Issue

This book is quite insightful, especially for a Southeast Asian media professional like myself. I recommend this book to everyone, even to those who work in the upper regions of the power sturcture of the media conglomerates critiqued in the collection.

For starters, it is a wonderful overview of how the media economy is shifting all over the world. The US market is saturated, as the book said, and the rest of the world is ripe for picking, especially my country, the Philippines.

This book is a tool to launch our own media analysis of what's happenning in our own countries. And from an analysis, we launch a critique, and from a critique, we launch steps to face the situation.

This book, published by New Media, is invaluable. I first read about it in an issue of Utne Reader. I took down the title and hunted it down in Amazon. I found it, bought it, and consumed it. I loved it because it gave me useful insights to work with.

This is a book I will dog-ear in my attempts to understand what to do in my field, and how to start my own media conglomerate from scratch. I already have my ideas, which I hope aren't just soundbites in my head.

Some of the summaries are of essays from writers such as: Juliet Schor, Alan Durning, John Kenneth Galbraith (Forward also written by him), Colin Campbell, Frank Ackerman, and (of course) many others.

There are name and subject indexes in the back and a table of contents in the front, so it is very easy to find a particular essay's summary or just find summaries of essays on the subjects/by the authors you are interested in. In addition, each summary begins with a formal citation of the essay being summarized. This is a great way of finding good articles on various subjects!

I highly recommend this book as a tool for finding good essays, as a reference book on various economics and sociology subjects, or as an introductory book to major sociology and economic theories.

-- Kenneth Prewitt President, Social Sciences Research Council

The presentation of the material, with clear and comprehensive essays for each section, and brief summaries for each of the outside authors, make this book exceptionally accessible. It should be widely used by political and environmental scholars and in college classrooms as well.

Dr. Crooks masterfully gives the reader insights, unlike any other healthcare professional, into the root causes of the challenges the health care industry is facing today.

If we all followed her wisdom and deep respect for the covenant between healer and patient, we as a society would leave a legacy of caring and great integrity for countless future generations.

I consider this book a must read for any health care professional from practicing physician to product manager. Building relationships is important in any industry, but within health care, without a strong patient-caregiver bond all other efforts to improve our system will not succeed.

What however, Girish Karnad has done is to transform it into a masterful piece of drama by depicting conflicting human emotions through the characters. It is an excellent combination of the elements--human, metaphysical and supernatural that constitute the core of the play. Karnad successfully makes use of the divine element--especially in the climax where the hero holds a conversation with the Gods, and the final result of the rain pouring on a drought-ridden land.

The play also focusses both on the negative and positive human emotions--jealousy, betrayal, deceit, as well as selfless love (evidenced by the hero and the heroine, Nittilai)and sacrifice. The hero, like most of Karnad's heroes is a man torn between moral righteousness, love and duty. It is interesting to trace this path of the hero to its fitting end.

Karnad has stated that "the play lived in my mind for 37 years" before assuming its present form. It is in short, a splendid culmination of his creative intelligence. As stated earlier, the story is so obscure that none gives a second thought to it, and to translate the same to a play requires immense skill, which is evidenced by the book. It only shows that with each of his play, Girish Karnad is only getting better.

A must read!

I have waited for a long time for Girish Karnad to return to his roots in theater, after his sojourn in the world of cinema and commercial movie making. In my opinion, he has exceeded all expectations. The Fire and the Rain is a complex play that weaves contemperory and ancient, Indian and European themes and metaphors.

It is a must read (and perform) GrecoVedic tragedy for theater buffs of all cultures around the world. It is so insightful in its observation of fundamental human behavior, and theatrically so malleable that its relevance to local contexts and audiences, worldwide, will be obvious. It is truly a play for global audiences, transcending political, cultural, and geographic boundaries.

Because it is a NLT (new living translation), somewhat obscure meanings are clearly translated into meaningful every day modern English, which guys can quickly grasp without any extra work.

If you want to study the bible, and if you're a guy, you really should consider this bible. It's laid out for simple usage, but with profound results for men.

This is why Wendy Griffin's "Daughters of the Goddess," a 13-essay survey of contemporary Feminist Witchcraft and Goddess Spirituality by British and American writers, is potentially so rewarding to male readers. Much is in this book, pointedly subtitled "Studies of Healing, Identity & Empowerment," that even the most thoughtful of men might otherwise never encounter, assimilate and, if they so choose, embrace.

"Who are the Daughters of the Goddess?" Griffin asks in her introduction. "They are women in the United States and Britain who may call themselves Witches, neo-pagans, pagans, Goddesses, Goddess women, spiritual feminists, Gaians, members of the Fellowship of Isis, Druids, and none of these names."

They are also indirectly or directly our companions, gentlemen, and whether or not they acknowledge us as such, if we fail to encounter them, fully, it's our considerable loss. "Daughters of the Goddess" offers an engaging look at the scope of what men might gain instead through a fuller understanding.

Griffin herself is that rarest of academic essayists, blending rigorous observational discipline with a narrative lyricism that is at times almost painfully beautiful. But she can sting, as well; consider her comment in a recent interview:

"If being on the Goddess Path means doing personal magic, dressing up like fairies, dancing through the woods and nothing else, it is pure escapism. Patriarchy should love it."

And so, gentlemen, if you find yourself scratching your head over what "patriarchy" has to do with Goddess/Gaian spirituality, please purchase this challenging, wonderful book and open yourself up to the voices of the 13 fiercely eloquent women Griffin has so skillfully brought together between its covers.

This book deals with the sentimental notions about homosexuality which circulate today. In a calm narrative style, it offers the facts about the truly devastating effects of homosexuality on people and society. It also also offers hope to homosexuals who want help in overcoming their problems.

The question and answer format in the chapter on prevalent misconceptions about homosexuality is very helpful. I think this part of the book is ideal for college students and teachers alike.

Easy reading too.