Johnston Books

This book makes me want to turn off the tv and create art. If you want a beautiful book (by beautiful, I mean interesting and thought provoking, not a Monet print to put above your ikea sofa) you should buy this. This book left me wanting more, but there is a website: www.phantomresearchfoundation.com.

A great gather of experimental art. Many explorations with paper, photos, collage, drawings, and digital work. A great example of the thin border between art & computers.

Very well designed book too. Minimal and concise.

I do not regret a penny spent on this and I love the smell of it, truly. Does anyone knows which paper it is printed?

This book is a pice of crap. Is a construction paper catalog with a few words!!!!

Demanifest takes you to higher levels of imagination and creativity that surprise and delight. Michael Spoljaric and Stephen Johnston have created a universe for the eye and heart that welcomes both the unexpected and stunning with stark sensibility and lush exploration. There is so much to see and discover that the content accomodates most viewers quite happily. Be prepared for an expansive, new vision that will leave you inspired and wanting more.

This book is one my most valued & referenced books of recent years; if only because the odd and beautiful craft & design of it lends it to more of an artist's book than a mass-produced design anthology. The pieces draw on multiple art and design techniques and references, producing illustrations that are at first somewhat flat, simple, or even deadpan, but later revealing an elegance and wistfulness reminiscent of japanese panel paintings, Gustav Klimt, and the oddball collages of contemporaries like Laurent Fetis or MM Paris. Great mix of handdrawn, photographic, and handdrawn elements without a trace of design-techno-vector-porn, very refreshing!

This book is one of the best I've ever read. It's full of suspense and twists. I t kept me wondering all the way to the end. I read it in one sitting. Buy this book...ITS AWESOME!

WOW! What a great book! I can't believe it's the author's first novel! I can't wait for the next, and the next and the next! The characters are well developed, the action is exciting and the cruel manner in which the high school clicks interact is painfully realistic. It's such a true and clear depiction of the struggles facing teenagers today in their search for self-awareness. The book is full of surprises and leaves you with much to think about....what every great book should do!

this book was so boring.it was very poorly writen and had no body.it could have been 30 pages max and it would have told the whole story.we knew what something was wrong he was blah blah blah there was no filler for the book.you could have read parts of the first couple of chapters and then jump to the end and you get it.this book should have more content

Johnston's FRAGMENTS is dark. The reader follows Chase's journey back from partial amnesia after an automobile accident. Fragments of memory, none in order, jump out at him when he doesn't want them and his brother appears and reappears in his life in a random pattern that is similar to the memories. Is there a secret Chase knows that he doesn't want to remember?
FRAGMENTS is a dark, edgy read. You'll race to the finish.

FRAGMENTS begins with all of the things a good book should: tension, problems, and many questions. Chase is a junior at a new school, recently discharged from a long hospital stay after a car accident, and struggles with the loss of his memory. His older brother sneaks into the house to see him, but Chase is told to keep his visit a secret. And that's all in the first four pages!

Readers immediately care for Chase and want him to be able to find some peace. As he deals with all of the issues and struggles to grab hold of fragments of memories as they pop into his head, you, too, want to know what happened the night of the car accident. Especially when you find out that he is suffering from "survivor guilt." You hope that the accident wasn't Chase's fault--and feel the need to know the truth.

While Chase searches his memories for bits of information, he is continually taken back to another memory of his brother when they were younger. Chase can't remember the whole situation, but it seems to haunt him, too. It's almost as though the memory of his brother will help to lead him to remembering the events of the accident. However, Chase later realizes that he has kept his own secrets which are worse than the events of the night of the accident . Can Chase handle knowing all of the truths he has tucked away inside his mind?

FRAGMENTS is a fast-paced book with continual tension and unending surprises. This is the first novel of Jeffry W. Johnston, but he is bound to become a favorite young adult author.

Reviewed by: Dianna Geers

This book was a disappointment as someone looking for an easy romance. Its nothing like the Hawk's Way series and, to my mind, I read for enjoyment and stress reduction. Reading about dead children, brain damaged children, a cold blooded murderer without a conscious, a drowning and comatose child, and alcoholism is just not my idea of a relaxing read. And what happened to the breathtaking romance Joan Johnston created in prior novels? You will not find it here. I say skip this one in favor of the Hawk's Way novels if you are seeking a romance read.

Because of the comprehensive reviews given I will keep this one very short. The story is excellent for good reading material. You won't lose out in reading it.
Lisa and Maggie are talking -- Is Maggie going to let Jack get away? Lisa assumes that Maggie is in love with Jack. Her comment - "I've seen the way Jack looks at you." Maggie replies "That's lust!" Lisa insists that Maggie is not the type of woman that men lust after. Maggie laughs - not insulted "Oh? What type am I?"

