Shadow Books

As a Japanese poet myself, I was largely influenced and moved by his being and works. His haiku restored my relationship with nature and the grace of life. The beautiful discovery of the essence and the tresurable secret in ordinary life.

This is a wonderful book that demonstrates how well the haiku form can work in English. It has a distinctly American feel but the same concentration as in the great Japanese poets. Truly exceptional.

Wills joined the North American haiku scene in 1968, during a time of transition away from the early orthodoxies of the movement. Wills himself became one of the first haijin to write a sparer type of haiku, liberated from 5-7-5 syllabic structure and the traditions of western typography. This collection, published in 1987, contains nearly all his best published work. Wills' background was in lit (PhD from Washington University in St. Louis, taught at university level for many years). After spending time studying haiku in Japan on a research grant, he left academia and lived as a subsistence farmer, an experience that probably helped give his work its pure, focused, supremely uncluttered quality. Along with Robert Spiess, he's perhaps the most persuasive and observant naturalist among North American haijin, his haiku inspiration deriving almost exclusively from the American wilderness. He's capable of magnificent compression--

boulders
just beneath the boat
it's dawn

--which juxtaposes the four classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire and documents a classic haiku moment of transition (with a hint of menace) in just nine syllables.

Elsewhere we find pointed humor:

keep out sign
but the violets keep on
going

Unforgettable images:

mule
dragging dawn
across the ridge

(clearly modeled on Virgilio's "bass/picking bugs/off the moon", the poem that first turned Wills onto haiku)

And self-deprecation in his appropriately rare personal cameos:

the footpath narrows
laurel branches take me
by the sleeve

Wills experimented with single-line haiku, meter, portmanteau words, and expressive typography, notably the use of tabs to indicate silence, space, and elapsed time. His work, both in terms of content and technique, remains a great inspiration to haijin everywhere.

This book relseaed by FARMS in the early 1990's is one of the books I would suggest to anyone, LDS or no-LDS, to better understand the text from a variety of perspectives.

First of all, the exegetical, with such essays focusing on the meaning and background to pericope within the Book of Mormon text, such as the Nephite Sacramental prayers in Moroni 4-5 and their historical development within Nephite culture, as seen in Mosiah 1-6 and 3 Nephi 18.

Moreover, there is the scholary and apologetic, with the discussion of the disscovery of the place "Nahom" in 1 Nephi 16:34, and many other issues, some which refute critical claims against the Book of Mormon volume.

This book is a collection of short articles that appeared in the FARMS newsletters as Updates. Here, they are organized in the order of the Book of Mormon, from 1 Nephi through Moroni. Each article focuses on a specific idea and are all interesting and informative. For example, on addresses why Joseph Smith is referred to as the AUTHOR of the Book of Mormon (so many anti-Mormons weakly claim the term demonstrates the book as a fiction), another addresses Ammon chopping off the arms of those trying to rob the kings animals and its parallels with the cultures in the middle-east, another the use of antenantiosis in the Book of Mormon (it is a figure of speech that states a proposition in terms of its opposite "ye shall in nowise be cast out" or "despise not").

There eighty-five of these interesting notes with many pictures, diagrams, and maps. The book also has a scripture index and a general index, both of which are very useful.

Highly recommended for anyone wanting to gain some new perspectives in the study of the Book of Mormon.

An excellent resource on the first 10 years of research on the Book of Mormon by the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS). It covers the whole of the Book of Mormon, going chapter by chapter according to the information found on a variety of topics. It deals largely with the "evidence" found on the authenticity of the Book of Mormon. Granted, it does not "prove" the Book to be true, it does increase the potential of the Books divine/historical authenticity comming from an uneducated youth in upstate New York.

This is the delightful little memoir of Saul Steinberg,
translated from the italian by John Shepley. Its great value
is that it is the closest we will ever come to reading
the work of one of America's great literary talents.

Now it's become a pretty commonplace observation that
Steinberg is as appropriate a nominee for the literary
hall of fame as he is for the graphic artists'. This is
the little book that seals the deal. It turns out that
Steinberg's aphoristically-turned phrases are as clear and
concise as his drawings. This book is sadly, all he wrote.

