Bishop Books

Well written, and easily approachable by the average layman interested in a critique of St. Augustine's works and his place in Orthodox Christianity. Hieromonk Seraphim was an accomplished scholar, an intellectual of immense stature, but he wrote for a much more important audience than the small rarefied circles of academics. He wrote for the souls of those who really wanted to learn and grasp something of what the Orthodox Church conveys to the world. To that end, his defense of St. Augustine ("Blessed" in Russian nomenclature, and he explains clearly why that is so), is an edifying read about the Theology of Orthodox Christianity as much as a refutation of rather curious assaults upon the sanctity of an important Church Father.

Certainly Bl. Augustine had some flaws, as all saints do. But is he a heretic, or the "source of all western heresies"? Certain people, such as Fr. Michael Azkoul, Dr. Alexander Kalomiros, and even John S. Romanides, would seem to say so. But in this book by Fr. Seraphim Rose, a basic outline of why Augustine *is* a saint in the Orthodox Church is given. As was pointed out in another review, this isn't a scholarly or exhaustive treatment, but it is on the level of popular apologetics, and on that level it succeeds quite beautifully.

The book itself goes through a history of what was said in the 1,600 years since Augustine lived quite quickly, but hits on some very important points along the way. The Letters of Fr. Seraphim Rose in which he wrote about Bl. Augustine are a wonderful addition to this book, and add a personal depth that helps connect the book to real life. We aren't just talking about some dry, abstract, academic debate here; this is an important issue. Fr. Seraphim did us all a great service by presenting us a case for Augustine's blessedness, and pointing towards avenues for further study.

The only major criticism that I have of the book is that it is very poorly documented (never one of Fr. Seraphim's strong areas). For example, on page 79 Fr. Seraphim tells us that Augustine is called "Saint Augustine the Great" in the official calendar of one of the Old-Calendarist Greek Churches. That's great... but which group, and when? Fr. Seraphim doesn't say. But again, the book wasn't written for intellectuals, but for regular Joe Layman's.

Fr Seraphim Rose's short text on Blessed Augustine is an insightful charge for Orthodox to embrace the tenets of moderation and understanding in an approach to the often controversial views of Augustine. While not an 'academic work' in the sense that it holds up to a great deal of critical scrutiny in all its points, Fr Rose's text nonetheless provides a much needed alternative to the frequent 'Augustine-bashing' found in certain circles, drawing out both the negative and the positive in the author's thought.

_The Place of Blessed Augustine in the Orthodox Church_ by Fr. Seraphim Rose is about the theological controversy that has raged over the ages concerning the noteworthy Bishop of Hippo. Blessed Augustine, after Jesus Himself and St. Paul is probably the most controversial figure Christian history. This short book puts Augustine in his proper sphere of veneration--that of a Father of Orthodox piety. Fr. Seraphim comments on recent disputes in the Orthodox Church about Augustine. Augustine has been criticized in some circles as having set the course of Western Christendom on that path that it followed after the Great Schism in the 1000s toward overly-logical rationalism, the Calvinist denial of free-will, and corrupting Orthodox doctrine on God's grace toward sinners. The modern day Orthodox theologians who disparage Augustine are censured for not looking at how Augustine has always been viewed-as a Saint and great Teacher. _Blessed Augustine_ goes into some detail about the free-will debate as well. The traditional Orthodox teaching, explains Fr. Seraphim, is one of synergy, or God's grace working with man's free will to attain salvation. Augustine's teaching was an overreaction to Pelagius, a heretic who placed too much emphasis on man's free will and lessened the role of God in salvation. Augustine never denied free will, but went a little overboard when he spoke about the effect of God's grace. St. John Cassian in the West, along with the Eastern fathers, were more moderate in the balance between God's Grace and free will, and spoke out against Augustine's errors. This did not make Augustine a heretic, or one who spread false doctrine. Fr. Seraphim points out several examples where venerated Fathers have taught error in isolated instances or as a matter of private opinion, but their thought as a whole were in continuous agreement. The last three parts of Blessed Augustine_ contain letters in which Fr. Seraphim discussed Augustine, the passages Fr. Seraphim underlined in the _Confessions_, and a liturgy for Blessed Augustine.

I love this little work by Fr. Seraphim. I love everything I've ever read from the man, but I especially enjoyed this one. I love Blessed Augustine, and I venerate him as one of the crowning jewels of the Orthodox West. So moving are the words found in his Confessions, that I have been moved to tears reading them. What pious Orthodox Christian, reflecting on his own sins, and desiring grace, cannot see the Orthodox spirit that shines so resplendantly in Blessed Augustine? What hard-heartedness has overtaken some, that such a holy and God-bearing father is denigrated and slandered? What authority do we moderns have to pass judgment on one who was so obedient to the instruction and discipline of the Church? If only we could all aspire to imitate his humility!

