Long Books

Approaches to Teaching Gothic Fiction: The British and American Traditions is an anthology of essays by experienced editors concerning specific issues that address the study of Gothic fiction and literature. Especially intriguing to critics due to its dark portrayal of the bourgeois and the psychological fallout of social conflict, Gothic literature endures in various forms in England, Ireland, the United States, and more, and often includes such motifs as ghosts, castles, animated corpses, and heroines trapped in dire peril. Classical and contemporary authors discussed include Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anne Rice, and Stephen King. Part One of Approaches to Teaching Gothic Fiction is a brief survey of critical approaches used in teaching literature; Part Two is far more extensive, as it is comprised of the individual writings concerning everything from how to define Gothic literature to specific issues pertaining to teaching African-American Gothic literature to using role-playing and identity-writing to explore Gothic themes, and much more. A superb tool especially for college educators seeking to design a syllabus that balances the challenge of the material with the need to communicate core principles and stimulate critical thought.

Most of us like architectural books because we think, or possibly just dream of building our own ULTIMATE house. Here, however, is a book not on building a house, but on building an entire neighborhood.

It starts with a bit of history, the pattern books written in roman times. It brings them up to date with a survey of several American neighborhoods dating from turn of the century times. And finally it goes on to show what the authors have done as they designed blocks, sub-divisions and the like. It is intended to show what can be done to replace the common cookie cutter houses common in recent developments. It is a fascinating book that leads to thinking.

In the last fifteen years the field of arms control has changed considerably. The problem of nuclear war, verification of arms-control and disarmnament agreements, negotiation of arms-control agreements, and the problems of agreements between the United States and the Soviet Union remain key issues. What has changed is that arms control and disarmnament now appear to be politically more complex than they did in 1960, while the technical aspects appear somewhat less complicated. There is an increasing acknowledgement of the interconnections between arms control and international political relations, crisis stabilization, and military weapons development. It is these changes that are explored and analyzed in the twelve essays in this volume, contributed by scholars and expert in the field of arms control.

Abram Chayes' article examines the problems of American-Soviet relations as well as the character, organization and intentions of the larger international community, while Richard A. Falk's essay takes up the purely domestic aspects of the problem. Congressman Les Aspin of Wisconsin discusses the role of Congress in reaching decisions about specific weapons systems. Other authors look citically at how American defense policy is made and at how governmental bureaucracies reach their decisions about specific weapons systems. The concluding essay by George W. Rathjens points out the need for greater consensus on the fundamental questions of arms control.
--- from book's back cover

This 81-page paperback is profusely illustrated with over thirty photos and descriptions of lifts and support adagio. Very rare and out of print.

This is the earliest written book on the benefits of calorie restiction I have found. The author's observations and benefits of his personal lifestyle correlate with recent scientific fidnings which include enhanced resistance to disease, increased stress resistance, increased lifespan, and increased function into old age. However, the reader should be advised by a physician and I recommend reading a study in Spain by Valejo (PubMed) as well as literature by Masaro (serarch Amazon or PubMed) and DK Ingram (PubMed) on the effects of dietary/calorie restriction. - Bruce Jones, Scientific Researcher and Medical Student (2005)

This ancient classic of 13 chapters was written over 2,500 years ago by the legendary Chinese general Sun Tzu. It is a must have for military buffs that enjoy reading about the tactics of the most succesful generals. It is rumored that Napoleon used a French translation of the Art of War to his advantage while conquering most of Europe, and he lost when he broke its principles.
The principles that are with in this ancient text can also be used in games of strategy, business conflicts, and the day to day battles of life.
Here are ten principles to give you a sample of the wisdom found in its pages:

Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance with out fighting.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Spies are the most important element in war, because upon them depends an army's ability to move.

All warfare is based on deception.

The general who wins a battle makes many calculations before the battle is fought.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from a prolonged war.

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals.

In war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.

When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. (So they can retreat).

Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained, fight not unless the position is critical.

Taken as a whole this is a book of wisdom and principles on how to win. I rank it in my top ten books I have ever read. It is a must have for any home library. The is a very small book that is quick and easy to read.

Joan and Craig fight the first time they meet, but are thrown together by their life in the community, and soon figure out they're meant for each other. It would be hard to not like this book, for its romantic appeal as well as clean, good writing. No poorly-done or explicit scenes or romance-killing selfishness here--it's clear that the hero and heroine will stay together as long as they live.

I received this book for Christmas, and I half expected it to be filled with nautical terms and jargon about the sea. Instead, the book turned out to be a marvelous read about survival in life and following your dreams. I feel as if I know Bill Pinkney, as I watched him grow from an impoverished life on the Southside of Chicago, through his days in the Navy (with Bill Cosby), to his antics as a calypso dancer, make-up artist, and eventually a big shot at Revlon, to being the first African-American to solo-circumnavigate the globe via the five capes. Pinkney later went on to become the Master of the replica slave ship Amistad. But Pinkney is not simply a lone adventurer. His amazing journey was done in conjunction with schools in Boston and Chicago, which followed his every move via computers and equipment in the classroom. It is a beautifully written story of joy, compassion, and the inspiration to never quit.

After listening to John Bricuth's reading from As Long As It's Big for the St. Louis Writers Guild, I was impressed and purchased his book. However, I must confess, I was a little daunted by the cover description: "A Narrative Poem," which implies a long poem.

I recalled Mr. Bricuth telling us it was written in blank verse (not the free verse I'm accustomed to), and I thought, Gee, am I qualified to read this? I hadn't actually read a long narrative poem since college and that was, yikes, more than thirty years ago.

After the first page or so, however, I was absorbed. Now, after having finished the book, the form fascinates me, primarily because of Bricuth's brilliant mastery of it. He made it easy and natural to read, almost like listening to my own heartbeat, quickly, in tempo with my life and all of those around me. Reading in rhythm with the rhyme is of course the intended effect but how few of us can write in such rhythmic rhyme?

Bricuth's pacing and the juxtaposition of tragic verse and humor work exceptionally well. I'm amazed with As Long As It's Big, how its three-line blank verse is so skillfully crafted and beautifully written, especially since it is a 217-page (long) narrative poem. One of my favorite passages is, "Looking back, realizing most of / What they'd gotten simply served to give / Times liquid moments weight, some space where life's / Bright foam could pool and linger in a thing, / Not run away like moonlight through your fingers...." As throughout the book, it matches the imagery with the character's emotions perfectly.

This fine poem will remain on my shelf as a mainstay of brilliant writing to encourage others to read, to read again, and to select passages for inspiration.

Jeff May
www.askwritefish.com
As with all my writing, if you don't agree you can always feed it to the fish.

Edited by oil painter and former teacher Ellen Moore Anderson, As Long as the Moon Shall Rise: Reflections on the Full Moon is a wondrous combination of colorful art, timeless poetry, and snippets of prose. Compiling excerpts of classical moon-themed writings by authors such as Mark Twain, Walt Whitman, and Ralph Waldo Emerson with diverse and eclectic moon-themed artworks, "full-moon journal" pages in which the reader can write, a three-year lunar calendar, moon-related information, and a list of suggested full moon gifts, As Long as the Moon Shall Rise is a quality, one-of-a-kind giftbook that celebrates the full moon and humanity's reflections upon it as surely as it expresses thoughts of tenderness and compassion. "An Inquiry on a Blustery Night": Inscrutable silent queen, / are you fleeing from that billowing armada of clouds, / or, sedately seated, commanding those ghostly galleons / to sail on out of your realm?"