Burns Books

Beautiful book of snapshots of Susi Bradfield's life, arriving in the UK on the Kindertransport, all the joys and sorrows leading up to the present day, where she is still more than evidently surrounded by her loving family. A must read!

Like Orthodoxy, which is arguably Chesterton's best non-fiction book, this is an exciting book with a dull title. Orthodoxy, however, had a somewhat better subtitle: "The Romance of Faith". In his 1936 autobiography, Chesterton admitted that he thought Orthodoxy was a bad title and had always meant to change it but never got around to it. He makes no such comments on this book.

Until now, the only way to get this book was in Collected Works Volume III which collects the so-called and little-known "Catholic" books written after his conversion in 1922. Most have better titles like The Thing, The Well and The Shadows and Where All Roads Lead, but this is the book that knocked me out.

I found out about these books through The Apostle of Common Sense, a book and video series that ran on EWTN by Dale Ahlquist, president of the American Chesterton Society. He briefly describes thirteen of G.K.'s non-fiction works (and the Father Brown detective series), and quotes from them. That last was the clencher, as this book seemed overflowing with bon mots and Chestertonian whimsey. Who but GK would list these as the three stages of conversion: 1. Patronizing the Church; 2. Discovering the Church; 3. Running Away from the Church?

GK said of his brother Cecil that "we often argued but never quarreled". Like much of GK, this book may provoke some lively arguments. But it's not simply for those interested in Rome and conversion, title to the contrary. What Ignatius has done is given us a quick read (under 150 pages) at a great price (under ten bucks) of some nearly unknown Chesterton. And when GK enters the ring, it's certain to enliven any philosophical discussion.

A series of essays on the major thinkers and their periods, this book, and really all the Cambridge polisci history volumes, is an excellent survey of this fundamentally important period in the development of theories of the state, which is still a vitally important issue for our world today, whether you think about the rise of stateless terrorism, economic imperialism, development issues, the rise of continental blocs a la NAFTA or the EU, law and jurisprudence, etc etc etc.

This book is NOT a generalist survey, it assumes that you have some knowledge of the period and the thinkers. But if you do, and you would like to understand the subject without having to take 5 years of your life to pursue a PhD in the area, this book is one that you must have. Excellent bibliography herein also. If you are interested in Bodin, Machiavelli, Hobbes, etc, then you must read this book. Or maybe you would do better with the exterior discipline of Cal's PhD in polisci. But if you might be an autodidact, then you can buy this book and read it for fun and edification without having to commit yourself to a phd program. In other words, you can keep your day job. If thats not utilitarian, then I'm bentham's uncle sally.

very easy to follow instructions and some usual @ unusual projects. worth buying for the peacock alone; I intend to have at least three of these strutting thru my garden.

I love this book. Seventh-graders Benjamin Orville Wright (B. Orville Wright), who has Asperger's Syndrome and his sleuthing partner, Agatha Wong are on the Mystery Trail Again! Makes you think of the old "Bloodhound Detective Agency. You lack 'em, we track 'em. You misplace 'em, we trace 'em." These two little bloodhounds have quite a mystery - Agatha's Nana is missing!

Clues are turned over and analyzed by Orville. A bright, delightful and believable character with Asperger's, Orville is obsessed with airplanes; loves the fact that he is named after one of the famous Wright Brothers and often does not get the point of jokes or even recognize them. Despite his social difficulties, he can count on his one friend, Agatha. When her Nana is reported missing, he is ready to help.

First they check out the store Agatha's Nana owns. Her crackpot uncle is her guardian in name only and he is a very irresponsible person. His idea of responsibility is to make Agatha turn in at the ridiculously early hour of 7:30 and not let her go outside.

Agatha has other ideas. She sneaks out and, with Orville in tow, they examine every clue. Orville notices things about a note Nana Wong has written; he catches things like the color of her nail polish and objects around the store. Their sleuthing takes them far and wide and...to a very funny conclusion!

A delightful story that will bring a smile to faces of all ages and many a hearty laugh.

The first installment of a children's detective series, a la "Encyclopedia Brown" or "Nancy Drew", the twist with "Wright and Wong" is that B. Orville Wright has Asperger's Syndrome. The book is fairly standard junior detective fare, but the way that it slips back and forth between the perspective of Orville and his normal best friend, Agatha Wong, makes it special. Each of the kids has a distinct personality, and they both have strengths and weaknesses. Orville's disability is not treated as part of who he is, not as a crippling cause for devastation and unhappiness. For example:
...Orville had this annoying habit of not saying anything if he didn't think he had anything to say.
Nana Wong was always telling Agatha it was an annoying habit she should develop.

