Bloom Books

Once upon a time, women devoured Danielle Steele type novels for summer or beachy reads. Now in the era of chick lit, you see a million sex and the city like Bridget Jones knockoffs, like Girl Anatomy, but this is awful. I was flabberghasted by the few positive reviews. The writing is terrible. the main character dull and self absorbed. I especially take issue with Miss Bloom's dialogue which is horribly written. SO MUCH telling and not showing. And just not distinct voice. HOW DID THIS GET PUBLISHED?
Incidentally, I was gifted this by a friend for my birthday and when she read it afterwards, she apologized. I agree with other posters in that you kind of hang out to see if the it'll ever redeem itself, you think it has to, but it never does. yes, the ING thing was very convoluted and made for a confusing, messy read too.

I agree with most of the negative reviews. The story is fine for light-hearted chick lit, but the writing is incredibly sloppy and makes reading more of a chore than a pleasure (which defeats the purpose of escapist fiction). I kept tripping over the clunky sentences. Bloom has an irritating habit of describing action ("ing" ing) while writing dialogue.

Here's an example:
"I don't know." Rolling to face him. "I do, but we haven't, and I'm leaving."

"I know, but does all that matter?" Caressing my face.

"Maybe, yes...I mean, what would it mean?" Running my fingers over his lips.

"Mean in what sense? Sex can't change our relationship even if we wanted it to." Pulling me closer to him.

The entire book is written in this fashion. I don't know whether this is a new technique they teach in writers class, but wherever Bloom learnt this she should know that it's extremely irritating and has caused me to throw the book down on a number of occasions.

Definitely a "don't recommend", there are much better examples of chick lit out there.

I was biased to begin with before I started reading Girl Anatomy, because I came on Amazon to see what other people were saying about it. After reading the reviews from the first page, I had an idea that this book would be bad. So I decided to read it on my lunch break, just to see how bad it is.

UGH! The worst thing about it to me, is exactly what another reviewer touched on-- the strange way the author writes. Instead of writing something like:

"I love you," I said, kissing his cheek.

"Love you too," he replied, hugging me.

She writes:

"I love you." Kissing his cheek.

"Love you too." Hugging me.

It drives me crazy! I have never seen this style of writing before, and I hate it.

The character of Lilly is also driving me crazy. (Yeah, I haven't even finished the book yet) I hate all the drugs and sleeping around. Even though that's been done plenty of times in other books, movies, etc, it seems really pathetic in this one. I'm just not liking the story.

I would recommend this book if you want to read something where you can just marvel and cringe at how bad it is. It's kind of amusing!

overall, this book was not at all boring. there was always something going on with the main character,lilly, whether she was reminicsing about ex lovers or impulse shopping out of unhappiness. interesting book, said a lot of things that made sense that just about any person could relate to when it comes to love.
it did have its cheesy moments and a few cliches, but its a solid book and you do see that lilly does mature and grows stronger as it goes on.

In the phenomenal novel Girl Anatomy, Rebecca Bloom artfully presents the story of a young woman yearning to discover her true love, but on the way she uncovers the beauty within herself. Throughout the novel, Lilly constantly takes part in interior monologues, revealing the inner struggle of who she is versus who she wants to be. Flashbacks are also extremely important in the characterization of those in the novel, helping the reader understand why a character acts a certain way. The plot seems to progress slowly due to the numerous flashbacks; however, without the history behind the characters to provide a sound foundation, the reader would not be able to appreciate Lilly's life changing transformation from a boy crazy college girl into a mature woman who experiences true, lasting love for the first time.
Lilly's insecurities are evident through her interior monologues. Her mind engages in battles over what she should do versus what she wishes she had never done. In the first half of the novel, these inner conversations are harsh and lengthy; however, as the story progresses and Lilly grows in confidence, she begins to agree more with her actions. There seems to be less arguments taking place in her mind. She is startled at first when she agrees with herself, but eventually her inner monologues disappear altogether. Lilly no longer needs the extra voice inside her head. She grows up and becomes comfortable in her own skin, ready to embrace her newfound chickdom.
While still on her path to self-discovery, Lilly's memories often surface to enlighten the reader's understanding of her character. These flashbacks occur at extremely odd times whenever something in Lilly's present sparks an incident from her past. Without the flashbacks in the novel, the reader would never have understood the great leap Lilly takes from her days of obsessing over boys to her reunion with Jonah. The reader learns through many flashbacks throughout the novel that Lilly goes through boy after boy, only to end up broken-hearted and alone. Thank goodness she has loving friends who are always there to cheer her up and give her good advice. Lilly realizes she has transformed into a mature adult when she herself gives Maya excellent marital advice. Lilly falls in love with her first love, Jonah, all over again. Yet this time, she and Jonah are mature enough to engage in a serious relationship. They are both ready to commit to one another; this doesn't immediately mean marriage, but they are both comfortable with being a "we" while still retaining their individual personalities.
The interior monologues and flashbacks present in Girl Anatomy effectively reveal Lilly Abrams's troubled nature. As the two devices decrease in usage, the author subtly portrays Lilly's growing maturity. She eventually is able to break free from her insecurities because of her loving relationship with Jonah. She learns that true love cannot be put on a schedule; it will happen when she least expects it. Being in a relationship does not mean losing her individuality; rather, she and Jonah feel more like themselves when they are together. She decides that in life, there is no such thing as a sure thing, but one must be willing to take a risk and pray for the best in order to truly live. Lilly Abrams experiences pure happiness when she can finally be with another person and not have to fight for peace within her own mind.

My sense in this review is that I am close to "in over my head." Readers differ greatly on their evaluation of this work, including how well the translation is done, historicity of Bloom's speculation, and so on. But I'll "wade in" anyway, realizing that I can't directly assess the accuracy of the translation or the strength of Bloom's knowledge on the matter. Bloom's focus in this work is encapsulated by his statement that (Page 9): "In Jerusalem, nearly three thousand years ago, an unknown author composed a work that has formed the spiritual consciousness of the world ever since. We possess only a fragmentary text of that work, embedded within what we call Genesis, Exodus and Numbers, three of the divisions of Torah, or the five books of Moses."

