Brown Books

Suffice to say that this two-volume work is the definitive English treatment of Biblical scholarship on the Passion Narratives. Prescinding a moment from the sacred matter of the study, one has to be impressed with the author's command of Biblical scholarship in several contemporary languages, not to mention the intricacies of ancient Greek, Latin, and Aramaic. He is well versed in the history of Biblical scholarship dating to Jerome and Augustine. Father Brown knows his academic peers, their methodologies, emphases, and biases. He is blunt in his praises and criticisms of others working the field. This work is a tribute to Father Brown's single-minded devotion to his field.

The first volume of 900 pages treats of the Gethsemanae events through the condemnation of Christ by Pilate. Brown poses the existence of one or possibly a few distinct and original oral Passion accounts. The Last Supper and the Resurrection accounts are both excluded from this study, as the author believes that the meal with the Twelve and the mysterious empty tomb/apparition accounts come from other distinct early Christian sources. The style is considerably more expository than inspirational, though for such a highly technical work the narrative flow is quite adequate. A reader with little time or theological background might do well to read Father Brown's "A Crucified Christ in Holy Week," a 70-page reflection on the author's study of the Passion.

Father Brown's work continues the tradition of "redaction criticism" of the New Testament, perhaps the predominant methodology of the past half-century. Redaction criticism contrasts the four stories of the Christ by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John to discern a particular philosophy or theology of Christ unique to that author or his community. The Matthean Christ, for example, emerges as the New Moses; the Markan Christ as the unique prophet of a new age of forgiveness, etc. There is some subtle development of redaction conclusions in the work at hand. Father Brown does not believe it is possible to identify the Gospel authors with certainty. From a historical vantage point, the best one can say is that the nuclei of the Gospel accounts, including the Passion tradition[s], originated in early Christian circles, somewhere between 30-60 A.D. Father Brown's work tends to smooth or ameliorate what had been sharply defined boundaries between the evangelists. He tends throughout his treatment to pair Mark and Matthew, in gentle opposition to Luke. He even makes attempts to find common ground in Mark and John, something my professors of the early 1970's rarely attempted.

Father Brown puts more energy into finding bridges between the Gospel narratives and Hebrew Scripture accounts. Thus he underscores the remarkable cohesion of the Christian tradition of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemanae and the story of David's flight from Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 15ff. If the reader takes the time to examine the 2 Samuel text, the parallels are uncanny. The roots of the Judas character, a covey of conspirators, and a mental/spiritual agony on the Mount of Olives are compiled there. In fact, there are even traces of Jesus' warnings to the Apostles in 2 Samuel 15:14-15. The author concludes that the death of Jesus can be understood only in the context of Jewish history, and that the primitive oral account or accounts of the Passion were formulated with considerable influence from the Hebrew Scripture.

The centerpiece of this volume is the judicial action against Jesus. Father Brown establishes that the Sanhedrin owned its maximum responsibility for Jesus' fate, and that likewise Pilate owned his maximum responsibility as well. It was not the Romans who initiated charges against Jesus. Politically speaking, Roman-Jewish relations were as tranquil as they had ever been or ever would be. Any idea that Jesus was prosecuted for political subversion is dismantled. Pilate's condemnation was an unusual but not unheard of acquiescence to the wishes of the Sanhedrin.

On the contrary, Jesus died for religious reasons, specifically issues of Jewish theology and practice. The Sanhedrin did not wish to crucify Jesus for doing kindly deeds or attracting crowds. Rather, it was Jesus' powerful rebuke of the contemporary practice of temple-based Jewish life and worship that placed a cross upon the shoulders of the Christ. There is a progression of prophetic criticism from Jesus' lips of legalism, ritualism, casuistry, exclusivity, and spiritual malaise in all four Gospel biographies. Earlier in Jesus' ministry the rebukes seemed to hold forth the hope that current Jewish practice could be reformed. But on the eve of Passover, Jesus' prediction that he himself could destroy the Temple and raise it in three days constituted wholesale blasphemy as heard by Jewish elders. For as Father Brown implies, Jewish leaders who heard this declaration understood it more clearly than later Christians who interpreted it metaphorically. [Recall Matthew's remark that at the moment of his death the curtain of the Holy of Holies-the heart of the cult-was rent from top to bottom.] Jesus was indeed testifying that the Temple cult was dead. Obviously, this kind of thinking and preaching was untenable and demanded the strongest of responses.

