Benedict Books

This 143-page book is made up of four post-9/11 reflections on The Individual, The Church, The Country and The World - how the actions of each led up to the Muslims' attacks, and how each should respond to them.

Although each chapter is brief, I recommend that you read only one at a time, to give yourself the opportunity to consider Fr. Groeschel's analyses and proposals.

Very worthwhile, and highly recommended.

In the shock of September 11th, Fr. Benedict Groeschel has written a book to give us the Christian perspective on this horrible event. He calls us to gaze on the cross of Christ and to focus on our spiritual priorities so that we can be ready for any eventuality. He also issues a strong call for America to remedy the scandals of abortion and pornography so that we take our place in the world as a force for the culture of life. The small size of the book makes it a handy gift to help those we know deal with this event and its long term consequences.

This book will change your thinking on suffering and will wake you up to the cold reality of the world we live in. Groeschel doesn't mince words but offers help for those who suffer and to those that want to understand suffering. Groeshel is a treasure and I wish I had discovered him earlier. The only fault is the book is too short.

Wonderful book - especially needed in our society. Nothing
sappy about this - it tells you the facts and then
gives you the courage needed to face the problems
of todays world.
Timely and topical for todays society. I am giving it as gifts now to friends and family.

Another fast & easy read by one of the most prolific authors in the Church today. Here Groeschel uses the symbolism of the steel cross discovered amid the wreckage of the WTC to alert American to the causes behind the attack. Groeschel is courageous enough to suggest that the immoral attitudes of our society, our de-valuing of human life and our exportation of concepts like abortion and euthenasia to the globe have given Muslim fundamentalists the ability to see us as an enemy.
The chapters are smartly organized and make bold assumptions that the path to peace is a return to our moral center.

I have read many of Father Groschel's books and this one makes you think deeply about many things in your life that are troublesome or disturbing.
You will need to read this book slowly and meditate on what he says. It is one of the best books I have ever read on spiritual development. Father Groeschel is a very good writer and is worthy of your time to read it. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about how to improve their spiritual development from a noted psychologist and priest.

This is a great treatment of spiritual formation in light of psychological growth. Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel guides the reader through spiritual childhood, adolescence and adulthood. It is a particularly beneficial read for spiritual directors or those simply wanting to seriously examine their own growth process. While not opaque, this is also not a light, feel-good book for the bedside. It will be most appreciated by students of thought and Christian Spirituality and should find a permnent place in your library.

Father Groeschel's presentation of ideas is sound and interesting, and the illustrations using incidents in the lives of people he has known a good approach. However, he tends to present some very intriguing concepts, then insufficiently develop them with clear explanations. For example, he refers to the Good Thief's conversation with Christ on the Cross as manipulative, but assumes the reader (who is unlikely to be a psychologist) will grasp why. The book is an excellent starting point, theologically solid and in accord with classic spirituality, but as a reader I found myself begging for more development and ideas about integration of the principles into one's own prayer life.

In a world struggling with postmodern issues of diversity and truth Groeschel, using the ancient model of Catholic spiritual pilgrimage, offers a meaningful perspective into our spiritual development. Not only is our spirituality inextricably tied to every other aspect of life and development, our unique history and experience condition the way we perceive God. Though not exclusive, Groeschel suggests four primary orientations to God: as One (unity), the Good, Truth or Beauty. Unlike so many books on spiritual development that cryptically elevate one spiritual orientation above another, Groeschel expands our psychological awareness of the spiritual pilgrimage by helping us to understand that each of us possess a primary orientation to God and Christ that may indeed be different but not necessarily superior or less developed than others.

Fr. Benedict is one of the most brilliant teachers i've ever heard. He speaks at Catholic conferences and on his own cable show in the East Coast (USA). His pellucid explanations, on diverse topics (relevant to the spiritual life of everyone), have no rival in the English language. This book outlines the different stages of spiritual growth. Since the spirit, (in contrast to the soul) is discussed, it's relevant to people of any religious background, but, most especially understandable to Christians. His discussions are rich and stay closely focused on his topic.