First, Bloom's rendering of the Book of J is interesting. He and many others speculate that the Torah was a set of works written by different people, with someone (an editor) pulling the various parts together. J is for Yahweh, which term J uses when mentioning God. Another author, E, uses another term for God, Elohim. Thus, two of the purported authors are J and E. Other authors are P (Priestly), D (Deuteronomist), and R (Redactor, the editor who pulled the various pieces together).

Bloom hypothesizes that J was actually a woman, in or near Solomon's son's court. There is not much evidence one way or another for this suggestion, however. One wonders why he makes the argument given that it is pretty much pure speculation.

Second, there is the Book of J itself, translated from Hebrew by David Rosenberg. Bloom and Rosenberg both see the author as ironic and witty (Bloom uses the term "a dramatic ironist" [Page 317] to describe J), very different stylistically from the other alphabetized purported authors. And, in fact, if the translation is accurate, it is a wonderful read of someone who was a very talented writer. Familiar tales are told in a very different way (e.g., the Creation, the escape of Israel from Pharaoh, Moses and the wandering in the desert, the story of Joseph, and so on). Again, a number of reviewers believe that Rosenberg took considerable liberty in his translation. As already noted, I can't address that. But the translation as presented is riveting reading.

Third, there is a brief but rewarding afterward in which the translator describes his method.

Bloom concludes by identifying J as one of the great authors of all time. He says (Page 316): "By common consent, the Yahwist [that is, J] is one of the small group of Western authors we identify with the Sublime, with literary greatness as such. J's peers are Homer, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Milton, Tolstoy, Proust, and only a few others." While I can't address some of the serious criticisms raised by other reviewers, I can say that the Book of J itself, as translated by Rosenberg, is rich and rewarding to read.

There are three reasons to recommend The Book of J.

The first and-to me- the most important is that it
restores the original grammar of biblical Hebrew.
The language of the original text speaks is something
comparable to the present tense in English. Reading
the text this way contributes to a sense of urgency,
but also to a sense of the oral tradition from which
we assume these texts must have arisen. In short,
Rosenberg's translation sounds like somebody talking
to you.

The next good reason is that it reminds many of us that
this thing we call 'The Bible' is in fact many things.
In translation, the seams between the pieces are easity
covered over, but the raw language shows the different
roots clearly. This idea is called 'the documentary
hypothesis', but we shouldn't conclude that it is merely
a minor-league supposition. Other ideas about the Bible's
composition are hypothetical too.

Finally, it's good to be reminded that there's literature
here and that this literature is at the foundation of our
civilization. Even the angry denunciations of Bloom and
Rosenberg serve to reinforce the scary centrality of this
'book' that so many believe in and so few read.

I couldn't help wishing for some footnotes: a cross reference
to a 'standard' edition would have made this more fun. Also
some discussion of how the documentary hypothesis arose-it's
intellectual and cultural foundations would have been helpful.

Like anyone worth reading, Harold Bloom raises eyebrows and is provocative. Yet he is such an aesthete, that even only reading him is a pleasure. He has talked about literary criticism being a genre of its own, with which I can agree: and in this statement I've revealed the heart of this comment.

This is a 'controversial' book, in a way our media might somehow think something controversial. People get offended, and if you are a religious person (just as I am) and simply can't get past the things claimed in between the covers, then nothing can help. But if you are an adventurous and, above all, avid reader, then I might offer you a reading that might get interesting. And then I would strongly recommend Bloom's "Jesus & Yahweh" as well as the amazing Jack Miles' two biographies.

I find Bloom an intense thinker, but not only as a commentator, but as a 'creator' himself, in an ironic context. He has an individual voice, which comes through the text and subject, and while some more literate than yours truly have expressed disdain to this, I find it refreshing. For when I read Bloom (or Miles or Friedman, two more 'scientific' academics) I am not in search for historical truth. And with Bloom, this is the point: when we entertain the idea that there might've been a woman in the court of David, and later of Rehoboam, who might've been responsible for some of the greatest poetry for our souls. Bloom, of course, entertains the idea that there might have been a fellow artist who would've been responsible for much of the books of Samuel, an artistic rival (and inspiration?) of J. Friedman, of course, entertains a further theory that it was J all along who wrote not only much of Genesis and parts of the Torah, but the books of Samuel and Kings, too.

Now, for me this isn't a matter of believing these claims. For me a book like this is an intellectual and literary experience, which provokes any fiction that might someday come out of my imagination. Thus it is optimistic pragmatism of sorts: to think that anything we read feeds the poet in ourselves, and might someday result in a work of art. Bloom is just too great a writer and ironist to be dismissed.

These books make us think, they say, and my modification to this argument is that they feed our fiction. When I read Bloom, I'm not interested in historical truth, I am interested in the conditional, the possible and the impossible. Thus I don't have to concern myself about the 'attack' against the authenticity of the Scriptures. He is a literary magician, good enough a writer and lucid a thinker to take us to places in our mind we might never have found otherwise.

There are four other titles I've been tossing around besides this. One is in which Bloom continues on religion, "Jesus & Yahweh", two are the God-biographies of Jack Miles, "God: A Biography" and "Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God", as well as Richard Elliott Friedman's "The Bible With Sources Revealed". None of these are really concerned with faith (oh, I know: 'then again', you could say, 'everything has to do with faith'), only Bloom happens to be the most broodingly metaphysical. What they are concerned with instead is the nature of the Bible as a work of art (fact or fiction, it's once again up to you; I have my own beliefs, and I gladly welcome you to have yours), as a book that continues to inspire generations after another.

I have so far only talked about Bloom's commentary, but Rosenberg's translation of the claimed J source is capacious and ...prolix. But really, it's an interesting translation, and it offers a chance to look at J in a linear manner. Friedmann offers the most amazing parallel edition (he has different typefaces on the page separating the differing strands), but this book has its value. Both Bloom and Rosenberg underline the irony in the text, and they present some very convinging and insightful things. Yet, gosh, understandable is not translation this, yet this makes it the more fascinating.