Written for the same age as the "Goosebumps" series, "Wright and Wong" lacks grossness but has plenty of middle school drama, from a handsome jock to class warfare with the rival school, and a football field that goes up in flames and takes Agatha's dreams of popularity with it. Definitely a great book to recommend for middle schoolers.

Her writing is delicate- almost brittle, like a glass sculpture, yet burns with a power that can only be achieved by one who is speaking the absolute truth. In her poem "Jury Selection," she describes herself standing in front of a judge and being asked if she's "ever had reason/ to doubt the integrity/ of a police officer." She proceeds into a simple and sparse narrative, describing a tense encounter between her sister and a sheriff on the side of an empty stretch of highway. In the space of a stanza, Clough creates a picture of absolute fear and helplessness before authority- all the stronger for the fact that the reader never finds out exactly what happened. You just learn that Clough is "excused with cause." This would be the metaphor that best fits this talented writer. She speaks her truth plainly, unflinchingly, and emerges victorious.

The settings for Centre/Center are West Sonoma County, California of the late '60s; frozen Northern British Columbia of the mid '70s; Vancouver, B.C. and the Oregon coast of the mid '80s.

Centre/Center's cast of characters include: a daughter whose cultural, political choices put her at odds with her mainstream suburban family; pot-smoking hippies with anti-science beliefs and neo-pagan rituals; anti-war protesters; a LSD casualty who liberates a motorcycle from an owner who doesn't respect it's need to be ridden; a woman who permanently borrows without permission her friend's truck because she thinks he can get along without it; a drug dealer; an abandoned child searching for her mother and coming to terms with an uncomfortable truth about her father; a disillusioned and angry Vietnam veteran who lives in isolated northern wilderness and fathers a child with a woman stronger than he and another Veteran burn-out lost to a drifting hobo life.

The novel is in three sections, in the first section the omnipotent narrator drifts through the thoughts and histories of a group of young people challenged by the stresses of the Viet Nam War era. The second section's narration is tensely focused on a couple in a wilderness cabin. The third and final section is the first-person narrative of a determined, capable 20 year old girl.

At this point, I must disclose that I'm not an unbiased reviewer, Mary Burns is a friend of mine, she and I write a blog, "afterSonoma". I first knew her in Sonoma County, California of the late '60's. Although this book is not strictly autobiographical, several people we both knew are recognizable, in composite and it is dedicated to the mutual friend who introduced us.

The settings, social attitudes and interactions of the first section are all quite familiar to me, she thoroughly manifests the era and illustrates the way we were. Our thoughtfulness, how seriously we took ourselves, the moral dilemmas we tackled, all ring true. The shifting, drifting narration of the section accurately evokes the mood of the hippie life-style we enjoyed.

I'm a stranger to the wilderness setting of the second section, though it is clear from the writing alone that Mary is not. Though I've corresponded with Mary through the decades, I last saw her as she and her young daughter drove north up Highway 101, I know they didn't stop until they reached the Yukon. She, again, brings authority to this wilderness story of a strong woman and a troubled man.

From intimate observation, Mary is able to get inside the voice of the third section's narrator, a character the same generation as Mary's daughter. The character's adventures while on her quest have the clear truth of fiction and bring the novel to an enlightened completetion.

Mary's my friend. She also wrote a great book that gets it right.

Amazon search results bring up titles by at least three Mary Burns. Besides Centre/Center, this Mary Burns wrote:
The Private Eye: Observing Snow Geese
Shinny's Girls and Other Stories
Suburbs of the Arctic Circle

If you have read Sobrino's "Jesus the Liberator" you are in for a surprise is his new book "Christ the Liberator." It is a more accessible book for a fundamental theology than "Jesus the Liberator." I would call it a MUST READ for anyone working in or thinking about theology. It is also so clearly written and clearly translated that it is suitable for the general reader.

This book brought back many wonderful memories of my childhood. In those years, one of the best toys we ever had was a large cardboard box. Using our minds, it was among other things a racecar, a big 18-wheel truck, a motorboat and a space ship. We climbed in and out of it, marked and re-marked the sides and taped up the breaks until it simply could no longer be repaired.
That is the theme of this book. Christina Katerina is a young girl with a friend named Fats Watson. One day a refrigerator arrives in a large box and Christina Katerina claims the box. At first, it is a castle. However, when Fats kicks it over, Christina Katerina's mother tries to throw it away. Christina Katerina protested mightily until her mother relented and the box became a clubhouse. After that, it became a racecar and its' last role was as a floor for a tea party. Unfortunately, Fats scrubbed the floor, which of course destroyed it. The story ends with the joyous event of Fats walking to Christina Katerina's with two cardboard ships in his hands.
This story is a celebration of the imagination of childhood and was a refreshing reminder that sometimes the best toys are the simple ones that stimulate the child's imagination.