Steinberg did not intend this to be a personal disclosure-
he is a man who had his memoir written by somebody else. And
yet, it turns out that the very tightness of phrasing gives
the man away. What did he learn of Milan when he was there?
Not much. "My chief interest then was girls. .I was looking...
.to find myself through love."

There are a few drawings here, all of them small and printed
just well enough to make you wish they were printed better.
If you are amoung the unconverted and want to catch examples
of his drawing see the wonderful exhibit at the Morgan
Library in New York or one of the great collections
(my favorite is Passport). But for true believers, Reflections
is Steinberg's literary love song, a book that puts him in the
company of Borges.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN
9781601640005

Published after his death in 1999, this is a meditation based on a series of interviews of Steinberg by Buzzi. Beginning with his childhood and youth in Romania, through his wartime experience in Italy and his maturity in the United States, Steinberg muses with an acute visual sense, appropriate for an artist. The book is illustrated with his drawings.

His ideas about influences on art are insightful. as he describes early photographers "inspired by the paintings of Delacroix and Ingres", to his thought that Bacon "clearly derives from the Polaroid". I was intrigued by his suggestion that the use of industrial paints in American art occurred because of poor artists used cold-water flats as studios, "and to make them livable they had to scrape and paint the walls, doors and windows, and floors . . . and this led them to work on a large scale, to use industrial paints, such as gold or silver on radiators, new materials". His description of the New York City taxi cab of the `40's as created out of Cubist elements, of the automobile influenced by Constructivism, Cubism, and "Fernandlégerism" makes one look at cars in a whole new light.

The title, Reflections and Shadows, comes from a section in which he discusses how what one sees in reverse in a reflection (in a mirror, in water) or shadow is often better - sharper, more intense - than the original. "If you look only at the reflection, and not at the reflecting part, you see a gratuitous reality that exists for you alone. For fun I throw a stone into the upside-down landscape, and seeing that the lower part moves I almost expect the upper part to move too."

If I quoted all my favorite parts of this book, I'd be typing almost the entire thing, so you'll have to go read it for yourself!

The autobiographical musings of a New Yorker cartoonist told to his old friend, and filled with wit, humanity and philosophical gems. Stories of escaping from the fascist police in Italy, too lazy to brutally arrest people at the usual invisible ungodly hour. Or civic life in 1950s Washington, and the charming people who knew exactly how to be courteous and to dismiss those who didn't belong. Or the poor white in kentucky, like protagonists out of American fiction, whereas the bourgeoisie, respectable people, "always the same". And Magritte's discovery of multiple sources of light in a painting (sun, streetlamp, electric light inside a house, the moon, reflections of light. Or American gastronomy, in which "the taste of the nation are governed by the tastes of children".

Henry Eyring was an accomplished chemist and lifelong Christian. This book, his posthumously published reflections, addresses both aspects of his life, but it is directed more to Christians (and Mormons specifically) than to chemists. The unifying exhortation of the book is to find truth everywhere possible.

Dr. Eyring weaves advice about living and believing with stories from his life, especially his childhood. Throughout the book, he displays confidence that science and religion are allies, that God exists and is good, and that sometime in the eternities everything will make sense. He frequently expresses love for his parents and admiration for his church leaders.

He starts by writing about his guiding principles and his religion. Next, he quickly explains evolution and radiometric dating, and then briefly summarizes science at all measurement scales. He concludes that God is a better scientist than he is and that he is willing to let God use whatever processes God wants to use.

This book is thoughtful and exhibits great perspective. I found Dr. Eyring's humility and honesty refreshing. The conversational writing style makes for an enjoyable and quick read.

Henry Eyring was my chemistry professor and had an amazing ability to explain complex processes in a manner that made sense and engaged the student. I read this book in the early 80's, not long after Dr. Eyring passed away. A deeply intelligent man, he tried hard to reconcile his faith with science in general. Most interesting were his comments on evolution where he was loath to discount both the intellect and motives of those who believed evolution was scientifically sound. What a breath of fresh air such statements were in an era where religious dogmatists such as Bruce R. McConkie and Boyd K. Packer were moving the LDS church away from a culture of learning to an insular world of strict interpretation of scripture and blind obedience to authority.