Lisa says, "Wholesome. The one-man-one-woman-till-death-so-us-part type." -------- "Well, phooey!" [from Maggie] --- "What's the matter." [Lisa] ------ "I think Jack's the love-'em-and-leave-'em type."
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and others by Joan Johnsten, especially the Captive series [4 books] plus

Maggie is a sober alcoholic hauling around a decade's worth of guilt. Jack is a Texas Ranger who can't let go of a murder he failed to prevent. Lisa is a beautiful attorney who won't believe the man she loves can behave any differently than her long-absent father. Roman is a brilliant surgeon whose workaholic habits have blunted his ability to perceive and express love. Porter is a Texas aristocrat who pontificates over a powerful law firm and protects his own while extracting more than a pound of flesh as repayment. Victoria is a Texas Tiger Lily with ice in her veins. Who's killing hopelessly ill children in Texas hospitals? Will love triumph over neurosis? Read Joan Johnston's book to find out.

I found myself reading compulsively till the end, although about two thirds of the way through, I'd figured out who done it - the tension in the plot doesn't let up until the last chapter. My only criticism was the pace of the book - it actually covers only a few days, so I suppose the fact that it sometimes seemed to move too fast, is understandable. I would have rated it 5 stars if there had been a little more character development to contribute to the romance - maybe a few more flashbacks to flesh out the roots of these characters' angst, rather than simple explanation passages in the narrative. Still, a fairly good read, with an original twist and nicely flawed (human) characters - even if the Texas characters are somewhat stereotyped!

I've enjoyed all of this author's books that I've read but, wasn't too jazzed about this one. The plot idea was good but I too figured out who the culprit was about half way through the book.

The characters were not well-developed. Because of the fact that we didn't get enough background, it was not easy to figure out their motivations for the things they did.

Jack's attitude toward Maggie was arrogant & self-centered. She was good enough for him to have sex with, but not good enough to have anything more with because she was an alcoholic. Who by the way hadn't had a drink in almost ten years and during that time gone to law school and had a thriving practice. I realize his mother was an alcoholic but his mother NEVER stopped drinking! And it's not like he was perfect!

While investigating a serial mercy killer of terminally ill children, Jack Kittrick meets attorney Maggie Wainwright, one of his suspects. As they get to know each other better, they begin to fall in love. However, Jack has problems with Maggie being an alcoholic since it reminds him of his unhappy childhood growing up with a drunken mother. Maggie feels guilty that she caused the deaths of her husband and one of her children, and the brain damage suffered by her other child.

As the couple becomes intimate, they realizes that a deranged killer targets Maggie's surviving son as the next victim. Maggie and Jack must quickly act to halt the plan of a maniacal serial killer, before more tragedy strikes the pair. If they fail in their quest, their potential future together may also die from the subsequent despondency.

HEARTBEAT is a brilliant romantic suspense that novel will remind readers of some of the best works of Nora Roberts and Tami Hoag. The lead characters will steal the hearts of readers as they struggle to surmount tragedies from their past and stop a new calamity from happening in order to forge a future together. There is some graphic sex scenes that might turn off some readers, but fans of serial killer mysteries or romantic intrigue will devour Joan Johnston's terrific tale.

Harriet Klausner

This is the first "For Better or For Worse" collection, and it's pretty clear that Lynn Johnston was still just finding her voice and style in most of these strips. It's pretty fascinating for serious fans to see the oldest strips, but there's not a lot to recommend this book beyond the historical value. My biggest problem with this collection is that the characters aren't very consistent with what they soon became. John in particular is chauvinistic, insensitive, dumb...and in general, not very funny. Sure, he's always had an element of cluelessness to him, but usually that's only in the context of a man who loves and respects his wife and family. Not here. In fact, it's interesting to note that in the three FBorFW anthologies, the strips drawn from this era either don't feature John at all or play down the personality we're treated to here. That makes me think Johnston might have decided there was some excess in these strips. I didn't find myself caring about the Pattersons as well as laughing at them the way I usually do. Also, there are few multi-strip stories here; mostly it's a one-off gag with each strip. Which is okay, except that Johnston is sooooo good at the longer stories, of course they're missed. To wrap up, it's pretty simple. If you're a serious fan, you'll want this book. If you love battle-of-the-sexes jokes, you'll definitely want this book. If you're hoping for more early stories of the Pattersons we've come to know and love...look elsewhere!

This collection, which reprints the first year (1979-80) of Lynn Johnston's now-classic strip, shows how far the Patterson family (and their readers) have come. Elly is a young stay-at-home mom, John has barely started his dental practice, Michael is barely out of toddlerdom and Elizabeth is still a baby. The strip focuses almost exclusively on this foursome, Johnston's ever-expanding cast of additional siblings, spouses, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and pets still well over the horizon.

The humor itself is broader and more self-consciously "gaggy" than it would become, with Johnston relying on Erma Bombeck-style observations that had already become cliches by 1980. There's little of the dramatic narratives and wry observations that would later characterize the strip. By the same token, Johnston's artwork is less assured and a little more "cartoony" than what we're now used to. This is a comic strip that's still very much finding its legs, and its voice.

