Adams Books

This book gives insight into the plight of children who live with domestic abuse, alcholism, and other "hidden" issues. Sometimes it isn't obvious to people what children are living through. Rachel is a perfect example of how children will go to great lengths to protect their families from outside scrutiny. It also gives insight into the feeling of waiting for "the other shoe to drop"! Unless you've lived in a environment with substance abuse and violence, you may not be aware of this feeling and the struggle for the other family members to predict and/or prevent the next outburst. I recommend this book to counselors, teachers, and anyone dealing with children. It is also a great read for children because it may let the other "Rachels" in the world know they are not alone.

This book makes me want to be a teacher just so I can include it in the curriculum. The author handles the deep and sensitive subjects of domestic violence and alcoholism with compassion and care. When I read this book I shed a tear, but it was one of hope. Highly recommended to all ages.

If this is the first in promised series about a group of children from a single classroom, then the series is off to a very strong start. This is not your typical "issue" book, because even though Rachel has a terrible family secret she is hiding, the book is less about the secret, and more about Rachel's ways of dealing with it. The author really captures what it is like to be a kid in a troubled home: if you can find anything else to focus on, you will, and Rachel does, delightfully. The school scenes, with Rachel's very cool teacher, Mr. Juarez, capture the power of a great classroom to help a student through bad times. Rachel's friendships and school projects are every bit as engaging as the more suspenseful family plot line. I found myself wanting to be in her class. The book also deals with an obviously gifted child, and without resorting to the "nerd" stereotypes found in so many books and movies. The book moves at a very fast pace and is over far too soon. I'll be recommending it to my own students!

Thank you Cindy Lovell Oliver! What an incredible book. After reading it, I couldn't wait to share Rachel's story with my class. I'm always looking for books that will help open the lines of communciation about topics that are not measured on a standardized test but are real life. This was it! Several kids in my class related to Rachel's life, and this book helped them realize they were not alone. Cindy Lovell Oliver is a gifted and talented writer whose insight and wisdom have created a story that lends itself perfectly to a myriad of lessons and class discussions. I cannot wait until the sequel comes out! If you are an educator, you owe it to yourself and your class to read about the life of Rachel Mason.

That's what Mark Twain said while he was on that steamer traveling the world~ and these pages...Jimmy Buffet sings it as he follows the equator...and Rachel Mason feels it...deeply...as only a child can...Rachel Mason is good...and she knows how to keep a secret...a terribly painful, embarrassing secret...consequently, she is lonesome...for anyone who has ever loved a child, this penetrating book is one of the most beautiful stories of gentle courage and childlike goodness you will ever read...Cindy Lovell Oliver respectfully addresses dificult themes through the eyes of a wonderful little girl who never deserved her fate...be good and you will be lonesome... be lonesome and you will be free...there's a gift for everyone in Rachel Mason. This book deserves a quiet afternoon and some tea, an easy chair and a footstool...every moment spent with Rachel is a worthy moment...but don't just take my word for it...allow yourself the experience.

Arthur Koestler has called this novella "a minor masterpiece." He writes, "[The use of the word 'minor'] was meant to refer to the small size of the book, and to the impression that although its theme was the ugliest tragedy in man's history, it was written in a nostalgic minor key" (Introduction, Fontana Books edition, 1977). Having now read this amazingly moving journey of a friendship, I can only agree with Koestler's assessment of this work as a masterpiece. Mr. Uhlman has keenly expressed the depth of friendship with all of its joys and fears. His descriptions reminded me of the beauty of Hesse's own romantic language: "...the Black Forest where the dark woods, smelling of mushrooms and the tears of amber-colored mastic, were threaded through by the trout streams with sawmills on their banks." Mr. Uhlman has also deftly expressd the philosophical wanderings of two young men who attempt to find meaning in the world around them as their understandings are transformed because of the naturalness of their friendship. This terribly good story is not over-emotional, nor melodramatic. It conveys some seriousness and a touch of irony. This is indeed a marvelous--albeit brief--masterpiece.

I read this (short) novel originally as an assignment in high school, more than twenty years ago. It moved me then, and as I reread it today I still think is a powerful book. The protagonist of the story is Hans Schwarz, a Jewish boy in high school in the Germany of the early 30s. Hitler is about to take power. The novel narrates as the boy (and his family) slowly starts suffering creeping discrimination, from the teachers and from his fellow students. One of the few friends he has is the aristocratic Konradin von Hohenfels (clearly inspired by Hitler would be assassin Claus von Stauffenberg, as it becomes clear in the last pages of the book). There's not much to it plotwise, but what I like about the book is the sad, melancholy undercurrent throughout the book, as we see a tragedy slowly happening. The book is written as if it were an autobiography, but it is not. Author Fred Uhlman was born in 1901, so it was impossible for him to be a schoolboy in the early 1930s. Note: in 1989, a not so good film version of the novel starring Jason Robards was made.

A simple tale that leads you along the edges of evil, the ugly gratuitous possibilities that lurk within the human personality, and also reminds you breathtakingly that each person is an opaque mystery. A very important read for an evil-infatuated age.

