   Take a look and you'll see
   Into your imagination

   We'll begin with a spin
   Trav'ling in the world of my creation
   What we'll see will defy
   Explanation

   If you want to view paradise
   Simply look around and view it
   Anything you want to, do it
   Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

   There is no life I know
   To compare with pure imagination
   Living there, you'll be free
   If you truly wish to be

   If you want to view paradise
   Simply look around and view it
   Anything you want to, do it
   Want to change the world, there's nothing to it

   There is no life I know
   To compare with pure imagination
   Living there, you'll be free
   If you truly wish to be

   -Anthony Newley (1931-1999), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

   Here's exhibit A in the case for not judging a book by its cover, or, for that matter, its title. I first saw
   the book in a discount bin, spine out, and wondered how come I'd never heard of the Nairobi Trio.
   Intrigued enough to at least check it out, I was greeted by one of the most frightening images I've ever
   seen on a book jacket : a derby wearing, cigar smoking, guy in a gorilla mask, the whole thing tinted
   blue. Check out the author info on the back flap and there's a picture of a long-haired guy in a top hat
   who looks like a cross between Stevie Ray Vaughn and the actor David Warner. The book is
   eminently putdownable.

   But then I read a couple decent reviews and realized that the author is a columnist for the consistently
   diverting NY Press, so I figured it was worth a shot. Well, from the opening pages, where he analyzes
   Gene Wilder singing Pure Imagination as an endorsement of a schizophrenic world view, Jim Knipfel's
   memoir of a six month stay in a Minneapolis psych ward is at least wryly amusing, and often laugh out
   loud funny.

   Particularly funny, though it obviously should not be, is his account of how he ended up there,
   following a series of attempts to kill himself. In order to save his family the pain of dealing with his
   action, Knipfel, who at the time was a graduate student and teaching assistant in philosophy at the
   University of Minnesota, decided to try framing a student who'd been sending him love notes. In
   order to make it look like she had stalked and killed him, he tried slashing his back with a steak knife,
   with predictably feeble results. Then, having experimented previously with self-asphyxiation, he
   decided to hang himself, but found the experience much less pleasurable this time. So finally, he tried
   sleeping pills and whiskey, but somehow managed to stumble out into the hallway of his apartment
   building, but not before seriously damaging his liver.

   Taken to the hospital, he awoke screaming quotations from Nietzsche in rhymed German, and was
   diagnosed as suffering a "mixed-personality disorder." He was thought to have undergone some kind
   of "psychotic break" and was placed in a locked psychiatric ward to determine if he posed a further
   danger to himself or the general public. But he was not really given any therapy, nor treatments, his
   stay basically consisted of sitting around the ward, reading the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan,
   and then a ten minute session with a doctor once a week. Even these brief visits though seem to have
   been less about providing care than simply assessing his condition. Finally, with no warning and no
   apparent change in his mental status, Knipfel was moved to an open ward and then released, mostly
   because he reached the maximum stay allowed by state law.

   It would be easy enough for Knipfel to rail against the complete inadequacy of the care he received,
   and he'd be justified, but that's not what he's after here, mercifully. Instead he offers a rather calm and
   dispassionate account of his experience, of the folks he met, and of the process by which he decided he
   didn't want to kill himself anymore. This last is where the "Nairobi Trio" comes in. I'll not ruin it for
   prospective readers; suffice it to say that they were characters who dressed up as gorillas for a musical
   act in an old Ernie Kovacs skit, whose nearly Sisyphiphean plight Knipfel came to identify with.

   This is a minor but worthwhile book, less concerned with milking mental illness for sympathy or
   drama than with telling an interesting story and telling it with great humor. Knipfel uses an interesting
   technique in that he never actually tells the reader whether he thinks he was insane during this period
   of time, but all of the folks around him react to him in ways that suggest he was. Unfortunately, the
   one part of the story that does not work well is his extended recreation of various hallucinations he
   endured. These are fairly tedious. But I suppose if they made sense to us then we'd be in trouble,
   which maybe provides the answer to the sanity question.

