Works Books

Pictures and text to satisfy the most discriminating. Inspirational to this nature photographer especially interested in the overlooked/underappreciated aspects of the world around us so worthy of our attention.

Professor Brodo is one of the great living lichenologists, and in this book he brings his many decades long experience to fruition. Beautifully illustrated, readable, and very complete, it is probably the only work like it on the subject of lichenology. All the main groups and species get covered, and although this is a very technical area, it's written to be accessible to the non-specialist as well.

I had the great fortune to take lichenology from the late, great Dr. Harry Thiers, and the year I took the class (1984), it was the only lichenology class offered at a college in the U.S., which gives you some idea of how esoteric a subject lichenology is even for botanists, who are used to working more or less in obscurity and not having their area get the attention that other more glamorous areas of macrobiology get, such as mammology and ornithology, which are far more popular with the greater public. But for those interested in learning about this unusual and difficult area, this is probably the best book on the subject that has ever been published.

I have not often encounter such a beautiful and well put together book! Every page was filled with fascinating information and pretty much all species was visually stunning with lovely photos. If you like fungi, lichens, or even plants, this book is a must have. If you love art and photography, this book will be a wow. I display it on my coffee table and it certainly deserves to be there. The price is fantastic for this huge and colorful book! I highly recommend it!!

A coffee table book that you will be proud of! The most beautiful pictures I've seen on lichens.

Receiving this book was beyond all my expectations. I have not seen anything like this on this subject before. It is well-organized, detailed, and of highest class. The print quality is excellent. The book starts with an over 100-page general overview of the lichens before going into botanical keys and the description of individual species. The photography is just stunning. This book is for the scientist as well as the general nature lover.

It's more fun to realize that it's about writing, illustrations of writing and figures for writing. The reader is represented in the story as the victim of the author, which he always is.

Check it out and tell me if it doesn't work.

this is the best book i've ever read and by far the best translation of it. i can't really say anything more.

Lushly, sensuously, decadently overwritten, a fatal literary intersection where Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Poe, and Sade collide and out of the spectacular wreckage something lopes off into the surrounding woods declaiming like Nietzsche's Zarathustra with head trauma--Lautreamont's *Maldoror* is one of those ten or twelve books that aren't like any other. Part hallucination, part philosophy, part prose-poem, part prophecy, it's a bizarre stitched-together Frankenstein's monster of a text, a virtuoso improvisation animated by an electrifying genius who appears--and disappears--on the literary stage like a bolt out of the blue.

Here is a work where the first-person protagonist is an arrogant, cruel, disdainful superhuman egoist--sometimes seeming to be Satan; other times, something considerably less, but at all times evil incarnate. Dramatic and arbitrary shifts of narrative perspective and authorial points-of-view, a fractured, nonlinear plot-line, similes and metaphors of Homeric proportion that bring together the most disparate items in absurd conjunctions virtually without meaning. Was it all a joke? A parody of Romantic literature and the self-indulgent, self-pitying, overheated imagination of those who struck the Romantic stance of poetic revolt and existential defiance? What must the French public have thought of this black mass "celebrating" vice, blasphemy, pederasty, and murder--a work that held nothing--including itself--above disgust?

Predictably enough, *Maldoror* caused barely a ripple in the bourgeoisie calm when it was first published--by Ducasse himself incidentally--and remained unread by the general public who continues to not read it today. It remains a text ahead of its time--or perhaps more accurately--outside of time altogether. And yet it's had a huge influence on the writers, artists, and intellectuals of our time, from the Surrealists to the Situationists to literature in theory and practice to this day. *Maldoror* is a quintessentially postmodern text--a pastiche of genres with its penchant for self-parody and its direct address of the reader, breaking the illusion of "fictive reality" and authorial authority.

The translator argues forcefully that this is the edition of *Maldoror* to read--that other editions, most egregiously the Penguin--are rife with errors that stumble along the borderline of sheer incompetence. I've got no good reason to doubt this is the truth--and why not read this edition? It's attractively formatted, fully annotated, and contains all the known works of Lautreamont ((Ducasse)) including a few apocryphal tidbits, a chronology, biographical notes, and even a reminiscence by an old dude who once went to school with the Dark Prince of Letters. If there's a better edition, I'm unaware of it.

