Rich Dad's Advisors®: The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins: The Invisible Code of Honor That Takes Ordinary People and Turns Them Into a Championship Team (Rich Dad's Advisors)

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Since Everyone is on a Team - Read this book

I don't recommend this book

Well written--but doesn't quite hit the nail on the head.

DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!!

Creating a Code of Honor

Rich Dad's Advisors®: The ABC's of Building a Business Team That Wins: The Invisible Code of Honor That Takes Ordinary People and Turns Them Into a Championship Team (Rich Dad's Advisors)
Blair Singer
Manufacturer: Business Plus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0446694088

Customer Reviews:

Since Everyone is on a Team - Read this book.......2007-01-25

I read this book initially with a focus on Business Team Building. I found it it simple and straightforward. I learned about creating a code of honor for myself first, and then for my family and business. It also helped me look at what I can do to improve me, create my own code and commit to the follow through and believe the results will follow.

Simple strategies - hard work to implement - abundant rewards for the people involved in the process.

I read a bunch of the negative reviews for this book and felt for my small invesment of time and money the book was worth 10 x's what I invested.

If you are a coach, parent, or in a business this will give you a new view on team builing for long term success.

I don't recommend this book.......2007-01-04

I am a big fan of Robert Kiyosaky, but I didn't like this book at all, what is a pitty, since I liked the other book by Blair Singer, Salesdogs. I expected much more from it. The author had only one idea -- "create a code of honor for your team" and wrote a book around it. Honestly, I don't think this book has anything to add. I suggest reading The Servant, by James C. Hunter instead. This one is a really awesome book about leadership.

Well written--but doesn't quite hit the nail on the head........2006-01-31

This is a very good book on the subject of finding the type of people to work for you. What it fails to do is to point out the specialty people required to get a business running and growing. That is what I expected, after reading the title. One thing that totally put me off as I read this book. The author spoke of owning a shipping business and having a time pressure to get a shipment loaded. All of the laborers pulled together as a team, working long hours and extra shifts without complaining or asking for overtime pay. Who made the lions share of the money? Not the ones who did the hard labor, but he as the owner. Compensation was something not mentioned in this book. I very much like the concept of a 'code of honor', in which this book was almost completely based. I am still not really sure, after reading this book, what the difference between a code of honor and a mission statement is. A couple of great books that also cover this concept very well are: On My Honor I Will, and The Lost Secret of Phenomenol Success. This kind of book makes you think about your values, and what you want from life. I recommend it. Just remember, it may not be what you expect.

DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!! .......2005-07-05

I am an entrepreneur and wanted some inspiration, sadly I just found a lot of crap in this book. There's nothing I can apply, anyone can come up with a book better than this. just by reading the index you know this book was written by someone who has no idea about business. I'll write it for you:
chap.1 why do you need a code of honor?
2 who you sorround yourself with will determine your wealth and success
3 creating your code of honor
4 what's your personal code
5 how to enforce the code to ensure championship play
6 leadership that teaches other
7 the biggest impact of the code
8 ensuring account. loyalty and trust
9 standing in the heat with the code
conclusion it's your time to have a code

the book is full of phrases like: (please ask yourself if you need to buy a book to learn this:)
"nature whats you to go for it" pg 122
"when in doubt support each other" pg 115
"accountability is in the stats, no stats no results" pg 108
"the code is an awesome recruiting tool and qualifier"
"steps for creating a code: 1 create a code in a sane environment"
"sample code: 1 never abandon a teammate in need"

Creating a Code of Honor.......2005-05-23

This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I was expecting a book on how to pick advisors like accountants, real estate brokerss, lawyers, etc. However this book was about creating a team that works according to a "code of honor" that is created by the team.

Essentially the code of honor is a set of rules that the team creates and lives by in order to maintain a high level of accountability and performance. The idea makes sense as teams and people and general need rules by which to live by. Author Blair Singer does a good job of organizing the information and presenting it in an easy to read fashion.

