New, productive method of debate, 28 Aug 2008
Reading is more than a hobby to me, I am addicted to it. However, my previous method was to read, read and read more about the subject before deciding which book is better than which. Asking the right questions taught me how to do that after reading the book directly without the need to research the subject before making my mind.

The profound effect of the book is more than helping me to decide the intellectual value of other materials I read, but everything that I encounter. As soon as I finished the book (I read it in a day and a half) I left my room and went and sat with my family in the living room, they were watching a TV show that I don't even recall the subject of and they were all astonished by the "facts" the speaker was giving, "wow" everyone was saying. After ten minutes exactly I was able to list quite an interesting number of mistakes, inaccuracies and distortions in his "facts" and explained that most of them were actually "opinions" and "claims", this made me more surprised than anyone else as my previous attitude would have been "ok, sounds good, now we have to check what the opposing point of view says".

Asking the right questions teaches exactly that, what you should be asking, and what you should avoid concentrating on because in reality it is irrelevant to the subject at hand. It shows in a very easy and straightforward way how to focus on evaluating what you hear, and distinguishing the useful form the rubbish and the padding. You most probably won't be able to win the high school debate team right after you finish it, but it opens your eyes to new productive methods of debate rather than the more common reactive ones.

I recommend it to anyone that is studying in the college level and above and to anyone that reads more than romantic novels, joke books and cook books.

Asking the Right Questions Leads to the Right Answers!, 24 Jul 2008
Asking the right questions challenges the reader to ask the tough questions. I enjoyed many of the thought provoking questions such as: How many ways can words or phrases be interpreted? What questions can be asked to clarify a subject? What are the pitfalls that stop you from asking the right questions...and how can you avoid them?

To become a powerful critical thinker we must look under the covers at what others are communicating and why! This book and books like it are needed more than ever today!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide To: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

The book of questions that make you think...., 06 Sep 1999
This is a book of questions (not necessarily the right questions) that when carefully read, cause one to rethink that which we think we know. Too often people tend to jump on the bandwagon of some popular idea or ideal without ever stopping to consider the components of the argument. Asking Right Questions allows one, if willing, to re-evaluate ones beliefs about any subject. It is this art of the book, and this art alone that makes the book, seductive in nature.

But the fun doesn't stop there, once you enter this seductive realm, you begin to see the value on asking questions. Once there, able to ask questions, the thinking doesn't necessarily become "crystal clear" but certainly closer to what may be the "right answer."

Dr.'s Browne and Keeley are fine scholars who have contributed to academic excellence for years. I look forward to future editions of "Asking Right Questions" and their work.

Don't be a sponge!, 27 Aug 1999
After reading ARQ and making its content an active part of my life, I was plucked from the world of passive sponges and dropped into the world of eager learners "panning for gold." I have never looked back.

This book has had a tremendous impact on my learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. I have learned not to simply accept the facts presented to me, but to question them in a systematic and logical fashion. Additionally, I now see the immense value of questioning both the convictions I agree with most intensely and those I disagree with most intensely. This critical thinking process enables me to understand the values and assumptions that shape my person.

I would highly recommend ARQ to anyone wishing to learn the skills of an active, life-long learner.

Reading the Right Books, 26 Aug 1999
Of the hundreds of books I have digested over the years, none to date have delivered as profound an impact on my ability to analyze, reason, or even listen, as Asking the Right Questions. Unlike books that merely teach facts, this book goes beyond instruction and delivers a robust set of skills that, when practiced, are not easily lost or forgotten.

The title aptly describes the lessons to be learned between the covers. The reader is confronted with the Herculean task of learning how to listen to a speaker or author. Once the content of the message is understood, the reader is then provided with specific questions that are intended to help the listener critique the speaker's conclusions. The lesson does not stop there, however. The reader is consistently reminded to turn the skills of critique inward, so that we apply the same standards of criticism to our own thought.

Why are any of the skills taught in Asking the Right Questions important? The lessons learned are invaluable for anyone who wants to be a critical participant in our economy or democracy. More specifically, however, Browne and Keeley give us a set of questions that are not restricted to any one discipline. Instead, the questions can be used, not only in everyday conversations, but can be broadly applied to many different domains (i.e. politics, science, or the humanities).

If you are searching for a book that challenges you to become a more critical consumer of information, then delve into this readable guide to critical thinking.

It was a classic requirement of the great novelists of the 1930s and 40s to have experienced life at the extremes, with excesses of sex and alcohol as prerequisites. Writing today is, on the whole, safer; and then comes along a book like Stuart Browne's Dangerous Parking. This makes some of the dangerous over-indulgence of the past seen tame indeed--a remarkable, sweeping narrative, shot through with mordant humour, wild eroticism and a resolute good humour in the face of death. And, we're told, with an autobiographical element that gives a particularly sharp edge.

Browne's protagonist Noah Arkwright has abused himself and those around him to such a degree that he is fighting for his life. A successful film maker with a happy family life, he has plunged through the wilder avenues of life to finally face up to some terminal choices, as cancer joins the other threats to his existence. But Noah begins to realise that his love for his wife Clare, a gifted musician, may be the thing that can save him. But is he too late?

