Yawn: Bedtime Reading for Insomniacs
Author: Ellen Sue Stern
List Price: $11.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 1580081614
Publisher: Ten Speed Press (September, 2000)
Sales Rank: 658,439
Average Customer Rating: 3.2 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
A point missed
Yes, mostly this stuff is as boring as she asserts. It is all public domain stuff, often lifted directly off the web, then compiled to fill a quick and easy book. She misses the point several times - a chapter of The Odyssey is included largely because she does not get it.But the most egregious error is the chapter on John Glenn's conversations with Capcom during the last orbit of his first flight. She fails to set up the context (I do not think she was aware of it). You see, John and Capcom are having a discussion about John's heat shield, which may have been damaged during takeoff and therefore the capsule may burn up during re-entry. Capcom wants John to take manual control and then not jettison the jet pack covering the heat shield. But they do not want to say why. So they do this, John obeys, reports a "fireball" and is incommunicado for the next several minutes. Given recent events, and the fact that we have three astronauts on the space station whom we do not know when, how or if we will get down, maybe her choice is not as sleep inducing as she thought.
Rating: 3 out of 5
BORING! (just as promised)
This book consists of:
A letter from Elvis to Nixon
Passenger flight instructions
A stain removal guide
Clinton's grand jury testimony
Tax filing instructions for the state of Minnesota
A guide to dietary fiber... And More!It was hard to decide what to rate this book. It IS boring. It could very well put you to sleep. Of course, that is its job. It is a collection of some of the driest dullest reading materiel ever compiled in book form. If there was one complaint I had about this book it would be some of the boring stuff in here was actually pretty funny, therefore did NOT put me to sleep. Elvis's letter to Nixon has got be one of the funniest things and ever written.
Rating: 5 out of 5
SATIATED
Ms. Stern is a saint. My wife and I have both had bouts with sleeplessness due in part to our "work-a-day" schedules. YAWN appeared on the bed stand one night and Tillie (my wife) and I have read one another to sleep using Ms. Stern's wit and wisdom on many occasions. After tapping into a bit of Ellen Sue's psyche with YAWN, Tillie brought home another of Ms. Sterns books,"Loving the Imperfect Man." WOW! New understanding, rekindled relationship, and new found love. No more sleepless nights. We are happy! Thank you Ellen Sue Stern!
Book Index