Carroll Books

If you've ever lived in SOuthern Illinois, you know exactly what this book is talking about.. NOt quite sure that it isn't based on real occurences and not fiction..

As political parties become more polarized and the country grows increasingly divided on basic issues, each "side" sinking to levels of name calling and negative emotional appeal never seen before, two characteristic groups have emerged: those who think Rush Limbaugh is akin to a political genius, and those who want to tear their hair out every time they hear his voice.

For anyone who has ever taken issue with Limbaugh's flamboyant, sometimes completely unfounded declarations, indictments and opinions, here is the definitive rebuttal.

With calculated and extremely patient logic, Ernest Ndukwe refutes much of Limbaugh's capricious statements nad insinuations step by step, citing dates, misquotes, fallacious reasoning and (dare we say it?) dissengenuous assertions. Ndukwe challenges Rush on issues ranging from the Clinton administration, South Africa, and "family values," to Dan Quayle, Jimmy Carter and the welfare poor, dissecting the talk show host's hypocrises and often blatent deceits.
--- from book's back cover

Very intriguing quest for the lost empire of Shang Shung, sacred land of Dzog-Chen according to the Bon religion of Tibet, accompanied by heart-fulfilling pictures and a beautiful commentary. There's also a DVD sleeved in the back flap of the book that puts in motion picture the whole book thru the gracious words of the commentators and the Bon lamas. The DVD alone is worth half the price of the package and the hard cover together with the waxed paper of the book make the purchase an absolute must for all people interested in Bon culture, religion and Dzog Chen of ancient Tibet.

The Catholic Church offers many blessings, the sacrements being one of the most significant. But coupled along with that are the global children of the Church and the vast shining examples of good that they not only represent but advocate. Over the past few years, the Catholic Church has had to acknowledge its serious shortcomings in relation to the horrific sex scandal, among other things. The hierarchy was looked upon-and unfortunately to a certain degree still is-with scorn and jaded cynicism, and any chance of genuine rectification seemed almost impossible. It appeared to be an institution that was floundering in a sea of mistrust and anger, and rightfully so, especially in fully comprehending what happened to the victims. Along with the religious was the devout laity who took the helm and helped to usher in a deeper understanding of not humanism, per se, but of the true, palpable manifestation of faith and of the Divine gift that it really was and is. They, the laity and religious did not say that the doctrine of the Church was unsound and unstable, but rather, it was the varied manipulative and disordered practitioners of the dogma(s) that were. It was the foreknowledge and secretiveness that only added fuel to the fire. So much turmoil and havoc on so many. Hence, it was a real joy to read Saintly Men of Modern Times by Joan Cruz Carroll, because in this biographical work she illustrates the vital importance played by lay Catholics and how their holy essence of living out the Gospel has redefined, refined and added to the totality of the Catholic Church. When one thinks of sainthood, one normally thinks of that honor being afforded only to mystics, monks, priests and nuns and so forth. Yet, Pope John Paul II changed all that, and Carroll's book details in picturesque detail the lives of these men who had or are on their way to affording the honor of the alter. And some of the examples are quite startling: a former alcoholic (Matt Talbot), a former satanic priest (Bartolo Long) to medical doctors (Joseph Moscati and Ladislaus Batthyany-Strattmann) or just everyday holy blue-collar joes (Franz Jagerstatter and Dominic Cesari). A reader will be able to identify with any number of examples profiled in this book, and therein is where the beauty lies, in the underlying truth of the beauty of confession, the Holy Eucharist, the Mass, the rosary, et cetera. These men, married, single, martyred, lived out their baptism in the truest sense of the word, making the universal call to holiness an integral part of their identity. Men to stand with priests.

I suspect that Jeff Carroll, a young and first-time author who is an Indiana sportswriter, could have picked an easier subject to chronicle than this somewhat obscure baseball player who retired in 1935 and died in 1974, and whose skills were perhaps more highly thought of by opposing players than by the public and the press of his day. Carroll has done a nice job of gathering the available bits and pieces into a highly readable and enjoyable book on an old player that I knew when he was elderly living in Ashton Maryland. Carroll has nicely captured the essence of Sam as I remember him.

Rice's big secret was the 1912 tornado deaths of most of his immediate family, and without that sad occurance he would have most likely lived out a quiet life as an Indiana farmer. Cast adrift by his tragedy, and rather than just staying a good local sandlot player, within three years he found himself in the big leagues as a Washington Senator. This team he would play for an astonding nineteen straight years, before ending his career playing for his friend Walter Johnson in Cleveland, 2987 hits later. He was an ageless wonder hitting for average and playing a quick-footed RF, and his record for the number of hits over the age of 30 was only broken years later by Pete Rose. Although playing on a team with bigger "stars" than he like Johnson and Judge, his work ethic,dependable play, and standing among older baseball writers got his election to the Hall Of Fame assured in 1962. No less than Ted Williams held Sam in high esteem, and mention in William's bible of the art of hitting a baseball.

