Bloom Books

This is one of the best books on defining ones business and doing it right. I was totally engrossed with it. We had a meeting where 9 of us had read it and we followed what we had read and were very excited about the results accomlishing in one day.
A must read for anyone with a product or service that wants to grow and be and be an industry leader.

As a business owner, focus on growth is the essential driver of our performance and success. The Inside Advantage offers a clear, smart and strategic pathway to clarify your unique advantage in the marketplace and bring it to life in every aspect of your business.

Our agency leveraged these simple steps and helpful tools to hone our business strategy and nearly double our revenues and staff in one year.

Bob Bloom offers decades of advertising expertise, real world examples and actionable insights that make this a must read for entrepreneurs working at every stage, size and scope of business development.

I'm an avid reader of business books and I have to say this one ranks near the top. With all of the competition out there, it's crucial to not allow your company to get lost in the crowd. This book gives you an ACTION PLAN for identifying what makes your company unique and how to attract the best kind of customers for business growth. I've always been one to beat to my own drum, but this book reinforced the message and allowed me to refine my USP (unique selling position) even further. A great business tool! Thank you Bob, for sharing your wisdom!

I have read the book, seen Mr. Bloom speak and I have taken my team through the growth discovery process that Mr. Bloom has outlined in The Inside Advantage. His process has been an incredible insite for myself, my team, and our company. The process he describes helps a company discover WHO their core customer really is that they should target. This really helped us gain a more laser like focus for the customers of our software company that we did not have before. The WHAT and the HOW raised our awareness so that we could understand clearly what it is we have to offer and how we do it. The OWN IT is a key because it allowed us to define items that would ensure we executed.

Any of you that are big fans of Jim Collins book "Good to Great" and the hedgehog principle, will love this book. Why? Because discovering your hedgehog is not easy and "The Inside Advantage" gives you a process to look inside your company and gain insight and discovery that is hard to do. Mr. Bloom's process is so well described that you will not need a facilitator to follow it. It may not take you fully up to the mountain top to your Hedgehog but will get you high up the mountain so you see the top and find the rest of the way yourself.

The best reward for me as a CEO has been the many experiences in meetings and documentation that team members have referred to our WHO, WHAT, HOW and OWN IT that we learned from the process. The impact it is having is very apparent!

This is an interesting twist on the Unique Selling Proposition (USP). The idea of which has been around a long, long time. Though the idea isn't new Bloom has renamed USP the uncommon offering in his honor. But just because the book lacks novelty doesn't mean it is without merit. In my opinion it is worth reading especially for the entrenched business looking to break-out into double digit growth. This book provides a simple plan for growth through solid, proven marketing principles and business simplification.

The uncommon offering, is the "Inside Advantage" and it all starts with what you are already doing according to Bloom. Discovering the hidden potential inside your business is about the `growth discovery processes.' Meaning you don't have to reinvent your business or branch out for more offerings making thing more complicated. Instead you will need to uncover and capitalize on you're ONE thing. That ONE thing your business does better than the competition. The growth discovery process is uncovering the hidden potential that already exists in your offering. Then Improve it.

This book offers us a four step process and each step is broken down into its own components. The four steps of the big picture are:

1) Find your CORE customers. Beyond demographics; beyond what you may think of when you think of your customers. It is interesting to look at possibilities for the WHO and consider all of the options, such as defining your core customers based on their value for; being the best braggers for your product, being the biggest customers, being the longest relationship with you, being the least lily to complain, being the most likely to repeat their business, being the most likely to not repeat and why. Then you may want to identify these same customers in your competitor's base. Do a little demographic shifting and look at the next step.
2) Discover and deliver your uncommon offering, just listen to your core customers. They will tell you what you do best and why they buy it from you. You will want to examine this from an external and internal base. Writing down all of the ideas and phases people use to describe your offering and distill it down to a statement of 10 to 15 words.
3) Develop persuasive strategies in written statements for action. Growing your business through refining your communication and thought association for your company and offering. To me this read like some of the better branding books I've read lately, but in a short abbreviated chapter. This is a lesson in statements in action to immediately associate your offering with your company.
4) Imaginative acts. Creative public relations or publicity stunts that are tied to your uncommon offering and for the benefit of your core customers. There are some very good examples of what other companies have done most of which you will be familiar with.