   GRADE : B+




2. In the tradition of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

   This is a great memoir for those leary of "therapy" and various psychiatric treatments, hospitals, and institutions. Knifel, from my home state, was institutionalized after a rather colorful suicide attempt. He summarized the whole experience in the preface, by asking, "Did it to me any good?" "
   No, he answered, again, colorfully.

   Was he sane? I'm not sure that that means. (Though he was reading and rereading a book by Jacques Lacan, that post modernist loon who he admitted is incomprehensible....I don't know if anyone "sane" would put himself through that ordeal!)

   I love Knipfel's talent at describing all he sees...the strange patients, the wonders as to whether they're any less sane than the staff. Sure, they were a bit strange, idiosyncratic, as were the self-commited characters in "Cuckoo's Nest." But any need for an institution? Something to think about...

   By the way, the "Nairobi Trio" came from an old TV skit of Ernie Kovacs, and it became a metaphor for sanity or lack thereof. Wonderful.

   The only thing I didn't like was the last few pages. It was the narrative of a dream. Perhaps it meant something. He's such a talented writer that it doubtless did. But I find the whole dream analysis thing to be so ridiculous that I don't take it seriously at all and it turns me off. But until then I recommend this book particularly for those who are suspicious of present day psychiatric "treatment" or even interested in a little entertainment through some great writing.




3. A mad book by a level head. Jim Knipfel gives you a ground zero tour of a locked down psych ward where he spent 6 months (in his early 20's) after trying to off himself with pills and cheap scotch (not that a $20 bottle would've necessarily done the job). He would be the first to admit that he is inept at suicide, this being one (the slam dunk) in a long line of self-inflicted attempts on his life. Writing from the perspective of an older person, one who may not have exorcised all his demons but at least has figured out what to feed them so that he can focus on his writing, Knipfel has drawn an evocative sketch of a milieu most people only see dramatized in films.

   There is a cast of "Cuckoo's Nest" characters, each with their own quirks, but Knipfel shoots for empathy, or at least understanding, rather than condescension in his writing. It's the doctors and one particular orderly that make him leery; this orderly makes it a point to give him a guided tour of the electroshock therapy room and the straitjacket closet because he thinks of Knipfel as someone on the "outside". In fact, when he is eventually moved upstairs to the "open" ward (a case of false advertising, it turns out), he begins to miss his former community: the man on the stationary bike who pauses only to yell a bunch of four letter non sequitors and the woman whose makeup is applied in such a way that every day is Halloween for her. It is these descriptions, along with Knipfel's own psychedelic hallucinations that keep you engrossed. Despite having studied philosophy in grad school, thankfully he spins his tales with a layman's vocabulary.

   In two books, this one and the earlier "Slackjaw", another painful/funny memoir, Knipfel, if he doesn't quite make the case for suffering as a crucible on the path towards a more tranquil frame of mind, at least allows you to laugh about it in a way that doesn't make you feel bad about doing so. The story has one foot in Purgatory and the other in Hell, and over there, in the toll booth taking your quarters is Beckett. And the author is wearing a Residents T-shirt in the jacket photo, so what are you waiting for?




4. I mean that title ironically of course. This is not a confessional book. Nor is it one of those incredibly dated "there is no thing as mental illness" tripe like Ken Keesey or R.D. Laing. Knipfel is not so much a participant as an observer. I can tell you, from experience, this is exactly what mental hospitals are like. The everyday boredom from the drug lines to the bland meals served with plastic utensils to the patients zoning out in front of the tv, everything is captured perfectly. And not to give too much away but it made me want to check out some Ernie Kovacs skits. The experience in this book is at once mundane and awe inspiring.



