Butler Books

At last... a complete discussion of the topic of ordination for women in the Catholic Church, presenting historical arguments as well as current. Butler is a knowledgeable and objective presenter of the church's reasoning.

What if Sr. Sara Butler is really a man disguised as a woman? Or, what if Sr. Sara is really a man with the body of a woman? Or, what if Sr. Sara is both a man and a woman with the dual anatomy of a man and a woman? Or, what if Sr. Sara has an indistinguishable anatomy where identifying her sexual organs is scientifically impossible? Or what if Sr. Sara had female organs, but only male chromosomes? Or, what if Sr. Sara was a man at birth and had a sex re-assignment to a woman that she never knew occurred? As for me, I personally believe that Sr. Sara is a woman with a woman's anatomy. I further believe that her anatomy has been unaltered. It is a belief. No speculation about the anatomy of Sr. Sara is worthy of discussion.

For believers in an all male clergy the "discussion" of the possibility of woman's ordination is not necessary. Sr. Sara is a remarkable apologist for the non-discussion. Her book does a superb job of validating the reasons and necessity for an all male clergy. In a heated debate where everyone who disagrees with Sr. Sara is silenced, she is clearly the articulate winner. It helps that Sr. Sara is a woman. Otherwise silenced critics might quietly mumble that she is merely a sexist male. That would be unfair.

Yet, in spite of a marvelous affirmation of the Sacramentality of a male clergy, there is still room for suspicion. Sr. Sara agrees that very little information exists about the historical Jesus. What if the Sitz im Leben of the historical Jesus were different? Would some of the apostles have been women? Perhaps some historical apostles were women? What about the women who were popes? What about those women in history who were ordained through renegade apostolic succession? Believers would be certain to label those ordinations as invalid, but is there room to think of the historical ordinations of women as merely illicit by the standard of misunderstood biology? Is our understanding of the biology of what makes a "woman" a "woman" and a "man" a "man" in need revision? My suspicion is that there is biologically more there than meets the eye. It is in redefinition that room exists for discussion.

For example, apologists for the long-line of ordained male priests who are celibate and gay quickly point-out that many gay men have female characteristics which make them more pastorally sensitive as priests than their heterosexual counter-parts.

Perhaps the reverse is true for certain women? There are women with biologically male characteristics. Why shouldn't a woman who acts like a man be considered for ordination if she also has certain biological markers and characteristics which are also male?

Tom Bradley

I recently finished reading Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide To The Teaching Of The Church by Sr. Sara Butler, MSBT. When I had first read about this book I was intrigued by both the subject and the author and ordered it. Despite Ordinatio Sacerdotalis the issue of women's ordination is still a hot button issue in the Church and it is still being discussed as if one day this doctrine will change. Thus I think it is an important issue to delve down deeper into and to understand more fully when discussing this topic with those who don't hold to Church teaching on it.

In 1978 Sr. Butler chaired a task force on women's ordination for the Catholic Theological Society of America which favored women's ordination. It was only later when she worked with the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultations and for the USCCB on a Pastoral letter for women's concern that she realized that the CTSA's previous critique was seriously flawed. In recent years she was appointed to the International Theological Commission and was involved in the recent document on the hope of salvation for infants who die with being baptized. That she had once held the opposite view makes this book even better since she is able to ably give the objections and then to give replies to them.

She starts off by giving a history of this issue. For most of the history of the Church there has been little doctrinal development on this issue since it has really never been a point of contention within the Church. There have been Church fathers who have addressed this issue at times mainly in response to heretical sects such as the Gnostics ordaining women. It is only in recent times that the magisterium has had to seriously address this issue. The first response was by Pope Paul VI in 1975 in a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Dr. Goggan the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time had asked for papal counsel. The following year the Pope had directed the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to explain the tradition more fully which they did with Inter Insigniores. Up to the issuance of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis there were several references to women's ordination in a couple of papal addresses and letters.

One of the major critiques of this doctrine has been that the tradition was greatly influenced by an outdated view of women and a flawed anthropology. The second chapter on the book addresses this and explains Church teaching on the status of women in society and the Church. There certainly has in the history of the Church been a flawed understanding of the role of women and there has been a lot of doctrinal development in this area, especially during and since Vatican II. In the 1917 code of Canon law there were some roles that male non-clergy could perform that women were barred from as designated in 33 canons. In the revised code there are now only three instances where the status of women and men is not precisely equal. Two concern rites and to which rite the child of a parents in two different rites belong to. The third concerns the lay ministries of lector and acolyte which since they were once part of minor orders and because of "venerable tradition" is reserved to males. The argument that the Church is using a flawed anthropology is itself flawed. The Church in reflecting more deeply on this issue has corrected itself in this area, yet it still teaches that the priesthood is only reserved to males.