A short, excellent novella about the relationship of two boys on the eve of Hitler's rise to power in Germany. On of the boys, Hans Schwarz--the narrator--is the son of a doctor (and former officer in the Imperial Army), a descendent of rabbis and shopkeepers, whose German roots go back hundreds of years, and whose Jewishness is little more than a matter of heritage, not faith. He feels himself to be as German as anyone can be, but even moreso, like many Germans, a citizen of a region (in this case Swabia), of which he is fiercely proud. At school--and exclusive school for the elite--he befriends Konradin von Hohenloh, a member of one of the most noble of aristocratic families. Despite their difference, a friendship ensues--but is brief and idyllic. Soon the outside world, of which they had remained largely ignorant, begins to creep into their lives, and their friendship is unalterably effected.

Reunion is an excellent short study of this tragic time, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

I read some of the other reviewers' comments before buying this book. I thought: 'come on...! it cannot be that good'. I was wrong, Reunion's even better than that. The book was a delight to read, but the ending devastated me like no other book in 30 years of reading has even come close to. I cannot think of anything (Tolstoi's Hadji Murad, Kafka's Concerns of a family man, Shakespeare's Lear) that has the same emotional impact of this little book. I know, I know... It's too much. Well, read the book and see.

All Ben Arnold wants in life are Mongolian Fighting Fish. The day he walks into Mr. Dodds's Pet Emporium with enough money to buy them should be the best day of his life. Except that he walks out with a cat. It's not really his fault. After all, the cat made him do it.

Ignatius Sorvo Coromandel, Iggy for short, also known as the Wanderer, has quite a story for Ben. He is from another world, a world called Eidolon. A world full of exotic, mythical, talking creatures. A world that is slowly dying and losing its magic. Someone is stealing creatures out of Eidolon and selling them in Ben's world. Each time a creature leaves, the magic is less. And each time one dies, which happens shortly after they enter our world, more magic disappears.

The most amazing part of all, aside from the talking cat thing, is that Iggy claims Ben's mother is the Queen of Eidolon! That's why Ben can understand Iggy, and the other strange creatures that are beginning to appear in random places. That means that Ben is a prince and his two sisters are princesses! And that's why Ben's mom is getting sick.

If Ben can go to Eidolon, he might be able to help save both the world and his mom. First, he'll have to escape Mr. Dodds and Awful Uncle Aliester, who are bad enough in the regular world and ten times worse in Eidolon. Not to mention Cousin Sylvia and her creepy hairless cat. Then he'll have to navigate a completely foreign land where he can't be sure who to trust.

Mythical creatures and huge battles are all well and fun in books, but living through them is a whole different story!

I love this book, in every way possible! The plot is interesting and moves along at a perfect pace, fast enough to keep you interested but not so much so that you get confused. It's written simply, but never in a way that makes you feel silly. The characters, even the creatures, are extremely interesting and realistic. The part I like best though, is that there is a great sense of humor throughout the story.

I love it. My six-year-old nephew loves it. My ten-year-old niece loves it. You can't ask for more than that.

Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Though it may seem like something of a ripoff of Harry Potter, The Secret Country: The Eidolon Chronicles truly stands alone as a brilliant novel, seemingly 'inspired' by Harry Potter, Tolkien etc.
Written in third person, Jane Johnson A.K.A/ Gabriel King A.K.A/ Jude Fisher, takes the reader through an enchanting tale of the adventures of a boy named Ben Christopher Arnold, who, in his infancy, accidently changed the color of his right eye. Then, some years in the future, he sets his sights on two Mongolian Fighting Fish. When he finally raises the money, he is 'convinced' by a talking cat, to buy it instead. The cat, Ignatius Sorvo Coromandel, (you can call him Iggy) turns out to be from another world, and 'wandered' into Ben's (Note: This does take place on earth) world, where he was promptly kidnapped. Everything from there onward is perfect blend of adventure, humor, horror, possible romance, and friendship. This is a genius book for both boys and girls, and a sequel is in the making. This is a must read for anyone who likes: fantasy, action, cats, dogs, most magical creatures and talking cockroaches.

This story is about a boy named Ben Arnold who is relatively normal, but then he buys a talking cat named Iggy. Iggy is from a magic country called Eidolon, where there's dragons, magic, talking animals, and fairies. Ben finds out that his mother is the Queen of Eidolon, so he is prince, even though is father is from earth. "The bad guy" in this book is the Dodman (who exists also in the human world) and Old Creepie (who is someone VERY close to Ben, but I won't tell who) and they are trying to take over Eidolon and it's magical creatures. This book was soooo good, I finished it in an hour because I just HAD to figure out what would come next! :)

