Bridge Books

A mixture of Billy Collins, Jack Handey, and, when he's on his best game, Jorge Luis Borges... Some are gems, such as "Halo," "While I Sleep" and "Dying Park" -- short journeys into a magical moment or realm (hence the comparison to Borges)... When he's not on his best game, well, at least prose poems are short. :)

David Shumate's aptly titled collection is an attractive gathering of prose poems. He maintains a simple sensibility throughout the book, and never breaks from its undemanding, unadorned wit to try and make any bold statements about the human condition, his struggles with spirituality, or the difficulties that present themselves when men and women begin to entangle their desires. These themes all make appearances in various places, in "Learning to Eat a Pomegranate", "Wisdom", and "Boarding the Bus to Gomorrah (to name a few), but Shumate steadfastly refuses to pummel us over the head with his ideas about what's important in life or the rules by which one should live and believe. He stays clever and simple (in all the best meanings of the word).

Normally, I get a sense of revulsion when I read clever or witty poetry, but Shumate has struck a strong balance between the witty and the beautiful or mystical, as seen in "Fresh Fish" when he gets confused on the way back from the fish market and begins cooking a fish "in the red hot center" of his desk at work, where his peers have gathered to watch his "professional demise". They are all surprised as the fish begins to sizzle:

"Its sweet aroma fills the air. After a few minutes, my boss clears his throat and suggests it's about time to flip the fish and grill it on the other side. Everyone agrees. Yes. Clearly. It is time to flip the fish."
Ostensibly, Shumate offers us a look at the mystical quality of aging, how the world might start to change, or become mystical again, as we get older and lose some of the faculties which hold reality in place as it seems to be. But he never tells us this. He allows the mysticism and wit of these brief episodes to speak for themselves, as in "Wisdom" where he recalls a village he once came across where everyone was wise. The citizens perform uncharacteristic actions that seem to combine the everyday with the imagined life of a Greek philosopher: "a policeman contemplating an April morning from a gazebo," or "the barber clipping an old man's hair in the park." Shumate recalls asking someone for directions who points him in the direction of a nearby forest. "He said that's usually where people go when they are lost."

We don't have to guess at what Shumate is trying to tell us about the nature of philosophy or wisdom. He's saying very little that's fresh or new, and I think he knows it. That's why he doesn't bother beating us over the head with the obvious. He just proves to us that what we already know is still beautiful and doesn't need to be rediscovered, just revisited sometimes.

This collection touches on a variety of topics, but Shumate returns again and again to the themes of faith and the mind's ability to transform reality. He leaves me with a sense of wonder. First, that someone can keep my attention through a collection of almost sixty prose poems, and second, that something can be simultaneously clever, poignant, and beautiful and become more than the sum of its parts.

Shumate clearly listens to the advice he gives in "Making a Forest":
"It's a delicate and ancient process. You must offer each seed to the soil tenderly. As if it were a virgin and you were a friend of the family." He has created a forest out of brief glimpses, and it's an eyeful.

This is a great testimony book on how Jesus Christ can totally change a person's life. It is a good tool to use to give to someone in prison or a young person who needs direction in life.

Rocco might not be a New York Times best selling author, but his story is powerful. From a button man in the Mafia to a minster in prison---very intersting journey. If you don't see God's hand here, I don't know where you'll ever see it.

Much to learn from this timeless book. Wow what a concept! Many have forgotten what A.B. Simpson presents here and we MUST start rethinking our prespective on the Savior!

This is the heart and core of the what The Christian and Missionary Alliance was founded upon doctrinally.

Jesus Christ as Savior - Salvation alone through Jesus Christ and his atoning work upon the cross.

Jesus Christ as Sanctifier - Sanctification as both a crisis and a process through a subsequent post-salvation experience of giving ones life completely over to Christ.

Jesus Christ as Healer - Physical Healing found within the atonement and available for the child of God to access today.

Jesus Christ as Coming King - A visible, imminent return of Christ, tied into the completion of His Great Commission.

Simpson saw his faith as a chariot riding upon these 4 wheels with equal importance to the body of Christ.

Today's Alliance has seen 2 of these wheels diminish in size to where the Chariot wobbles quite a lot. Healing and Sanctification have diminished since the exodus of the early 20th century of many from the Alliance into the Assemblies of God. There has been a recoil within the Alliance from that which smacks too much of the Charismatic and with that, much of that initial balance and fervor that fueled the movement has become tepid.