That caveat aside, if you want to know how the Patterson clan got to where they are now, this is the place to start.

I feel like a part of the For Better Or For Worse Family. Keep the books coming Lynn.

This 1981 classic collection of Lynn Johnston's For Better Or Worse syndicated comicstrip soap opera is a wonderful place for FBoW readers to start.

Travel back in time to when Elly is a young married stay-at-home mom with a clueless spouse, a five-year-old Michael, and infant Elizabeth. Here can be seen the early development of the characters we have all grown up with. Lynn Johnston sees humor in the struggles and problems of a married mom in the early 1980's. The times have changed, but the problems are much the same.

The action is much easier to follow when it is a tight nuclear family rather than the extended four generation clan of today. Also Lynn's humor is much more on the surface as we see her struggle with what it means to be a married stay-at-home mom through the cartoon Elly and her attempts to find herself while raising two children and keeping up a home.

You know what it is - that last washload before you can settle down for the evening, that last drink of water before bedtime, that bone tired feeling that comes from caring for children, that feeling that they will always need you to bathe them and put them to bed and you will never ever be able to go to the bathroom in peace....or maybe you don't and you want to see what it's like. I recommend this book highly to give you that insight.

I must confess I am a fan of Lynn Johnston's "For Better or For Worse Seiries" and I _have_ had the "one more washload blues" more than once. It's a great beginning book to introduce you to the characters that Lynn follows faithfully in her daily comic strip. As it's fascinating to watch children grow into adults and see how they turn out, it's wonderful to see how stories get played out in Lynn Johnston's world.
So if you've ever had the "one more washload blues" or you know somebody who has, get this book. It will bring a smile to the weary person that suffers this fate - and it's cheaper than Prozac, no visits to the doctor and they can read it as often as they like;)

Oh, yes! a strong female? sure gave into her hormones. Not strong enough to kill? well that kills something in a person, it was great that she didn't have that emotional trauma to go through.

Jake Kearney, a Texas Ranger, came to help his sister through the death of her husband, Sam Chandler.

Sam was killed in a stage hold-up by one of the Calhoun gang wanting his gold. Claire was devastated, because three years ago they has lost their son in an Indian raid. Only Sam knew that the boy was taken by the Apaches and not dead as he lead her to believe.

"Kid Calhoun" was really walking on eggs around her uncle Boone's gang. She watched from a safe distance as Boone's men turned on him and each put some bullets into him led by Wat Rankin.

She vowed vengence on the gang and thought she could kill them one by one.
At least she was female enough to be disgusted with killing. I loved the way that Jake happened to step in every time she was threatened by one of the gang members.

Jake needed to find Boone's hideout to find the gold stolen from his sister's husband to pay off the ranch's debt. Will Reardon was pushing for Claire to pay up or to marry him. He wants her ranch.

Now we come to the side players, there is Wolf, the Apache boy that grew up visiting with Anabeth through-out the years. He wants her as his woman.
Isn't it ironic that neither Jake nor Wolf want to marry? Wolf is bound and determined to have Stalking Deer for his own. That is until she keeps refusing and he accidently kidnaps Claire.
Wolf takes Claire to the Apache hold and there she stumbles onto her son, Jeffrey, White Eagle, who refuses to even talk to her.

Soon Claire is learning the way of the Apache woman - then becomes friends with He Makes Trouble, a little six year old and she does fall in love with Wolf.

This is a fascinating story - a great plot - well paced with great characters - Kid may have been fast but she couldn't shoot a man.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -m - another keeper!

I was already reading another book, but picked up "Kid Calhoun", as I have been following all the Joan Johsnton western/romance novels,just to get an idea of what it would be about. I couldn't put it down, and read it straight through before I even got back to my other book. This full length novel was a fabulous adventure, straight out of the old west, with action, twists and turns, lilly lvered bad guys, and wonderful heroes and heroines throughout the entire story. Although, I found some of the elements in some of her other stories; a young woman passing as a boy, a white woman being captured by an Indian, the book takes off in it's own direction and I was quite enthralled with the multiple storylines going on.

Anabeth Calhoun, yearned to wear the beautiful dresses she saw in the store windows. But her lifestyle kept her from womanly things. As the youngest member of the Calhoun gang, of which her beloved Uncle was the leader,robbing stagecoaches were on the agenda. Only nobody knew she was a woman under the hat and buckskins she donned, not even the gang, except of course for her Uncle. She also had a reputation as a quick draw with a six-shooter and nobody challenged the young "Kid Calhoun". But the Kid was no killer, and when things go awry at the lastest hold-up, she finds herself, not just an outlaw, but an outlaw wanted for murder. When the handsome, rugged Ranger Jake Kearny, gets inovlved for personal reasons, he captures the Kid, who he learns is a beautiful woman, and tries to keep her in tow and vows to see her hang from a noose. But of of course there are many complications, and loner Jake, who has sworn off comittment to women, finds himself falling for his little wild brat of an outlaw.The bad guys also want Anabeth and the gold they think she has from the robbery. Jake's sister is also part of the plot, finds herself a captive and Jake has his hands full.

