literature

I am a mother and a child care provider. I have been interested in yoga for a long time and have purchased some books for myself. When one of the children in my care (5 years old) saw one of my books, she wanted to try some of the postures. I decided to look for a book that would be more appropriate for children. After speaking to the parents about it, I began integrating a little yoga practice into our weekly schedule using this book as a guide. The kids love it! Especially the animal postures! It is easy to follow and fun for them to do. They even like the relaxation and meditation parts of the workout, which I had my doubts about at first (the children in my care are quite active!) I would suggest parents read the book before starting to practice with the kids so that they can help them perform the postures better. Then they can read the book to the kids and follow it with them. The postures are great for children and adults. I love this book. It is simple, to-the-point, and fun. I would reccomend it to anyone who has children or works with children. No prior experience with yoga is necessary. As the 5 year old in my care says: It's really, really easy!

I've been doing yoga with my daughter since she was 3 years old, but this book brought our yoga sessions to a whole new level. She loves doing the yoga out of the book and we can now spend up to an hour picking out our favorite exercises. Shakta's stories really motivate children to work hard and have fun. I strongly recommend it to anyone wanting to begin or improve a yoga practice with children.

This was my first children's yoga purchase which I still use today when teaching young ones. This book gives many different stories to tell as you are teaching children to move their bodies and breath within the poses. A great tool for educators and parents of children preschool through elementary age.

Volume 2 of Marcel Proust's 4000+ page masterpiece, "In Search of Lost Time", is, if it's possible, an even greater book than the first volume. I read Volume 1, "Swann's Way", with the kind of astonishment and joy generally reserved for Tolstoy and Maugham, constantly amazed at Proust's (via Moncrieff, Kilmartin, & Enright) ability to deepen sensation and memory to almost religious proportions, and when I finished I thought, "There's no way he can keep this level of beauty up for another 5 volumes." Judging from Volume 2, I was dead wrong.

Proust published "Swann's Way" in 1913, and waited 6 years to publish Volume 2, "Within a Budding Grove"; I presume that in the interim he reorganized his ideas, deciding to expand his novel and explore his themes in greater detail. This volume is much more leisurely and intricately paced than the first, as Proust masterfully tells us of the end of his relationship with Gilberte, his relocation to Balbec, and the beginning of his relationship with Albertine. The slow dying of love, the vaguely confusing experience of a new dwelling as it gradually becomes a home, watching beautiful young girls (the "budding grove" of the title) enjoying their beauty and youth as they walk down a city street...these things and more are plumbed and ruminated upon, with Proust's typically intricate and gorgeous language.

These books, if the first two are any guide, are like nothing ever attempted in the history of literature. Rather than dealing with WHAT happened, Proust settles himself in for the long haul to try and understand WHY it happened; to quote Christopher Hitchens, Proust "exposes and clarifies the springs of human motivation...with a transparency unexampled except in Shakespeare or George Eliot." But I don't think Bill nor George ever dug this deep; Marcel Proust is absolutely one of a kind, and he's not easy to read in this world of flash-images and expressways. He takes his time. Though he was dying with every labored breath (he didn't live to see the entire novel published), Proust was in no hurry to finish. His thoughts, like his sentences, have multiple branches. Follow them and you'll cherish the experience like it was your own.

Moving on to Volume 3.....

Upon finishing WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE, the reader will have been introduced to virtually all the major characters in IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. Most importantly for later volumes, we meet and get to know Albertine, Robert de Saint-Loup, the painter Elstir, the diplomat Norpois, and Madame de Villeparasis, as well as a deepened acquaintance with such characters as Gilberte Swann, Madame Swann, and the extravagantly bizarre Baron de Charlus.

Proust's extraordinary genius is evident on every page of this amazing book. One could point to any of a few dozen moments to illustrate this. What is amazing to me about Proust is how he can take an amazingly everyday event, and build it to proportions as great as any battle scene in WAR AND PEACE. For instance, at the end of "Madame Swann at Home," the narrator recounts the times he would wait at the Arc de Triomphe to take a walk with Madame Swann and her entourage. The ensuing eight or nine pages, which merely recount the group walking through Paris, become as majestic and epic as any scene in Homer or Virgil or Tolstoy. No scene would seem to contain less potential for greatness, yet Proust is able to make it something truly unique and beautiful. Or, to take another incident, have there been many incidents in literature as filled with passion and emotion and suspense as the Narrator's first attempt to kiss Albertine? In a mere two pages, Proust is about to pack a surreal amount of dramatic (and comic) action.

