Oliver Books

This book should be printed on asbestos, not paper. From the very beginning, it had me glued to it, engrossed as the two women became enmeshed in a web of lesbian S&M and rituals. I can only pray that some day my own erotica will be this intense.

This book covered children's health from birth to teenagers. It was able to easily clarify whether or not to bring a child to a doctor. There were good descriptions and illustrations of ailments, as well as an easy-to-use index. I would recommend it to any new parent as a reference manual.

This book is probably the single most important bridge book on competitive bidding ever written. Perhaps I feel this way because these authors have described many recommended methods, the jump fit bids and the non-jump fit bid in particular, that I have been playing since 1980. But there are several more gems in these pages, both in terms of sugggested methods of conventional raises in competition and in terms of theoretical discussions (e.g., rationale for pressure bidding and off-beat preempts, rules for defining forcing pass situations, and the importance of having a wide assortment of bids describing various hand types that include support for partner's long suit), that are absolutely priceless. The only major critical comment I have is that the book is chock full of typos. But don't let this annoyance distract you from appreciating the quality of the message reflected in the analyses and theoetical presentations. They are consistently top shelf. Please don't read this book if you plan on playing against me!

I found many wonderful and useful tidbits of information in Passion and Craft : Conversations With Notable Writers. Normally, interviews with writers tend to focus on questions about the writer's upcoming books or about their early and current lives- in other words, they're interesting questions, but hardly every practical. In this book, questions are specific and often technical. What arises is that the answers the writers give are useful for other writers. This book belongs on the bookshelf of all writers.

I believe this book is transcribed from a speech given by Holmes to a group of lawyers, judges, scholars at HLS. It is Holmes' prediciton for the future of the law and it is extremely prescient. For anyone interested in the law it is a must read, and at about 34 pages a very quick and enjoyable one.

Wagner's "Pauline Baptism and the Pagan Mysteries" was one of the major books of scholarship in the last century. It was part of the debate among biblical scholars about the History of Religions theory. This was a theory, once considered very viable, that Christianity had borrowed doctrines from the pagan mysteries.

Wagner's book investigates whether Paul's baptism in Rom VI drew upon mystery religions, an accusation that Bultmann and many other, earlier, scholars had made.

An outstanding German scholar, Wagner painstakingly lays out every bit of evidence we have. In the end, he concludes: "the cults of Marduk, Adonis, and Attis cannot be related to Rom. VI...The same would hold good for Eleusis, had we to suppose a descent of the mystes to the Nether World. In the Egyptian Osiris cult, too, we were unable to indicate the initiation of a living man...no points of contact could possible be established with regard to the performance of the rites and their significance" (p 266-7).

He draws heavily upon research by earlier scholars. All of them also found no instances of early Christianity borrowing a doctrine from on of the mystery religions. One important point: Rome had few mystery religions before the 2nd century, and it appears that some of the mystery religions that did appear in Rome later borrowed doctrines from Christianity. One clear example is the Mithric cult.

Wagner concludes that "Paul modelled his 'Christ-myth' on the myths about other 'dying and rising ' gods is now now no more seriously held than in the derivation of the observance of Sunday and the resurrection on the third day from the mystery cults" (p 269).

Nor does Wagner find any hint of reliance in any words chosen by Paul. Although he does use some words that were used in the mystery religions but he "uses them in a sense that does not correspond with the specific meanings accorded them in the mysteries" (p 274).

In short, the differences between the mysteries and Christianity "show that there is an unbridgeable gulf between the Pauline interpretation of baptism and the piety of the mysteries" (p 285).

This book has been out of print for some time. It should be reissued. Granted, the History of Religions theory is long gone, but, in spite of that, a whole new bevy of authors are churning out books that claim that Christianity borrowed from paganism.

These books are written by people who have no background in biblical scholarship and it shows. Most are on the level of the aliens-built-the-pyramids popular trash, but people read the, and believe them, amazingly enough.

Time to reissue some of these classic books to refute the nonsense writers.

This book contains sixteen short stories by the notable anthropologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Oliver LaFarge. LaFarge is all-but-forgotten, but he is justifiably known for his Native American-themed fiction. This anthology includes three of his Native American stories - "Happy Indian Laughter", "A Pause in the Desert" and "The Resting Place". The book also contains two Western stories - "Old Century's River" (an old Mexican guide, injured and abandoned in the Mexican jungles, faces death on his own terms), and "Spud and Cochise" (a parody of the Western fiction genre).