5. This book deals specifically with Knipfel's attempted suicide and the resulting time he spent in the booby hatch. While still a very good book, it's not up to the standards of that first, solid writing effort he created in SLACKJAW. While on some levels NAIROBI is a more mature book, it lacks the emotional power of the initial memoir by him. Still and all, it's worth the time to pursue, and as it's only available remaindered these days, you have no excuse at all for not picking up a copy and giving it a whirl.

1 comments about House of Miracles.

1. I wrote this book as a huge thank-you to the professional people at the Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo, New York. This is a story about healthcare professionals who work day in and day out to do the best they possibly can to ensure that the women and children in the community receive the best healthcare possible. I have also included a number of patient stories that will certainly tug at your heart strings. From the foreword, written by Jill Kelly (wife of Hall of Fame Quarterback Jim Kelly) to the patient stories about Anthony Stinson, Alexis Grace Kilroy, and Olivia Stockmeyer - I believe that this book will find a true place in your heart. Thank you for reading along, and I appreciate the help I received in getting these important stories out there.

1 comments about Rowing Without Oars: A Memoir of Living and Dying.

1. Ulla-Carin Lindquist's poignant personal journey with ALS is a well written account containing many end of life issues - end of life as one knows it, end of dreams for the future, the beginning of a different way of framing events of the past, and the slow deterioration of health and abilities once taken for granted. Relationships are explored while emotions are uncovered or discovered. This book is filled with real thoughts from an intelligent woman undergoing tremondous hardship, yet done with beauty and hope.
   
   Ulla-Carin was a popular newscaster on Swedish Television.
   
   Three parts of the book stayed with me (might be a spoiler if you're planning on reading the book - I'm not sure). One, when her now grown daughter describes that all she ever wanted when her mom was a busy career newswoman was to have a full day to spend with her, and she never could (ouch!)but now that Ulla-Carin is sick she has all of the time each day to spend as she wishes within her limitations - another, when her boys play communication games (very touching and some just for FUN!) and a thought her young son introduces into her life, and which she introduces earlier but then she ends the book.

2 comments about The Curious Man: The Life and Works of Dr. Hans Nieper.

1. dr neiper will always be remebered to me as a true hero in alternative medicine! my spouse has multiple sclerosis and without his works, she would be alot worse off today! his findings stunned the american fda and they forbade him entrance into the U.S. because his cures were not approved by our ever protecting FDA. what is the FDA protecting us from? getting well? Thank you Dr.Neiper for your books,writings, and for helping my spouse!



2. This brilliant man was a threat to all conventional pharmacologically-driven medicine in this country and I am not surprised that they shut him down. His research found the answers to many of the major systemic diseases which are bankrupting this country such as: cancer, heart disease, diabetes and multiple sclerosis and his cures are still standard in Europe and Japan where Big Pharma has less power than here. Medical students owe it to themselves to investigate his thinking before they are sucked in to the blind, uncurious, dogma-ridden, superstitious and ineffective world of conventional medicine.
   John McClure, Belmont, Vermont

5 comments about His Brother's Keeper: A Story from the Edge of Medicine.

1. A few years ago Stephen Heywood was a great looking guy with a seemingly unending future. Raised among academia and European holidays, he chose a different path, becoming a carpenter.
   
   While other guys might make sure that the car was vacuumed out before a date, Stephen was concerned with having to start the car with his left hand, his right seemingly unable to turn the key. But, the object of his affection takes his hand anyway, beginning the journey together, towards...?
   
   The reader learns that Heywood's affliction is ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). Choices are to be made: To continue living life as he knows it, with needed changes along the way. The romance turns to marriage and later, he's blessed with becoming a dad. His brother leaves a career to pioneer in ALS research and fundraising.
   