I can recommend this book to any company that is looking to break out of a rut they may be in. However, for most creative, progressive companies it will just be a good reminder of what works. This book does a very good job of chronologically drafting out a step by step process employed by the Author. (His record of success speaks for itself)

For the small, new business or start-up this book is good, but you will need to put it into context for the size of clients Bloom works with and the fact that they are very established.

This is an appropriately titled tome with some of the best of Bloom County. A must for any BC fan.

If you remember the eighties, this book, the second collection from the "Bloom County" syndicated comic strip will be hysterically funny. If you do not remember the eighties, then it will just be funny. No one captured the moods, social movements and absurdity of their combination as well as Breathed did. His exaggerated characters and references to the anxieties of the moment were a dose of reality encased in the fiction of a cartoon strip. I never missed it and neither should you.

The beloved characters all appear. Milo remains well-supplied with nightmares from his anxiety clost, Steve Dallas remains un-supplied with tact or charm, and Opus displays his huge supply of innocent bafflement. Winsome Yaz Pistachios appears a few times, as does Bill the Cat (the anti-Garfield) and Oliver Wendell Jones, computer geek extraordinaire.

The humor is still there, but some of the freshness rubbed off during the quarter-century since these first appeared. Some grey heads will remember Phyllis Schlafly and all the other Reagan-era targets of the Bloom County barbs. The problem with topical humor is that topics change in the real world, but remain frozen on the printed page, becoming gradually more antiquated over time.

No matter. You'll find plenty of timeless humor and maybe a bit of nostalgia between these covers, as well as a reminder of how the early 80s looked to one cartoonist of the era.

-- wiredweird

That's really all I can say. It's not my favorite comic strip (that honor belongs to CALVIN AND HOBBES) but it is the laugh-out-loud funniest. BILL THE CAT LIVES!

These strips aren't just funny. They're laugh out loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see "WHAT-are-you-laughing-at?!" funny.

Berkeley Breathed has created a perfect 'toon universe populated by funny and poignant humans, along with funny and poignant penguins, groundhogs, Bill the Cat and purple critters that hide in your closet of anxieties waiting to grab you as soon as you sleep. Breathed was an absolute genius at seeing some topical issue of the day (circa 1984 for this voume) holding it up to the light so that we could see it just the way that he did, then skewering the thing with what would be the humor equivalent of cupid's arrow.

Back in the eighties, I considered the "Bloom County" strip to be the best cartoon feature of the time. Therefore, reading this book was a humorous and nostalgic look back to another time in America. There were references to presidency of Ronald Reagan and the Iran Contra scandal, the nuclear arms race, the evil empire of the Soviet Union and the first president Bush.
For one moment, I forgot the time context of the strip. On page 50 boy genius Oliver W. Jones has created a teleportation device. In the final caption of the segment, his father asks him, "Could you put George Bush into the White House?" To which he responds, "OH, WHY DO YOU ALWAYS EXPECT THE IMPOSSIBLE FROM ME?!" At first, I thought the reference was to George W. Bush, but then realized it was about George Herbert Walker Bush. I laughed at that one because it certainly could be applied to both.
Cartoon strips provide us with humor and a cynical look at the political and social forces of the time. Therefore, if you have little knowledge of the events of the eighties, then you will have a difficult time understanding many of the cartoons. However, if you lived through them and were old enough to be politically acute, then you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Ok for you Get Fuzzy fans, this is what I am talking about. On the cover of this collection we see Berkly Breathed using the Bruce Springsteen album collection set(from Christmas 1987) for inspiration. Take a look at the cover, Are You Bucksperienced just plagerizes this idea.

I've always had a slight preference for the early "Bloom County", before things got quite this surreal. Which is not to say that I don't enjoy this one; there are a great many very funny bits in here, such as Steve Dallas facing the government commission led by Tipper Gore in defense of the lyrics of the rock band "Deathtongue", which featured Opus the penguin on tuba (very appropriate for a heavy-metal band, wouldn't you say?) Hodge-Podge the rabbit on drums, Bill the Cat on electric tongue, and Steve Dallas a lead singer and songwriter. All of which is certainly pretty surreal. But sometimes it got even weirder than that, if you can believe it.