Everything that Father Groeschel has written is excellent in one way or another. Some of his books are more deeply theological or philosophical; some, written as much from his perspective as a world-renowned psychologist, and former teacher at Columbia as from his priestly perspective - require pondering and meditating in order to absorb the teachings. Others - like this slim volume - present his practical spirituality and his almost Zen-like outlook on resting in our trust in God. Half of this book is a fascinating interview, and the remainder is taken from his speaking and writing on the terrible events surrounding his near fatal accident. The reader does come away with a feeling of hope and courage to face life's challenges.

This product was delivered in a timely manner and was just as the description had listed... Positive purchase experience.

Done in an easy conversational style, this books reads quickly and easily. Every couple pages, though, a profound concept is delivered so clearly that it just might change your life.

Father Groeschel, a Franciscan priest living in the Bronx, reflects on part of his philosophy of life, formed from a lifetime of contemplation on religious and other issues. If you have seen him talk, you already know his straight-forward, frank approach, combined with his deeply religious approach to life. This books helps the reader know him better, and provides some worthwhile incites. He is the holiest man I've ever met (I met him in 1992 and 1993, spoke with him for only a few sentences).

On January 11, 2004, a car in Orlando, Florida struck Father Benedict Groeschel and nearly took his life. I heard about the accident on the morning of January 12th when I arrived for work. News about Father's condition was slow in coming that morning and like countless others who were shocked by the news that day, I did what I knew Father Benedict would want me to do- I prayed.
Later that same morning as I was opening my mail, I found among the parcels received a large envelope from overseas. Contained within the packet was a letter that began--"Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. suggested that you might be interested in publishing this..."
The "this" in question was a lengthy interview, book length, which the author John Bishop had conducted with Father Benedict. Reading it I was reminded of the greatness of this humble friar and the difference that he and his religious community the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have made in the Church in the United States and throughout the world.
As I read through the interview, I was struck with the irony of receiving it on the very day that Father had suddenly been silenced, and how John Bishop had asked all the right questions-the range of which covers every conceivable question that a Catholic living in the United States in the twenty-first century would like answered.
I have known Father Benedict for over twenty years, first as a Capuchin friar and then as a co-founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. I have benefited from his wisdom while making both individual retreats with him and as a member of group retreats he has preached. I have been blessed to work with him on two previous books that Our Sunday Visitor has published: The Cross at Ground Zero-a response to the attacks of 9/11 and From Scandal to Hope-a response to the current crisis in the Catholic Church. I have seen Father in action and what he is able to accomplish on an average day is nothing short of miraculous. Even now recuperating from his injuries he continues to reach out through the Friars Internet site with daily meditations drawn from his recovery in the hospital and now in this book that you hold in your hands.
This book contains the interview that I first read on the morning following Father Benedict's accident in Part One. In Part Two you will read Father Benedict's reflections upon his accident, recovery and how all that he has experienced has only validated what he has preached to others throughout his years of ministry.
There is one part of the interview where the John Bishop, quizzes Father about how he came to start all the charitable enterprises that he has during his life. Father Groeschel repeats his answer a number of times..."No plans, be led." Whatever God wants, Father Benedict will be led in that direction, hopefully you and I can learn that lesson too, as Father says after the accident, "there are no accidents"-may this great man's faith help you and I to trust in God ever more, no matter what may happen!

Pinckney Benedict, Town Smokes (Ontario Review Press, 1987)

I've been a big fan of Pinckney Benedict's for some years now, thanks to his first (and, to date, only) novel, Dogs of God. Last year, I tracked down Benedict's newer collection of short stores, The Wrecking Yard, and love it. It took me till now to find his first collection, Town Smokes. And had I not found it, I would have kept looking. Sometimes knowledge is a terrible thing.

Not that this is a bad collection, really. One of the pleasures of finding the first book by any writer one admires is the chance to see the potential shining through the early rough stuff. And Pinckney Benedict radiated potential in 1987. Unfortunately, he also radiated dialect-- if I never see the word "idea" represented as "idee" again, it'll be far too soon. It makes the stories, all too often, a chore more than a pleasure.