I'll have to mention the irony here. One of the fundamentally great points in this book is the possibility to read the Scriptures as having a sense of a narrator, thus having a sense of humour. Bloom points out the fact that because of its status as a sacred document, the Bible has been subject to almost every other reading but literate. That is, there is amazing wit to be found just as much as there is life-altering wisdom. For an example, one of my personal favourites is a passage from I Samuel, 19:9, in fact, which is the climax of a series of attempts by Saul to harm David: Saul is being haunted by an evil spirit sent by God, and only David's playing of the harp comforts him. In this passage the spirit comes again and takes Saul over, and at the same time David plays his harp, Saul sitting next to him with a spear in his hand. This, of course, leads to nothing else but trouble. All of this, and especially the ninth verse, is expressed with such comic timing, irony, grace and compositional economy that makes my heart tremble. Wonder what a shame it is that the aesthetics of the text have been widely frowned upon or not looked upon at all, no matter from which direction you're approaching.

If you've read this far, you might've gotten the idea of how I read Bloom: as a lover of literature, of art. I don't agree with Bloom in some of his assertions, but when we come along a person who has such clear literate aesthetics and general knowledge of literature, it's time for celebration. This is very much worth your time, as here Bloom is almost as persuasive as he is when he's talking of either Hamlet or Falstaff. And that, by itself alone, is reason enough to listen.

With best regards,
AK

This was the most insightful commentary on the Bible I have ever read.

Literary analysis was never so meaningful. In fact, I believe the author read in more intricacies from J than were intended. Perhaps, perhaps not, but in any case I now have a far greater understanding as well as a greater appreciation for the Torah.

I have often felt that the drama within Genesis was Shakespearean in quality and design. But for difficulty in translation and an awkward sentence structure from Hebrew to English, this idea of mine was mere guesswork. I now know it is the case. It was explained beautifully. How many new doors are open?

Unlike many I suppose, I did not find the idea that J was a woman of royal blood particularly shocking. The Torah never seemed to me a work of the people and by the people; the people who wrote it and commented on it were nothing if not the elite. I had always taken that pretty much for granted. But Bloom did present a hypothesis that I found startling. For in this book he claims that the author of what many consider to be the core of the Torah/Old Testament conceived of her work as an epic, a kind of Iliad. Indeed, that she could do little else--for she (Bloom asserts) was not a terribly religious person herself.

This idea may seem blasphemous to many. It certainly seemed that way to me at first. But it also helps. It helps us recall that the men and women who wrote the Torah were intensely human and that whatever their motives they wrote a book that is, all else aside, brilliant literature that captivates so many as literature.

Surely then, it is worth rescuing the work of the first of these luminaries from the numerous redactors and the prison of holiness? Surely it is worth remembering that the author of the Book of J was, if nothing else, a brilliant writer. Bloom and Rosenberg have helped me at least do just that. And for that I thank them.

without a great background of classical reading, this was the most difficult of his books to read

Reading Bloom is an enjoyable experience even though he sometimes repeats himself and he has a tendency to make very declarative judgements with inadequate support. His knowledge is overwhelming but I have learned to take Bloom with a grain of salt, meaning that he often opens new doors for me but he also reveals doors that I am convinced I do not wish to open. This review of his book will focus primarily on the bits and pieces of his thought and observations that I find personally interesting and unique since I read Bloom, not to master Western literature, but to seek new ideas freshly presented.

Bloom indicates that the Book of Job is the greatest aesthetic triumph in the Hebrew Bible and that neither JOb or King Lear gives a justified God, in fact both works demonstrate that we have no language appropriate for confrontation with the Divine. He quotes 'Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.' We learn that 'ekklesiastes' means congregation in Hebrew and are treated to an analysis of this superb section of the Bible that gives us '...vanity of vanities; all is vanity...One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth...there is no new thing under the sun...For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.' Bloom also explores the beautiful first eight verse of Chapter 3 which starts "To every thing there is a season..." Bloom explores Plato and Homer and observes that 'our civilization is still split between a Hellenic cognition and aesthetic and a Hebrew morality and religion.' Bloom comments on The Republic with 'Plato accurately argues that most citizens never grow up and therefore need to be fed benign fictions.' In the debate of philosophy (Plato) versus poetry (Homer) sides with poetry with the wonderful observation 'Socrates, in Plato, formulates ideas of order; the Illiad, like Shakespeare, knows that a violent disorder is a great order.' Bloom quotes at length from Gregory Vlastos 'the varieties of mysticism are legion. It can be wholly this-worldly, as in Zen.' and then later with 'What is excellence for? I can only reply, 'For Humanity.' Plato would protest that my question is senseless;excellence, he would say, eternally complete in the world of From, is not for anything or anyone; it simply is, and its imperative to us is only the imperious love its being evokes in any soul capable of knowing it.' Bloom quotes Pascal 'you would not seek me if you had not already found me.'

Bloom includes wonderful quotations such as Wallace Steven's "But a poet consideres the vices of his contempraries as the temporary dress in which his creations must be arrayed, and which cover without concealing the eternal proportions of their beauty." Simone Weil's observation "Throughout twenty centuries of Christianity, the Romans and the Hebrews have been admired, read, imitated, both in deed and word; their masterpieceshave yielded an appropriate quotation eery time anybody had a crime he wanted to justify." In his chapter on Plato and Homer Bloom gives us "Defensive warfare is no more an ideal (for many of us) than is aggression, but in the Illiad both are very near the highest good, which is victory. What other ultimate value is imaginable in a world where the ordinary reality is batle?" I found interesting his interpretation of the Illiad, "I find it difficult to read the Illiad as 'the tragedy of Hector', as Redfield and others do. Hector is stripped of tragic dignity, indeed very nearly of all dignity, before he dies. The epic is the tragedy of Achilles, ironically enough, because he retains the foremost place, yet cannot overcome the bitterness of his sense of his own mortality. To be only half a god appears to be Homer's implicity defintion of what makes a hero tragic. But his is not tragedy in the biblical sense, where the dilemma of Abraham arguing with Yahweh on the road to Sodom, or of Jacob wrestling with the angel of death, is the need to act as if one were everything in oneself while knowing also that, compared with Yahweh, one is nothing in oneself." Bloom ends his comparison of Plato and Homer with the wise "power must come at the expense of someone else's pain."