Father Brown has never in his lengthy career felt restrained by Jewish sensitivities to water down his belief that the Sanhedrin is primarily responsible for Jesus' death. But neither has any scholar of my acquaintance gone to greater pains to underscore the existential nature of Jesus' condemnation: it was this Sanhedrin, at this point in time, in this political environment that condemned Jesus. The author sharply condemns any broader generalizations of an anti-Semitic nature. It is true, however, that the author's works on the community of the Evangelist John tend to elaborate sufferings of later Christian communities at the hands of their former Jewish comrades in faith. Does this point of view influence Father Brown's treatment of the Sanhedrin in this work? Good scholars may argue this point, but no one can disagree that Father Brown has done his homework. In spades.

The late Ray Brown is one of the most highly respected Christian scholars of our time. Although he was Roman Catholic his work is regarded very highly among non-Catholic scholars and he was a passionate but fearlessly clear thinker with a lucid and beautiful writing style.

This work is the culmination of a lifetime of serious study and contemplation of the four canonical Gospels. In it he contrasts and compares in great detail the passion stories as they play out in the three so-called synoptic gospels and the fourth, the Gospel of John.

This two-volume work is certainly not an "easy read" but is indeed rewarding and manageable by any general layperson with the will to perservere in study. For example, unlike some works of no greater scholarly attainment, it does not presuppose a knowledge of ancient languages, and can be read in isolation (with occasional use of a Bible), not sending you round to find background studies to try to make sense of what you are reading. I would recommend this work highly to anyone seeking a better understanding of the Passion of Christ.

It's hard to believe that a guy could write 1500 some pages on 36 hours of a person's life. Yet it makes for fascinating reading, and Father Brown leaves few stones unturned in his penetrating look at the final hours of Jesus' earthly ministry. In volume one, he discusses the relationships between the first three gospels and the gospel of John, and then he proceesed on to a discussion of each gospel's passion narrative. Father Brown's main agenda is to get at the meaning of the biblical text as it stands. This is not to say that Brown shys away from discussing the historicity of a particular passage. Sometimes, he swims against the stream by leaving open the possibility of the historicity of a story (eg. that there really was a Jewish and a Roman trial of Jesus). And occasionally, he sees the passion stories as powerful metaphors rather than something that actually happened (cf John 18, when the crowd falls to the ground when Jesus says 'I am He.") Yet He is also rightfully skeptical about modern attempts to reconstruct what actually happened 1970 years ago. He prefers to let the text of scripture speak for itself.

This book is a huge, academic tome, and as rich and informative as it is, the reader better be prepared to make heavy weather of it. You could spend lots of extra time mining extra information out of all the footnotes and bibliographical references that Brown cites. But I could hardly recommend any other source for people who want to know more about the passion of Christ.

I don't run marathons, but people that do tell me that after finishing one the sense of accomplishment alone is exhilarating. I am not a fast reader and it took me several months to get through this 1,400-page book (between both volumes), every page of which is loaded with information. And that's not counting the equally absorbing and informative appendices which you will also feel compelled to read. Fortunately, the author had a gift for referring the reader back to key concepts mentioned previously in the book (with chapter section or page number!) at just the right time, which made it impossible to lose thread of the argument.

Moreover, this is a book to be savored slowly, like good wine. You will marvel at the ease with which this man navigated in and out of and through the Apocrypha, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Talmud, Josephus, Philo, and even Islamic literature (let alone the Gospels themselves). Unlike more pretentious counterparts (Ehrman, anyone?), he was kind enough to transliterate Greek words, and confident enough that his doing so did not detract from the erudition of his work. There really is not a single aspect (actually, there isn't a single word) of the Passion Narratives which this book does not elaborate. His ability to explain the context in which each Gospel was written (period, intended audience, theological internal consistency) is illuminating.