Still, the things that make later Benedict so good are all here-- slice-of-life characters in situations that are just outside said slice, whether their own fault or someone else's, reacting to them with the kind of intelligent adaptability one doesn't expect from Benedict's hicks and rednecks (and you have to know that Benedict is using our own stereotypes against us there, which makes it all the better). For the most part, anyway; every once in a while, one of his characters just goes nuts instead (witness the main character in "Hackberry"). That, however, can be just as much fun to watch.

In the general tradition of eighties fiction, a lot of these stories feel unfinished, without purpose; one scene is examined from a much larger picture, and you end the story wondering what happened. "Dog" is a prime example of this; there's the dog, and there's the two guys in the trailer, and there's the subtle shift in their relationship as we go through the story. Yes, I get that that shift is the focus of the story, but is it really enough? Benedict obviously thinks so.

Good, but read his other stuff first. ***

This is, without a doubt, first-rate fiction. Benedict does a wonderful job keeping himself distanced in every story; too many writers, it seems, adopt mannered styles of "mush" sentiments: "poor me, look at my beautiful prose, feel what I feel, oh", etc. What Benedict does, then, is put most writers to shame with the psychic distance between him and his characters. Too bad Benedict is not read by the general pubic, who insist on reading morons like Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele.

These tales of poor West Virginia mountain folk create a fictional world unlike that in any other book I have ever read--a world haunted by dark spirits, enchanting the reader even as he is appalled by the brutality of the characters and their lives. Reading "Town Smokes," you close the covers gasping for air, yet wanting desperately to return. Judging from this, his first book, Pinckney Benedict appeared to be well on his way toward becoming one of the great figures of American literature, the equal of Faulkner or Melville. Unfortunately, "The Wrecking Yard," his follow-up book, was very fine, but lacked the originality and power of "Town Smokes." I fear Benedict's M.F.A. advisors may have gotten to him!

This, Benedict's debut published when he was only 23, remains his best work to date. He seems to have lost most of his audacity, which is really the charm of this book, in his subsequent work. Still, this book's best stories have a lot of fun with language, and Benedict is undoubtedly a very talented writer. None of his work, though, approaches that of Breece Pancake, the West Virginia writer who was in many ways Pinckney Benedict's inspiration (do all West Virginians have such outrageous names?), but who committed suicide at age 26. Pancake was a genius who basically could not handle the world; Benedict is very gifted, but is not a genius. I still reccomend this book--I just don't want to see Benedict's reputation, just because he is still alive, completely overshadow Pancake's.

Though he might seem a bit obscure to the casual reader, Pinckney Benedict is one of the finest writers of short fiction in the country. This here is his first collection, published when he was only twenty-three, and it's really something else. Stories like "All the Dead", "Dog", "Water Witch", and "Town Smokes", in the sheer audacity of the style in witch they're written as well as the evocation of the settings and characters, help to make up one of the most enjoyable and satisfying collections of short stories that you ever will read. Highly reccomended for anyone who appreciates good short fiction.

p.s.: If you're nervous about buying a book on the internet, there's usually at least one copy in the fiction section of any Barnes and Noble.

It is common to hear confessional "horror stories" of Catholcis who had bad experiences with going to confession. In the midst of these what gets eclipsed are the vast majority of good and healing confessions that have taken place, the good priests who offer sound advice and help people to draw closer to Christ. Because of this fear and misunderstanding, use of the sacrament of pennance has drastically declined and yet people are not the better for it. They are depriving themselves of one of the greatest sacraments God has provided for His Church. This is the situation that Fr. Walsh attempts to address in his book. He addresses what the sacrament was, what has become and what it should be. He takes stock of objections people have against confession, and then through use of annecdotes and advice he helps the reader draw either back to this sacrament or grow in appreciation of its importance.

