literature

This book is a true blessing in the middle of our divisive world. Fox's words and the amazing illustrations are helping my two year old understand that children everywhere have boo-boo's, love their Mommies and do many of the same things she does. It is now her favorite book, probably because of the gorgeous (I cannot stress that enough) colors in the illustrations. I am buying this for every child I know for Christmas.

As the home educator of children from toddler to pre-school, representing a wide range of cultures, this wonderful inclusive book is soothing and almost prayerful. I discovered it on a list of books recommended by Heifer.org, a non-profit organization bringing respectful solutions to many nations affected by poverty. The drawings by Leslie Staub, gently framed with "jewelled" borders, are universal. The text, by Mem Fox, reaches deep inside of us. Indeed, every child, every adult, has hearts that are "just the same" regardless of all the differences that separate us. It is hard to imagine anyone who can think war is the answer to anything, after reading this book. I heartily recommend it.

" Little one, whoever you are, wherever you are, there are little ones just like you all over the world." This very simple opening starts a paean to the universality of the human experience. As humans we experience sadness and joy, tears and laughter, and it is these common experiences that unite all people for "their words may be very different from yours. But inside, their hearts are just like yours."

Staub's illustrations seem to underscore this message. Diverse people, lands, and languages are presented in a folk art style with surrealistic touches. Our guide through these pages is a man in a "cloud" suit who carries four children of different races as they view people all over the world. But what unifies the poem, beside the guide, is that each of the pictures is placed in a hand-carved frame with encased gems. It feels like we are looking at pictures of someone's family. That the human race is a family is also underscored with these framed pictures. This would be an excellent book for teaching tolerance and understanding of others.

You have got to read this book. It's a rule, or maybe even a Commandment.

If you're a misplaced son or daughter of the South, or more specifically Southern-style religion, then let Beverly Roberts and the Rev. Arnold Chister be the first to welcome you home. In 365 Ways to Criticize the Preacher, author Pat Job has woven the realities and fantasies of one faded daughter of the once noble homeland into a web of genteel seduction. No matter how hard you try to maintain your new age distance from that old time religion, you don't stand a chance of escaping the gospel according to Jobe.

Laugh at the one-liners, nod your head knowingly at the parade of small town characters straight out of your own experience, enjoy the time you spend certain that Beverly Roberts is right or wrong -- go ahead, take your time. The good Reverend can wait -- wait until you've laughed and cried yourself into oneness with the truth he has woven for you. He can wait until the reader's journey becomes inseparable from Beverly's own. And he will still be waiting when you reach the end of this short, powerful epic and find yourself shadow-dancing backward into the arms of grace right along with her.

Pat Jobe dares to expose the wastelands of his own religious background to bring us back to the original truth that love has always been the only answer to all our questions. Whatever personal enlightenment you find visiting the Grand Canyon with Beverly Roberts, you will never be the same.

At first I thought, criticize the preacher?? Who would do that? But being honest with myself, I guess I've been guilty of that too. Horrors! What a thing to admit. And to a preacher-man like Pat Jobe. Forgive me.

When I started reading 365 Ways, I thought it was going to be a good-natured spoof of small Southern churches. Fun reading. Well, it is that. But it's far more. As I progressed with Beverly's diary, I became an observer to the woman she really is, though sometimes judgemental of her. Soon my own hurts erupted, tears filled my eyes, and I realized that Pat Jobe had weaved book of healing. I was right there with Beverly , looking on and wanting to let go of my hurts, but afraid. We were not so different after all.

Now I'm reading it again, but with new light. Thank you, Pat Jobe, for the light you shed on this sometimes weary reader. And thank you for showing me the way to the Grand Canyon.

I may read 365 Ways again.