The book is one adventure after another, and of course romantic situtations for more then one couple have the reading antcipating the events that lie ahead. And when you finally get to that part, if you have read any others of Ms. Johnston's novels, you know it will sizzle. Both of the main women in the story, although very different have real grit.I loved the good guys, and the bad guys were real varmits! We learn quite a bit about life on an Apache village, and there are some great children characters as well.There's even a loner of a dog involved that the reader will probably become attached to as well.The rugged terrain is so descriptive and easy for the reader to imagine.Miss Johnston ties in and ties up all the lives well, and I was left very satisfied with the story.

A fabulous western/adventure/romance. One of Joan Johnston's best. If you have not read any of her others(many are part of a series, but this one is not),this one will have you coming back for more. If you enjoy this one, I would highly recommend her 'Sister of the Lone Star' trilogy, starting with "Fronteir Woman", followed by "Comanche Woman" and "Texas Woman"...Enjoy the read...Laurie

This story is wonderful! Once you turn the first page you are confronted with new and exciting ideas! Kid Calhoun isn't what you think! I've read this book at least 5 times! Each time I fall in love with the personalities created and love that the couples struggle to uncover! You'll enjoy the drama and the ending when its finally solved

I was very disappointed by this book. The heroine, Kid Calhoun, sets out to avenge the death of her murdered uncle. But, because she is a woman and, therefore, infinitely weaker than any man, she is too overtaken by her emotions to follow through on her vow of vengence. I was very insulted by this book. Why create a heroine who dresses up as a young man and rides with a band of outlaws if you are just going to make her a weakling? I could understand if the author was against killing, but the heroes in this book have no qualms about killing the villians. I would rather have a strong heroine who is not defined by stereotypes.

I loved it. Lots of fun, sexy and exciting. It kept me turning pages like "Anything, My Love" by Cynthia Simmons. Couldn't put it down.

Secret Agent is a great adventure story. The main characters Kyle and Lucinda are regular kids. Yet they pull off a super caper. I liked it as an adult; the kids loved it. Just read it. Its a five star book for sure.

This is an intelligent and funny yarn. The pace is swift and steady, the characters are well developed and the basic story had me from page one. I particularily liked the author's off-beat writing style. My kids loved it and so did I. Is there sequel coming?

My ten year old daughter and I read this together. At least we tried to. When it was time to close the book and make dinner, she just plowed on without me, reading straight through for several hours until she reached the last page. She loved the story and the characters, especially Lucinda. What a strong, smart role model for middle school girls! From the well-drawn descriptions of New York City, to the thoughtfully crafted relationships between parent and child, and the fresh, funny voice of the narrator, this book has it all. We hope there will be more adventures for Kyle and Lucinda!

I recently purchased this book for my child, based on both the cover picture and the short description on the jacket. I was very disappointed in the book. The plot of the book was especially disappointing. The characters were cardboard and seemed juvenile for the intended audience, but their weakness was nothing compared to the plot. My daughter and I didn't even bother reading the book to the end.

Secret Agent tells the story of Kyle Parker, a high school freshman living in New York City, and how he plots to get his father's rejected manuscript published in an effort to save his parents' marriage. Using his circle of friends and all their pooled talents, Kyle figures how to infiltrate the world of high-stakes publishing.

Kyle and his friends are some of the most likeable juvenile characters in fiction. Kyle himself channels a bit of Ferris Bueller -- only much less selfish -- as he navigates New York. His sidekick, Lucinda, has a dash of Harriet the Spy-gone modern as she trails editors, cases office buildings and helps Kyle lay out their multi-step plan. Breaking into Kyle's dad's safe for a manuscript copy is one problem, but getting it into the hands of the hottest editor in the city is another thing entirely.

New York is filled with interesting people, and Kyle's life is filled with characters who all figure in his plans. The grandmotherly cleaning lady, the dogwalking client with the double life, the perceptive bookshop owner, all pop in and out of the book in delightfully overlapping ways.

Robyn Freedman Spizman and Mark Johnston use an interesting narrator in this book, one that can jump around and look into the future and into various characters' minds all at the same time. This takes a bit of getting used to but ultimately is very satisfying. For example, it's great to know that the young editor who innocently assists Kyle in an office break-in has a boyfriend who will find a vaccine for the West Nile virus, one day in the future. It's great the way the writers play with the future, with characters' inner-thoughts, and yet keep the story going in a fairly straightforward way.

So many books fail in their endings. This book manages an honest, fulfilling conclusion. Kyle's wishes may or may not come true, but he has gained big victories. The conversation he has with his father in the last chapter makes it worth reading the entire book. It defines what parents and children want from each other, without being corny or obvious.

