A two part book with half being the interesting and sometimes funny memoir of the authors journey in the dental profession and the other half, a crash course in dental assisting. A great read for anyone thinking of getting in the dental field, for anyone already in the field or even for the average person interested in the field.

This is a story of love, hate, lust, humor and longing in the time of war. When Jack Defurio, an educated 26 year old Mexican-American, newly married to Donna, is drafted and sent to Vietnam as an infantryman he must cope with the excruciating separation from her, the rigors of jungle warfare and his increasing revulsion for the Army.

In the late 1960s, Patsy Channing, a stunningly beautiful young woman, was suspended from the venerable Mississippi State College for Women for breach of conduct. The resulting scandal reached all the way to the Columbus courthouse, and the press ate it up. But Patsy’s story starts long before that, living with a preoccupied and troubled mother in Memphis, Tennessee. As Patsy grows up, she buries the memories of her unspeakable childhood trauma and is determined to have a normal life. Music becomes her ticket out and a vehicle for the one thing she covets most—a chance to be crowned Miss America. In Confessions of a Southern Beauty Queen, Julie Hines Mabus provides a peek into that world—a world struggling through the civil rights movement, reeling from the death of JFK, and cutting loose with the musical innovations from Memphis and Detroit. Patsy develops a close friendship with a guitarist at Stax Recording Studio, giving her firsthand exposure to the early Memphis Soul Sound created by such greats as Otis Redding, Isaac Hayes, and Sam & Dave. Confessions of a Southern Beauty Queen opens and closes with the end of Patsy’s time at Mississippi State College for Women on that fateful spring morning in 1968 when she entered the Columbus courthouse. Patsy’s story, marked with tragedy and triumph, mirrors that of a growing and evolving South, where change never comes easy.

As a reporter, she’s used to covering the news. Now she’s the headline. Alex Vlodnachek has been a reporter for 12 years, a P.R. rep for three months, and a murder suspect for all of 24 hours. When her agency's double-dealing CEO is stabbed, scheming co-workers cast the new redhead as a compelling red herring. The story is media catnip—especially her salacious nickname: Vlod the Impaler. Even Alex has to admit she looks guilty. Out of a job and under suspicion, Alex is running low on cash, when she’s visited by a second disaster: her family. Soon her tiny bungalow is bursting with her nearest and not-so-dearest. To keep herself out of jail—and save what’s left of her sanity—Alex returns to her reporting roots. She goes undercover to reclaim her life, break the story, and unmask a murderer. Pretty much in that order. What she doesn’t know: The killer also has a to-do list. And Alex is on it.

More than a book, more than a non-fiction read, more than a memoir, CONFESSIONS OF A SURVIVING ALIEN will engage the reader like most have never experienced. It will take them through a maze of lifes pathos, and elicit the emotions of sadness, joy, pain, regret, guilt, remorse, pride, fear, revenge, happiness, forgiveness, evil, good, and much uniquely intertwined with humor, often times outrageously so. Although defined by the premise of Vietnam, it is much more than another war account, to the contrary. It is more often the dredge of a neophyte Marine trying to get more into the war and action, than out of it. It is more about his disillusionment in practically every aspect of that officially declared police action, but not in ways one might expect. It is more about his evolution and regression as a human being and inner torment, including feelings of alienation. The book starts at the end, and ends with the start, with a chronological account in between, covering four parts: Before Vietnam (BV), During Vietnam (DV), After Vietnam (AV), and finally, After Marines (AM). The story covers the life of a young American, and follows his incredible journey through the decades to find himself, to explore every possibility of livingand nearly dyingand reach some hopeful level of success, however that is defined. From having a unique tour in Vietnam, to escorting deceased Marines to their families and final resting place, to his life threatened by a mob guy, to learning about a deeply held family secret concerning his father, to experiencing a profound spiritual experience in the unlikely locale of Beverly Hills, California, and much more, author Jon Meades biggest challenge may be getting readers to believe his surreal story. He merely shrugs and says, I am just a very ordinary guy, with an extraordinary life to convey. It is nothing less, nor more than that. Maybe, he admits, in the end analysis, success in life is merely surviving life, failures and all. With that admission and a very personal and engaging approach and writing style, the genre of Memoirs may never be the same.