Oliver Books

These poems will transport you into a world of peace and tranquility. You will reach into your soul and discover truths...some you had forgotten and some that you never knew that you had. Mary Oliver's poems are a voyage in self-discovery. Enjoy the ride!

I am not into poetry much, but there are some nice ones in here...strange/disturbing ones too, but the book as a whole is ok.

There may be a better poet than Mary Oliver alive today but I do not know who it is. Every one of her poems touches not only my soul but that of everyone I know who has heard her.

Mary Oliver is one of my favorite poets and she did not diappoint with her work here. With each line, it is like I am being fed an exotic dessert, it awakens all of my senses to something new.

Here is a book with a soul. Read these poems out loud, slowly. Let the music resonate between your ears. Linger on each line. Let each stanza stand alone. Who but Mary Oliver can ask:

Is the soul solid, like iron?
Or is it tender and breakable, like
the wings of a moth in the beak of an owl?

Oliver will take you to places light and dark, hopeful and hopeless, and you will remember them for a long time.

Only the hardcore mat fans will "get" this book. The regular marks like the babyfaces but the hardcore fans and wrestlers themselves love the heels. They make the sport and drive it. Skandar Akbar says the bussiness is about dragons and dragonslayers. Dragons rule.

I was really impressed with Oliver's other two books about the Tag Teams and Canadian wrestlers so I was pretty excited when I saw this title. And it did not disappoint. The bios are solid and I really liked the way that he split up the heel types and didn't try to mash it all into one big list. For any fan of wrestling, hardcore or casual, this is a must for the library.

When it comes to wrestling history and writing wrestling books Greg Oliver and Steve Johnson rank right at the top. This is the third book of theirs that I have bought and I must say, "they know their stuff". Entertaining, informative and very professionally done and researched. I give them every star you have and recommend their books to any wrestling fan.

this is one great read. being in the business for 30 years myself, and being trained by one of the legends in this book, i have great appreciation for the homework the writers had to do. hope they do one on the babyfaces at some point.

This book, and its companion pieces, are the best references on pro wrestling history out there. They are not self serving bios or sponsored by WWE. They are written by someone who researched the subjects meticiously and has a great love and respect for the sport. This book is a great read, covering the history and colorful characters, the heels, that made pro wrestling so entertaining. I have just two minor nits to pick. Despite what previous reviewers say, I felt this book wasn't as detailed and personal as the first two of the series. Secondly, I questioned listing Moose Cholak as an all time great heel. Nothing in the narrative suggests any nastiness and I've seen him in action and he was a face through and through. Ox Baker and/or Bruiser Brody would have been better choices.
P.S. I have a feeling the next book will cover the "Faces", but I hope the next book should cover the top 100 wrestlers of all time. There is currently a book out there with that title, but from what I seen in the reviews and knowing the author from his magazine editorials, (Metzner), this one would be far superior.

Based on his forty year career as a teacher, administrator, and consultant for private schools, Stephen Davenport has crafted his debut, Saving Miss Oliver's. Subtitled "a novel of leadership, loyalty, and change," the novel chronicles one tumultuous year in the history of a small all-girls school. What sets Saving Miss Oliver's apart from other school novels is that Davenport focuses not just on inner workings of the school. He also turns his lens on two of Miss Oliver's longtime teachers, exploring a marriage that is just as vulnerable that year as the school itself.

In the midst of a fiscal crisis the board of Miss Oliver's School for Girls realizes that it is time for change. The school community, however, is resistant, especially when the first sign of that change is the dismissal of longtime headmistress Marjorie Boyd. The new head of school, Fred Kindler, is set an impossible task. He's to bolster enrollment and decrease the school's deficit with virtually no assistance from teachers, alumnae, or students, all of whom despise him for taking the post. If Kindler is not successful only two options remain--go co-ed or close--and the community can't decide which is worse.

