Bloom Books

This volume is a big let down, especially after having read 'Sayings' and 'Lives' of the Desert Fathers, which are both excellent and substantial.
The primary drawback is the length of the book, clocking in at a mere 47 pages. Not only does it lack just in pages, but some pages contain barely a few sentences!
This could be fine as a gift book as it has some nice examples on central christian themes and the presentation is of a high quality.
But for a serious spiritual study this is book is inadequate.
Spend your money on 'Sayings' instead which is just superb and has enough substance for years of meditation and thought.
'Lives' is also very interesting and epic.

POSTNOTE: This review refers to the hardcover edition. I need to make this distinction as recently I came across the paperback edition(3rd editon, 1981) in a library and discovered it was a radically different book of substantially more quantity. Amazon has overlooked this and simply lumped them together. Even though the paperback is still a relatively short 66 pages it contains 239 sayings or anecdotes ranging in length from single sentences to long paragraphs. The hardcover edition(47 pages) is a small selection of this material but containing illustrations. To add even more confusion the first edition of the paperback(1975) is also available under the title 'The Wisdom of the Desert fathers: The Apophthegmata Patrum'. Buyers should take these distinctions into account before purchasing.

When Evagrius Ponticus, asked Macarius for a word of wisdom, Abba Macarius replied; "Do not speak unless you are asked to!"

One verse of wisdom:
The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers focused on the request of a monastic novice pleading to an Elder; "Please give me a word of guidance." The novice asks one verse of the elder's insightful conception of the Good News of the one teacher, The Christ. I see that Benedicta Ward applies the spirit of the desert, intense wisdom.

Extra scoop of Desert wisdom?
"The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers Systematic Sayings from the Anonymous Series of the Apophthegmata Patrum," by the 'blessed' Anglican mother Ward and many other sources including writings by John Cassian, and Evagrius Ponticus may be helpful to the honest Amazon reviewer Peter. A treatise on the quest for holiness by the Desert fathers, is very thoroughly treated in D. Burton Christie's "The Word in the Desert."

Book Rating:
Although I totally agree with the reviewer who stated rightly that; "The primary drawback is the length of the book, clocking in at a mere 47 pages. Not only does it lack just in pages, but some pages contain barely a few sentences! This could be fine as a gift book as it has some nice examples on central Christian themes and the presentation is of a high quality."
Amazon has to add the number of pages within "Product Details". But, neither this lack of information, nor his own positive note on the quality justify his harsh under rating.

out teacher is sick and we have a permanent substitute. I find this book confusing and the teacher doesn't do a very well job at explaining it. There are plenty of facts and information, just too much at one time. I suggest making a photocopy of the pages you are reading and highlighting the facts to study...

I'm a sophomore at the University of Michigan that has taken introductory biology courses both in high school and in college. Recently I helped my high school freshman niece with her biology reading from this textbook. I can't believe such a poorly-written book is being used in classrooms.

The book is poorly organized, even within individual paragraphs. Some sections seem as if a coherent paragraph was written, then someone randomly copied and pasted groups of sentences around until the text became as confusing as possible. Complicated concepts are confusingly presented without adequate explanation. Arcane details are given more attention than the overall concepts. There were many sections where I'd have to reread the text multiple times before I finally grasped what the authors were attempting to convey.

I think it's pathetic that anybody should be introduced to biology with a book this confusing and frustrating. Biology is NOT this confusing, and it's certainly more interesting than the authors make it out to be. This book isn't just useless; it's counterintuitive.

As a honors biology student I am very good in science and genraly like all of the books that I have used. I would say, with out a doubt, this is perhaps the worst textbook ever written. The concepts are explaind so poorly and unclearly all they can do is confuse a student. The language is written as a college level textbook. I would encouarge anyone consdiering this textbook to look for a new one. You could not do any worse. Even teachers can not understand this book.

I used this text for Honors Biology as a high school sophomore and the material was presented in a complicated fashion that makes it hard for a typical reader to understand. While I am generally a good student and can grasp new ideas quickly this text was complicated and in my opinion needs a lot of teacher aid in explaining, especially for first year biology.

I agree that the book was confusing. I would not recommend it. Even with help from teachers, I did not fully grasp the information taught to me.

Bloom not only can't appreciate who King is but resents King for what he isn't; Shakespeare, Saul Bellow, DeLillo, Thomas Pynchon, or Philip Roth. That is the old relic's safe, little comfort zone.

Howard Bloom, the crumudgen cliche, a carictacure of the out-of-touch literary snob has a bone to pick with King and ironicaly isn't capable of articulating what exactly is wrong with King's work.

Shame on you King for your success, your genres of choice, your style, for being prolific, and most of all being honored by the National Book Foundation. Shame on you, for you have "dumbed down" the American readers. But there is a single purpose to King's work, according to Bloom, to keep the publishing world afloat. Ahhh, the world through the eyes of a bitter old man.

$45? You've got to be kidding.

Albeit expensive, this compilation of criticism is worth every penny solely because of Mr. Bloom's pessimistic assessment of what he calls the "King phenomenom."

(Not verbatim) Stephen King marks the death of the Literate Reader in America.