Yet there are many in our age who see themselves more astute, or even more spiritual, than the Fathers, and who pass judgment on those who are their elders. I am coming out of my own Babylonian captivity in American Protestantism, and I see in these supposed Orthodox "theologians" the same prideful spirit that for so long has tainted my own thinking. The Fathers are not stone figures to be used like chess pieces to advance fruitless theological arguments, or to inflate one's pride with some sort of false sense of orthodoxy. They are not open to dispute, for the simple fact that they know the truth much better than us. I know this is difficult for many to accept, but nevertheless it is true. The Fathers stand as living, theandric icons, and they speak to us now as lovingly as they did when they walked this earth. We should listen to them, because they live, though we see it not, and their words and deeds are as real now as they ever were. They pray for us and care for our souls. May God grant us the wisdom to see our own sin and hard-heartedness and to imitate our spiritual elders.

Blessed Augustine, pray for us sinners!

Disclaimer: I have been a librarian for 35 years, and a motorcycle rider for 46 years, so I can hardly claim to be a typical or neutral reviewer of this book. If Amazon permitted 6 stars, I would award them. It is a rare event indeed to find a work that so lovingly deals with both motorcycle riding and books.

Ted Bishop captures vividly the essence of long distance motorcycle riding, including writing in one's head while riding, and the distraction to a writer to riding in one's head while attempting to write (a considerably less dangerous activity). His words took me back to an 11,000-mile ride that I made two years ago, along many of the same roads.

Equally vivid are his characterizations of librarians and archivists who work in special collections, and of the process by which a scholar mines the books and papers in such collections for insights and publications.

Bishop has a keen eye for irony, and I found myself laughing so hard while reading Riding with Rilke on a plane flight that I fear I was creating a disturbance for my fellow passengers.

Riders who aren't especially interested in books may find too little motorcycle content in this book. Scholars and librarians with little interest in motorcycles may find too little about books and literature (and very little, indeed, about Rilke). For those few who are passionate about both motorcycles and books, Riding with Rilke is a rare treat.

When reading RIDING WITH RILKE it is easy to see that Ted Bishop, a good writer, loves books and Ducati motorcycles but for me this book felt a little flat. There are too many pages about minor characters and minor events that add nothing to the story. The book would be helped if the 261 pages were cut back by a quarter. I too love books and ride a motorcycle, a Harley Road Glide, so it gives me no joy not to rave about the book but still, I would recommend it even if you feel like skipping a few pages.

Not a mere travelogue or another bike adventure...Bishop escorts the reader through the very essense of riding in the most spiritual, thoughtful and surprisingly, visceral treat of a book...yes, this little book travels well: I took a ride to New Mexico and there it sat patiently on my nightstands in all the different hotels, motels and inns along the way...then, upon opening the book's pages, it (the book) merrily displayed its well-crafted prose to bring together this joy of riding a motorcycle and the sheer bliss at reading the power and majesty of word after word, woven together into images and concepts of both of these Life-sustaining activities...OK, so it is not for everyone, it is for me and that's what we're talking about here...if you Love either, read it, if you Love both, devour it...if you Love neither, God help you, 'cause you are missing out on Life at its finest and the "Now," the moments...love of riding, love of words, love of Life...another tapestry to bring form and content to our Loves...live on that edge and slip back to write about it...darn, I'm going for a ride now: "four wheel move the body, two wheels move the soul" and I feel the call of the wind...

As a reader and rider, I enjoyed this book as a motorcycle travelogue with all its arcane bits of literary data strewn throughout.
If I have a small complaint it is that Bishop spends too much time in Austin and not exploring more of the places he is terrific at writing about. When we were traveling with him, he made some of those stops come alive and gave the book some fun and substance. When he halted (as he had to in order to do the archive research), so did the cycle action.
However, with that being said, some of the book's best and most poignant passages are his ruminations on reading and riding - his description on p. 112 about the "readiness of books" has been accurate in my reading life. And the couple of pages (p. 124-6) about silence and listening were memorable.
So is the line: "I wrote on the bike and I rode in the reading room. I'm sure it's the same in offices everywhere." He's right, of course, as I work while I ride and ride while I work in the form of a quick daydream. Nice to know others have the same feelings.

Although there were portions of this book that were good, many of them seemed uninteresting to me. I had hoped it would be a story that provided interesting details of both a bike journey and book collecting. In the end I feel like a got less than I hoped for either. He seems to gloss over many of his actual riding journey but spends a lot of time on details that added nothing to the story for me. Perhaps I am spoiled by Peter Egan.

There is a copy of this book for auction on ebay, a great place for out of print books. Amazon has several out of print books in their auctions too.

I noticed in the other reviews that nobody mentioned the Native American guy the main character forms a love interest with. And I think Bishop did a terrific job describing how a rural vet might react when confronted with a herd of sick unicorns. How do we get a book back into print?