On the downside, I wish there were more examples in this book to illistrate the points he's makes. A list of rules would have been nice, or the lists of rules that some other companies have come up with.

However other than that, the book is well done. Anyone wanting to build a team or wanting to improve the accountability of their existing team should pick up this book. 4 out of 5 stars.

Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City: New York, The Building, City People Notebook, Invisible People (Will Eisner Library)

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Start spreading the news.

Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City: New York, The Building, City People Notebook, Invisible People (Will Eisner Library)
Will Eisner
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 039306106X

Book Description

"An American storyteller, like Ray Bradbury, like O. Henry."—Neil Gaiman

With an unparalleled eye for stories and expressive illustration, Will Eisner, the master and pioneer of American comics art, presents graphic fiction's greatest celebration of the Big Apple. No illustrator evoked the melancholy duskiness of New York City as expressively as Eisner, who knew the city from the bottom up. This new hardcover presents a quartet of graphic works (New York, The Building, City People Notebook, and Invisible People) and features what Neil Gaiman describes as "tales as brutal, as uncaring as the city itself." From ancient buildings "barnacled with laughter and stained with tears" to the subways, "humorless iron reptiles, clacking stupidly on a webbing of graceful steel rails," Will Eisner's New York includes cameo appearances by the author himself; several new illustrations sketched by Eisner, posthumously inked by Peter Poplaski; and three previously unpublished "out-takes"—a treasure for any Eisner fan, and sure to become a collectible. Introduction by Neil Gaiman.

Customer Reviews:

Start spreading the news........2007-09-06

This book collects four of Will Eisner's comic books. I hesitate to use the term "graphic novels" because these aren't novels, they are short stories. Some of them are very short, being one page vignettes. The books collected are New York: The Big City, The Building, City People Notebook and Invisible People. Will Eisner was truly one of the geniuses of the comic book artform. This book tells the stories of regular city dwellers. Some of their stories are funny, some of them are tragic. But they are all worth reading. Highly recommended.

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The Invisible Thread, Jana C.
Always Bound to Her Japanese Ansestry (Jody F.)
Life of a Japanese American during Relocation
Not so invisible any more, thank goodness
Amazingly Addicting!

The Invisible Thread: An Autobiography
Yoshiko Uchida
Manufacturer: HarperTrophy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0688137032

Book Description

Growing up in California, Yoshi knew her family looked different from their neighbors. Still, she felt like an American. But everything changed when America went to war against Japan. Along with all the other Japanese-Americans on the West Coast, Yoshi's family were rounded up and imprisoned in a crowded. badly built camp in the desert because they"looked like the enemy." Yoshiko Uchida grew up to be an award-winning author. This memoir of her childhood gives a personal account of a shameful episode in American history.

Customer Reviews:

The Invisible Thread, Jana C........2007-01-08

The memoir, The Invisible Thread, tells the story of a young Japanese girl during the 1930's. Yoshiko Uchida goes through so many unjust events in her younger ages due to the fact that she is Japanese even though she is a Nisei, the second generation of Japanese immigrants. Through Yoshiko's eyes her life, with her older sister and parents, was full of hardships and pain. "Do you cut Japanese hair?" was one of the embarrassing questions Yoshiko had to ask. This capturing novel is an excellent example of a Japanese girl's life during and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
I grew to love the description of a happy Japanese family living in Berkley, CA. That family was Yoshiko Uchida, her daring older sister, Keiko Uchida, and their two loving Issei ( first generation) parents. The Japanese racism doesn't really stand out in the beginning but it later jumps right in and turns Yoshiko's life upside down. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor many Japanese were suspected and questioned, then taken away for labor. The Uchida family was one of the unlucky families where the father was taken away to work in Montana and the rest of the family were evacuated to a Tanforan where they lived for five long months. After reading these few chapters of horror and despair I compared it to the blissful and loving beginning and realized how this change that had nothing to do with them directly almost destroyed them.
In the story Yoshiko Uchida does a fair job of describing the characters, that are not only herself, in a realistic way. Keiko, a curious and inquisitive young being is always wondering and fully spirited throughout the book in rain or shine. She has a strong will but also a level head most of the time. Mama's characteristics were rarely mentioned in the story but it is perceived that she is a cheerful housewife and, along with Papa, likes to keep in touch with everyone they know be it a good friend or just a person on the bus. Papa is a social and popular man and organizes a local church, with Mama's help, for many families. Yoshiko is mentioned many times as a fun yet shy child. She can be quite strong at times when personal things are in danger to her but most of the time she is quiet and watching beneath Keiko's shadow. This memoir doesn't read as a regular story but more as a historical novel in which the characters are open to the imagination in their description but in setting in history their characteristics are limited and more precise.
This story is wonderfully written in a true voice from the actual time period. The problems most Japanese families faced were mentioned and how the particular Uchida family dealt with them. Jam packed with the narrative were many interesting facts that helped understand the story more fully. Ms. Uchida really captured the feeling of her younger life during the 1930's: angst, pain, sorrow, happiness, all of it. I recommend this book to readers of all ages because there is absolutely no reason to not read this amazing book that's filled with such detail and description.