Francis and Peggy Plummer have been working at Miss Oliver's School for almost as long as they've be married. When Francis's loyalty to Boyd keeps him from helping the new headmaster, the resulting rift between the two grows ever wider as problems long-buried begin to resurface. Peggy becomes determined to help Kindler succeed in his mission, the fate of the school, for her, more important than that of her marriage.

Well-plotted and interesting, Saving Miss Oliver's leaves readers guessing about the future of Miss Oliver's School right until its very end. Additionally Davenport's characters are very realistic; he does not shy away from the failings that make each of them human. In doing so, he drives home the point that real people are the essence of any great school.

While Saving Miss Oliver's is a strong first effort, one slipup betrays Davenport's status as a freshman novelist. While setting the stage for the novel's action, he introduces too many characters at once. Although this is an easy error for a first time author to make, the novel suffers from it as his readers are left disoriented at the outset, trying to sort out the main characters from a score of miscellaneous teachers, board members, alumnae, donors, and students.

My copy of SAVING MISS OLIVER'S arrived a few hours before we set sail for Hawaii, a long awaited holiday. I replaced THE WORLD IS FLAT with it in my bag and, once begun, I couldn't put it down. It was as if this story had a wire attached to my brain, my very soul, my memories.

Stephen Waters, Deering, N.H.

The reader enters Miss Oliver's with the first word. Stephen Davenport's novel is a fascinating look at not only the inner workings of a private girls' school, but also the multiple layers of human motivation. Mr. Davenport deftly invites us to care about his characters as we learn what they think, what they do, and then very cleverly, how others are responding to that thinking and doing. Mr. Davenport writes with integrity as he develops his characters. It seemed clear that he cares deeply for his characters as they struggle through the changes at Miss Oliver's. I loved the way the novel illuminates the assumptions these characters make and how this affects their actions and intentions. It was a fun and fascinating read. As a former trustee of a private (non-boarding) school, I am somewhat familiar with school challenges. And yet, I felt I entered a whole new world in this book. Couldn't put it down.

Even mediocre schools touch people deeply; great schools join themselves to the hearts of students, parents, teachers, and alumni. Love intensifies their passion about everything the school does, sometimes making the school leader's role almost impossibly challenging.

Few novels attempt to capture the challenges of leading a beloved school, and none do so better than "Saving Miss Oliver's." Leaders of colleges, churches, art museums, and other much-loved institutions will resonate with Fred Kindler's difficulties as he becomes the first male head of a boarding school for girls. He follows a charismatic leader whose long tenure led Miss Oliver's to educational excellence and fiscal peril.

"Saving Miss Oliver's" combines the usual novelistic virtues--convincing characters, artful language, and an intriguing plot--with a grasp of organizational dynamics and the challenges of leadership that makes it a rare treat for readers who are also leaders.

Dan Hotchkiss, senior consultant
The Alban Institute

For those of us who understand adolescence to be a critical time of life and who have known influential teachers, this book lets slip the lessons gained from our experiences: that we learn best through relationships, that high school often prepares us in unexpected ways for our lives -- and that we read fiction to begin to get at the truth.

Woven through "Saving Miss Oliver's" is homage to teachers and the art of teaching. Almost exactly in the middle of the story, and thus at its core, is the extended scene in which Francis Plummer teaches Robert Frost's "Home Burial" to a class of ninth grade girls. It is a revelation of the passion, dedication and talent that mark great teachers. At last a writer is showing these men and women, real heroes, at their actual work.

Davenport's ability to draw us into the lives of his characters underscores his talent of hitting the right notes in the lessons we draw from both them and him.

Other than the GL done SW movies, this is the most important series of books in the Galaxy Far Far Away. If i were starting out as a reader of the Expanded Star Wars universe I would not start with Zahn first. I would start with the Han Solo trilogy first.

Darkhorse has made some SW books in comics. They gereally do a good job, but not always. They often suffer from poor editing decision. This one is no exception. It is to bad that you can't put the audio (book on tape) casette or CD and play it along with the comic, but you can't. The comic takes to many deletions to fit their page limitations. Still I have to give this 5 stars to reward Darkhorse for the attempt. Wishing DH would do other SW novels... thank you for this one.