A surprise hit, but a book that kids and parents won't want to miss.

I first learned of this fine volume--named from an expression born during the Salem witch trials--while at a skeptic's meeting the keynote speaker for which had gone through a bogus "therapy" which ended her marriage and nearly her life. The person who told me of the book pointed out that the book's alleged victim, the one who'd "recovered" her memories--one of the turns for the worst of the victim culture--is now a therapist. Why does that not surprise me?

The author, Moira Johnston, did a remarkable job of examining all dimensions of the incident. In fact, her closing chapter lists how she proceeded with the investigation. While reading the text, I felt she was clearly in favor of the alleged culprit, Gary Romano, whose life was forever changed, and nearly destroyed, by the incident. But after reading the technique Johnston employed, I had to reconsider. The case which Mr. Romano had filed against the therapists and the institutions in which the memories were "recovered" provided enough evidence to convince a jury that there had been malpractice, i.e., there was not enough evidence to convince the jury that Romano had raped his daughter Holly, the future therapist--repeatedly according to her between the time she was a toddler until she was about 16--despite her therapists' encouraging her to believe that he had. So the author at best took the same stand as the jury.

The story was not atypical of recovered memory cases. A young woman suffering from her own problems, in this case bulimia, went to a therapist. Johnston provides a thorough background by showing that of the 46,000 of the type of therapist Holly was seeing, half of them were in California. (The requirements expected of that sort of therapist were comical at that time too!) They therefore, she surmises, had to develop a niche for themselves. The "recovered memory" niche was just becoming popular. One such case had convicted a father--also in California--not long before this trial of having killed his daughter's friend a couple of decades before. The ostensible evidence of this crime was memories which the daugther allegedly "recovered" while she was under the care of another therapist. (That case was later overturned. But not to get sidetracked...) Holly couldn't understand what was going on with her, and her therapist helped her "recover" memories of having been repeatedly sexually abused by her father. After Holly insisted that she partake of the "truth serum" sodium amytal, and her therapist(s) encouraged her to believe what she "remembered" while blitzed on that stuff, she confronted her father with the "facts." He was caught totally off guard and, to make a long story short, lost is wife, his job, and nearly everything as a consequence.

Ramona wanted to file suit against the therapists but his attorneys insisted that (1) no such case had ever been filed by someone not directly affected by a therapist's malpractice (i.e., patient/client)and (2) Holly's therapy records, probably the prime evidence, could not be used as evidence as they're strictly confidential. When Holly eventually filed criminal charges against him, those files could be opened, and the case began, setting a precedent for malpractice against "mental health professionals."

At the same time this memory recovery fad was picking up steam, scientists were studying memory, but that was still pretty much confined to the Ivory Tower. There were "true believers" in the recovered memory concept, among them Holly and her mother Stephanie. There were, however, scholars who refuted the concepts. And they became some of Romano's key witnesses, challenging the claims of Holly's therapists whose livings depended on their encouraging the ill-founded concept.

The trial itself was a sideshow. Between discussion of Gary Romano's sexual idiosyncrasies--personal details that would embarass anyone not truly insane--and Stephanie's claims that were transparently false, even jury members began to wonder where the justice system was headed.

The verdict: The therapists were guilty of malpractice. However the benefits to Gary were few. He'd been making upwards of $500,000 a year on the job he lost--partly because of the gossip following the allegation, according to one element of the case. He was awarded the equivalent of one year's salary. Nonetheless, Romano felt vindicated. He HAD set a precedent; the recovered memory "movement" was given a profound setback (followed by many since the book's publication).

I have to hand it to Johnston. While she did, at least inferrably, side with the jury, she did include other sides of the story. Her investigative technique included conversations with all parties including defense attorneys and Holly and Stephanie and their allies. And her eye for detail is remarkable, from the mannerisms of the witnesses and their potential influence on the jury and the audience to the clothing chosen by each.

And, after her detailed description of what happened--this isn't a short read but full of relevant detail--she includes a chapter on what continues to happen with the "recovered memory" nonsense. She included pieces from prestigious law journals, written by, for example, feminist ideologues who feel the Romano verdict was more evidence of patriarchal lack of concern for women's well-being--and those of other feminists who remind their fellow attorneys that a concern for the rights of the accused needs to overshadow ideological shading.

In short, it's a fine book that I solidly recommend to anyone who's been accused of anything based on something as shady as "recovered memory," anyone who knows anyone who has, or anyone who will be. And that means just about all of us. So it may be time to consider the punishment, not just fines, for unethical "mental health professionals," prosecutors, and law enforcement quacks who capitalize off of bogus concepts such as "recovered memory."

A thoughtful reader will ask how this book can be purported to be objective when a key person (Holly Ramona) was never interviewed. A key to the slant of this book is in the title itself, "Spectral Evidence," which is suggestive of "no evidence." What, then, could account for the estrangement of Holly, her sister and mother, from Gary Ramona?