Through the rest of the book she first takes a look at three common arguments used by those who dissent from Church teaching. In Summa - Sed Contra style after fairly giving those arguments she replies to those objections thoroughly. These sections of the book are highly valuable and really help you to understand what the Church teaches and why. She also writes in a way where I think that anybody who wants to look at the subject will benefit without being an academic or a theologian.

What I find interesting is that it was the Anglicans who first got the magisterium moving and that in many ways the objections to this teaching are really a Protestant view of the priesthood in the first place. If these arguments were correct they would prove too much. By using a dominant Protestant view on the role of ministers you end up with no priesthood in the first place. Other mistaken views of the priesthood see it as a form of power and the argument goes that women are excluded from this power structure within the Church. Their arguments would destroy settled Church teaching in the area of the ministerial priesthood making effectively the priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial priesthood the same thing. That Baptism is what can enter us into the ministerial priesthood. Again a Protestant idea and of course they mostly do not see Ordination to the Priesthood as a sacrament in the first place

She also make an important distinction in this book between the fundamental and theological reasons for the Church's teaching. The fundamental reason is the Christ in his sovereign freedom only appointed men as Apostles and that the Apostles also only did the same. The Church's teaching relies only on the fundamental reason and not the theological ones, yet the objections mainly attack the theological ones. The theological explanations can help us to understand why this is what Jesus did and I am sure that this is an area where there will be doctrinal development and we will have deeper theological reasons for this. There is a very good reason for why they do this because it is very difficult to directly attack the fundamental reason on a historical basis, though Sr. Butler does address a couple of arguments where this is done.

Towards the end of the book she addresses seven more objections and also answer these. She also looks at the doctrine using what is basically a theological smell test for the development of doctrine. She takes guidelines from the Council of Trent and others later developed by John Cardinal Newman's Development of Doctrine. She show why women's ordination does not pass muster in this context, especially since it would deny other settled doctrine.

At 112 pages this book is a very good treatment on the subject and I learned a great deal from it. At times you kind of wish that Jesus had appointed both men and women to the priesthood so that we wouldn't have to put up with the nonsense of riverboat ordinations and the slander that the priesthood is an issue of rights and equality. As is always the case when you take the time to learn what the Church teaches and why you come to a greater appreciation of her. There is always a problem when people take their theology from society and not from Christ. After reading this book though I did find that I had a greater sympathy for women's ordination advocates. Even though they are greatly mistaken I can see how in the context of society it can be greatly difficult to understand this teaching. The key though is for all of us to do our own part to more deeply understand this doctrine so that we can better explain it others.

I highly recommend this book to everybody.

It would be very difficult to add to the reviewers below, so I won't try to. I will content myself to say that Sr. Sara's book is absolutely amazing in its clarity and precision. She treats the issue of women in the priesthood very fairly, and her treatment is very comprehensive for such a short book. It is a must-have for all priests and parish libraries.

Not only does Sr. Sarah Butler thoroughly explain the reasons why the Catholic Church calls only men to ordination as bishops and priests, but she does it in 112 pages. The presentation is not at all ponderous, but the careful, sequential presentation will require more than a casual read. In the process Sr. Butler gives her readers a brilliantly clear understanding of how the Roman Catholic Church understands the faith as the mind and will of Christ, recieved by the apostles and given expression in Tradition. The reader sees the process by which the Church reasons in this particular matter (and, by extention, in other theological matters). Sr. Butler provides careful explation of essential concepts in Catholic thinking such as "the Lord's manifest will", "the Apostle's way of acting" and "the settled doctine of the Catholic faith." Her distinction between Fundamental Reasons and Theological Arguements is enormously helpful. To date this is one of, if not "the," definitive books on the subject.

I used this for my A&P class and loved it. It was easy to read with wonderfully colored pictures. It was easy to understand. I also have another A&P book, compared to this one...this one is a bit easier and doesn't go into as much detail.

This is a very informative book and has really helped in my A&P class.