As for the heavily annotated *Poesies* that round out the main bulk of this volume--I had far less enthusiasm for them than for *Maldoror.* A series of gnomic axioms and aphorisms ala Pascal, indeed, many apparently in direct reply to Pascal, I didn't find them very interesting, often barely intelligible, even with the help of the comprehensive annotations--much of it in French which was unfortunately of no use to someone monolingual like me. What I did understand of the *Poesies,* the opinion of enthusiasts to the contrary, I found, for the most part, bombastic or banal, and very often both. A young man's ((Ducasse died in his early twenties)) bold, world-shattering, and consequently somewhat naïve proclamations on life and literature, any and all of which were likely to change if he'd lived to see even five more years of either. At twenty-three, you can be a genius and produce a literary masterpiece, but you still don't know much--certainly not even most--about life.

Indeed, even in the *Poesies,* Ducasse radically reverses field, mercilessly ridiculing Romanticism and its heroes, mocking the Satanic defiance that inspired such works as...*Maldoror!*

So was *Maldoror* all a goof then--a black spoof, a devastating satire? Had Ducasse turned a new leaf as he claimed in the *Poesies* and now dedicated himself to composing uplifting works of classical order and clarity? Was he pulling our leg then...or again? Was it all a joke--on us, on him? Was he simply insane, or just young, or both? Are we reading too much into all this--and is *that* the point?

These are some of the very potent post-contemporary questions that Ducasse has left us to contemplate in the wake of his great literary disappearing act--questions that remain in addition to, and beyond, those raised by the actual content of his enigmatic, and abbreviated, corpus of work.

An author--and a book--as important for being important as for the substance and merit of what he wrote, Ducasse and *Maldoror* is essential reading for the serious student of post-19th century literature. Ducasse/Lautreamont/Maldoror is a major signpost on the way to a new kind of writing, some of which we see today, more of which we'll see tomorrow.

This review is of *Maldoror*, alone.

Lautreamont's *Maldoror* is legendary for its bold and complex phrasing and imagery, for its reputation of embodying Surrealism *avant la lettre*, and for its remarkably extreme, savage imagery. Less frequently remarked is its obvious debt to the earlier literature of the *Frenetiques*, such as Petrus Borel. Given the very few English translations of the latter, one may pardon those who do not read French for overestimating the originality of *Maldoror*. Francophones such as the Surrealists and Lykiard, however, have no such excuse.

The descriptions of *Maldoror* in the various reviews here describe the content and style of the work perfectly well, so I shall neither repeat them nor try to outdo them. Instead, I shall offer a slightly less breathlessly adoring view of the work, in general, and of Lykiard's translation of it, in particular.

My view of *Maldoror* is that it is primarily a parody of the extreme tendencies of the "dark side" of Romanticism, in general, and of Byron, in particular. Although Lykiard dismisses Mario Praz's view of Lautreamont and *Maldoror* rather abruptly, Praz's observations seem quite germane, to me:

"[Lautreamont/Ducasse is] a macabre humorist in whom it is impossible to distinguish where sincerity ends and mystification begins".

Those who doubt this observation should have a look at Ducasse's extant letters, many of which bear witness to his desire merely to be a successful writer, and to be judged by the literary critics of the day. In a word, Ducasse/Lautreamont appears to have been precisely the sort of careerist *litterateur* whom the Surrealists excoriated and excommunicated from their ranks with tedious regularity!

As for Lykiard's translation, it is adequate, but far from inspired. Although, as he trumpets *ad nauseam*, his version of *Maldoror* may be in the main less error-riddled than those of his competitors, it is frequently leaden and awkward. Compare, for instance, the following tin-eared rendition to the original, and then to Paul Knight's rendering of the same passage:

The original: "[...] car, à moins qu'il n'apporte dans sa lecture une logique rigoureuse et une tension d'esprit égale au moins à sa défiance, les émanations mortelles de ce livre imbiberont son âme comme l'eau le sucre".

Lykiard: "For unless he bring to his reading a rigorous logic and mental application at least tough enough to balance his distrust, the deadly issues of this book will lap up his soul as water does sugar".