Not the best of the "Bloom County" books, and certainly not the one to start with if you aren't familiar with them, but funny and worth owning if you enjoy the series and don't have it.

Okay - Bloom County Babylon, the 4th Bloom County book was really a compilation of material contained in the first 3 books. So.... depending on if you want a chronological collection of the BC Strips, or to complete ALL of the BC Books, this is either the 4th or 5th volume of Bloom County, and Berkeley Breathed is still in high-gear producing the funniest 'toon strip I've ever read. And by "funny" I mean laugh-out-loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see "WHAT are you laughing at?!!!?" kind of laugh.

In "Billy and the Boingers" Steve Dallas, the sleazy womanizing ambulance-chasing lawyer, finally decides that even HE has had it with defending murderers and child abusers. Bill the cat inspires him to hold auditions for a "New high-profit heavy-metal rock band". Requirements are only "Need to know 3 chords and be able to grimace musically".

Along the way Opus the Penguin gets engaged to sweetie Lola Granola, and the new Heavy Metal Group "Death-Tongue" makes their pitch in Los Angeles to recording companies, ending with a memorable visit backstage at an Ozzy Osbourne concert - back when Ozzy was the "Elvis of Heavy Metal". Back in Bloom County Steve discovers that he must give up cigarette smoking or his life expectancy is 6 months. He has Opus tie him to a chair where he is the model of self-control for 38 whole minutes before he breaks down and tells Opus "Get me a (...) cigarette before I stick you in a blender". Things get worse from there.

As in the previous volumes Breathed does a fantastic job of creating a surreal universe full of people and critters that we care about, but who are most importantly..... funny.

Bloom County was without a doubt the most insightful, funny, and beloved comic strips of all time. It's rabid following has never gotten over the disappearance of Opus and the Gang from the funny papers. That's because nothing has ever been able to take it's place. Could you imagine Opus, Bill, Steve, and Milo tackling today's issues? What besides G.W. Bush and Saddam would be in the anxiety closet. Alas, we can only remember the good times.

This is one of my favorite Bloom County books. It mostly took on an issue that has always been important to me, rock n roll. The gang takes on the PMRC by forming their own metal band Deathtongue. After battling Washington though, Steve Dallas caves in and Billy and the Boingers is born.

Long live live Opus. He is sorely missed.

If you remember the eighties, this book, the first collection from the "Bloom County" syndicated comic strip will be hysterically funny. If you do not remember the eighties, then it will just be funny. I remember the eighties and I laughed when I read these cartoons the first time and I laughed when I read them again. No one captured the moods, social movements and absurdity of their combination as well as Breathed did. His exaggerated characters and references to the anxieties of the moment were a dose of reality encased in the fiction of a cartoon strip. I never missed it and neither should you.

It is very hard not to a like a cute talking penguin, and Breathed presumably realised this when coming up with Opus. The human characters that surround the odd animal are supposed to come off somewhat loopier. This is a fun look at the period and the politics, and highly entertaining. Aack!

This is the first collection of Bloom County cartoons and a great place to start enjoying the fun. Bloom County is a fictional place populated with as eclectic a group of characters as you will find anywhere. Eccentric humans, a talking penguin, and Bill the Cat take on the societal follies of the early eighties with a humorous point of view.
See the Rolling Stones perform for an elementary school dance. Go back to a time when Three Mile Island was in the news and Princess Diana was expecting her first child. Even if the events are distant memories, the humor is timeless.

Bloom County had something special, more than just the jokes. As you read the strip, you cannot help but get involved with the characters.

Bloom County fans don't just laugh at the jokes, they care about Opus and the rest. Even Steve Dallas, the ruthless but inept lawyer, wins sympathy.

The humour tends to the wit and satire end of the cartoon spectrum with only occasional bursts of slapstick. The satire is aimed mainly at lifestyles and steroetypes rather than current events which makes it still sharp as it ages.

It is a very male-centric book. Female characters are introduced in order to give the main players a romantic interlude or to prop up some situation.

