Multiples

Simply, this is a wonderful anthology of poetry, organized thematically, for men. Many of the individual poems are brilliant, and the overall organization is intelligent and, at times, profound. As I have grappled with marriage, fatherhood, aging parents--all the trappings of midlife--this book has been a constant source of wisdom and comfort for me. Do a kind thing for yourself or for a thoughtful man in your life and buy this book.

That little something should be a comfort to all of us -- we each are smart in our own way. Gardner has identified seven specific types of intelligence that all human beings have access to in varying degrees. Armstrong's very welcome addition is to help lay readers understand what qualities are embodied in each intelligence and how to gauge our own specific level in each category.

He also explains that we need not be limited by those intelligences that are least developed in us. It is never too late to take up activities that will help us cultivate each of the seven primary intelligences and, in the process, have fun, experience personal growth and enjoy life.

Gardner is, from what I've read, still tinkering with adding more types of intelligences to his original list of seven. This edition of Armstrong's book lists two new possibilities -- naturalistic intelligence and existential intelligence -- and explains Gardner's criteria for identifying intelligences that can be added to the list.

This is not a feel-good, self-help book. The theory of multiple intelligences could be a major breakthrough in cognitive psychology and certainly warrants further research. Armstrong's gift is to make those of us who don't toil in the groves of psychological academe aware of Howard Gardner's work and its potential impact on our individual lives.

Buy the book, read it and think about the intelligences you have most developed. Think about others around you and their hierarchy of developed intelligences. It doesn't take long to realize that everyone -- from a king to a pauper -- can lay valid claim to a unique genius composed of their levels of development in the various identified intelligences, their life experiences and the choices they make. If nothing else, multiple intelligences should remind us forcefully that everyone deserves our respect as human beings.

Somehow the concept of 'multiple intelligences' developed by Howard Gardner has not been as successful as the one of 'emotional intelligence' developed by David Coleman. It is a shame because 'multiple intelligences' is a multiple as rich and useful as 'emotional intellingence.' Emotional intelligence is a really helpful concept. But, 'multiple intelligences' is even more so.

Zev Saftlas, Author of Motivation That Works: How to Get Motivated and Stay Motivated

This book is perfect for short reads -- great to pick up for a moment, either to refresh oneself or to share with a friend. It is a perfect gift for any bird lover -- I have purchased 6 copies to date!

If Sandy's Fackler's "Green Beads" doesn't evoke tears, doesn't shred your gut, then I feel for you.

If you enjoy poetry you will enjoy this little gem.

Savage Garden by Susan Paul****
Historical: Lady Raine LeFleur is the daughter of a French Major. Dr. Miguel Chavez is fighting on the opposite side of the war seeking revenge for the slaughter of his family. Miguel intercepts bandit's heist of the carriage bound to take Raine home to get married. Thankful for being rescued by her lover, Raine finds herself kidnapped instead.

Roarke's Prisoner by Angela Knight****
Sci-Fi: Elise Morrell captains Coalition Stellar Service Intelligence ship the "Star Raker" which has been ducking and dodging Captain Michael Roarke of Rebellion Starforce much larger ship the "Liberator" for a year. Chased down and defeated, she puts her crews safety above her owns and reluctantly agrees to his demand for HER total surrender.

Surrogate Lover by Doreen DeSalvo***
Contemporary: Sarah goes to see Dr. Adrian Ross for sex therapy. While coaching Sarah to enjoy sex and become "comfortable" with her sexuality, he falls in love with her. How UNprofessional....

Not being a speaker/reader of japanese, I can't vouch for the fidelity or accuracy of the translations, but I will say this: they are wonderfully true to the essence of haiku, and if you are possessed of a temperament which gets off on this sort of thing, this book will find a happy place in your life (my own copy resides in the bathroom). The biographical pieces and the excerpts from the respective poets' prose works which bookend the 3 haiku selections will provide an affable sense of place and context for the reader unfamiliar with Asian literature, and Hass' simultaneoous understanding of/enthusiasm for his subject matter, and his empathy with the mores and wherefores of the contemporary Occidental reader, are on par with Paul Reps' "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones" (not to mention John Cage's "Indeterminacy"!)