However dark the territory Browne takes the reader through (and we are spared little in this raw narrative), the final effect of his highly assured novel is both life-affirming and exhilarating. Humour is always at the centre of Noah's terrifying odyssey and the invigorating, restorative power of music and art acts as a corrective to the self-destructive follies. Noah is not an easy protagonist to live with but we are unable to break the hold his story has upon us. Browne's approach to his text is unique: short, pithy paragraphs and blisteringly precise dialogue combine to devastating effect as in Noah's description of a visit to a Greek Island:

The chips are wet and greasy, an inedible response to tourist demand. Ray's two-fisting his drinks, while I'm pacing myself a little because I have my eye on the young PA fresh out of NYU film programme who I hope I'll make my catch of the day. Around midnight, I lead her off to my room, leaving Ray and the crew at the outside tables being serenaded by the landlord's son on the bazouki. I guess he will have them up hanky dancing before I can unbutton NYU's blouse.

--Barry ForshawIt was a classic requirement of the great novelists of the 30s and 40s to have experienced life at the extremes, with excesses of sex and alcohol as prerequisites. Writing today is, on the whole, safer; and then comes along a book like Stuart Browne's Dangerous Parking. This makes some of the dangerous over-indulgence of the past seen tame indeed--a remarkable, sweeping narrative, shot through with mordant humour, wild eroticism and a resolute good humour in the face of death. And, we're told, with an autobiographical element that gives a particularly sharp edge.

Browne's protagonist Noah Arkwright has abused himself and those around him to such a degree that he is fighting for his life. A successful film maker with a happy family life, he has plunged through the wilder avenues of life to finally face up to some terminal choices, as cancer joins the other threats to his existence. But Noah begins to realise that his love for his wife Clare, a gifted musician, may be the thing that can save him. But is he too late?

However dark the territory Browne takes the reader through (and we are spared little in this raw narrative), the final effect of his highly assured novel is both life-affirming and exhilarating. Humour is always at the centre of Noah's terrifying odyssey and the invigorating, restorative power of music and art acts as a corrective to the self-destructive follies. Noah is not an easy protagonist to live with but we are unable to break the hold his story has upon us. Browne's approach to his text is unique: short, pithy paragraphs and blisteringly precise dialogue combine to devastating effect as in Noah's description of a visit to a Greek Island:

The chips are wet and greasy, an inedible response to tourist demand. Ray's two-fisting his drinks, while I'm pacing myself a little because I have my eye on the young PA fresh out of NYU film programme who I hope I'll make my catch of the day. Around midnight, I lead her off to my room, leaving Ray and the crew at the outside tables being serenaded by the landlord's son on the bazouki. I guess he will have them up hanky dancing before I can unbutton NYU's blouse.

--Barry Forshaw

New, productive method of debate, 28 Aug 2008
Reading is more than a hobby to me, I am addicted to it. However, my previous method was to read, read and read more about the subject before deciding which book is better than which. Asking the right questions taught me how to do that after reading the book directly without the need to research the subject before making my mind.

The profound effect of the book is more than helping me to decide the intellectual value of other materials I read, but everything that I encounter. As soon as I finished the book (I read it in a day and a half) I left my room and went and sat with my family in the living room, they were watching a TV show that I don't even recall the subject of and they were all astonished by the "facts" the speaker was giving, "wow" everyone was saying. After ten minutes exactly I was able to list quite an interesting number of mistakes, inaccuracies and distortions in his "facts" and explained that most of them were actually "opinions" and "claims", this made me more surprised than anyone else as my previous attitude would have been "ok, sounds good, now we have to check what the opposing point of view says".

Asking the right questions teaches exactly that, what you should be asking, and what you should avoid concentrating on because in reality it is irrelevant to the subject at hand. It shows in a very easy and straightforward way how to focus on evaluating what you hear, and distinguishing the useful form the rubbish and the padding. You most probably won't be able to win the high school debate team right after you finish it, but it opens your eyes to new productive methods of debate rather than the more common reactive ones.

I recommend it to anyone that is studying in the college level and above and to anyone that reads more than romantic novels, joke books and cook books.

Asking the Right Questions Leads to the Right Answers!, 24 Jul 2008
Asking the right questions challenges the reader to ask the tough questions. I enjoyed many of the thought provoking questions such as: How many ways can words or phrases be interpreted? What questions can be asked to clarify a subject? What are the pitfalls that stop you from asking the right questions...and how can you avoid them?

To become a powerful critical thinker we must look under the covers at what others are communicating and why! This book and books like it are needed more than ever today!

The Re-Discovery of Common Sense: A Guide To: The Lost Art of Critical Thinking

The book of questions that make you think...., 06 Sep 1999
This is a book of questions (not necessarily the right questions) that when carefully read, cause one to rethink that which we think we know. Too often people tend to jump on the bandwagon of some popular idea or ideal without ever stopping to consider the components of the argument. Asking Right Questions allows one, if willing, to re-evaluate ones beliefs about any subject. It is this art of the book, and this art alone that makes the book, seductive in nature.