Bloom County was one of the best cartoons of its time and Loose Tails is a real gem.

Here you will find the beginning of one of the most inspired comic strips ever put to paper. No other strip made me laugh as hard, or as often, as "Bloom County". In fact, pretty much nothing else in the whole wide world made me laugh as hard as this divine creation of Mr. Berke Breathed. Here we are introduced to the Milo Bloom, Steve Dallas, Cutter John and by far the best-known comic Penguin ever - Opus.

Here we can see that Bloom County was just crackling with creativity and a real desire to "cut loose" from the beginning. Some of the strips covered "current events" and were topical, meaning circa 1980, but if you were around for any of that time it's a nostalgic trip back to the days of Boy George and when Ozzy Osbourne was best known as a singer. But the vast majority of the strips ring very true today as they deal with the absurdities of the human animal.

A word about the format: Bloom County in it's original form included both the standard "3 panel" strips that appear in your every day newspaper in black and white, plus a larger full page color version for the Sunday paper. The other Bloom County volumes (as well as Bloom's sequel "Outland") were in a larger physical book form. (Similar to what you may have seen if you're a collector of, say, Calvin and Hobbes, or Dilbert). This first volume is a smaller book (similar in format to the endless volumes of Garfield which became available). But this is where it all began, and it includes much of the "best stuff".

If you want to know what America was laughing at in 1980, this is it. But you know what? I reread these strips every so often, and they STILL make me laugh that loud, roll on the floor, tears streaming down my face, people coming into the room to see WHAT are you laughing at kind of laugh. We don't get that kind of laugh often enough. Thank you, Mr. Breathed.

This book is the coolest thing since sliced bread.

I just love the laid-back style of humour that the authors use, especially in their choice of highly colorful words for the definitions.

Clever and charming, this little book is a must stocking stuffer for your literate friend or relative. I hope they come out with a sequel!

The premise of this book is the following:

Step 1: Make up tons of portmanteaux.
Step 2: ???
Step 3: Comedy gold!

I don't know about anyone else, but this seems a weak foundation, and I did not find the execution particularly amusing.

On the other hand, I adore the design and typography. That alone yields three stars, because I am an obsessive æsthete.

Not expecting much, I picked up this little book while waiting in line at my local Barnes & Noble. By the time I reached the cashier I was laughing so hard I had to step aside to catch my breath. Afterward I bought 10 copies to give to my friends and co-workers, who found the book as clever as I did. Even the drawings are great!

This book is a gem, to be treasured and re-read for years.

Like a bowl of Hershey's kisses, this sweet little book delights with clever verbal bonbons. And they're not fattening.

"Holly Bloom felt as grouchy as the thorns on a rosebush.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make her flowers grow."

Holly wants to create her own garden but doesn't know all the secrets of gardening. Her mother, Iris, has a green thumb and her father gives her creative advice. Everyone in the family seems to be participating in the gardening activities. The pictures are filled with bright colors and comforting gardening situations. Her father paints pictures of the flowers while family members cut roses or plant new flowers.

"What I really need, thought Holly, is a green thumb."

So, Holly puts green paint on her thumb. This book has a real sense of humor. Well, when that doesn't work, Holly tries using fertilizer and then a variety of tools. Finally she soaks the flowers with too much water. (Why does this sound like my gardening at times?)

Finally, Holly goes to bed and when everyone thinks she is asleep, she sneaks into her dad's art studio and makes all sorts of paper flowers that fill up the entire room.

Children will enjoy the surprise of Holly finding a way to "grow" her own flowers. The art by Lori Mitchell is healing and calming. She uses just the right colors to set a mood for each page. The illustrations were created using black Prismacolor pencil and acrylic paint on Arches hotpress watercolor paper. The result is vibrant art with a realistic feel.

~The Rebecca Review

This is a beautiful book for children of all ages. I have three nieces ranging in age from 4 to 13 and each enjoyed it at a different level. Wonderful illustrations support a fun and inspiring story. I highly recommend this book!

This is a wonderful story about finding ways to be q part of something even though you don't "appear" to have the talent. Holly finds a wonderful way to express her ability to "grow" flowers. The drawings in this book are absolutely beautiful and the attention to detail is amazing. Anyone who loves flowers or gardening, both young and old, will love this book! A great gift.