Much of LaFarge's fiction has a contemplative, mystical aspect. Three of the stories address man's place in a universe of natural and supernatural forces. "John the Revelator" contrasts man's irrationality and aggression with the objective peacefulness of inanimate objects. In "Brush of the Wings", the protagonist struggles to cope with his sense of predestination. The afore-mentioned "The Resting Place", which is probably LaFarge's best known and most-loved short story, is about an archeologist who stumbles upon a way to communicate with the spirits of those who once inhabited the site of the archeological dig. After sixty years of secretly communing with the Anasazi spirits, he chooses to die at the old dig. The story's title is from the opening scene of Oedipus at Colonnus ("If thou seest a resting place . . . by some sacred grove, stay me and set me down. Let us discover where we have come, for strangers must inquire of denizens").

Five of the remaining stories are psychological studies of men handling crisis situations. Of these, two deserve special mention. "The Bystander" is about a man kidnapped for questioning by a mob boss after literally tripping over a small piece of evidence. "Thick on the Bay" concerns the emotional fallout experienced by two teenagers who witness a shootout between rum-runners and the Coast Guard. The story's setting is a harbor during pea-soup fog. It is the kind of chilling, tingling story that Alfred Hitchcock would have adapted for television.

A few of the stories in this collection are truly great; all sixteen stories are very good. It is a shame when a writer as talented as LaFarge is no longer read and appreciated. This book of stories is too good to be forgotten.

This book contains sixteen short stories by the notable anthropologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Oliver LaFarge. LaFarge is all-but-forgotten, but he is justifiably known for his Native American-themed fiction. This anthology includes three of his Native American stories - "Happy Indian Laughter", "A Pause in the Desert" and "The Resting Place". The book also contains two Western stories - "Old Century's River" (an old Mexican guide, injured and abandoned in the Mexican jungles, faces death on his own terms), and "Spud and Cochise" (a parody of the Western fiction genre).

Much of LaFarge's fiction has a contemplative, mystical aspect. Three of the stories address man's place in a universe of natural and supernatural forces. "John the Revelator" contrasts man's irrationality and aggression with the objective peacefulness of inanimate objects. In "Brush of the Wings", the protagonist struggles to cope with his sense of predestination. The afore-mentioned "The Resting Place", which is probably LaFarge's best known and most-loved short story, is about an archeologist who stumbles upon a way to communicate with the spirits of those who once inhabited the site of the archeological dig. After sixty years of secretly communing with the Anasazi spirits, he chooses to die at the old dig. The story's title is from the opening scene of Oedipus at Colonnus ("If thou seest a resting place . . . by some sacred grove, stay me and set me down. Let us discover where we have come, for strangers must inquire of denizens").

Five of the remaining stories are psychological studies of men handling crisis situations. Of these, two deserve special mention. "The Bystander" is about a man kidnapped for questioning by a mob boss after literally tripping over a small piece of evidence. "Thick on the Bay" concerns the emotional fallout experienced by two teenagers who witness a shootout between rum-runners and the Coast Guard. The story's setting is a harbor during pea-soup fog. It is the kind of chilling, tingling story that Alfred Hitchcock would have adapted for television.

Two or three of the stories in this collection are masterpieces; all sixteen stories are very good. It is a shame when a writer as talented as LaFarge is no longer read and appreciated. These stories - "The Resting Place" in particular - are too good to be forgotten.

This is a beautiful book. While it is not a book for someone who wants to know the story behind the entity that is Pearl Jam, it is definitely for someone searching for wall decorations or just a collection of pictures of one of their favorite bands. Although it is said that this book is out of print, I have seen several of these photo-tear-out books, including this Pearl Jam one, for sale in a store at Pleasure Island in Orlando, Florida, it was about $12.95. I suggest buying two, as I did...one for the wall and one to keep as new.

There are a few biographies out there on Westbrook but this one is by far the most informative. It doesnt have alot of pictures (I love pictures) but the stories of his life are absolutely amazing.. You really get a good idea of who he is with this book...