   This story is one worth knowing and certainly one a reader will remember. While disease may tether someone to the ground like Gulliver, as long as the brain can think, think, think! the giant survives. -Laurel825



2. I read a review of this book and instantly wanted to read it. It is a heartbreaking story of an amazing family and the sacrifices one brother makes for another. It is well researched and although science is one of the major stars here, the author makes it understandable to the lay person. It made me laugh and cry along with the family - the kind of book you save to read again. I will follow Steven's progress with care and keep this family in my heart for long after the book is finished.



3. The book itself is compelling as it glides you through the journey Jaime Heywood (the protagonist) takes in order to engineer a cure for his brother who has been diagnosed with ALS.
   
   Weiner does a great job in showing the reader the reality and complexities behind scientific discovery and engineering. He also manages to showcase the giants in the world of neuroscience and neurology - the battle and fuse between academia and industry - the red line between ethics and empathy.
   
   Although the summary on the back cover claims the book is written in 'translucent prose' - this is only partially true. It is evident that Weiner exerts considerable effort to keep the techno-jargons as simple as possible, however it is hard to appreciate the scientific gibberish without any prior knowledge (or interest) in the neurosciences.
   
   Weiner writes in an incredibly personal manner and at times his bias and favourtism seems a little overwhelming. Nonetheless, Weiner is honest in the sense that he as a bystander (despite cheering the Heywoods on with all his might), is capable of comprehending the truth of the matter at hand - an incredibly interesting perspective.
   
   The book reads almost like a non-fiction. The Heywoods seem almost too good to be true (any other ordinary family would have fallen to tatters). Then again not many families have handsome business-minded chap with lucrative connections in the MIT and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author documenting their story...
   
   A good read.



4. A couple of years ago I had a cancer scare. There was a growth in my kidney that the doctors said was either a dense cyst or a tumor. So I had to have a CAT scan every six months for a year in order to monitor the growth. If it stayed the same, I was OK. But if it expanded, cancer was the most likely diagnosis. Fortunately, it turned out to be a cyst. But I came away from that experience with the knowledge that things can go terribly wrong in my body even if I do everything right. How do you deal with such a worst-case scenario, and how far do you go for a cure?
   
   So it was with Stephen, a healthy and active 29-year-old from a successful family of overachievers. One day, Stephen was unable to turn the key in the door of the house he had just finished remodeling. He dismissed it as fatigue, but his hand continued to weaken and other symptoms arose. Finally, he could no longer ignore signs that something was wrong. He was examined and given a terrible diagnosis: ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). His younger brother Jaime, an engineer with an entrepreneurial streak, immediately switched careers to genetic engineering and began a race against time to save Stephen. Jamie founded an ALS foundation and enlisted the aid of various medical and research experts to help him find a cure using gene therapy. As Stephen's health declined, the pressure to find a cure intensified, until the stress began to take its toll on everyone involved.
   
   I was afraid that "His Brother's Keeper" would be a turgid read, but I was mistaken. Jonathan Weiner writes in a clear fashion, and has the ability to make complex subjects easy to comprehend. The author uses Stephen's saga as a gateway to the world of cutting-edge medicine, including cloning, gene therapy, and the use of stem cells. He also reveals the arcane world of drug development and testing in the United States. Not surprisingly, medical ethics also come into play, such as the right and wrong of profiting via seeking cures, and experimental drug trials on dying humans who have no other options. But most compelling was the personal story of a family rallying to the side of a terminally ill member. Mr. Weiner was not exempt from tragedy either, for he parallels Stephen's fight with his mother's decline from a rare neurological disorder. His account of the moment when he discovered she was "not Ponnie and...not my mother (p 220)" is perhaps one of the most disturbing passages I've ever read in a non-fiction book.
   
   Despite its excellence, I would've liked two changes in "His Brother's Keeper." First, it seemed that Stephen was a cipher in his own story. He pops in and out of the proceedings at various stages of disability, and appears lost in the tornado of Jaime's quest, the author's personal struggles, and the medical discourses. Perhaps that was intentional, but knowing Stephen better would have made him a more compelling figure. Second, the book does not end with Stephen's inevitable death and its repercussions. I wanted the closure of finding out how Stephen and his family dealt with his passing and the aftermath. But even with these issues, "His Brother's Keeper" is a fascinating tale of one family's forced entry into a part of medicine that is almost science fiction in nature. Recommended.