Henry Eyring if alive today would be deeply alarmed at what he would see in the religion of his heritage. The LDS church is in deep turmoil because the church stubbornly holds to implausible myths, when the scientific method exposes those myths for what they are. After Boyd K. Packer's "The Mantle is Far Greater" speech, the LDS church has lost all credibility with the scientific community and intellectual thought within the Mormon corridor has been suppressed and villified. This book by a dying old chemist was hopefully not the last gasp of Mormon intellectual thought. May this blessed man rest in peace.

(...)

This collection of Eyrings musings on faith are both entertaining and insightful. The book closes the gap between science and faith. After I read it, I purchased a copy for my father and my best friend, neither of whom are LDS -- it has that much universal appeal. Pick up a copy for the intellectual in your life

What if the White Sox had been the first major league team to field a black player? Rutkoff imagines it, populating his rich story with people both real and imagined. Among the real: An imperious, double-dealing Chuck Comiskey, owner of the White Sox. Among the imagined: The Negro League hero who makes the leap into the majors a black blues singer from Memphis whose heartbreaking tragedy is a riveting subplot and the Jewish fixer who finds himself in the middle. Full of fascinating historical detail (the author is a noted historian at Kenyon College). You've never heard of this small-press novel, and what a pity: It deserves an audience among baseball fans, Chicagoans, history buffs, blacks, whites, and just about and anyone else who cares about why America is the way it is today.

Full disclosure: If you read and love "Shadow Ball" as I did, you may also enjoy my novel "To Love Mercy" -- because it's a virtual sequel to "Shadow Ball." "To Love Mercy" takes the story forward three decades, to 1948. It's a tale of blacks and whites, Christians and Jews, how children see the world, conflict and forgiveness ... and the White Sox!

This is a beautifully written and imaginatively conceived historical novel. Its author is a well-published academic historian who teaches at Kenyon College. This is his first novel. Peter Rutkoff brings together several strands of American history (e.g., baseball, race, and Chicago.) Real people--Rube Foster, Charles Comiskey, and Shoeless Joe Jackson--encounter the author's wonderfully-drawn fictional characters. Rutkoff's evocation of Chicago is also as superb as it is knowledgeable. And the storyline--which I won't reveal--is most compelling. This is, as they say, a page turner. If your literary appetite combines baseball and American history, read this book!

I came to this book through my interest in social history. I came away from the book a fan of baseball as well. The author drops you into 1919 Chicago and into the heads of all those involved in a high-stakes and incendiary decision to bring a Negro player to the Chicago White Sox. Despite a new appreciation for baseball, for me the highlight of the book is the portrayal of "small" lives. The tragedy that racial prejudice brings to a young, poor woman coming to Chicago from the South makes this book resonate much longer than any game-winning home run.

This book is filled with inspiring photographs as well as many interesting, educational, and thoughtful texts to go along. I love to watch boxing and admire the heart of the sport. This book encaptures that vulnerable side of the sweet science. I highly reccommend this to all boxing fans.

Enhanced with a foreword by the renowned world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive is compiled and edited by photographer Jim Lommasson, who has been documenting boxing gyms from more than a decade. Informed and informative essays are contributed by boxing enthusiasts Katherine Dunn, Carlo Rotella, Kate Sekules, Lucius Shepard, Robert Anasi, Ralph Wiley, F. X. Toole, Loic Wacquant, Joe Rein, Rene Denfeld, Larry Seurynck, Timothy Taylor, and Mark Kram, Jr. With the inclusion of 110 duotone and 65 color photographs, this 176-page, strongly recommended compendium provides a unique pictorial insight into the world of professional gyms and what those men and women who aspire to excel in their chosen sport/profession and is of especial interest to dedicated fans of boxing, as well as students of American popular sports culture.

Shadow Boxers is a miracle of a Father's Day gift. Not without a fight, however, will pop hold onto the book--not while his wife and children are around to read it and, of course, look at it.

