Fletcher Books

A note to anyone that is a fan of Fletcher's books. This text is the same as another book: (published the same year in hardback version) "Every Contact Leaves a Trace: Crime Scene Experts Talk About Their Work From Discovery Through Verdict."

Released by the Smithsonian Institution this book is the catalog that was used in an exhibition of the same name, organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, that was on view in the summer of 1992. Featuring the works of Diego Rivera, Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Matta and Wilfredo Lam, the oversized book is a bilingual text that pays homage to these Latin American pioneers. The essay by Octavio Paz entitled "La Casa de la Mirada"(The House of Glances) is a particularly illuminating poem written for the Chilean Surrealist Roberto Matta. In this poem Paz uses his eloquent prose to describe the innner workings of the mind, the creative process and the visions within. Paz uses analogies to illustrate his thoughts, creates similarties in unorthodox ways, drawing compelling comparisons like saying that the "hand has five eyes" and how we "create in order to see." It is a moving piece of poetry where Paz uses imagery to paint his own canvas. The poem is worth the price of the book and is one to read over and over. The discussions by the other authors are very satisfying in that they probe and express ideas and much like art itself, invent and reinvent as well as look at the ordinary from an extraordinary perspective. The art itself featured has spiritual overtones and asthetic beauty that is linked to their respective cultural roots. Although some of the art does not really appeal to me I respect it because of the metaphysical transcendence that explores the universal themes of chaos, harmony, human figures, animals and figurative explorations of African art and pre-Columbian Art into a modern sythesis. There are enough interesting pieces in the book to make it worthwhile but really the essays are what elevate this book beyond the ordinary catalog. If you are into Latin American art than this book is is for you since it features four of the giants from the early part of the 20th century. Recomended for lovers of art. "Create in order to see."

Diagnostic Manual-Intellectual Disability (DM-ID): A Clinical Guide for Diagnosis of Mental Disorders in Persons with Intellectual Disability


this book is a MUST HAVE for all clincians. It is important for mental health and disability providers.

This was required reading for a graduate course in medieval history.
"The Divine Comedy" describes Dante's journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso), guided first by the Roman epic poet Virgil and then by Beatrice, the subject of his love and another of his works, "La Vita Nuova." While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and scholarship to understand. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa" - "at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).

Dante wrote the Comedy in his regional dialect. By creating a poem of epic structure and philosophic purpose, he established that the Italian language was suitable for the highest sort of expression, and simultaneously established the Tuscan dialect as the standard for Italian. In French, Italian is nicknamed la langue de Dante. Publishing in the vernacular language marked Dante as one of the first (among others such as Geoffrey Chaucer and Giovanni Boccaccio) to break from standards of publishing in only Latin or Greek (the languages of Church and antiquity). This break allowed more literature to be published for a wider audience - setting the stage for greater levels of literacy in the future.

Readers often cannot understand how such a serious work may be called a "comedy". In Dante's time, all serious scholarly works were written in Latin (a tradition that would persist for several hundred years more, until the waning years of the Enlightenment) and works written in any other language were assumed to be comedic in nature. Furthermore, the word "comedy," in the classical sense, refers to works which reflect belief in an ordered universe, in which events not only tended towards a happy or "amusing" ending, but an ending influenced by a Providential will that orders all things to an ultimate good. By this meaning of the word, the progression of Dante's pilgrim from Hell to Paradise is the paradigmatic expression of comedy, since the work begins with the pilgrim's moral confusion and ends with the vision of God.