Knight: "[...] for, unless he brings to his reading a rigorous logic and tautness of mind equal at least to his wariness, the deadly emanations of this book will dissolve his soul as water does sugar".

Granted, such evaluations involve much subjectivity, but there's no doubt in my mind which version reads both more accurately and more elegantly in English. Lykiard does, however, deserve credit for demonstrating Knight's faults, as well.

Lykiard's notes are not necessarily much better than his translations. To take but one instance, Lykiard tells us that "God is here (and *passim*) ironically addressed as *tu* rather than the more formal *vous*". If Lykiard were as clever as he'd like to appear, then he'd know that the French *always* address God as *tu*, and not as *vous*. Therefore, there is nothing ironic on its face about Lautreamont's usage, at all.

In sum, *Maldoror* is a sometimes powerful, but often puerile, *reductio ad absurdum* of *Frenetique*-era late Romanticism. Enjoy it for its over-the-top style and its infrequent passages of genuine and sincere poetic power. Do not, however, take it too seriously, because, although we shall never know for certain, my bet is that Ducasse/Lautreamont was little more than a prodigiously gifted adolescent who sought, as most adolescents do, simultaneously to shock and to impress the grown-ups.

I like my writers drunk, blasphemous, decadent and French. If any of that list sounds even vaguely familiar then this is the book for you. Set the absinthe fountain to a slow drip, light some candles and prepare to tour an alchemical end-of-the-century underworld.

Jarret writes about contemporary pop culture in the tradition of Field, Duhamel, Seibles, and Wojahn. That is, he uplifts the mundane to a higher level, through form, piercing satire, and the riveting raw emotion, this book shows a Gen X poet making aesthetic headway for the future.

Buy this book, and give it to your brother who likes comic books for his birthday, but read it first. Jarret promises to deliver the goods to all audiences.

Keene's writing topics are so diverse in this collection. From ex-ray glasses to cancer victims, he has a distinct opinion on just about everything and isn't afraid to express it. His poetic style is very straight forward. It is both easy to read and easy to understand.

Keene's creativity is what impresses me the most though. His ideas for his poems are so so unique. Where does he come up with all of this stuff?? It is incredible! One of my favorites is a poem called "Ventriloquism Made Easy." In this poem, Keene writes from the perspective of the dummy.

I know I said this already, but the diversity and creativity throughout this whole collection are amazing.

I know you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but this book immediately jumped out to me. It was one of the brightest and most colorful books i have ever seen. I had to open it right away, and the cover was just a warmup for what's inside. I liked Jarret Keene's collection of poems because it isn't a sad i'm so depressed i want to kill myself kind of poems, i'm so used to reading. It was real. It spoke to me and my generation. It also was really funny and a quick and easy read. One of my favorite things is how ironic he is with every day life things. Reading up on him i found out his father was a tampa firefighter, and i happen to be from tampa and miss it deeply so it made me think of home. The poems he has in there also reminded me of home when i was in high school and all you did was get drunk a go nuts. I guarantee if you are young or young at heart then you will love this book, but don't listen to me read it for yourself.

Jarret Keene's debut book of poems, "Monster Fashion," is a book that adds a sense of freshness and excitement in a genre that is often riddled with staunchy, boring and dry verse from the world of academia. All I have to say is..."Thank Goddess for Monster Fashion!" Keene's book is filled with comedic, familial and pop culture verse that most books lack. I like the fact that Keene has the ability to laugh at himself and not take himself so seriously in his work. We need more poets like this poetic holy ghost.

Among one of my favorites is "Scoped" where the character takes a dreadful visit to the doctor to find out why he's been 'passing blood'.

"He tells me to turn over
on my side and pull my knees
against my chest.
The glove snaps. And
sure enough, he's got his finger
inside of me, poking around."

Because of the immediate and sensitive description
in this poem, Keene does a superb job of making you feel
that you're there. From the "so-clean-it-smells examination
room," to the terrifying snapping of those smelly latex gloves.

This is the only poem that makes me cross my legs
with phantom pains.

