William King Books

The first Trevor book that made one realize that Trevor was more than merely a brilliant funny man. Which is not to say that the book isn't full of laughs--it is. But it's much else besides. Of all his books this is probably one of his richest in terms of character, moral insight, etc. At any rate, certainly a pivotal book for the most artful storyteller now working.

I can't believe that I'm the first to post a review of this marvelous book.
It has been out for awhile, but I read it for the first time after the author
gave a talk at the Mercantile Library here in Cincinnati last winter. Her outspoken
criticism of current political events plus her obvious in-depth knowledge of
Shakespeare's plays and society prompted me to buy this book. I have just
finished her new one too (Hamlet's Heirs) and liked that even more than
this one, which was a little heavy theoretically for my taste. Not that I'm any expert
but Charnes strikes me as an unusual scholar--down to earth, witty, challenging
but open and accessible. Strongly recommend her work.

Like her former partner Robert A. Johnson, Helen Luke is a master of rendering the psychological meanings in great literature understandable and relevant to all people wishing to gain a deeper level of understanding about the growtn of the human soul. Having plumbed the depths of her own psycho-spiritual aging process(Such Stuff As Dreams are Made On), Ms. Luke has created a work fusing literary scholarship and personal experience into a guide for all of us to follow towards the inevitable. When the time comes for me to plant my oar (read her interpretation of The Odyssey)and turn towards the life of prayer, song and storytelling I will be eternally grateful to have had this wonderful Wise Woman as my guide. Deserving of a wide readership.

Bill Pepper, a personel friend of Dr. King's later became James Earl Ray's defense lawyer. Upon hearing Ray's testimony the King family was also convinced of Ray's innocense. Pepper documents tha tragic day of King's death, the HSCA hearings and Ray's TV trial. We're also introduced to the stories from Ray about the mysterious Raul, who hired Ray as a bag man for his smuggling operation. Ray implicates Raul in the assasination, however Raul vanishes. There is much more to the story and I'm conviced that Ray was a patsy, much in the same way that Lee Harvey Oswald was. I look forward to the second book "Act of State" that picks up where "Orders to Kill", leaves off.

The New Testament....

I highly recommend this work by Dr. William von Peters. Due to it being out of print, and facsimiles rare, many people for many years have desired to read and study the original, unrevised Douay Rheims Bible. Dr. von Peters has taken the original 423 year old text of the 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament and completely retyped it in a larger, modern font. He has also updated the archaic word spellings that posed somewhat of an obstacle when reading the older text. I want to make it clear that this is not a revised version of the Rheims New Testament like the Challoner Revision of 1750 or the Confraternity Version of 1941. This is the original, untouched, and "most literal English translation from the Latin" 1582 A.D. Rheims New Testament. This volume also contains all of the original notes and annotations that were not retained in the abovementioned revisions. They contain a treasure-trove of commentary and exegesis.

The Old Testament....

We owe a great deal of gratitude to Dr. von Peters for his labor in bringing the Original and True Douay Old Testament to us in an updated format. As I tried to convey in my review of the Original and True Rheims New Testament, the translation and commentary of this work is timeless and priceless. This updated edition is much easier to read, study, and navigate through than the facsimilies that have been produced in years past (all now out of print anyway). We live in a time of great confusion. So many bible versions claim to be faithful to the original languages yet are "more readable". When analyzed, some of these translations are simply paraphrased and do not reflect the meaning of the original languages and the intent of the Divine Author. You will not be disappointed with the Original and True Douay Rheims. Although sometimes difficult to read, it does not sacrifice fidelity to the Latin for readability. 'And all of the commentary, notes, and annotations are completely faithful to Catholic Doctrine, tradition, and theology.

takes your brain on a trip if you're not pressured into reading it...helps to have some interest in god and morals.

This marvellous book should be on the reading list of every student of this play. The first two chapters especially are studded with question marks because, in preparing himself to play the role of King Lear at London's Almeida Theatre in 2002, Oliver Ford Davies explored a large range of alternative interpretations of the lines and characters in Shakespeare's play: which seemed most convincing to him? At each question the reader might pause to think out an answer for him or herself before reading on to discover how Davies resolved it for himself. Individual words and phrases, some of which might easily be overlooked, are carefully examined for what light they shed on the play; so our own understanding of it is greatly enriched. In the course of presenting these questions, we also get a history of what other great commentators have written (just as, in the third chapter, we learn how other great actors have played the part.) There are then four chapters about this particular production, three of them a rehearsal diary, in which further questions arise and are hammered out, and it is thrilling to see the production take shape.

Davies writes very well. He is modest about himself and generous about all with whom he worked, from the Director (Jonathan Kent) to whose own view of the play he devotes a separate chapter, to his fellow actors, to the Stage and Lighting Directors and to the tailor who made the costumes. Before Lear, Davies usually played rather benign roles, and that this benignity is part of his own character can be seen in the fact there there is none of the tension or bitchiness that one sometimes finds in accounts of other productions.

There is probably no other book of this size that has such an impressive scope of procedures available to the pediatric resident, emergency medicine resident, or ICU fellow available. The number of procedures, and the accompanying diagrams are truly amazing!

The Pocket Atlas of Pediatric Emergency Procedures is a white coat sized book that is terrific for reviewing a procedure before you have to do it yourself, or for a guide to teaching other residents and medical students to do a procedure.