The Divine Comedy can be described simply as an allegory: Each canto, and the episodes therein, can contain many alternate meanings. Dante's allegory, however, is more complex, and, in explaining how to read the poem (see the "Letter to Can Grande della Scala"), he outlines other levels of meaning besides the allegory (the historical, the moral, the literal, and the anagogical). The structure of the poem, likewise, is quite complex, with mathematical and numerological patterns arching throughout the work, particularly threes and nines. The poem is often lauded for its particularly human qualities: Dante's skillful delineation of the characters he encounters in Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise; his bitter denunciations of Florentine and Italian politics; and his powerful poetic imagination. Dante's use of real characters, according to Dorothy Sayers in her introduction to her translation of "L'Inferno", allows Dante the freedom of not having to involve the reader in description, and allows him to "[make] room in his poem for the discussion of a great many subjects of the utmost importance, thus widening its range and increasing its variety."

Dante called the poem "Comedy" (the adjective "Divine" added later in the 16th century) because poems in the ancient world were classified as High ("Tragedy") or Low ("Comedy"). Low poems had happy endings and were of everyday or vulgar subjects, while High poems were for more serious matters. Dante was one of the first in the Middle Ages to write of a serious subject, the Redemption of man, in the low and vulgar Italian language and not the Latin language as one might expect for such a serious topic.

Purgatorio
Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom, to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world (in Dante's time, it was believed that Hell existed underneath Jerusalem). The Mountain is on an island, the only land in the Southern Hemisphere. At the shores of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil are attracted by a musical performance by Casella, but are reprimanded by Cato, a pagan who has been placed by God as the general guardian of the approach to the mountain. The text gives no indication whether or not Cato's soul is destined for heaven: his symbolic significance has been much debated. (Cantos I and II).

Dante starts the ascent on Mount Purgatory. On the lower slopes (designated as "ante-Purgatory" by commentators) Dante meets first a group of excommunicates, detained for a period thirty times as long as their period of contumacy. Ascending higher, he encounters those too lazy to repent until shortly before death, and those who suffered violent deaths (often due to leading extremely sinful lives). These souls will be admitted to Purgatory thanks to their genuine repentance, but must wait outside for an amount of time equal to their lives on earth (Cantos III through VI). Finally, Dante is shown a beautiful valley where he sees the lately-deceased monarchs of the great nations of Europe, and a number of other persons whose devotion to public and private duties hampered their faith (Cantos VII and VIII). From this valley Dante is carried (while asleep) up to the gates of Purgatory proper (Canto IX).

The gate of Purgatory is guarded by an angel who uses the point of his sword to draw the letter "P" (signifying peccatum, sin) seven times on Dante's forehead, abjuring him to "wash you those wounds within". The angel uses two keys, gold and silver, to open the gate and warns Dante not to look back, lest he should find himself outside the gate again, symbolizing Dante having to overcome and rise above the hell that he has just left and thusly leaving his sinning ways behind him. From there, Virgil guides the pilgrim Dante through the seven terraces of Purgatory. These correspond to the seven deadly sins, each terrace purging a particular sin in an appropriate manner. Those in purgatory can leave their circle whenever they like, but essentially there is an honors system where no one leaves until they have corrected the nature within themselves that caused them to commit that sin. Souls can only move upwards and never backwards, since the intent of Purgatory is for souls to ascend towards God in Heaven, and can ascend only during daylight hours, since the light of God is the only true guidance.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in literature and medieval history.

Excerpts from book's Preface:

"This is a complication of essays. It is, as the title suggests, an interpretation of the challenges and opportunities the immigrant population brings to the evangelical community in terms of its missional strategies. The book does not promote any particular strategy, but every effort has been taken to expose missional challenges and to suggest that God may be expecting us to be diligent in the strategies we use to take advantage of our ever changing cultural demographics.

E Pluribus Unum is a result of a God-given necessity that was laid upon me to encourage the Church of the Nazarene to create a climate of inclusion and opportunity. To be involved in multicultural evangelism is exhilarating and sometimes hazardous. My hope is that these essays will help you clear the land mines that are present in the multicultural landscape and encourage on this exciting journey."