The universal appeal of Shadow Boxers owes much to its balanced tone, primal subject, and powerful contributors. Here are writers contending in their own prize rings--Esquire, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Harper's--for trophies as big as the National Book Award and The Best American Sports Writing. Katherine Dunn, especially, packs a mean punch; again and again she finds your solar plexus before you've finished her first paragraph. (A sample: "One day many years ago, I rode my press credential into a busy boxing gym and was shocked to see a hard-punching monster known as Frankie `The Preacher Man' doing push-ups in the ring with his year-old son sprawled on his back. Amid the din of ringing bells, drumming speed bags, and smacking leather, the baby slept, his long lashes fanned across the chubby cheeks, rocking in the smooth rise and fall of his father's powerful shoulders.")

The photographs alone are worth the cost of admission. Jim Lommasson approaches his subject with the hard-hitting nostalgia of Annie Leibovitz, alongside whose photos of bluesmen, rockers, and gospel singers these fighter shots necessarily belong. Indeed, Pottery Barn has yet to make the coffee table worthy of holding Lommasson and Liebovitz's rock-solid studies of two deep-dyed national passions: Shadow Boxers and American Music (Random House, 2003).

Shadow Boxers opens with a foreword by heavyweight champ Joe Frazier (sole inspiration of the beef-punching scene in Rocky) and features a brief but vivid history of boxing gyms.

The ensuing essays abound with keenly observed ironies about the noble science (e.g., "The game is brutal, but its core is strangely gentle"; "It's dawned on me over the years that there is less macho posturing in boxing gyms than in the average corporate boardroom"), and with crisp details (e.g., the memorable description of Larry Holmes' "jump jab," and the sketch of a city gym in Portland, Oregon, where "a speed bag hung several feet above a wooden pallet, which was used to help children reach the leather punching bag"). So, too, do the essays abound with sharp personal accounts (e.g., a Golden Glove champ who "never weighed more than 140 pounds" and who first entered the gym owing to his girlfriend's parting shot: "you're not man enough"), and with touching accounts of young hoods meeting the coaches who might not only change their lives but save them.

To read Shadow Boxers is to feel the strange warmth, the beckoning glow of boxing gyms, those shabby sanctuaries where individuals can still find a devoted mentor, a group of brothers and sisters, a path toward redemption.

This book is a real eye opener. Absolutely fabulous. I couldn't put it down and read it straight through. I never realized the pain that I caused my wife and how much she has suffered because of me. Many men need to sit down and read this book. I would recommend this to any man or woman who asks. An outstanding, in-your-face, look-at-what-you-are-doing-to-your-wife book.

Because a compelling story can deliver more impact than a "Thou Shalt Not" message, Al Cole's book will be eye-opening, even to men who are familiar with the Biblical injunctions against sexual sin. With a style combining parable with biography, Cole walks the reader through his own excruciating realization of the pain he'd caused his wife - and, indeed, himself - through his use of porn. His awakening to the seriousness of his problem is nicely chronicled and user-friendly, making The Shadow Christian one of the better resources for men needing a wake-up call. I heartily recommend it to men who are tired of their own compromises, and are ready to take action.

Having counseled a number of couples over the years that have experienced the devastation of sexual sin I can say that Al Cole's account was right on. I was so encouraged by his story which was shared with so much transparency and that spoke truth regarding the complexity, depth and realities of sexual sin. We so often want easy answers and this book shares the hard truth about sin and its consequences. I think this will be of great encouragement to couples struggling if they understand up front that the road to recovery is long and difficult. I think Al Cole deals with the realities of sexual sin and recovery in a theologically sound manner. Lastly, this book is not just for people struggling with sexual sin. Mr. Cole's book clearly reminds the reader that we all suffer from sin - both our own as well as the sin of others and therefore we are all in desperate need of healing and redemption and that it is Christ alone who satisfies this need. Absolutely an excellent book for anyone looking for hope and healing from sexual sin for themselves or a loved one.

Everyone's favorite elf thief doesn't seem to get a moment to enjoy her fine wine or fine men before yet another problem crops up. This time, a strange, exotic man has appeared in the forest. He says he's looking for something... but isn't very interested in sharing the whole story. Then, plague starts spreading through the humans of Allanmere. Shadow and friends must find a way to stop the plague, and solve the threat that brought the foreigner so far from home -- otherwise they may find themselves facing it as well.