Always Bound to Her Japanese Ansestry (Jody F.).......2006-12-13

Although she wanted to be just American, "a long invisible thread... always bound," Yoshiko Uchida to her Japanese ancestry. In the Invisible Thread: a Memoir by Yoshiko Uchida, Uchida, a second-generation Japanese-American, lives a normal American childhood life living with her family, attending school, dreaming to be a teacher and encountering little racial prejudice in Berkley, California. However, everything changes when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor in 1941. Accordingly, President Roosevelt ignores the Japanese-American's constitutional rights by forcing, "eviction of all Americans of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast," only because they looked like the enemy. I loved The Invisible Thread, because Yoshiko Uchida vividly shares how she and her family struggles and deals with life imprisoned in crowded and isolated Japanese concentration camps and teaches great lessons to her readers.

Throughout the entire book, Yoshiko Uchida provides adjectives, comparisons, similes and metaphors to give detailed descriptions of the surroundings. When she and her family are in the bus that relocates them from California to Topaz, Utah, the concentration camp, in the book she said, "the bus made a sudden turn into the heart of the sun-drenched dessert, and there, in the middle of nowhere, were rows and rows or tar-papered barracks. They looked like small match boxes laid out neatly on a vast white table." She continuously describes Topaz, Utah so well that the pictures at the back of the book look almost exactly like what I had envisioned.

I also love the book because it teaches me many valuable lessons. Yoshiko Uchida is inspiring to me because even though she endures racial discrimination during and after the war, because of her Japanese face, she still has the strength and pride to pursue her dream to become a teacher. Additionally, reading this book has made me appreciate and enjoy my freedom more. Always taking my freedom in America for granted, I never realized that it could be snatched from me any day.

In this moving memoir, Yoshiko Uchida recounts the events preceding, during and following the attack of Pearl Harbor in her life. It also focuses on how she and her family overcame the hardships in this ordeal. I encourage people to read, The Invisible Thread, because it will show you how life for Japanese-Americans dramatically changed during WWII. I would highly recommend this inspiring book for its vivid descriptions, details and strong messages it sends out to all ages.

Life of a Japanese American during Relocation.......2006-03-12

I found this book intriguing. Uchida vividly explains her childhood as a Japanese American and illustrates the need to conform, like any other young child. As she ages, she realizes that her heritage can never be erased, and she is soon penalized for this, a thing she cannot help.
I enjoyed how Uchida used words to show how innocent she was when she was a child. The beginning of this book shows how, even if Yoshiko wanted to be like other girls, there were still places that she could not go because of her face. She is just like any other girl, living a good life in a good, accepting city.
I disliked that, towards the middle of the book, about when Uchida and her family are sent to the camps, the author's use of words describing her feelings stops. Instead, she tells more about her surroundings, and less of how she feels about how America has betrayed her and her family.
The Invisible Thread gives an inside look into the lives of the Japanese Americans forced to make their way in sub-standard living conditions. The vivid language used to describe her family's guests, habits, and unforgettable moments make the book worth the read. I would recommend it to anyone interested in World War II, Japanese American relocation after Pearl Harbor.