5. I read this book solely based on the author's fantastic first book "time love and memory", but found this book to be utterly boring. Instead of an entertaining read filled with scientific facts, we get the tragic and predictable story. Given the slow pace of medical research on most complex disease, the odds of even a billionare being able to save a brother in a short time frame are near zero, let alone a family of more modest resources. The writing style seemed overly simplistic, and i kept thinking that there were many facets of the story that to me, would be much more interesting, but didn't get told for whatever reason. With great respect for the author, i found this particular book unappealing.

5 comments about It Takes More Than Guts.

1. This book was written from such a personal perspective. It took a lot of courage to be so open about how much Phil suffered during his illness. But the fact that he was so candid will be very helpful to anyone suffering with the same ilness or for that matter any chronic illness. Phil offered so much practical information as well as insight into how a patient can manage their own health care. I was especially touched by the relationships Phil established with his health care providers. What amazes me is how Phil took his experience and shared it with the world. He has reached out to other sufferers and tossed them a life line of support and a wealth of resources. I recommend this book to everyone who has ever experienced medical problems no matter what type.



2. Van Hooser does a wonderful job of detailing the day-to-day fears, realities, and inconveniences of living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease. I especially appreciated how he chronicles what he is thinking as the doctors speak. The reader almost feels like a fly on the wall. Anyone that has lived with IBD can relate to all he goes through to "mask" his illness, and the embarrassment it causes.

   This inspirational story of how one person copes with his disease is encouraging and uplifting. The honesty with which he presents his fears and worries is to be commended. The way in which he draws encouragement from his friends and family, but yet deals with his disease so individually, is unique. At times, I felt like I was reading about my own struggle with IBD, and it was encouraging to know that others feel the same way I have.

   I read this book through in less than a day. I have given it to friends to help explain what life with IBD is like. Van Hooser says it like it is, "crap" and all!




3. As I read Phillip Van Hooser's book, "It Takes More Than Guts," I felt as though Phillip had written about my struggle with Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD). His description of the disease is so accurate. I have suffered with ulcerative colitis, a form of IBD, for nine years. For the past two years, I have contemplated having my colon removed like Phillip did, but I have repeatedly talked myself out of it because I'm afraid of such an invasive surgery and all of the unknowns. Some of the areas that I especially liked about his book are that it takes you step-by-step from: being diagnosed with IBD, Phillip's experiences with IBD, Phillip's ultimate decision to have surgery, and finally the quality of Phillip's life after surgery. This book takes you through these steps in great detail. This book helped me make important decisions in my life concerning my battle against IBD, and I would highly recommend it to anybody suffering with this disease, or anybody who knows someone who has IBD-this book will allow you to better understand what your loved one is going through.



4. When I read this book I felt as though I were reading my own account of my illness, surgery and recovery. Mr. VanHooser tells from start to finish every step of this debilitating illness. This book is a must read for anyone that suffers from or has a loved one that suffers from IBS. The straightforward manner in which he shares his experience will hit home with anyone who is affected by this disease. It was so much more than the usual informational book, it gave all the information you need but also gifted you with an emotional and physical victory that gives you hope.



5. Being I am not a reader normally. It was very easy to understand. It normally takes me weeks to read a book in this lenght, it took me 3 days. To anyone that is going though the j-pouch surgery, I recommend reading this book!!

1 comments about The Excellent Doctor Blackwell: The Life of the First Female Physician.

1. ... the best biography of Elizabeth Blackwell ever written. ...
   
