Books about Critics from Amazon.com

In 2005, firebrand radio talk show host Neal Boortz and Georgia congressman John Linder created The FairTax Book, presenting the American public with a bold new plan designed to eliminate federal taxes and the IRS, jump-start the U.S. economy, bring back lost industries and jobs, and recapture billions of untaxed dollars hoarded by criminal and offshore businesses. Their book became an immediate #1 New York Times bestseller, propelling a powerful grassroots tax reform movement that's spreading like wildfire across our nation.

Now, three years later, the authors are back to answer the outspoken and misinformed critics of their innovative proposal. Offering eye-opening new insights not covered in the original book, FairTax: The Truth debunks the negative myths and gross misrepresentations of this groundbreaking idea. The FairTax plan is simple, brilliant, and it will work—enabling you to keep all the money in your paycheck; eliminating the fraud, hassle, and waste of our current system; and revolutionizing the way America pays for itself.

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Price: $8.40 [Notify me when price goes down.]

6,000 glasses of evidence that will change the way you buy wine: Hide the label...and the truth comes out. Acclaimed Fearless Critic Robin Goldstein has gone around the country serving 6,000 glasses of wine from brown paper bags to experts and everyday wine drinkers around America. Here, in print for the first time, are the shocking results, including full-page reviews of the 100 wines that beat $50 to $150 bottles in the blind tastings..
Price: $9.11 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Fans of Tender at the Bone and Comfort Me with Apples know that Ruth Reichl is a wonderful memoirist--a funny, poignant, and candid storyteller whose books contain a happy mix of memories, recipes, and personal revelations.

Amazon.com Interview We chewed the fat with Ruth. Read our interview

What they might not fully appreciate is that Reichl is an absolute marvel when it comes to writing about food--she can describe a dish in such satisfying detail that it becomes unnecessary for readers to eat. In her third memoir, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise, Reichl focuses on her life as a food critic, dishing up a feast of fabulous meals enjoyed during her tenure at The New York Times. As a critic, Reichl was determined to review the "true" nature of each restaurant she visited, so she often dined incognito--each chapter of her book highlights a new disguise, a different restaurant (including the original reviews from the Times), and a fresh culinary adventure. Garlic and Sapphires is another delicious and delightful book, sure to satisfy Reichl's foodie fans and leave admirerers looking forward to her next book, hopefully about her life with Gourmet. --Daphne Durham

More from Ruth Reichl

Tender at the Bone	Comfort Me with Apples	The Gourmet Cookbook
Remembrance of Things Paris	Endless Feasts	Gourmet magazine

Amazon.com's The Significant Seven
Ruth Reichl answers the seven questions we ask every author.


Q: What book has had the most significant impact on your life?
A: Kate Simon's New York Places and Pleasures. I read it as a little girl and then went out and wandered the city. She was a wonderful writer, and she taught me not only to see New York in a whole new way, but to look, and taste, beneath the surface.

Q: You are stranded on a desert island with only one book, one CD, and one DVD--what are they?
A:Ulysses by James Joyce. What better place to finally get through it?

Keith Jarrett's The Köln Concert. If you're going to listen to one piece over and over, this is one that doesn't get tiresome.

How to Build a Boat in Five Easy Steps. Since I'm going to be watching one movie over and over, it might as well be useful.

Q: What is the worst lie you've ever told?
A: I'm such a good liar, I wouldn't know where to begin.

Q: Describe the perfect writing environment.
A: I can write pretty much anywhere. But I prefer small, cozy spaces, with a good view over a lake or a forest, and room for the cats to curl up.

Q: If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
A: "She'll be right back."

Q: Who is the one person living or dead that you would like to have dinner with?
A: Elizabeth I. She fascinates me. She had a great mind, enormous appetites--and she was a survivor. The most interesting woman of an interesting time, and I have a million questions I'd like to ask her.

Q: If you could have one superpower, what would it be?
A: You mean after creating world peace? This is a hard one. But I've always wanted to be able to fly.

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Price: $4.64 [Notify me when price goes down.]

This book is designed to work together with our bestseller Self-Esteem. It develops many of the most powerful techniques from the original book into sixty easy-to-learn and fun-to-do exercises that build and maintain a healthy self-image.

This repackaged edition features a new preface by author Matthew McKay and an eye-catching new package.

You'll be able to customize a personal self-esteem-building program using any combination of the original book, the sixty exercises in this companion, and the fast and effective ten-week writing project in the guided journal. The end result: lasting improvement in the way they view themselves, as well as greater happiness, success, and peace of mind..
Price: $9.60 [Notify me when price goes down.]

