Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Date Published: 2000-08-01
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Very Good. Very good paperback. Previous owner's name on end paper and very minor highlighting. Corner bump. Covers show light edge wear.; 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! Free Delivery Confirmation! Ships same or next business day! read more
Description: Good. 1999-Hardcover-Cover shows minor shelf wear. ---Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Date Published: 2000-08-01
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Very Good. No names, no remainder marks, no stickers. Binding is tight and square. Text is clean, bright, and unmarked. Light edge and corner wear. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Berkley Pub Group
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Very Good. X. Nearly new paperback except for some age-darkening of pages. No spine crease. Text is clean, unmarked, tight. All items are carefully and securely packed to insure they arrive in the advertised condition. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Times Books
Date Published: 1999-01-19
ISBN-13:9780812929805ISBN:0812929802
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Very Good; 2000. 0425174484. Very lightly used, mild signs of handling at corner tip-unmarked. Nice, used copy.; Softcover; Berkley Books; NY; Thirteenth Printing; 0.91 x 8.29 x 5.28 Inches; 328 pages. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Book is like new with only very minor edge wear to cover. Pages are like new! Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 336 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 336 p. Audience: General/trade. Book is in excellent condition. Cover and pages are clean, binding is tight. We ship daily, Satisfaction Guaranteed. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Berkley Pub Group, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780425174487ISBN:0425174484
Description: Very Good. Remainder. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Wraps; 328 Pages; Textblock is tight, bright and clean. Bright pictorial cover with no tears and no creasing to spine. Modest shelf and edge wear. Has black remainder line on head and tail of book. John and Martha Beck had two Harvard degrees apiece when they conceived their second child. Martha still cannot explain many of the things that happened to her while she was expecting Adam, but by the time he was born, Martha "had to unlearn vitually ... read more
"This book describes the author's experience of carrying to term a Down's Syndrome baby while she and her husband were graduate students at Harvard in the 1980's. The juxtaposition of this non-practicing Mormon family's religious heritage, intellectual milieu, and vivid spiritual experiences made this book fascinating to me, doubly so because the author and her husband were acquaintances of mine long ago. The book is funny, witty, and wonderful in its descriptions of intellectual and family life. Its biggest appeal to me, however, lay in the outlandish descriptions of spiritual encounters that, despite their unusual nature, closely match some of my own. I am left with a sense of reassurance and wonder about the universe and my grossly inadequate interpretation of it--always a good thing."
"Here's the review I wrote on Amazon a couple years ago when we read this book for book club:
As an LDS woman, Harvard alum, mother, and friend to someone who has Down Syndrome, I anticipated loving this book. I somehow imagined that Beck's experiences might have mirrored mine, that I would find in her a kindred spirit. I was wrong.
Beck's Harvard is inhabited with mean-spirited, intensely competitive, narrowly focused, hamsteresque charicatures. None of the students or professors has the wisdom, perspective, and insight of the author.
My experience at Harvard was different. I recall a lot of kind, warm, loving people. I remember conversations that lasted late into the night, about spirituality, love, dreams for the future, personal struggles, and more. Study partners who were happy to help me better understand a difficult concept or prepare for a test. Lots of people who volunteered with kids in the inner-city, at soup kitchens, hospitals, homeless shelters, on crisis hotlines. A lot of good people trying to find a way to make a difference in the world. A vast array of religious, ethnic, & ideological backgrounds, all kinds of ways of imbuing their lives with meaning. Complicated people, people with ambitions, insecurities, moments of stress, sure. But overwhelmingly, I remember people with good hearts and a desire to do the right thing. I'm sorry that Martha Beck couldn't see more of that in the people around her.
The recurring theme of this book is that Beck was blind, but now she sees. She once was self-absorbed and obsessed with academic prestige, like everyone (sic) around her. But during her pregnancy with Adam and subsequent to his birth, she claims to have discovered the true meaning of life, & found joy and wonder and truth. The problem with her writing style is that stage one comes through loud and clear, while I'm still straining to detect the joy, the profundity, and the warmth that should characterize stage 2."
"I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the most beautiful book I've ever read. It's about a subject I've been fascinated by for a little while now and yet one that so many people seem so tight-lipped about. I remember a church leader telling our student congregation my freshman year of college that he felt it was important for us to know that angels really exist and administer to humans on Earth, but that was it: no further details. My mom has confessed that she knows her "guardian angel" is her late grandmother. I've heard other such snippets--enough from enough credible sources for me to believe in the existence of spirits. But finally I feel that sigh of understanding.
What makes this book beautiful is that she doesn't push her interpretations onto you. She presents her experiences in clear, precise, yet wondrous language, and her descriptions are so profound that something in me--my soul?--recognized Truth again and again. I felt my thoughts concurring with her experiences: "Yes, that's exactly right. That's exactly how it would be."
But then it's also beautiful for doing exactly what Harvard trained her to do that I believe is the best part of higher education: moving past simple answers into complex realities. She seems to completely reject her Harvardness by the end, but I think it still gave her a gift that made me want to read this book. She doesn't fall for the idea that all handicapped people are angels; she doesn't accept every bit of theology fed to her by a psychic just because the psychic does have some real gifts. I like that. And it also seems to extend to the reader: you don't have to accept this wholesale, just believe what you want to.
In the end, I don't follow her off into her free-floating theologies. I still believe that organized religion can and should play a large role in my spiritual life. But I do feel like my spiritual life has been amplified by the many, many descriptions in this book that resonated through me."
"Although Martha Beck has some writing talent and this book is in some ways a very interesting read, the drawbacks make it more of a one or two star read.
In spite of it being a one plus or two minus star read, I admit I was wanting to know what would happen next and read it quickly. As it went along it felt more like a movie or book that I realized at some point wasn't really very good, but I wanted to know what was going to happen anyway. Its contradictory nature made it more of a garbage book in the end.
I believe she had some amazing experiences and that she needed these experiences to be able to make the decision to keep her baby.
I find her book more offensive knowing her background. She truly is a woman of contradiction, at least she is clear where she stands in her life now, whereas she was still teetering between two distinct camps when she wrote it.
As others have said, her initial feelings about having a disabled child are offensive. She tries to disassociate herself from Harvard community values, portraying herself as extremely intelligent, but more appreciative than her peers of the mentally less fortunate. She seems to be continually trying to convince herself or justify choosing a different pathway from Harvard folks around her. After a struggle, she realizes she shares the values which she grew up with in the LDS church (believing every person is a worthwhile child of God, regardless of abilities). She is trying to give herself the credit instead of just admitting the values she grew up with in her family and religious community were very good.
It's funny to know a little more of the truth behind the story. She tells the reader, a bit subtly that she is above the faith of her family. Hmmm... She then conveniently neglects to give credit to that faith or even mention that it was women from the same church whose spiritual sensitivity brought them unbidden to her doorstep when she was in her hour of desperate need.
I would not say as some have said that I felt "creepy" reading it, but I will say that it did not ring true in parts, I felt I was reading the words or a conflicted individual who has not really learned to seek or recognize the influence of God in her life."
We guarantee every item's condition, as described on Alibris. If you are not satisfied that an item is as described, return your purchase for a refund.
rating
