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From: Gunars
Date: 10/8/00
Time: 11:22:11 AM
Remote Name: 206.63.38.199
Woody,
In the spirit of gentlemanly debate as in the case of Lieberman versus Cheney, not Gore versus Bush we will dispense with the ad hominem comments such as "cutup". :-) My intent is serious.
I respectfully, but vigorously disagree on various points:
a) It was not my intent to specifically single you out to review all of the books. Nor was I ascribing it as a duty, just a wise suggestion.
b) My bookshelf contains many books on stuttering that have been out for considerable time, are in their second editions, etc. These books on stuttering have been used in many universities both in graduate and undergraduate courses. These books have been reviewed elsewhere. An abridged version of a book review would serve the same purpose as comments provided on the books back cover. My understanding of the English language is such that if a person wrote the "blurb" this week, passed it by his collegues, etc. there would be nothing spontaneous about it. But, of course, English is not my first language. :-) And my unabridged Random House dictionary may lie. :-)
c) As for asking you, or your esteemed colleagues, would you like a personal e-mail from Bezos himself?:-) Or would a policy statement on www.amazon.com letterhead from one of his top lieutenants be enough? :-)
d) I heartily agree with your last point that the books best be reviewed by peers of those who are likely to buy the books. What I am puzzled about is that I thought many books on my shelf which I bought through amazon.com were meant for professionals and, therefore, should be reviewed by professionals: Manning, Shapiro, Bloodstein, Starkweather and Givens-Ackerman, Van Riper, Sheehan, Guitar, Curlee and Siegel, Bloom and Cooperman, Culatta and Goldberg, etc. etc. For example, a very good book by Starkweather and Givens-Ackerman to me appeared to be geared both to the professional SLP and maybe, associated audiences like school counselors. Was I wrong? :-) Would you, really, like me to be the first, and, maybe the only reviewer of this book? :-)
Respectfully yours,
Gunars