"Monster Fashion" is not a book of poetry with just words sprawled out on the page without a sense of order. Keene proves that he is well-seasoned with some poems written beatifully in couplets and quatrains, which is one of my personal favorite forms.

Other poems such as "Heart, You're a Hospital Now" and "Ventriloquism Made Easy," are two more of my favorites where Keene practically yanks you by the arm and pulls you into his cut-throat psyche.

I love the smidgen of ryhme and alliteration in the beginnings of "Heart, You're a Hospital Now."

"Nothing is worse than a dying patient,
Except the surgeon, who gives your life lease,
Cuts you open, removes a sick piece,
stitches you up and grows impatient
of your bloated face."

Oh, I love the way the second and third line

ends with such emergence.

'gives your life lease,'
'removes a sick piece.'

The way the lines and words carefully entwine
and dance so immediately.

'removes a sick piece.'

Who doesn't want to steal that line and run for the hills?

This poem is crammed delightfuly with similiar, arresting lines
all the way to the end, which hurls the reader back
into reality.

Keene's verse in this book are exciting, entertaining, funny and beautiful. From epic poems such as "Ava Gardner, Queen of Earthquakes," to the short and brutal "Black Revolver," Monster Fashion offers something for the most rabid lover of the poetic word.

Jarret Keene has mined the underworld of Hollywood scholck to bring us these darkly comic poems, and he's come away with more than you might expect. Here you'll find all manner of monsters and lovelies, of course-Frankenstein and the Wolfman, Janet Leigh and Ava Gardner. You'll find zombies and earthquakes and a lot of prose that's taut and "dark as a blood clot." There's even " The Lovesong on Alfred E. Nueman" (after Elliot, of course) and "The Conversion of Aubrey Beardsley." But what makes these poems rich and worth reading, I think, is Keene's sharp take on the actual world-the way he gets, for example (in the book's opening poem) that only the young can be in love with death. For me, the book's most frightening moments-and its most rewarding-come when the author takes off the mask for a moment and explores the horror of the world we all know too well, when the funhouse comes to resemble the house we live in ("Inside Mystery Funhouse"), or when real friends are lost ("Gifted Students") and we're confronted with the ghosts of their fathers, who come back-with surprising emotional impact-to make us sandwiches. This is a sharp and funny collection. I recommend it even to those with a fear of poetry, though not to those who are afraid of the dark.

I came in not knowing much of anything about the music industry...and after reading this book from cover to cover (its a long book), I can say I learned a lot. The book is very easy to read, with real and made-up examples, and simple language. The author does a great job breaking down the rules of the industry. It does not tell you how to run your operation or how to market a hit record...it just lays out all the rules for you to either follow, break, or bend.

The best chapters were about song ownership, copyrights, publishing, royalties, and taxes. Actually, the taxes chapter was really enlightening. You can tell a lawyer wrote this book from that chapter.

I've been in a band for several years, and unfortunately, everyone else that has been in my band has never had the experience of running it as a business. We have been skating by all these years just doing gigs, but now we are planning on releasing a CD and this definitely makes things more complicated. This book has been a godsend. Very informative and USEFUL information. Other music law type books are informative, but haven't been very useful on the level we needed it. You can use what is in this book right away. Its easy to read and understand.

Like all carpenters needing important tools to build a house, this book is the tool for all musicians. It covers all the important music business information and will help cut down unnecessary misfortune for musicians. Definitely a MUST BUY!!!

This offers a great foundation to Music Law. It is clear & easy to read w/ room in the margins for notes. Richard Stim even mentions a few legal loopholes you can benefit from.

You can also recieve free book updates on the Nolo website, which is a cool perk.

There comes a time in a musician or band's career when they get serious about what they're doing and need to start focusing on legal aspects of their endeavors. This book is and indispensable reference for that situation.

The book is written in easy to understand layman's terms. It covers a fairly broad range of subjects, and provides pointers to other resources for more in depth cover of the covered subjects.

One more notable point about the book is the pre-fabricated contracts and legal forms that it comes with. They seem to be solid, could be useful in a number of situations, and are explained thoroughly.

I have learned so much from this book. I am sure with the the awareness and the knowledge gained from this book, I will be able to improve my posture in a healthy way. I can already see my dancing and my yoga practices improve as a result. I am so glad I read this book. Mary Bond's writing kept me interested the whole time. I will be buying more copies as birthday gifts to my family and friends.