I read this book when it was first published. I only read it once because my copy vanished. Over the years, the book haunted me - but I couldn't remember the name! Then today I thought I'd search for it using "Unicorns" and "Aids" only to find that it's gone out of print! How can that be? It's such a long time since I read the book that I can't honestly remember how well written it was - and Aids was so new in those days - but the unicorns still resonate...

I found Unicorn Mountain to be an enjoyable book, but it wasn't quite what I thought it would be. Part fantasy, part more general fiction, it is a story of life and death and coming together. It's a story of conflicting cultures, of facing fears, and of finding out what really matters.

The cover proclaims Unicorn Mountain to be a fantasy novel, but I'm not sure that's quite it's primary genre. True, there are fantasy elements, namely the unicorns, but they actually play a very small role in the novel. The other elements that could be considered fantasy are actually spiritual elements from the Ute traditions, and I personally would not dream of demeaning their religion by calling it fantasy.

My other problem with calling this a fantasy novel is that I'm not sure which sub-genre I would put it in. It takes place in (relatively) modern times, but it's not an urban fantasy. I don't think that rural fantasy is a sub-genre.

Personally, I think that this would best be classified as simply fiction.

Instead of filling the book with unicorns as I had expected, Bishop uses the mystical creatures to bring his main characters together and to highlight their stories. The unicorns gave them all something to fight for and a reason to stay around each other and learn to accept each other's differences.

Unicorn Mountain was written and set in the mid 1980's, at the beginning of the widespread AIDS epidemic in the United States, and it dealt with that in a surprisingly dignified manner, given the time period in which it was written. I thought that Bishop did an admirable job conveying Bo and the people he interacted with, covering the entire spectrum of reactions. Though it was rather obvious to me that Bo was created for that reason, I still liked the character, because he was far more than just a gay guy with AIDS, which is part of what the book was about.

I did find the bits about people being overly upset by condoms and condom advertising to be amusing, because that was before my time, but it fits in with the timeframe and adds a little extra to the book, even if it does date it a little. In this case, though, I think that dating is good, because it will help people place the attitudes about AIDS and gays in context as well.

The other characters were equally engaging. I particularly liked Paisley/Alma, though I wish that Bishop had spent more time with her, and that I had been able to learn more about the Ute culture and rituals through her. That I think was the one thing that I felt was really lacking element-wise from the book. I didn't feel that Sam and Paisley were developed as well as they could have been, because a lot of the Ute culture was glossed over so that I didn't really learn anything.

Unicorn Mountain surprised me. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought that I would, particularly after I found out how different it was from what I had been anticipating. It was, however, surprisingly enjoyable, and I'm glad that I read it.

I don't usually just unconditionally rave about a book, but this one deserves 5 stars and heaps of praise. The human relationships are drawn so well, the strains of Native American culture still surviving in modern society are sensitively and convincingly depicted, and we get a well-rounded portrait of an AIDS victim drawn when the disease was still somewhat new . . . all these things are wonderful, and that's not even counting the main character and the magical unicorns. Also, the device of the TV broadcasting channels from an alternate dimension -- sounds like a silly convention, but it works, as does just about everything in this marvelous, affirming book. I must find more by this author!

Bishop
By: Miz


Richard Brown Jr. AKA "Bishop" the son of a prominent pastor and schoolteacher was raised to keep God first in his life and always do the right thing. However, sometime it doesn't happen that way, the Brown family is forced to move into the most ruthless projects in Brooklyn (Fort Greene) due to financial difficulties. That's when the entire problem started, when Richard met the love of his life Lisa, the hottest chick in the Fort Greene area. Unfortunately for both Lisa and Bishop, Shameek wasn't having it. Shameek was determined to destroy everything that stood in Bishop ways.

I heard so many positive things about this book, before even getting my hands on it. Everyone has his or her opinion, and I had to admit I was curious on what all the "HYPE" was about. I came to the conclusion that everyone was corrected about this book. Miz really out did himself with this book I give it a 9. Great job Miz.

Shaifire
Urbanfirebooks

Richard Brown Jr., known as Bishop on the streets, was raised in a loving home by Rev. Ricahrd Brown Sr. and Maria Brown, a schoolteacher. Forced to live in the projects, Richard was introduced to street life in his teenage years and got caught up in the game of drugs and murder. While his street life continues to spiral out of control, Richard struggles between the personalities of "Richard the churchboy" and "Bishop the gangster."

Bishop is a powerful story of how quickly the tough streets can take over and end lives.

This book is very very good this is a must read for everyone that loves to read.

Richard Timothy Brown Jr. is the son of a pastor and a teacher with a church upbringing. Richard is known as a quiet church boy. When his family is faced with financial difficulties, they are forced to move into Fort Greene projects in Brooklyn NY. Richard has no friends that until he meets Kendu who quickly becomes more then just his best friend he becomes the bro he never had. Kendu is the one who nicknames him "Bishop".