In his overview of the sacrament of penance, Fr. Walsh expresses concern not that this sacrament has undergone more changes than any other through the years, but that Catholics learn to approach it "integrally, meaningfully, and regularly." He describes penance as a sacrament of healing, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and believes that "penance should be the sacrament for contemporary society." That established, Walsh lists and counters three common reasons people avoid confession: (1) feelings of embarrassment and shame, (2) confusion about the sacrament and its forms, and (3) the belief that "basically good persons" have no need to confess. In the chapter on getting back to frequent confession, Walsh explains the benefits of penance or "reconciliation" as the sacrament is now called: grace, ongoing conversion, keeping on track, and moral counsel and spiritual direction. He also addresses the mechanics of confession, particularly examination of conscience, and the role of the priest.

Walsh uses plain language and examples to help make his case, which should be of interest to the large percentage of Catholics who, for one reason or another, are not now or never were in the habit of receiving this healing sacrament regularly.

Fr. Walsh has a warm style of writing. His book can apply to almost anyone who is interested in this topic. Enjoyable and factual.

Highly recommend.

Fr. Walsh has a simple and direct way of explaining this most important Sacrament. He shares interesting anecdotes and makes a very complex and mysterious subject more approachable. Who doesn't want to learn more about Confession? Everyone I know wonders how to do it "better". An easy read and great gift.

This is a very interesting book which sheds new insights into the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I would like to recommend this book especially to priests and people who work in spiritual direction.

The strength of Ms. Benedict's books are her richly detailed and well researched historical settings. The opening pages, where Branna struggles along with the remains of a barbarian army routed and in retreat from their Roman conquerers, lets you know that this is more than just a collection of sex scenes shored up with filler. The heroine, Branna, is a typical Benedict protagonist, pretty, intelligent, strong willed, resourceful, and very sexually responsive, even under the most degrading circumstances. And there are no richer set of circumstances for a leisurely exploration of both the social milieu and zeitgeist, as well as the slow sexual downfall of the nubile Branna, than being a slavegirl in ancient Rome.

The chief dramatic tension in most Benedict novels is how long our plucky gal can avoid the next even-more-humiliating ravishing by whatever loathesome troll is lusting after her, or his buddies as well. As a slave girl, Branna does not have a lot of chips to play with, but Benedict still makes her Pulchritude's Progress downward interesting with unexpected twists of fate that serve to whet the reader's appetite while delaying the inevitable next step in Branna's further debasement. Early in the book, after being captured by Roman soldiers, it seems likely that Branna will be gang raped in their encampment, but is reprieved when the centurion in charge of her turns out to be more interested in little boys and the price Branna can fetch as an unsullied slave.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is Branna's journey into slavery, from the slave merchant who buys and first rapes her, followed by a sea and land journey to Rome, to the slave market, to the incredibly constricted conditions of a household slave's life. With many twists and turns, Branna gets to see a large slice of Roman life and makes some close female friends/lovers, while being forced to experience an increasingly humiliating and varied range of sexual encounters, all the more dispiriting to Branna because she is sexually responsive every time. Frigid is not part of Benedict heroine's vocabulary, even if she is strung up above a dias at a Roman sex club to be enjoyed by every male patron in the audience, singly or by pairs. After having been warmed up first by a hermaphrodite, of course.

By the time Branna learns the full Latin meaning of "When in Rome..." she has seen the inside of a Roman brothel, become the mistress of a powerful Roman citizen, and reduced to a camp whore for the gladiators in the Coloseum. Like all of Benedict's novels, so far, Fate then smiles on our gal and her (emotional and mental) fidelity to her long lost betrothed pays off in a most unanticipated way.

Like most Benedict novels, our spunky heroine does not yeild without a good deal of physical, er, "persuasion" to prepare her epidermally. Benedict however, has the good sense to keep the punishment in perspective and not let it overwhelm her sex scenes. What stops the book from being five-star erotica, however, is the sex scenes themselves, especially the more outrageous ones. Ms. Benedict is a master of the tantalizing build up, and her one-one-one copulations, straight or bi, are well done. Her weakness is in describing anything kinkier than that. The aforementioned scene where Branna is offered up as the piece de resistance at a private sex club should have been worth two or three pages, after several delicious pages of build up. But when the one-girl orgy get rocking, Benedict takes only two paragraphs to describe what should have been the biggest sex scene in the book. (A shame; the fate of a Roman slave girl deserves at least one over the top scene, right?) A minor room for improvement, but enough for Arena of Shame to miss the highest rating. Still, if you have not read this one or Wages of Sin or Sinful Seduction, by all means check Benedict out.