Bloom loves both Shakespeare and Cervantes, who coincidentally died almost simultaneously, and considers them the central Western authors. Bloom quotes Nabokov's assessment :"Both parts of Don Quixote form a veritable encyclopedia of cruelty. From that viewpoint it is one of the most bitter and barbarous books ever penned. And its cruelty is artistic." Bloom states that Cervantes plays upon the human need to withstand suffering. In his support for reading Bloom says that the better we read, the mjore solitary we become. This is based on his concept that the deepest motives for reading is the quest for wisdom. Despite Blooms high regard for Shakespeare he will point out that others such as Samuel Johnson would say that Shakespere sacrifices virtue to convenience, and is so much more careful to please than instruct, that he seems to write without any moral purpose. Bloom gives us the great quote from King Lear "When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools." Nietzsche praised Macbeth for its absence of moral jdments, an observation that Bloom thought accurate throughout Shakespeare. Bloom astutely says that rather than discoursing on good and evil, Shakespeare is more intested in why we cannot sustain our own freedom. This same concept is quoted by Goethe who rameredk that Shakespere's plays where the 'characteristic quality of our being, our presumed free will, collides withthe inevitable course of the whole." Goethe's astute analysis continues with 'in ancient literature the conflict is between moral obligation and its fulfillment while in modern literature the agon is between desire and fulfillment. Goethe surmised that Shakespeare fused th ancient with the modern and thus obligation and desire try to counterbalance. I loved Wallace Steven's concept of finding an idea of order in a great disorder - which I originally understood to ready 'an idea of order is a great disorder' with Salem, Robespierre, Hitler, and Pol Pot coming to mind.

Bloom compares the thoughts of Montaigne and Francis Bacon. Montaigne comments on Plato's Socrates "It is he who brought human wisdom back down from heaven, where she was wasting her time, and restored her to man, with whom lies her most proper and laborious and useful business." Montaigne's advice "Have you been able to think out and manage your own life? You have done the greatest task of all...To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranqulity in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things, ruling, hoarding, building, are only little appendages and props, at most...There is nothing so beautiful and legitimate as to play the an well and properly, no knowledge so hard to acquire as the knowledge of how to live life well and naturally; and the most barbarous of our maladies is to despise our being."

I found this book to very stimulating; the examples Bloom used were well-chosen and explained well. Bloom is an authoritative writer, that while times off-putting, is one of the most interesting literary critics I've come across. I think this book is great for readers who may not have a deep personal catalogue of "classic" books that they have read to check out. It will enlighten to some works you may or may not have really heard of; and help you decide if you want to tackle any of them.

As a book of philosophy in itself, it's not that stellar since Bloom is simply giving an anecdote to much larger works. The only other gripe I would make is unescapable feeling that you get that Bloom feels Western society, particularly their literary and intellectual society, is without question superior to others. But, if you have read anything else of Bloom, you will come into reading this book with that expectation so it shouldn't bother you too greatly. I recommend this one.

Harold Bloom, Yale University Don, paddles into religious-philosophy waters. This book starts off soundly enough, but like many Stephen King novels, desintergrates into ravenous particles by the end. His lip service to Augustine borders on insulting and is almost forgiven by his Gospel of Thomas section.

Harold Bloom, the Yale Shakespeare and Western Cannon guru, has produce another book of erudition. In Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?, Bloom explores the wisdom literature of the Bible, Plato, Homer, Cervantes, Shakespeare, Montaigne, Francis Bacon, Goethe, Emerson, Neitzsche, Freud, and Proust. Bloom argues that these selected authors are not to be understood within their historical context, but rather understood for the universality of their insight into the human sprit and condition. It is their very universality that makes their work "wisdom writing" as opposed to merely "period pieces." This is antagonistic to the wisdom theory emerging from the Yale psychology department headed by Sternberg who suggests that context, both cultural and historical, is what helps provide prospective. And it is prospective which, in turn, produces wisdom. A very different approach.

Bloom also fiercely contends that it is poetry and prose that teach us wisdom much more than philosophizing and goes into a quite lengthy explanation as to why Homer can teach us more than Plato.

One insight of this book that I hope to retain is the importance of wisdom literature in cultivating our own wisdom. Through reading we recognize our own thoughts articulated through another's words. The search for wisdom is a quest for knowledge and understanding that should begin by conversing with the ancients and the greats through their progeny - wisdom literature.

Bloom's interpretation of "the American Religion" as modern Gnosticism was very helpful in making sense of the American religious landscape, whether Mormon, Adventist, Christian Scientist, Baptist, or Pentecostal. The religious American (for Bloom) is one who knows God in solitude. The soul is co-primeval with God. It is uncreated, and only truly knows itself when it "walks alone in the garden with Jesus." The solitude at the heart of American religion has an analog in the solitude of the vast American wilderness. The disappearance of time when "walking with Jesus" has an analog in the historical newness of the United States. (Never mind that there was a lot of Native American history before the white people showed up. Europeans did not know or identify with this history. They thought they were confronting the primeval as they moved westward. America was a lonely space without history, and thus the perfect backdrop for the American religionist's timeless, "gnostic" aloneness with God.)