Although famous for containing at least part of both of the narrator's great love affairs, I find this novel even more fascinating for the extraordinary detailing of the myriad of social and class distinctions to be found in the seemingly infinitely varied French society. The great theme throughout the book, even when not specifically mentioned, is snobbism, and Proust owns the subject of snobbery as Homer owns that of war. Proust reveals snobbery primarily proceeding from those slightly lower on the social ladder. Ironically, he reveals those at the top guilty not of snobbery but of insolence and disdain, while not even his servant Françoise is innocent of being a snob. The tensions in the novel become particularly acute given the changes that were taking place in French society at the time. This theme is not restricted to this novel alone. It featured in SWANN'S WAY, especially in the attitudes of the Verdurin "faithful" and will be a major theme of ensuing volumes, especially THE GUERMANTES WAY.

The section of the novel recounting his getting to know Elstir contains perhaps my favorite passage in all of Proust, where Elstir, upon the narrator's learning something unflattering of Elstir's past, tells him that no one has not done things that they would not love to expunge, but that no one ought to despise this, because this is the only way one can truly become wise. "We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one can else can make for us, which no one can spare, us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." This is not merely the opinion of Proust's character: it could stand as the central meaning of the novel as a whole.

"Alas!" Proust writes in the second volume of his attempts to recapture his lost childhood and long-forgotten feelings, "in the freshest flower it is possible to discern those just perceptible signs which the instructed mind already betray what will, by the dessication or fructification of the flesh that is today in bloom, be the ultimate form, immutable and already predestined, of the autumnal seed" (p. 643).

Having just finished reading WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE for the fourth time, it remains (with SWANN'S WAY) at the top of my list of favorite novels. Influenced by John Ruskin, Henri Bergson, Wagner and the fiction of Anatole France, in his "universality and deep awareness of human nature," Proust (1871-1922) is considered "as primordial as Tolstoy," and "as wise as Shakespeare" (Harold Bloom, GENIUS, p. 218).

I most recently returned to Proust's BUDDING GROVE through the Modern Library's 2003 edition of the Montcrieff/Kilmartin translation of Proust's IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, Volumes I through VI. Through a continued series of what Walter Pater has called "privileged moments," or what James Joyce might call "epiphanies," the narrative of WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE gracefully transitions away from the childhood recollections of SWANN'S WAY, to the narrator's exquisite memories of his adolescence spent with his grandmother in the seaside setting of Balbec. We find that Charles Swann's turbulent affair with the "illiterate courtesan" (p. 124), Odette de Crecy, has resulted in marriage; and although the narrator's "enchantment" with Swann's daughter, Gilberte, gradually fades, he soon encounters unrequited love once again upon meeting the "charming, pretty, intelligent" and "quite witty" (p. 116) Albertine Simonet. In Volume II, Proust further develops his notion that human love is synonymous with suffering, failure, exhaustion, ruin, and despair. To love and believe in a woman completely becomes the "cause of the greatest suffering" (p. 713). "There can be no peace of mind in love," Proust's narrator reflects, "since what one has obtained is never anything but a new starting-point for future desires" (p. 213). "In reality," he adds, "there is in love a permanent strain of suffering which happiness neutralises, makes potential only, postpones, but which may at any moment become, what it would long since have been had we not obtained what we wanted, excrutiating" (p. 214). WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE, much like SWANN'S WAY, is by no means a feel-good novel. Proust reveals that while love may allow us to touch the sublime, it also teaches us that there are no limits to human suffering.

In Volume II of Proust's IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME, Proust introduces us to all the major characters of his subsequent volumes. Serious readers will experience uncommon pleasure in reading Proust. SWANN'S WAY and WITHIN A BUDDING GROVE are perfect examples of why it's worth one's time to read "a good book." In fact, a life without experiencing the rich pleasures of reading Proust would be real poverty.