This review is for the graphic novel adaptation:

Nice story, if you love Star Wars but you're not familiarized with the expanded universe and you'd like to meet the new characters this is the best story to start with: critical characters are introduced: Mara Jade, Gillad Pelleaon, Talon Karrde, Councilor Fel'ya, Grand Almiral Thrawn, Jacen and Jaina Solo, Jorus C'Baoth, the Noghri ...etc. It was pretty cool to find Thrawn on this story, since i first met him in the TIE fighter videogame!

However i think i missed a lot of things by reading the graphic novel rather than the novel, I think i'll be reading the novel later. I liked the way the story manages its storylines, I wonder if some of those stories are going to be referenced on the new Star Wars films?

I really liked reading this book because it was one of the best star wars books I ever read. I liked how Luke Skywalker went back to the Dagobah System. I also liked the new villians Thrawn,Talon Karrde, and C'baoth. It was great when they went to Chewbacca's home planet Kashyyyk. The battle at the end was a good way to end the book.

People who haven't read the books might get confused with the story line in the comic novels, but it's nice to see the artwork of all the characters introduced 5 years after the Star Wars Trilogy. This comic, in particular, does a great job of drawing the Noghri & Mara Jade. Now if only Lucas will put it on film.

Although there are a few very trivial flaws in "Heir to the Empire" they are easily overlooked and do not take away from any of the enjoyment contained within. I can say with all honesty and not a little relief that Timothy Zahn did a far better job than any of the low-brow attempts at a worthwhile novel about our beloved Star Wars heroes than such amateurs such as Kevin J. Anderson and Steve Perry. Basically, it takes place five years after "Return of the Jedi" and Luke is just starting to feel comfortable in his role as the galaxy's only known Jedi. Han and Leia are married and expecting twins while struggling to build a new Republic in their home in the Imperial Palace on Coruscant. The Empire is considerably weakened and withering away, but it still holds some surprises for our blossoming New Republic. Strutting upon the stage is a new antagonist almost worthy of being Darth Vader's equal. A blue skinned red eyed member of the Chiss species named Grand Admiral Thrawn, the last of the Empire's Grand Admirals, has taken the Empire into his own hands in an attempt to revive the Empire and bring it back into its former power. He is a brilliant military strategist and super-genius, able to glean merely from a culture's art its military strategies and psychological traits. Although, Zahn never bothers to explain exactly how he does this, I feel that this would certainly qualify one to be an extraordinary genius among geniuses. Okay, Thrawn is quite honestly a much better "bad guy" than the ludicrously ridiculous Hutt (a Hutt that would fit much better in an episode of Looney Tunes) that Kevin J. Anderson dreamed up in "Dark Saber" however, Zahn doesn't quite make him as fascinating as Darth Vader, but after Vader anyone would seem fairly anticlimatic. And an insane dark Jedi by the name of C'baoth is bent on capturing Luke and Leia (with her unborn twins) for his own corrupt reasons. A great plot with all our favorite characters, as well as an interesting trip to Kashyyyk with Chewbacca, even though his child and wife is disappointingly never mentioned, all combine to make a great read replete with space fights, political intrigue, and new characters.

A good read. Trying to instill proper ethics in my teens can be a challenge. Holding their attention can be difficult, and Taking the Harder Right offers just the right amount of wisdom without being overly drawn out. Well done.

Interesting as well as informative. Easy to read. It is the kind of book that makes you think about it for days or longer.

A great read - should be required for all college students. I talked with a man on his way back from Hong Kong about the "slippery slope" Taking the Harder Right presents while flying back to ATL. The book makes you cringe as you read it: to know that the person telling the story is going to lose in the end. If this were a mystery novel, you could hope that the characters would take the harder right before things went too far; knowing that each of the three stories was written post-prison took away that hope and made it very sobering to read. The lesson that I hope others (and myself) get from this book is this: that we should continually choose the harder right from the beginning; not wait until just before things go too far. I kept thinking of the novel The Firm as I read your book. The trappings of wealth and evil can be very subtle in the beginning - that was the lure that trapped the attorneys and made them stay in the firm.