I couldn't help but to compare Bloom's well-researched analysis of American religion with another assessment I recently read in Sam Harris's very popular _Letter to a Christian Nation_. Next to Bloom (who is not even a historian), Harris's ignorance of religious history is striking. The facile claim Harris makes about fundamentalism being the pure religion and everything "moderate" being a defection from pure Know-Nothingism (to use Bloom's terminology) is profoundly unhistorical. It is an extreme over-application of the relatively recent fundamentalist/moderate debate in the Southern Baptist Convention. Fundamentalism--like the word itself, which was coined in 1920--is a modern invention. In the larger scheme of things, religion has rarely been thoughtless. From the very beginning believers have tried to figure out and represent what they believe, which is the exact opposite of fundamentalism, where everything is already figured out and represented (and damn you if you think differently!). Furthermore, American fundamentalists (as Bloom argues rather persuasively) are NOT biblical literalists (as Harris claims), because they don't really read the Bible. Holy texts are NOT the sources of supreme evil in the world--those who stop putting any effort into understanding them are the real problem. Before the 20th century, as Bloom points out, no one ever treated the Bible like a dumb idol devoid of the problems of language. Harris is simply wrong about this. He is blithely unhistorical.

Harris wants to fix fundamentalism by destroying religion altogether, but this is like fixing a leaky faucet by ripping out the whole kitchen. It betrays a crude (or perhaps just sensationalist and opportunistic) understanding of the situation.

Reading Bloom is delightful. His arguments are littered with with brilliant little insights that produce a sense of astonishment. Not many writers can manage this. Brilliance comes at the cost of idiosyncrasy, but to harp on this point with Bloom would really be to miss the forest for the trees. Sometimes he is a little repetitive, and sometimes he moves too quickly, but none of this compromises the overall effectiveness or pleasure of the book.

In this book, Bloom claims that he has invented a new discipline by applying the tools of literary analysis/criticism to religion. His argument is that, because religions are the creation of human imagination, the types of critical tools that analyze and criticize other types of human imaginative output should produce value when used on religions as well.

Obviously, if one does not agree that religions are human imaginative creations, one will reject Bloom's entire effort. I myself believe that spiritual reality exists separate from our imaginations, but agree with Bloom that formalized religions are human imaginative creations. I therefore find Bloom's approach fruitful. (Truth in advertising: I hold a PhD in literature and am therefore comfortable with Bloom's tools and approaches in the first place.)

I know a fair amount about three of the church groups that Bloom discusses, and remain a member of one of them. My friends and academic colleagues in each of the three denominations (Southern Baptist, Seventh-day Adventist, and Latter-day Saints) are quick to point out many factual errors or sub-cultural misunderstandings in *The American Religion.* They miss the point. Blooms makes an excellent case for a basic imaginitive structure which in-forms those Christian groups which were "born" in the United States, and to understand the structure he describes is a great help in understanding American religious life. (For example, Bloom's book helped me understand much of what happened in the religious dynamics of the recent Bush-Kerry campaign.)

I have found the understanding I received from this book invaluable, both for my own personal introspection and for serious discussion with other academics interested in religion and American life. I therefore highly recommend this book to all those interested in thinking seriously about American Christianity--if, that is, they are willing to at least try out Bloom's approach.

This book is nothing but a politically-driven, left-wing, anti-Christian polemic.

Books like this are a gathering place for atheists, agnostics, anti-Christians, anti-Mormons, and hate mongers of all types. This book is written by a left-wing Jewish professor who obviously despises Christianity in any form. Because of this fact, reviews on books like this become sounding boards for the ignorant who hate everything that does not agree with them, or that they do not understand. It's rather odd that the respect and tolerance that most Christians have for Jews is not returned by many of the very same Jews that suffer persecution themselves. If a Christian were to write a book about Jews and Judaism with the same snide remarks and disrespect for the Jewish religion that is contained in this book about Christians, the "politically correct" would have no end of nasty criticism.

What may be even worse is that Bloom represents what seems to be becoming the majority of professors of his ilk. Many college and university professors have complete freedom of speech in their classroms, as long as they agree with the student and the student agrees with them. What is contained in this book is representative of what can be found in the classrooms of our colleges and universities.

In the small section on Mormonism Bloom has managed to write the worst and most ignorant comments on the Church I have yet seen.

I know this is mostly a book Mormon-bashers, and those intolerant of any religion other than their own, are most likely to read, but possibly there is a sincere person who will read this and wants to know the truth from the members of a religion that Bloom apparently knows nothing about.

As the review in FAIR says, "Bloom habitually characterizes those who disagree with his politics as dangerous fanatics: so Bloom calls Baptists and Mormons a "dangerously strong coalition of American Religionists that now guarantee the continued ascendancy of the Reagan-Bush dynasty" (p. 269). More pernicious is Bloom's op-ed column in the New York Times; promoting the book, it updates the last few pages, identifying Mormons with a combination imperiling American liberties.

My review follows:
Only the ignorant can be impressed by this vituperative garbage. I suggest those with any doubt read the 12th Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: The Articles of Faith - #12:
"We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law."

Or, perhaps it could be made clearer by quoting a former Church President, David O. McKay: "We warn our people in America of the constantly increasing threat against our inspired Constitution and our free institutions set up under it. The same political tenets and philosophies that have brought war and terror in other parts of the world are at work amongst us in America. The proponents thereof are seeking to undermine our own form of government and to set up instead one of the forms of dictatorship now flourishing in other lands............"

Maybe this quote will make it clearer: "......I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose....." Doctrine and Covenants 101, Verse 80

And, from the Journal of Discourses, "....Joseph (Smith)....declared...that the time would come when the Constitution...would be in danger of an overthrow; and, said he, If the Constitution be saved at all it will be by the Elders of this Church." Orson Hyde, 1858. Journal of Discourses, Volume 6, Page 152

There is almost no group more threatening to the Constitution than college professors. A liberal group, at best, and probably more socialist/Marxist than liberal, as a group they support almost every left-wing politician in American politics. These are the people, and their ilk, which threaten the Constitution, and strive for power at every level of government, not Mormons. These are the people, as demonstrated in this last election, who are looking for the overthrow of a free America, as we know it. These are those that threaten every part of the Constitution they don't agree with, but use parts they agree with, like free speech, to burn the flag and condemn our present way of life. These are the anti-Americans who preach tolerance, but practice intolerance towards anything they don't agree with. And, or course, right in line with their bigotry, hatred, intolerance, and ignorance, these are the people who will mark "NO" this review didn't help them. Of course, it didn't; if you come to review a book that you know contains ammunition to hatefully shoot down beliefs other than your own, what would you say? Blind hate and intolerance are two big reasons for the holocaust. This book is an example of why that happened. If we really want no more holocausts, then maybe it would be a good idea not to write inflammatory, ignorant, and hateful books. But, that's a no-brainer isn't it? Well, of course it is, but then the book and the author are "no-brainers", too.