G. Merritt

Paul Elie's book is a sort of multiple biography of four well-known American writers (Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Thomas Merton, and Dorothy Day), as well as a social and intellectual history of 20th century American Catholicism. This is a very ambitious book, but Elie pulls it off with great style. The strongest parts of the book are about O'Connor and Percy; maybe this is because they were the more accomplished writers. Elie makes O'Connor come alive again; we see the maidenishly lovable and strong-willed young author as she is struck down by illness and condemned to a confinement in her rural backwater. Instead of giving into despair she turns to her faith and casts a compassionate but unblinking eye to the human "grotesques" of the South: they come to unforgettable life in "Wise Blood" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find". She becomes interested in the powerful, consoling theology of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who taught that "everything that rises must converge." She dies of lupus at age 39.

Walker Percy also had to battle with despair. Both his father and grandfather committed suicide. The Percys were an aristocratic Southern family with a strong tradition of stoicism; that is, the nobility of suffering as the sole consolation. Percy eventually came to see that wasn't enough. In his first novel, "The Moviegoer", he examined "the greatest despair: that it does not know that it is despair." And in his best novel (in my opinion) "The Thanatos Syndrome" he explores the death wish of western civilization and the necessary faith-based cure.

Elie's accounts of the lives of Merton and Day are also very interesting, but those authors are perhaps not quite as prominent as they used to be. Day is better known for her many good works than her prosaic writing. And the monasticism of Merton seems to be a little esoteric and removed from quotidian, everyday life as it is lived by most of us. But they are still worthwhile as studies of what it means to take religion seriously in your life; to try to see the ultimate, luminous transcendental reality above and beyond the immediately visible one. This is a very moving, soul-satisfying book.

While the common theme of this book is on how four very distinct writers: Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, Walker Percy, and Flannery O'Connor, expressed their faith through their literary lives, the real beauty of the book is in seeing how the four authors dealt with issues of their faith in their own lives. At times it seems like a story contrasting Doris Day's fiery activism to Thomas Merton's move into monastic life, both in response to the passions of their own lives and the events of the world. Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor seem like much more of a middle ground between the two extremes, living much more in the world of literature than Day and Merton.

Each life makes for a fascinating reading on its own. The beaty of Paul Elie's book is that he allows each life to stand on its own, while combining them into a larger book on how to live as a religious thinker in the secular world.

The title of Paul Elie's book THE LIFE YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN is borrowed from a short story title of Flannery O'Connor, one of the four writers discussed in his book. The other three are Thomas Merton, Dorothy Day, and Walker Percy. The focus of Elie's work is not as much biographical as it is literary. He looks at the two things that connect these four great people: faith and writing, and shows how both work together to produce the great literary output of each author. Elie sees these four people as being part of an informal "Catholic" school of writers. Elie looks at an analyzes many of the writings of each author, and presents it in a manner that will appeal to the scholar and lay reader as well. Though the book has biographical information, and is arranged in a chronological manner, biographical and historical details are only provided where absolutely necessary to discuss the literary works of Day, Merton, O'Connor, and Percy.

There has been a temptation to see Merton and Day as larger than life, almost saintly figures, Percy and O'Connor as eccentric southerners who happen to be Catholic, and in the case of O'Connor, a Catholic writer trying to impose blatant symbols of faith in all of her writings. Elie certainly admires all four, but shows them from a human point of view. In doing so, he debunks many of the myths surrounding these four figures. From a spiritual point of view, they are just as human as we are, and it is because of their very human struggles that their literary output is possible.

Elie breaks important ground by looking at these four great Catholic figures as writers, and his work will undoubtedly set the stage for further study of the literary connections of Merton, Day, O'Connor, and Percy. His book includes copious endnotes that will enable a person to easily find works by and about these four authors. In most chapters Elie discusses each of the four, but he uses breaks after sections about each author which makes reading easier. Elie himself is a book editor and he uses his skills as an editor to write a concise work. The length of the book demonstrates this alone. The text without endnotes is approximately 475 pages. There are certainly individual works about Merton, O'Connor, and Day equal or greater in length than Elie's work, but hardly say as much. I cannot say for certain about Percy since I am not familiar with scholarly or biographical works about him.