Not so invisible any more, thank goodness.......2005-06-26

In addition to her writings about the Japanese and Japanese-American culture, Yoshiko Uchida wrote several fiction books that drew from her experiences as a Japanese American during World War II. The Invisible Thread, written for young adults, is an autobiography that tells of her life before, during her family's internment in a camp in Utah.

Although her parents were Japanese citizens, Yoshi and her sister were born in the United States. They were as American in their speech and culture as the Swedish family next door to them. Yet, because of their appearance, they faced discrimination even before the war. The American government violated the Japanese Americans' constitutional rights when they removed them from their homes. The conditions under which they were forced to live were deplorable.

The author chose not to dwell on the horrors of that period of her life. Although she clearly describes their relocation and the stable and barracks they lived in, her emphasis is more on family life and the positive things they did to keep their lives as normal as possible. She does a fine job of describing her own confusion, her loyalty to her family and friends and her loyalty to the government that betrayed them.

This book is on our local school system's 2005 Summer Reading List. With the current backlash against Arab Americans, this is an important book for children to read. It is only through education and tolerance that we have a hope of avoiding past mistakes.

Amazingly Addicting!.......2005-05-16

I'm only 12, so if you do not wish to read my review, I understand. However, I still wish to express my feelings of this book. I, normally, am not the type of person who reads autobiograpies or biographies, so I wasn't very excited when I discovered we would be starting a unit on them in school. However, the further I read in this book, the less "dull" it seemed. Though I didn't find the beginning very interesting, I quite enjoyed he book as I read on. I soon felt what I think the author did at that time. I was ashamed to discover what the United States Government did to the poor Japanese-Americans. I found that this book was hard to put down, even at 1:00 A.M.

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My review
Things not seen
Things Not Seen
Not for 5th graders
this is the best book ever!!!

Things Not Seen
Andrew Clements
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0142407313
Release Date: 2006-04-20

Amazon.com

Teens, especially those not in the über-popular set, know all about feeling invisible. But what would happen if you actually did wake up invisible one day? Fifteen-year-old Bobby is faced with this curious predicament in Andrew Clements's compelling novel Things Not Seen. Doing his best to adapt, Bobby informs his parents and grows more and more frustrated as they try to control his (unseen) life. Attempting to take matters in his own hands, he ventures out--naked--to the library, where he meets a blind girl who becomes a natural confidant. The ensuing drama, involving a nationwide search for other invisible people and a break-in to the computer database at Sears, Roebuck legal department headquarters ("News flash: Invisible people make excellent spies and thieves") is authentic enough in detail to allow readers to overlook the nuttiness of it all. Teens will identify with Bobby's experience of being essentially invisible. Highly recommended. (Ages 11 to 15) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

Fifteen-year-old Bobby thinks he knows what it's like to be invisible-he's used to being ignored by the popular kids at school (especially the girls). Even his parents hardly seem to notice whether he's home or not. Then one morning, Bobby wakes up to find that he IS invisible. For real. He can't stop wondering if he'll ever reappear-especially when his parents wreck their car and wind up in the hospital. Now Bobby is all alone. How can he survive in a world where he can't be seen? One thing's for sure: Bobby's not going to just wait around to see if his body will decide to show up again on its own. He's got to take action. Fast.

Customer Reviews:

My review.......2007-08-28

This novel was an exciting read. All though the novel itself is rather short the plotline is exciting and intriguing as the story slowly reveals what happens to Bobby Phillips, the main character and his new friend Alicia. It's an adventurous science fiction book that easily captures young readers minds and the reader is taken on a ride with the characters. It was a great story because it was a subject that chilren can relate to. The characters could've been described better in terms of physical and emotional attributes. The scenery was well depicted though and it was overall a interesting read.

