An accessible, eye-opening guidebook to the benefits of chiropractic therapy.
A comprehensive look at the effectiveness of chiropractic care in dealing with a wide array of health problems.
“Historically, the chiropractic profession has had to endure many obstacles,” writes Scott Darragh, a vice president of the Massachusetts Chiropractic Society, in the foreword to Barron’s new book. Barron himself confirms this statement, listing several persistent myths about chiropractic (including that it can cause strokes, or that its practitioners are unqualified), and warning, “Don’t trust a Google search to learn the truth about chiropractic care!” He then sets out to make his book a central clearinghouse for accurate information about the current state of his discipline. In nine fast-moving chapters, he outlines some of chiropractic’s successes in easing or reversing not only typical joint and muscle pain, but also such disparate complaints as asthma, concussions and even cardiac problems. The text is extensively illustrated, with chapters broken up into handy subsections for quick, easy consultation. Barron has been practicing chiropractic in the Boston area for more than 25 years, and as a result, he infuses his book with a great deal of medical information, presented simply and clearly; although the text can sometimes be quite technical, it never feels that way. As he addresses stress-related ailments such as carpal tunnel syndrome, scoliosis, lower-back pain, and some types of vertigo, his recommendations range from exercise and diet modification to the use of “cold laser” therapy. He accompanies his facts and charts with several real-life patient stories, drawn from his extensive experience. Finally, Barron rounds out his instructions and advice with an often sobering look at the state of the American health care system, particularly regarding its relationship to chiropractic, which includes good information about what insurance companies tend to cover or disallow. Throughout, Barron stresses that, for many health issues, chiropractic is a viable alternative treatment to more invasive, expensive approaches.
An accessible, eye-opening guidebook to the benefits of chiropractic therapy.Pub Date: June 20, 2014
ISBN: 978-0741471659
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.
The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.
Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.
An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009
IN THE NEWS
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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