Whichever side of the recovered memory debate you find yourself on, Moira Johnston's book has something to both please and enrage you. Somehow, Johnston has been able to stay fairly objective to the end of the book, addressing the fact that, when memories of child abuse are recovered by adults, *no one* really wins. Johnston has seemingly talked at length with all the major players in the memory wars: the "celebrity survivors", the compassionate clinicians, the skeptical scientists, the driven attorneys, and the friends, neighbors, and colleagues of Gary and Stephanie Ramona. Her sympathies lie with all those who were affected by this landmark case, and she tells both sides admirably. Whatever you think about recovered memories, read this book. It's got cutting-edge memory science, courtroom drama, and intense family dynamics. I read it in three days, and it was over too soon.

What and how do we really remember? Is memory ever really "the truth"? And why are all these people remembering things that supposedly never happened, yet are willing to destroy their lives in the process of asserting their perception of reality? Although this book has more questions than answers, it is very thought provoking and enlightening.

Destined to be a "classic" of all the books on the memory wars. The author masterfully recounts a tragic case of alleged incest by a father against his daughter, and captivates and educates the reader. This book excellently reounts the family's background, the therapy and the confrontation, the science and the theories and counter-theories involved, and the court case and its aftermath. This is a must read for anyone interested in false and recovered memories, and the legal cases spawned by the same.

Though I found the contrast between east and west interesting, this book just didn't "get" me. It seemed heavy handed at times in what I saw as insistence that Eastern spirituality would be the "saving" of Western religious practices. Having read the book within a discussion group, I find it telling that there is not one phrase from it that stays with me.
Normally after discussion, I would have something tucked away as a thought provoker or a spirtual vitamin. Not in this case.

This is my first encounter with William Johnston, and I am not a Catholic--those readers more familiar with Johnston's views and more Catholic in persuasion will want to keep that in mind when reading my review. This book does an excellent job in tracing the decline of the Western church and envisioning its rebirth through dialogue with Eastern religions. I agree with much that Johnston has to say. He is obviously a loving and courageous spiritual leader with a prophetic message for the future of Christianity. In spite of his bold criticisms of the Catholic church, however, I was somewhat put off by his constant need to qualify his statements, apparently to avoid sounding too "unorthodox." Johnston seems oblivious to the condescension of the Pope's statement that "members of other religions...receive salvation through Jesus Christ, even while they do not recognize or acknowledge him as their Savior." While this point of view is certainly more inclusive than that of the past, it still arrogantly insists on the superiority of Christianity. A more objective observer would be quick to point out that members of other religions do not receive "salvation" through Jesus Christ at all--they receive "salvation" through their own religious systems. As long as Christianity insists on the "uniqueness" of the "Christ event," it will never achieve the harmony with world religions that Johnston longs for and the survival of the planet depends on. It is time for Christians to recognize that, like all religions, Christianity is just one path among many paths of equal value. In spite of Johnston's bias, this is a valuable book; and I recommend it highly to all those interested in Christian mysticism and the survival of Christianity in the third millennium.

This is a book by a Christian for other Christians and non-Christians may cringe at some of the content. Whilst I applaud the author's general intention and his broad approach, the arrogance of traditional Christianity still shines through. Johnston spends much of the book trying to convince us of the need for the `inculturation' of Christianity, to make it more acceptable to the East so that it may grow and become better established there. What he does not state explicitly (but is clearly implied) is why Asia will benefit from this when it already has its own rich religious traditions, the very things that Johnston praises and says Christianity must learn from! Perhaps the East is better of with Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Shintoism, etc. and the Christian churches would be better employed putting their own houses in order in the West.

That said, Johnston is courageously critical of many aspects of the Catholic Church's activities and he emphasises the importance of mysticism, noting that it is only at the level of the heart that real religious union can occur. This needs to be stated but is of course `old hat', having been repeated by every saint and sage worth his/her salt for thousands of years: Johnston refers to Ramakrishna and Vivekananda in particular but does not develop their essential teachings despite the fact that the harmony of religions was the centre-piece of Ramakrishna's extraordinary life. Johnston is clearly very knowledgeable about Buddhism but I felt that more attention to Vedanta and Yoga would have produced a better argued book.

However, Johnston does make wonderfully clear the importance of meditation and prayer compared with theology and ritual. Indeed, having read the book, I am left with the strong impression that the major cause of the divisions that Johnston seeks to overcome is the nature of traditional religion itself and that only by transcending it can true love, peace and harmony be found in this world. Religions are just the pathways, spirituality is the goal: perhaps this is what Johnston really wants to tell us - but does not dare......... and anyone who has read the Vatican's declaration "Dominus Jesus " of four months ago will understand why!