Twelve-year-old Benjamin Christopher Arnold (Ben, to his friends) has always been quite an ordinary boy. Like many other boys of his age, Ben is going through the typical gawky stage - long, gangly legs; big feet; hair that never stays in place. There is one thing slightly abnormal about Ben, however. The fact that he has one brown eye, and one green eye; the result of an accident when he was a mere child in a stroller, where he fell victim to a nasty bruise upon his head. And, after an emergency trip to the hospital, emerged with one brown eye, and one green eye. Peculiar indeed, but no cause for worry. Ben's ordinary boy status is thrown for a loop, however, the moment he enters the illustrious Mr. Dodds's Pet Emporium. Drawn into the shop by an advertisement for Mongolian Fighting Fish, Ben sets his sights on the prize, and does everything in his power to earn money for the two floundering fellows - from doing laundry, to mowing the lawn. But when he arrives at Mr. Dodds's Pet Emporium, clutching his freshly-made savings, Ben falls victim to a change of heart. And, as opposed to emerging from the store with his Mongolian Fighting Fish in tow, he purchases a scruffy, talking tabby cat by the name of Ignatius Sorvo Coromandel - also known as Iggy, or the Wanderer. It wasn't that Ben was interested in purchasing the cat. Quite the contrary, actually. But Iggy insisted that Ben take him home, and, feeling a sense of compassion towards the badly mistreated yowler, Ben hands over his savings, and retreats. According to the story Ben is told, Iggy has been kidnapped from his homeland known as the Secret Country. The Secret Country is a parallel world, where mythical animals run free, and beautiful scenery is plentiful. Teaming up, Ben and Iggy soon learn that Iggy is not the only resident of the Secret Country to find himself in the real world. In fact, it is quite obvious that various other creatures have become the victim of Mr. Dodds's get-rich-quick scheme of the mythical creature trade. In fact, with a little investigating, the two learn that Mr. Dodds has been stealing the creatures of the Secret Country, and selling them to England's rich socialites. It doesn't sound too horrible, but Ben soon learns that Mr. Dodds's actions are more harmful than even he realized. According to Iggy, the longer these creatures - whose connections to the Secret Country are quite more than skin deep - are away from their homeland, the worse things become for the Secret Country. In fact, as these creatures are removed, the Secret Country falls under an immediate threat, that could harm their existence. Ben doesn't want to see anything happen to these exotic creatures, but he feels that there is little he can do to assist them in their plight. When he learns that his mother is the long-lost queen of the Secret Country, and that Mr. Dodds's actions are contributing to her deteriorating health, however, he vows to save the creatures, and the country. Now, with his mother's in limbo between life and death, Ben accepts his role in the ancient prophecy of the Secret Country, and begins his quest to prove that he is more than worthy for his title as the Prince of Eidolon.

So often the synopsis on the back cover of a book promises thrilling adventure, spectacular characters, and a fantastical journey to an unexplored world. Yet, when you begin reading, you find that the story falls flat, and leaves you searching for more. So is not the problem with Jane Johnson's debut THE SECRET COUNTRY. Reminiscent of J.K. Rowling's lyrical language, Johnson has penned a tale that leaves you gripping the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Ben is an irresistible character, whose ordinary ways of life are relatable, and quite refreshing in a sea of novels depicting the "lifestyles of the rich and famous." His oddly colored eyes, and ability to see things differently through each one are imaginative and exhilarating to learn more about; while his penchant for succumbing to the pressures of the creatures and family around him make the reader not only sympathize with his character, but cheer on his bravery, as well. His oft-times tumultuous relationship with the snippy, bossy, yet totally lovable tabby, Iggy, is humorous, and quite refreshing. Iggy is fun, yet quite ornery at the same time. His determination to not only save, but to protect his beloved homeland is admirable; while his constant confusion regarding direction often makes the reader question how, exactly, he received the title of the Wanderer. While Iggy and Ben dominate the story, Johnson has also created a wide array of supporting characters, who certainly work to hold their own throughout the tale. From the evil Mr. Dodds - whom you can't help but love to hate - to the gorgeous selkie, Silver, whose unique identity, and ability to transform from seal to human girl - even if she's not yet a pro at the transformation yet - makes for an interesting character. Ben's family is also quite fun to learn more about. His father's constant cluelessness is humorous; while his Uncle Aleister is despicable in a way that makes you loathe and love him at the same time. And his mother - the long-lost queen of the Secret Country - is quite a confusing character, often causing the reader to raise their eyebrows as they struggle to learn more about the illustrious parent; while Ellie - Ben's older sister - and her love of garish make-up makes for a strikingly frightening, yet funny addition to the cast. An engrossing roller coaster ride that combines mythological and fantastical elements to create a thrilling debut. Bravo Ms. Johnson!

Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer

Gotta love a "children's" story that introduces the basics of platonic ontology (not entirely guised, either!) to my kids! Started reading: ran into talking creatures, then a world that is "more" real (via magic) than the "shadow" world that our protagonist lives in (socrates' analogy of the cave), where suffering and evil conflict as compassion and love eventually engages and empowers our just-your-average-kid hero into a reluctant but necessary struggle to keep the powers of blinded brute force at bay. Started reading as bedtime story (anyone else use that excuse to keep reading our kids' books??) but had to finish book myself just because it was impossible to put down. From notes on author (whose other great gift to us was helping JRR T. get published?!) could expect no less...Still was completely blown away by how engaging the narrative was! Have read Magyk and Septimus of late, and found that this was an wonderful cross (between harry potter's England and the fantastical magical world of the former. BRING IT ON! Need more in this series please...and a couple of movies would be just honky dory fine. ENCORE! ENCORE!

Walking through the bookstore at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC last month a book by James Emery White caught my eye. The title was: Serious Times: Making Your Life Matter in an Urgent Day. White was a past president of the seminary.

White begins with a proposition: mankind has suffered not one but two falls. The first fall occurred when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. A second fall occurred when modern society turned its back on all notions of transcendence, including God (p. 18). The mantra of the naturalist has become the watchword of the age: nature is all that is. If it cannot be empirically verified, it does not exist (p. 47). By the processes of secularization, privatization, and pluralization, White argues that we have come to a time when Christianity is treated as a preference fit for private discussion only within the walls of one's own house.