It also reminded me of the "boiling a frog" analogy. Supposedly, you can actually boil a frog to death. If you throw a frog into boiling water, it will - obviously - jump out of the pan (or at least make every effort to do so). However, if you set the frog into a pan of lukewarm water and then slowly heat it, it will literally stay put until it is cooked! With evil and corruption, we see the same thing in this book. None of the guest writers were approached with a "Hey, let's break the law, and I will give you lots of money" offer - instead, they fell prey to subtle approaches that they could justify. Like the frog, they could rationalize, "Hey, the water isn't that much hotter!" Sad results, but I am glad that all seem to have chosen now to take the harder right and seem truly penitent (not just sorry that they got caught) and seem to be making restitution.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in two lectures of the author and two of his co-authors. The first time was during my final semester in a graduate course in 2006. Diann Cattani, one of the co-authors, was the only presenter at the time. The presentation was so mesmerizing that you could hear a pin drop in the entire room. This was a true story of personal battles, a good wonderful person with an excellent upbringing, giving into pressures mostly created by her alone, and taking the easier wrong path rather the harder right - and paying dearly as a result. The courage that she displayed as she shared her story truthfully in hopes to reach others that might be falling into the same trap was astounding.

I purchased the book that night and could not put it down till I finished it. The main author, Oliver Halle, is a retired special FBI agent, sharing his "life changing" and "life shaping" stories, and defining the distinction between the two. In addition to Diann's story, the book has two other fascinating stories of real people as well, of Josh Kenyon and Walt Pavlo, two other upstanding individuals who somewhere along the way took the easier wrong rather that the harder right; and ended up with having to face dire consequences. These are not fictional characters, these are real people, high upstanding educated professionals who know right from wrong, yet they fell into a downward spiral of destruction after taking the easier wrong, until it led to their total demise.

As I began my carrier as an auditor, and began studying for Forensic Accounting, I often thought about Diann's presentation and the message of the book. When I heard there is going to be another presentation at the same class a year later in 2007, I contacted my professor and asked permission to be present. This time, I had the pleasure of listening to Oliver's presentation, as well as listening to Josh's and Diann's story. A year had passed since the first presentation, and listening to Diann's story brought tears to my eyes again. I wanted to hug her and take all of her pain away. A year had passed for me, I had moved on in my career, and Diann was still suffering the consequences of her actions. I read the book again that night from cover to cover, and found it just as intriguing and fascinating as I did the first time.

Buy this book, and read it, realizing these are real people, these are real stories, and learn from their mistakes. All people at all different stages of life, in any profession or way of life can benefit from their experience. The more people they reach, the more they have given back to the society that they once wronged. THAT is their ultimate goal.

I started reading the book last night, and the next thing I knew, I finished it. This is an excellent resource for our students, and I congratulate the authors for a job extremely well done.

Halle's front-end material and the three tragic stories at the end of the book make for a very powerful message. I have had this group speak to my graduate accounting class twice, and they are fantastic! My students have been "blown away" both times, and the book is very consistent with the theme of their seminar.

With a strong example-to-paragraph of information ratio, this this title is readable and well presented: highly reccomended. But I'll hold back on a 10 only because the authors only skimmed the most important aspect of HTML layout: tables. While this book *was* just a starter, as the "...24 Hours" claims, I am still struggling to learn how tables function. Still it's, very well-written, enjoyable, topical (covering what you need to know), and organized, giving you a good taste so all those lines of Hypertext Markup start becoming legible.

This is, without a doubt, the best book on the market for learning beginner's HTML.

This book helped me out so much when I just started out. I was 13, and had just gotten the internet and I realized that even the average person had a web page, so I looked at the source code and realized that it is not that hard. I wanted to expand my knowledge, so I bought this book, and it helped so much. It has definetly helped me as a resource when writing my pages now. I reccommend this book to anyone just starting out.

