Form-T Books

...And the history of Over the Hedge begins here, in the pages of this book. What you get is a perfect introduction to the earliest phases of the strip, beginning in 1995. It is always nice to see how characters develop, from the subtle indifference RJ usually displays, to the strange but often optimistic ideas of Verne. All in all, the best thing to do with this book (or any of the series for that matter), is to grab a 3-liter jug of Jolt Cola and a six-pack of Twinkies, and enjoy 128 pages of off-the-wall genius cartooning, courtesy of Mike Fry and T Lewis.

Loved this book. It brings back good memories of Michael Fry's comic strip. Our paper only carries it on Sundays, but I get the dailes over the internet.

Great comic book. Easily one of the best strips in the paper today. Its kind of like looking at what happened to all of those characters in Bambi after they grew up and reality hit 'em! This is up there with Get Fuzzy, Far Side, and even Peanuts. Over The Hedge is hilarious and will be around for a long long time...LONG LIVE TWINKIE FISHING!

"Over the Hedge" is an appealing enough strip, revelling in the consumer culture of which we are all victims, "guzzling Mrs. Butterworth's." America is a sick place, and the joke's on us, not on the critters that arise from our senseless lifestyles.

This is the very beginning of a very amusing saga involving funny animals - a welcome combination of "Calvin and Hobbes", "The Bloom County", and "Pogo", which are all now gone forever from the funny pages. In this zany comic strip, the follies of human nature are slyly observed through the bright eyes of a know-it-all turtle and an arrogant raccoon with his unquenchable thirst for chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate! Though this book may not be recommanded for anyone who don't have time for so many words, there are still fans out there who would love to read such witty dialouge from this silly pair of surburban slinkers!

This book rocks! My favorite band in the book is Andromeda from a Buck Rogers TV show in the 1970s. They had a mind control signal in their music that made the kid all over the universe riot.

This book was very informative, but also imcomplete. Some fictional bands were missing. Where were the Beasties and Way-Outs from the Flintstones episode "Masquerade Party? Or Mystery from Justine's Bateman's movie "Satisfaction?" Or even The Heights and S Club 7? I hope they put out a second edition that includes these overlooked musicians.

The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is a silly yet thoroughly entertaining reference book that lists all sorts of fictional bands and singers that have appeared in movies or television shows. T. Mike Childs has compiled a reasonably complete list of all sorts of fake musicians, some prominent (such as Spinal Tap or the Monkees) and many limited to a minor Married with Children or Clockwork Orange reference.

Unlike many reference books, Childs doesn't make any sort of attempt at objectivity, filling his entries with humorous remarks. This is not a very serious subject, and Childs doesn't treat it as such. At the same time, he does provide the necessary information. It's hard to think of fake bands that he doesn't include; this book even cites obscure sources like The Giant Gila Monster and certain TV shows that ran for only a month twenty years ago. The only real flaw in this text is a lack of an index.

If there's a lesson to be gleaned from this book, it seems to be that most fictional musicians are either intentionally (Spinal Tap) or unintentionally (most Elvis movies) funny. But looking for overall themes in a book like this is kind of silly; it should just be enjoyed as it is.

I picked up this book thinking that I would flip through the pages only to find some bands. Quite to my surprise, just about EVERY fake band I could think of was mentioned in the book (with the exception of LoveFist, a rather amusing Scottish band from the Grand Theft Auto series).
The book includes all sorts of bands from TV and movies - some obvious, some very obscure. For example, along with bands like Spinal Tap and The Monkees, it includes such bands as Oozing Meat, Tears & Vomit, Joanie and the Slashettes/Hepcats (all from Married With Children), Autobahn (from The Big Lebowski), and even composers and singers from Monty Python - like Johann Gambolputty de von... (you know), Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson, Inspector Jean-Paul Zathapatique, and many others that you probably never even heard of.

Fun book about TV and movie bands that were mostly fictional. It is an interesting read, very informative but far from complete and it did raise a few questions. I say mostly fictional because a few mentioned became bands because of the TV show/movie they were created for. The first question is, should they be considered fake once they are technically a band? Spinal Tap, included here, were created for a movie, but played their own instruments, did concerts, and released an album years after the release of the movie. The Monkees did not play their instruments (at least for the first 3 albums, according to the band), but did tour and also outlived the timespan of their show. Are these fake bands? Also, the author lists every band on a marquee in the movie That Thing You Do. Does each band really need a seperate entry since they are never developed beyond a 2 second glimpse on a marquee in a movie that has nothing to do with them? If he were to include every fake band on every billboard/flyer in every movie the book would be ridiculously long. I feel the book could be more concise and deal with only reasonably developed characters (i.e.:at least shown onscreen for more than one second).One minor rant to the author, slow down with the word titular, I felt I was reading the word in every other entry sometimes. Over and above the aforementioned, the book is quite enjoyable and anyone into rock music as pop culture should enjoy the book.