I am a yoga teacher, and have read many books on the body. Anatomy books, posture books, etc. This book rocked my world.
It's a MUST READ.

I have been receiving Rolfing treatment for a while and had experienced a lot of improvement but I wanted more. I eventually realised that no treatment is going to work unless after/in between treatments you make life style or muscle movement pattern changes. I first came across the free down loadable article on Mary Bonds website about sitting. This article is one of the chapters in the book. After, following the advice on sitting, I experienced immediate benefit, so I decided to buy the book. I haven't yet worked my wat through the whole of the book - that will take several months - but after 2 weeks and working on the feet and breathing execises in particular I have experienced releif from a groin pain I have had for 2 years plus. This isn't an overnight fix book, real results will take 6 months of dilignetly following the program. If you are prepared to put in the time and effort for this sort of time frame, I recomend this book. At the very least the book is a good explantion of how the body can function optimaly.

The New Rules of Posture: How to Sit, Stand, and Move by Mary Bond is a must read if you're interested in increasing your somatic awareness of your body in motion. Hoorah! finally someone writes about the body as a moving entity and not as a stable unit moving just one joint at a time. Posture for Bond is not about standing still and sticking your chest out, but about how you move is number one of the new rules. Bond writes, "your posture is the product of the ongoing perceptual activities through which you orient yourself to your world."
Bond's goal is to make readers more aware of opening the body up to the world. The entire book focuses on the action of walking to gain an understanding of what Bond calls open stabilization and open orientation. These terms of Bond's encourage movement without unnecessarily tensing muscles in the body that over time develops fascial adhesions and ultimately leads to restricted movement and decreased range of motion. Fascial adhesions where two or more fascia stick together can occur in a variety of locations because fascia, the connective tissue in the body, is everywhere. In fact Bond writes that if everything in our bodies were taken away fascia would maintain a recognizable human form.
Things can get pretty complicated when posture is theorized as dynamic, but Bond is clear and precise. She divides her book into four sections: awareness, stability, orientation, and motion. Each section builds on the next. Threaded through each section are Bond's six zones of the body: breathing muscles, abdomen, pelvic floor, hands, feet and head. Bond states that all six regions are connected anatomically and unnecessary tension in any one of them causes a reaction in all of them.
To help guide the reader to change bodily habits, Bond uses explorations throughout the book. For example she writes, "stand comfortably as though you are waiting in line for movie tickets. Then take a step forward toward the ticket window. Notice which leg took the step." In this exploration entitled, "your best foot" Bond's point is that because the spine accommodates the habits you have with your legs, if you have a strong preference for one leg over the other it could cause misalignment all the way up to your jaw.
Throughout the book are fascinating facts and relationships in the body that if nothing else will help you to reconceive of your bodily connections. For example, Bond writes losing too much carbon dioxide by breathing too quickly can cause everything from depression to low back pain; she cautions against tightening the sacrum because it prevents your feet from meeting the ground successfully; and ,warns against performing the same movement over and over again. Why? Because repetition without staying aware of bodily signals diminishes our consciousness. All in all The New Rules of Posture enhances our consciousness and is a book to go back to again and again each time with a deeper understanding of the moving body.

I bought this book because Andy Weil suggested it in his newsletter, and I know that at age 78, I need to do something about my posture; I'm beginning to stoop and droop.

I usually trust Andy, but not this time. The book is way too long and too complicated. I can't wade my way through it, though I keep trying. Also, it doesn't seem geared to older people.

I wish the author would condense her findings and advice into about 15 pages, with illustrations, and drop all the complicated stuff. Maybe I'm too impatient. I'm just reporting how it was for me.

This book has already made an impact on my life and I JUST finished reading it this morning. From mothering to missionary work - this book will inspire you to make a difference.

Lisa Bevere has an incredible gift of reaching into the hearts of women and helping them become free. As you read this book, you will laugh, cry and ponder how to bring nurture into more areas of your life. Your gifts will flourish and all those around you will be touched! Thank you Lisa for pouring into our lives so we can become more than we ever dreamed.