Things not seen.......2007-05-24

This is my rewveiw of things not seen. I liked this book because it was funny and a mystery. It is about a boy who wakes up one morning and finds that he cant see him self. What he try's to do is shocking at the end. I recommend this book to any one. I did not like this book because I don't like mystery books. I hope you like it.

Things Not Seen.......2007-05-22

Bobby had been having a fairly normal life, going to school, both parents working, a few friends, until one day, when he woke up, he wasn't there. He was invisible. Bobby ventures out, never knowing what would happen. Reading the book will make you mind soar. Things Not Seen, by Andrew Clements, was one of the most thrilling books I have read. You never know what is going to happen. There is a combination of exciting and funny. Bobby's adventures will make you feel like you are actually in the book, since it is so well written. I hope to read it again, maybe catching a few more details. This book is great for 5th through 10th grade because it is long, and a bit challenging to read. There are parts someone younger may not understand, so they shouldn't read it. It is interesting though out the whole book, keeping you reading. The author makes the book very detailed, so you can understand it. He also ends the chapters with you wondering what will happen next? I definitely recommend Things Not Seen, by Andrew Clements, for anyone who likes stories about someone having a strange life, and who might have one them selves.

Not for 5th graders.......2007-05-20

On Chapter 10 - 11. It talks about Bobby Phillips meeting a blind beautiful girl name Alicia. Now because Bobby is invisible , he has to be naked. As he walk Alicia home, a younger boy did not see Alicia coming and as Bobby held on to Alicia's elbow to balance her to avoid falling since she is blind , The younger boy yelled and gave a bird but as Alicia touches Bobby and noticed he was naked. Alicia got mad thinking he is a pervert till she start asking a man crossing by if he can see Bobby, the man said no and does not know what she is talking about. This convinced Alicia that Bobby is telling the truth. Anyway, they went to Starbuck , talk and became friends promising not to say anything about Bobby.
===================

I am 42 and reading this two chapters to my 5th grade son made me uncomfortable. But since this was issued by the school and he needed to write a paragraph about it, this was written. The next day , the teacher spoke to me about it and I told her that this book was issued by the school. She was surprised so was the principal. I gave them the book and told them which chapter. At least now I know that this book is not appropriate for 5th graders. And my instinct were right.

Its up to parents out there if they want their kids to read this book. I put it at one star because this book is a bit boring and for me its not appropriate for my 11 year old son to read.

this is the best book ever!!!.......2007-05-17

Things Not Seen, is a book that takes place in modern day Chicago in a suburban town. It involves a teenage boy named Bobby who one day wakes up and is invisible. He is the one that has to figure out what happened to him with the help of his family and a friend or 2 that he meets along the way. He ends up going through many things such as breaking into files and going agents what people say. Bobby is a very independent and shy guy. Going through his experience got a lot more self confident and more thank full. I think this is a great book because it has a lot about friendship and how some teenagers have it way worse then you. This book is good for slow readers and people that like plots, but if you like to get right to the point you might want to try a different book. This book is not a really intense mystery but it does involve some thinking. I would recommend this book to every one and every one should give it a try.

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Good Story but the Invisible Factor Plays No Part in the Plot
Evil needs to be acknowledged and dealt with
Courtesy of Teens Read Too
A superbly crafted mystery

The Invisible
Mats Wahl
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0374336091
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Book Description

One ordinary Monday morning in May, Hilmer Eriksson walks into his high school classroom and discovers that he has become invisible. No one can see him, no one can hear him. In fact, a police detective named Harald Fors arrives at school that very morning to investigate Hilmer’s disappearance. The boy has no idea what’s going on, but he’s frightened, and he’s starting to forget things – including what happened to him a few nights earlier. Detective Fors suspects foul play, and those suspicions lead him – trailed by the ghostlike presence of Hilmer – to a group of skinheads. These unpopular, disaffected kids are very vocal about their Nazi sympathies. But how does Hilmer’s life intersect with theirs? As Fors scours the village and interviews area residents for clues, he begins to piece together the puzzle of Hilmer’s disappearance. Meanwhile Hilmer waits, silently, to discover what has happened to him.