I bought 2 other HTML books before I found this one. This book was really awesome. It was easy to read and understand. I learnt a lot.

Dick Oliver is the best author!! You will really get a lot out of this book even if you are a beginner!

Derby is a great man....he is pretty silent about his service in Vietnam....most guys that were there are...he's my friend...I've known him for 6 years....he and his wife are great people...best I've ever known....I haven't had the chance to read the book him and his wife wrote..but did read Six Silent Men By Reynel Martinez. It's about they went thru in Nam....It's an awful good read..My son even loved it...Very well written...362 pages of what the men went thru...It really makes you think...Derby survived to write this book...I just want to say....he's a great guy...and I Love him and his wife...

This is a read I couldn't put down.You can feel what the author feels as he goes through all the exploits of his life. Its full of history of early 1900's life.Roaring 20's drama at its best.I highly recomend it to anyone that enjoys autobiograhys.

This is a book that rings as true as any of John Steinbeck's most memorable characters. A Bandit Called Derby is a son's tribute to his often wayward father's early years where Oliver Franklin Jones roared through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Idaho bootlegging,gambling, and robbing an occasional casino or bank.
It's not a glossed over version of the Rip Roaring 20s but a hard scrabble look at the hellbent life and times of a reflective man, who after doing his time offers a better route for his children, including his son, Derby- a decorated Vietnam veteran, a former Airborne Ranger and Sergeant Major, and to his friends one decent man. I'm biased. I know Derby Jones and he's truly one of the good people. This book is not only a touching tribute to his father but a true slice of Americana and look at a time we thought we knew. Thanks to Derby Jones (both of them) and Derby's wife, Sheryl, we all just got a better view!

This was an excellent read. I got a genuine first hand account of how life during that period of time. For those who want to know what hard time was this is a book for them. Oliver (Derby) Jones was a hard man who's life was worthy of being told for all generations.

I thorougly enjoyed this book. It was an interesting sampling of "real" americana from a slightly different, but definitely humorous point of view. I recommend this read highly!!!!

Carries me away. Great read. This guy can write...has a great future. It is entrancing, haunting. I wanted it to go on. In addition to the lyrical euphoria, this gives a great perception of the life and times surrounding the historic conflict and relocation. I am encouraging all my friends to put down their heavy, current books and revive the other side of their brains.

I bought two of this item. My step mother wanted to find this storybook for a long time friend. So one for my stepmom and one for her friend. Both books arrived in first class condition and the subject matter was exactly what was wanted. Worth the price and I'm thankful that such literature is still printed. I was surprised to find the story was about early Nove Scotia and it's people.

I have a passion for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's lyrical lines of Evangeline. Therefore, I was uneasy in the purchase of Evangeline, A Novel. I shouldn't have been. Finis Fox's insight into the lives, loves and losses of the Acadians is remarkable. He adds to the story lines rather than detracting from them. His words are at once romantic and colorful, lulling you into passive reflection. The emotions are all there, the joy, the pain and the suffering. He does not stray far from Longfellow's poem, using the same names of people and places. It is a story worth reading! It would be worth the price if it were twice as much. I wish it could have been longer, but in staying true to Longfellow, the story moved much the same as did the poem. If you loved Evangeline, you will love this novel as much or maybe more!

Evangeline is Longfellow's masterpiece. The poem begins with
the famous "forest primeval" . The reader is taken to the home
of the Acadian farmers and the famous village reminescent
of a variety of tradespeople. The work describes whole
communities dispersed and separated from the homeland in the
mid-1700s. Evangeline and Gabriel flee home and experience
the pain of separation despite the fact that Gabriel seems to
keep a step ahead during a major part of the story. The work
attests to the beauty and strength of a woman's devotion.
In many ways, our fate and destiny tend to be random events which are out of our immediate control. This work traces the
fate of important characters living in a state of uncontrolled
flux and uncertainty . Readers of the poem will discover
how the story unfolds and the difficult choices presented
at various stages of Longfellow's journey. The work is
written utilizing an advanced vocabulary typical of the
writers during this period .