If I were to fault the author for one thing, it would be that he gave too much exposition to viewpoints other than his. While this effort at evenhandedness is commendable, as you advance through the book you are so convinced of Fr. Brown's authority that you really don't care what the opposing positions might be.

Some more fundamentalist-minded readers seem to have a beef wih Fr. Brown. I have not read work from his early years when he may have taken more radical positions, but there is nothing in this book that detracts from Catholic dogma. He simply employed rigorous analytical tools to the study of the Gospels and stated when specific events are or are not corroborated by such investigation. On one hand, he unequivocally clarified that the Gospels were not written with the foreknowledge that they would be so scrutinized and any such failure would not invalidate them in any way. The cornerstone of the Gospels' authority lies in their early and continuous use in Church liturgy. On the other hand, you will be amazed by how much of them does stand such analysis.

When I was in Catholic school and we had a tough religious question that our teachers couldn't answer, they would say "I don't know, but our Holy Church has wise scholars who surely know the answer". I now know that such people do exist and Fr. Brown was one of them.

[Note: By mistake I had previously given this book one star. Someone kindly pointed this out to me, so I am correcting this. I am also adding a third paragraph.]

There is no doubt that these two volumns are absolutely required reading for anyone with a serious interest in the death of Jesus. Father Brown brought to bear a lifetime of study and reflection on his subject.

It should perhaps be noted that his book is fully within the Roman Catholic tradition. Do not expect to find many conclusions that differ greatly from traditional Catholic teachings on the subject. Students who are influenced by scholars such as the Jesus Seminar or John Dominic Crossan will find much to disagree with.

But even the most liberal scholars will have to take this book very seriously. The Jesus Seminar and Crossan can argue very reasonably about what percentage of all the words attributed to Jesus are really his. But few doubt that Jesus was crucifed. (Muslims, whose beliefs are based upon what the Koran says about the subject, are the only reasonable persons who think that Jesus was not killed on the cross. The others are crackpots.) So there must have been some sort of trial, Jews confering with each other and with Romans, and so forth. Thus there is, I think, more possibility for agreement here than on some other issues.

Very good book. The directions are clear and the content is very nice. This is my first book from this author and I will definitely by others written by her. A good guide for cake decorators at intermediate level.

This book is not really for beginners, but I didn't want a book for beginners! I love all the ideas I got from it and cannot wait to try them! I have all of Debbi Brown's books now. I don't have one that I cannot use! Some of these cakes are very involved, but there are ways you can simplify them. Debbie Brown is fairly good at explaining things and demonstrating in photos, so you can understand easier. But, buyer beware: it looks easy, but it is difficult to get your cakes to look like hers.

This book has explained very well how to make it just like what in the book. I found one thing missing is it doesn't tell you about stroage.

I adore this book and had such a hard time choosing which cake to make first. I am a hobby cake decorator and found the cakes reasonable to do. The directions are very clear, but if you are not familiar with some of the techniques, it will take some practice working with the fondant and cake to get the perfect looking cake. My children are constantly flipping through the pages and picking out their next Birthday cakes a year away.

this book is so fun. i am not a cake baker(i plan to take a wilton class or two) but i like to craft. i bought the book for fimo clay ideas. it is wonderful. my daughters (8 and 14) and i have made some of the cakes into clay figurines. it's taken some creativity on our part but these are beautiful pictures and great instructions.

I purchased this book to guide me through my first grantwriting position in the winter of 2002, and I still return to it today. The sample letters are valuable, and I have successfully modified them to meet the needs of three different organizations. The filing systems make managing a huge amount of information easy. I always recommed this book to people looking to get started with grant writing, and have sung its praises at several workshops I have conducted for beginning grantwriters.

This book presents a systematic approach that begins with identifying your internal needs and moves through the process of research, proposal development, and outreach to funders. Myths are addressed along the way; for example, grants are not "something for nothing," but rather "rational deals between colleagues." A good read filled with specific, hands-on advice.

I found this to be an excellent choice for guidance on proposal writing for grant funding. Altho geared more toward foundation funding sources, it also has excellent advice/directives for federal funding applications. I would strongly recommend this as a first choice - particularly of interest is the funding cycle perspective, very helpful.

