It is top-notch basic advice. The key, which they highlight and with which I strongly agree is, "Successful self-management requires that you adapt diabetes to fit your life instead of adapting your life to diabetes."

What I like best about it is one thing it has and one thing it doesn't have:

It is all about empowering the individual with diabetes. Not surprising because Martha is well-known for pioneering this approach to diabetes education.

I had never heard of Michael Weiss. But the book identifies him as having type 1 diabetes, and a Google search shows that he is an attorney.

It isn't about any particular diet strategy. In fact, I didn't find anything that echoed the ADA's "good carb" diet. What a relief!

What I liked least was their talking about "the progressive nature of type 2 diabetes" (page 172) and "Although you may start with lifestyle changes and oral medications, over time most people with type 2 diabetes will need insulin or other injections to keep their blood sugar levels within the target range" (page 173). I previously wrote with considerable feeling about this at HealthCentral.

One positive statement that touched a nerve in me was in a sidebar by Marti (Martha) who wrote, "Sadly, only about 30 percent of patients receive formal diabetes education. Often, the provider forgets to make the referral or ask if one is wanted." Except for the year that the VA system treated me, that was my own experience.

Running Press in Philadelphia (a subsidiary of the Perseus Group where another subsidiary, Da Capo Press, published my most recent book) brought out this book a few months ago. It lists for $12.95 and the ISBN-13 is 978-0-7624-3116-8.

[As of 11Jul2008, this book is available via Amazon for $10.36.]