"I laughed.  I cried.  I felt.  I thought.  And I don't do any of those easily or naturally."  Those are my initial reactions to "365 Ways to Criticize the Preacher."  I bought the book in February at the Mainstream Baptist Network meeting in Birmingham.  Being a Baptist preacher, I scanned it, curious that there were that many ways to tell me and my type that we weren't doing it right!  To my pleasant surprise, it is one of the best things I have read in a long time.  I only have about two dozen Beverly Roberts types in my current church and more than that in my last one.  More frightening than that, I slip into some of those behaviors as I get older.  As I read, I was reminded of Archie Bunker, and how Normal Lear invited America to look at the absurdities of his character.  Occasionally, the better side of Archie would come through, but not for long.  Your character experienced redemption, but was still in the process at the end (i.e., "I still don't like his haircut.")  I have finished the book and am ordering five more copies for friends and to put in the church library.   I thank you so much for the book.

The book was well written concerning African Americans, especially now when therir is so much racial hatred. We have positive Role models as depicted in this book. It can be read by children, white Americans as well as African Americans.

The book is like a library of our people's trials and tribulations. A collection of poems and stories that will inspire you to do great things. African Americans come from royalty and we can do anything because we are doers and achievers. I wish every "American" could read this book, perhaps African Americans wouldn't be looked down upon. I learned so many things that our people had accomplished that are not taught in school, but should be known and should be printed in text book form.

This book is now being used a bedtime ritual for my children. This means that each night I read a story or poem from the book to them, "about them (African Americans)". About their creativity, their inner strength for survival, their ability to do anything they want to do, about their ancestors that were forced to travel from afar, about their people who invented items that we use today, about their people that broke the color barrier, about their people who walked for freedom, about their people who used the pen to fight their battles, about their people who were forced to feign ignorance in order to survive, about their people who prayed and had faith that God would free them from bondage, about their people who loved each other and encouraged each other, about their people who stepped out there on faith.....

This book is awesome!

This book has inspired me to go back to school which is the least I could do after seeing what my people endured just to give me an opportunity to "step out on faith" "act accordingly" "mind my manners" "represent my hood" "believe in myself" "reach for the stars" and broaden my horizons. For they paved the way through sweat, tears, backbreaking work, picking cotton, washing Missy's clothes, raising Missy's children, eating in the backroom, riding in the back of the bus, being treated as second class citizens.

Thank you, my people past and present.

Thank you Steven Barboza (Editor) for having a vision and seeing it through.

Read this book! It is a wonderful celebration of race, culture, and heritage. It has some of everything and is a great resource. It covers all different types of values and approaches each from different genres. I use this book every time I do a research paper because it touches everything that has worth.

At the height of The Age of Reason, The United States of America was created by men such as Thomas Paine and many others who held Man above all other philosophies long enough to get the idea "Individual Rights" down on paper in the form of The Constitution of the United States of America. Paine's contribution to this end is well known. Paine noted in this book that "we have it in our power to make the world over again", and they did. Man has a right to his own life, and there is no law above this. No one has a right to another man's life, not God, not the Race, not the dictatorship, not the proletariat, not The Great Society nor the New Deal. Thanks to Thomas Paine and men like him we have it in writing "We own our own life and we are free to dispose of it in our own way". Let's work together as free men and women to keep our freedom and to spread it around the world to our oppressed brothers and sisters. To the Glory of Man!!

This volume is of great value to anyone who's interested in the foundations of this country. Paine was far ahead of his time in so many areas, for example in his vocal criticism of slavery. This country owes a debt to him in the profound impact he had on those who wrote the constitution and declaration of independence. The closing work of this volume, The Age of Reason, was, for its time, a very courageous indictment of the bible. It was written toward the end of Paine's life. There have been many men of courage and conviction, but Paine also had a profound honesty and the gift of a great intellect which allowed to express his ideas clearly.
The binding, cover, and paper of this volume are of the highest quality. The volume is smaller than the typical bestseller hardback, both in length, width, and thickness. But its slenderness is due to high quality of the very thin paper--the book has over 900 pages. I liked its small size because it makes it comfortable to read.

Brilianty written with passion and fury for the common men of this historic period of time. Essays written not for the elitests but for those who could and did make a difference. Paines works are truly historical and express the point of view of the common man who day after day is raped with taxes and control by a royal family thousands of miles away who could care less for the people they take claim to.

