Perry Books

I never used Turbotax before this year, but between this book and the software itself I was able to do my taxes in one day. I was guided effortlessly through child care expenses, ROTH conversions, capital gains and of course itemized deductions. What a life-saver!!

A few years ago I sought out the writings of Roger Williams. There were none to be had. This vital figure of major historical importance was silent, for the most part. Which seems especially peculiar given his relevance for so many contemporary questions of church and state.

I found a set of his collected writings in the library of my alma mater, but I was hoping to have a little more ability to sit with these great texts, as well as make the occasional note and use as references whenever I needed. So, I was a little discouraged in my burgeoning Williams interest.

Then I noticed the collected works were being re-released. Very wonderful.

These are not newly edited texts. These are the facsimiles of a much older collection, which is obvious in the retention of old printer habits, which is most noticable, for this modern eye, in the absence of most 's' characters replaced by the 'f' looking character, a curious addition given the mid-1800s original publication. A little awkward to read at first, but it does give a historical feel to these newly bound, glossy covered texts.

Volume 1 of The Complete Writings of Roger Williams contains a biographical introduction of Roger Williams by Reuben Aldridge (pp 1-60); Key Into the Language of America (pp 61-28); Letter of Mr. John Cotton (pp 285-312); Mr. Cotton's Letter Examined and Answered (pp 313-396)

I would hope there is before too long a newly edited version of these great letters and writings, but for now, these are the volumes to get and enjoy.

All of a sudden a guy finds himself in a strange house. What's even stranger, he sees a girl from his class, but in giant size! He is in a land of green people, but isn't scared, because he has been there before...

Both this book and its first edition are very readable works on the subject of 'computer ethics'. Many college courses on the subject use this, but you need not be taking a course to want to read it. Too many people in the computer field are ignorant of this topic, which is not good.

This book offers insights into the structure and function of various skn and hair conditioning agents. It is of interest to the formulator of cosmetic products, or to sophisticated consumers wanting a better understanding about products they buy. This book should also be of interest to textile formulators, since many of the same products can be transferred over into the textile market. Good addition to technical library.

This short work is an excellent introduction to the struggle for the existence of the French colony of New France. Beginning in 1672, with the governorship of the Comte de Frontenac, the author traces the various struggles through to the final surrender of Montreal in 1760. Along the way there is a small detour, examining the exploration of the west, spearheaded by men looking for a path through to the Pacific.

This book was originally published in 1918, and it shows. Throughout, the author routinely refers to the Indians as "savages," which is a little shocking to those used to more modern books. However, all other peoples in this drama (French, British, Canadians and Americans) are disparaged at one time or another, so a little tolerance of the author will be required to read this book.

That said, though, the book is well written and highly informative. The book's tone is far from the dry and academic, which characterizes many older history books. What I liked about this book is that it examines the struggles from the French point of view, which is refreshingly different that of the British. So, if you want to learn about the struggles with French Canada, from another perspective, then this book is for you.

Perry Anderson is a leading editor of New Left review and a prominent Marxist historian. His two part work, ¡®Passages from Antiquity to Feudalism¡¯ and ¡®Lineage of the Absolutist State¡¯ (see my reviews on those books for detail), is now counted as classic. In this short booklet, he poses two perplexing questions: ¡®why have Western Marxists been written so difficult to read?¡¯; ¡®why has there been no significant research on politics and economy among Western Marxists circle? Marxism is initially oriented towards practice. So its theory should be easy to be read by layperson and for its major premise is to transform the political economy, Marxist theory should tackle the very target of the transformation. But leading figures of Western Marxism, such as Lukacs, members of Frankfurt school like Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse, Wlater Benjamin, and Fromm, paid little, if any, attention to economics or politics, but to methodology, philosophy or aesthetics. Besides, their writing styles are not behind Hegel or Heidegger in its difficulty to decipher.
Perry Anderson argues that it¡¯s because the lack of prospect of revolution after the end of World War I. Marxist theorists were isolated from working class that was supposed to be the agent of revolution to end capitalism. Without such a vision, Marxist theorists were obsessed with pessimism. They could not have the vision of revolution. So philosophy and aesthetics were the escape from reality. For example, most works of Frankfurt school take a cynical stance against the reality under capitalism. They need a sanctuary protected from polluted reality. But that kind of place could not be found in the real world. Philosophy and aesthetics provide the spot to look down on the muddy secular world.
One writes to be read by others. But interwar Marxists did not imagine of any reader in working class. Therefore their works should be directed to colleague scholars in ivory tower.
In Adorno¡¯s word, such a stance should be called as ¡®Negative Dialectics¡¯. Adorno said ¡®Negative dialectics is a phrase flouts tradition. As early as Plato, dialectics meant to achieve something positive by means of negation: the thought figure of a ¡®negation of negation¡¯¡¦Negative dialectics seeks to free dialectics from such affirmative traits.¡¯ It¡¯s negation for negation. There is nothing to be achieved (revolution). Dialectics, thus, cannot but float over reality towards unrealized, maybe unattainable, reality.

Constructing and Reconstructing Gender is an excellent compendium of current research [circa 1992], and will be appealing and useful to those interested in gender issues in a wide variety of disciplines. This book cuts across disciplines and scholarly methods, drawing from many backgrounds, including Communication, Linguistics, English, Business, Law and Psychology. The interweaving of rhetorical, critical, phenomenological, and statistical methods gives readers a multifaceted analysis of gender.

At the same time that this book shows the value of gender research in provoking new currents of thought, it also brings into focus two aspects of gender that are often confused: how gender operates as a cultural category that affects communication behavior, and how communication and language function to create gender categories.
--- from book's back cover

If you are looking for a short and concise book on corkscrews, this deserves a look. If, like me, you are looking for a book on bottle openers this is NOT the one.

This book changed my life! Never before has somthing so complex been explained so well. I don't know why Wilson doesnt go on to explain Einstien. Her clear style and sharp wit would make any book delightful.