In this riveting mystery set in northern Sweden, Mats Wahl deftly alternates between the policeman’s and the victim’s points of view, as the story of a missing-persons case shifts with a sad inevitability into a heartbreaking murder investigation.

Customer Reviews:

Good Story but the Invisible Factor Plays No Part in the Plot.......2007-06-23

I really enjoyed this book but the factor that attracted this story to me in the first place (an invisible kid who can't communicate with the world but finds out there's a police search for him) didn't play much of a part in this story. Don't get me wrong I still enjoyed this short story length read, but I feel many people may purchase this novel and feel slightly cheated being that other than for marketing the book, Hilmer being in the story as an invisible entity is pointless as he does not alter the investigation, interact with anyone or have any purpose for the plot, in fact there's very few paragraphs he even appears in at all. The story would have flowed smoothly, in fact smoother without him as his being in the present as an invisible one only lets the reader know for sure something bad has happened to his real self and he's not just a runaway as a lot of the townfolk want the detective to believe. Still lets be honest not many of those of us who read the book probably would have done so without this clever or unethical marketing twist but the reputation of the author may well suffer for future work due to this.

The Invisible is an enjoyable read though, complete with a main character Detective Herald Fors who like any real cop does has his flaws. His frustrations at the incompetent and selfish small town residents who prefer to brush a problem under the carpet rather than find a missing boy so their tourism marketing campaign to the Germans isn't messed up is brilliant reading. Tackling bigotry and hatred but explaining why the main bigot actually developed this rationale was also very well done. I would highly recommend this book and read more novels by this Swedish writer but I think they took a big risk with the minimal invisible non essential plot factor which may put a lot of readers after that sort of thing off side.

Read the book, it's good!

Evil needs to be acknowledged and dealt with.......2007-06-02

As Detective Fors conducts his investigation, he turns up undercurrents of evil in the town, which have mostly used Neo-Naziism as a vehicle for their problems. Officials of the town have endeavoured to hide those traces, and look the other way.

Had it been met and fought, things might have been different - but this is fiction, and designed to get one to think about what might have been.

There is a saying that runs somethng like, "To free the guilty is to condemn the innocent." Or, as Albus Dumbledore put it, "Remember Cedric."

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-05-19

Hilmer walked into school on Monday morning like normal, but quickly discovers that this isn't going to be a normal day.

No one can see him. No one can hear him. Hilmer is invisible. Being invisible is a big enough problem on its own, but what makes it worse for Hilmer is the fact that he has no idea why he is invisible.

It doesn't take long for Hilmer to find out that everyone thinks he has disappeared and that many people suspect foul play.

Detective For is in charge of Hilmer's disappearance case. Hilmer decides if he stays close to him, he'll find out what happened and where his body is. Detective For hits many obstacles while trying to figure out what happened on the last day Hilmer was seen. Several local officials encourage Detective For to consider Hilmer a runaway and to not look too deeply into the mystery because it might look bad for the community. The community leaders are hoping the town will become a tourist/vacation spot. Turning up anything negative will bring in the press and possibly turn potential visitors away.

Getting anyone to talk about what is going on in the school is difficult. Detective For can clearly see that Hilmer's locker has been recently painted in order to cover up graffiti. The word "Traitor" is scrawled on top of the new paint job, giving the detective a place to start. He finds out that there have been altercations between many of the locals and the immigrants moving in from other countries. After questioning students and teachers, Detective For learns that Hilmer defended one of the immigrants shortly before his disappearance.

Issues of prejudice, white power, immigration, and hatred surface during the investigation. Can Detective For put together all the clues in time to help Hilmer become visible again?

THE INVISIBLE by Mats Wahl is now a major motion picture; however, after reading a synopsis of the movie, so much has been changed that it doesn't resemble the premise of the book. It would be fair to say that the movie is LOOSELY based on the book of the same name.

