Pitt Books

Good variety of events in each chapter and lots of humor made
it a quick read. Giving it to my cousin to read. Should be
a movie.

Kathleen Norris has captured those moments when the questions and the search come into contact with the Living God in unlikely and serindipitous ways. "Imperatives" is succinct, glorious and the essence of Christian belief.

Her theology is pure, concise and completely without "party line" interference. "Lovers with Pizza" and "She Said Yeah" among others validate those "God moments" which are profound and true, but don't quite seem to fit with what we've learned in church.

There are moments in your life when poetry is the only way you can feel safe in a world that hurries past all you want to enjoy and observe. Long for This World by Ronald Wallace allowed me to slow down, access a wide range of subjects and enjoy some stunning moments that are reflections of his appreciation for beauty. I found his memories of women to be especially stunning.

Not only does Ronald Wallace display a keen sense of observation, he weaves a subtle thread of memory through some poems and then presents a surprise ending. I loved "Oranges" because in this story he tells of how he eats an orange, how it tastes, what he thinks about in regards to how the world appears and then ends the poem with an exotic image of sensory bliss. I was so delighted with this poem I had to read it to a friend, who appreciates poetry. I think I've peeled the zest from so many oranges, that the poem was filled with the scent of orange oil in my own memory. While I thought this might be the most interesting poem in the book, I was to be surprised again and again.

The Nude Gardener will be an absolutely amusing poem to anyone with a good sense of humor and a bit of insight into the world of men's minds. The ending is again almost an abandonment of all the former observations. Some of the last few lines of his poems change the entire tone and awaken a deep appreciation for life itself. They are almost a submission to the inevitability of feelings.

I was not prepared for Fresh Oysters & Beer and it struck me as being especially humorous. There is a line in this poem that is silly, but quite amusing. Ronald Wallace breaks free from melancholy mediocrity during a situation that might be trying to some parents and sees the humor and there is so much love in this poem for his daughter who is at this time still trying to find herself in a world of conflict about survival.

While I will never rummage through an attic, because I've moved too many times, I thourally enjoy reading about people who have attics filled with memories. Here, Ronald Wallace finds notes his father wrote in college and has his own contemplations about imagination.

Maybe imagination is just
a form of memory after all, locked
deep in the double helix of eternity.

Ronald Wallace once said that he wanted to make something beautiful that didn't exist before and in this book, he creates worlds I didn't know men experienced. I will never think of oranges in the same way again.

This book is a collection of poems from a career spanning two decades and it took three years to complete the selection process. Wallace is the Felix Pollak Professor of Poetry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and codirects the creative writing program. He also spends time at his forty-acre farm in Bear Valley, Wisconsin. You may also enjoy additional collections of poetry, including: The Makings of Happiness, Time's Fancy and The Uses of Adversity.

~The Rebecca Review

Jan Beatty captures the beauty of Pittsburgh head-on in "Mad River." She also taps into the pain of growing- whether as a child or an adult- with real, raw emotion. There's a certain sadness that runs through this collection that is tinged with amusement, curiosity, and frankness. From "Not Thinking about Gardenias" to "Grabbing at Beauty," Beatty's voice continuously surprises and challenges the reader.

Various movies, books, and other sources have contributed to an "eroticisation" of Japanese, its people and its culture. Steven R. Reed, in his book, Making Common Sense of Japan, sets out to dispel common myths about Japanese culture some Americans still cling to.

In the first chapter, he sets out his framework by which asking whether Japan is a unique nation, and his conclusion on this may startle Americans: only when the United States is eliminated from comparison Japan is not unique. In fact, he says, it has much in common with Western European countries, with similar sizes of population and land space and that they are industrialized democracies. It is America, not Japan that is unique, in that it has a large population, land mass, and huge crime rate.

The second chapter tackles the question of culture. Reed looks at why people act they way they do, and de-emphasizes rationality (this is a sticking point for rational-choice theorists, who would have a rather technical criticism of his analysis), and dispels the notion of a mystical explanation of culture. Reed's conceptualizes culture in terms of "common sense", which is simply the knowledge gained by experience. He says that too much about a country is attributed to its culture, and for this he gives the example of the use of umbrellas. Upon visiting Japan, he found it odd that many Japanese would open their umbrellas when there was a mist, and quickly attributed it to their culture (they are "wimps" or "conformist"). He found, that after walking for a short period during a mist, that umbrellas were actually quite practical, because he found that walking in a mist made the shoulders of his suit very wet.