I have an advanced degree in nonprofit management and several years of experience in grant writing. This is the book that is an invaluable tool to me even this far into my efforts. I see it as indispensable for a beginner. An essential classic for anyone taking on the formidable task of grant writing.

The are many books on grant writing, and most of these purport to make the process `easy' or `simple' but no other book that I've discovered presents such a clear, organized method for all level of grant writers.

Whether you're just starting out or you're already entrenched in this essential task for all nonprofits, Demystifying Grant Seeking: What You REALLY Need to Do to Get Grants tells you precisely how to be effective.

The authors present a concise technique to search for grants, gather necessary information, and finally compose proposals that actually win awards.

I've used the system for The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, www.claflinhill.org , a cultural organization that I've personally seen grown from burgeoning to thriving in just a few years. With the authors' process, I've pinpointed granters, both business and philanthropic, made initial contact, developed relationships, garnered key points, and submitted successful grants.

Demystifying Grant Seeking: What You REALLY Need to Do to Get Grants is always on my book shelf, except when I'm referring to its procedures or showing it to rising grant seekers.

Bernadette Stockwell, www.callthewriter.com

This is one of those thrillers that you cannot put down. The novel contains three stories, the story of a white prostitute, the story of an ex freedom fighter with a mission and the story of a detective and his battles with alcohol, all intwined.

It is superbly written and by switching from story to story, keeps you totally enthralled. Although seperate pieces, each is worthy of their own novel, and the finale is really astounding.

I have now read all of Deon Meyer's novels, some in the original Afrikaans and like this one, the translation, and would like to recommend to new readers to start reading them in sequence, because some characters appear throuhout his novels.

Meyer has a superb grasp of the problems and challenges facing the new South Africa and this novel is his best to date. Certainly one of the top 5 thrillers i have ever read.

I've read all this author's works published in this country, and found them to be consistently top notch. In this book, he carries three plot lines through it dealing with complicated people that you find sympathetic. The author uses them to deal with major issues such as prostitution, alcoholism, and unsympathetic bureaucracy, as well as looking at some social issues mentioned in previous reviews. When the plot lines are meshed, it's done in an understandable and logical fashion leading to a satisfactory ending. The book is an exciting read. The protagonists are imperfect people with their own demons with whom they struggle. It is recommended highly and especially to those who wish to explore this South African's very original novels.

Deon Meyer's novel, Devil's Peak, is a complex, yet exciting tale of African espionage. The author has created a cast of characters so diverse, you will have quite a time keeping up with each of them. Yet, I wanted to know more about them as my fingers turned page by page.

There is the prostitute who visits a clergyman with a secret carton. Then a man, a modern-day vigilante, is seeking justice for the death of his adopted son. On his trail is an alcoholic detective inspector who risks his wife and children for the love of the bottle. That is just a few of the people who make the novel so compelling.

Out of all of their stories, Thobela Mpayipheli's is the one that kept me reading the book from start to finish. Here was a man who married the woman he loved and adopted her son as his. When she dies, he is left to raise the child, which he does with joy and determination. Then a fateful stop at a filing station changes Thobela's life forever. It sends him on a mission to send every criminal he encounters to a brutal and traumatic end. He is on a search for two men in particular who he has to exact a revenge that only their deaths can satisfy. Yet, he then realizes that his journey entails more than that.

There are AIDS-infected men who are raping children in an ill attempt to rid themselves of the disease. When the court refuses to condemn them to prison, Thobela decides to take matters into his own hands.

The author designs his characters in a way that their lives are all somehow entwined. This means that you must stay on your toes in order to follow the storyline. Yet, I found Devil's Peak to be an interesting and exciting read. I realize that Thobela Mpayipheli is my new hero and the man of my dreams.

Armchair Interviews says: Most interesting storyline.

Three very flawed but sympathetic characters populate this novel. There is Thobela Mpayipheli, a Black South African who was trained as an assassin by the East German secret police. Then there is Benny Griessel, alcoholic detective. And lastly, Christine van Rooyen, a prostitute with a three-year-old daughter. Somehow, their lives intertwine in a gripping story which keeps the reader off-balance all the way.