I can't even begin to explain how enjoyable the Shadow novels are, and this one is no exception. The characters are loveably realistic, with flaws and tempers, thoughtful and sometimes tragic histories, all put into a setting that leaves you craving more history and knowledge about it. You never stop having a good time with Shadow! Although fantasy novels are longer these days, you won't feel like there's anything missing or shallow about these books... you'll just wish there were more of them written.

This book, along with the rest of the series, is full of personality. They aren't very long, but within those few pages you live with the characters. I would recommend anything by Logston.

Shadow Dance, by Anne Logston, is a marvelous fantasy that concludes the trilogy. Logston brings her characters alive once again with the same stylish, mischevios air that makes her other novels so popular. Shadow, Donya and the other characters are added to a marvelously complex plot that can only be rated with five stars.

With a plot that reads as if it came from the mind of Alistair MacLean, Robert Ludlum or Tom Clancy, this long unreported episode in our nation's history could not be more relevant in 21st century America.

From a World War II Nazi plan for espionage and terrorism, the authors have managed to craft a compelling and intriguing historical account, which raises many important questions. Questions which desperately need to be asked in post 9-11 America. But, they are questions which are all too often being ignored by most of the ratings-starved and war-hungry media.

Messrs. Gordon and Abello have done their home work, and it shows. Bravo, to the first time collaboration of this judge and this novelist.

Abella and Gordon hit the nail on the head with this book. If you are even slightly interested in WWII history, this is a great read. Given what's going on in the world today, the subject matter is truly relevant. Abella and Gordon make this historical story accessible and interesting.

This terrific book is about foreign terrorists who land on American shores and plan to destroy American buildings, military bases, and kill civilians. In particular, they plan to bomb Jewish owned businesses and stores such as Macy's. No, this doesn't take place now, but in 1942. And these terrorists are Nazis.
The first part of the book describes the true story of how 8 Nazis landed on the eastern coast in 1942. These were men who had spent part of their lives in the United States, so they knew how to blend in and they knew American customs.
If not for the work of the FBI, and for the defection of one of the men to the Americans, the damage that would have been done to America would have been horrendous. And these 8 may have been just the first of many terrorists to follow.
The second part of the book describes how the men were given military tribunals, because Roosevelt believed that public trials would only endanger our national security and our country. Sound familiar?
This is a well-written, timely book that holds the reader's interest from start to finish. I thought I knew quite a bit about World War ll, but I didn't know anything about the events described in the book.
I highly recommend this book to anyone concerned about the politics and policies of today, and for anyone who is simply interested in a good and interesting story.

This book hooked me from the first page. It's a terrific page turner. Do yourself a favor and order Time Release at the same time because when you finish this, you'll want to read more by Martin J. Smith.

Martin J. Smith has penned a second book that tops his explosive debut TIME RELEASE. Psychologist Jim Christiansen, a memory expert, is called in to help investigate the attempted murder of a powerful grande dame of a wealthy political family who has Alzheimer's. She has been shoved off a cliff but survived the fall. Now he must sift through the shattered pieces of her memory to find the truth -- as her son runs for office in state government. An intriguing, gripping tale of murder that works on many levels, and has an explosive, satisfying ending.

In Pittsburgh, police are investigating the apparent unsuccessful suicide attempt of an Alzheimer's patient, Floss Underhill, a member of a prominent political family. Because of physical evidence and an eyewitness statement, law enforcement officials are looking into possible foul play by Floss' husband and primary caregiver, former Gov. Vincent Underhill. The family hires highly regarded defense attorney Brenna Kennedy to provide them legal protection, advice, and a defense, if necessary.

Brenna's mate is psychologist Jim Christensen, who is studying how Alzheimer's patients communicate through drawings. Jim and Brenna work closely together to insure that the Underhills have the best legal (and medical) defense possible even as the team has private doubts about what is actually the truth.

SHADOW IMAGE is a great mixing of elements from the legal thriller with that from medical novels (a la Cook), a blend that makes this work one of the best books of the year. The characters are all top rate with their motives very obvious, especially the lead protagonists and the Underhills. However, it is the premise of the story line -- that our legal system is built around the faulty memories of the victims -- that is brilliantly portrayed. This reviewer strongly recommends this novel and Smith's previous work, TIME RELEASE, for some mind-boggling stories.