   Julia is a meticulous researcher. She personally visited every repository in Britain and America that has primary source materials relating to Blackwell. During these travels, she spoke on Blackwell at Upstate Medical University and the New York Academy of Medicine. Her use of the facts and images she found in these repositories is judicious, scholarly, and precise. Her narrative is abundant with quotes from diaries, correspondence, and other scarce or unique items, both manuscript and printed, all clearly documented. Each of these quotations is entirely germane to its matter at hand and most of them are quite fascinating. Every assertion Julia makes is well supported by primary sources.
   
   The book is also a real page turner. Julia paints a vivid portrait of an opinionated, controlling, ambitious, but benevolent, idealistic, and mostly optimistic Elizabeth growing up in a large, close-knit, non-conformist, intellectual, religious, abolitionist family characterized by intensely competitive sibling rivalry and beset by sine waves of financial prosperity and despair. The story reads so much like a novel that readers could sometimes forget they are reading history.
   
   Nevertheless, there are lacunae and ellipses. Expecting more detail in a certain section, I often felt frustrated when the narrative did not give it, but instead proceeded -- not abruptly, but decisively -- into another aspect of Blackwell's life. For example, Chapter Seven concerns her clinical training from March 9 to September 23, 1848, at "Old Blockley," the Philadelphia Almshouse, later Philadelphia General Hospital. Three times Julia mentions Blackwell's attending physician, "Dr. Benedict," with no first name and no further detail. Since he played a central role in Blackwell's life for six months and since she called him "the loveliest man the Almighty ever created," I would have liked to read a bit more about this "Dr. Benedict." [He was in fact Nathan Dow Benedict (1815-1871), a member of the University of Pennsylvania medical class of 1840, a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia since 1845, Amariah Brigham's successor at the New York State Asylum for Lunatics at Utica in 1849, and generally a rather interesting physician.]
   
   The book could easily -- and probably should -- be twice as long. Blackwell led a very exciting life which could be told in greater depth without boring readers. Julia's fluid and graceful writing style could support this extra length with no trouble. Blackwell's encounters with physicians like Benedict, Austin Flint, Clemence Sophia Lozier, and many others deserve more than just mentions and allusions.
   
   Blackwell did not become a physician because she was attracted to medicine or even to healing or compassion. Rather, she went into this field specifically to show the world what a properly motivated woman could achieve. Unlike the Seneca Falls feminists whom she criticized, she did not blame women's subservience and low social status on men. She believed instead that women's problems came mainly from their own lack of will to say and do what they most deeply believed was right. Moreover, she held that if women only exercised their natural moral superiority, infusing the ethos with maternal values, the world would be a better place.
   
   Julia excels at showing Blackwell's philosophical, political, and religious growth. She traces the character of Blackwell's moralism, which was woman-centered but not feminist, and the influence of François-Marie-Charles Fourier and William Henry Channing on the "Christian Socialism" that became her ideology.
   
   The scholarly apparatus is impeccable and the bibliography contains some real gems, such as Redelia Brisbane's biography of Elizabeth's sister Anna's lover, the Fourierist Albert Brisbane; John Closkey's history of Philadelphia General Hospital; and Flint's anonymous article, "Female Physicians," Buffalo Medical Journal, 3 (1848): 494-496.

No comments about Emotional Resonance: The Story of Helen Watkins, World Acclaimed Psychotherapist.

2 comments about My Breast.

1. "The surgeon took it out using a local, and when he was done, I asked to see it. It was the size of a robin's egg, with the gray brain-like matter which give it its name, medullary cancer. It rested in the middle of a larger ball of pink and white breast tissue, sliced down the center like a hard-boiled egg...and I looked at it hard, trying to figure it out. We did not know it was cancer until twenty minutes later, when they had almost finished stitching me up and the pathology report came back, and then I was especially glad I had looked. Mano a mano, eyeball to eyeball. This is a modern story. Me and my cancer. I won."