The problem with so many books like this is you just wish they were longer. You just get into the plot and become involved with the characters and the book wraps up. I really thought this was one of the better erotic reads - Branna suffered such shame but it was so intriguing how she hated to admit how much she enjoyed most of it. Now that to me is a great erotic read!

This is my third Kate Benedict book and she has certainly surpassed herself ........

Like her other erotica volumes the author seems to enjoy the portrayal of young women caught in dark and difficult times having to defend themselves against the world. The battles are fierce and the punishment severe for the looser .... and ... when the looser is our heroine, Branna, she will invariable get raped by the victor...

Kate Benedict's ability to combine historical accuracy, romance and erotica produces a beautifully told tale - one I highly recommend. I also enjoyed Ms. Benedict's "Sinful Seduction" and "Wages of Sin." More, please!

This book is not a super-easy read as others have mentioned, but I got it as a gift when I was in highschool and didn't have a super-hard time with it.

It is historical and spiritual, and if you are interested in finding out more about Adoration of the Eucharist, this is a great book for you.

I recommend this book for people aged 16+, just because of the difficulty, and younger teens might not be as interested in the historical/liturgical aspects of the book.

This book is an intense and detailed look into Eucharistic Adoration. I knew nothing about this topic before I read thisbook. It is not a super easy read--I really had to concentrate. It gave a lot of history and information.. I think it would be great for a theology student or someone interested in this catholic tradition. It is very well written, detailed and complete.

Well-written book with very good references and documentation. It thoroughly explains historical foundations and evolvement to current practices. This book stands out as being a great information resource on a subject that has many devotional books. It is solidly in-line with the Magisterium as are all of Fr. Groeschel's books. I use it as a teaching tool and as a source for talks on the Real Presence. I highly recommend this book. It will increase your appreciation of the Gift of the Eucharist and the value of adoration.

This is a well written thoroughly researched book. I recommend it to anyone involved in Eucharistic Adoration.

Schall extrapolates the incredible depth of the Regensburg Address in this quick, easy read. His insights are profound, but no one should read this expecting any sort of answer to why the worldwide reaction was as it was. In the true form of a philosopher, Schall takes the words of the address and explains to us why the speech is so relevant and the implications made by Benedict. This book doesn't read like its the end-all, be-all on the subject, I think Schall hopes his book opens dialog and conversation among philosophers, theologians and scientists about the proper relationship of Reason to our world. He covers Faith and Reason, Science and Reason, and Truth and Reason, with the hope that we next examine the works of the Great John Paul II, Plato, Benedict himself, and Greek and Muslim thought (both philosophical and theological) on our own and in relation to the plight of Modern Man. I agree with that timeliness and timelessness of the Address ranks among some of the greatest speeches of time immemorial and as a Catholic Christian Political Philosopher myself, I think this book is one of the most important analyses of our intellectually and spiritually troubled world.

This book was my first introduction to Fr. Schall and I must say I was very impressed. This book is a great resource for those who have either read the Pope's Regensburg speech or have not read it yet, seeing as the first appendix contains the Pope's speech at Regensburg in its entirety.

Fr. Schall really unlocks the genius of the Pope's address and really gets to the reality of what the Pope was saying and at the same time shows the incredible neglect by the media in the recent past in it's treatment of what the Pope "said".

This book is a must and a challenge for anyone in higher education who thinks that the Roman Catholic Church and her teachings about reality, God, and man are outdated. Fr. Schall demonstrates with certain clarity that Pope Benedict XVI clearly understands the current cultural problems and makes them clear in this work, namely the abandonment of the objective rational world in religion and politics. Also given in this wonderful work is the foundational answer to getting our culture back on track in order to realize the true good for you and all peoples.