If you want a fast read that will give you a quick overview of the religion of the ancient Egyptians, then THE EGYPTIAN BOOK OF LIVING AND DYING: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO ANCIENT EGYPTIAN WISDOM is the book for you. It's an extremely thin book at 144 pages, but it is nicely written for the general public/non-academic reader. The whole book is put together beautifully with full-color pictures and nice decorations like the Eye of Horus across the top of the page. There are five chapters, which flow seamlessly into one another. They are: Order Out of Chaos, The Cosmic Bubble, Divine Beings, Mysteries of the Temple, and The Journey of the Soul. This book is really a good starting place for anyone interested in the religion, because although small, it gives excellent information. It has a Glossary, Further Reading and an Index for help. It's a small jewel from front cover to back.

Book was like new, great price, great shipping time, and most of all great seller! Thank you very much!

Evil Genius was fun from the start. I really like this kind of game. Win or lose, it's all up to you. Control of your troops is a little slugish, but that's the only downside. If you want to have some fun, play this game.

After playing for many hours I turned to the guide and the game was now fun to play. I have several Prima game guides and every one have made it possible for me to enjoy the game. Remember it is a game.

Series romance finally achieves powerful heroines who approach living and loving with style and verve in the FEMME FATALE anthology. Rather than using tears revealing their femininity, these heroines rely on their abilities and their intelligence to express their feminine side. These heroines work for a top-secret agency called StonyMan Farm in this series of connected missions which keeps the heart pounding, the blood pumping, and the heroes guessing.

In Shaken and Stirred, British agent Bethany Riggs finds herself framed for murder and running from the CIA when a Russian informant dies. The Russian woman had been betrayed by her terrorist lover, and sought both safety and revenge by coming to Beth. Instead, the informant found herself at the wrong end of sniper's rifle. Now MI-6 Agent Jason Chandler believes Beth killed the Russian, and follows the British spy through the streets of Cape Town in pursuit of the computer keycard to the terrorist's computer system. Beth and Jason find themselves at cross purposes even as they seek the same goals. A fast paced plot and pulsating chemistry keeps the story lively even as their chemistry really turns up the heat. Beth and Jason are evenly matched for wit and drive, allowing them both extraordinarily strong parts in the story. While the first story I've read by Doranna Durgin, it certainly will not be the last!

In The Get-Away Girl, Kylee Swain uses her career as a stuntwoman as cover for her covert work for Stony Man. Stony Man assigns Kylee to obtain the computer of a programmer with connections to an international terrorist. Accustomed to life on the edge, Kylee still finds herself surprised when a sniper attempts to kill her while filming a stunt driving a car. An Australian mercenary and former CIA agent, Mick Stone is the programmer's bodyguard and has no intention of allowing Kylee fulfill her mission, whatever it might be. As these powerful characters clash, the result is fascinating spin on a traditional storyline. Kylee's career as a stuntwoman adds zest to this tale as she controls dangerous and deadly situations with finesse. Mick's Australian flair adds a touch of the exotic, even if occasionally overdone, resulting in a sexy hero worthy of Kylee's style. Author Meredith Fletcher's flair for creating tense situations and unexpected danger results in a memorable tale.

In End Game, Victoria Grayson works undercover in the Cayman Islands trying to bring down a powerful drug lord. Her assignment forces her to cross paths with a former contact, DEA Agent Bishop Tyler, who knows her under a very different cover. As staid as Victoria is flamboyant, Bishop determinedly works toward closing a case of his own. Fans of Virginia Kantra will recognize her characteristic flair for witty dialogue and scintillating chemistry. While her tale is flavored by more conventions of serial romance, she successfully skirts the temptation to allow her heroine tearful recollections of the past. Instead, Victoria emerges with the strength her name suggests.

Powerfully rendered, the heroines of FEMME FATALE lend the product line a remarkable freshness and unsurpassed dynamism. FEMME FATALE is an outstanding anthology that comes very highly recommended. If this anthology recommends their new series of intriguing tales with tough heroines entitled Bombshells, then it should be a tremendous success.