When Lisa the flyest female in fort green takes a liking to Bishop, he discovers a love like no other. Bishop and Lisa love one another unconditional; this is a problem for her ex boyfriend Shameek who does not take the break up to well.

Shameek is a thug, drug dealer and all around ruthless person. Now out of nowhere this church going kid has a beef going on. When Kendu is gun down by Shameek's soldier all hell breaks loose. Bishop struggles with his up bringing and the feeling of having to avenge his friend's death.

Take the roller coaster ride with Bishop. Read the story and find out who makes it out the hood and who does not. Find out does Bishop have what it takes to avenge his friend's death and protect his family or will he turn the other cheek. This story is action pack. Has love, backstabbing, loyalty, drugs, murder, robbery all the making for a great story that could easily be a movie. This book is unpredictable and a must read.

Author Miz does a great job bringing this story together, while putting the hood in pen form. I commend him on his introduction of the characters. He gives you background on each one of them to the point that you saying damn I understand now why they did x, w, z. I also commend him on his choice of the cover once you read the book the cover totally makes sense. Sometimes a cover does not jump out to me but I have to admit the cover hit it right on the nail. I look forward to reading more from this Author. I had this book for months and I am so glad I pulled it out my waiting to be read pile. I brought part 2 when I brought Bishop so now I am off to continue the story.

SiStar Tea
ARC Book Club Inc.
Star rating: 5

Richard Brown Jr. AKA "Bishop" the son of a prominent pastor and school teacher was raised to keep God first in his life and always do the right thing.

The Brown family finds themselves in financial turmoil when Mrs. Brown gets laid off and they are forced to move to Fort Greene projects in Brooklyn, New York. Labeled as the pastor son and being surrounded by the chaos in the PJ's, Richard didn't have any friends until he met Kendu, a good guy who accepts Richard for who he is and they become the best of friends.

Its love at first sight for Bishop when he is approached by Lisa, the flyest chick in Fort Greene. His life takes a 360 turn when Kendu life is taken away by a soldier that's apart of Shameeks' crew. Shameek is a drug dealer, thug and also the ex of Lisa, which he is not taking the break up lightly.

What will Bishop do? Will he take actions in his own hands and avenge Kendu's death and protect his family by any means necessary? Take a ride on the wild side with Bishop and crew to see who will be the last man standing.

MIZ and OH produced a very good read. Fast paced, very descriptive from the beginning to end. Each character was introduce very well. Looking forward to reading more from the author. GREAT JOB!!!!!

Tangerine
Reader's Paradise Book Club

Despite some strong narrative writing here, "Blood of the Wicked" leans so much on brutality and violence that enjoyment of the story is often compromised by its very bloodiness. Granted the ongoing conflict between the haves and have-nots in Brazil is well-documented and often results in see-sawing assaults and murders. However, author Leighton Gage has pursued that aspect of social confrontation to excess, chronicling a series of torture/murders--particularly of women--to an unnecessary extreme (in my opnion).

My other general problem with this novel is the author's portrayal of his protagonist, Chief Inspector Mario Silva--the top cop in Brazil's Federal Police. Despite the impressive bonafides provided by author Gage for Silva, he and his entourage of experienced Federal officers play only a passive role throughout the book, arriving at the various crime scenes well after the latest murder has been committed and seemingly unable to anticipate and prevent the next violent occurrence.

So, this is not a book for the reader with a sensitive stomach or who especially enjoys good police procedurals. However, its bloodymindedness and fast-paced action will definitely find some fans.

This is an extremely well written and engaging book by a first-time published author. I can't wait for his next mystery to come out in January of next year. Not only is the story exciting, the characters are fascinating and the Brazilian backdrop extremely interesting. I strongly recommend this book.

It is very rare indeed when I feel the Amazon peer review system has guided me to a book I don't enjoy as much as the other reviewers. This unfortunately is one of them.
First off, it isn't a mystery. You'll know who the villain is just a few pages in. Second, the background of Silva, the federal policemen investigating the crimes, was overly melodramatic and contrived. Indeed the whole book is melodramatic and predictable. The only surprise is the continued brutality, which admittedly may be a part of Brazilian land disputes, but here only helps in tallying up the number of innocent victims. The overall tone is preachy and in only a couple of instances admits that the solutions to Brazil's land problems lie in some sort of compromise. The rest of the book is full of brave landless peasants fighting against evil landowners and corrupt cops with only the help from their friends, the equally brave Vatican defying Liberation Theology spouting priests (there are evil priests here too). I don't want to ascribe any politics to Leighton Gage, since I don't know much about him, but if the next book also has an overtly social reformist tone it'll be a disappointment as well.