Reviewed by: Karin Perry

A superbly crafted mystery .......2007-04-14

Just how do you go about solving a murder - especially when the victim is supposed to be you? When Hilmer walked into his high school and what seems like a perfectly ordinary day, he finds that he's somehow turned invisible to everyone around him! A police detective arrives at school to investigate a teen's disappearance and in the course of his investigation, turns up undercurrents of bigotry and violence. Hilmer can't remember what happened to him, he can only follow the detective as clues are uncovered - and time is of the essence if what began as a missing-persons case turns into a murder investigation. An especially recommended addition to both school and community library fiction collections, "The Invisible" is a superbly crafted mystery that will leave young readers raptly engaged in the unfolding and deftly crafted story.

Kupilikula: Governance and the Invisible Realm in Mozambique

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Kupilikula: Governance and the Invisible Realm in Mozambique
Harry G. West
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226894053

Book Description

On the Mueda plateau in northern Mozambique, sorcerers are said to feed on their victims, sometimes "making" lions or transforming into lions to literally devour their flesh. When the ruling FRELIMO party subscribed to socialism, it condemned sorcery beliefs and counter-sorcery practices as false consciousness, but since undertaking neoliberal reform, the party—still in power after three electoral cycles—has "tolerated tradition," leaving villagers to interpret and engage with events in the idiom of sorcery. Now, when the lions prowl plateau villages ,suspected sorcerers are often lynched.

In this historical ethnography of sorcery, Harry G. West draws on a decade of fieldwork and combines the perspectives of anthropology and political science to reveal how Muedans expect responsible authorities to monitor the invisible realm of sorcery and to overturn or, as Muedans call it, "kupilikula" sorcerers' destructive attacks by practicing a constructive form of counter-sorcery themselves. Kupilikula argues that, where neoliberal policies have fostered social division rather than security and prosperity, Muedans have, in fact, used sorcery discourse to assess and sometimes overturn reforms, advancing alternative visions of a world transformed.

Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People

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A Study of the Social Conditions of TG People in N. America
A Mixed Reaction

Invisible Lives: The Erasure of Transsexual and Transgendered People
Viviane Namaste
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226568105

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Invisible Lives is the first scholarly study of transgendered people—cross-dressers, drag queens and transsexuals—and their everyday lives.

Through combined theoretical and empirical study, Viviane K. Namaste argues that transgendered people are not so much produced by medicine or psychiatry as they are erased, or made invisible, in a variety of institutional and cultural settings. Namaste begins her work by analyzing two theoretical perspectives on transgendered people—queer theory and the social sciences—displaying how neither of these has adequately addressed the issues most relevant to sex change: everything from employment to health care to identity papers. Namaste then examines some of the rhetorical and semiotic inscriptions of transgendered figures in culture, including studies of early punk and glam rock subcultures, to illustrate how the effacement of transgendered people is organized in different cultural sites. Invisible Lives concludes with new research on some of the day-to-day concerns of transgendered people, offering case studies in violence, health care, gender identity clinics, and the law.

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A Study of the Social Conditions of TG People in N. America.......2002-02-07

First, this is one of the few volumes I've read where the situation of transgenderists/transsexuals in Canada is explored with a certain depth. The third part of the book (Research) is invaluable.

Thanks to Dr. Namaste, we have an overview of the situation of TG/TS people with respect to:

Violence: Chapter 6, Genderbashing, focuses on the situation of TG sex-workers in Montréal and how they're related to the gay communities by the police -basically, how they are erased from view in statistics and studies;

Access to government programs in Canada: Chapter 7, Access Denied, deals with the policies of the GIC of the Clark Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto -how in the screening process and help system the input of the TS hirself is ignored (only three GIC clinics in Canada can recommend a person for government-sponsored SRS: in Toronto, Montréal and Vancouver);

Treatment of TS/TG people in these clinics: Chapter 8, Clinical Research or Community Health? -this chapter mainly delves into the way GICs are seen by the people receiving or who have received services at them at some point, in this sense it is a first;

The bureaucracy trap and how it influences care: Chapter 9, The Administration of Erasure -again centred on HIV/AIDS as a problem among TG sex workers in Québec, although the difficulties in dealing with the system are also explored.