Stephen King will not be read in hundred years, huh? A good example of staying power is H.P. Lovecraft, who published a few things before his death. No one knew who the heck he was. Now, close to a hundred years (close enough) from his first publshed work, he is still widely read and revered in many circles. Stephen King has been named in the top 100 Pop Culture Icons, and films inspired by his work will live forvever. "Shawshank Redemption", "Dolores Claiborne", "The Green Mile", "Stand by Me" films will last. He will last. He has won the most awards of any author alive! King is celebrated throughout the world because of his unique writing. Without him...my these critics just do not know how much he has influenced writers from all genres. Dennis Lehane, Michael Connely, James Patterson, Stewart O'Nan, Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson cite King as an influence. "Literary" authors of all countries count him as an influence. What he has contributed is your opinion Harold Bloom/others, but my God, King just received the National Book Award for DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION TO AMERICAN LETTERS. The highest honor. Walter Mosely introduced him at the awards ceremony! Saying that King will not survive and be around a hundred years from now is like saying Harry Potter won't be read a hundred years from now. Sour grapes. Read King's books. Find out for yourself.

The most Overpriced compilation of outdated incoherent verbiage I've ever read, and the only redeeming quality of Blooms intro is it's brevity. I'm sure the other lesser writers in the Modern Writers series fair no better, although Blooms critical facility is better suited there.

If literacy is dead, Bloom killed it. Bloom never understood the simple fact that since the Vulgate edition of the Bible, it has been the popular culture that animates literature; and it is the popular genres--mystery, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and so on that energize it. Bloom wants all literature to be the mundane, vapid tomes of the academy. This is the kind of pseudo-intellectual claptrap that turns off even the most disciplined of young minds to literary pursuits. If Bloom doesn't get why King is a master storyteller, or why J. K. Rowling has everybody reading about Harry Potter, he's hopeless. Put him out to pasture. Don't waste your money on this book.

I reviewed Bloom's 1999 Research Guide on Welty, not this 1986 Critical Views on Welty.

The idea for this collection of excerpts is commendable, as an introduction to Welty for, perhaps, high school students; but a hardback at this price is too costly for that purpose, and the scholarship is too flawed for any use. Even a quick glance reveals (1) outdated information about the Welty scholars quoted and (2) errors in the bibliography. Ruth VandeKieft (not "Kieft") is deceased, Pollack is not at Sweetbriar, Prenshaw is no longer at Southern Mississippi, nor I at Oral Roberts University. Barbara Fialkowski did not write A Still Moment but, rather, one essay in it. This collection of excerpts looks as if it were put together quickly not by Bloom, who should know better, but by someone who does not know Welty or Welty criticism. Although my own book, excerpted in the text, is not listed in "Books About Welty," ten that are listed are general works I consulted but that are not themselves about Welty at all (including Frank, Kestner, Frye, Kayser, Fleenor, Gilligan, Weisenfarth). If the editor had consulted the excerpted authors, this could have been a better book.

Written almost as a children's book for the parents, the content of this book is simplistic, centered around a do-it-yourself guide for a few tools, toys and games. If you're looking for a scientifically based, nature-as-therapy type of resource, this is not it. Nor should this be used for public areas, due to its home-built nature. It may be a good primer for those completely unfamiliar with the concepts, but overall there are much better texts available

The only reason this book gets a 2 is because is does have some nice electron micrographs. But my praise for the book stops there. "Concise" doesn't begin to describe how concise this book actually is. Its depth of topic exploration does not delve any further than "This is a kidney" or "This is a heart." Which I already knew of course. Yes, I'm being slightly sarcastic, but you get the point. This was required for our first year medical class (why?), and yet our professors' lectures always exceeded the information contained in this book. I'm a second year now, and when I wish to brush up on my histology in order to help me understand pathology, I have no reference book! Do yourself a favor and buy the unabridged version if you can find it (it's out of print now). Surprisingly, this version is EXCELLENT and is considered to be the THE authoritative histology text. Don't waste your money...

I was disappointed from the moment I took the cards out of the box. Schenck's Blooms lacks the luscious look and feel of her Blossums notecards. There is nothing special about these cards. They are printed on average weight dull paper. The back panel is completely unusable, covered with a horrid shade of brown. Worse, the color and clarity of the thumbnail artwork on the back of the box is actually richer than that of the actual cards.

I used this book in undergrad and, although the pictorial illustrations in the book were useful, overall I found this book to be more confusing than need be. They were overly vague in areas where it wasn't necessary, yet would go into detail in areas that were not key points. I would not recommend this text for a physio psych book. I have since found other books, such as Carlson's Foundations book, that I would much rather use in my classes.

The semi-serious comic book fan will already be familiar with much of what is disussed here, especially if they follow the comic-related press. The casual comic reader will find little to put the transition of comics from mere heroic fare into, for a while, gloomy anti-heroism. The "context" of this transition, namely that society itself had become increasingly dark and depressing and violent and that comic literature reflects society, is barely touched upon. The interviews in the back are interesting, however and the book DOES serve as a very basic primer for super-heroics.

This book combines a (very) concise biography with several critical essays. The biography was a decent rough sketch of Austen's life and writing compressed into about 30 minutes worth of reading.

The included summaries of Austen's works were hasty and thus vastly oversimplified, to the point of uselessness. They contain several minor errors as well, stupid things that the editor should have caught. Anyone new to Austen could get a better overview reading middle school book reports.

The critiques are at least thought provoking although not exactly to my taste; the one by Brian Wilkie in particular was a magnificent piece of specious sophistry.

If someone needs a quick source for a paper due the next day, the material in this book might be sufficient to make a C, but reading the real thing would be much more satisfying.