Missions itself as a focus and emphasis remains and indeed that more than anything else holds the movement together. The growth overseas is strong. The growth at home is primarily in the intercultural churches. The home organization has sought for growth principals in the Fuller Church Growth Movement.

Perhaps Simpson still has something to say to the C&MA. This is a good place to start!

What a timely, informative book and CD set as America grapples with the loss of culture in New Orleans and other Gulf Shore Communities in the South. From Bridge to Boardwalk offers a rare close-up view of the people, work, life, art and traditions of the Eastern Shore and encourages a visit to this rich region soon! The guidebook and CD set are excellent travel companions.

If you want to get to know Maryland's real Eastern Shore, I highly recommend From Bridge to Boardwalk. This 75-page booklet is packed with short essays that speak to traditions that have given this once isolated peninsula its own unique character, its own speech patterns, its own sense of being and belonging. Penned by folklorists and community scholars, the essays give the reader an insider's view of Shore culture. "Names of boats traditional to the Chesapeake sound like poetry, a lyrical ode to another time and place ...skipjacks, log canoes, brograns, bugeyes, pungies..." [p. 35] As a photographer, I especially appreciate the black and white photographs spotted throughout the booklet including archival images by three renowned documentary photographers (A. Aubrey Bodine, H. Robbins Hollyday, and Robert de Gast). Two CD's, each about an hour in length, are sleeved inside the booklet offering first-person "sound portraits" by traditional artists on the Shore. A few of the tracks are predictable-boat builders, decoy carvers, gospel singers-while others take you to places few of us have ever been-a muskrat skinner, duck call maker, a crab picker turned artist. All tracks are accented with music: banjo, Dobro, guitar among others. With its wire binding, the booklet rests easy on the lap as you make your way down the highway. If you wish to dig deeper the booklet also offers a foldout map of the Shore plus a handy reference section. Here you will find a convenient book list with a range of (Shore) topics from decoys to watercraft. Next time around I would slip a new cover on the booklet with a photograph, but apart from that From Bridge to Boardwalk is a one of a kind offering-a true bridge to where lies the real spirit of Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Everything I thought I knew about Japanese gardens, especially so-called "Zen Gardens," was turned on its head by this enlightening gem. I will never look at, or think about, Japanese rock gardens in the same way. Highly recommended for a completely fresh approach to an old subject.

A collection of photographs of nothing more than raked gravel and sand, Leonard Koren challenges the many myths surrounding the `Zen gardens' of Japan in short essays interspersed throughout this book. He shows that their special context as part of temple precincts does not necessarily imply that these gardens were meant as `spiritual' installations, but only that they grew in the context of a specific aesthetic and function that developed in Japanese ritual and society.

While Koren's book is bound to ruffle the feathers of traditionalists that would like to idealize these gardens as an expression of Zen philosophy, I believe he contributes to the demystification that is going on in contemporary writing about Japanese gardens. In that regard this book is an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue and discussion about the origins and history of the dry landscape garden in Japan.

Very few of us, if any, didn't giggle when we accidentally managed to see a couple (or more) dogs going at it, heatedly and without shame? when growing up. So why can we not laugh at ourselves? I wonder about that alot, and how we got so uptight? Doesn't anyone else? This may help to be the cure for our twisted syndromes!

A note from the author: if you enjoy stories about humiliation, domination, infidelity, deviant sexual perversions, or mans inhumanity to his genitalia, you are so in the wrong place. "Giggling Into the Pillow" is full of hysterically funny erotica and bizarre essays, and, much like the author himself, is guaranteed to get a laugh in bed.

It has been a long time since I have read a novel that has such power, depth, and insight. Knowing very little about the events in the Balkans, and having lost a son myself, I picked this book up not sure what to expect. I was not let down.

Unlike other reviewers, I don't feel compelled to explain the story line or plot. You can read that for yourself. But I do feel compelled to recommend this book to anyone seeking a well-written, thought-provoking book.

Photography, foreign conflict and the power of human relationships wrapped together in a compelling story of a journalist struggling with loss in wartime Bosnia. This novel will make you think, appreciate and question before turning each page. The nature of perspective, the desire to persevere, the relationship that works...another example of McNally's genius.

This book was one of the more honest and transparent books I have read in a long time. It is rare these days that anyone, especially a preacher admits to questioning God's authority over their life. As the author related her own hurts, struggles and postponed dreams, I thought of so many others who could relate to the stories she shared. Since reading her book, I found myself 3 times comforting others in need with portions from her book. By the last chapter I realized in following her journey as she wavered in her faith that there is such hope for those of us who are waiting to hear God speak today. The personal analogies showing God's miraculous way of revealing Himself were useful in reminding me that the wonders He did in the Bible, He still does today. The book inspired me to put the past behind and watch God in the now.

