Living History Books

This is a fine selection of poetry by Tonna, a poet who was prestigious once but mostly ignored in modern times. The poems are in the "waka" form and are definitely in the tradition of courtly poetry starting with the "Kokinshu" and the other imperial anthologies. In that sense they evince the usual refined elegance and courtly restraint common to such poetry, though Tonna clearly comes in at a late point in the tradition's development...any number of his poems assume the reader's acquaintance with prior pieces and only make sense if one knows them. Carter fills in this knowledge with apt footnotes, but this level of self-referentiality and insider-knowledge dependence suggests that the poetic tradition in question was on the verge of getting top-heavy and stale. For that very reason, the inclusion of some of Tonna's more informal linked verse couplets is very significant, for you can kind of see the shadowy origins of a new and vibrant poetic form, the haiku, in the works here. The topics are the usual (nature, blossoms, unhappy love); Tonna may have been a Buddhist monk, but almost none of these poems really treat Buddhist themes or have religious implications per se. All the poems are given in the original Japanese (in romanji) as well as in accurate and poetic English translation.

Also included in this little volume is a work of prose criticism by Tonna called "From a Frog at the Bottom of a Well" (hence the book's cover). Full of anecdotes and observations and somewhat reminiscent of Tonna's acquaintance Yoshida Kenko's "Tsurezuregusa", this work gives us an invaluable glimpse of the social context of this poetry as well as the self-understandings, poetic standards, attitudes, and conceptions of poetry held by the court poets of this time.

The book also has plenty of useful reference tidbits: a helpful introduction, a glossary of important people and places mentioned throughout the book (there are lots), and an index of first lines for the poems as well as a guide for each poem's source text. This book is then great for the student of Japanese Literature as well as for anyone who wants to sit down and enjoy some nice poetry.

Very interesting and informative. The International Reading Association first place award winner. Covers all major medical advancements through the first half of the century.Even though this book is for children and young people, adults will be surprized that they also enjoy it and may learn something. I gave my doctor a copy.

Carol,

This paragraph from your book got my attention because it affirms that discovering one's life purpose is important, even affecting courtship. One of my favorite stories about Stretch and Joan is about how Stretch read his mission and vision statement for life to Joan early in their relationship, which she says helped her start falling in love with him. The "requisites" listed in the statement cited below also serve as inspiration for one's personal vision in a plan for life,which can help anyone with inspiration and guidance.

"The essential requisites in a companion that are necessary to insure happiness and a life of devotion are to be found in strength of character, a healthy body, a judicious head, a loving heart, all brought into attune with a high and holy life purpose." [Page 31, Keeping Hearth and Home in Old Alabama, by Dr. Carol Padgett citing wisdom published in 1872].

Thanks for your book, which provided inspirational Sunday morning reading.

David Dyson
Dyson Institute

A text tightly packed with information and concepts. Not an easy read, but satisfying. Concept of using Native American horticulture techniques is an attractive technique for saving our natural areas while still producing food. Should be required reading for horticulture programs in our colleges.

Malcolm Smith is probably the most capable exigete living today.
Not only that, but he is clear and very easily understood. Plus, he aids the reader in applying the spiritual information that he presents.

Bishop Smith's underlying theme, as always, is the unconditional love of God, and the living power of the Spirit right now. Jesus lives through His Body, which Body is us -- believers.

This book will open your eyes to who you are -- who you really are, and how to live it.

Looking through this book really made me feel as though I was touring the French countryside. Many of the homes are rural farmhouses or chateaus, and the pictures showcase the warmth and charm of that part of the world. Just beautiful.

The Lake District Of Minneapolis: A History Of The Calhoun-Isles Community is the collaborative work of David A. Lanegran (Professor and Chair of Geography, Macalester College) and historian, academician, and former codirector of the Living Historical Museum at Macalester College) offers a unique regional history of one of the most colorful of Minneapolis' distinctive neighborhoods which includes Lowry Hill, Kenwood, Lake of the Isles, and East Calhoun. This is a complete history of the area beginning with the early Native American settlements and the arrival of pioneering missionaries, through the era of the turn-of-the-century grand resorts and the innovation of streetcars; to the park board's remaking of the lakes and the landscape in 1911. Enhanced with superb historical photographs and illustrations, this informed and informative history concludes with historical walking tours of the Lowry Hill, Kenwood, East Lowry Hill, Lake of the Isles, East Calhoun, and Cottage City neighborhoods, The Lake District Of Minneapolis is superbly organized and presented -- and would well serve as a template for other localized and regional histories of American communities elsewhere in the country.

Short, powerful paragraphs next to intensely thoughtful pictures; this book will travel far, via word of mouth. This book is a walk beside a soul in healing, and because we are all "walking wounded", there is spiritual bread for everyone, here. The wisdom captured is absolutely universal; truth is truth, and this book contains much. I checked it out as a library book, but ended up buying several copies. It will take 10 minutes to read, but it will perch upon your heart and sing to you, for years.

This book is essential and obligatory reading for anyone who has ever head of a television, much less watched one. From the cover to the appendix, I was sucked into the book like a renegade ghost when the ghostbusters opened their trap, except for one difference. The ghost fought the pull, while I let the power of this book's content sink its claws into my excited brain and rip me out of my lousy reality into a world dominated by well constructed entertainment.

Read this book and die happy, or dont read it and... whatever :(

At the Bolinas commune, I couldn't figure out why Arthur Kopecky was under the covers with a flashlight every night writing in his diary when everyone else was sound asleep. A couple years later when I caught up with him at New Buffalo, he was still at it. As the decades passed, I wondered if anything ever came of it. In 2004, I googled the recently published *New Buffalo, Journals of a Taos Commune,* which was published to great critical acclaim. This second book is a real cliffhanger: How will the visionary leader end up leaving New Buffalo? Arty was always criticizing everyone else for lack of commitment. He must get kicked out, but how could the world's most committed communard be forced off the farm he had coaxed up from a patch of Taos desert? Who will the bad guys turn out to be? Yes, a nail-biter, but more important, a vindication of the 60s. It is disheartening that nearing the end of oil, the media continues to denigrate the important accomplishments of the back-to-the-land movement. Arthur Kopecky's journals are living proof that the "hippie trip" had a point, and in fact was often very focused. They show that city folk, with a lot of hard work, can survive on a self-sustainable farm without food stamps (if the government will leave them alone; with the wars on drugs, terrorism, and immigrants and possibly a new draft, the government will be even more an issue in the future). As we approach the end of oil as cities become increasingly unlivable, many will by design or destiny find themselves in a country way. The successes and failures at New Buffalo are instructive, and they are entertainingly and heartbreakingly described in these journals. Most important in the demise of New Buffalo was the lack of initial structure. But this book is not a primer on how to structure a commune. For that, google the 40-year-old Twin Oaks and hundreds more at the Foundation for Intentional Communities site. Read these journals for the joy of the ride: for the beautiful descriptive passages of the land and its inhabitants and the hilarious anecdotes, for the exhausting and elating interpersonal relationships, for the late night runs across the moonlit mesa, for a high-fashion Halloween party in the kiva after the day in the dairy, for the almost-forgotten appointment at the clinic kept covered with goat cum. Read it to your children to laugh together and give them hope for the future. Who knows what the future of Arthur Kopecky, a.k.a. Answei Livingproof, will bring? I can't wait to find out, and I hope there will be more journals to read. (You don't have to read the first book to "get" this one; it briefly recaps the first.)