This book will more than likely be of interest to Catholic readers, but anyone who wishes to study the role of faith in Day, Merton, O'Connor, and Percy, will find this book a great read an a valuable resource.

Anyone who has ever wanted to be a writer will hear from writing instructors all about the importance of constantly reading. Books on writing theory state the same thing as do works about writing by published authors. The importance of reading cannot be disputed, but many writers may wonder what would be appropriate to read. Fans of great writers may also wonder what would be a great next read. Ronald Shwartz has edited a book that answers these questions for all who wonder, what do great writers read and what books have inspired these writers to write?

The book includes many well known authors of both fiction and nonfiction, including notables such as Anne Bernays and husband Justin Kaplan, Robert Coles, Joyce Carol Oates, Penelope Fitzgerald, John Irving, Norman Mailer, and Anna Quindlen just to name a few. Some of the writers simply list the books, others explain why they include the books. Most of the entries are short and to the point, and all the entries are insightful. I only wish Norman Mailer had a bit more to say, but since he just published a book on writing, any questions I may have will probably be answered in that book.

I received this book as a gift; generally this method of acquisition all but ensures I will never read the work. In this particular case that generality was broken, and I was the beneficiary.

Mr. Ronald B. Shwartz has collected the thoughts of 115 writers and received an answer to the request, "Identify those 3-6 books that have in some way influenced or affected you most deeply...". The entertainment begins prior to the first author's selection as Mr. Shwartz shares some responses to the idea of the question itself. Anna Quindlen "This is a mean thing to ask someone to do."

Kurt Vonnegut "Anyone asking a writer a question like yours should own a thumbscrew and a rack."

James McBride "If the literary world, or if anyone else in the world for that matter, feels I'm smart enough to offer my two cents about anything, we're all in deep doo-doo, but what the heck, count me in..."

I would imagine the collected responses would make for an excellent read of their own. Fortunately the book leaps much further and deeper, it almost pries into the very personal thoughts of these writers who all are associated with excellence. Their work ranges from one to the other end of whatever writing genre could be listed, and their answers will generally surprise you. As these people are some of the literary legends of the 20th and now the 21st Century I expected answers both lofty and impenetrable to the average reader. I could not have been more in error. Yes there are references to poetical works that I could not find in 10 years with the same number of computers. But happily the book is very readable. And lest you think it takes itself too seriously, I offer Christopher Buckley and his opening to his answer,"Well, if you're looking for recondite works in, say, lesbian studies from the early seventeenth century, you're "___" out of luck with me." I imagined Buckley The Elder wincing with that bit of earthiness from his Son.

The books that made some wish to write or at least were influential in their work will surely fascinate. It is the only book of its kind I have read, but unless I come across another, this sets the bar.

Ronald Shwartz was curious about what books writers read, how and what influenced them, so he set about to seek answers. This book contains 115 different viewpoints. Each chapter, written by a different author, begins with a brief biographical blurb followed by two or three pages describing the authors' choices. Some, like Mario Puzo or Norman Mailer, were quite terse, just itemizing their choices, but most of the other entries were a bit more revealing, giving us a feel for what the books meant to them, when they read them, etc. Their passion for books and reading were truly inspirational.

I kept a pad and pen handy as I read this book to make a list of the books mentioned that sounded interesting to me. By the end of the book I had a huge list of books that I wanted to find and read.

This book not only served as a great source for recommended reading, but provided a wonderful window into all of these authors' lives.

In this book, the author writes about what makes a book a good book and why reading to oneself and why reading aloud is important and then provides a long bibliography of recommended books. What makes this book special and different from other books (i.e. "Read Aloud Handbook") is that this book is completely family focused. It is written for an intended audience of parents and stresses using reading as an important activity that bonds families together.

Hunt feels that good books feed the soul, teach values, and build character. When one connects with a character emotionally, lessons will naturally be learned from reading the story and getting to know and love the characters. Only good books fit the bill for nourishing the soul, only good books provide "honey". Hunt quotes Eric Fromm, who wrote that he feels that children need "milk" and "honey" to thrive: the milk is the parent providing for the child's physical needs, and the "honey" is the "sweetness of life, that special quality that gives the sparkle within a person". Hunt and Fromm agree that only a minority of children are receiving "honey" from their parents, a parent must first love honey and have it to give, and that not every parent has it to give. Hunt feels that "good books are rich in honey".