Carroll has done a fine job in gathering together obscure information in this book, the first major work on Sam Rice. He has woven the stories of Rice's tragedy and triumph together,and shows how different baseball in the 1920s was from what it is like today, but in it's most pure and basic forms it is exactly the same then as it is now; that to those who play the game hard and fair, their recognition and fame is timeless.

I really enjoyed this book. It touched on everyday issues that I was experiencing in my home. It seemed like satan had taken over my children and my husband. My kids were growing out of control. Teen age life is a lot easiar on the parent and the children when we understand what is going on. I had always thought that is was only my children. I have learned that I am not standing alone and God is still in control. My husband learned that he was still living the life as a boy and not as a man after reading this book. Thanks Pas. Carroll for such an encouraging, eye awakening book. I can wait until your next book comes out. I WILL BUY ONE!

Brava, Jill Carroll! This publication of her doctoral dissertation does much more than solidify her position among academics - it argues persuasively for an image of God that is honest and inspiring.

Written in response to the political theologies of liberation and feminism, Carroll identifies a thoroughly natural theology in the works of Annie Dillard. Two chapters explain the God-image in Dillard's work, an image that is unconcerned with human ideologies, politics, and welfare. In nature, Dillard sees a God of "extravagance, beauty, violence, and power intertwined" that is separate from humankind. We are mere sojourners in this natural world that reveals a deity who is "savage, sinister, and arbitrary."

A fourth chapter connects the separateness of Dillard's conception of God and the radical Otherness of Emmanuel Levinas, especially as both counter the anthropocentric conceptions of a God of concern, compassion and nurturance.

In a fascinating fifth chapter, Carroll shows how, by avoiding a whitewash of divine violence and divine disinterest, a natural theology is capable of withstanding Feuerbach's criticism of religion as an idealized human, Freud's critique of religion as wish-fulfillment, and Nietzsche's critique of religion as an self-justifying schema for special interests.

Nature is violent and completely unconcerned with an individual's welfare. The image of God these brutal and empirical facts convey is one of dispassion and distance, but also one of extravagance and beauty. Carroll suggests that a God that requires a leap of faith and the adoption of a sectarian worldview has little influence in a nuclear and evolutionary age. The images of God revealed in nature, perhaps embraced better by aesthetic than by faith, may point the way to a theology of substance for a post-modern world.

If you have sat in church wondering why God is given credit for all the good things that happen, but never blamed for all the tragic, then this book is definitely for you.

I used this book as a source for my term paper which was on shakespeare. I wanted to get essays written by people during the time the plays were performed. This was a great book with lots of essays written by people from all different centuries since the plays have been published. It was an easy book to use...just like a dictionary. All you basically need to find out if the volume number which you can find out quite easily. It was a great book to use and from now on it's the first one I think about using.

I experienced this book during a class I took at Cambridge College over the summer. The moment I opened the book I was pleased with what it had to offer. I am a much better teacher since I have been exposed to the Brain-Compatible Pathways to Scientific Literacy Science for Every Learner by Kathleen Carroll. This book gives you opportunity after opportunity to bring life to a science classroom. I thank you for this exposure Dr. Carroll. Denean Kirkman Smith (Cambridge College, NITE student and 8th grade Science Teacher.)smiles.....

These stories give an eminent picture of Conrad's craftsmanship in building short tales and in brushing a vitally true portrait of live on the sea. For him, `the sea is the only world that counted' and ships `the test of manliness, of courage and fidelity - and of love.'

`Typhoon' relates the brutal battle between a ship (and its crew) against the combined forces of raging winds and water. The violent struggle for survival sharpens the already strained relations between friends and foes within the crew and the passengers (Chinese coolies).
In `Falk: A Reminiscence', the storyteller becomes a match-maker between a German girl and a `cannibal'. Cannibalism was forced on him by the cruel sea, which has `no respect for decency. An elemental force is ruthlessly frank.'
In `The Shadow Line' (`warning one that the region of early youth must be left behind'), the storyteller relates his first job as a captain: `a ship, spellbound, unable to live, to get into the world (till I came), like an enchanted princess.' The journey becomes a nightmare with a sick crew, no medicines and no wind. After the voyage, `well I am no longer a youngster.'

In these stories, the elemental forces of nature are combined with professional and emotional frontal collisions between crew members at all levels and even with jealous bureaucrats. `Human nature is, I fear, not very nice right trough. There are ugly spots in it.'

Not to be missed.