If you are having trouble understanding the meaning of friendship,you should read this book.When I first saw this book I thought,"Is a book this small worth reading?"But as the old saying goes,Don't judge a book by it's cover.Besides having some beautiful pop-up pictures,this book has some really interesting poems.For example,this poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson:"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."When I read this poem,memories of A.A.U summer basketball came flooding into my head.I remember on one occasion,about three of my friends and I had just finished enhaling about two Big Macs each.Since we were in a mall that had carousels,we decided to ride one. Now at the time we didn't realize how stupid that idea was going to be later.We all climbed onto our multi-colored horses and begin our journey into the world of sickness.After spinning around in circles about 20 times,we decided to get off.As soon as we got off,one by one we raced to the nearest bathroom and unloaded our lunches into the toilets.Afterwards, we all agreed that riding a carousel after lunch wasn't the greatest of ideas,BUT...at least we had fun.

Kaiser William I in Berlin, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz in Constantinople, Alexander II Nicolaevitch, Czar of Russia and Nasiri'd-Din Shah, King of Persia all received letters from a prisoner urging them to change their ways. As these letters went unheeded; these ruling monarchs and their thrones were swept away in a titanic upheaval that engulfed 20 kingdoms in half a century. The link binding them was a prisoner in a Turkish fortress on the coast of Palestine - a person none would ever consider a challenge to the rulers of the world. Foretelling the collapse of each dynasty with frightening precision, the prisoner tried to awaken the rulers to their social and spiritual responsibilities; to unite in a world-wide effort for social justice and peace; and to protect the down trodden and under privileged.

In 1844 a man called the Bab started a spiritual revolution in Persia which was crushed by clergy and courtiers fearful of loss of privilege. He was executed in 1850 with his followers tortured and massacred. One supporter was not killed because of his position in the Persian court but he was a marked man and his oppressors found an excuse to throw him into a dungeon. It was in that pestilential prison full of rats and disease that the mission of Baha'u'llah began, a mission that was to fulfill the promises of all religions. In 1890 the Prisoner told Professor Edward Granville Browne of Cambridge University that he sought only the good of the world and the happiness of all nations; that all men should become one in faith and all men as brothers; that the bonds of affection between people should be strengthened; that the diversity of religion should cease and differences of race annulled. Browne wrote "The face of Him on Whom I gazed I can never forget, though I cannot describe it ... no need to ask in Whose presence I stood, as I bowed myself before One Who is the object of a devotion and love which kings might envy and emperors sigh for in vain."

Napoleon III, the most powerful monarch of the day, had written a treatise on the elimination of poverty and appeared to be in tune with Baha'u'llah's teachings but when he turned away from social and humanitarian ideals he received a letter from Baha'u'llah which forecast "Thy Empire shall pass from thy hands, as a punishment for that which thou has wrought." Kaiser William I was warned of the same fate if he did not devote himself to the service of unity and justice but he agitated differences between neighbors, increased armaments and dreamed of war and bloodshed. Alexander II failed to take leadership in raising moral and ethical standards and the House of Romanov fell after 300 years. That the Empire of the Hapsburgs, an empire as old as Europe itself, could disintegrate and fall overnight because the ruler rejected the spiritual message of God was unthinkable. But that is what happened. There was only one monarch, Queen Maria of Rumania, who became a devoted follower writing: "If ever the name of Baha'u'llah comes to your attention, do not put His writings from you. Let their glorious, peace-bringing, love-creating words and lessons sink into your heart" and "It is Christ's message taken up anew, in the same words almost, but adapted to the years that lie between year one and today."

Baha'u'llah's writings kept secretaries busy day and night transcribing the Revelation that grew to 100 volumes dealing with the problems facing man and his society. He emphasized that the struggle was not between himself and those in authority but between those who loved the things of God and those who loved the things of men; between physical and moral forces; between the material and spiritual; between inequity and justice. All the tragedies engulfing the world are because mankind has turned away from God for materialistic concerns. Baha'u'llah called upon the leaders of the world to help Him in rescuing mankind from the threatening disaster; He challenged leaders, ministers and priests to examine the Bahai teachings with an open mind.

Baha'u'llah died in 1892 having laid the foundations of a world-wide community which would provide the pattern for a new world order in human relations, having appointed 'Abdu'l Baha as the interpreter of His teachings. Suggestions that the roots of the disorder of society are spiritual were treated with impatience and ridicule but this message is not only for rulers but for each individual; not only for then but also for now. The real purpose of life is the development of a praiseworthy character; the building of moral and ethical virtues is the true basis of life both for men and nations. The world today has lost most virtues such as kindness, generosity, compassion, tenderness, love, justice, fairness, gentleness, and consideration, preferring materialism. Something must reverse the current and that is why God sent his most recent messenger. Every Bahai is commanded to conduct himself in such a manner that he will stand out because of his moral qualities. In large measure it is young people who have laid down their lives in the fight against corruption, hypocrisy and injustice. Over 20,000 followers were killed in Persia because the creed awoke a rare and beautiful spirit of self-sacrifice. Nevertheless Bahais are firmly obedient and loyal to the governments of the nations in which they reside while not involving themselves in politics or diplomatic pursuits. Until we have a new world conscience we cannot have a new world society and it seems that youth understands that mankind's urgent need is for moral and spiritual regeneration.

If you believe that we have become over materialistic and need to rebuild moral and ethical values if mankind is to progress, this is an excellent book to read.