I like to read in bed before going to sleep. Usually it helps me relax and opens the way for a restful sleep. However, the interwoven multidimensional plot of Blood of the Wicked kept me up till 4 in the morning. I kept on telling myself that I'll put the book down at the end of the chapter; however it didn't quite work that way as the book kept on pulling me along. The author has that special knack that I'll call literature chocolate truffles. I'll keep on consuming each line until I read the whole thing. The only difference is that instead of eating an entire box and putting on 3000 calories I am stuck craving his next novel.

As far as the story content, I would recommend reading Duncan Haynes review. He did a good job describing the absorbing storyline and unique setting.

In a carefully crafted mystery-thriller debut Blood of the Wicked, Leighton Gage reveals a little- seen side of Brazil. This is not a beach book of tanned and toned bodies moving to a languid bossa nova rhythm along the sandy shores of Rio de Janeiro. Nor is it an Amazon adventure. This story takes place in the pantal of the southeastern region. It is a gristly tale of greed, torture, murder, and of personal and institutional corruption in a country where one percent of the population owns half of the arable land, and where much of the peasantry is condemned to a life of involuntary servitude.

The story reveals the region to be a breeding ground for strife and Gage loses no time throwing us into the fray. Enter Dom Filipe Antunes, Bishop of Preidente Vargas, descending by helicopter on the town of Cascatas do Pantal to bestow blessings on the new church of Nossa Senhora dos Milagres. The bishop is greeted by a ring of townspeople, a crescent of banners of the Landless Worker's League and a posting of State Police. The delegation of local officials approaches at an annoyingly slow pace and a bullet from a high-powered rifle finds the bishop's heart as he stands alone.

Who did it? Was it landless workers upset that Christianity was not being practiced on its most fundamental level? Or was it wealthy landowners looking for another excuse to persecute the land-reform agitators?

Enter the institutions. The Vatican is upset. Powers in Brasilia demand a politically balanced solution. The job falls on the shoulders of protagonist Mario Silva, Chief Inspector for Criminal Matters of the Federal Police of Brazil.

Mario Silva knows a lot about criminal activity in Brazil -- urban variety, anyway. In the book's early pages we learn how his father was murdered by robber after making a fatal mistake -- stopping for a red light. We also learn how Mario Silva found the robber and exacted justice, urban Brazilian style. Subjects of Silva's investigation included pawn brokers, street kids, hoodlems and policemen who supplement their income by shaking them down. Silva's action did not involve arresting his father's murderer and bringing him to trial. However, distinctive feature's of the robber's tatoo and the uniqueness of the stolen object made Silva absolutely certain that he had gotten and dispatched the right man.

Investigating the murder of the Bishop in provincial city of Cascatas do Pantal, Silva is not able to take such decisive action. He is hamstrung by bureaucracy, blocked by the uncooperative Colonel of the State Police, and is hampered by people's fear to speak. As Silva investigates systematically we learn many interesting facts the way. We learn about the "Theology of Liberation" which was once advocated by rural priests and has now found the disfavor of the Church hierarchy. We learn of the vast fazendas (rhymes with haciendas), some as large as Connecticut. We learn that the constitutional allows for seizure and purchase of unused portions of these large holdings by populist movements. We also learn that the legal process is complicated and that the judges are for sale.

In Blood of the Wicked, Lieghton Gage serves up a strong brew of horror story, police procedural, slasher novel and whodunit. It would defy classification were it not a true and never- ending story. It is the story of a land war and frontier justice, south of the equator. A landowner has his overseer nail a protesting peasant to a tree. A group of hooded vigilantes rousts the landowner from bed, butchers his overseer in front of his eyes, then carts the landowner off to be buried alive at the top of a hill. We learn that the commandant State Police is not just a bureaucratic short-timer, but is one of the bad guys. The priests, we learn, come in several flavors besides Jesuit and Franciscan. Escalating violence gets way ahead of Chief Inspector Silva's procedural investigation of the initial crime. The struggle becomes a combination of range war and Mafia turf fight with many players lending a hand. When the dust settles, justice is served, but mainly because Silva the only honest man left standing and because national TV cameras are poised to broadcast the story.

The "ripped from the headlines" quality of Blood of the Wicked is the result of the author's wide experience with the Brazil, which includes marriage and frequent visits to the country.

This is another great book in the baby faces series. I can say the book aloud and my daughter starts laughing.

My son really enjoys this book, the realistic pictures appeal to him, and he loves acting out each page. It's cute and it rhymes. He loves to give each baby on each page a kiss as well.

We are long-time fans of baby books with faces as the primary "art". This is a new series for us and we LOVE it! My daughter really enjoys seeing the babies and the "story" helped us teach her more about hugs and kisses (which she doles out often now!). Great choice!

Not nearly my childs favorite book that I had hoped but it still is decent. She likes books with more involvement - sounds/ color/ touch to it. She is my first child so hopefully the next ones will like it more.