I ordered this text book through Amazon because the school book store was out. In my past experiences with Amazon, I have been able to receive the same product, faster and sometimes cheaper. In this case, all was true except the book store book came with a very necessary CD, the book with Amazon did not.

Take this as a prereq into nursing! This is a great course and a great texbook. It explains things well and in language you can understand. I very much enjoyed this course.

This book has a lot of vague points and skims over a lot of important facts and functions - the only reason my school switched to this book was because there was one tiny flaw in the nervous system chapter of the prior book.

But buy it on amazon because the bookstore will overprice it (they wanted $195 at my school for JUST the book and that was used - not including lab manual).

Enjoyed the book. It reminded me of when I read a sequel to a book before I realized that there was a first book reading , then I debated if I should just go forward and read the third installment or go back and read the first one. I opted to read the first, because though I had a general idea of what had happened I really didn't know until I read the first book. Sort of like with Jeanette, she could see tomorrow ( the future), but it didn't always manifest as she glimpsed it as being. The book kept you engaged, so much that I didn't want to stop to make my son's breakfast. I could have read it in one day, but I have a real life, but this was a great way to escape from it for 20 minutes at a time. It was a bit short, but I am confident that the next story from Mr. Butler will be a little longer and more involved. thought that shortness of this first novel did not limit him conveying his message. Good Job!

I Remember Tomorrow was an enjoyable alternative to the two-part TV drama, and I didn't have to wait for Part II. Although there were deeper things going on in the story, I kept reading to find out if our lady Jeanette's guy was for real. This book reminded me how exciting it is when you think you've found Mr. Right. I wanted to know if our heroin's "gift" would make them the perfect couple or cause her to blow it with him if he was all that he seemed. The author kept me guessing about what a couple of characters were really up to; and I liked the love scenes tastefully done. I'll keep an eye out for the movie.

I Remember Tomorrow is the kind of read that grabs your mind, titillates your emotions and keeps you mesmerized from the first page to the last.
Gay Ingram
Living with a Depressed Spouse

The story was very thought provoking, raising many questions about the realms of possibility. I appreciated how the story began on the first few pages rather than wasting lots of time with a lengthy introduction. The characters developed throughout the story, as they would if they were people that you were getting to know. For me this aspect allowed me to remember more about the characters than I think I woulkd have if all the info was given at once. Well worth the time.

Pamela Perry, CA

In "I Remember Tomorrow", William Butler presents a clear and compelling tale of precognition and it's effects in a realistic setting. The characters that he has created come to life for the reader through their thoughts and natural, unstilted conversations.
This is one of those books that you won't want to put down once you start reading it. The story line and action keep forcing you to turn the page to see what happens next until it all comes to a very satisfying conclusion.
Although this is a work of fiction, it is entirely believable.

I have scores of cookbooks from the likes of Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Daniel Boulud, Jean-Georges and others, and yet this little volume is my absolute favorite, by far, and it holds a revered place on my nightstand. Jack Butler teaches creative writing at the College of Santa Fe and has published in The New Yorker, Poetry and the Atlantic, among others, and was nominated for a Pulitzer. His essays, which precede each of the recipes, are splendidly evocative, soulful, full of humor, and rich with insight about food, relationships, religion and life. Mind you, this isn't the vapid stuff of Chicken Soup for the Soul (though there is a splendid recipe for Chicken Pot Pie), rather, Butler weaves touching and amusing narratives of his family, Southern traditions and travel among the recipes, which come from both his family traditions (he's the son of a Baptist minsiter who was frequently paid with the produce from his congregation's gardens) and his fearless sense of improvisation. You likely won't cook everything in this book, but you'll definitely savor every word, and you'll be surprised at how quickly a cast iron skillet will become one of your favorite cooking tools. This book will become an indispensable part of your cooking library.

At last! Jack Butler is another person who feels exactly as I do about cast iron skillets! When I bought my cast iron skillets I felt as if I were buying a new friend. Because they'll last you for life, serving you faithfully.

Jack recommends NOT buying your skillets "new", but rather getting hand-me-downs, or flea market finds, but nobody I knew had their old skillets anymore. It seems as people get older handling the weight of their cast iron skillet requires more strength than they have. And the ones I found in flea markets never seemed as heavy as the Lodge skillets I'd see at Wal*Mart! So ALL of my cast iron cookwear is made by Lodge manufacturing. I just won't buy any other brand!

This book is NOT just another cookbook! Jack shares many of the stories of his life with us, and he writes in such conversational tones that I felt like he was speaking to me personally. "Thank you, Jack. I feel like I know you!"