What a wonderful story about finding your own personnel way to express yourself when you can't do what everyone else can. A great story for children and adults to remind us to look at things from a different perspective. The book is filled with beautiful, colorful and detailed drawings. Gorgeous drawings of every kind of flower. Makes me want a garden like that. Great book for young and old flower lovers, gardeners and the gardening challenged!!!

I've shared this book a dozen times with my 6-year-old son. He gets greatly discouraged when things don't bloom after he's planted seeds, so "Holly Bloom's Garden" gave him the idea of making his own flowers. The book's illustrations are warm and charming and Ashman and Parent tell a good story that should appeal to both boys and girls.

I loved reading this book, it was an exciting adventure. It expanded many of my understandings and put me in much deeper awareness of the topic, and I really enjoyed that.

One of the ways I could relate to this book is that some of the exercises resembled Aikido warm up exercises, which made me understand why I feel the way I feel when I practice Aikido and the sense being charged with positive energy.

I gave this book a rating of 4 stars, even though it deserves 5, simply because there were parts that I couldn't tune into or relate to, but it presented a really interesting argument.

I am full of admiration of the writing style and the stories, and I loved the introduction, because I could relate to most of it.

This is a really sound book and gives you extremely good advise. I enjoyed reading it and it is a keeper. I highly recommend it if you want to stay positive and proteted especially in the work place.

I loved this book because it's simple and yet very effective. The author is personable and shares his own experiences. There were more than enough suggestions and meditations to achieve the psychic protection and understanding that I needed.

I recommend this very "easy to follow" guide in the "art" of Psychic Protection!

It covers all the "basics" in the field in an easy and understandable way on how to protect yourself, others and "spaces"...

Also, to its credit is that it does not avoid the subject of evil and fear as some other books tends to do.
Having read this "introduction" book I recommend further "deeper" reading, i.e. the books: 1. "White Light" by Diane Ahlquist; 2. "The Art of Psychic Protection" by Judy Hall etc.

Mats Fondelius - CEO

I bought this book a while back and found that the book is very useful for those who are in search of the basics of learning how to protect themselves. I tried out a few of the ideas in the book and feel that it really has worked especially the bubble and the shield. Many ideas suggested in the book were things I never would have thought up if I hadn't read about it. Overall, this book is very easy to read and very helpful.

A young adult thriller about the laws of physics, The Gravity Keeper is fun and educational! Simon Bloom, an average sixth grader, finds himself in possession of a magical book full of formulas that control the laws of the universe. Follow Simon as he bends gravity and tries to keep the book out of the hands of people who will use the laws for evil and harm. Nicholas Hormann's narration keeps the tension high with his excellent narration. Fans of Harry Potter will love this book which uses physics instead of "magic" to create a suspenseful thriller.

Caveat: I am automatically swayed (in a good way) by any author who mentions THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY in the acknowledgments and then gives it a cameo. It's often that a new book with science fiction elements and a great deal of humor gets compared to the Douglas Adams classic. It's rare when the new book deserves the comparison. With SIMON BLOOM, THE GRAVITY KEEPER, Michael Reisman's debut novel, it's most accurate to say that the spirit of Adams's wry humor is alive and well, and the influence propels Reisman's work into its own niche rather than binds it to the category of "just another Adams rip-off."

SIMON BLOOM, THE GRAVITY KEEPER is powered by an all-seeing Narrator who reports and comments for a Chronicle of events on behalf of a mysterious organization known only as the Union. This Union, we learn, possesses a series of Books that holds the secrets to manipulating the universe. The Union itself is split into various Orders that are responsible for overseeing the workings of Physics, Biology and other functions thought to be the machinations of nature.

From his hidden position, the Narrator introduces us to 11-year-old Simon Bloom, who, along with some friends, is lured into a mystic woods by a mischievous Breeze. It's there that Simon finds (well, he's hit on the head by) a teacher's edition of one of the Order's physics books. As he experiments with the book's formulae, he finds that the information within allows him to control gravity. But, of course, with this sort of power comes responsibilities that Simon can't even begin to imagine. Worse, the physics book Simon possesses is being sought by a traitor within the Union who has nefarious plans for the book's usage.