Bought this book for grandson and grandma they love it! Now passed on to his brother.

Horgan's writing is captivating but his his historical acuity is blunted by his religious zeal (which gets wordy at times) and cannot serve as any sort of corrective to Willa Cather's lavish adulation of Latour/Lamy. Horgan will deal bluntly with Martinez's failings but utterly avoids the sense of homosexuality in the bishop's relationship with his busom buddy Machebeuf. He also does not deal adequately with though he does allude to Lamy's insensitiviy to Hispanic culture, as with the santos.

Apart from Paul Horgan fans, probably most people coming to this book will be doing so to learn more about the real life archbishop who inspired Willa Cather's great novel DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP. And just as Cather's novel concerns the friendship and work of two major characters--Archbishop Jean Latour and his vicar Father Joseph Vaillant--so Horgan's biography necessarily tells the story not only of Juan Bautista Lamy but also Joseph Machebeuf.

Horgan's biography succeeds magnificently in two ways. First, for those who will be coming to the book from reading Cather, one will find vastly greater depth and detail than was possible in that novel. So, the book is a boon for Cather fans. Second, even if one has not read Cather, the book tells a magnificent story of a truly heroic man and his closest friend. Their story is also the story of the West as a whole, and Santa Fe in particular.

There are biographies that record the rote facts about an individual, and unfortunately most fall into this category. And the there are biographies that almost manage to bring you into contact and introduce you to someone you have never met. Lamy emerges almost as someone you know, instead of someone you merely know things about.

I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in either history of the American West or in Willa Cather's great novel. Although I am not myself Roman Catholic, it would probably also be enjoyed by those whose main interest is in Church History. It is a tragedy that this book is not currently in print. With so many much weaker and less interesting biographies available, it is unfortunate that many of the truly excellent ones are not.

Growing up in New Mexico in the 60's, 70's and early 80's three things were extremely evident: the historical confluence of the Mexican and native cultures about the place and the layered influence of the Catholic Church on top of it all. Not growing up Catholic, much of this culture was a mystery to me at the time. Now being older, much more mindful of historical influences and a convert to Catholicism, the influence of the Catholic Church in my native state of New Mexico is of great interest to me personally.

Imagine my feeling of good fortune then when I discover a copy of Lamy of Santa Fe by Paul Horgan, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History in the bargain bin at the college bookstore of my neighboring university. Much better than the implied dust covered status of my find, Horgan wrote brings to life in biographical form the historical life of Bishop Lamy. Lamy was not only the first Bishop of Santa Fe, he was one of the most important, influential, and civilizing figures of late 19th Century western expansion of our country. Adding to his significance is that fact that his presence can still be felt all over historical and modern day New Mexico.

This well written book isn't just for people interested in the historical influence of the Catholic Church; it has something to say to anyone interested in the history of the United States in general and the Southwest in particular. Mr. Horgan did a sympathetic and masterful job of bring this man's life into focus for his readers.

Jean Baptiste Lamy has indeed been fortunate to have two major writers present his life in so strong a light: Willa Cather in DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP, where Lamy is portrayed fictionally in the character of Jean Latour, and in this magnificent biography by Paul Horgan. It was Lamy's tremendous force of character, his inner strength in knowing to his bones what was right and being able to call up the courage to act upon it, that one gets from both Cather and Horgan.

Lamy came to Santa Fe in 1850, having been a missionary and vicar in Ohio till then. Catholicism had stagnated in New Mexico, and Lamy instituted sweeping changes upon his arrival. His main goal was to re-establish the Church as the center of life in the southwest; to do so he needed to get rid of priests who were corrupt and spiritually counter-productive. Two of them, Jose Gallegos and Antonio Martinez, objected strongly to Lamy's ways, and caused much mischief for him. But Lamy, through his bravery, persistence, and authority in what he felt was right, became the spiritual light that illuminated the affairs of the southwest during the second half of the 19th century.

Horgan's account of Lamy is as magisterial as his subject; his admiration and respect for the archbishop resonates in almost every paragraph. It's a wonderful achievement - a delight to read. A most deserving winner of the Pulitzer Prize.

If there is proof that religion is cultural Paul Horgan demonstrates it in this work which is more than a single biography, but two. Lamy's initial dilemma, besides getting to his Santa Fe assignment, was to overcome the politics of Mexican Catholicism, and bend its will to his own. It was not the good Church defeating evil so much as it was Lamy's determination to arrange things in their proper order while at the same time creating an infrastructure to benefit his parishioners. His monument is the cathedral at Santa Fe in front of which is a stature to his memory as a man beloved by all. Still, Lamy shows a natural reluctance to relinquish habitual authority after retirement. The Archbishop was a man, after all, but a man with a calling he was determined to fulfill. Incidentally, when a character from one book shows up in another unrelated work (Lamy's eventual successor, in Tucson), 'On the Border With Crook,' it lends co-incident authenticity to both.