If you can forget their age for long enough to read through them a few times, these poems might remind you that everything starts in the banality of things around us, which is really never very banal at all. What keeps us from really looking around ourselves IS ourselves. Everything else is just mosquitoes, grass, wind, tables, the moon, etc. And that is the very simple secret of mind and matter. But hey, come to your own conclusions -- I'm no Zen master, and the only even remotely Zen aspect of this review is that it is now over.

The translations capture both the distinctive styles of
the masters as well as the oft-mentioned "aha moment".
I have only to turn a few pages to feel inspiration,
motivation, exaltation and profound gratitude for these
brief jewels. How they transcend time and place!

Hass helpfully provides a wonderful introduction and
notes for these exquisitely crafted haiku. A recommended
book for the novice and advanced reader/writer/lover
of haiku.

This small volume is a treasure. In hardcover, the pages are silver, the dark blue typography is a beautiful old-style Roman, perhaps Garamond or Times, good-sized and leaded out for easy readability. And the illustrations are unsurpassed.

First, the illustrator: Gustave Dore was born in 1832, sixty years after the birth of Coleridge. He died in 1883. Coleridge preceded him in death by 49 years. Coleridge was born in 1772 and died in 1834. Dore was born in Strasbourg, and was a renowned illustrator who was doing lithographs at the age of thirteen.

The fact that Dore was a near contemporary of Coleridge is important because we can be assured that the characters' costumes in his illustrations reflect the actual dress of the time Coleridge was describing. The ships also are correctly drawn and beautifully detailed.

To say that his illustrations complement this classic epic poem is an understatement.

As to the poet, some wag said once of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, that "a half-great poet had a wholly great day." I have also heard that Coleridge is supposed to have written his epic in one sitting, in a great burst of inspiration. I can't vouch for that, but it is truly a masterpiece--of that there can be no doubt.

I recall trying to memorize it when I was in high school, about sixty years ago. I loved it then, and I still do now.

For the price, this book is an absolute steal. No library is complete without this poem, and of all the renditions I've seen of it, this is by far the most beautiful.

This oversized edition by Dover Publications reproduces all 42 Dore engravings in their original size. Gustave Dore's illustrations are absolutely mesmerizing. I enjoy slowly turning the pages and examining the phenomenal detail in these famous Dore engravings.

Every aspect of this edition is great. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an imaginative, haunting, and captivating narrative poem that has no parallel in the English language. The engravings by Gustave Dore - the open and endless sea, the vast icy reaches of Antarctica, the calm tropical sea with monsters swirling about, and the dead seamen sprawled on the ship's deck all translate the evocative words of Coleridge into unforgettable images. And the introduction by Millicent Rose is excellent.

Buy a copy. You won't be disappointed.

On the surface, this may just seem to be a simple poem by an English Romantic. But there is so much more. There is a lesson to be learned, one of respect for God's creatures and for all of creation. This is certainly a Romantic point of view, and Coleridge puts it forth very nicely in this poem.

This is a great beginning poem for novices of poetry, for beginners and for people who dislike poetry if it doesn't rhyme and have a definite rhythm. This is definitely Coleridge's best poem, one that everyone should be familiar with. This version with the woodcuts makes for a very attractive package--the illustrations add nicely to the poems overall effect.

I found so many of my own favorites in this extraordinary collection. I was also introduced to many wonderful new poems, I might never have read. And some of the comments from the folks who submitted the poems, are as moving as the poetry itself. The book emphasizes the pure joy of reading poetry. And poetry appreciation is alive and well in America!

There is Anna Akhmatova's "The Sentence," submitted by a woman from Georgia who remembers her brother "who returned from Vietnam, a broken man of 21," when reading this poem; and Margaret Atwood's "Variation On The Word Sleep," "the most beautiful love poem I have ever read," writes a woman from Queens, NY; Lewis Carroll's "Jaberwocky" is included, with the comment, "Where else can you find a tale of danger, adventure, triumph, and jubilation - all so utterly wrapped in nonsense?" There are wonders printed here, by Ranier Marie Rilke, Alexander Pope, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sylvia Plath, William Shakespeare, Wallace Stevens, Dylan Thomas and Allan Ginsberg...and so many more. It must have been a difficult task, indeed, to select 200 poems from so many worthy submissions.

I recommend this anthology to poetry lovers everywhere, and also to those who do not care for poetry. This collection may change your mind.