Anderson Books

On Valentines Day 2002 the PBS in America featured a one-hour documentary examining the status of marriage and family. This is the companion volume to that film, featuring leading marriage and family experts along with the stories, testimonials and recollections of many ordinary Americans. Taken together it provides a fascinating and incisive portrait of the related issues of marriage, divorce, parenting and family in contemporary American life.

The book features a number of perspectives, including those who argue for gay marriage and easy divorce. But probably a majority of contributors recognise (academically or experientially) that marriage and family are troubled institutions today, and they are in need of help and support.

Many of the articles are quite good, from a pro-marriage and pro-family point of view. A number of experts more or less supporting such a view are featured, including David Blankenhorn, Wade Horn, Judith Wallerstein, David Popenoe, Linda Waite and William Galston.

Many of their insights alone are worth the price of the book. For example, Wade Horn's article on fatherhood is an important contribution, given all the problems we have in this area: "..."

And the well-documented evidence is quite clear: children are hurt by father absence. Indeed, children are hurt by divorce. And the hurt goes on for decades. Judith Wallerstein, who has studied children for three decades after their parent's divorce knows this all too well:

"..."

And marriage is what best protects children. As David Popenoe reminds us, "..."

David Blankenhorn reminds us that marriage is more than just a private relationship. It is also a public institution. Marriage effects not just the couple, but the in-laws, children, and society as a whole. And marriage has even more far-reaching importance:

"..."

And it is not just the conservatives who make such claims. Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman from Connecticut, for example, is also aware of these truths: "..."

In addition to the experts, many of the testimonies from ordinary Americans also strongly make the case for marriage and the natural family. Some of the heartbreaking tales of the impact of divorce on children for example are worth recounting. One mother offers this perspective on how her four kids responded to their parents' divorce:

"..."

Other stories could be recounted. But as this book makes clear, marriage is still very important for the overwhelming majority of Americans. And the institution of marriage is being severely tested these days. This collection of articles, stories and essays shows that marriage is more than just a piece of paper.

This engaging read is a collection of complete transcripts of experts and "real people" interviewed for the PBS national broadcast of the same name. The program was seen in most markets on Valentine's Day 2002. There is a "Marriage--Just a Piece of Paper?" video that readers may want to seek out. The video video, narrated by television journalist Cokie Roberts, contains an extra half-hour of footage and should be required viewing in every church group, marriage preparation course, and high-school or university course on marriage and relationships in this country. The experts include a range of professionals--from academics, to judges, to therapists, to ministers, to United States senators from both political parties. The interviews with these experts along with those of men, women, and children and their "real life" experiences of family life today are all collected here. One particularly poignant interview with a dad in the process of divorcing, along with other accounts of fatherhood in the book, really opens the eyes to the important of fathers for families of and of families for fathers. Two of the Gen X women interviewed (and there are many Gen Xrs talking about the realities of dating, single life, and marriage today)--one a single mother and the other twice-divorced and dating--speak of their experiences with such humor and candor (and with such personalities in the accompanying video!) that they could be destined for sitcom stardom if they ever make it out to Hollywood. Read it straight through or interview by interview--but definitely read it and seek out the accompanying video if you want to understand the state of marriage and family today.

Compelling. Convicting. Encouraging.
This book inspires the reader to live a passionate, God-centered, Gospel-filled life as they study what it means to suffer for Christ. Much more than a history of Christian martyrs, this book powerfully equips the reader to see the purpose of God in suffering so that their faith might triumph in the day of adversity. A must read for Pastors, Missionaries, Seminarians, and all involved in Christian ministry. The message of this book is vital for the Church in our day.

As Jerry Bridges writes, "The gospel is for real life." This book puts flesh on that statement. It is a good read even though difficult at times.

Qin-hong Anderson provides a very good guide for advanced language-learners to improve their reading and writing abilities through instruction.In this book, sample texts and after-texts in-class and outside -class activities are well-incorporated, and various interesting activities are designed to help understandings and train students to learn from the demonstrations. It is a pioneer work at advanced language-learning level, for it guides students to improve reading and writing by the samples provided, instead of being merely an extensise reading book, as most advanced-level language books do. This book uses original masterworks, which is better for students to be exposed to a real language and to work toward a literacy.

As a student of advanced level Chinese, I have found few books as content-rich, thought provoking, and enlightening of Chinese literature and thought as Qin-hong Anderson's Masterworks Chinese Companion. One way in which Masterworks stands out is in the amount of detail she gives to Chinese literary techniques, for which there is a dearth of materials available to advanced level learners. Topics in the "Writer's Reference Materials" sections which I found particularly enlightening include Chinese-specific punctuation, the use of analogy, reduplication of syllables, narrative composition, questioning techniques, hyperbole, and the elements of expository essay. Whether used by an independent student, or in a classroom setting, by using this book as a guide, one can greatly improve both reading and writing skills.

In addition, the materials chosen for this compilation guide the student to the heart of great Chinese works. After years of wading through grammar books and textbooks, the materials encountered in Masterworks offer advanced level students an education in enjoyable, moving works that they can discuss with native speakers who are likely familiar with the works. I appreciate that all the contents of the book has both Traditional and Simplified characters, as well as thorough vocabulary lists, grammar explanations, and activities. This book is a treasure for the advanced learner wishing to tap into the rich literary world of Chinese literature and gain an insight into the skills needed to produce such works of their own.