Chris Kline's newest book is a must read for all who long to know the heart of Jesus better...for all who have been waiting for a fresh glimpse into the very character and nature of Almighty God. As you progress through the struggles and pains of the author, you will feel the very heartbeat of God Himself as He draws you nearer and nearer to His Presence. The longing of His heart is made manifest as He deals with and confronts us through the pages with our tendency to hide from Him as Adam and Eve did after rebelling in the garden of Eden. The pulse of the book is God calling us by our name, knowing where we're at, and speaking to us in utter transparency and truth. The bottom line throughout the book is God's heart to make us all a people who live truly and deal truly in everything we do and are before a holy God; that our "horizontal" relationships within the church match up and flow from a restored "vertical" relationship with our Father. Cutting through all the status quo and "Christianese" lingo of the modern church, Chris Kline delivers a straightup message to all who have ears to hear what the Lord is saying to us now: that it's time to put away the masks of religious Christianity, return to our first Love, Jesus, and go out healed to the lost and dying among us with the saving power of Jesus Christ.

This is heartwarming work of the famous Scot made infamous by "Chariots of Fire" fame.

This is the Liddell families' authorized bio, especially from family info from his daughter, Patricia, and sister Jenny.

What this work provides in addition and correction to the movie and Sally Magnusson's book, is more into his Christian character and what made him what he was, not a movie hero, but a Christian who ran for God and country.

What was especially encouraging for me to learn is that what previously had been debunked as myth, that of an American sprinter giving Eric a note prior to an Olympics race, was in fact given to him by an American team trainer. The note quoted from the Bible said: "He that honors Me, I will honor." This could be the epiphetat for Liddell's life and this great book.

Born of Scottish Missionaries to China, Liddell learns to live away from family at an early age. He survives and thrives on athletics, humility, and his faith in Christ. These all continue to grow and develop. While most would claim his Olympic fame of resisting competition on the Sabbath, certainly Eric would always hold to his service as missionary to China, where his earthly life is taken. As the confessional church body I am proud to serve within takes great interest in education of the young, so did Liddell, who said: "It is very hard to build up a church for people who have no literature, where 80% are illiterate. The educationalist must follow on with the evangelist."

One of Eric's university profs said it well of him: "Eric never made you feel he was being holy or superior. He just showed you the better thing to do, and everyone wanted to do it."

Super read of one of the churches and athletics great heroes. Good reference to young!

Russell Ramsay has done a magnificent job in bringing to print the life of this truly outstanding human being. His athletic prowess was unmatched, but it was his devotion to God and his fellow man which made him so exceptional. The son of a missionary, he spent his formative years in China before returning to school in Britain. Whilst an undergraduate at Edinburgh University, he represented Scotland in Rugby Union. However, under the careful eye of the college athletics coach, he was transformed into a world class sprint champion. By 1924, Liddell and his great rival Harold Abrahams had established themselves as automatic choices for the Paris Olympics.When the schedules were announced, the 100m heats and relay heats were on a sunday. Liddell declined to run on the sabbath and received much criticism in the national press. Finally, a solution was found and he was entered in the 400m, a race in which he had little experience. He made it through to the final and was given no chance against two world record holders. Running in the outside lane, he ran the race of his life to win the most popular gold medal of the games in a new world record time. He also won bronze in the 200m. The following year he retired from athletics to pursue his calling as a missionary in China, where he devoted the rest of his life to the Lord's work. Eric Liddell was a shining example of humanitarian spirit coupled with grace and humility. His legacy can only inspire us to follow our dreams and bring comfort to those who are in need.

An erudite yet entertaining account of early 20th Century Charleston and the construction of its bridge to the North. An unusual mix of engineering, history, and social commentary. Great old photos and drawings of old Charleston. Written with the charm and grace befitting one of America's greatest historic Old South towns.

This book is a must for anyone who loves Charleston, SC, and wants to know how this Holy City grew into the gem she is today. The story centers around the city's ancient bridge but really tells the history of Charleston in the early twentieth century. The authors have done an excellent job spinning history with personal vignettes and memories from older Charlestonians. The quirkiness of old Charleston shines through. I read the entire work in one afternoon and at times forgot that I was reading a history--it felt more like a novel.