Wonderful book, a treasure; it arrived quickly and in beautiful shape. I highly recommend this book.

Eliot's reputation has taken a beating in the last 20 years. He has been charged with anti-semitism, racism, elitism, and even misogyny. All of these charges are basically true. Nevertheless, as a critic his judgements are sound and dead-on. Read either "Traditon and the individual Talent" or "Dante" from this book and tell me if you think I am wrong. The book is worth the price for these two essays alone.

I found this book to be a useful compendium of essays that are usually scattered or incompletely represented in anthologies. It's an excellent supplement for a course on Eliot's work or to learn more about his critical perspectives and how they shifted over time. Very worthwhile.

When I was in graduate school Eliot was considered the great literary critic of the twentieth century, the person who set the tone . His understanding of the Literary Tradition and how each new author altered the way we read the whole was part of the ' religion' of literary studies. So too his essays on Dante and on the Metaphysicals ( his placing Donne at the center of the Tradition) and his famous reading of Hamlet in which he argued that there was emotion in excess of the objective situation, i.e. that there was no appropriate 'objective correlative'. As a graduate student I somehow went along with the crowd and did not have much to say about Bleider with a Burbank,and Bluestein with a Cigar' i.e. the culturally anti- Semitic Eliot. That Anti- Semitism along with a certain racism and anti- Feminism are too we have learned parts of the Literary Tradition .So some of the most beautiful and great works of literary creation are marred by moral failings. How ironic that Eliot who was a spiritual teacher in time should have been so faulty in this way .

An excellent selection of essays by Eliot. He is at his best in many of these-- ascerbic, crisp and correct. I am constantly amazed by the number of people who have opinions about the ideas and theories of Eliot, but who have never read his essays themselves. I suggest that before taking umbrage at what he is supposed to have said, a student of the modernists should at least read a bit of what he did say.

This selection is broken into two categories: Literary Criticism and Social and Religious Criticism. Essays such as "Tradition and the Individual Talent" and "What is a Classic?" (compare and contrast with G. Stein in "What are Masterpieces?") are particularly worth the time to read.

I wish that Kermode had included more of the social and religious essays and that he had not excerpted as heavily as he did throughout the book. I would personally rather read a longer book consisting of complete essays than having such a high percentage of the selection consisting of excerpts. Of the meagre three essays in the social and religious section, two were excerpted rather than being published in their entirety. Too bad.

After the Vows is a wonderful love anthology by three wonderful
writers that we should truly watch for in whatever literary
writings they will be doing in the future. I enjoyed each story
and all three will give you much food for thought in reflecting
on what marriages are truly all about.

The first story titled, Time Enough For Love by Leslie Esdaile,
had me truly relating in many aspects to what Alexandra was
feeling and the emptiness of her marriage. Alexandra and Edward
started off with a wonderful marriage; they loved each other
very much. They came together with children from previous
marriages and they both felt in the beginning, that this marriage
was what they both longed for. Unfortunately, the marriage,
to Alexandra was becoming too much and too routine. On top of
working each day, the children, the house cleaning, the cooking
was left up to Alexandra with no help from Edward or the children.
He felt his job was to make sure they saved as much money

as possible and to waste not one penny on anything. To
Alexandra, this was not the life she longed for and she didn't
want to continue in it. Will Alexandra make a decision she
will regret?

The second story titled, Something So Right by T.T. Henderson,
was truly a story that any reader could relate to and understand
Camille's determination to end her marriage and move on. However,
Devon, her husband, had other plans to ensure that did not happen.
He had yet to understand that what he was doing was causing
Camille to distance herself from him. Although Devon
loved Camille very much, he knew he had to do something major
to make her see his love and save their marriage. Now this is
where you want to yell at Devon and say "hey! don't you get it?
don't you see what you're doing to her?" Will Devon finally
see the "light" and will Camille stand firm to her decision?