The reason I bought this book was because I wanted to learn all I could about "the care and feeding of cast iron skillets" and I had seen Jack on "Home Matters", a Home and Garden tv show I watched religiously. Jack tells all I needed to know about "the creatures" and I was delighted to find someone else who loves them as much as I do. My very first, and largest skillet-a 12-incher-I have actually named! As I used it over and over again, and happily watched it turn jet black, I started refering to it as my Black Beauty, and a beauty it is! I often leave it sitting out on top of the stove, gleaming darkly in the light.

I love the many recipes in Jack's book. Thanks to him I now know how to make a great Chicken Pot Pie, which I've always wanted to know. And there are so many other dishes, too, such as Steak Fajitas, all made in the wonderful cast iron skillet! In fact, Jack has taught me that I can make ANYTHING in my beloved skillets! "Thanks again, Jack."

I found this book to be very touching at times. For instance in the chapter titled "A Grace For The Old Man", Jack talks about his father's death. I flinched and shed a few tears when I read, "My father died last week." You just don't expect that kind of thing in a cookbook. I am glad he shared this very personal event with his readers.

This is a very interesting book to read, plus all those mouth-watering recipes are great. I love the way Jack tells you in such a conversational tone how to make each dish, then follows up at the end of the chapter with it in regular recipe form.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in cooking with cast iron. It really is the best cookwear. It's the ONLY cookwear we really need. Just ask Jack! There isn't a thing I would change about "Jack's Skillet". This book is one of my "treasures" that I plan to keep for life.

Thank you.

Alice Kane
Marengo, IL.

It seems to me that there are three kinds of cookbooks:

1> The massive, reference-kind. Containing not just recipies, but info on how to buy an avacodo, the difference between a pinch and a dash, seventy five different things you can do with garlic, etc. For me, these books are useful, but they take all of the fun out of cooking. Worse, they don't encourage experimentation

2> The regional or course-specific kind. You know, books just about chocolate or cajun or brunch. Again, nice to have (especially if you're marrying someone Italian and you happen to be Jamacian... or something like that), but a little too specific for every day use.

3> The book that tries to do a good bit of the above, but focuses more on stoking your enthusiasm, your experimentation, and your built in love of food (you know you have one).

Jack's Skillet is fixed squarely in category number three. This slim book offers 50-odd chapters on every course or occasion or meal that you might come across in a year. Family get-togethers, Easter dinners, oysters, miles of chicken dishes, homemade pizza, shortcake, salads, barbeque, soups, blackberry pies, coffee, margaritas, biscuits, camping, meat loaf, cake and even home made crackers ("more convenient than going to the store").

Each chapter reads like an ode to the food and the situation it's being prepared in. The "flavor text" is entertainment in and of itself. When the time comes for the recipies at then end of each chapter, you're already drooling.

The recipies themselves are straightforward. Jack takes you through them in prose, then again in regular recipe form. The recipies avoid the banal of the over-simple and complex ornate-ness of the caterer. This is home cooking.

While there's a fair amount of regional pride from Jack (who's lived in Mississippi, Arkansas and New Mexico), Jack makes a strong effort to avoid limiting his scope and pulls recipies from all over.

Experimentation is encouraged and the reader is given a nice framework to experiment in.

In short, this is a book that encourages cooking. It gives the reader the enthusiasm that one only gets from a well-written cookbook; not just a book with good recipies. Pick it up!

The author is a poet and novelist, but he's also a dedicated improvisational cook. He swears by his black iron skillet, taking the position that anything that can be cooked in a skillet, should be -- spaghetti, bisquits, chicken pot pie, blackberry cobbler -- anything. The essays in this collection are sort of bite-size, most of them revolving around a particular culinary topic. And most of those relate to his Southern upbringing in Mississippi, East Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas -- though he's now in Santa Fe and mutton gets into the act late in the book. Butler's style tends somewhat to the cutesy, but what he has to say about families and meal times and growing up the son of a Baptist preacher is generally worth listening to. And his commentary on the how and why of cooking are always interesting.