But the fun doesn't stop there, once you enter this seductive realm, you begin to see the value on asking questions. Once there, able to ask questions, the thinking doesn't necessarily become "crystal clear" but certainly closer to what may be the "right answer."

Dr.'s Browne and Keeley are fine scholars who have contributed to academic excellence for years. I look forward to future editions of "Asking Right Questions" and their work.

Don't be a sponge!, 27 Aug 1999
After reading ARQ and making its content an active part of my life, I was plucked from the world of passive sponges and dropped into the world of eager learners "panning for gold." I have never looked back.

This book has had a tremendous impact on my learning experiences, both in and out of the classroom. I have learned not to simply accept the facts presented to me, but to question them in a systematic and logical fashion. Additionally, I now see the immense value of questioning both the convictions I agree with most intensely and those I disagree with most intensely. This critical thinking process enables me to understand the values and assumptions that shape my person.

I would highly recommend ARQ to anyone wishing to learn the skills of an active, life-long learner.

Reading the Right Books, 26 Aug 1999
Of the hundreds of books I have digested over the years, none to date have delivered as profound an impact on my ability to analyze, reason, or even listen, as Asking the Right Questions. Unlike books that merely teach facts, this book goes beyond instruction and delivers a robust set of skills that, when practiced, are not easily lost or forgotten.

The title aptly describes the lessons to be learned between the covers. The reader is confronted with the Herculean task of learning how to listen to a speaker or author. Once the content of the message is understood, the reader is then provided with specific questions that are intended to help the listener critique the speaker's conclusions. The lesson does not stop there, however. The reader is consistently reminded to turn the skills of critique inward, so that we apply the same standards of criticism to our own thought.

Why are any of the skills taught in Asking the Right Questions important? The lessons learned are invaluable for anyone who wants to be a critical participant in our economy or democracy. More specifically, however, Browne and Keeley give us a set of questions that are not restricted to any one discipline. Instead, the questions can be used, not only in everyday conversations, but can be broadly applied to many different domains (i.e. politics, science, or the humanities).

If you are searching for a book that challenges you to become a more critical consumer of information, then delve into this readable guide to critical thinking.

This book is a true soundtrack of life, 05 Feb 2008
Much as the reader is drawn into the life of the main character Noah as he struggled alcohol addiction and cancer, so we too are drawn to the elements of the life of the author, the late Stuart Browne. At times when reading this book it is almost painful and yet engrossing reading, it is almost a fly-on-the-wall documentary of Browne's story with a healthy dose of fiction in there too. The realness of all of the characters draws you into the narrative and it is quite simply a fantastic read. This is not really a book that should have stars next to it, it is simply a story of life, too real for comfort, and yet all the better for it.

20th Century Hero?, 09 Jul 2007
I lost my first copy (somebody borrowed it and wouldn't give it back!), so bought this to replace it.

Like others have said, this is not a comfortable read, but it draws you in and refuses to let you put it down. The story starts with an intense atmospheric introduction to the main character and never lets up. The thread of addictive behaviour is familiar to all those who've experienced it in friends (or ourselves) and doesn't just dwell on the worst (there are uplifting times too!). Sometimes I laugh out loud at the drug fuelled 'dog gonzo' tale that gives the book it's title.

I've read this three times already and each time the experience is different as you note subtleties in the narrative that you missed the time before. The last time I read something this good was the collected 'running out of road' articles by Mark Williams. This is my favourite novel. Ever.

A 'got to have' book , 13 May 2007
I picked up this book about 4 years ago, aged 20, and from reading the first few pages in the shop I hardly stopped until I finished it.
Dangerous Parking really gives you an inside guide into how some alcoholics lives. Not just the homeless or the people that sit in the pub all day but the people that work in our shops, write our books and sell us our cars.
This book gave me another lens to look at the world through and if you want something gripping, inspiring and thought provoking you should buy this book!!!




If you only buy one book this year make it this one., 07 Mar 2007
It has been a long time since I have read a book from cover to cover in one sitting, but from the first sentence of Stuart Browne's semi-autobiographical 'Dangerous Parking' I knew I was there for the duration. I was exhausted and elated by the roller coaster of emotions evoked by his discriptive narrative, I felt as though I was living the experience alongside him. His untimely death means we will never know how great a writer he would have been.

Interesting book let down by the main character, 10 Nov 2006
Anyone can get ill; from the poorest homeless person to the richest property billionaire. In 'Dangerous Parking' it is Noah, an introverted, big headed film documentary director. He has got cancer and he is not sure how long he has to live.

We follow him in, what could be, the last days of his life and we flash back to his past to try and understand why he is the person he is today. What comes across is that he is not a particularly nice guy - someone who is so smug you would want to smack. I can imagine that is you do get cancer that you would spend a lot of time thinking about yourself. However, add this to his alcohol and drug abuse and the guy is just too self obsessed.

Apart from the main character being annoying the rest of the book is good. Well written with dark humour there is much to appeal to the reader. However, the fact that sections are overly rude and that the main protagonist is unlikeble means that I was never able to develop much emotion for the book.

Worth reading for something a bit depressing and different.