Becker Books

I found this book very helpful in looking at different antioxidants, enzymes and pathways involved in redox. The information is very concise and for someone just starting out in this field this book is much better than reading as many review articles. Mainly, because the descriptions give just enough information to understand the mechanism and relevance of each compound/pathway. There are not many references given so if you need more specific information about a topic this isn't the right book.

If you've ever wondered why someone would shut themselves up in a small cell with only minimal contact with a group of similarly shut-up men, then read this book. It is a biography of St. Bruno, who founded the Carthusian order of monks in 1084. Of all the religious orders of the Catholic Church, none has changed so little as the Carthusians. This is due to the extreme simplicity of the life they have chosen to lead: most of their time is spent in study or prayer ALONE in their cells, they do some manual labor, and eat a very sparse, meatless diet (many also live into their 90's). The Carthusians are the ultimate in monastic withdrawl from the world (at least in the Christian West), and this is undoubtedly why they are fascinating. This book, a biography of their founder, shows how one might come to freely choose this life. Bruno himself lived and taught in the Cathedral School in Reims, France (or was it Chartes? I don't have the book immediately available). Since he was connected to the Cathedral he worked and lived in the busy midst of medieval town life. Along with some of his friends, he wished for a more solitary life of prayer and scriptural study, and eventually he found this in a small valley where he started his monastery. Carthusians are still there today at La Grande Chartreuse, the motherhouse of about 25 monasteries worldwide (one in the U.S.). I enjoyed this book because of the very human portrait it gave of St. Bruno. After reading this I could better understand what might motivate someone to take up such a hard life. In our age we tend to see such a life as negative inasmuch as it involves denying almost everything we have. The considerations that led St. Bruno to it, however, were positive: he did not seek to give up the world so much as he sought to grab hold of the "pearl of great price," and seek out the Infinite and Ever-Loving God. To this end, Bruno was willing to set aside all else. Only when we see what Bruno was after do the austerities of the monks seem reasonable. In this light Bruno is akin to a modern Olympic athlete who puts everything at the service of his training and sets his sights upon one thing: the Gold. Bruno was no escapist, but this book does prompt the modern reader to ask what it would be like to have one, and only one, priority in life, and to give up everything for it. What would it be to give up our rushed lives, to be "far from the madding crowd" and yet be content? Tolle et lege: take up and read.

These well written stories conjured up so many memories.
They are filled with humor and heart-tucking personal experiences that are very entertaining. It's an easy book to pickup and read one story at a time. I find myself reminiscing for hours thanks to these good writers.

The photographs are excellent! The history of the company is interesting with information on designers, jewelry, crystal, fashion and much more. Very nicely done.

The author, Hyam Yona Becker succeeds in presenting a story
which could be embraced by an interfaith constituency. Fortunately,
the volume contains an extensive glossary of Hebrew terms to
instruct non-Jews. Important terms are Chumash, kipa,
minchak, mitzvah and others. With the glossary, an interfaith
readership is able to review the book and understand its contents.

The book opens in the midst of the main character dreaming of a
great escape from a squad of Palestinian commandos.
The main character, Shlomo Tzadok is an archeology professor at the
University of Tel Aviv who is contemplating Torah research on a full
time basis. The government calls upon him to join a small
expedition to an Israeli-partitioned part of Antarctica. Originally,
Tzadok is reluctant; however, he agrees to do so in order to help
a Jewish Eskimo named Enki. The Jewish Eskimo is described as
probably the only native born Inkachu, Eskimo to be circumcised in
all of Greenland. Ultimately, the team finds Enki
who leads them through ice caps into a hidden canyon where they
discover the Temple of HaShem.

Numerous passages describe the Temple of HaSham. i.e.

"He looked up at this magnificent structure, the Temple of HaShem,
which the Nfm clones had built for the Kilian religion during the past
4000 years. Its ivory towers sparkled in the late morning sun. "

[Library of the Temple]
" Unused for centuries and covered thick with dust an ancient archive
of scrolls lay upon rows of shelves awaiting his 20th century
archeological analysis...
Tzadok cautiously unrolled one of the parchments. These were
certainly much older than the Dead Sea Scrolls, yet better preserved."

The work has a touch of science fiction. i.e.
" What was your original mission? Just that. To plant the seed of
Torah in earthlings. "

The author succeeds in transcending other stories not far from these
themes. i.e. Chariots of the Gods, Raiders of the Lost Ark
I'm not certain whether or not he should have introduced science fiction into the book. Science fiction is best done by a specialist in the area ; such as, Isaac Asimov.

Nonetheless, the author succeeds in creating an interesting story
in the belles lettres style of writing. He succeeds in creating
enough adventure and suspense in the presentation to satisfy the
thirst of the readership. The Yiddish vocabulary enrichens the
presentation for non-Jews.

The work would be perfect for a general readership. The author
should attempt to get the book onto high school or collegiate required reading lists in order to increase sales and exposure of Israeli literature to non-Jews.

by Dr. Joseph S. Maresca

The herione Katya is very likeable and strong. She is in involved with many famous figures of before WWII. Mrs. Mills has a very neat way of adding history to her story, including people like Mussolini and Hitler. She also talks about the Kelts and their history and influence on Katya's fashion designs. The writing is very absorbing. I would buy this book!

This book has been a great resource for me as a collector. I wish i had discovered it sooner.

This book was a wonderful surprise. First of all, it contains a CD which is worth the price of admission. The CD has a lot of folk songs and arja (Balinese opera) selections which aren't generally available in CD stores (which tends to just cover gamelan and cak.)

For musicians, it presents detailed technical information on performance and to some degree the process of learning the vocal techiques.

For musicologists, it provides quite a background on how it fits in Balinese society.

I don't know if I can properly comment on how accessible it will be to people who don't play or study music. However a good deal of the information is down to earth and anecdotal, and of course the music on the CD is anything but academic.

Option had an interesting history. Originally called OP, the magazine attempted to cover everyting, letter by letter, getting partly through the alphabet before giving up and re-inventing itself as an indie label: SubPop. At that point Becker took over and continued it as probably the most balanced indie rock magazine of its era.

This book is really darling. It has actual wheels on the book so it can roll across the floor or table. The animal passengers are cute too. Why isn't it a 5 star book? It only does about 4 of the verses out of the possible 10 or so that I know of.