Jack is cool, with the conversational tone of this book, you feel as if he is in your kitchen with you helping you along while you laugh and share a drink. Great recipes. I work at a bookstore and examine all the cookbooks--I'm making this one my personal staff recommendation. There is a lot of love in this book that you can share with the ones that you love. Just pick up a pre-seasoned Lodge skillet (get the 10 inch one and the lid, only 10 bucks each) and this book and get started.
Carpe Diem Jack...Carpe Diem

This is a great book about a girl named Joelle Cunnigham. At the beginning of the book Joelle Cunnigham moved to a new town and state. She moved from Minneapolis to a town called Glendale, Iowa. Her brother Jason and her are very close and he is in college back in Minnesota. He plays college baseball and she is expected to be just like him. It isnt easy to be like him because he is the starting 1st basemen on the team. When she moves to Glendale she finds out that she is not allowed to play baseball. Girls in Glendale had never been allowed to play it in the past. Joelle was highly disgusted with the school board's rule. The school says that girls and boys do not play on the same baseball team and that girls have to play softball so that girls and boys have an equal oppurtunity of sports to play. Joelle wants to play on the Hawks baseball team and she is going to try everything that she possibly can to become a member of it. She goes to the superintendent's office, the school board, and she writes a letter to the local newspaper. She finally gets some feedback some of it is positive and the other is negative. Some of the negative is coming from girls on the softball team because they want her to play on their team. They think that since she won't play on the team that she thinks that she is too good to play on there. That is not the case with Joelle, all she wants to do is play some baseball. A lot of older people really agree with her and try to help her out. The coach of the Hawks and the school board still wouldn't change their minds about the rule. Joelle then meets a new best friend named Elizabeth. Joelle goes to the park one day and meets a couple of other girls that like baseball but aren't allowed to. They decide try to start a GIRLS ONLY baseball league together. They first have to hold a meeting to get the town aware about the baseball league for the girls. Afew surrounding towns eventually find out about it and decide to join the league. They at first get ready and go to a field to have their first game but the police came and said that they couldnt use the park. They decide to reschedule and an elderly woman allows them to use a lot beside her house. The Hawks ask her to play and she denys their proposal. Everybody comes to the game and it is all over the news girls everywhere in
Iowa see Joelle and the other girls that helped start the league as big role-models now. No one would ever forget what Joelle Cunningham did to change girl's baseball in Glendale, Iowa.

This book would have to go into my top 5 list for my life. She did a great job of leaving you into suspence and I hardly put the book down. I would stay up until 10 or 11 reading and then my eyes would just close. I really wanted to finish. Dori made this book have a great ending. I think that she should write a second novel telling how the baseball team did and if the girls did well or if any other girls joined the team. I loved the book. It is hard for me to find a good book that I have to finish but this one didn't take me long to finish if you look at the time I have to read because I do play all sports. Thank you Dori for writing such an awsome book. Loved IT.

This book is Great! You will never read another book like this!If you decide to buy it you will never regret it. It is very insperation to all irls. This book is for all girls who all willing to fight for somthing. I highly recomend this book who has ever had to fight for somthing, and to all girls that love baseball.It will be suprising and exiting and at sometimes sad.

This was an enteresting book about a girl trying to play baseball. Joelle Cunningham has just moved to a new town, Greendale, Iowa. At her new school, Hover Middle School, she can only play softball and not baseball. At hoover girls only play softball. Joelle only wants to play baseball. She tries to make the school change their policy, but they won't. She starts writing letters to the paper all about how they are not the same sport. She was so happy when she met another bunch of girls who also want to play baseball. Then Joelle had a great idea she wanted to start her own girls baseball league. Once they finally get enough people to play the police tell her she can't play on the field she wanted to. S she talks to an old woman who will let them use her properity. They finally get to play their first game and they one.

Of the several books I read by Ms. Butler this is certainly the best! Even though the book centers on a girl trying to cut through red tape and prejudice to get the chance to play baseball, it really addresses many of life's most important and deepest values.

It's about honesty, friendship, loyalty, courage and self awareness. I found the plot quite interesting with enough twists and turns to keep me constantly guessing. Excellent character development is an intregal part of the story's success.

I'm sure a girl (and surprise, also a boy), would find this book an enjoyable, fun read that's filled with lessons about some of life's most important values.

As I understand it, this book has it's basis in a real life story.

"Why Shoot a Butler?" is a tale of lost heirs and blackmail. A most unimportant victim leads Frank Amberley to assist the police to solve a crime while visiting with relatives. The young woman he finds beside a car, on a dark road, is compelling and elusive until she turns up at a fancy dress ball.
Three persons die before the killer is brought to justice in a deadly ending. The tale has complex motives, which are explored at length for the unwilling bystanders who build the plot and aid the participants.
A good read is the second mystery written by Georgette Heyer with her standard sharp dialogue and humor.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Sins of the Fathers."

