A thorough beginners’ guide to addressing spinal pain.
A seasoned physical therapist draws on her 25-plus years of knowledge about the causes and treatment options for spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal.
“Reading this book…will make you a more knowledgeable and prepared collaborator with your chosen healthcare practitioner,” says the author at the opening of her debut self-help book. Night keeps this promise throughout the work by breaking down intimidating scientific lingo with approachable graphics in three sections that focus on diagnosis, different types of treatment (including dealing with inflammation, exercise methods, and various other wellness techniques), and surgery. One graphic highlight, for example, depicts a stack of 24 Krispy Kreme donuts constituting the central nervous system within the spine; she uses the image of cutting the stack to illustrate how spinal stenosis impinges on nerves, potentially causing burning, pain, and weakness. Patients will value this and a wealth of other sketches that clearly show how the disorder puts pressure on the spine. Night’s consistent use of laymen’s terms also creates an approachable atmosphere for patients who might otherwise be intimidated. Readers may find themselves a bit confused about MRI scans, and how they relate to a subsequent diagnosis; the author says that MRIs are important, but they shouldn’t be a patient’s “be-all and end-all,” as they may not always provide an accurate anatomical picture. A few sections of the book veer toward the obvious, such as the “Strategic Exercise vs. Non-Strategic Exercise” chart (which tags strategic exercise as “Safe” and “Informed” and non-strategic as “Dangerous” and “Uninformed”) and tips on the proper way to use ice. For those knowledgeable about basic holistic health practices, such as proper nutrition, exercise, and a definitively positive attitude, the text will simply feed their common sense. But if patients are new to holistic health principles, the book will be a rich guide that will help them to begin taking responsibility for their own health.
A thorough beginners’ guide to addressing spinal pain.Pub Date: March 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9974566-0-8
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Terrific Books
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2017
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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