There are 124 pages of discussion about good books and the value of selecting good books. Good books make children wonder, laugh, and that contains spiritual, emotional, and intellectual dimensions. There is not much dedicated to selecting books for toddlers and preschoolers although there are plenty of books for that age range in the book list. Unlike other books, this is purely opinion and the author does not spend time discussing results from studies about reading aloud. This book does not discuss issues such as problems that schools have with teaching reading or dealing with children who are not read to, or discussing problems with illiterate children and adults, or other societal educational matters-this book is focused on the family unit and speaks to parents about using reading and books to enrich the lives of their children.

Not a lot of time is spent talking about what makes a bad book, and specific examples are not given of bad books. I was a bit disappointed that the issue of guns and violence in books for preschoolers was not mentioned. Hunt does discuss negative content in books for upper elementary grades and teens. Hunt states it is a bad idea to fashion stories around common life problems for the sake of dosing up the books with realism: no matter how sad or pointless it is. To inject these negative issues in a manner that leaves the reader feeling sad and hopeless accomplishes nothing positive, and only serves to squash the child's spirit. Hunt states that it is now common for books to feature rape, sexual problems, and illicit drug and alcohol use.

Hunt is Christian and evidence of this is speckled here and there but I don't think it will be offensive to non-Christians. There are 12 pages dedicated to a chapter about reading aloud from the Bible as a daily family experience.

This edition contains 85 pages of book lists. The books are first divided into three age ranges, then by type such as picture book or series. From there the books are arranged by complexity of content, and then alpha by author. There is an index by author name only. Trying to look up a single book title to see if Hunt recommends it is not possible. Some of the entries contain no description, most contain one sentence description, and some contain 2 or 3 sentences for a description. This book lists contain works of fiction, not non-fiction such as books about trains or other "real" things that young children do love to read about-there are plenty of other ways to find those books, though.

I loved that Hunt brings into the discussion, the role of family and creating a safe and comfortable home for the child. There is a chapter about influences in the child's life: good and bad. Television is discussed, very lightly, for its problems such as helping contribute to short attention spans in preschool aged children, squelching creativity, and that the violent content of many shows and evening news programs does nothing but corrupt the soul. Good books are often translated into movies (Disney and such) but rarely compare to the quality and depth as the story as told in the book version. Hunt basically cautions to selectively watch TV but to make sure children get a daily dose of reading good books rather than spending valuable time sitting in front of poor content television shows and commercials. There are other books on the market that cite the studies and discuss the problems with television such as "Endangered Minds", if that is something you are interested in learning more about.

I love that Hunt is writing about the importance of family life and the value of reading as a family bonding experience, rather than the more common urging of parents to read anything at all to their children just so they would be interested in reading when the time comes to teach them to read. I am sick of hearing that parents should read anything, anything at all, to their children as a way to interest them in reading-I believe that content does matter!

Hunt's analysis of what constitutes a good book and her urging to use books to elevate the child's spirit is refreshing to read about. Hunt writes with clarity and this book is quick read but the important message will stay with you and inspire you. This book would make a great gift for new parents or grandparents; it makes an easy "wish list" to use as a buying guide. The price of this book is inexpensive and will save you time searching for good books in the library or bookstores, and it will save you money when you are buying books so I recommend it for every parent and grandparent.

I love books and could just kick myself for not having gotten this sooner. I found her chapters on the philosophy of reading, types of literature, etc. VERY thought-provoking and inspiring (as well as confirming of some things I already thought!). She brought some balance to issues many parents face, especially if you are homeschooling or have bright/advanced children. For instance, I tend to read my girl things I like, but that meant I was not bringing her home books on her emotional level to broader her experience in those things. Hunt tells a story of a girl she knew whose parents did this and the result was the girl was disconnected from kids her own age; she needed to learn the simple lessons and values in those kids books even if she could sit still and listen to longer books or read harder books beyond her years. So my daughter and I have been having fun going back through the library and finding the books listed... We've found some new favorites too! You definitely don't want to miss this book!