This is an excellent source of information for someone that is interested in the art of Lua.

This book was awesome. Not just for martial arts but for historical info as well. If you want to break the monotony of your training this book is for you. Think out side the art.

This book is definitely above-average, with detailed history and facts sections, a great chapter detailing PA' (lua 'dojos'), simple yet useful artwork and an interesting layout; my opinion, though, is that "Lua" is an excellent book to glimpse otherwise unknown aspects of the hawaiian unique culture and mindset - but don't expect to learn much about the practical part of this martial art!
The "weapons" section is extensive, while the chapter concerning techniques is in my opinion the weaker part of the book - the routines are explained too briefly, and of the hundreds 'AI (moves) that were listed, only the most intuitive are shown...
All in all, an interesting book about hawaiian culture and history, and a good starting point to at least get to know about Lua.

This volume is a professional expose presented on the highest quality paper for the long-term appreciation of its readers. The format is logical, the illustrations are well presented and described, and the photography is stunning.

The book is not an instruction manual but martial artists from other traditions will find familiar themes and approaches and "food for thought".

Lua, the Hawaiian martial art, went underground after the arrival of the missionaries in the early 1800s. Despite the suppression, clandestine masters passed on the secrets of lua to a select few. Over time, much of the art was lost and only one known master remained. Five men, including the four authors, found him and began four years of training until they, too, became `olehe (masters).

This book is both a tribute to their now-deceased instructor and a means of insuring the basics of the art are never lost (there's no doubt the masters have kept many of the secrets secret). A graphically beautiful book, typical of the Bishop Musuem Press, the text covers the amnient and recent ancient of the sport, including training, spirituality, weapons, and schools. Although this is not a "how to" book, one of several appendices includes 35 pages illustrating a number of lua techniques. Included are the Hawaiian names of hundreds of "moves" and the parts of the human body of concern to the lua warrior.

This book is a historical and cultural masterpiece Any student of ancient Hawai`i or anyone interested in preserving the Hawaiian culture will want a copy of their own.

An invaluable guide and a true eye opening experience. My small business means constant change and knowledge of my people. This book is very helpful and informative. As a small business owner it is critical that I find the right people and that they are in the best roles. This book has changed the way I look at my people and potential hires. If you want to improve your personnel assessment and feel confident facing the challenges of business life this is a must read.

An invaluable guide and a true eye opening experience. My small business means constant change and knowledge of my people. This book is very helpful and informative. As a small business owner it is critical that I find the right people and that they are in the best roles. This book has changed the way I look at my people and potential hires. If you want to improve your personnel assessment and feel confident facing the challenges of business life this is a must read.

I found this book informative. It really helped me evaluate each of my staff members individually as well as how they fit within my team.

"Making Change Happen" is good, as far as it goes. The discussion of people and their ability to fit in a changing organization and promote the change is good. If you are buying this book to guide in change planning and implementation, it provides some good groundwork information. But it is not sufficient, by itself. This author uses supervisors' assessments of "change readiness", etc.. Other books and articles provide more rigorous and objective testing of staff change readiness, etc. The author also does not deal with the morale and organizational impact of forced reassignments and "outplacement" (lay-offs or firings). He even strongly implies that the staff that remain will have higher morale during the process. Obviously, he is a consultant. He has never been close to the workforce in an organization that is in the midst of an organizational change process, or one that has had lay-offs or firings in the proceeding months or years. Nor has he read the research on how those impact morale, retention of business knowledge, and, ultimately, productivity. In that sense, this book reminds me of the Hammer and Champy "Reengineering" books of the last decade; pregnant with potential, but lacking a connection with critical components of the realities of what is happening in the corporation.

