J.C.

Edgy & Scattered

Revisado: 10-05-23

I'm deep-diving into the decision of whether or not to have children and this book found its way on the docket for my knowledge binge.

I have no idea what the point of it really is. Is there a thesis here? There are no clear takeaways for or against the decision to have children, and instead there it's a salad of loosely related topics explored superficially, with a large helping of attempted edginess.

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Great Summary of the Raid on Harper's Ferry

Revisado: 04-03-23

I don't know why it's requiring me to write something here, I just wanted to give this five stars.

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A Poorly Translated Literature Review

Revisado: 01-24-23

This has absolutely nothing to do with DBT skills and instead lists a bunch of superficial overviews on various facets of mental health.

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Scattered, uninformative, and pseudoscientific

Revisado: 01-19-23

This audiobook reads like an undergraduate thesis literature review. It defines emotions, moods, and personalities, briefly discusses the mind-body connection, and only near the final third of the book does it actually mention DBT.

What little DBT there is is discussed in a very superficial overview of different techniques and how they are categorized, with very little on how they are conducted.

Lastly, at the midpoint, the pseudoscientific Law of Attraction is promoted, stating that positive thoughts can positively influence your reality. There are some other concerning pseudoscientific riffraff, but this stood out.

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Distracted by disgusting swallowing noises

Revisado: 01-10-23

On content, briefly: Great information but far too many extreme examples, as others mention. The author states that 10% of individuals with BPD will commit suicide, yet 90% of her examples conclude with attempted suicide. it becomes predictable in a macabre way.

On audio: The narrator performs fine. Other reviews claim that she sounds a bit stilted or robotic, but given the subject matter, her performance is appropriate and satisfactory. However, the mixing and editing for the entire audiobook has to be the least professional and poorest quality I've unfortunately ever heard. Why? Every pause by the narrator is accompanied by a crisp, clear lip-smacking swallow of phlegm and saliva. It happens every other sentence without fail. I listen to audiobooks with hi-def ear buds and once I heard this, I couldn't unheard it. It was so revolting that I needed to increase my listening speed in order to hear it as little as possible. Gross!

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NOT for survivors; FOR public health professionals

Revisado: 01-05-23

Dr. Harris describes a meeting of colleagues, at one point in the story, where she presents the problem of rampant and pervasive Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), but her findings are ultimately pooh-poohed as "presenting the problem" but "not providing solutions". I cannot think of a more apt summation of this book for those actually seeking to accomplish what the book's subtitle is selling: "Healing the long-term effects of childhood adversity". If you are a survivor of repeat or complex trauma, do not search for answers or solutions here, though it may make you feel far less alone in what you suffer.

That said, as a public administration and policy professional who works at the CDC, and who is also interested in resolving issues stemming from my own childhood adversity, this book went from disappointing to very interesting. Dr. Harris is a former Surgeon General of California and an early pioneer in administering ACE testing on the clinical side, and makes a compelling case that we must unite against childhood adversity as the leading cause of mental, physical, and emotional ailments. If you are a student of public policy, public health, psychology, sociology, public administration, nonprofit sector programming, or simply in any medical profession, learning about Dr. Harris' memoir around integrating ACE scores is a must-read.

Quick Note: I listened at 2× speed as the performance is a bit stilted and has strange, unwarranted pauses in the midst of sentences. They are not pregnant for emphasis but rather appear to be unplanned pregnancies. Listening at a faster pace allowed me to more easily ignore the pauses, while the pauses themselves allowed me to more easily take in the narrative and information. Dr. Harris' own reproductions of her text are sometimes very entertaining and endearing, as she does add her own emphasis the way she intended in their writing.

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Adds Nothing New or Interesting to Ida's Life

Revisado: 12-06-22

This work strikes me as a vanity project by the author/narrator who, after a somewhat narcissistically self-descriptive opening and comparison to her great grandmother, Ida, discusses fairly well-known events in the life of Ida, flanked and filled with non-Ida fluff.

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Great content, poor audio mastery.

Revisado: 08-21-21

It has fantastic content about psychosomatic issues. The narrator is fine, however the audio quality sounds like he spoke far too closely to the microphone and, even worse, several large sectional of audio (30+ minutes each) are repeated - so chapters appear twice as long but you're really just listening to the same thing twice. probably 3-4 hours are repeated.

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Incredible Writing; Masterful Performance

Revisado: 09-29-20

Laurence Fishburne's performance breathes so much life into Malcolm X's already passionate, raw interpretation of the events of his life and how he came to be the brilliant moral entrepreneur for the plight of all African Americans. We're able to glimpse the true beliefs of Malcolm X without the tarnishing and scapegoating of mainstream media as a proponent and symbol of violence.

This is one of the best audiobooks I've ever heard.

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A bit dry but worth powering through for the gems

Revisado: 09-15-20

This is a very straightforward history of the first personal computers to present day, briefly touching on the industry giants (both individuals and organizations) that cultivated them.

Unlike "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" or "The Innovators", this book is largely absent of anecdotes and intrigue. instead, expect to read a series of years, facts, and names, as well as several computer specs.

Narration is monotonous but crisp. It may be the source material reflected in the reader, or a fact-based direction. I enjoy and am calmed by most British accents in narration, though some might find UK pronunciation jarring. Acronyms are pronounced as initialisms, i.e. "a. r. p. a." rather than "arpah" (ARPA).

Where the book shines is in its tidbits and trivia, where you briefly learn this or that nugget, like how the first Apple computers only had speakers to support the video game "Break Out".

It's worth the 11 hours or so for a general history but there are certainly more interesting listens.

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