White's book is organized into seven chapters: The Second Fall, the World that Lives in Us, The City of Dreadful Delight, Deeping Our Souls, Developing Our Minds, Answering the Call, and Aligning with the Church. He apologizes up front for writing a mile wide and an inch deep (p. 15). He need not have apologized: the hardest part of problem solving is arriving at a clear definition of the problem. For White, spiritual anemia (p. 78) is the pressing problem of our age. We are lukewarm in our faith, in part, because we do not know what we believe . To deal with this problem, White commends the spiritual disciples of prayer, study, and worship.

Of these, the most interesting is worship because he views each Christian as called to treat his vocation as an act of worship. White writes: The Reformation idea of vocation follows from the monastic vision. Luther, himself a monk, was clearly familiar with the monastic conviction that all tasks needed to be offered as worship of the living God (p: 116). This view flies in the face of society's picture of worship as a Sunday morning activity confined within the walls of a church. Rather than being religious entertainment, worship defines who we are.

Christ calls us to ask a question of every moment of every day: to what purpose has God called me to this particular time and place? In the words of the Apostle Paul: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men (Colossians 3:23). If we answer this call, every moment of every day has purpose. If God is present in our lives, we can perform a ministry of presence in the lives of those around us.

A writer's packaging matters. Even if a writer rambles a bit, my rule of thumb is that a book is worth the time if I find myself quoting from the book and applying its lessons in my life. Two passages from Serious Times come to mind.

In the first passage, White cites a story by Walter Truett Anderson (p. 57) that is helpful in highlighting the distinctions among modernists, postmodernists, and deconstructionists--three important worldviews today.

Three umpires have a beer at the end of the day. The first one says: there are balls and strikes and I call them the way they are. The second one says: there are balls and strikes and I call them the way I see them. The third one says there are balls and strikes and they are not anything until I call them. The first umpire is a modernist who believes in (unconditioned) objective reality. The second umpire is a postmodernist who believe that reality is conditioned on our perspective of it. The third umpire is a deconstructionist that believes that reality is conditioned on who is in charge.

This story sticks in my mind because I can put faces to each of these umpires.

The second passage is his highlighting of the broken glass theory of criminologists James O. Wilson and George Kelling (p. 158). The idea is that crime is contagious. It starts with a broken window and spreads to an entire community. Cleaning up trash, graffiti, and broken windows and minor violations of law, New York City substantially reduced crime in the 1980s. For those of us who grew up scared to walk the streets of New York, this reduction in crime was a big deal. After reading White's account I suddenly found ammunition to argue for cleaner kid's rooms in my household and greater attention to detail in the office downtown. The broken glass theory has a familiar ring: I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy (Leviticus 11:45). Small stuff matters.

I enjoyed Serious Times immensely and have already gifted half a dozen friends and colleagues with copies. Perhaps, you will too.

Dr. White presents an excellent portrait of the times in which we live. He uses history to bring the reader to the reason why our present age has a view of reality that is unparalleled in its hostility toward the Christian Worldview. For anyone wanting to reach others living in the Western Culture that we find ourselves presently, this is a must read. This book is pregnant with ideas and references which further study can assist in developing the Christian mind. You will not be disappointed if you choose to read this book more than once.

Dr. James Emery White offers this fascinating primer filled with expansive thoughts into "how we got to where we are and where we are going in the future." Combining compelling thoughts with historical focus, White serves up a great read for the students of culture and faith. Great for the lectern, bedside, wing back chair, or poolside...Seriously!

White's book is for anyone looking for a deeper, more significant life this side of heaven. Too often we allow the movement of God in our lives to get lost in our scramble to climb the corporate ladder, make money, promote our careers, buy a bigger house, pay the bills. Sound familiar? Too often, once we have achieved what we set out to achieve, we find ourselves empty, and even frustrated with our success. It's never enough.
White takes the reader on a brief tour of historical issues and movements that have all influenced and shaped our culture today. He then makes a compelling argument for us to develop our minds by developing our latent inner life. In so doing we learn to respond to God's call to live in and impact the world as Christians. It's not so much about the contribution we can make as it is about our own consecration to God which provides a larger vision for living in the world. If you're searching for meaning and deeper significance - read this book. White will point you in the right direction.

An absolutely outstanding book based on the statement from a letter written from John Adams to his good friend and colleague Thomas Jefferson near the end of both of their lives - Adams wrote, "My friend, you and I have lived in serious times." White begins with the premise that serious times call for serious lives and expands to the concept that the Christian life is a serious and devout journey with the Lord. Every believer, according to White, has an opportunity to live a meaningful and profound life that could impact all of human history for the glory of God - and, of course, the reader is supposed to wonder why they would settle for anything less!

White then turns to a brief examination of our current cultural crisis and makes that case that Christians must and should be engaged in the great debate of the day. He turns to history to demonstrate how followers of Christ have consistently been cultural agents of transformation - literally allowing the God of the Universe to work in and through their lives to transform others around them. And then finally, White gives some practical guidelines to produce a life worthy of our calling - to deepen our souls with a compassion for humanity and develop our minds with the sound reasoning from Scripture which combined can be a culturally-relevant tool for believers to use to engage others for the cause of Christ.

Of course, White stresses the importance of reading as well as having an awareness of history as we seek to prepare ourselves for the calling of God on our lives. He also emphasizes the importance of the church as the body of Christ and our role within that institution. Finally, he concludes with the warning against apathy, against the sin of slothfulness and the lie that the problems of the world are on someone's shoulders. White challenges the follower of Christ to step up, even in the face of adversity or apathy, and take their rightful place as the sons or daughters of the King in this enemy-occupied territory to claim victory for our Lord and Savior against the false ideas and principles of this world.