Hold all the instant biographies and analyses of Pope Benedict, however useful in whole or (mostly) part. Hold the plethora of books and writings by him (many scholarly, some indifferently translated). This is a primary reference on his fundamental thought in the context of what may remain his most important public statement. That statement regarding the dialogue between Christianity and Islam is appended here in a finally sound translation. And despite the relative speed with which Fr. Schall has released this commentary, it is a first rate job which thoroughly explicates the Regensburg address and will likely constitute an important source on it for a long time.

Benedict opened this talk in an academic setting with reference to a similar dialogue, between a Byzantine and a Muslim, centuries ago. It posed a question, and not an unfamiliar one, to the Muslim world from the Christian concerning religion and violence--not necessarily an answer. It moves quickly to an exploration of concepts of the Godhead and rationality, Muslim and Christian, which apparently only the pope, out of all the Western world, is these days willing to publicly address. That this talk was mis-translated and lambasted is perhaps a more astonishing and baleful sign of the times than that of certain Muslim militants who reacted violently in the days following the speech. Can the heirs of "the Enlightenment" any longer even tolerate the mere posing and exploration of large questions in an academic setting, supposedly one of the Enlightenment's most important institutions? The English speaking mass media (which Christians Catholic or non-Catholic should not mistake for the legitimate heir of anything) has answered no. Thus the Regensburg lecture has already, among other effects, oddly posed questions concerning societal order to the present West at least as pressing as they do to the Muslim world. That political correctness spells the end of liberty, in the classic American sense, has never been more dramatically demonstrated.

Fr. Schall quickly moves into a full exploration of all resonances of the Regensburg address, particularly as they relate to what is popularly called "terrorism" and its consequences for what remains of the Western political order. For the posing of the ancient question about an arbitrary diety, as opposed to a God self-limiting in His loving rationality, is double-edged. Fr. Schall brings in Benedict's concerns with the dissolution of European and Western culture generally, a de-hellenization which, undermining the church's embracing of classical era rational thought and natural law, leaves the West at present particularly vulnerable. This is finally seen to occur as much because of the West's own, mysterious inner breakdown as due to any outside threat.

This book is an indispensible guide which takes up Benedict's challenge at Regensburg--namely to articulate an ageed protocal at the highest levels of both Western culture and the Muslim world, so as walk both slowly backwards from an abyss.

I'm an admirer of Benedict XVI's erudition, and I've read much (although by no means all) of his vast theological and philosophical writings. I find his style overly teutonic and dry, and I often disagree with his conclusions. But I rarely close one of his books without having learned something of value that either fruitfully challenges or clarifies my thinking. He is a very good thinker indeed.

That's why I was delighted to learn that the notorious Regensburg lecture had made its way into print in James Schall's book. Upon reading (and re-reading) the lecture, I was impressed. It's a tidy summative apologia for Hellenized Christianity that places a premium on reason/logos, and in turn defends values commonly associated with Christian humanism. Benedict's reference to the 14th century remark of Manuel II Paleologus--"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"--is intended as an illustration of the broader point that "voluntarism" in religion can lead to a subjective/fanatic flouting of rational moral codes (such as those against violence). Clearly, Benedict could have invoked any number of illustrations from the history of Christianity rather than Islam, and perhaps he should've. But it's also the case that in our day and age, it's Islam more than any other religion that's actually breeding perpetrators of violence (which is not necessarily to say that Islam itself is a violent religion).

So far, so good. But what's disappointing is the 129-page commentary that Schall has wrapped around Benedict's 4,000 word lecture. Schall's commentary is overly-long and short on analysis. Even he senses that there's something a bit strange about devoting an entire book to a single lecture (p. 13). So he scrambles to justify the project by inflating the value of Benedict's words, claiming that "this lecture is one of the fundamental tractates of our time" (p. 9).* This claim simply stretches credulity. Benedict's defense of natural theology is summative, not original. I suspect the Holy Father would be astounded to hear one of his academic lectures, which was not delivered ex cathedra, described in such a way.