The third story titled, Skin Deep by Jacquelin Thomas, is a very
sensitive and wonderful story that needed to be told. I commend
Ms. Thomas on her beautifully crafted story of a woman who has
breast cancer and had to have her breasts removed. Because of this,
Reva now feels she is less then a woman to her husband and family.
Sometimes when suffering, we choose to go it alone and leave the
most important people in our lives out of it. Reva felt that
she would never be a beautiful woman again to her husband,
Edward. She remembered how he always told her how
beautiful she was and how he enjoyed looking at her body.
But when she had to have her breasts removed; everything changed,
at least that's how she felt. So she chooses the coward's way
out so he wouldn't have to look at her in disgust; by deciding
it would be best if she left him and the family. Reva doesn't
realize that appearances does not always make a person love you,
or not love you. If only she could look into Edward's mind
and heart to see what he is really thinking and feeling.

Each author did a wonderful job of developing each character,
leaving the reader with some serious thoughts and reflections
on married life. I chose not to give much detail on each story
because I think it's important that you get the book and read
for yourself each story of how they all went about holding on
to the bonds of marriage, After the Vows. I truly enjoyed this
book. I give it a rating of 4.

Reviewed by.....

This is a supurb anthology by 3 highly talented authors. In all 3 stories, you find that the love you felt that took you to the alter, is the same love you have to feel to keep your marriage vows. Leslie Esdaile shows us with Alexander and Edward that marriage the second time around can bring obstacles and guidelines that are crumbs from your first marriage. Scared that you have made a second mistake in choosing your mate, and you don't want to go through another divorce, you hinder the relationship by not being honest. Alexander cannot hold back any longer her own needs to be happy and she has to find a way to tell Edward, at the same time Edward has not faced the turmoils of his first wife and his mother and all the rules and control, he has to realize will ruin his second marriage if he doesn't lighten up and see his wife for who she is. After some disturbing truths are brought to their attention by people who love them, they find there way back to the love that brought them together. Ms.Esdaile tells this story with reality of second marriages with children involved and also when a spouse does not work toward the future and forget the past.

T.T. Henderson does a remarkable job of showing how two people strive and build to have a family and through lack of communication can lose it all. Camille and Devon have been married for 19 years, have 2 children and a relatively nice life style, but do to a mistake that took place 5 years ago, the lines of communication have been severed and they are on their way to destruction. Devon has sacrificed to prove to his wife his love for her, but she doesn't see his sacrifice or his pain, so he turns to his friends and drinking to dull the aches. Camille has silently been miserable and has made her career her life, so she is indulging in work to hide her pain. When she serves divorce papers to Devon, the anger escalates and they are on a down hill battle, especially when Handsome high powered business man Alexander Touissant comes into the picture. Camille and Devon are so out of touch, that they don't understand when the other person is trying to wave the white flag, they keep on digging the hole deeper. Through much heartache and pain, Camille realizes how much she really loves Devon and when she is put in a compromising position, she has time to think things through clearly and understand Devon. While Devon is sulking and alone and allows his temper to settle because he can now only be mad at hisself, he realizes that he has jumped to the wrong conclusions and he knows Camille better, they finally both realize that there are some give and takes in marriage and with 2 children approaching college, they have each other and there are no limits to what they can achieve together. Finally realizing each others point of view they are able to recapture the love that brought them to the alter the first time. (I really liked this story, but I hated Alexander from the very beginning).

Jacquelin Thomas has brought the effects of a deadly disease and the destruction it can have on a marriage to light. she has shown that when love is the key element in the marriage, even a silent killer has no chance and destroying what God has put together. Reva has been plagued with Breast Cancer and it has comsumed her life, driving her away from Edward and their daughter. Edward has attempted to be understanding and consoling and wants very much to have things back to normal before the cancer. He still sees Reva as the beautiful woman that she was when he first married her, but his space and understanding is misinterpreted by Reva as rejection. Reva is suffering because she hasn't expressed her feeling to him or to herself, she has succumbed to hiding and running away. Jacquelin Thomas brings this story full circle, showing the reality of this situation and the devastation, but also shows us how love conquers all. Edward shows Reva through tough love that she has to face the future and not allow the cancer to stop her from living and she doesn't have to face the battles alone, that is why he is there. Through his strength, Reva gains courage and comfort and also relief. Realizing that love is not just skin deep, they are back on track. So many marriages fall apart when a spouse becomes ill and they don't fight together, so they end up in divorce, this story shows a strong man a couple that are truelly in love.

This book proves "Happily Ever After" is deeper than a fairytale. I have only recently began to read the Indigo line and I am glad I did. Leslie Esdaile's "Time Enough for Love" gives us a glimpes into the second marriage of Alexandra and Edward as they seek to salvage the promises of love they made to one another before getting caught up in the cares of work, kids, and other outside influences. The added problems of past life's baggage also clouds the brightness of their future. To make their love survive for them and their children, Edward has to realize his love for the woman he married is stronger than any hurt he has suffered or pride he seeks to keep. Alexandra has to be the woman he fell in love with.