The subsequent three chapters deal with (in order) a structural learning approach, an explanation for Japanese permanent employment, and an the the nature of co-operation between government and business. The first chapter is a bit complicated, but the following two are interesting, especially in his concluding remarks of each chapter. Japanese permanent was a compromise between business and labour after World War II, which meant that in return for less worker autonomy, the unions would gain higher job security. Whether the Japanese like it or not, it's been institutionalized, meaning the cost of changing the system is higher than maintaining it. With regard to business-government co-operation, he says that "bureaucrats are the referees, not the players". He argues that some ministries lack enough enforcement power to force companies to stop cheating in the market, but more often than not, a threat is often enough to get companies to fly right.

In the concluding chapter Reed argues for a "reconceptualization of the market." He goes on: "We need to recognize that markets are created by governments and can be manipulated by governments...We need to study markets as institutions, not icons." Reed also makes some remarks on what America can learn from Japan, using his two examples of permanent employment and business-government co-operation. He fails to mention what Japan could learn from America, but it's a minor quibble. Another quibble is that I would have liked for him to touch on more topics than the two, for instance the legal system. But I really enjoyed the book, if not just for the main text but for the extensive notes in the back of the book, where he talks about his experiences with his students will lecturing at university and other wisdom. This book is essential for anybody who wishes to learn about Japan as a country and the Japanese as a people.

This book was written for teenagers, I think and has won at least one important award (Coretta Scott King, I think). But it's a very good introduction to an intricate political situation, actually a long history of oppression. Well researched and dispassionately written, these facts that show part of the injustices at every level during the Civil Rights Movement. It is everyone's history, but it's part of a large body of nearly erased history. Called a challenge because there is not a clear win, is demonstrates many of the shameful aspects of our democratic system. Particularly pertinent at a time of cries for campaign reform. Kudos to the author, Mildred Pitts Walter!

Through her book, Ms. Pitt makes you see the value of your 50+ years of life (or what you have to look forward to!). When I finished the book, I thought it was excellent. It was very moving and touching. She made you look at simple things like a walk down the street and how to get so much insight out of things the rest of us walk by. It's good to have people like her around because they make us value what God has given us and savor it. So much went through my mind and heart while I was reading the book--and all positive, too. I enjoyed every minute of reading it.

The methodology is classic. The discussion of the results is poignant. Fans of such classic films as the Shawshank Redemption and the Spitfire Grill may find this study insightful. Anyone who enjoys the hits from REO Speedwagon will undoubtedly be moved. However, if you are interested in Neo-Kohlbergian Moral Judgement Development this study is a must read. I laughed, I cried, but, most importantly, I finally overcame my fear of the little girl who comes out of televisions.

this is a wonderful book for english faculty who are rethinking the future of english studies. begining with a theoretical/historical perspective on how metaphor has been discussed, seitz demonstrates how the in-house divides among composition, literature, and creative writing have limited the possibilities of undergraduate education and the field in general. the final section of the book offers an insightful way to imagine writing instruction as an integrated part of english departments beyond the first year.

i have just ordered this book to use in a graduate course on the future of writing studies. i think it's an excellent text to introduce future professors to the field. our writing faculty are currently using it to reimagine our program.

so in the lingo of amazon, "five stars."

Victor Andrade, Bolivian ambassador to Washington at various times between 1944 and 1962, offers a unique Third World perspective on U.S. politics and foreign relations. He presents a candid inside view of U.S.-Bolivian relations which will sometimes make American readers feel proud, other times ashamed. Although representing a small and poor country, Andrade mastered the art of Washington politics, establishing himself with the leading figures of his day; he describes his meetings with Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and his many encounters with journalists, cabinet members, politicians, and U.S. senators.

Andrade fought in the Chaco War (1932-1935), a war that politicized an entire generation of Bolivians. Afterward he helped form a coalition between Gualberto Villaroel and Victor Paz Estenssoro of the Movimiento Nacionalista Revolucionario that brought down the old regime in December 1943.

Andrade came to Washgington as ambassador in 1944, representing a young revolutionary government determined to check the power of the Bolivian tin barons who had dominated the country for decades. After his government was overthrown in 1946, he spent six years in exile.

When the WNR returned to power in 1952, Andrade began his second mission in Washington. One of his major goals was to negotiate favorable tin contracts between the newly nationalized Bolivian mines and the U.S. government. Through a blend of charm, resourcefulness, and sheer perserverance, Andrade obtained contracts acceptable to the Bolivian government and went on to negotiate massive economic and military aid for the development of the country. These successes demonstrate his capacity for understanding and manipulating Washington's massive political and governmental bureaucracies.
--- from book's back cover