After more than half a century, I remembered still the sonorous rhythms of the prelude to Evangeline. Much has changed since I first read the tale of Arcadian innocence torn apart on order of the heartless King, and Longfellow and his poetry have fallen on hard times and harder hearts in the interim

His allusions and images are strained; his words pathetically romantic and sentimental; and the story of Evangeline barely tracks the actual events of 1755. All of the charges are true, yet much of value remains in the poem. The poet recognized instantly a crime against humanity when he first heard the tale, and he had the talent, drive, and fortitude to create this vehicle to memorialize the sad story of star crossed lovers, families, and communities divided and exiled from their adored homeland.

That a heart could be committed to a lifetime of wandering in search of a lost love seems archaic to the sophisticates of the twenty-first century, but I believe it possible, even today.

I read the poem - aloud and silently - and the beat of the accents, like operatic arias, added to the the sorrow of the sentimental story. I recommend this poem to parents who love to read aloud to their children. I'm sure that Evangeline and her beloved Gabriel have the power still to stir the hearts of the young - and of the readers, too.

A very useful notes section offsets an overly wordy foreword. I found it easy to find and reference words and phrases no longer in common use.

Read it aloud to your early adolescent sons and daughters and to your love. You'll be happy you did.

Long Life: Essays And Other Writings showcases the prose and poetry of Mary Oliver who has won both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for her work. A master wordsmith, Mary Oliver has authored more than twenty books, and in Long Life shows herself adept at the art of the essay as well as a gifted poet whose lyrical commentaries range from describing a goosefish stranded at low tide to being baptized by the mist from a whale's blowhole. Long Life is highly recommended, emotionally resonating, cognitively gifted reading and a welcome addition to personal and academic library literary collections.

Reading this is like peeking into Mary Oliver's Journal in which she has recorded thoughts about poems and poets, art and artists, and all the secrets and truths they share.

I am a Mary Oliver fan. I love her poetry combining spirit and nature, and I can understand it. I certainly agree that writing should come from the heart; however, if it is to be published, the authors should sometimes provide a map to navigate the terrain. Not Mary Oliver. In these essays and poems, Oliver shares with us how the world calls to her and invites us to greet our world as she does hers. I particularly love:

"People say to me: wouldn't you like to see Yosemite? The Bay of Fundy? The Brooks Range? I smile and answer, 'Oh yes' sometime. And go off to my woods, my ponds, my sun-filled harbor, no more than a blue comma on the map of the world, but to me, the emblem of everything. It is the intimate, never The general, that is teacherly."
Teacherly. My computer says that is not a word. What does my computer know? I like it. Even her prose is poetic. "Every day my early morning walk along the water grants me a second waking. My feet are nimble, now my ears wake, and give thanks for the ocean's song."

I liked Part Three the least. Her praise of Emerson and Hawthorne were first published as introductions to Modern Library Classics. However, she did tickle my curiosity about Emerson. She has given me enough in her short essay to make me want to read his work now that I am an adult. I think of all the rich material which I was fed in school and only now as a mature adult can appreciate and enjoy.

Oliver does not write, here, about aging or the end of life. She writes in both prose and poetry about how full her life is. And she reminds us that full does not necessarily mean busy. She reminds me that I could live a rich and delicious life right here in my neighborhood. She reminds me that I can receive so much by being conscious. This book stays on my shelf with my other Olivers to pick back up occasionally and savor.

by Judith Helburn
for StorycircleBookReviews
www.storycirclebookreviews.org
reviewing books by, for, and about women

Readers of this book come away knowing that Mary Oliver wakes up each morning,
rushes outside and breathes deeply ready to fill her mind and soul with nature's
surprises of the day. There is a chapter, Dog Talk, that will warm any dog
lover's heart, including a wonderful listing of her dogs' names, past and
present. The language is gorgeous and full of imagery yet sparse.