Initially, Thobela is introduced as a farmer who recently lost his wife, leaving him with a young boy who he loves very much. The boy is shot dead during an armed robbery, setting off a chain of events which leads Thobela to act as an avenging vigilante against abusers of children. Benny, once (and possibly even in his present continual alcoholic haze) a superior detective, is kicked out of his home by his long-suffering wife with the admonishment that he might be permitted to return if he stays sober for six months. Meanwhile, he is placed in charge of two important cases, including the serial killer of abused children. Christine's story alternates with the other two as she sits confessing to a priest. Her tale plays a pivotal role in the lives of the other two.

This is the author's fourth novel, each superior reading. His complex stories and descriptions of South Africa are exceptional, his characters unusual and graphic, his works top-notch. Like his previous efforts, Devil's Peak is highly recommended.

First book I've read by this author and I will be reading them all. Action is fast paced and you have to put the book down and take a respite. Not for the faint of heart. When's the movie coming out will automatically be the question once you have finished this book. Principal character, Griesell, rivals Ian Rankin's Rebus. An alcoholic detective, an avenging former Stasi trained African freedom fighter taking out his wrath on pedophiles, a beautiful call girl, and a Colombian drug lord all come together in a very well crafted suspense yarn. Through the book you are aware or suspect that things are not as they seem and the author jumbles the present with the past and the future but there is no confusion, only clarity. Meyer keeps you guessing until the very end.

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Cry Havoc: The Great American Bring-Down and How It Happened

I have always considered "Dialectical Imagination" an indispensable research tool, but until the publication of Ralph de Toledano's "Cry Havoc: The Great American Bring-down and How It Happened," Martin Jay had a monopoly on the history of the Frankfurt School. More than a decade after Jay's publication, Cry Havoc is an excellent companion piece, by a strong critic of the Frankfurt School who personally knew many of the operatives of the ISR network at Columbia University, and many of the operatives of the Comintern of the 1940s and 1950s. A great combination.

I remember having read this book when it first came out, some 25 years ago. It was a good book then and it is a good book now. I read the book originally while at college when the smoke had just cleared from the sixties and there was still glamor associated with the New Left and its antecedents in Germany's prewar years. Reading the book now, although it is every bit as good as scholarship, places that particular generation of mainly Jewish, upper-middle class Marxists in a new light. The odor of revolution is long gone, the USSR has fallen, left-leaning professors dominate academe but the audience for chic revolutionaries has withered away along with the proletariat they were counting on. There is something faintly hilarious about these pompous Herr Professors and their trust-fund institute grinding out "studies" on the future of Marxism. Did not one of them ever wonder how they would maintain their elitist lifestyle were the revolution to ever actually occur? These guys were smoking-jacket intellectuals who were about as interested in seeing the world change as blue-blooded WASPs who prefer to play bridge while listening to Vivaldi. No wonder they ran back to Germany after the war to take up chaired professorships, never mind their appointments came from men who had just taken off their Nazi uniforms. The Frankfurt school is certainly very interesting and this book serves as a wonderful introduction , but for God sake don't think they can offer any guidance to how to lead the revolution.

28 years after its initial publication, Martin Jay's "The Dialectical Imagination" is still the best introduction and most indispensable guide to the Frankfurt School's history and thinkers. Jay can easily be forgiven his occasional historiographer's dryness and insistent reminders of the boundaries of his project (I would be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time he writes that "such considerations fall outside of the area of the current inquiry" or something to that effect). Moreover, even if subsequent publications of the translated correspondence and unpublished papers of figures like Benjamin and Adorno have robbed Jay's book of some of its potential for novelty and scoop, Jay still provides the best and most pithy assessments of the major points, and he does so without sacrificing the scholarly rigor that organizes "The Dialectical Imagination."

The book could certainly better fulfill its role as research tool if the publishers would sponsor an updating of the notes and citations; now that everything has been published and republished by presses like Fischer and Suhrkamp in Germany and by the likes of Continuum, Columbia, Harvard, etc., in the English-speaking world, Jay's opus might be more helpful were it not to insist on citing the original issues of the institute's journals, to which most of us simply don't have easy access.