This is a well intentioned book to help women of all ages reconnect with eachother. After reading the book I would like to recommend reading two books by Leanne Payne: Restoring the Christian Soul: Overcoming Barriers to Completion in Christ through Healing Prayer and The Broken Image: Restoring Personal Wholeness through Healing Prayer in order to be able to be truly healed and able to actually carry out the directives contained in Nurture.

I was so happy that Lisa addressed peer-to-peer relationships.

After reading NURTURE I started seeing my own peer-to-peer relationships growing, as I let my guard down and started to realize that I have some amazing things to offer those around me.

It's helping me work through the rejection I have often felt in peer relationships.

As Lisa says, this is the time to address the importance of holy, right and encouraging peer relationships with other women and those around us.

While it is clear that physical characteristics are inherited, it is still a debate today if an individual's behavior, intelligence, and personality are more impacted by their nurture vs their nature.
Webster's Dictionary defines "Nurture" as:

1. to give tender care and protection to a young child, animal, or plant, helping it to grow and develop.

2. to encourage somebody or something to grow, develop, thrive, and be successful.

I now realize after reading Lisa Bevere's book 'Nurture', that I am flourishing today only because God has positioned me under the nurturing care of a spiritual-mother; who was watching, waiting, and believing in me. I needed someone to say "You can do it because I've done it", and recognize my ability to be more than I was. God has placed the desire to nurture those around us on the inside of every woman. Even if it's something you've never had for yourself- it is available and attainable for every woman as it's outlined so clearly and practically throughout `Nurture'. Lisa always relays her messages so personally; it's just not possible for you to read this book and not be changed!

I have been so busy reading. Sorry I didn't rate sooner.

I was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 years ago. I have read a number of books on the subject. What I like about this book is that it talks about real food. The dessert recipes are made with real sugar. They are low sugar of course, but a number of the recipes can be fed to company. The book also confirmed something I had recently noticed. If I eat less fat, I can eat more carbohydrates with less effect on my blood sugar. I believe this book would be a great place to start for the newly diagnosed, but it is also a great review book that includes a lot of the newest ideas and theories. In addition, it has the basic understanding that food is good and good food is even better.

I add my recommendation to the earlier one that you can save yourself lots of time and money by just buying this book. I recommend the hard-back version as your copy will get lots of use around the kitchen.
The explanations of the blood sugar problem and corrective methods are logical, simple and complete. The book is very well written and makes pleasant reading.
With the exception of two or three ingredients which you may have to find in a health food store, all others can be found in any grocery store.
All of the recipes thus far tried are simple and delicious.
The meal plans and recipes work without a pervasive feeling of constant hunger, which can be a problem in many other diabetic meal plans.
Following a diagnosis of pre-diabetic blood sugar level, and fortunately buying this book on a dietician's recommendation, along with half a dozen others which I rarely use, I have lost twenty pounds in the first three weeks of owning and using the book, with more coming off daily, with minimal exercise. Exercise naturally accelerates the weight loss.
A useful supplement is "No-fuss Diabetes Recipes for 1 or 2" by Boucher et al, but "The Other Diabetes" can stand alone.
The well known and documented relationship between obesity and diabetes 2 can be quickly attacked using this book.
One of the delicious breakfast recipes, Peach Almond Smoothie, will banish hunger for at least half a day, and is widely variable by substituting other frozen fruits for the peaches.
The recipes present lots of variety to accomodate different tastes.

This is one of the most practical and informative books I've found. It is easy to understand and has useful menus and recipes for the busy life of most people with diabetes or pre diabetes. I do not believe you will be disappointed with this book. Give it a read, you'll be glad you did.

My father has type II diabetes. I bought this book for him, but ended up reading it myself. I am not diabetic, but am at risk of developing it. This book is an interesting read, and has a wondeful meal plan and recipes. I have decided to start eating the way she describes, The Mediterranean way, just because it's a healthy way to live. It's just a bonus for me that it also helps prevent and control "the other diabetes". Get this book....it's fantastic!