There is no more patriotic American than those among the members of the LDS Church. This book reads like a paranoid adolescent afraid of the dark. This author should be ashamed of his duplicity.

The one-star review posted here by a person who is obviously a Mormon has convinced me that Bloom's book must be a masterpiece of insight and accurate criticism. I will get this book and read it immediately.

Harold Bloom, the master of all things Shakespearean, has written the best critical study of American religion in modern times. Well, what else could we expect from the author of Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human?

Bloom has shown a long-standing interest in these things, from The Flight of Lucifer to The Book of J, so this is not suprising. What is surprising is how well his literary critical eye captures and evaluates American religion. I think he is correct on most fronts and I enjoyed the depth of his analysis.

I reviewed this book several years ago but since then have found its revelations to be increasingly accurate and timely, especially given the rise of the evangelicals to domination in the American political scene. It is frightening and discouraging to witness the on-going War on Culture, but it was amply predicted by Bloom. Remembering his exposition on these modern Know-Nothings has helped me anticipate and prepare for the horrors such as their incessant wars on culture, education, arts, and sciences which the rightwing have been waging.

There is nothing to fear except those who fearmong.

This book is essential reading for any who would understand the origins of the profound cultural discord in American society and the potential directions the country might take.

More detailed and therefore suitable for the basic neuroscientist than Kandel and Schwartz. A good review to read before comprehensive exams for the Neuroscience PhD. All the authors are recognized experts in the field. An excellent treatment of systems and cognitive neuroscience, including emotion and motivation. Some may find the molecular details a little much, but this is what textbooks are for. Nobody ever said neuroscience was easy!

This textbook is a very detailed and very up-to-date exposition of Neuroscience, and in my view, for the more advanced student it is one of the best books out there. What it is NOT is a simple, concise introduction for people who are studying the nervous system for the first time. If you are taking an entry-level Neuroscience course you are likely to be overwhelmed by the amount of detail, and, like some of the other reviewers who gave this book a bad rap, might blame the book for the fact that you can only take in so much detail in a first sitting, and fail to see the forest for all the trees. So if you are new to Neuroscience, read something like Bear et al "Neuroscience - Exploring the Brain" first, and only once you have absorbed that, turn to this beautifully detailed book for a much closer look at the subject. The chapters on Vision by Clay Reid and the Hearing chapters by Brown in this book are quite simply and without a doubt among the best textbook chapters on these topics anywhere, (and much better than anything you will find in Kandel!)

...I've come across...what is it with neuroscientists?...prior to this book I had thought Kandell and Schwartz's "Principle's of Neuroscience" was the most poorly written...in both cases the authors' primary goal seems to be one of obfuscation...perhaps an example would serve better -- from this book when discussing the hierarchy of nervous system organization:

"At the systems level, emphasis is on the spatially distributed sensors and effectors that integrate the body's response to environmental challenges."

...in other words, at the systems level the nervous "system" interacts with the environment...well, "duhhhh"...and the whole section is so similarly dense that by the time you get to the end you'll probably have forgotten what the authors' originally meant to achieve in the first place...in this particular case, the authors' SIMPLY wanted the reader to understand that there are three levels of organization -- molecules, nerves, the nervous "system"...that's it...really...and I'm guessing it took the authors 600-700 words to say just that...yet their version does not present one iota of additional useful information...it's ridiculous...density does not translate into meaning...I would recommend "From Neuron to Brain" as a more readable alternative although it too could stand some judicious editing.

I am an academic neuroscientist who teaches neurosciences at our university. I think this new edition is leaner but provides even more information than the previous edition of Fundamental Neuroscience. I plan to use it in one of my upcoming classes. The figures are very helpful, are clear and wonderfully drawn. The new reference section at the end of each chapter helps keep the book very much up-to-date. Overall, I recommend it highly.

The book has been used extensively and is our most important book on neurosciences for our 3 year Msc(Neuroscience) University Sains Malaysia course as well as our Phd programme.The phase one Advanced Master of Medicine(Neurology) and Master of Surgery(Neurosurgery) uses it as well.The latest edition is concised and translational enough for those from chemistry,biology,physics backgrounds to understand fundamental neuroscience issues.

the unknowledgeable who said the book is a waste of time(look above) have no clue how to comprehend this book. it is a book that showed me all facets of life. it is about true love, and the power it can have on us--good or bad. this book is about manipulation, power struggles, and blind love. many of the relationships in this book are created out of spite, ignorance, or greed. this book showed me that love can create more emotions than just happiness. it can be wild and unruley also.

This book was exceptionally well written. It is terrible how the majority of books are all happy and perky and there is never a cloud in the sky. In this book, Bronte snapped me back to the reality that there is unhappiness in the world andyou have to live with it. She showed that love lasts through all darkness and bad situations. So if you are looking for a good historic love story, but not a "Happily Ever After" this is your best bet.

Cathy's dad brings home a Heathcliff, an orphin he found in the streets one day and lets him live with the family. A couple of months later Cathy's father dies and her brother makes him the family servant. Cathy and Heathcliff are secretly in love but it would never work out. Cathy moves away and gets married and comes back home and visits. She realizes her love for Heathcliff and things start getting interesting. I liked the book. I liked the book because it was very romantic. The plot had interesting twists and turns but I still was satisfied with the ending.

My advice on this book: don't waste your time! If you are very strange and want to improve your strangeness with more strangeness, then go right ahead. But I should've read something better. It is not a very realistic picture of the world or something that would inspire you to be closer in your walk with the Lord. If there was a slot where you could put in 0 stars that would be what I rate it.