That's a small bone to pick, though, with such a thorough book. Jay's chapter on the philosophical roots of critical theory moves quickly but surely (despite the occasional dependence on disciplinary argot that may slow down readers not steeped in the vocabulary of "isms"), providing a crucial backdrop to his reading of the Frankfurt School's entire intellectual contribution. This chapter grounds Jay's book safely, and the subsequent chapters make good on this very promising start.

"The Dialectical Imagination" is sure to remain the best available introduction to the thought of the Frankfurt School on the whole. I cannot recommend it highly enough for those interested in the history of philosophy in the 20th century, in radical politics, or in developments in literary theory.

This was one of the best books I read in graduate school. After 20 years this is still a great reference for anyone interested in the development of American universities. This work is an essential part of the intellectual landscape to anyone navigating the currents of the reactionary neocon thought, which developed in large degree in opposition to the legacy of the Frankfurt School. While the Frankfurt School's students seemed to dominate academe for a generation or more, the new invisible college is dominated by the reaction to this major stream of thought.

Frankfurt school is now a part of history. Not much of its arguments are reproduced now a day. For example, their critical cultural theory opened up the vast terrain of cultural study in capitalism. But their characterizing cultural consumer as dumb passive receiver is too much extreme to be real. Now nobody hold up such a position. Its perspective seems locked in the interwar period. Indeed, the power of the school comes from the distinctive problematic derived from such a peculiar era. But the strength is the source of weakness. But even we don¡¯t follow their lines, we should know what they said at least in cursory manner, for their theories are now classic in each field.
This book must be still the most authoritative history of Frankfurt school from its inception to 1950. but it deals with not only chronological events but also what the first generation of the school, such as Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, and Fromm, worked. This book is the intellectual history of the school. The author illustrates the school against the time of school. As Hegel said, thought is the child of its time. So the thought should be located in the right context to understand. The society of Western intellectuals faced a crisis in the interwar period. The impact was severe especially to German intellectuals. The thought of Frankfurt school is one of the reactions to the crisis. Marin Jay succeeds in reconstruct their time in front of us. This book is the ¡®must¡¯, if you want to be oriented to Frankfurt school.

Are you looking for something usefull and can be understood clearly at the first time?This is the most helpfull guide if you are not proffessio nally working on a research.For collegers and Eastern universities:Ferfect introduction to the field.Do not worry not to having enought experience on the field.This book will carry you to where ever you want to go.

I am a graduate student in Taiwan. My advisor showed me the book and I bought the second edition. When I read it, I found it is good to my research in the field of biotechnology. Although I am still a novice in this area, this book is really helpful to me.

Easy read, topics explained well. Would definitely recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn more about biotechnology.

This is a great book for beginners - easy to understand, yet you can grasp some big pictures. Serious learners might want to look for more advanced level books, as I had to use other books whenever I needed to learn in depth.

Are you looking for something usefull and can be understood clearly at the first time?This is the most helpfull guide if you are not proffessio nally working on a research.For collegers and Eastern universities:Ferfect introduction to the field.Do not worry not to having enought experience on the field.This book will carry you to where ever you want to go.

The book is full of useful models, and interesting, real-life ancedotes. The book is divided into the different types of teams, so you can turn right to the chapter that fits your needs - pointing out that one size team approach does not fit all. I appreciated the chapter on global teams (ch 8).

The Driving Force does a wonderful job of describing why every leader should focus on nurturing teamwork. And then it offers a variety of valuable tools and assessments to help create an environment where teams can thrive and be successful. It's become a great reference tool for me already!

I found this book to be full of real to me cases. The transfer of easy to use diagnostic tools then, to current client systems, is unprecedented! Very helpful and easy to read and apply!

This book is well organized and it is easy to find both experiences and tools for most any team situation. The experiences of those she writes about are helpful but the best features of this book are the guides, readiness questions, and other tools to see where your organization fits. I would recommend it to anyone who is working in a team environment, or someone who is thinking about starting a team. Knowing the "watchouts" before you begin a team is halfway to success.