Unbelievably inspiring. I challenge you to compare his reading with any one else's or your own in your head. He makes it alive. Not perfect, mind you. You'll find yourself suggesting to him in certain spots that he missed the meaning by putting some emphasis or other on the wrong words. Nevertheless, you know you couldn't do better overall. A real treasure.

Great for a long drive or while driving cross town in Manhattan. You can debate the issues of suffering with Milton in your head.

Sure do wish it were the whole work.

Contains extensive information in the introduction that is lends an understanding to anyone reading any of Milton's work. This particular version is very inexpensive, and contains everything one would need to understand PL. Excellent!

My review is of the library binding edition released by Buccaneer Books. It is a very plain and small volume which is wonderfully bound. It contains nothing but the poem itself (including the prose arguments) with the original spelling and punctuation. That means no notes, commentary, or introduction, so if you're looking for lots of in-text help, this isn't what you want. The Fowler, Hughes, or Norton editions are all laden with helpful material like that. But if you just want to experience Milton's masterpiece alone, this is a lovely edition. I found that the book could be purchased much more cheaply if I ordered directly from the publisher's website.

Milton in Paradise Lost unfurls a morning star banner heralding the cosmic story of the fall of angels and men in language eminently civil. I am sure that Homer and Dante were Milton's schoolmasters yet Milton almost exceeds them in the slendid language and poetry of this epic creation. Philip Pullman said "No one, not even Shakespeare, surpasses Milton in his command of the sound, the music, the weight and taste and texture of English words". This is a poem of majesty and sublime lyricism as in Milton's description of Mulciber falling:
"from Morn
To Noon he fell, from Noon to dewy Eve,
A Summer's day; and with the setting Sun
Dropt from the Zenith like a falling Star".
Each book of Paradise Lost is introduced with an argument, or summary. These arguments were written by Milton and added because early readers had requested a guide to the poem. Milton's purpose in this masterpiece is to tell about the fall of man and justify God's ways to man. When the angels battle in heaven at one point they pull up mountains and hills and throw them at each other: "So Hills amid the Air encounterd Hills Hurl'd to and fro with jaculation dire, That under ground, they fought in dismal shade." After their coup attempt in heaven Satan and the other rebel angels are lying stunned on a lake of fire. Satan rises from the lake and makes his way to the shore. He calls the other angels to do the same, and they assemble by and above the lake. Satan tells them that all is not lost and tries to cheer his followers. Led by Mammon and Mulciber, the fallen angels build their capital and palace Pandemonium. They decide to get at God through his new creation and Satan sets off on this mission. In reading Paradise Lost the poem reads the reader while being read. What I mean is that Milton lets his readers go awry in their affections and he corrects and instructs those misreadings as well as anticipates them. In this way the poem becomes a live text with meaning apprehended through the interplay between the peruser of the poem and the text itself. Milton allows the reader to subjectively question the justice of the current religious paradigm and then leads them back to the perspicacity of deity. Ultimately Paradise Lost is Milton's paean to a vast pattern in the universe, the disruption of that pattern by rebels, and the weaving of those rebellion threads back into an ever more beautiful tapestry.

This book is loaded with farout recipes and advice. A great book for those who may need a little help in the kitchen (like me.) Talk about a useful kitchen tool!

In his quarterly newsletter, Robert Stanek, author of "The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches" and many other books for young people, regularly features the books of new and upcoming authors as well as his favorite established authors. He's done this for the past four years. In his October/Fall newsletter, Mr. Stanek features three upcoming authors and one was Victoria Taylor Murray.

While I wasn't sure if Ms. Murray's Lambert series was right for me (her other ones are mystery/romance), I knew at once "Passed Down Through 4 Generations: Victoria Taylor Murray's Favorite Family Recipes: How it all Began" was my kind of book, and equally as important, it was a book my wife would enjoy as well.

As the name implies ""Passed Down Through 4 Generations," has great history behind the recipes. Ms. Murray wrote this book with her brother Joseph. Having tried the recipes, I can say there are many great ones, and more than a few that have become new favorites. I enjoy cooking, and I enjoyed this book. Recommended for any chef or chef to be.