When Cathy's father brings home a dirty orphan, she doesn't know what to think. She comes to know the boy and befriends him, while her brother treats him badly. A couple months later, Cathy's father dies, and her brother is left head of the house. He makes Heathcliff, the boy who was taken in, a servant. As they get older Cathy and Heathcliff fall in love. Until one day, Cathy goes away and doesn't come back for a while. When she finally comes back to visit, she has fallen in love with Edgar Linton, a rich, upperclass man. This makes Heathcliff extremely jealous. When Cathy is lying on her deathbed, she tells Heathcliff she loves him, and when she dies Heathcliff tells her to haunt him and never leave him. This story is a great tale of undying love and the extents people will go for the one they love. The story had many interesting twists, but the ending left me satisfied.

This book was a great resource for wanna-be models. It had many interviews with people like Tyra Banks and Niki Taylor. This book also had many nice pictures of future supermodels such as Jaime Rishar.

this book was really great and a worthwhile read if you truly know nothing about the buisness. the author is the editor of seventeen and tells you the stories of how she developed some models careers and she lets the reader know that it is perfectly normal to get discouraged in this buisness and that most of the top models in the industry struggled for years before they made it "big" it is important to be educated about this buisness before you start and this is a good book to look over before you get going. she gives you a list of all the reputable agencies and teels you about all the different ways to get into the buisness weather it be by convention or agency or otherwise. the book is easy to read and understand. the diffeent sections are labeled and divided clearly. it was a very helpful book for me. and if you have the time it is defenitly worth the money! good luck

If you choose to buy this book, you can happily skip the first half of it. The majority of the book's content is case files from models. Most of this case file information seems to state the obvious, although it may useful to some readers in moderation. After reading one or two models' tales the book becomes painful to read - it is the same story told again and again. The book does offer relevant and useful information on modelling (if a little US centred) but you must be prepared to wade through the endless waffle to find it.

I was surprized when i recieved this book at how little information it really contains. It seems to be the same basic advice, rehashed over and over. I was surprized because of all the

When will writers stop glossing over the world of modeling and start telling the truth. Yes, there are superstars, although they are kept at bay these days. Books need to tell young women more facts and less fantasy.

I think this book is very helpful for moms. It has a great breakdown of what foods you should introduce with every month, and how much the baby should be taking. (It's always best to double check with your physician though to make sure they're in agreement.) The recipes are also broken down by the baby's age which is very helpful. The recipes are also easy to make and understand. Unlike other baby cookbooks that made me feel guilty if I wasn't making my cereal from scratch this book is upbeat, helpful and easy to read. I've already bought three copies for myself, my mom (my daytime caregiver) and a friend, and plan to buy more copies for friends who are having babies. It also discusses the importance of organic and all-natural food for babies.

This cookbook is great. Its an ideal starting point for cooking for your baby. I really liked learning about using soy to help your baby get protein so you dont need to rely on meats. Soy is such a great and easy as well as cost effective protein source. I would esp recommend this book if the baby is vegetarian or has a restrictive diet.

I found this book to be very informative and containing all of the information I was looking for. I don't want to only feed my baby rice cereal and single ingredient fruits and vegetables for the 6th - 12th months. This book gives quite a variety of ideas for blending grains, beans, fruit, vegetables, pastas and yes - meats as well as tofu type options. I was thrilled to find recipes for teething biscuits and graham crackers. I made one of the recipes for blended cereal with beans, brown rice, sesame seeds, and few other things. After I cooked it I had to leave, so I stuck it in the fridge. When I came home it had really thickened up, much like slow cook oatmeal does after it sits. Instead of thinning it with more water, I rolled bits of it into pea-sized balls and gave those to my son as finger food. He ate them right up! I didn't have to sweeten it or blend with fruit or anything.

The recipes are not broken down by age, but by meal category instead. The appropriate ages are listed very clearly at the bottom of each recipe. Some reviewers complain that there are few recipes for 6-8 months old. Shouldn't you be going through new foods one at a time during those two months to determine food sensitivities anyway? Eggs are an ingredient in some of the bread recipes. Citrus, milk, and honey are also ingredients for 10 months and up, but since they are cooked in the recipe, they hold no health threat like the raw forms do. Besides, it's recomended that milk not be given as a beverage for children under 1 year because of the propensity for children to choose the cow's milk over breast milk or formula and thus not getting the proper nutrition out of it. Eggs are cautioned against because of the allergenic properties in the whites, not the yolk. So use you own judgement with those recipes. Finally, yes, some of the recipes call for butter and spices, but don't most parents start giving their children food off their own plate containing these itmes as their children's teeth start coming in?

This book really is a great resource for those who desire to give their children the best food they possibly can without the boredom and unhealthy additives that most pre-packaged baby foods contain. Perhaps some of those who gave negative reviews need to start using some common sense and think for themselves for a change.

This book is divided into breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack etc sections. Throughout the sections are ideas for babies 8 months and up and 10 months and up. Very few recipes are for babies 6-8 months. Flipping through the book to find age appropriate recipes is very frustrating since they are divided by meals instead of age. The book also introduces foods for babies 8-12 months that my pediatrician recommended waiting to introduce until after the first year. The book includes recipes for citrus fruits and eggs. The authors include soy and tofu recipes rather than many meat recipes. So for those planning to introduce their baby to meats around 9 months or older, this is not the book for you. I found some of the recipes overly simple--ones that I could have thought up myself-such as apples and apricots (simply steaming and then blending the two fruits). Other recipes seemed to complicated and two advanced for the age group recommended such as the wild mushroom soup made with onion and olive oil--for ages 8 months and up. This book does have some fun recipe ideas but many of them can be made if you are simply creative in trying fruit, veggie, and meat blends.

I bought this book based on others' reviews and because I wanted to make healthy food for my 6 month old. Right off, I realized this isn't the book I wanted. They only have about 2 maybe 3 recipes for 6 months olds, so this book is better for older babies and toddlers. The authors talk about introducing egg yolk at 7 months. My pediatrician told us to wait until a year old for eggs. Also, they have recipes for citrus fruit for 8 months, which we were also told to wait until a year. The authors talk about a vegan lifestyle and how to get your baby started on that. My husband and I are not vegetarian, so if your like us, I would not recommend this book. If you are, maybe you would like it. They also talk about soy and tofu, which I don't plan on giving my baby.