This book is not only an interesting read, but a great tool to add to your toolbox. Learning and applying the information given is beneficial not only to the individual, but also to the world in which they exist! Our university has begun using this book in classes in a wide range of areas, from Human Resources and General Business to Counseling and Student Affairs. The information is applicable to every field! I believe The Driving Force acts as an exceptional guide to making the ideals of the business world more attainable for both the customer and the business. It helps the reader to rediscover and restore the joy and purpose in their job. Great book all around--for both students and professionals.

If you are not a biologist or MD, and want to see where the application of genomics to medicine is going, try Brown's book. In clear language, he and other writers explain the key ideas and promises in this field. Like what can be done with massive genomic databases, by aiding the search for inherited diseases, and isolating these to certain places in the DNA.

One chapter looks at gene therapy. Currently, still mostly speculative. Much remains to be done to make it viable for many people. But this chapter is perhaps the most far reaching, if its potential can be fully realised. Related to this is another chapter about proteomics, which is another buzzword. We see that protein structures are another field, closely related, that also holds big promises for understanding and treatments.

"...this book was exactly what I was looking for: a high-level overview of genomic technologies and their application...Brown's book is highly recommended..." (Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 20, No. 6, June 2003)

"readable account of the underpinnings of genomics and its medical applications...a clearly written book that makes a complex discipline understandable..." (New England Journal of Medicine, July 24, 2003)

"...a good purchase for...academic or medical libraries as well as large public ones." (E-Streams, Vol. 6, No. 5, May 2003)

"It will be quite useful to anyone from other fields who is interested in a taste of what emerging technologies in genomics, proteomics, and bioinformatics can bring to bear on questions of potential importance in biomedical research." --American Journal of Human Genetics

Motherless Eddie Brown (actually Evangeline) candidly tells of her friendship with the new boy in school, Farrell. Both feel themselves to be outsiders and closely guard their family secrets. Their fathers are drinking buddies and their alcoholism overshadows the whole story. The bullying by the other kids pulls the two youngsters together and Farrel teaches Eddie to defend herself.
Young readers will relate to their experiences in coping with hurtful teasing, having to wear glasses, adjusting to a new teacher, and feeling embarrassed about their homes and families. The two of them have an up-and-down relationship as they take their insecurities and frustrations out on each other.
When disaster looms, they hatch a plot together to cope with it. Farrel fears that the new teacher's home visits will result in Eddie and him being sent to foster homes. He says they should run away and travel to his grandmother's.
Eddie must make a difficult choice between her loyalty to her father who has disappointed her over and over or on taking a risk with this new friend. The book ends on a hopeful note.

I don't usually read children's books, but bought this one for my grandchildren, read it myself, and was delighted. Perhaps the strongest feature is the way Ms. Davis captures the voice of 10-year-old Eddie Brown (Evangeline) the sassy little protagonist through whose eyes the story is told.

Eddie's problem is that she lives with her dad, the village drunk, in a run-down Florida motel--one of those places that rents rooms by the hour. The most notable feature of the motel, other than its broken neon sign and shady clientele, is the rear end of a pink Cadillac protruding from one of the rooms. Eddie's dad is the manager.

Eddie is street smart enough to realize that all is not well with all the comings and goings, and finds friendship with Farrell, another kid with problems. His dad runs a greasy mechanic shop and is the drinking buddy of Eddie's dad. The dads aren't bad guys, just a couple of negligent drunks.

Eddie and Farrell play basketball together, fend off bullies, and talk about their miserable lives. As bad as things are, they turn worse when a new teacher comes to town and announces she's going to visit each child at home, have a chat with their parents. No way, says Eddie and Farrell. Not only will they become the laughing stock of the school, but they could wind up as wards of the state. This sets the stage for an elaborate escape, a run-away-from-home with the intention of moving in with Eddies aunt.

I won't spoil the ending for those who haven't read the book, but will add that things go from bad to worse to disastrous when they encounter the really bad guys in a bus station, the sort that preys on little kids.

This book has everything for a delightful read--a loveable protagonist, a BIG problem, a determination to do something about the problem, bad guys and a satisfactory ending. It also has a message for kids contemplating escape from their parents: things could be much much worse. In short, it's a great read for both kids and adults.