There is something delicious for everyone to chow-down on. The recipes are easy to follow and the finished dish is wonderful. I absolutely love this book and keep it handy so I don't have to panic if a family member or friend suddenly decides to visit without notice. Most of my family members and friends are usually starving when they drop by. Now thanks to the Taylor family of men chefs I don't have to worry about what I'll make them to eat...No More Panic For Me! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!!!

As a birthday gift this year a friend through me a huge party and used a few of the recipes in this fun cookbook including the drink recipes...my one word response was simply WOW! Thanks to the men cooks in this family my party was a real winner. As a second birthday gift my friend gave me a copy of this book. Needless to say I was thrilled! Now, I can hardly wait to through my own dinner party with all the trimings! (I highly recommend this cookbook, it's the best!)

I'm a kind of glitzy girl who loves to dress up and be glamourous, so it's a surprise to people who first meet me that I really know my way around a kitchen. As my hubby always says, "That girl can cook anything ... from gourmet to Southern." And I'm proud to admit that I truly enjoy cooking. Always have ...

Another thing I dearly love is my family and I'm very sentimental about family connections. The title of this cookbook intrigued me because of the family involvement, but then when I read that the author's brother is a chef who joined her in this venture, I just HAD to buy it.

I'm glad I did. I've already prepared some of the fine dishes and they smelled so good, my hubby couldn't wait to sit down to dinner. He's raving to all the neighbors about this cookbook too.

Thanks to both Taylors for the fine dining experiences. We look forward to many more, and I'm baking several of the yummy pastries for our church brunch on Father's Day.

I highly recommend this book. Before I read this book I was really struggling with the direction I wanted to go in life. Even though I have a master's degree in my profession, I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue in my profession. I've read a few books on career planning and I've taken a few assessment tests. While I found a few gold nuggets here and there, I just didn't have the clarity and assurance I was looking for. I read passion and purpose and it really helped me. Also, I contacted Marlys Hanson and she walked me through each step and helped me understand why I was struggling with my current position and she helped me see what I need to look for in my next position. The money and time I spent reading this book and being counseled by Marlys was one of the best investments I've ever made.

Before I completed the SIMA analysis presented in this book, I was ready to change employers, and even careers. However, I did not know what I wanted. The SIMA model is an excellent tool because it helps you identify how you are motivated to work, what you are motivated to work with, and what kind of results you are motivated to achieve. All of this is based on a careful analysis of your lifetime accomplishments - thus, your motivations are based on evidence from what you've actually done, not what you *think* you're interested in (e.g., if given multiple choice answers in the standard personality test).

I went through the book myself first and then contacted Marlys to help me "fill-in-the blanks". Marlys was very prompt in responding and turned around a full assessment within one week. The result is that I now understand why I didn't enjoy my previous jobs, and most importantly, I know what I need in my current job to derive satisfaction and enjoyment from my work. Now, I can clearly articulate my career and life goals because I know what my strengths are, and I will build upon them to achieve the greatest success. I look forward to being much happier and excited about my work as well!

Amazing insight contrary to most popular opinion. The exercise is an investment in time that pays off hundreds of fold. Better yet, the author is more than willing to take the exercise to the next level to really bring it all to life. One of the best investments I've made in years - in time and dollars!

I have spent many years as a psychologist counseling clients who lack a sense of fulfillment and meaning in their lives. I therefore read this book, and underwent the SIMA process, with great interest. I found that it was the most accurate, powerful, and comprehensive instrument that I have encountered to understand one's motivated abilities. I highly recommed this book to anyone serious about reaching their potential doing work that they enjoy.

Are you having a hard time deciding what you want to be when you grow up? Are you 43 and still wondering? Or maybe you're 53 and considering your second career. For those of us who have ever had such thoughts, Marlys Hanson's "Passion and Purpose" is the solution.

In this excellent work you will learn about Motivated Abilities, and why you should work to your strengths more than always trying to improve your weaknesses. You will understand why you are particularly good at some activities, and perhaps a bit less so at others.

After you have read the book, help with understanding your Motivated Abilities is available from Marlys' company, Marlys Hanson and Associates. While the book teaches the method of doing this analysis oneself, the experience of Marlys and her team will help you learn even more about yourself for a modest additional cost.

I wish I had found Marlys sooner, but am thrilled that I found her at all.