Bottom line, I really didn't like this book. I would highly recommend Blender Baby Food (see review).

This book consists of 47 chapters and doesn't start picking up until chapter 29! It really lacks action. It also tries to end the same way it begins, reminiscent of 'The Outsiders'. I would really like to recommend that the author read the 'The Outsiders' to find out how to write some really good action.

This was my first read by this author. I wanted an easy, no-thought book for the beach and that is just what I got. While I usually enjoy a more thought-provoking mystery, this book was just under that. It did provide some humor and was very light. For those that want a mystery that keeps you guessing until the end, look elsewhere. Overall, a great book for lazing by the pool or taking to the beach.

I have always enjoyed the mysteries from Beth Saulnier, and I am thrilled that she is now writing outside her 'Alex Bernier' series under the name Elizabeth Bloom. This book moves along nicely and is quite engaging, especially for the 20ish-40ish woman mystery lover. The tone, pace, and hijinks of the protagonist remind me of Janet Evanovich books.

I picked up the book because I had nothing better to do with my life and no other books to read...and got a pleasent surprise. The book isn't written up to the standards that I usually expect out of my books, but I have read worse. Isabelle didn't annoy me too much and the little romance was heartwarming. The ending confrontation seemed sloppy and forced, making it awkward to read. The holes that the Author left made me wonder if she was planning a series then a one shot. Either way, I find myself disquieted by the strings that were left hanging.

Good to read for a long wait, but leaves you lacking if you want something with some depth.

It's a bad thing when your fiancé dumps you for your maid of honor. It gets worse when it happens twenty-two minutes before your wedding is supposed to happen. It gets even worse when you decide to party at the reception anyway and become a media sensation when a picture of you dancing on tables is splashed across every media outlet.

In the aftermath, that media frenzy gets Isabelle Leonard an administrative assistant position in the empire known as Becky Belden Multimedia. BBM is a design and lifestyle empire run and owned by Becky who is everyone's favorite homemaking expert. And while BBM through Becky and her many shows and publications tells everyone how to live their lives perfectly with great taste, no one has addressed the fact that at least some of the over 3000 employees are dying in strange ways. Isabelle replaced someone who died and as the accidental deaths continue to happen, Isabelle wonders if she might have heard the wrong thing and could be next.

This cozy style mystery written entirely from Isabelle's point of view works slowly forward with Isabelle dealing not only with work issues but a complicated and chaotic personal life. Isabelle is not a take-charge kind of character and as such, she reacts to various events around her and does very little actual investigative type work until the second half of the novel. One is constantly reminded not just of thinly veiled allusions to public figures and various media events, but also of aspects of a Stephanie Plum type character that bumbles around quite a bit at times. In this case, instead of blowing up cars, Isabelle does not have a car, she spills a lot of things and bad things seem to keep happening to her. The result is an enjoyable, occasionally funny book that moves very slowly along until the final fifty pages, which makes the read all very much worthwhile.

This entire review previously appeared online at OnceWritten.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2005

I have been creating French Beaded work for 4 years. This was my first book. It is true that there aren't a lot of projects layed out, but basic technique is thoroughly explained and illustrated which is an excellent place to begin. With the basic technique taught in this book it is quite easy to move forward into floral self expression. Advanced techniques may be found in other books and a number of project books are available on the market, but I have always held this first book in high regard for helping me master the fundamentals. Pictures of contemporary as well as vintage work provide inspiration. I feel that the combination of good sound basic technique and inspiring photos is a great launching pad for supporting a newbie to explore creating French beaded florals.

The instructions are sketchy. You can't really MAKE anything with this book...no projects...but the pictures of the finished pieces are pretty. I'd definitely go with a Dalene Kelly book before this one.

Well I have looked into different books on beaded flowers and saw reviews of this book so I went to my local library and requested it. Well when I got it I sat and looked through it while I did like how the instructions were simple and clear I did find it was lacking in projects I got a few of the other books out there and feel they are much better. I did love the galeray of flowers in the middle of the book and would have rather had the patterns for some of those flowers instead. I will say if you really want this book find it at the library and copy the first few pages in techniques and return it. Don't buy it.

Arlene Baker has obviously been hitting eBay pretty hard, because this book seems to show the fruits of auctions won. It is at best a collection of photos of vintage French Beaded Flowers. She gives mediocre directions for learning the basic techniques and throws in a few patterns for making trite blossoms into brooches.



But this book doesn't seem to know what it wants to be: basic guide, jewelry pattern book or Coffee Table Book? And It fails at all three. Better guides are available with the dover reprints (check out the Nathanson books.) Actually, any other beaded flower book seems to cover the basics better. There are Jewelry patterns out there for French Beaded Flowers, and anyone can take a pattern for a single bloom from any book and attach the flower to a barrette. Granted, had Baker given good clear directions on how to do this, I would give her credit for that. But alas, she fails to do so. And as a Coffee Table Book, well the photography is unremarkable, some of the actual flowers are pretty, especially the ones made by her friends who seem to be accomplished artists. But the majority of this book is a "show off". It is used to document a personal collection of vintage flowers. Great for insurance documentation. Unfortunately, there are no museum pieces here, no spectacular work. Nothing you can't find on eBay, that is if Arlene doesn't get to it first.

I am serious, if you want to look at pretty pictures of French Beaded Flowers, do a Google search.

I thought that the structure of the book was very unbalanced. The instructions are nice, but they are all in the front part of the book, and are hand-drawn. Color photos of finished projects are in the second part of the book. I prefer a book that has step-by-step instructions included with each project. Also, not very many projects are included. I hate to say it, but I've seen better books on french beaded flowers. To be fair, there are some very nice arrangement that provide inspiration.

Nice to look through, but I wouldn't recommend buying it to keep.