"Emotionally abusive parents are indeed toxic parents, and they cause significant damage to their children's self-esteem, self-image, and body image. In this remarkable book, Beverly Engel shares her powerful Mirror Therapy program for helping adult survivors to overcome their shame and self-criticism, become more compassionate and accepting of themselves, and create a more positive self-image."
—Susan Forward, Ph.D., author of Toxic Parents

"Engel's insightful questionnaires and exercises provide concrete help in the healing process, and her writing style is lively and engaging. This book is destined to positively affect many lives."
—Joyce Catlett, M.A., coauthor of Fear of Intimacy

In Healing Your Emotional Self, Beverly Engel, one of the world's leading experts on emotional, physical, and sexual abuse, explains how to heal the damage to your self-image and self-esteem caused by negative parental messages and offers treatment to help you lead a happier and healthier life. This breakthrough guide is designed to help you reject the distorted images your parents either intentionally or unintentionally projected onto you. Step by step, this innovative method will give you the skills you need to quiet your inner critic, boost your self-esteem, create a positive self-image separate from your abusive parents' distorted picture, discover who you really are, learn self-nurturing, and become the person you are meant to be..
Price: $8.06 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Ruth Reichl's first book, the autobiographical Tender at the Bone, disarmed readers with its droll candor. The former restaurant critic of The New York Times and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine told great stories about growing up and loving food. Comfort Me with Apples begins where the first book ended, tracing Reichl's evolution from chef to food writer while detailing the dissolution of her first marriage, the start of a second, and motherhood at the age of 40. The book also limns a sensual journey, Reichl's awakening to the pleasures of sex as well as food, and also to love. Reichl interweaves her diverse coming-of-age narratives with passion (especially on the subject of food), wit, and a no-nonsense grace, all of which add up to a wonderful read--entertaining, but moving, too.

The story begins when Reichl, living in a '70s Berkeley commune, gets her first real job as a restaurant reviewer. Despite the incredulity of her in-the-movement roommates ("You're going to spend your life telling spoiled, rich people where to eat?" asks one), Reichl persists, traveling widely to polish her palate. In the doing she meets food luminaries such as Wolfgang Puck (a mad encounter in a produce market), M.F.K. Fisher (lunch and sweet reminiscences), and Alice Waters (a garlic feast), among others. Her trip to China, which includes clandestine dealings with a former chef, is particularly well handled. The ungluing of her first marriage is depicted in adroit emotional counterpoint to her soaring career, as is her discovery of love with her second husband, unspooled against her father's death. Reichl also provides recipes, such as Fall Mushroom Soup (made to comfort herself and her mother) that, unexpectedly and delightfully, deepen the narrative. --Arthur Boehm.
Price: $4.22 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Jami Bernard was fat and now she's not. In this riotously funny, intensely personal book she tells us how she did it. After trying countless diets and workout routines, she stopped dieting: She began enjoying food and life in a rational, healthy way and finally lost the weight. No foods were demonized, no fads embraced. As Jami discovered, lasting weight loss is about strategy not willpower.

She charted her initial weight loss in the New York Daily News, where her editor came up with the column's title, "Our Incredible Shrinking Critic." It was a daring or foolhardy move- perhaps to make up for the denial that she'd basked in for so long. In effect, she put her body on display for a million or more readers. If she failed, it would be a very public and personal fall: Her stated goal was to lose 100 pounds.

Jami tells readers how the shock of seeing the number 230 on the scale gave her the jolt she needed. Her goal, to lose one pound a week, seemed modest, but readers were so inspired by her column that many decided to lose weight along with her. They offered her help, sending her encouraging e-mails, and she passed along advice and information from experts in the field.

This book is about big-time weight loss and about losing it for good. Even if you're just struggling to lose a few extra pounds, Jami's advice may help keep a slow creep of pudge from becoming a mudslide. For those who are considering serious weight loss, Jami suggests reasonable goals and ideas for long-term strategies. This book is about changing habits, eating responsibly, and becoming more active. Jami inspires readers throughout the book with tips, stories, and recipes.

As Jami writes, "Every extra pound tells a story. It's a story of anger, frustration, old wounds, and carelessness. It's a story of misjudged portions, too-hasty celebrations, bad planning, misplaced optimism. It's a story of denial." Bitingly funny, moving, and sometimes shocking, Jami Bernard dared to waddle into the spotlight and make lasting changes..
Price: $5.95 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Hal and Sidra Stone are the creators of "Voice Dialogue" process, a therapy that transforms the inner critic from crippling adversary to productive ally.

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The inner critic. It whispers, whines, and needles us into place. It checks our thoughts, controls our behavior, and inhibits action. It thinks it is protecting us from being disliked, hurt, or abandoned. Instead, the critical inner voice causes shame, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, and low-self-esteem. It acts as a powerful saboteur of our intimate relationships and is a major contributor to drug and alcohol abuse.

Through examples and exercises, the Stones show us how to recognize the critic, how to avoid or minimize "critic attacks," and, most important, how the inner critic can become asn intelligent, perceptive, and supportive partner in life.

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Price: $5.98 [Notify me when price goes down.]