Although bearing similarities to the recently released THE SEEMS: THE GLITCH IN SLEEP, where the complex workings of the universe are reduced to manageable mechanisms and formulae, SIMON BLOOM, THE GRAVITY KEEPER stands out with its quirky sense of humor. With chapter titles like "What Newton Said (And Simon's Dirty Ceiling)" and "Gravity Is For Suckers," it's hard to go wrong. While the characters rarely extend beyond familiar archetypes, the book's deft mixture of pacing and idiosyncratic imagination will give readers an adventure that's difficult to forget. Reisman's prime talent is in setting a tone that, even when shifting masterfully from silly to serious, never loses sight of the fun.

SIMON BLOOM, THE GRAVITY KEEPER is the first in what hopefully will be an inventive new series. I've already reserved space on my bookshelf for the second installment. And unless you stumble upon your own teacher's edition physics book, I suggest you do the same.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey

Simon Bloom delivers that rarest of gems: a book for kids that's A) actually funny; B) not concerned primarily with bodily functions; C) innovative and informative; and D) very well written. As a mom of kids ages 9 and 11, THANK YOU! As an avid reader (and writer) of children's lit, I wholeheartedly recommend Simon Bloom to anyone looking for a fresh read; this book tops my gift list! --Deb Mercier

Simon Bloom finds himself holding a book that tells you how to control the laws of physics. What is the first thing he does? He reverses gravity in his bedroom! Needless to say, many people want to get their hands on this very valuable book. Simon and his two friends find themselves in terrible danger. Can their knowledge of the laws of physics save them? Reisman was definitely influenced by Douglas Adams, which creates some wacky comedy. It was a great book. My biggest hope is that he writes more like this one.

this book is extremely well written. not only is it a very exiting and funny book, it is very educational. i would recomend this book to anyone. especially someone with a love for science

This anthology is another one of Bloom's fantastic encyclopediac projects. He and his assistant Sam Zuba selected nine- hundred poems of two - hundred poets to represent the work of more than three - hundred years of American poetry.
While the first part of the work deals with devotional poetry Bloom's heart is with the Emersonian revolution, and its greatest poet, Whitman. The traditional categories are cast aside and the American cosmic religion goes forth into the world containing universes. This anthology too contains universes in which poets of diverse religious traditions have their say. It also contains a very strong, some might say , too strong representation of naysayers or those who are not ordinarily associated with conventional religion at all. David Gates in his 'Newsweek' review notes.
" His poets include Christians, Jews and Muslims, as well as all the whatevers; he also has American Indian songs and chants and African-American spirituals. "The Criteria of Political Correctness," he writes, "I dismiss with weary contempt." Go ahead and laugh, but I'll bet the Great Enjoyer really does enjoy it all."
Marilynn Robinson however finds that this all- encompassingness raises a certain problem.
"Given all this, Harold Bloom's introduction to American Religious Poems seems at odds with its content. He takes the view that there is a sui generis American religion which bears no relation to religion elsewhere and which is obdurately simpleminded. Yet most American poets who are held in high regard are represented here, and there is a preponderance of modern and contemporary poetry. In other words, aside from the rather perfunctory selection of early writing and a few songs and hymns that seem to have been chosen for their familiarity rather than for their interest as poetry, most of the work collected here is thoughtful and sophisticated by any standard. Much of it would seem "religious" only in a context that encouraged the reader to consider it in this light. Yet in this light it is indeed religious."
It seems to me that while Bloom might be easily open to criticism on his conception of what Religion is he cannot really be faulted for his great passion for and understanding of Poetry. In fact it is far to say Poetry is Bloom's Religion. And therefore the enthusiasm and love he brings to reading it, and this especially in regard to Whitman and Dickinson, works as pervasive spirit in the volume as a whole.
Morever there is so much fine work in this anthology each and every reader will be able to find in it poetry which sustains and inspires.