This suspenseful mystery is most enjoyable for its dialogue and character development, much like a Dorothy Sayers novel. The hero is a very realistic, dynamic young lawyer. He finds himself in love with an enigmatic young woman who is a central figure in very mysterious circumstances, including a murdered butler. The plot and pace of the book are excellent, as is the ending.

To find out, you'll just have to read the book! A typical Heyer, with a delicious hero, resourceful heroine, and an happily resolved ending, with a few murderous twists on the way. A must-read for any Heyer addicts.

The dead butler was not the only one who did it.

Central to the plot is the femme fatale Shirley Brown. Unlike her uncharacteristic name, Miss Brown has caused quite a stir at two manor houses in an otherwise quite English countryside. Because of her, three people have been murdered, and she herself was a near victim. Needless the say, she has induced the Upstairs and Downstairs subjects, two dogs, and the local constables in a highly excited and distracted state of mind. All except Frank Amberley,of course.

This delightful Heyer mystery has the youthful barrister, Frank Amberley, sleuthing for clues as to the personage of Shirley Brown and the reasons behind the homicides.

Justice was meted out to the just and unjust. Shirely Brown has received hers all because of Frank Amberley's devotion to duty. And the latter couldn't have done it without the assistance of his butler, Peterson.

A lot of fun, written tongue-in-cheak. Not the way most mysterys are done, but this one works. Cocky young barrister on his way to visit family finds a young woman standing next to car with a dead butler in it. The plot involves him solving the murder but only after he is begged by the local police. Good fun.

There is so little innocence, passion and authenticity out there. This book has it all. I dare anyone who picks it up not to find something insightful and delightful in it. The illustrations are so lovingly drawn and somehow succeed in relating the ideas contained in the book better than photographs ever could. The reader gets a real sense of how astrological placements reflect how we look and use our bodies. I found this, along with Hill's book on medical astrology especially useful in furthering my understanding and appreciation of how the chart describes face and body types. I recommend this book highly, it's a real gem.

This is an outstanding title. Frankly, just nothing quite like it anywhere.
I was stunned by the second reviewer's claim that this is a
"comb bound" book. I've both editions, and they are quite attractive
paperbacks! This same reviewer reports the drawings all look alike.
Au Contraire. Scores of amusing drawings fill this book, depicting
the classic sign,planetary,element and mode types (wow!) in better detail than I've seen anywhere,
except perhaps by Duff (who stuck to signs only). Hill's research addendum is incredible,
and the book is useful, of significant scholarly depth, and funny too.

What I had read about Judith Hill in her blurbs on her astrology readings led me to believe that she was some professional author and researcher. I get this book and it's a comb-bound book where all the illustrations (by Judith herself) are line drawings of people with the same face! The whole thing is shoddy and amateur and I don't find evidence to back up her credential claims. Astrology needs more professionals and fewer charlatans in our profession.

Lucidly written with many charming and evocative illustrations throughout. A must have for the astrological library of professionals and beginners alike.

I have owned and treasured this book for many years now, and despite the negative comment by the other reader who left a review, I think this book is a gem.

There are very few books out there like this. Most people will tell you that you either look like your Sun Sign or Ascendant, but this is not always the case, which is why this book is sorely needed to dispell such myths.

(Also, the other reader's claim that all of the people "look alike" in the book, is hardly the case.)

I recommend this book to all people interested in astrology; it is also quite necessary for any student of astrology.

the text of The Lives Of The Saints that I received is in excellent condition. It appears to be brand new. The book arrived promptly (within the first eight days of having placed the order). I appreciate not only the speed of the delivery but also the excellence of the quality of the text that I received.

"Lives of the Saints" was originally titled as "Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints". Its author was Father Alban Butler, who lived from 1735-1763. It is, as the original title indicates, a book mostly of the priests, bishops, cardinals and popes of the church who were saints as well as of the martyrs and other saints. It was written during the 30 years that he was a professor of philosophy and theology, and was written for adult readers. It contains a concise but good biography on about 400 saints, at least one on his/her feast day for each day of the year. It has a 29 page appendix of more recent saints by a more recent author.

Simply put...this is a great resource. It is concise and interesting information compiled in one book that we found fascinating. A great reference book and the profiles will whet your appetite to know even more on the subjects. But we read it because it's just plain interesting!