I loved this book. The minute I finished reading her introductory chapters, I started at the beginning again, so I could underline her gems of wisdom. Not only did this book strengthen my resolve to continue reading good books to my children, it made me review the books I was reading, and make some changes. Ms. Hunt is thoughtful, and encouraging and gets her message across. Make time for books!! for yourself, and your children. We're going to give this book as a gift to all our siblings with children, and as a shower gift from now on!

The Girls' Book of Love balances the cultural hype about love with reality, presenting quotes, facts, and opinions that will help girls who (like most adults) are trying to figure out how to stay true to themselves while loving someone else. A truly fun, informative, and enlightening read for preteens and young women.

i love books about romance and this is great to read. it is quotes and stories for girls about falling in love. after reading the quotes, i feel like I know all of the secrets to a good relationship.

The Girls' Book of Love has been a great, great help to me. I read it when I fell deeply in love, and it had great tips for me!

...Grandpa Tucker's Rhymes and Tales is a "lucky," or well worth expense. This book is chockfull of fun story-poems, and just simply poems, that offer the reader and listener an alternative to the bedtime story, or anytime story for reading to our children. That's what I did with this book. I read the rhyming tales out-loud to my 10-year-old daughter, as I believe the contents of "Grandpa's" book are best enjoyed out loud. The stories are amusing, the rhyming clever, and often the underlying messages offer lessons of good behavior without being preachy.

"Grandpa" is "hip" too. While many of the poems deal with personified animals, Tucker's most frequently used character is a snake that goes by the name of Sammy, a cool dude with a mischievous personality. Many holiday poems include Sammy getting in and out of trouble, or becoming hero for the day. Take for instance "Sammy, the Snickers Snake." Sammy dresses as a barber's pole on Halloween and saves his town from a vampire by holding his snake friends, Hiss and Hoss "dressed together like a cross," scaring the vampire away. And then the friends rejoice by giving themselves a "high one." Sammy is justly rewarded with a five-pound Snickers bar.

I have only one complaint about this book: it would be better served with full page, color illustrations. All of the children's poems here lend themselves to pictures. The black and white sketches are well done, but I would like more drawings and in color to make the book more inviting for very young children.

What a wonderful book! I first ran across Bob 'Grandpa' Tucker on the internet several years ago, and found the "silly poems" (his description) which he posted to a poetry group on the Usenet to be lighthearted and fun, and at the same time well constructed with catchy meter and rhyme. My younger daughter was, at the time, around eight years old (she is now 14), and she, too, became fascinated with Grandpa's works and words. When she was 9, she took a summer school caligraphy class, and one of the projects was to select a poem and rewrite it caligraphically. The teacher had set aside books by Shel Silverstein and Bill Martin Jr. as sources, but after my daughter showed her a stack of Grandpa Tucker poems, the teacher promptly added them to the short list of acceptable authors from which the students could select a poem! No need to ask which author SHE selected!

Since then, the list of Grandpa Tucker's work has grown to include his endearing Sammy Snake story poems - each and every one of which is faithful to his original tight meters and rhymes, but which collectively tell delightful tales to leave the reader with a valuable lesson, sans preaching!

My daughter today has become a poet in her own right. She has written dozens, in fact, and this year was asked by her eighth grade language teacher to submit a poem to the District's Middle School poetry contest. I have no doubt that her love of poetry had, as it's genesis, the words and "silly poems" of Grandpa Tucker. Would that there were more mentors such as Bob 'Grandpa' Tucker out there to so favorably influence our children.

Needless to say, I strongly recommend this book - not just for children, but for everyone who appreciates the simple joy of wandering for a bit in a sunny, fantasical world.

I've know Grandpa Tucker my whole life, but even if I didn't his book of wonderful rhymes and stories are beloved by children all over! Its the kind of stuff that gives kids the giggles so badly that they get hiccups!

Buy this book for the children in your life!