His works helped give birth to the greatest nation to bless the Earth.

THE THURBER CARNIVAL is an excellent collection if only because it contains the complete MY LIFE AND HARD TIMES. In the early seventies, when my grandmother gave me a respectful and wonderfully brief biography called THE CLOCKS OF COLUMBUS, I became a THURBER fan. I was in Junior High and Thurber, dead more than ten years already, was enjoying something of a vogue. Most of his books were back in print. Today, we're down to about a third or less of what he wrote. The Library of America's collection looks fairly complete, but THE THURBER CARNIVAL was his own selection of greatest hits, if you will. In both cases I miss the separate volumes from which these stories and cartoons are culled. If there are concept albums, Thurber had concept collections. You don't get the sense of a Beatles album listening to bits from different albums. This is true with Thurber. You need all of LET YOUR MIND ALONE, which you can only get used now. You need all of THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE; his most representative collection.
He tried writing a novel once or twice, but found he could only write short stories. This bothered him. The chief thing to remember as you read him is that he was deeply ashamed of being a humorist. His literary hero was Henry James. During Thurber's time at the New Yorker (and he arrived there about a year after its founding, staying until his death more than three decades later) the magazine was a showcase for humorists. Think of the original cast of Saturday Night Live and you'll have something of an idea of the atmosphere at the magazine in its first ten years or so. Competitive humorists travelled from all over the United States to work for THE NEW YORKER. The Algonquin Roundtable was largely a haven for NEW YORKER staffers. James Thurber learned from E. B. White and a few others and then outstripped them. If you read E. B. White's forays into humor, you'll see his clean prose shining, but you won't feel you know him. Thurber, on the other hand, leaves you with the impression that he wishes to God he never left Ohio. There is a sense of loss in Thurber's rhythms.
He is as dated as a Studebaker. If you're not willing to put yourself back in time, Thurber's not for you. But, if you notice his pain, you might notice how mightily he strove against it. Thomas Wolfe once met him at a party. Someone said, "This is James Thurber, the New Yorker writer."
Wolfe shook his hand and said, "You call those little, tiny things writing?"
All Thurber had was his writing. He was a mess otherwise. Even when his writing practically barks its bitter sentiment, Thurber turns a phrase as if he owns it. The actual content of the stories is immaterial. He should be read outloud, because he was essentially a poet.

James Thurber is undoubtably one of America's greatest writers ever. "The Thurber Carnival" is an brilliant collection of his works.

I was introduced to Thurber's works two years ago,by a short story of his that was included in my English textbook. I was instantly charmed by his writing. Ever since, I have read everything of Thurber's that I can get my hands on. Through my readings, I have discovered several key things:

1. James Thurber was NOT just a humorist/satirist. Of course, I have stayed up late reading his stories laughing out loud, yet there is more to the stories. Thurber not only chronicled people of his time, but people of all times. His works show that the little eccentricities most people possess are the very things that make them interesting. Take this excerpt from the story "Recollections of the Gas Buggy", included in "The Thurber Carnival":

'Years ago, an aunt of my father's came to visit us one winter in Columbus, Ohio. She enjoyed the hallucination, among others, that she was able to drive a car. I was riding with her one December day when I discovered, to my horror, that she thought the red and green lights on the traffic signals had been put up by the municipality as a gay and expansive manifestation of the Yuletide spirit. Although we finally reached home safely, I never completely recovered from the adventure, and could not be induced, after that day, to ride in a car on holidays.'

2. That excerpt brings me to my next discovery: James Thurber had quite a way with words, which to my knowledge, no author since has been able to near. Thurber's words transport you to another world, an amazing world, where everyone even slightly insane is portrayed with kindly satire. The character Briggs Beall, from the story "The Night the Bed Fell," is a perfect example of Thurber's wit.

3. An additional point I discovered is that Thurber's works need to be shared. I treasure this book so much that I brought it with me as traveled to Nebraska to visit my friend, just so I could read parts of it aloud to her. Whether it is a driving adventure with a Russian boat specialist("A Ride With Olympy"), an amusing maid("What Do You Mean It Was Brillig?"), or the light bulb smashing Elliot Vereker("Something to Say"), Thurber's stories need to be shared.