In this novel, which won the coveted Ann Durrell Fiction Contest (Dutton Children's Books' contest for new writers of middle-grade fiction), Evangeline "Eddie" Brown lives in poverty with her beer-sodden father. Their home is the rarely frequented Cadillac Motel, decorated with the butt-end of a pink Cadillac. Eddie has lived in Paradise since she was born. The motel is in sad shape and so is Eddie's Pa, who has never recovered from her mother's death when Eddie was five. Ruby, the motel maid, functions somewhat as a mom substitute. Eddie is friendless and teased unmercifully at school.

Eddie meets Farrell, the son of one of Pa's drinking buddies. The two connect through their mutual love of basketball. Eddie is troubled by Farrell's secrets. Why is he afraid of enclosed spaces? Where is the place he lived when his mother died? When school starts, they strike a deal: Eddie will help Farrell with his schoolwork in exchange for fighting lessons. Farrell and Eddie combine their talents to solve problems. Their solutions sometimes result in triumph but also lead them into danger.

Along with her new friend, Eddie also has a new teacher. Instead of cranky old Mrs. Thornton, the class has pretty, sweet Miss Rose. Her new teacher drops a bombshell: she plans to visit each student's home. Eddie is awash in shame and fear at the thought of her lovely teacher in the trashed-out motel meeting her drunken father. She is desperate to prevent that scenario.

This is a poignant book with fresh, surprising characters (I love Eddie's attitude!) and a lively but thoughtful plot. It's both heartbreaking and heartwarming but never slips into sentimentality. Although I thought that perhaps the situation with Eddie's father was resolved just a bit too easily, this is a minor quibble with such a wonderful novel. Indeed, I simply cannot wait to read many more books by talented newcomer Michele Ivy Davis.

--- Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon (...)

This is a wonderful story that made me laugh and cry. I really loved the main character. The author does such a wonderful job that you really feel part of the story. I am an adult and I plan on sharing this one with both my 8 year old and 11 year old. A great book to curl up with!

What a delightful book! I enjoyed the engaging story and the spunk of the main character. Eddie is a no nonsense tomboy on the outside and a vulnerable young girl within. The author lends a remarkable insight into the life of a young girl of difficult circumstances. I recommend this book to anyone who would like to enjoy its simple lessons. I truly do believe that this book shouldn't be limited to kids!

One of our all time favorites, along with the sequel: Feliciana Meets d'Loup Garou. We took these books out of the library repeatedly when I was still reading to my children. Jump ahead 5 years and now my 12 year old and I just had an emergency need to read these stories again. Luckily they were at the library, and reading them (as other reviewers, with a Cajun accent) was such a wonderful time. Now we feel we must buy these books, because they are treasures. One of the great reasons to become a parent is to get to read such books to children!

I've read this one to a class of 2nd graders who were begging for more by the end. The only complaint I got was that I only read the dialogue with a Cajun accent instead of the entire book! I'm watching for more books by this author and plan to buy every one.

This book is one that you can read over and over again to the children. There's is even a song that goes with the book by Johnette Downing! The kid's in my class love this book and most of them own it by the end of the year.

This book is one that you can read over and over again to the children. There's is even a song that goes with the book by Johnette Downing! The kid's in my class love this book and most of them own it by the end of the year.

My kids (8, 5, and 3) love this story, and it's a book that's fun for a parent to read, especially if you enjoy putting on just a bit of an accent when you read. The language in this story is wonderful, and the book comes complete with a one-page Cajun glossary and pronunciation guide, to help your kids learn just a little about Cajun culture.

Feliciana is a wonderful little girl, strong, spunky, and definitely more spice than sugar. She has a whole passel of brothers, who keep her on her toes.

The story, set in a Cajun bayou, is one that little boys and girls from everywhere will enjoy, since it involves a hungry alligator, who bites off more than he can chew when he goes after Feliciana Feydra LeRoux.

The drawings in this book are terrific. Colorful, funny, and whimsical -- they bring the story to life.

This is a great book that has the rare ability to both entertain and teach, and I highly recommend it.