Each new book by the Belfast-born Jesuit, William Johnston, manages somehow to be different from his others. The latest, his eleventh, looks into the future and proclaims the glories that will be...as soon as the West opens itself to Eastern spirituality. But this time no instruction on techniques is offered, no mention made of his earlier ubiquitous exhortations about sitting and breathing and the grass growing green. He simply, and urgently, summons the whole human race to enter The Void...and aim for divinization!

If other works drew heavily on Carl Jung or Bernard Lonergan, this one's stock-in-trade is the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Yet, far from mellowing with time, the author is scathing, outlandish even, in his criticism of the church establishment: he cites suggestions elsewhere that the Pope move out of the Vatican and live at the gates of Rome; he echoes calls for an end to the system of papal nunciatures, and he argues for complete Church decentralisation.

"Arise, My Love..." is served in neat slices: the 17 chapters sub-divide under headings and the entire work comes in three parts:The New Consciousness:The New Mysticism and the Great Conversion. The style is amiable, lucid, companionable. Its meat amounts to food for intriguing thought.

Johnston announces the collapse of the old European church and the birth of a new global Christianity. Intensely mystical, ushering in a new springtime of the human spirit, this will look to Asia for guidance - borrowing breathing, posture, and mind control techniques as well as the chakras in its quest for enlightenment. It will learn from the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Tao Te Ching, the I Ching, the Buddhist Sutras and the Islamic teachings. Christianity is about to unwrap the paradigm created 2000 years ago, when three wise men crossed the desert bearing gifts from the east.

Involving married people in factories, businesses, classrooms or kitchens, concerned with peace, justice, ecology, violence and racism, this dialogue between Asian thought and the Christian tradition will have "incalculable repercussions" for the world. For, guided by spiritual giants of the east, people will learn how to transform themselves, how to go beyond rational consciousness and enter "the cloud of unknowing".

This silent place in the human psyche has no truck with reasoning, thinking, words and signs. It cannot be reached by scholarship. It exacts a price, viz. the dark night of the soul. This ends eventually, when a very powerful energy surges into consciousness from the void, turning sorrow into a joy nothing can take away. "The true self that lay sleeping at the centre of one's being is born with great joy. A new life begins. Now one sees God in all things and all things in God. Whereas previously one saw God through creatures, now one sees creatures through God".

For all that, the consciousness of the West remains valid and not to be traded away. The author firmly inveighs against "conversion". Each faith must stick with its own scriptures, commitment and path. However much all religions, have in common, they are yet "the same but different". Enlightenments too are "the same but different". Authentic Buddhist experience needs the dharma, authentic Jewish experience the Torah, authentic Islamic experience the Qur'an and authentic Christian experience the gospels. "Teilhard de Chardin found in the Christian tradition the wisdom he sought....We human beings cannot reject our past...Dialogue, yes; imitation, no".

Accepting this - that there are many religions and religious experiences but only one goal - is a major challenge for the third millennium. "Now we realise that no one religion has all the answers. Each religion has its unique message. The same spirit is at work in the heart of all men and women and in the scriptures and traditions of all authentic religions. We learn from one another. Indeed we at last realise that we need one another".

The other huge challenge will be church unity - between Christians east and west. The author forthrightly warns that a highly centralised, institutionalised, legalistic, political church that tries to control Asia from outside will surely fail. Likewise, an approach to the scriptures that "tells about the rind without helping them savor the sweet and delicious fruit" will not wash with religious Asians. Nor will they be impressed by "a wordy philosophy and theology" that indulges in extensive reasoning.

Instead, as Asian Christians get in touch with their traditional religions, they will create their own theology, liturgy, monasticism, and spirituality. "It is a question of seeing more deeply into the New Testament and the Christian tradition, finding therein aspects of the Jesus that the West has failed to see". In the process, Johnston asserts, the universal church will be enormously enriched. The book ends on a note of huge optimism, a confident prediction: "The marriage between East and West may well be stormy. But the marriage will be consummated, and it will bear much fruit".

A stimulating read!

Folk Singer Jessie Jerome travels to Alaska to find the author of a song she has heard all her life but the ending of the song is missing. Jessie has become obsessed with the song and with manager problems believes it will be the thing to salvage her career. She walks into a bar and greets "Lizard Songthroat" an aging musician who is rumored to know the words to the song. Lizard insists going to his cabin which was once owned by the subject of the song, Marshall Jack O'Dair, because he said it would help his memory. He abandons Jessie there and when she wakes up she finds herself 100 years in the past in the presence of none other than Jack O'Dair himself. Jack believes Jessie may have a few mental issues but takes her to town and gets her set up in a boarding house. Before long, Jessie is singing in the local saloon and Jack is there every night to listen. Jack and Jessie have an undeniable attraction and soon are involved. When several shop owners start reporting thefts, Jessie "helps" Jack in his investigations by suggesting modern day detective tools she's learned on TV CSI shows. Jack knows Jessie is hiding things, she knows too much about crime solving to be just a singer passing through. Jessie fears for Jack, because part of the song she learned is about his heroic efforts during an avalance on Palm Sunday, 1898, just days away. She must learn who wrote the song to find out the outcome and how to save Jack.