T.T. Henderson's "Something So Right" talks about infidelity, career, and trust. Camille and Devon have been married enough years for the honeymoon to be over, but for true love to still linger. However, with twins ready for college, true love is not at the top of the agenda. Desperate at the thought of divorce, Devon hopes a hastily planned anniversary getaway can rekindle the love he and Camille have shared. Camille feels trapped by the remnants of what once was a marriage of promise, she loves Devon but no longer sees him as the man she lost her heart too. Devon has to sacrafice pride and fight to show Camille his love for her is greater than any trouble that has come between them. Camille, must truly search whether the security of her career can replace the surety from the love of a good man.

"Skin Deep" by Jacquelin Thomas definitley proved to be the story with the most meaning for me. When Edward Anderson married Reva twenty years before, he meant his vows of for better for worse, in sickness or in health, so when the proof of the grave illness that could have taken Reva's life was merciful enough to just leave behind scars to her once perfect body, he still only saw his wife through the eyes of his love. Reva could not escape the casualty, the illness left her weak, frightened, unsure, and feeling less than a woman. Reva's demons were real, but she had a family that was more than supportive, even when she wanted to give up, when she tried to push them away. Edward is definitely a hero, he came through when she was in trouble and let his love rescue her from the dark place she was lost and dying in. Perfect love seeks no flaws. This story is wonderful, Bravo to Ms Thomas.

As a fan of romance novels, I love the thought of happily ever after. Sometimes I wonder what happens after the wedding and/or the birth of a baby. After the Vows is a wonderful collection of stories that look at when love meets real life.

Leslie Esdaile explores what happens when you blend two families together. Believe me there are more issues to the joining of the two than the Brady Bunch ever showed. As well the story shows how you have to heal before you can truly be free and move forward. T.T. Henderson deals with the issue all relationships fear -- infidelity. Can you and how do you heal from broken trust? This story shows "I'm sorry and I forgive you" are the beginning of the journey but not the destination. Jaquelin Thomas gives a moving story of a woman relearning to love herself so that she can accept her husband's love. She has survived breast cancer but at the cost of losing her breasts. How do you accept and give love when all you want to do is hide from everyone including yourself?

These stories are wonderfully edited by Donna Hill. The stories have all been crafted to show that love is a choice not something you fall into. In order for love to survive, couples have to have the attitude that the vows are forever. Do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

T. Cole Rachel and Rita D. Costello (eds.) Bend, Don't Shatter: Poets on the Beginning of Desire (Red Rattle Press/Soft Skull Press, 2004)

The most amazing thing about this collection is the folks they got to blurb it. The back cover contains high praise from poet Mark Doty ("These poems are for every young person who feels alone and full of longing...") and Academy of American Poets Associate Director Charles Flowers ("These poems find their power in a language forged by desire and survival..."). The introduction, by David Groff, promises that "The poems in Bend, Don't Shatter will pluck chords in you, chords so complex and resonant that you feel them in your spine. You'll hear truths so exact you can't explain them." I hear stuff like this and I expect to be blown away by what's between these covers.

Honestly, I should have known better. The narrower the theme for an anthology, the more inconsistent the poetry therein is liable to be. An anthology of love poems puts you on pretty solid ground. An anthology of teen love poems (putting aside for the moment that the ratio of good teen love poems to bad teen love poems is smaller, perhaps, than any ratio of good to bad in the whole realm of art) is going to cause that ground to sift under you. When you constrict it to gay teen love poems, you're pretty much ensuring you're going to pull the rug out from under yourself. What do you think's going to happen when you confine it to poets writing about the inception of gay teen love?

The reason for this is simple: the ratio of good poetry to bad poetry in the world is already so small that the restrictions are bound to find you swimming in mountains of bad poetry, while you may not find even a single piece that's actually poetic. From that standpoint, Bend, Don't Shatter is actually a resounding success. There are, in fact, whole poems in this anthology that deserve, that demand, to be read. Fine pieces of work that truly understand what poetry is all about. They get "show, don't tell" right. They draw the picture and let the reader figure out the story.

Unfortunately, most of the collection does not. As should be expected, you've got your fill of message poetry that would be exactly the same written out in prose. You have a couple of astonishingly bad formal pieces scattered throughout for good measure (the rest, of course, being free verse). You have some pieces that show real potential, where a line here or there is truly excellent, but the rest needs serious work. In one particular case in this anthology, you have a piece that starts off brilliant and, before your eyes, degenerates not only into message poetry, but the kind of horrible message poetry that could only sound good read from a soapbox on a streetcorner by some guy wearing a backwards collar, being laughed at by passersby.