Don't get me wrong, I love Baxter Black. His poetry is great, and his columns are fun and enjoyable. This book had its moments, too, but is a cluttered, frenetic read that could have used a sterner editor. Pared down, this book could have been a howlingly funny novella, instead of an amusing novel. Call me stuffy and all, but it gets tiring weeding through all of the invented silly names for people peppered throughout. No one in this book has a normal name, and what can be occasionally clever becomes a literary device bordering on tedium. Okay, as a comedy-fantasy this book does work for me, as the scenarios are much too fantastic to even smack of realism, and after awhile I gave up and read it in that light. It works, ignoring the intrusive attempts at cleverness, but for the next one, Baxter, throw in a couple of Jim Bobs and Tammys.

Those who read this first attempt at fiction by Baxter Black purely for the pleasure of it will come away with both an increased appreciation for Mr. Black's razor sharp wit and a newfound respect for rodeo cowboys. Those who read it (Seabeck, WA) while attempting to force it into some category will simply miss the point. This story does not pretend to be anything but pure entertainment, and the word "tedium" simply cannot be applied to a book that the average reader will finish in one or two readings. Trim it down to novella length? It's only 210 pages long! Simply sit back and enjoy yourself without constantly thinking about how you would have written it differently, and your jaw muscles will soon be aching! And when was the last time you laughed out loud while reading?

Any fan of Baxter or rodeo will enjoy this book. Blacks habit of interupting the story adds a whole new level of humor to the story. His down to earth and simplistic approach to life's curve balls is furthered as he takes on a variety of topics. Without a doubt this is worth the read.

What is the boundary between cognition and mere philosophy of language? What is the role of language in cognition? What is the platypus' place in a mammalian dominated world? These are just a few of the probing questions that Umberto Eco asks and brillantly answers in Kant and the Platypus. There should be no cognition issues involved in the purchase of this book: it simply is a must-own.

I am a student at Rutgers University and this novel is the crown jewel of the philosophy program. Enchanting and mystical, this book is to the field of philosophy of language what the Bible is to Christians. Umberto Eco is to philosophy of language and cognition as Henry Kissinger is to foreign policy. Kant and the Platypus is as easy to read as USA Today, but is as powerful as a yoga session. You simply must own it.

This is a layman's introduction to semiotics. These essays make me feel as if I were watching a TV show (probably the Roseanne show) on semiotics. Where is the intellectual substance I ask? When have semioticians given up the pursuit of semiotic research merely to be branded as "semioticians for the masses"?

I came across this book about 25 years ago quite by accident and have treasured it (and all the Fred Gwynne books) since. Remember Fred? He played Herman Munster on TV... and was in the old "Car 54, where are you?" show. Little did I know he was a talented children's author/illustrator. The drawings are as precious as the text... some of them resemble Fred (and I assume his children as well). His perception of how children think of routine phrases like "pigeon-toed" or "a king who reigned [rained]" are delightful. My children are grown now, and I will share these with my grandchildren. They are wonderful.

"The King Who Rained"" written & illustrated by Fred Gwynne, Aladdin Paperbacks, / Simon & Schuster 1970

Homonym is the term for words which sound alike but mean different things. Because of its historical roots in both the Germanic and Latin branches of the Indo-European language family, the English language is rich in homonyms. Fred Gwynne, the noted TV actor, plays upon "reign", (from Latin/French roots, and meaning to rule), and the word "rain", from the Old Anglo-Saxon, and meaning "water dropping from the heavens". His front cover shows a king in ermine robes contentedly raining on the countryside, while a young girl, with an umbrella, gazes up at the ruler. This kind of thing continues through the book, making every page funny and interesting.

The illustrations are colorfully done in what appears to be pastel chalks, and Fred Gwynne has probably included some autobiographical drawings as, for example, the Daddy with the mole on his nose is easily recognizable as the TV actor. This book is nicely illustrated and will provide many hours of reading enjoyment and learning.

Personally, I found that the child-reader has to be in the first or second grade, or at least fairly well exposed to the nuances of the English language, or else the play on words, using homonyms, will be lost. The younger children appeared to be interested in the illustrations alone, which are stand-alone funny.

I knew about Fred Gwynnes'writing and artwork in children's books. This was the first one I bought, what a delight!.. I'll be back for more!