   Any book that starts off this way has got to be a terrific read and this one is. A sharp-eyed, witty, chin-up personal account by a journalist who keeps it close to home but happens to be a great mediator of the graphic details and the medical context. Not many breast cancer patients will be lucky enough to have the rare, unaggressive medullary form that Joyce Wadler thought she had, but even she had her diagnosis hedged later in the game and thus underwent the full round of surgery, radiation and chemo. Will appeal to: All breast cancer readers, well or ill.




2. Published in 1992, Ms. Wadler's story is engrossing, and especially interesting when she sticks to her cancer and its treatments, instead of digressing into descriptions of her rather flaky relationships with three, on-again, off-again boyfriends. Based on the author's upbeat yet realistic attitude, and the fact that she had an apparently slow-growing, "good" type of malignancy--medullary cancer--I would suppose that she is alive and thriving today.

   "My Breast" is a fast read, and one that would be particularly appropriate for anyone who has been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer. The more frightening aspects of Ms. Wadler's diagnosis and treatment are well balanced by her sense of humor and positive attitude.

4 comments about Reason for Living: A Burn Survivor's Story of Hope and Rebirth.

1. This book tells an amazing and inspiring story. It is told in straightforward terms. If you want to read a very literary biography by a master of style, this is not it. However if you want a highly readable book that relates an extraordinary and true tale of triumph and transcendence, this is for you. It is honest, earnest and lucid.
   
   In the late 1970s, George Pessotti had a fairly ordinary life. He lived with his wife and two children in a nice house in a suburb of Boston. He appears to have been hard working, entrepreneurial, and increasingly successful, when his life threatened to unravel and nearly came to an end. The pivotal life trauma was an explosion of flames that consumed his house and his body. This event, which he was not expected to survive, left him in a prolonged and painful struggle to overcome disfiguring and debilitating injuries. This was compounded by a series of betrayals, by his wife and a close friend in his business and more fires (this time, set deliberately).
   Pessotti tells us how, struggling through one disaster after another, he rebounded, building a new business, a new marriage and a new life. In addition he became deeply involved with other burn survivors in nurturing the Phoenix Society, an organization of burn survivors helping each other.
   
   Years ago, I read in a book by Kierkegaard that most of us would be unable to recognize a truly spiritually awakened individual if we looked right at them. The most remarkable individuals, suggested Kierkegaard, are often hidden in plain view. If this is true, the author is one of these people. Surviving blows far worse than those that many have cited as reasons for failure and despair - Pessotti has created a life filled with service, generosity and love for others - but in which he has not lost sight of himself either. He doesn't trumpet his goodness, but it is there to be seen by anyone who cares to look. He recently won the Phoenix Society's Alan Breslau award for service to burn survivors.
   
   This book will may be of greatest interest to those who care about the world of Burn Survivors, but it should be of great value to anyone interested in power of love and the human spirit.



2. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R154OKG7RGEG8S I read George's book when it came out and found it to be the most motivating and uplifting book I have ever read. Get it, read it, share it.
   
   Jerry



3. My father was in the middle of reading this book when I picked it up and read a few pages. 24 hours later I was left full of such admiration for this man George Pessotti. I felt blessed that he had the courage (yet after reading the book I should not of been surprised by his bravery) to share his deeply moving story of survival and faith. I am also very honored to follow the journey of such a beautiful love story that developed through his retelling. Thank You for this special story and for enlightening me on what burn victims really endure. Read this book, you'll say thank you too.



4. This is much more than just the story of how the author survived the horror of being seriously burned over a large portion of his body, although that story of determination and recovery is enough reason alone to read this book. But this is also the story of someone who refused to quit even in the face of a series of setbacks in his personal and business life that would have had most people taking to their beds and pulling the covers over their heads. All in all a most inspiring book and something to keep handy for those times when you're feeling like life is about to get you down. If George Pessotti could overcome the mountain of obstacles that were thrown his way in one short period, so can you!