Great book for kids religon projects! And confermation names

Father Butler's famous Lives of the Saints ranks only after the Bible, the Missal and The Imitation of Christ as the all-time most popular and authoritative Catholic book. This handy one-volume edition is taken from the many volumes of the highly revered Father Alban Butler (1710-1763), an English Catholic priest and scholar, who devoted almost 30 years of meticulous research to the lives of the Saints and whose work was originally published in the 1750's. This present edition contains no debunking, as do many other editions; thus, it conveys Fr. Butler's spirit of profound faith in and reverence for our saintly traditions. Additional Saints have been added, however, who have lived since the author's time-including St. Theresa the Little Flower, Pope St. Pius X, St. Catherine Labouré, etc. Based on the traditional Catholic calendar as of 1955. Gives approximately one page per saint, one or two saints per day, plus a brief Reflection based on the virtues of the saint. Extremely valuable to read daily in order to put oneself in tune with our holy Catholic traditions and to develop a truly Catholic approach to life. Shows the fruits of the Catholic Faith as borne out in the lives of its greatest adherents. Excellent for the whole family!! 428pp. PB. Imprimatur.

This is a must have book for any Yeats lover, or some one studying William Butler Yeats for a school report or such. The Book has almost everything you can possibley want, tuns of poems. Although I found Volume 4 of the collected Yeats poems the best, because its short, but full, warm and inviting, and has 4 plays. (but i can't find it on amazon to review)

This is a wondedrful collection for anyone who loves Yeats Poetry. I highly recommend it.

If you are, like me, a huge fan of the William Butler Yeats then you will find yourself slowly accumulating the 'Collected Works' volume by volume and not concern yourself with the cost. You will probably start with this volume, enjoy reading every poem written and feel this is an excellent volume.

If, however, you are looking for a volume to study Yeats or enjoy the best of his verse you may be better served by 'The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats" or "The Yeats Reader: A Portable Compendium of Poetry, Drama and Prose", both edited by Richard J. Finneran and less expensive, more portable paperbacks.

There are two editions of Yeats' poetry with similar titles, this one (The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats: Volume 1: The Poems, edited by Richard Finneran, with 751 pages and published by Macmillan) and The Collected Poems of W. B. Yeats (also edited by Finneran, but published by Scribner with only 576 pages).

The Collected Works: Volume 1: The Poems, contains all of Yeats' verse, including the poems from his plays and essays (hence the almost 200 additional pages in length). If you want every poem Yeats wrote, buy this edition.

W.B. Yeats is one of the greatest poets of the English language. If you're not sure why, then get this book and find out. It is a staple of any poetry library.

Yeats took ambitious pride in his Irish heritage, and his records of Irish fairy and folk tales demonstrate the value he placed in the traditional culture. This book, Fairy and Folk Tales of Ireland, combines two separate folklore books written by Yeats: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, and Irish Fairy Tales. They were collected in one volume and first published in 1889, in which Yeats says, "The two volumes make, I believe, a fairly representative collection of Irish folk tales" (p. 299 of 1983 ed.).

Fairly representative, indeed--not comprehensive. One only has to read Yeats's frequent references to contemporary researchers of Irish folklore, such as Lady Wilde (Oscar Wilde's mother) and Douglas Hyde, to see that there is much more out there. But Yeats's presentation and format, i.e. recording tales in varying dialects from sundry sources, makes it seem like you're reading the notes of a linguist or researcher who traveled the Irish countryside looking for data, Brothers Grimm style. Consequently, the original atmosphere of these stories is preserved remarkably well. It feels like you're listening to your eons old Irish grandmother rambling about a neighbor from two decades ago.

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry takes up about ¾ of the book, and is divided into thematic sections with explanatory introductions. The introductions alone make this book work buying; they are clear, concise, and interesting. The stories themselves range widely in length, readability, and overall quality. Some delighted me, while others couldn't keep my attention. Sometimes the dialects were painful, but sometimes they provided just the right amount of flavor. My favorite sections were on the Merrows, Banshees, and Fairy Doctors, primarily because I learned the most on those topics.

Irish Fairy Tales is a fitting companion. It's much shorter but fills in a few of the gaps left by the previous collection. You'll find a little repetition and/or mirroring of certain events or storylines with slight changes here and there, but that's normal when collecting primary sources. The section on Land and Water Fairies particularly filled out my picture of "the good people."