For these reasons, as well as others, "The Thurber Carnival" is a most wonderful book. James Thurber's writing is nearly magical, as well as his characters. This is a great book to pick up again and again, if only to read one of its great stories.

I grew up with this book. First published in the mid-40s, it lived in the center of a built-in bookcase over my father's desk in the family room, and I was drawn to it time and time again during my childhood.

At first, I was convulsed by Thurber's uniquely hilarious cartoons. His dogs and his women are priceless...drawn in a style that nobody has ever been able to duplicate or capture.

It was only later, as I grew older, that I could appreciate Thurber's written humor. The "Thurber Carnival" (and it is) is a compilation of essays and excerpts from "My World--and Welcome to It," "The Middle Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze," and others. These were Thurber's earlier works that were very much a product of their times, but oh, so funny! Thurber was one of the great commentators on the vagaries of everyday life. Along with Robert Benchly et al., he set the tone for an entire generation. I still have this book, and I absolutely cherish it. It's hard to do Thurber justice in a review. All I can say is--buy this book and wallow in it. You'll be glad you did.

Good partnerships will have sophisticated mechanisms for finding the right contract when given free rein of the bidding, but in reality the majority of bridge hands lead to competitive auctions. With each side interfering with the other, the situation suddenly becomes much less clear. After reading this book, you will no longer have to rely completely on mere guesswork and intuition to decide whether to bid or not to bid.

Larry Cohen introduces and expounds upon the Law of Total Tricks, a single principle which will allow you to estimate the possible scores resulting from almost any competitive auction. He describes some of the corollaries of the Law, as well as some good conventions that make use of the Law. These will improve the game of anybody not already familiar with such maxims as "bid to the number of trump your side has" and "when in doubt bid four spades over four hearts."

Even so, this book feels somehow incomplete. It does a good job of conveying the basic idea of the Law, giving examples of its application in relatively straightforward situations. But only in the last two chapters does Cohen begin to describe the adjustments that must be made in situations where the Law is not completely accurate. Furthermore, he doesn't really cover what to do in situations where the Law predicts ambiguous results: when bidding on might produce a better or worse result than passing, depending on the play of the hand. In these cases Cohen leaves us once again to guesswork and intuition.

Despite these faults, this book is essential because it does at least reduce the amount of guesswork to which the bridge player must resort in contested auctions.

If your bridge library were extremely small, one MUST item would be The Law of Total Tricks. It's a gem, one that will change the way you think at bridge and one that will help you make those tough part-score and higher competitive decisions which are ordinarily such "guess work". This book will help you evaluate your bidding options with much greater assurance and accuracy.

This is an essential book for any serious player. The only concern is that the intermediate player may come to believe that this is a substitute for judgement. Still this should improve the competitive bidding decisions for any player who is somehow not familiar with "The Law".

Those interested in a somewhat different valuation style should look into losing trick count originally popularized in Britain which has been around for some time.

I am a sucker for beautiful words. These are some of the most beautiful I have read. I am so grateful to Mr. Fulghum for collecting these passages in one easily accessible volume. Though I read the book in two short hours, I find myself pulling it from the shelf frequently for comfort, words of wisdom, or lyrics to the music of my life. This book also gave me the "right" words to memorialize two very close family members. I am grateful. Do not deny yourself the pleasure of this wonderful little book. It is a "keeper." -- Dr. Allison L. Hayes

This book has to be one of the best that I have ever read. The effect that it has on the reader is immediate and profound, for it has a way of showing you life through the simplest and yet most obtuse terms. It is truly a piece that will expand the mind and inspire the imagination, a much read for any "thinker."