Serious Times is an excellent book which also does an incredible job of introducing the reader to a host of great men and women of the faith who comprise that "great cloud of witnesses" of Hebrews 12. The book would be an ideal read for any young person to encourage them to live a life of significance and purpose as well as to any person more seasoned in years to challenge their comfortable lifestyle which has made them ignorance and apathetic to the great issues of life surrounding them everyday.

I was sure this book would get a Lammy nomination and I can't believe it didn't. It's the best piece of lesbian-written lesbian-centered fantasy I've read in years. The story is flawless, the writing exceptional and greatly moving. ...

Someone once commented that you don't have to be a house to be haunted. You're not likely to meet a more haunted character in lesbian fiction than Autumn Bradley. When you first meet her, Autumn is struggling through life with little memory of her past. She makes ends meet as a magician in a small venue in Las Vegas. Her talent for "sleight of hand" also helps her beat the casinos at their own game. Autumn feels a profound, irredeemable loss - but doesn't understand why. She begins having vivid dreams that hint of a past life with echoes in the present. In particular, she dreams of freedom, love and challenge, realizing her own humanity in the process. Kallmaker skillfully blends past and present with a compelling love story and interesting forays into psychology and myth. Well done.

It's mythic, it's poignant, it's tragic, it's magical. Those are the elements I love in Mercedes Lackey's work. Sleight of Hand is better, because it's also passionately, unreservedly, openly about lesbians. No teasing, no subtext. The writing is first rate -- lyrical and timeless in the parts placed in the distant past, contemporary and fitting for those parts in the present time. This is a great book, and engrossing. I want book 2, and I want it now!

A really great story makes me long for the characters to have truly existed, for them to have done the things in the story. It's been a while since a book made me feel that way, but I never stop hoping. Sleight of Hand delivered all that, making it one of the best fantasy books I've read in years. I found myself thinking back on the story in the days since I finished it, puzzling over the clues the author has dropped about where the series will go from here. Will there be a reckoning for Autumn's seduction at the hands of Rueda? It happened before Autumn remembered Ursula, reminding me of Arthur's legend with Morgana. Ursula seems like Guinevere, caught between the love of two women--how will the author solve this age-old knot? The Arthurian comparisons end there, but this story is just as mythic in its own way. What a find! I'm almost sorry I read it because it'll be so long until the next installment.

This isn't a scary book in the least, but the emotions and powers at work raised the hair on the back of my neck at times! This was a fascinating read with fresh characters beyond Xena, Gabrielle, or Elves and the other common types in fantasy novels or series. Women,lesbians all, and profoundly human most of the time. There were a couple of stomach-punching plot twists all in all just a thought providing and intriguing and entertaining novel. Like everyone else, it seems, I want book two and I want it now!

My husband is reading this aloud to me. Although it is taking us a long time, we are close to the end now. It has been an incredible read and is written in a very accessible style.
It has been a really great book to read aloud as the translation is beautifully done and the humor, both of the subject (Kierkegaard) and the biographer (Garff) shines through in every chapter. The translator (Kirmmse) must be very gifted.
I would recommend this book to any student of history, theology, or modern thought and literature. Kierkegaard was a remarkable thinker and his humanity, genius, and foibles as a human being are evident in his own writings and in this beautiful and mesmerizing biography.

I have read a number of reviews of this book. They are unanimous in acclaiming it the definitive Kierkegaard biography, both in its comprehensiveness and its readability. It tells the story of Kierkegaard's life year by year, with special emphasis on what happens from 1835 when he was twenty- two to his death in 1855. The biography places special emphasis on the literary poetic Kierkegaard. It does not interpret in depth his varied and paradoxical philosophical and religious works. It does however provide the valuable biographical information which can enable us to better understand those works.
Mankind has few geniuses and when they come along they shock us into a new awareness. It is possible to argue that where Kierkegaard most shocked was in his emphasis on the 'lived life' the 'real experience' the 'authentic encounter with God' .And this as opposed to the false, formal and protected encounter.
This of course is the major reason why the Existensialists, including the atheist Sartre could find a true predecessor in him.
Kierkegaard 's labors in decrowning Hegel, and in showing the official Church to be at odds with the true experiencing of Christianity were couched in a language, ironic, paradoxical, parabolic and witty. The pseudonymous authors who spoke for various sides of his personality enabled him to express sides of a personality which always wished to remain somewhat hidden, secret and mysterious.
I have read only a small part of this work and am very eager to read more. And this because Kierkegaard like Kafka is one of those thinker- poets one of those supreme individual masters of their own way of writing in the world as to to seem to me as for so many others, a true spiritual forbearer.

K fans-and in this day of badly needed freely speaking Danes, who is not one?-can at last rejoice. Here finally is a book about SK that makes clear the Corsair magazine affair, the matter of K's trousers and thin legs and curved back and how he took his coffee (strong with lots of sugar), the unending engagement to Regine, and oh yes K's attack upon Christendom.


Garff is learned, witty and a master prose stylist. Under a photo of K's elder brother Peter Christian we read...'Irresolution seems almost to shine forth from the eyes...' A self-promoting K enthusiast named Sommer is described as having the 'zeal of a plagiarist.' One could go on and on, and Garff's observations always seem to hit the mark.

Also wonderfully, there is nothing here about 'the father of existentialism.' Garff tells the life, and leaves the impact on the future to others.