Yeats also provides bibliographies that are perfect if you're looking for contemporary writings on fairies. If you're interested in Irish mythology and folklore, this book is a necessity. If you're just looking for something fun to read, some of the stories may be too dull or trying.

Everything you can think of, and all the things you can't think of are in this book. It runs the gamut of Folk/ Fairy tales from Ireland.

Well, I read a different edition, but I'm sure they contain essentially the same stories. The collection contains many traditional folk stories and several poems from Ireland. The stories are entertaining, and some contain folk wisdom in their morals. Many are told in dialect, with some Irish words left intact. The similarities between these tales and folk tales around the world is striking, though of course characters such as the banshee and leprachaun are distinctly Irish. There is a strong Christian influence in these stories, which makes an interesting blend with the older Druidic elements. I found them entertaining, and they definately are distinctly Irish. Anyone interested in traditional Irish culture, or fairy tales in general will enjoy these stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. I purchased it as one of a number of books for a friend. This edition has an attractive cover and a solid construction, important for a volume that will be kept and re-read many times.

Yeats is listed as editor of this volume but I feel that probably underplays his importance. The stories are not his invention, but it seems his writing throughout. The stories are well chosen to cover a large part of Irish myth and are well written. This volume and "Mythologies" show Yeats abiding love for the Celtic heritage that surrounded him.

I always enjoy Yeat's writing, from his poetry all the wy to his essays. This volume shows that he can have a masterful touch for myths.

The only shortcoming is that to the modern reader the language may sometimes appear slightly archaic or stilted, though this is rare and somehow seems to fit for a collection of legends.

In this delightful volume, first published in 1892, William Butler Yeats has collected all manner of Irish folklore (mostly short stories, with a few poems) from a wide variety sources. He has divided the works into categories as follows: the "Trooping Fairies" (fairies, changelings, and the "merrow" or mermaids); the "Solitary Fairies" (the lepracaun, the pooka - an animal spirit, and the banshee); "Ghosts"; "Witches & Fairy Doctors"; "T'yeer-na-n-Oge" or "Tir-na-n-Og" (a legendary island said to appear and disappear); "Saints & Priests"; "The Devil"; "Giants"; and "Kings / Queens / Princesses / Earls / Robbers." Yeats introduces each section with background information on the creature the stories in that category will concern. He also includes numerous footnotes of interest, making this book a valuable resource for anyone seeking to learn about the tradition of Irish folklore.

While I have given this anthology a five-star rating based on it's value as a source of information on Irish mythology, it would probably be worth only four stars for entertainment value alone. Some of the stories are very short and/or don't have much of a point, and are less interesting. These tend to serve more as testimony to the nature of a particular mythical being rather than being an actual story with a plot and message for the reader. Nevertheless, the book as a whole offers a very comprehensive look at just what defines Irish folk culture. The stories that do have a point sometimes take the form of "how things came to be this way" tales, or provide a moral lesson, etc. Many of the stories are rather dark, as that tends to be the nature of lore from this region, but there are also some lighthearted and cheerful pieces.

Despite the book having been compiled more than one hundred years ago, most of the stories are quite easy to read. Yeats makes things even more simple for the reader by making footnotes where old Irish words or phrases are used, giving us their meaning. However, there are a few stories that have been left in a more archaic form, which is distracting and a bit harder to decipher. Take, for example, the following excerpt:

". . . the minit he puts his knife into the fish, there was a murtherin' screech, that you'd the life id lave you if you hurd it, and away jumps the throut out av the fryin'-pan into the middle o' the flure; and an the spot where it fell, up riz a lovely lady - the beautifullest crathur that eyes ever seen, dressed in white, and a band o' goold in her hair, and a sthrame o' blood runnin' down her arm."

One of the things I enjoy most about literature is finding connections with other works I've read, and "Irish Fairy & Folk Tales" does not disappoint in this regard. Many of the pieces are derivations of other, more common fairy tales. For instance, "Smallhead and the King's Sons" (Ghosts) incorporates some elements from both "Cinderella" and "Hansel and Gretel," while "The Giant's Stairs" (Giants) has some similarities to the story of "Jack and the Beanstalk." There are more connections like this. On the whole I found this book to be very enjoyable, and also a valuable read from a literary / academic standpoint. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone interesting in the history of Irish culture, the study of fairy tales and folklore, or both.