I have enjoyed the other reviews, especially one with all the Poetry! From judging by the Author's picture on the back cover in his Library, seeing the references to William Butler Yeats, and quotes in Chaps: Simplify, Play, Lafter, God, Bene-Dictions and Contra-Dictions. I wholeheartedly agree that he loves poetry and very likely is a Poet! He is infinitely qualified to write about and quote these intensely varied poems like "Ithaca, "How can I keep from singing, "All things dull and ugly, plus Annie Dillard and Thomas Merton!

I am pleasantly surprised to see his quote of F. Scot Fitzgerald on being able "to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time...since I had lost that proper resource. Also happily, I noted the successive pages with Walt Whitman, William Blake and Ralph Walso Emerson! I am fortunately blessed to discover this collection of Wisdom, to keep alongside of Thomas Moore's neat "Meditations, Thomas Merton's "Essays on Contemplation, and Anthony deMello's "Awareness plus his "Song of The Bird.

Reading his Introducton, so personally written, I was reminded of his earlier, "From Beginning to End" and his final chapter fittingly titled Bene-Dictions using Carl Sandburg and Jerry Garcia! Pointedly contrasting excerpts from my favorite chapters I conclude with his Big Chapter on God: With "Renascence of Edna St Vincent Milay, "When We Very Young of AA Milne, ee cummings, Nikos Kazantzakis...Altogether are too much for my mysticism to handle at one sitting! From an experienced Lover of Wisdom Writings... Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

If you are looking for a beautiful example of love and dedication, look no more. This is a true story that will inspire readers of all ages to think about the world around them and the balance of nature that exists within that world. The illustrations are art that truly come from the heart. The text is enthralling and personal. The reader can visualize the two girls in the family who name the owl Jackson, "Faster than you could say bouncing, bobbling ponytails four times."

As a teacher of young children, I can attest to the appeal that this book will hold for all. Readers often ask what it is that compels writers to write or artists to paint. One answer to that question can be found in this book. Write and draw what you know and love.

This is a very impressive book, no matter your age! I can see the little grandkids in my lap as I read this book to them and they in turn show me their reading skills. The kids are going to get some good lessons in the ecology of owls; how food chains work; and how we can show some compassion for nature around us. The illustrations by "Nick" are incredibly beautiful. As such it makes a great book for the coffee table, to be opened again and again, especially when you are stuck inside the house. Henry David Thoreau said it best when he said he was thankful there were owls. I am thankful for owls too, and thankful to Robbyn and Gijsbert for bringing this volume to us. Gijsbert, in his paintings, has skillfully brought the living owl right into our living rooms. Not only the owl in question himself, but the beauty of the changing seasons are masterfully done. Of all the owls books in my library (and their are many) this volume portrays the great horned owl (the French call Le Grand Duke) in all of its majesty. I think you and your kids will like this book too!

This is the only book I could keep the interest of my [child] for the Whole book! I will be looking for more books written by Ms. Smith. I would like to comment on the beautiful pictures. They made me feel like I was there!

An excellent annual reference book for writers and Illustrators. Very informative; with publisher, magazine, club and workshop listings; business sections; how-to articles; to first-time authors who share their experiences and advice to beginning writers & illustrators. A true necessity. I've been a loyal reader/fan of Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market since 1989.

2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is a very highly useful and authoritative guide for both aspiring authors and artists to getting their work published in the specialized area of children's books. From finding the best markets, to writing effectively for the age index of one's choice, to preparing professional submissions, 2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is packed from cover to cover with solid wealth of tips, tricks, and techniques on how to stand out in a highly competitive field. 2002 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market is an absolutely essential reference, especially for new writers and novice artists looking to break into the children's book market.

I've worked in publishing for over a decade and thought I knew it all when it came time to get my own books published. Not by a LONG shot! I bought this on the suggestion of an editor and I bet I've referred to it 32 times since I got it. It helped me get through the first and second steps of the process. Now if my agent can just get my books sold!