Interestingly, the anthology gets better as it goes on; I've no idea if the editors intended this effect, but the closer you get to the back of the book, in general, the better the stuff you're going to find. (One is tempted to counsel the reader to read it backwards.) In particular, Scott Hightower's "Cruising a Hungry World" is fantastic, a really good formal poem in an age when really good formal poems are few and far between (it has not escaped this author's notice that one of the best formal poets extant today, Marilyn Hacker, is both gay and infatuated with the sestina, and that Hacker's influence is worn thick on Hightower; that said, there are far worse influences to have, and most poets seem to have them).

By all means, give this a look, as long as you don't mind wading through swine to find a few pearls. **

Great art - and in turn, great literature - often possesses a rare quality, the ability to speak on an innate level to its audience, to make the audience feel as if the artist is speaking about an unspoken, universal quality of our own lives. And although it is difficult to say that the poets and poems of Bend Don't Shatter, are attempting some universal or transcendental quality, what they do - and do admirably well - is speak directly and honestly to the book's audience, all with an empathetic understanding.

Indeed, the editors of this compilation admit that they wanted their book to speak to perhaps those who might be the most vulnerable - sexually confused teens and gay teens. And much like most compilations there are poems that are successful, managing to be tender, introspective and almost hauntingly beautiful, while there are other poems that seem to fall dreadfully on their own faces.

Poems such as Scott Hightower's "Spending the Night," Rane Arroyo's "My Mysterious Body" and Randall Mann's "Elegy for the Hurdler," are definitive highlights to the collection. A poem such as John G. de la Parra, Jr.'s "Courage!" is indicative of a series of poems throughout that tell the young reader to be brave - and most importantly that they should always be themselves.

A poem such as Mick Coccia's "We Are Not Vegetarians," is problematic because it's so enigmatically minimalist that it's difficult to obtain much of a reason as to why it was placed within the collection. Ideally, the attempt is to cover a multitude of emotions and thought on the experience of being young and gay or young and sexually confused, to prove (paraphrasing one of the poets in the collection) that there is more than one [...] truth.

And that is what Bend Don't Shatter manages to do so amazingly well - but the reader should be aware that the book is aimed towards younger readers.

This book is full to the brim with beautiful poems that address the confusion of youth. I found it inspiring to read. Any young person would find it hopeful and may be driven to write about their own feeling because of it. I think this a great book for highschool libraries where young people can find it and know that they are not alone.

Reviewed by Small Spiral Notebook:

Bend, Don't Shatter is a joyous and heart-breaking collection of poems that examines the complexities of being a gay or lesbian teenager. The voices in these poems are heady with the strength of their newfound feelings, stark in their fear and pain, and beautiful in their depiction of first loves. There are experiences of shame and hurt in these stories, yes, but there is also hope. In "Playing for Love," Amanda R. Evans turns the language of tennis into a reflection on both the emptiness and the always electrifying chance of love: "`love-love' / And still when I say it, the hollowness of that sound / comes back: love as zero, full of possibility, waiting to be filled."

No matter what your sexuality, there is no doubt you will hear the echoes of your own adolescence among these pages-who isn't confused about sex and desire as a teenager? For that matter, who has it all figured out as an adult? For many young people these poems will no doubt be a great comfort, a lifeline out of loneliness and isolation. So much of our young lives are spent struggling with the notion of what it means to be "normal." We want to fit in, but we want to be unique; we want to be "normal" but we know we are greater than that simple label. This book reminds us all of the important fact that there is no such thing-we are each of us great, complex, unique beings, and that is something to celebrate. To that end the collection captures a varied and vivid cacophony of queer voices and stories, defying stereotypes and honoring the terror and wonder of emerging sexuality. More than one poem makes reference to the butterfly as an appropriate symbol for this period of transformation from something unsure and unassuming into something fragile but miraculous. It is not an inappropriate symbol for this book, either-a slim volume that is full of unexpected power and beauty. It is a voice for the too-often voiceless, and we can only hope it inspires a new generation of gay and lesbian poets to, as Gerard Wozek puts it, "dream their voices into the world, / a little wounded, but on fire."