It may seem astonishing to many that a nearly-900 page biography of Soren Kierkegaard would ever be described as riveting, or as a page-turner, but that is exactly what this book by Joakim Garff, translated by Bruce Kirmmse from the original Danish, turns out to be. I first noticed it at the bookstore of my seminary, and, intended only to read through a few pages at the beginning to be somewhat familiar with the text (having a friend who is very into Kierkegaard), I noticed when I next looked up that I was 60 pages into the book, and half an hour late for my next appointment.

As Garff states in his preface, biographies of Kierkegaard are few and far between. Even in his native Danish language, 'biographies of Kierkegaard that have appeared since Georg Brandes' critical portrait was published in 1877 can easily be counted on the fingers of one hand.' Part of this was Kierkegaard's own stated desire that readers read his works, not into his person, and he often published under pseudonyms. However, this is an ironic situation, Garff writes, because Kierkegaard puts so much of himself into his writing that there are definite autobiographical elements. Israel Levin, Kierkegaard's secretary for many years, also recognised the paradoxical situation in dealing with a Kierkegaard biography - 'this is a life so full of contradictions that it will be difficult to get to the bottom of his character.'

One of the things Garff should be credited for is not trying to force a particular paradigm or interpretation on Kierkegaard. We don't discover 'Kierkegaard the existentialist' or 'Kierkegaard the religious rebel' or other such personas here - rather, these elements and more are all interwoven into Garff's text to show a complex and not always comprehensible figure. Garff is neither a true-believer nor an official apologist from any set place - he instead set out 'not only to tell the great stories in Kierkegaard's life but also to scrutinse the minor details and incidental circumstances, the cracks in the granite of genius....'

Kierkegaard was a troubled and troubling figure. His life was very brief for someone with such a prodigious output - he lived only 42 years, and his productive time as an intellectual was really only half that time. Garff organises the biography chronologically, taking a year-by-year approach (after putting Kierkegaard's childhood and adolescence together into one chapter, 1813-1834), each year being devoted to its own chapter. In this fashion, Garff looks much more closely at the events and relationship in Kierkegaard's life (both personal and institutional relationships) rather than systematically looking at themes and ideas in his works.

Garff seems to assume some familiarity with Kierkegaard's works at various points - this is not a critical analysis of Kierkegaard's thinking, nor is it even necessarily descriptive of his work in many cases. However, the biography is accessible to those who do not have much experience with Kierkegaard (and I must count myself among those; I have read a few of Kierkegaard's works, and a few analyses, but would never consider myself an expert on the subject).

As translator Bruce Kirmmse states, the book is done in a rather conversational style with an informal sense about it - it is not a dry and dusty historical tome. Not being familiar with Danish, I cannot but take his word that this is true of the original text by Garff, but given the reading here, one cannot imagine that Garff or the editors would have been happy with it done in any other way had this not been faithful to the original. In keeping with this more informal style, there are endnotes rather than footnotes. There are nearly three dozen illustrations (paintings, photographs, other line-art and maps), an extensive bibliography.

I will dare to say, as ironic as it may be both to the subject of reading the biography of a philosopher as well as to the subject of this particular figure, this was a fun book to read.

First published in Denmark in 2000, Joakim Garff's massive and monumental biography of the "melancholy Dane" makes its English debut just in time to commemorate Kierkegaard's death exactly 150 years ago ( November 11, 1855). Anyone who has taken a college freshman class in western civilization or philosophy has a vague familiarity with the name, if not his thought, and some have even dared to tackle his complicated and brilliant work of "indirect" communication via pseudonyms and his later "direct" (and was it ever direct!) communication under his own name. In grad school I took a turn at Kierkegaard, and even now in my office there hangs a poem by him thanks to my wife's calligraphy:

Herr! gieb uns blöde Augen (Lord, give us weak eyes)
für Dinge, die nichts taugen, (for things that do not matter)
und Augen voller Klarheit (and eyes full of clarity)
in alle deine Wahrheit! (in all your truth!)

Kierkegaard prefaced his work The Sickness Unto Death with this prayer-poem.

Although a wild diversity of interpreters from existentialism to deconstructionism has claimed Kierkegaard as their own, and although SK's personality and complex oeuvre present any biographer with an extraordinarily difficult task, Garff shows that he is rightly understood as an artist-poet whose focus was distinctly and deliberately religious. He treats the reader to large doses of SK himself, and reviews all his major writings and journals, focusing on Kierkegaard's life and not really his thought. In this sense he treats Kierkegaard personally rather than intellectually or theologically. He starts with his early years, and proceeds year by year. I would have enjoyed an epilogue that took a stab at Kierkegaard's ecclesiastical, pastoral, and theological legacy. How did a writer in backwater Denmark whose books had print runs of 500 copies (only one of which sold out), whose grave remained unmarked for twenty years after his death, and who barely traveled, emerge as one of the most seminal thinkers of Christian history?

Throughout his short life (1813-1855) Kierkegaard battled a pronounced and chronic melancholia that resulted from a number of factors--his pietistic and stern father, his public humiliation in Copenhagen's rollicking newspaper the Corsair, his sense of victimization, his scathing denunciation of the Church of Denmark's chief bishop (Mynster), and his broken engagement with Regina Olsen. His hypochondria did not help, nor did his estrangement from his lone surviving sibling (his five siblings and mother all died by the time Kierkegaard was about 20). For much of his life, he tells us, through a monumental effort of repression, diversion, and displacement, Kierkegaard distracted and protected himself from his melancholia through his prodigious writing. And there is no doubt that his melancholia served as a fund for enormous artistic creativity and interior reflection (a fact not lost on psychiatrist Peter Kramer in his recent book Against Depression). Writing was his therapy, he once observed: "I saved my life by telling stories." Like Mozart, he just might have been the artistic genius whose sickly body could hardly contain its pulsating brilliance.

