Maggie

whereas Rapt starts slow it has a stronger second half. the first part reviews what we mostly already know. okay. fine. we need to recall common knowledge which is usually "dull" since we already know it. the second half of the book, however, finally provides the information and research for which the reader has come searching: 1) our attention and our choice of focus matter more than we realize in our technological world, 2) multi-tasking may be a myth, and 3) brain function studies are so worth knowing about. imo, then, the second half of the book makes the entire book worth an attentive listen. inquiring minds want to know. and some things are worth the extra time.

since i have no legal training, i too found breyer's ideas densely presented but still could detect the value of this audio, which is like having a very smart legal scholar spend time telling me what he thinks. with several listens, i will know far more than i did before and have spent my time well. i greatly appreciate breyer's efforts of forming up his thoughts and then presenting them in his own voice. his ideas help me to re-invest in hope that "truth will out" ... an excellent antidote to the "nattering nabobs of negativism" that stream from today's media.

excellent book ... a must read. some dated (psychological, social) information and the women surveyed are of the upper middle class which, of course, neglects the "rest of us" ... but it is intriguing to note that the conclusions still hold, after all these years. so read it for history and read it for wisdom.

where are the peers who should be vetting this writer's ideas before it is turned into a book?! this thesis is a matrix built on air and shadow being passed off as actual science. in addition to this nothingness, the writer returns us to the bad ideas of past chemical applications. better living through chemistry was duponts slogan from 1935-1986 with an increase in cancer and environmental pollution as the result. psychedelic experiments reached the heights in the 1960s with dead or brain dead folks taking the brunt of those "good times." the thalidomide birth defects (late 1950s) should be warning enough for the next century and a half! have we learned NOTHING?

and then there are the work's futuristic ideas ... based solely on the writer's imagination, not science ... not even hypothesis just absurd speculation. has anyone checked on this guys credentials?!

i'm especially disappointed because i was looking for an intelligent discussion of consciousness, the ego, and human nature. boy did i NOT get that hope fulfilled! this book was a total waste of my time, and the only audience for this book would have to be science fiction writers.

having now completed the second volume of proust's amazing seven volume work, i am more convinced than ever that the ONLY voice for proust's narrator is john rowe. more, please.

Proust's writing is perfect and John Rowe's delivery is perfect. settle into Swann's Way (Pt. 1 and Pt 2) as though you were settling into a huge comfy chair with all the time in the world stretched out before you and you will NEVER regret the time spent listening to this version of volume 1 of In Search of Lost Time. to the contrary. you will quickly purchase the other volumes, cancel all appointments, turn off the phone, give up on facebook, and listen with awe and keen interest to John Rowe read Marcel Proust. what more could a book and an audiobook deliver?! the time is most definitely not lost. ohmygoodness.

right up front: i'm not sure this book is for everyone. i think an experienced reader with an open mind can take on this very excellent story about the highs and the lows of life and be amazed at the interwoven structure of story and characters. highly recommended but only if you are up for grit, grime, and (hidden) glory.

the heroine of this book has a station in life that is below all the other people that she interacts with but amazingly is their superior in all respects. her private thoughts tell the reader of her superiority which may be a silent bolster to the character but comes across as sheer condescension. trapped in circumstances she takes the blows issued by the smarmy characters surrounding her who control her life while she makes her private judgments of them. that seems to be the entire purpose of our dear perfect Lucy Snowe in Villette. a structurally fully developed novel that disappoints in action and in verisimilitude.

alas. a young reader can learn how to be condescending and superior to others by reading villette.

HOWEVER, Mandy Weston, the reader, is EXCELLENT! one of the finest i've heard.

a travel journal. an historical account of ancient civilizations along this also ancient trade route. a cultural and an anthropological report. and an excellent reader. what more could the armchair traveler want in a book?! no regrets here! highly recommended.

an excellent reading of an excellent book. wow. the information is timeless because the way humans think and process information are constant. Kuhn has captured the essence of the (complex) process by which we think, test, and alter what we think we know.

excellent story and excellent reading by Martin Jarvis who totally brings the spoof alive. highly recommended for anyone with a sense of humor.