This is one of the best written guides for understanding the different literary genres of the Bible. The language used is simple to follow and the explanations and examples presented in the book are clear. Sandy and Giese have managed to take a somewhat complex task and guide the reader into a better understanding of the process of biblical interpretation from a form critical perspective. They compare the process of finding "genres" in a biblical text with making distinctions between "news reports, editorial commentary, or comic strips in a newspaper." Sandy and Giese' book addresses information which is essential for serious readers who want a better understanding of the Bible. The authors discuss the importance of identifying the literary genre to help gain a better understanding of the function and meaning of the biblical text under study. A total of ten different genres are presented with brief summary descriptions and a dedicated chapter for each type. Also, a description of the content and structure of the genre is provided along with step by step instructions on how to interpret the genre within a sample text. A recommended list of readings for further study of genre interpretation is included in the back of each chapter. Other features include a glossary of form critical terms and a scripture index. Although this book addresses the genres found in the Old Testament I have also found it useful in New Testament studies as well. I would strongly recommend this book to any pastor, seminarian, or serious bible student as an exegetical tool for biblical interpretation.

Cracking Old Testament Codes is a very helpful book to understand the different genres of writing that are used in the Old Testament. The premise of the book is that we, as modern English readers fail to understand the use of literary devices and categories in the text of the Old Testament.

The book on the whole does a good job of pointing out general principles about each genre, such as the nature of a proverb as compared to narrative. There are boatloads of false teachings that would be eradicated if their proponents would simply understand what is in this book.

I wouldn't say the book is a must-read, but it's pretty close, not because of its quality (although it is indeed good), but because of the nature of the book. It teaches us what we should already know.

This is one of the best written guides for understanding the different literary genres of the Bible. The language used is simple to follow and the explanations and examples presented in the book are clear. Sandy and Giese have managed to take a somewhat complex task and guide the reader into a better understanding of the process of biblical interpretation from a form critical perspective. They compare the process of finding "genres" in a biblical text with making distinctions between "news reports, editorial commentary, or comic strips in a newspaper." Sandy and Giese' book addresses information which is essential for serious readers who want a better understanding of the Bible. The authors discuss the importance of identifying the literary genre to help gain a better understanding of the function and meaning of the biblical text under study. A total of ten different genres are presented with brief summary descriptions and a dedicated chapter for each type. Also, a description of the content and structure of the genre is provided along with step by step instructions on how to interpret the genre within a sample text. A recommended list of readings for further study of genre interpretation is included in the back of each chapter. Other features include a glossary of form critical terms and a scripture index. Although this book addresses the genres found in the Old Testament I have also found it useful in New Testament studies as well. I would strongly recommend this book to any pastor, seminarian, or serious bible student as an exegetical tool for biblical interpretation.

This book was required reading for an Old Testament course I took at Liberty University. My professor (Ronald Giese) happens to be one of the authors. I appreciated reading the book, and it gave me some good insight into bible interpretation. The main premise of the book is that it is important for readers of the Bible to make 'genre distinction,' also called literary interpretation. In the first chapter Giese writes, "Ignorance of (literary) context leads to some of the worst mistakes of interpretation. On the other hand, familiarity with this context provides a window through which we can greatly increase our understanding of what the biblical authors were trying to say." I believe that this correctly shows the importance the Bible reader puts into udnerstanding the different genres of the Bible.

Chapters one through three introduce the topic and show its importance. The following ten chapters each define and describe ten different types of genres. The last chapter is a practical guide for Bible teachers. In particular, I appreciated the insights the book gave on Job. Interpreting and understanding Job is much easier if study is given literary importance- Job is not really of the narrative genre but more of the wisdom genre. Overall, I found the first three chapters the most helpful. Some of the different genres are very, very similar, thus difficult to distinguish and apply. That is my main complaint about the book. There probably only needed to be between 4 and 6 different types of genres, maybe with the others coming as sub-genres. I also don't like the title of this book, in trying to make a catchy title, I believe they created a title that scares people and misrepresents the book. There are no codes to crack- just use your brain in distinguishing the different kinds of literature that the Bible employs.

This is a selection of 18 articles, varying considerably in length, quality, and richness of information. While one should expect accounts of real travels, events, and people, some of the articles are pure fiction. This is unfortunately the case of the only article on Israel, involving two teenagers: an Israeli soldier and an Arab boy (written by an American, carrying BA and MA degrees).
The title leads to think that a balanced "sample" of the Muslim world would be given. However, most of the artciles deal with the Middle East, with the lion's share going to Morroco with 4 articles.
The most surprising and informative is the article on Afghanistan (by the Editor), the funniest is the one on Oman, the most erotic is the one on Iraq (fiction??), and the most romantic is the on on Turkey.
The book is certainly informative, entertaining, and at times erotic.
All in all, it gives a good and useful background information, focussing in many articles on the importance of the cultural differences beween Western and Muslim societies. This, I think is a very helpful point for those who intend to travel to a Muslim country.