The infinite dynamics of change are not readily evident when someone or an evaluation team sets out to forge a series of modifications in an individual, a group or an organization. When charging forward to create a new course-setting direction with fervor, some change agents are driven by tradition, expedience, budget restrictions or just plain misconceptions. The very best of individual and collective good intentions may be interspersed and circumscribed by a host of expected, but not easily attainable, intended outcomes. Small and large businesses, local governments and the most spirited educators are engaged in a never ending surge of personnel change processes that seems to work no catalytic miracles for the changes they are so diligently striving to accomplish. Fortunately, there exists an exciting new way to avoid the pitfalls of recruiting, selecting and appointing an individual to a new station in the organization and then seeing that very person fall from grace because the organization just simply did not put in place the correct strategy to use this vital human resource in the proper way. Dr. Charles H. Bishop has penned a timely treatise on one of the most important topics of our day. Dr. Bishop has brought forth a way to save time and money when organizations need to enact a significant personnel change for the good of the organization. What is the seemingly invisible assay that brings about real change with positive benefits for all? The "it" we are searching for has been refined by a shortlist of brave new world human resource people in some the nation's most progressive corporations. When one of these individuals (that is, Dr. Bishop) began to envision that changing organizations meant that the smallest unit or cog in the wheels of change had to be nourished, tested, refined and mentored by a new set of assumptions, a new distillation of personnel and leadership change factors became self-evident. In a phrase, the answer is "personal change capacity". As an education professor and practicum supervisor for prospective educational administrators enrolled for a northern Virginia private university, I have been reading with great interest the research literature associated with the role, purpose and mission of leaders for some time. When I read "Making Change Happen One Person at a Time", I knew I had stumbled on a set of solid statements related to making practical and proven personnel assessments. A careful study of Dr. Bishop's book began to unravel why some aspiring principals, or any future leader for that matter, seem to catch the vision of their place in schools or in other settings while, in contrast, other equally energetic and enthusiastic neophyte leader candidates faltered, floundered and ultimately failed to reach their leadership potential. Dr. Bishop reveals that when we attempt to place "successful" individuals in supposedly key positions in an unsystematic manner in order to cause positive changes, not only do the chosen ones typically underachieve, their failure sends a very a strong signal that we have inadvertently omitted crucial considerations of that individual's unique capacity to function in a new leadership arena. What are these crucial considerations and how do we put the important factors to use so that we make keener and crisper decisions that result in moving our visions and missions forward? Literally and figuratively, it is as easy as the following the ABCs. Dr. Bishop has formulated a schema that anyone might follow to identify pivotal players in any organization-even a small or large school. The scale of potential leaders begins with the A-players and concludes with the D-players. There are those among us that thrive on challenges and posses the wherewithal to meet and overcome the woes and throes of organizational stumbling blocks. At the opposite end of the leadership spectrum are the resisters who resemble the tares in the wheat field. They appear willing to change, but use a variety of ever-so-subtle tactical means to prevent the organization from reaching its objective. No matter the size and dimensions of an organization, everyone's desire is make the right personnel decisions in an appropriately researched manner. You will find your personnel pathways lined with practical signs and directions in Dr. Bishop's refreshing new take on the change agent's new role of assessing an individual's capacity to greet and welcome the inevitable and rapid changes coming down the organizational and external pikes.

A excellent story with well developed characters.
I enjoyed every chapter. I look forward to the next book!

Martyr's Cry:A Bishop Hunter Mystery by Larry D. Bohall, is an interesting story with well-developed characters, dialogue, and plot. A very appealing combination.

John Savoy
Savoy International
Motion Pictures Inc.
Beverly Hills, California

A friend recommended Martyr's Cry by Larry Bohall and so I ordered the book (being the huge mystery freak that I am). I found this writer's story entertaining enough though it was a predictable story. I did enjoy the heroine however. Would I read another book by writer Bohall? Yes, I think I would.

Larry D. Bohall is indeed a talented writer. His narration is lively, vibrant, poetic and his descriptions were full of great imagery. I truly enjoyed it!?I highly recommend it. I hope he continues with another Mystery. It sure leaves the reader hungry for more...

I have just finished a remarkable novel, Martyr's Cry, and I was exhilarated by the flow, the author-controlled pace and the overall dramatic impact of the work. I was also disappointed. I was thoroughly disappointed that it came to an end. Oh, make no doubt about it, it ended precisely where it should have ended. Any more would have been anti-climactic. It wasn't a failing of the book. But, as Mr. Bohall said on the back cover, this is "a mystery for hopeless romantics." And I must say of myself ~as a hopeless romantic ~ I wanted to linger there longer, just a while longer. I've read a lot of novels over a whole lot of years, and I can say I've had that feeling only a handful of times...

A consummate artist, Mr. Bohall lured me into the novel with the promise on the cover: "If you don't deal with the ghosts of your past, the ghosts of your past will deal with you..." So, okay, I'm thinking, Mr. Bohall is speaking figuratively. There won't be any real live ghosts... will there? Then, just inside the book's "door," I find myself being whisked through a very dramatic prologue, then tossed fully into the first chapter where there's already been a hint of a murder, a protagonist you can't help but love, and questions... the questions that keep popping up that you know are going to demand answers.

Not the least of the questions is: how will Bishop John Wesley Hunter deal with the ghost of his past? And, concerning the ghost of his past, will she ~~ but, then, how can I complete that question without robbing you of your enjoyment. And enjoyment you will have! With the guidance of a most talented story teller, you will be taken along with Bishop Hunter through all the many twists and turns of this tightly conceived plot. You will be taken where you'd swear there can be no resolution, but then our hero pulls through like the champion that he his, again and again and again ~ albeit not without bruises, both to his body... and his psyche.

So... strap yourself in and enjoy the ride. I promise you that, like me, you will feel thoroughly satisfied at its conclusion, though you'll be left wanting more. But, that's what sequels are for! (Are you listening, Mr. Bohall?)