What infuriated Kierkegaard was pious pretense, intellectual sophistry, the evisceration of the radical Gospel, and a bourgeois religiosity that tamed Christianity of what he called its "terror." The state-paid clergy, he sneered, derived social and financial gain from the Gospel: "In the splendid cathedral, the high, well-born, highly honored, and worthy Geheime-General-Ober-Hof-Preacher, the chosen darling of the important people, steps before a select circle of the select, and movingly sermonizes on a text chosen by himself, namely, 'God has chosen the lowly and despised of the earth'--and no one laughs" (p. 773). Since no one laughed at the discrepancy between genuine Christianity and the pale imitation of cultural Christendom, Kierkegaard intended to provoke a collision or catastrophe between the two. This was train wreck by design. He was an agitator and pyromaniac who employed his literary brilliance to utilize satire as an act of arson: "I am the one who has set the fire in order to smoke out illusions and trickery" (p. 774).

Garff honors his subject but does not ignore his faults. Kierkegaard could be unctuous, petty, shrill, cynical, inaccessible to anyone he did not care to see, and vindictive. One subject of his lethal pen lamented, "he could make you feel small." His father was one of the wealthiest people in Denmark, and it was not lost on his critics that Kierkegaard never worked while he enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle. But he had little money at his death, and financed most of his own publications. One observer complained that while Jesus cried over Jerusalem, Kierkegaard employed dripping sarcasm to laugh at the church.

There is something like a scorched-earth smell in Kierkegaard. It is hardly news that the church "swarms with many faults" (John Calvin). I rather like the choice of the feminist Catholic writer Joan Chittister who describes herself as a "loyal member of a dysfunctional family." Still, we can thank Kierkegaard for never letting us forget the ideal, how far and so self-servingly we fail it, and forcing us to consider what it might mean for each one of us as a "single individual" whom he addressed.

This book was SO funny - had me laughing out loud from page one! A GREAT gift idea for co-workers and colleagues. Definitely worth the read. Can't wait to get my hands on the next Stooples book!

When you set three wise guys loose in the office, you're going to get something unpredictable, funny and smart. "Wise" is the operative word here--all the things you were told not to be in high school. Or most anywhere else. Nothing is exempt! I wouldn't be exempt, or you, or the authors--everything goes. Go with it, you'll like it!

First there was Dilbert...funny, yet so close to the truth! Now comes Stooples: Office Tools for Hopeless Fools. I got hold of a copy, and I haven't let go or stopped laughing since!

It's essentially a table top book, although if you leave it on your corporate reception area table, it WILL disappear. Same for the washrooms.

At only $12.95, cheaper at Amazon, for this 128 page full color parody of an office supply catalog, it's well worth thinking about it as a Christmas stocking stuffer, your office gift exchange, or as a give-away at your office holiday bash. The authors will be on tour throughout the US in October and November just to make sure you got their message. You were warned!

This book was hilarious! For anyone who has ever worked in an office setting, it's a must-read when you need a good laugh. This would make a good gift for co-workers and bosses with a sense of humor!

This is one of the funniest office-related books I've read. These guys are cynical, sarcastic and have more insights in modern workplaces than most business consultants. If only we could buy these products--coffee mugs with your six-figure salary emblazoned on it and other ego-pumping products. It reminds me of the Alex Baldwin character in Glengarry Glen Ross, who plunks his Rolex on the desk in front of some loser colleague and says "Who am I? This watch cost more than you earned last year, that's who I am."
This book reminds me of when I got my first job in the early 90s. My predecessor cleared out the bookshelf and left only Dilbert's "How to Build a Better Life By Stealing Office Supplies," which turned out to be the best sources of career advice I had. Now, as I'm preparing to clear out of an office, I think I'll leave the Stooples book to my successor...

As far as I know, this is the only available publication on Thiebaud. The book covers the artist's career from his early pastries paintings to his recent large-scale landscapes. It also enables the reader to discover less "typical" works, like the portraits of his wife.

However, what makes Thiebaud's paintings striking is their thickness, the way the artist works through the layers of paint, what we call in French "la matière". It is not only the color, which of course is present in the reproductions that fill this book. Unfortunately, that is somewhat lost and therefore I was a bit disappointed when I opened this catalogue for the recent retro on Wayne Thiebaud. The reproductions should have shown more close-ups and details of the works. For this particular artist, something is lacking.

I had ordered this book to share it with my adult painting students in a class I teach. It was to inspire a lesson about painting pictures of pastries. What I found was so much more. The book provides an informative overview of a variety of types of work by this artist, both realist and pop artist, with fine quality reproductions of the art work.