As a contributor to many different publications, including Horror 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies, I am happy to add Gay Travels in the Modern World to my list of credits. The diversity of styles, backgrounds, and ideas of the contributors to this book is a perfect reflection of the diversity in the experiences in both the gay and Muslim worlds. It's impossible not to read this collection without reflecting on how these worlds sometimes collide, sometimes overlap. Don Bapst, author of danger@liaisons.com

"Gay Travels in the Muslim World" is quick interesting reading. Luongo's perface to the book is most note worthy. He presents the issue of homosexuality in a framework of identity versus practices which is thoughtful. I would recommend this book for students of sociology and African American studies who are focused on learning more about ascribed and achieved life roles within society.

John Barfield
Evanston, IL

The book description mentions "traveling in the Middle East." Readers should understand that the Muslim world far exceeds this limited geographic region and that many of the stories in this book were written by people whose travels were in other areas.

I write this as the author of one of the stories in the book. My experiences were in Africa.

Lee Bontecou is a force. Her sculptural prowess is nearly unmatched. this work has some of the best critical essays I have ever read, and the bountiful photographs are most excellent.

This is a terrific 2003 exhibition catalogue of the seminal work of sculptor Lee Bontecou. If you're interested in art and sculpture, you may have seen or heard of the show and already have the this catalogue. If not, it's a great addition to any art library.

Bontecou, a highly influential figure in the 1960s and 1970s especially, can evoke some very personal reactions with her work. For me, her sculptures and drawings have a direct visual connection to the films of Terry Gilliam, particularly the surreal "Brazil."

Whatever your reaction to her work, this is a well-done publication with five interesting essays on the art scene of her heyday as well as 50 photos of her sculptures and more than a hundred drawings.

It is difficult to review the exhibition catalog without first taking in the Lee Bontecou survey at one of the museum exhibitions currently traveling the US. Unfortunately the exhibition will travel to only three museums in the three largest cities in the US, yet most of the works come from public and private collections throughout the country. Luckily, readers get to see all of the pieces in a carefully written, scholarly book full of full-color reproductions, several essays about the artist and her process, essays about the artist and surrounding influences from (and in) art history, and a detailed exhibition checklist with thumbnail photos of each work in the full exhibition. There are over 150 works in the traveling exhibition presented in a catalog of 240 pages. The photographs are standard for a catalog presentation but photographs of the sculptural works may not give accurate renderings of scale or detail; once again, this is a catalog and not a coffee table book of a few of the artist's better-known works. For just a few dollars more than the softcover, get the hardbound edition; you will want to keep this book for a lifetime.

I just studied both the book and the exhibition in Chicago. The works are wonderful first hand. The book is a nice supplement in some ways, the quality of the prints is good on the surface, and there are some contextual pictures of studio environment etc. But the book is enormously disappointing in one very important way: Most of the photographs of works in the first section are taken from only one angle, head on, and lit evenly so they give *no* idea of the geometry and depth of the works. The actual works have very dramatic physical depth, but the photographs make them look as flat as paintings. It's great that there is at least an inventory presented here, unfortunately, this book missed the rare opportunity to definitively fill the need for a photographic record of Bontecou's major works. It would have been greatly improved with multiple angles or more informative lighting for the works that demand it. You still have to see an exhibition to really have any idea what her works are like.

Regrettably, Amazon guidelines do not allow me to provide the URLs to Bontecou's own press release response to Storr's statements (search for "bontecou" on ereleases.com headlines).

I am very happy with the purchase and I can't wait to get started. I didn't have long to wait for delivery and went straight to the coffee shop so I could open the package and not have to wait until I got home!

Creative ideas don't get any better than this. Sit down with a cup of tea, a sketch pad and get great thoughts. I wouldn't be without this quilting book in my library. Not your everyday, cut and sew book.

mind you I haven't made this very complicated project yet.

but her ideas certainly solved a design problem I'd been having.

Paper piecing is not a new method but since the book is I was very
disappointed when I realized that in the 90's I had purchased a book with the same pattern in it. I guess I expected to buy a new book with new patterns and this is my reason for being disappointed. If you are new
to paper-piecing this book would be somewhat helpful.