American Religious Poems is a collection of classic American religious poems by an immense variety of authors, covering all stages of America's history and spiritual legacy. Notes, an index, a source list, and an invaluable Reader's Guide complement the poems themselves, which have been carefully selected for their intergenerational appeal. A worthy cross-section of American faith through the centuries as expressed in poetic literature, from classical narrative poems to spirituals and anonymous hymns. "God": I followed and breathed in silence. / What of its task is beheld? / My feeding thee has lent all / Which broke the current thread breeze / That kept the sprout of pregnant seas / Of weathered promising call. / The filling shades he only changes, / Tells the logos, its unearned dew / Not to feed, as if from cages, / His cloak that perfumes fragrant hew; / What of all the bulging mountains, / Sordid earth and rotting clays? / If then sense is suction fountains, / That same thought is but its ways.

The Library of America is a non-profit organization aimed at preserving Americas literary heritage.

Simply stated these books are spectacular, not only in their literary content but in binding as well. You won't find a nicer book.

The content itself is a must for anyone who considers themselves "literate".

Here under one cover is a poetry lover's gold mine --over 900 poems, by over 200 poets, about all things religious. Bloom and Zuba have defined religion very broadly both in terms of faith traditions and subject matter, the skeptical and the unconventional included, the result being poems and poets that reflect the diverse and plural religious perspectives in American history, including Native American, African American, Buddhist, Sufi, Deist, Jewish, Unitarian, Protestant, Catholic and dozens more. The poems are arranged chronologically, beginning with the 1640 Bay Psalm Book (the first book printed in the colonies) and ending with Brett Foster (b. 1973) of Wheaton College. After the 900-plus poems there are 14 American Indian Songs and Chants, then 14 Spirituals and Anonymous Hymns (eg, "Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel" and "Free at Last"). A reader's guide to religious terms, an name index of poets, and an index of poem titles and first lines complete the volume. I was disappointed in Bloom's "introduction," which was little more than a short, technical essay on Walt Whitman ("our prime shaman of American religion") and Emily Dickinson ("Whitman's only possible rival in American poetry"). A broader treatment would have served a general readership better. Nor is there any introduction to the poets or their poems, save their date of birth. Still, this is a literary treasure trove, and I was sorry I had to return it to the public library; between its two covers there is enough poetry for a lifetime of meditation and reflection.

You know you'll be getting a slightly idiosyncratic choice of poets and poems with gnostic Harold Bloom as the chief editor. There are poets included who would be a bit surprised to hear themselves considered "religious," so you get early Merwin only, and Mark Strand, James Merrill (spiritual, kinda, but not 'religious'). Only one poem each from Mary Oliver, Gjertrude Schnakenberg, and Jorie Graham, while several from John Ashberry. On the other hand, several poets included I've never heard of--one of the reasons I buy anthologies, to be exposed to new voices. It is a book with great surprises as well, not just limited in scope to the old predictable chestnuts. The real reason I didn't give it a five stars is the physical book itself--ridiculously wasted attempt at a slip cover (cheap, flimsy, faux marbling) and odd graphic of a fountain pen in gold on an off white cover...just not what I expect from the publisher, especially at the cost.

Paul Soberg has captured the richness and texture of his subjects so well that at times I felt they were finely illustrated water colored drawings - certainly no one can capture flowers as vividly as Mr. Soberg has managed to do! I am tempted to get a second copy for framing.

Bloom puts a smile on my face everytime I leaf through it. Taking a flower and photographing it in such a unique and fresh way is outstanding and original. Anyone who enjoys gazing at a beautiful piece of art should own a copy of Bloom. It is the "must have" book for any season!

There is a quiet and dynamic energy emanating from the pages of BLOOM. Paul Solberg has illuminated something beyond the surface with an intimacy that leaves me with a sense of peace
that only a realization of my connection to nature inspires.
Everyone should breathe it in.

The rich simplicity of the photographs in this book allows the reader to appreciate the natural intricacy and complexity of each bloom. More than a modern take on the traditional botanical field guide, these photographs discover the sensuality of flowers that surrounds us. The composition of the shots range from stunning to whimsical - a real delight. This book fills a big spot on my Christmas shopping list.

I find every picture captivating in detail, contrast, simplicity, uniqueness. Every time I page through the book I notice more and experience different emotions. To me, this is an artist who has reached me. This is a gift I am sharing with my friends!