Jack and Jessie are delightful and the story interesting enough, but it just lacks the spark that makes a book worth five stars. Still very good read.

From the back cover:

Completion...

Jessie Jerome was looking for something. The folk singer had long ago heard the start of a song, and it lingered in her memory like a lover's kiss. The ballad's lyrics had touched her; as had its hero. And somehow, Jessie knew the story was true. But she didn't know how the seemingly tragic song ended--and something urged her to discover the truth.

She thought she knew where her quest would take her: to the icy Klondike where Jack O'Dair had kept the peace. But she'd had no idea how right she was. Suddenly in the past, in Jack's powerful arms, Jessie wondered more than ever how the handsome lawman's tale would close. It was up to her to save Jack's life; hers were the words that could complete his song--and his was the heart that could complete her soul.

And my review:

This is the second of Linda O. Johnston's books that I've tried, the first being A GLIMPSE OF FOREVER. I got frustrated with that book because the character leapt into bed so prematurely.

Unfortunately, I had much the same complaint here. While the time-travel aspect of this book was well done (the heroine didn't accept her circumstances too quickly, making it believable) I felt that the romance wasn't. There seemed to be nothing between the hero and heroine but out-of-control lust. And the lust was so immediate that it was a big turn-off. Sexual attraction between the main characters is important in the romance, but it can't be the only thing drawing them together. And that's what was happening here. There was a lot of "I hate you, I don't trust you, but I can't keep my hands off you". That kind of thing drives me nuts.

I doubt I'll be trying this author again. I like my romances to have a little more "meat" to the relationship than just out-of-control hormones.

Jessie Jerome has always loved Jack O'Dair, but all Jack is to her is the hero of a folk song, and an incomplete one at that. Jessie searches for anyone who might know the end to the song, until she comes upon an ancient miner who knows most of the verses. Lizard Songthroat takes Jessie to a mountain cabin, which is fine, and leaves her there alone, which isn't. When morning comes, Jessie finds herself transported to the past and into the arms of the real Jack O'Dair. As she learns to love the man, she witnesses each heroic act which makes the verses of the song come true. But the last known verse, about the deadly avalanche, was never finished. Will finishing that verse be the end of her love and of Jack O'Dair? Linda O. Johnston has created a fine folk myth, in The Ballad of Jack O'Dair. Imaginative and clever, this book is a true page-turner

Folksinger Jessie Jerome feels her quest is almost complete. She has obsessively been seeking the final verse to a seemingly tragic ballad that touched her years ago. In the Skagway South Saloon, she meets the very old Lizard Songthroat. He escorts her to a remote mountain cabin, but deserts Jessie there.

The next morning, Jessie finds she has somehow been transported back to the world of Jack O'Dair. As Jessie and Jack become acquainted, she observes him perform the heroic deeds of the verse. However, she worries about the outcome since the little she knows of the last stanza includes a deadly avalanche that could be the burial plot of the lawman she loves.

THE BALLAD OF JACK O'DAIR is a clever tale that showcases the story telling talent of Linda O. Johnson. The exciting story line fully entertains the audience due to the lead charcaters. Jack is a hero who lives up to his legend. Jessie is as much a hero as Jack as she tries to come up with a happy ever after ending to his ballad. With this astute tale, romance readers will sing the Ballad of Linda O. Johnson.

Harriet Klausner

This book and the conversations it instigates create change for the betterment of the world. When the reader takes the time to reflect on personal experiences and growth opportunities, ones life vision becomes obvious. Leadership, in all aspects of life, is developed and defined for the personal growth of the reader.
As the instructor for The Institute for Leadership and Character Development [...], this book provided a wonderful framework for learning.

This is a companion workbook to Resonant Leadership that practically shows you how to become a resonant leader as well as a better, more engaged person through the use of exercises. I use this workbook in my coaching practice and consider it a wonderful tool to help my clients reflect on areas of their life that they may not have had an opportunity to do in some time.

If you or someone you care about is ready to start living life with intentionality, this is a great workbook to get you started on that journey.

I was disaapointed in this audio book. It was a waste of five cds. Some things just weren't made for audio. In this case, the audios are mostly exercises that are not conducive to the audio format. For instance, in one exercise, the listener is prompted to write down a list of probably 50 words, then go back and check the ones that describe you. Why not offer a link to a site with the list already generated?

Most people listen to audio books while walking or driving. Completing exercises that require writing just won't work. Save you money and buy one of the other Emotional Intelligence products - most of which are very good.

This is a great book. I've read the other two books by McKee and Boyatzis, and this takes the core ideas around hope and compassion and makes them more concrete for the leader. I was surprised by how inspired I became from actually doing the exercises. I feel grounded and clearer about what I want from my work, and from life.

Strongly recommended.