The Portable Conservative Reader provides a good introduction to the world of conservative thought since Burke invented it during the French Revolution. As an avowed liberal, I bought this book for a class on conservatism, intending to 'know thy enemy'. I didn't know what to expect, but the PCR provides an extensive, if limited, compilation of the major conservative thinkers. Burke, of course, is well represented, as are James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, but Kirk (editor) gets weaker as he follows the conservative tradition through a woman's perspective (he could dig up only two of interest), then stronger again with some hilariously grumpy texts by Malcolm Muggeridge and CS Lewis - I believe Lewis was the one who said, 'I am a democrat because I believe in the fall of man' - as a liberal with a good sense of humor, I found a lot to enjoy in their perspective on the 60's. The allegorical stories by Rudyard Kipling et al. were sometimes heavy-handed.

A good start, but for a more thorough (as well as more recent) look at intellectual conservatism - a group which I do believe is a minority, even in the Republican party - you might want to add Hayek's libertarian treatise 'The Road to Serfdom', Dan T. Carter's 'Race and the Conservative Counterrevolution', and Eugene D. Genovese's 'The Southern Tradition' and Angela Dillard's 'Multicultural Conservatism in America'.

This book did not convert me but as a philosophical, not political, movement I have a greater respect for conservatism and even agree with some of its tenets. Kirk can be a pretty reasonable guy. Read this book and those recommended above and you will have a better grasp of a real intellectual movement whose influence, sadly, appears to be diminishing from the scene, judging by the 'election' of Fearless Leader.

This is an anthology of conservative thought put together by the late Russell Kirk. It features a good selection of writings from such luminaries as Edmund Burke, literary genius James Fenimore Cooper, southern conservatives like John Randolph and John C. Calhoun, et al. Nothing is featured though from Richard Weaver. Also writings from prominent Federalists such as John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Fisher Ames are featured. However, there are NO strong paleoconservative arguments presented favoring the American Republic over Jacobin Social Democracy. Also, this anthology could have stood to include the writings of prominent Anti-Federalists. Why do they always get left out? Other anthologies include them. Being weary of a strong central government is a conservative tradition -is it not? Kirk isn't exactly a neoconservative revisionist.

Though this anthology culminates a diverse blend of conservative thought, it is reflective of Kirk's own unique brand of paleoconservatism. All in all, this is a good "portable" anthology of conservative thought that starts with the Burke basics. I might also recommend, Freedom & Virtue : The Conservative Libertarian Debate by by George W. Carey(Editor) and The Paleoconservatives : New Voices of the Old Right by Joseph Scotchie (Editor)

Russell Kirk has followed a lifetime of insightful writing with this collection of heavyweight thinkers from across the centuries. In 700 pages of solid political philosophy, Kirk gives the reader a foundational education not always in tune with what we normally consider to be the modern conservative movement. Kirk draws on his extensive breadth literary knowledge to give us a collection of ideas guaranteed to turn our typical conception of conservatism inside out. After a taste of Burke, Hamilton, Toqueville, Disreali, Brownson, Gissing, Kipling, Santayana, Eliot, Kristol and others, a final chapter by Kirk himself is a most appropriate end to an outstanding collection. This is a long-awaited masterpiece for all who call themselves thinking conservatives

This served as my introduction to intellectual conservatism. Until I started college, my conservatism (though certainly of a traditionalist, Kirkean sort) was not well-defined, and I was completely unfamiliar with the writings of Kirk or, shockingly enough, of Burke. However, once in college, I began to associate with other conservatives, many of whom naturally gravitated to Kirk, and so I, too, gave Kirk a try. Before trying The Conservative Mind I got the reader (more because of the fact that I couldn't find the former than anything else). Nonetheless, I devoured this book, skipping from piece to piece as the whim caught me. The Burke readings, I think, are essential, and so is the Kirk piece that concludes the volume, in addition to Kirk's introduction in which he defines conservatism (to the extent that it can be defined at all). The writings in between are of varying quality, character, and density. Any conservative can surely find something that suits his fancy, though. Muggeridge's "The Great Liberal Death Wish" is a classic--I recommend it to any conservative (especially those who would consider themselves Republicans, as opposed to, say, Buchananites) who sometimes feels outnumbered by his philosophical brethren who support the free market and unregulated capitalism at all costs. There are dangers in "technology," and conservatives are rightly skeptical of industrialism and "progress." The Revolution-era pieces are intriguing and were the first to spark me into considering the true conservatism of the Founders. The selection from Michael Oakeshott, "On Being Conservative," is another interesting one, as well. In short, this is a fantastic sampling of the corpus of conservative thought and literature. More than likely, the writings in this book will send you to other books, which will send you to yet more. But that's the idea, isn't it?