Remember that old Frank Sinatra song that served as an inspirational film for rainy day grade school entertainment in the 50's? Well, if there is an artist who has captured the imagination and dreamy reveries of life in the past century, the quieter, more ebulliently committed time to joy and the simple treasures here, that man is Wayne Thiebaud. WAYNE THIEBAUD: A PAINTINGS RETROSPECTIVE is a beautifully designed catalogue raisonne of the pop artist's oeuvre that toured the country a few years ago. Organized by curator Steven A. Nash of San Francisco (the artist's home) this book is beautifully illustrated with all of the iconic images of pies, cakes, candy apples, etc. that everyone associates with Thiebaud. Yet it gives equal time to the inimitable 'landscapes' of the hilly terrain that is San Francisco, valleys of Northern California, and beaches. Thiebaud's ability to flatten vistas into geometric patterns can be compared to Richard Diebenkorn's purely abstract Ocean Park Series of paintings: both artists understand space, color, and the excitement of the line.

Accompanying this 'delicious' array of Thiebaud paintings are essays by both Nash and by Adam Gopnik of 'New Yorker' who aptly praises Thiebaud as a man in the same company of Americana as Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, and John Updike! That about sums it all up and this essay alone would be reason enough to buy this important volume of American art history. Simply superb. Grady Harp, October, 2004

This is the definitive book on the works of Wayne Thiebaud, which accompanied the very successful exhibition at the Whitney Museum. Thiebaud is best known for his hyper-realistic paintings of food, so luscious and sensual that they have universal appeal. When Theibaud first started painting in this style, he was compared to the Pop Artists, such as Warhol, Wesselmann, Indiana and Ramos. However, Thiebaud always tried to set himself apart from these artists, because although he agreed with their use of repetitive images as a comment on the banality of American consumerism, he wanted to paint well and believed that a series of soup cans painted poorly did not reflect his goal as an artist. It took many years after the Pop Artists became famous for Thiebaud to achieve the recognition that he deserved, partly because he was considered a regional artist who painted in California. This book is the seminal treatise on the works of Thiebaud and is therefore a must read.

an excellent book with excellent reproductions. i enjoyed it.

This superb overview of the civil war in photos, maps and illustrations makes you feel as if you're there in Federal Blue or Rebel Gray. One can learn much from author Bruce Catton's readable prose, or by merely viewing the hundreds of photo's and illustrations. Readers get a feel for the tragic conflict, from its pre-war controversies to the sad days when North and South were at each other's throats. We learn about military leadership, strategies, army life, battles, morale, slavery, sociology, politics, etc. Catton has done an excellent job, although this book is more overview for general audiences than detailed history. For that reason Civil War buffs will want this volume as a companion to detailed writings from authors like Catton, Shelby Foote, James McPherson, etc. Still, this is a superb effort, one that should be of equal interest to general readers and aficionados alike.

This book is filled with illustrations of paintings as well as photo's of the time period. A great find for the civil war buff. It has a index of battles and units that make it a fun for anyone who needs a good resource of information. It is Hard bound and is a large book. I have the book on World war 2 and Love it also.

This book was precisely the book I was looking for. This particlar book had maps and drawings that no other book had. I remember the book from my high school days and have looked everywhere to find it. I expected it to be an older book and the one I got was in great shape for its age. The seller was very concerned that I knew it was and older book and communicated with me to make sure I was satisfied. Boy!! was I. should have come to Amazon in the first place when I first started looking for the book. A lesson learned.

I was looking for more detail. It did not have enough actual photographs for me, there were too many paintins. If you want a history of the civil war there are good books to read.

This was my second Civil War book, which I received for Christmas when I was 12 (thanks Mom!). My love of the subject probably has a lot to do with this excellent volume, which I pored over for many years. It is loaded with photos, illustrations, and maps as well as Bruce Catton's EXCELLENT narrative. While this narrative does not go into extensive detail (the enormous scope of the war prohibts this), it is clearly written and a treasure trove of knowledge for those interested in a one-volume overview of the Civil War. Catton was a much respected Civil War historian who influenced many of today's historians. This book (which had been out of print for years) has recently been reissued with all new photos and illustrations while still preserving the original Catton text. As these new illustrations tend to be more informative to the Civil War student than the original version's (the original had a lot of photographs of Civil war battlefields as they appear today, which are of limited usefulness), this is the preferred edition. The new edition has a white dust jacket, while the original had a grey dust jacket. Either edition, however, will serve you well in studying the deadliest war in United States history. HIGHLY recommended, especially to beginning Civil War buffs or anyone who would like to read about one of the most important chapters in our country's history.

You look at his life without knowing him, and you'd say he led a charmed, privileged life. Not so. He struggled like the rest of us, but did not let himself become callous, embittered, resentful, and all the other unproductive attitudes that people use as a crutch. He always dwelt on the positive aspects of life. I liked his social conscience. He photographed and wrote about Manzanar, and the plight of native Americans of Japanese ancestry. His Manzanar writings, for me, is one of the highlights in his autobiography. His many acquaintances and friends are fondly and personally recounted in ways that I've experienced from no other author. All throughout, you get a strong impression that he was a very scientifically-minded person who also excelled as an artist, and that's very rare even today. He poured himself out into this book.

These photos take my breath away. They've inspired me so much

A wonderful collection of black and white photography. Reproduced on quality photographic paper which is ideal to frame at the end of the year. Ansel Adams brings nature into your house in the most expert fashion. Each photograph is superbly shot. Wonderful!

Pauline Gaston

and not a wall calendar

The calender was spiral bound and oversized. The pictures were absolutely beautiful. I had bought another calender for 1999, but it just doesnt have the same beauty as the Ansel Adams one did, so I had to search out the Ansel Adams one again and get it. It is a choice that I am glad that I made!