Schall's book is terribly repetitious, sometimes virtually repeating sentences back-to-back--a common "filler" tactic. And his "commentary" on Benedict's summative speech is itself little more than summative. It would've been grand, for example, had Schall bothered to speculate as to whether the rational model defended by Benedict was more a product of modernity than Hellenistic thought, or to what extent voluntarism (such as that defended by Duns Scotus or, later, thinkers such as Soren Kierkegaard) might enrich religious experience. But he never ventures outside of the strict parameters set by Benedict's short speech. So his commentary is a combination of hyperbolic praise and a needlessly long and totally uncritical re-hashing of what Benedict said at Regensburg.

Conclusion: the Holy Father's lecture is well worth reading. But Schall's lackluster commentary and inflated praise overall makes this a dreary book.
_________
* Hyperbolic as this claim is, it's nothing compared to the publisher's book blurb which, misquoting Schall, incredibly claims that the lecture is "as timeless as the Gettysburg Address, Pericles' Funeral Oration, Plato's Apology, and Henry V's Speech on St. Crispin's Day"! The same over-zealous marketing editor also calls Schall "our world's modern G.K. Chesterton."

This book is a systematic, progressive group of studies that will help any aspiring classical guitar student develop important skills in sight reading and counting different rhythms. You won't regret this buying this book if this is what you are looking for.

I ordered this book in the hopes that it would be useful not only for my students but for myself as well and it really does deliver. This text, Level I-III, assumes that the student has at least a basic knowledge of music theory but not so much that it's useless for beginners. It starts out with simple diatonic exercises on the first string, a great departure point and a common starting point for many generations of guitarists.

Just as it states on the cover, Benedict emphasizes dynamics, interpretation, phrasing and form almost right from the start. This wide scope permeates the lessons and lends a lightness and freshness to the lessons that keeps the student wanting more. The pacing of the exercises is carefully constructed and there are no big jumps in difficulty, which is great. Equally useful is his addition of random rhythm patterns at the end of each level. With all the emphasis on tone production, dynamics and interpretation, students (and teachers) often neglect their rhythmic mastery and with Benedict's inclusion of these random rhythms and his even-handed approach, one is sure to learn something no matter their experience level!

There haven't been many books that have made my list of instructional essentials but this book and the second volume have proven to be indispensible to myself and to many of my students. The fact that this book just happens to make you a better sight-reader in the mean time is a testament to its transparency and usability. Highly recommended.

While not exaxtly a classical guitar beginner, I nevertheless noticed that my rate of progress was not matching my hard work in diligently practicing. My teacher knew that I was working hard and one day when she noticed my frustration she told me to get Sight Reading for the "Classical Guitar: Level 1-3" and, same title, Level 4-5. I did and immediately discovered what I had not sensed or heard...or understood what my teacher had been gently telling me.

Quoting from the Foreword of this book, "...it is important to develop facility in reading, recognizing the notes, as well as the bar positions in which to play them, the fingerings, the rhythmic patterns, and any markings of interpretation (dynamics, phrasing, articulation, etc.)."
The beginning guitarist, and even those more advanced, must develop skill in these facits if real progress is to be made.

The excercizes are mostly one-line, easy to read--even melodic--compositions that you will know when you have played them correctly. I particularly like the brief, direct, no-preaching comments the author makes. The book provides a thrifty, interest-keeping tool that now occupies a significant part of my daily practice routines. And, my progress is getting back on schedule.

Not a bad price, and not dispiritingly difficult either. Purpose-written guitar sight-reading material is hard to find, good to have this and the companion Level 4-5 book to work from.

It's really a nice book...
everyone should get one lol

Baudrillard's SYSTEM OF OBJECTS stands as a landmark... the first book by one of France's leading men of letters, an astute social critic (and deconstructionist?! critical theorist?!). The author discusses the roles objects play in our lives, from mirrors to automobiles to furniture. He dissects the role and purpose of credit (in the late 1960's; his ideas about the expansion of credit purchasing are humorous in hindsight). Author devotes sections to gadgets, gizmos, and robots.

Some of OBJECTS' highlights: a discussion of why the rich and other status seekers acquire old things, a critique of collectors and their motivations ("everything that cannot be invested in human relationships is invested in objects."), and a commendable exegesis of the personalization of cars (since the 1970s this critique could be expanded to houses). In addition the section on credit is juicy: "the credit system is the acme of man's irresponsibility to himself."