I read the Aeneid in high school in the original Latin, and I now realize it was one of the formative experiences of my life. My Latin teacher knew all 12 books in the original Latin backward and forward, and the class was really something else! Fitzgerald's translation is pretty faithful to the original Latin, and he captures the original feeling as well as the meaning of what the great poet intended to convey. However, I have to say that Fitzgaerald is a bit too literal. He doesn't try to make it relevant for a modern audience the same way that Robert Fagles has recently done for both the Iliad and the Odyssey. We need a translator who can capture the verve as well as the grammar if Vergil is to be made available to modern readers as recent translations of Danta, Horace and Aeschylus have done. Until then, however, I think it's safe to stick with Fitzgerald (although I would recommend Dryden just for the experience!).

(NOTE: This review deals entirely with Fitzgerald's translation.)

The Aeneid is often called the founding epic of the Roman Empire. I think this requires a little explanation. The Romans absorbed almost completely the culture and art of Greece, and Homer's 'Illiad' and "Oddessy' were well known to the Romans. Virgil's 'Aeneid' is stylistically derived from Homer, but Virgil breaks new ground as well. Virgil's is much more of a national epic, and of course Homer couldn't be as nationalistic since Greece was not a nation in the same sense that Rome was. Also, Virgil is writing centuries after Homer and the events depicted in the 'Aeneid'. A lot of the story foreshadows the future of Rome and Virgil is writing about Rome's (mythical) history only to put his present day Rome in context. For example, he explains why there was such a national enmity between the Rome and the Carthage, why Latin came to be spoken in Rome, and he alludes to the origin of several famous Roman gens, including the 'Julius'. Any student of the classics will appreciate the mythological world created here by Virgil.

The translation by Fitzgerald is very good. The problem of translating poetry is twofold: stick to a literal translation, and you loose the verse; try to keep the verse and you probably will have a hard time staying true to the text. Fitzgerald's translation is in verse, and it is very lucid and flowing, not at all difficult to read. He may at times take some artistic license from time to time for the sake of preserving the verse, but I have the feeling he has stayed very close to the Latin text, and there is something to be said for reading the book as Virgil intended it - in verse.

Lastly, I recommend this particular edition (Everyman's Library, ISBN 0679413359) because of the introduction (Philip Hardie), the Post Script (Fitzgerald) and the extensive notes (Fitzgerald) on each chapter, explaining much that the casual reader would otherwise miss in reading such an historically loaded book. There is also a index of the people and places mentioned in the book, which is absolutely essential given the various people and events Virgil alludes to.

By the way, Fitzgerald has also translated the 'Illiad' and "Oddessy', and I would recommend those translations as well. Indeed, it would be best if you were to read: 'Illiad' and "Oddessy' by Homer, 'War at Troy' by Quintus of Smyrna, 'Annals' by Tacitus, and some of the relevant lives from Plutarch. Although this is certainly not required to enjoy the 'Aeneid', it would help the reader get more out of the book.

What can be said about this classic masterpiece in epic poetry? Virgil clearly emanated the Homeric style of epic, and his debt to Homer is very apparent in this work. Still, it retains a style and flavor all its own. The poem tells the story of Aeneas, the Trojan hero from the Iliad who survived to found the Roman race in Italy. The first half of the poem are his adventures in reaching Italy (comparable to the Odyssey), and the second half deal with the war that results from his landing there (comparable to the Iliad).

It is said that Virgil wrote this poem at least partially in hopes of fostering the national sentiment of the Romans, of making them proud of their heritage, and of uniting them in a common ancestry. His motives are very clear--there are a number of references to the future glory of Rome, and various visions of the leaders and generals who would bring Rome her greatest glory. Interestingly, this poem was never completed, and Virgil, on his deathbed, asked that it be destroyed. It was preserved, however, by Augustus, and so we have it in its mostly finished form today.

This translation by Fitzgerald is excellent. Like his translations of Homer, Fitzgerald's Aeneid flows very smoothly, and stays true to the feel of the original. Also, there is a postscript in the back detailing both the history of the times, and various events in Virgil's life. This postscript is very helpful in understanding the world in which the poet lived.

There is also a glossary of names in the back, very useful for keeping all the people, places, and deity straight. The Everyman's binding is a great way to go at an affordable price. All in all, this version of The Aenied is very satisfying. I highly recommend it.