Overall, this book is a must for any serious researcher and transsexuals/transgenderists living in Canada. The theories in the book itself (after all, Dr. Namaste is a semiotist with training in sociology) come across as rather vague and not well-founded on the research presented, in my opinion. Even so, it is a good starting point for future research.

A note: I found quite upsetting the statistics of "gaybashing" as directed to TG people. It seems that people attack others not on the basis of their sexual preferences as much as they do for their perceived gender identity. I.e., a gay male who acts masculine is less likely to be attacked than a male-to-female transgenderists who is attracted to women. That you give the "wrong" public image is what irks bigots the most. And even worse in the case of TG/TS visible minorities enaged in the sex trade:

"At one meeting I attended, residents discussed various strategies that could be employed to evict sex workers from the area. One man stood up and spoke about his plan to take a baseball bat and assault two Haitian transgendered prostitutes, known to work on the corner of Ontario and Panet Streets. Like many perpetrators of queer-bashing who target black gay men as easy victims, this attacker viewed black transgendered women as those least likely to retaliate and most worthy of assault. Notwithstanding the fact that such violence occurs within the gay village, it cannot be explained as an instance of homophobia. Rather, this proposed assault emphasizes the importance of accounting for gender, race, class, and public space in an analysis of violence." [Invisible lives, p. 154.]

Dr. Namaste had also found that gay males "of colour" are more likely to be attacked within the "gay villages" (20% vs. 9% for Caucasians). Since TG/TS males are perceived as "gay" so far they don't pass, for TG visible minorities it's like having three strikes against: colored, gay and transgendered.

People belonging to minority ethnic groups are also much less likely to go to the police -the worst horror stories of police abuse in this book are told by visible minorities, in one case a Native TS woman who was not a prostitute: "People like you should be killed at birth." [p. 169.] If after being the object of attack by a group of bigots, you are going to be attacked by the police, then what's the point of calling them?

This is one of the very few books that at least explores in part what it means to be TG and coloured in a sexist/racist society like Canada.

A Mixed Reaction.......2001-09-06

Namaste's main thesis -- that transsexuals are produced through systems of erasure -- is intriguing, and she does a fairly good job of arguing for it, especially in the final "Research" section of the book. Namaste also does a good job of showing how the Canadian trans scene is importantly different from that in the U.S. Unfortunately, Namaste has a tendency to misrepresent other authors, she falsely represents transsexuals as if we all agreed with one another when it suits her purposes, she over-simplifies in describing queer theory and social sciences, her writing is repetitive at places, and she often jumps to unwarranted conclusions. Still, anyone with a serious interest in transgender studies should read this book.

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Invisible Minority: Urban Appalachians
William W. Philliber , and Clyde B. McCoy
Manufacturer: Univ Pr of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Emigration & Immigration | Administrative Law | Law | Subjects | Books

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The Osage and the Invisible World: From the Works of Francis LA Flesche (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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Non-Native and Native alike should not pass this one up!

The Osage and the Invisible World: From the Works of Francis LA Flesche (Civilization of the American Indian Series)
Francis LA Flesche
Manufacturer: University of Oklahoma Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0806131322

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Non-Native and Native alike should not pass this one up!.......1999-04-02

This book is essential in the library of all Native Americans and Non-Native Americans alike. Forget the old stereotypes, this work based on the intense research of Francis LaFlesche, an anthropologist and Native himself, blows all pre-conceived notions of Native thought and society. The intense and complex cosmological musings harken back to the Greek philosophers and Eastern Taoism and Confucianism. Finally something that truly shows the complexity and diversity of the original peoples of this continent.

Invisible Natives: Myth and Identity in the American Western

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Invisible Natives: Myth and Identity in the American Western
Armando Jose Prats
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

History & Criticism | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half Century (Genres in American Cinema)

ASIN: 0801487544

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