Oliver's comment on the necessity of literature spoke to its essential place
in my life.
"The best use of literature bends not toward the narrow and the absolute
but to the extravagant and the possible. Answers are no part of it;
rather, it is the opinions, the rhapsodic persuasions, the engrafted
logics, the clues that are to the mind of the reader the possible keys
to his own self-quarrels, his own predicament."

Like a gentle warning, one we will not heed, Mary Oliver states in her foreword that she prefers writing poetry to prose, but each has its own pleasures and manner of expression - "different paces of heartbeat." Anyone who has dabbled in both types of word-art knows how true this is; and we are grateful that Oliver is willing to adjust her heart rhythm so that our appreciative hearts may beat a little differently, too.

"Long Life: Essays and Other Writings" is a slim collection of prose and those few poems Oliver could not resist interspersing, collected into a love letter from Oliver to the universe, "full of radiant suggestion." Whether walking the beach, ten feet from her home, or the town dump, her praise to the beauty of the world is undaunted and lavish. There is no detail she misses, no praise unwarranted, and Oliver relishes what is life, animate, inanimate, human, canine, reptile or insect. In "Flow," she notes how we already live in paradise, and to be fully aware of it is to "have such music in one's head and body," that one must, brimming with blessing and gratitude, ask: "what is the gift I should bring the world?" For Oliver, cleary, her literary art, adding to our paradise in books.

In various essays, none very long, Oliver writes tributes to favored authors Hawthorne and Emerson, but also to her lifelong partner, Molly, in appreciation of their many differences and habits, making relationships that much richer and more rewarding. She writes of perfect days, and surely all are, in their own way. She writes of childhood huts, little places she built with open doors, so that she might sit inside and watch the wonder of the world around her (I did exactly the same). There is no place where she is unable to find beauty, and whereas Poe claimed to be able to hear the night falling, Oliver listens for the morning as it "settles upward." In her series of poems called "Sand Dabs," she collects pithy and wise sayings, the sort one would scribble on a napkin corner and keep in a wallet so as not to forget. And, even while she strives to appreciate this worldly paradise in open faith, her intellect presses her, "... forgive me, Lord, how I still, sometimes, crave understanding."

Oliver walks in the world to love it. We read her books in order to walk alongside her, love it through her eyes, her words, her spirit "settling upward," and by end of book, bask in the afterglow, recipients of the gift Oliver has given back to the world, to us.

This is a must have book for any couple who wants to anger-proof their marriage--not that it eliminates our anger, but Gary and Carrie show us clearly where our anger comes from and what couples can do to minimize this dangerous emotion in a mariage. Their personal stories give depth and understanding to their important principles. A must have for any couple who values their marriage.

Having worked with couples for more than 20 years, this book by the Olivers is a great resource for couples who want to discover the dynamics of marital conflict and what to do about it. Written in a way that is easy for anyone to understand, the ideas and suggestions for dealing with conflict and the emotions that are associated with it can be quickly applied. The practical suggestions and end-of-chapter questions make it ideal for use in small groups or church settings as well. The way in which Gary and Carrie weave their own story into the information they present makes for enjoyable reading. A valuable book for couples who want to learn how to make the most of conflicts in drawing them closer together!

Both Gary and Carrie Oliver speak from such experience the entire book rings true. It is presented in an easy to read (not necessarily easy to accomplish) way. Well, it is easy to accomplish if both partners read the book and are willing to work from "anger to intimacy"

This is a real-life practical relationship book that has application even beyond marriage. After 20 years of marriage, there are still so many things to learn about making our relationship richer and better. This book provides real help for real world relationships. This book was a gift to me... so I have decided to give away a copy for every year of marriage (20) that this book could have helped me with!
John

This book is such a profound gift of transparent experience and Godly wisdom. It is required reading for all couples who desire to fulfill the ultimate purpose of their marriage. We ordered fifty copies for marriage ministry.