Should I credit the translator with handling a difficult text well? I can't say. I don't read French (at least not on Baudrillard's level). However, the reader is left with some of the most pompous and opaque prose. Nothing is stated simply. Example: "In the love relationship the tendency to break the object down into discrete details in accordance with a perverse autoerotic system is slowed by the living unity of the other person." Another: "We may thus trace functional mythologies, born of technics itself, all the way to a sort of fatality in which the world-mastering technology seems to crystallize in the form of an inverse and threatening purpose." Here's a favorite: "Thus freed from practical functions and from the human gestural system, forms become purely relative with respect both to one another and to the space to which they lend 'rhythm.' "

These overwrought and ridiculous passages would be humorous, but they impede the reader's understanding of the text. Various worthwhile statements pepper the book throughout, which could be condensed into a sort of "famous quotes by Baudrillard," perhaps as captions in a book of photographs, a coffee-table book. I recommend this currently nonexistent product. Until its creation, we must be partially satisfied by SYSTEM OF OBJECTS.

Ken Miller

If you're academically inclined and into semiotics, this book should be part of your library. Any designer of systems, whether they be Web applications, lemon squeezers, or a marketing campaign, would probably find use of the insights offered here.

Some contemporary French philosophy is a fascinating and invigorating mix of psychology, sociology, semiotics and, dare one say it, poetry. In the English speaking world, Marshall McLuhan is probably the philosopher whose style is most similar to this first, 1968, book by the now well known Jean Baudrillard.

What is the book about? In a sense it is about the meaning of low tech everyday objects, and thus it is also about the psycho-sociology of our technology. Take mirrors, for example, which were frankly disappearing as an element of interior decoration when Baudrillard wrote his book. Yet for years, mirrors were an important fixture of well-to-do bourgeois interiors; they were opulent, expensive objects which in Baudrillard's words permitted "...the self-indulgent bourgeois
individual to exercise his privilege --reproduce his own image and revel in his possessions". Family portraits and photographs represent diachronic mirrors of the family, and thus played a similar narcissistic role in decoration. Baudrillard analyses clocks, lighting, glass, seating, antiques and the drive to automate and miniaturize gadgets and tools, and always comes up with provocative, sometimes maddening, insights into modern society and one's place in it --and after all what is philosophy
for but to make you think?

There is a brilliant and probably timeless exploration of the passion of collecting and leads up nicely to what the bulk of the book is devoted to: the study of systems of objects (one of the main chapters is aptly titled "The Socio-Ideological System of Objects and Their Consumption"). What do we yearn to express through technology? What is it it that fascinates us about robots? Why is there such a proliferation of automatism, accessory features, inessential features to the point where
an object's dysfunctions are as important as its functions? Baudrillard acknowledges his debt to some of Lewis Mumford's ideas, and deplores with him that too often we try to solve problems by building a machine (perhaps nowadays we would tend to develop software, or in Baudrillard's terms simulate) and thus not only fall wide of the mark but also reveal clear signs of social ineptitude and paralysis. Fashion, consumption, technology are intertwined themes in modern society, feeding off each other and leading to a world that is at once systematized, fragile and baroque, in the sense that the proliferation of forms seems to be more important than mining for substance. It is interesting to compare some of these insights with a more recent book by another French philosopher, Gilles Lipovetsky, on fashion in modern societies ("The empire of the ephemeral", 1987).

The book ends by looking at the role credit and advertising play in the consumption of systems of objects, and thus completes what the book's jacket indicates is "a cultural critique of the commodity in consumer society". Baudrillard is a humanist critic of technology and consumer society and uses psychoanalytical ideas as weapons to grapple with his subject. The book is by turns, infuriating, keen, stimulating but in the end one feels that, curiously, it lacks a certain depth; it plays with
mirrors and is content with catching the light and obtaining the occasional blinding flash; but sometimes that the criticisms seem a little too one-sided or perhaps I simply prefer more constructive criticism. Still, the book is a tour-de-force, and I feel that the translator, James Benedict, did a fine job with a difficult text.