Powell Books

This is my most loved book I have read in my lifetime. If you are fascinated with fish from diving, aquarium keeping, visiting public aquariums, and/or working in the retail fish field, you too will be completely involved and fascinated as you read David Powell's experiences. You live his experiences with him. I especially enjoyed the lab that rounded up sharks. Thank you Mr. Powell so much for writing this book. I have read it 3 times and will again sometime!

Anyone who is curious about sea life or the creation and running of aquariums... and for any scuba diver - you should buy and read this book. David Powell clearly descibes how he became interested in fish and how he managed to get into aquarium displays. He even tells about his dating life in college (loved the octopus pet and dozens of aquariums he kept in his little apartment). And it also satiates the need to understand how Monterey Bay Aquarium came about (as well as many other national and worldwide aquariums were designed and started), the work and dedication to making it happen and run smoothly. Next best thing to being there and doing the hands on behind the scenes tour! Well written, good length, excellent read.

This was a truly excellent read - if you are interested in how they make those impressive aquarium displays, how they catch the livestock, overcome the challenges of adapting them to aquarium life and lots of stories along the way, this is the book for you from the man widely acknowledged as being "it" when it comes to designing pioneering public aquaria.

Highly recommended for anyone out there fascinated by fish and the marvellous public aquariums around the world. Enjoy it!

David C. Powell provides the reader with an excellent insight into the life experiences of a dedicated biologist. His detailed descriptions and insights of all the efforts that went into sharing his exciting discoveries is a joy to read. For anyone who visits aquariums this is a must read book. It provides rare, behind the scenes, information about the enormous effort and dedication involved in providing public aquarium exhibits. Dave's style has the flavor of Ricketts and Stienbeck all in one.

If among the things you have to confess you know nothing about are designing, stocking, and running a public aquarium, you can change that and have a darned good time filling in these particular voids. David C. Powell, who knows more about running aquariums than just about anyone, has written a memoir, _A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer_ (University of California Press) that tells about his unusual career and has more than its share of pleasing anecdotes.

Powell took the first fish he caught as a kid and slept with it under his pillow. He maintained the lobster tank at a fancy Malibu restaurant. When he read Cousteau's first book, _The Silent World_, he knew he had to start diving. As he kept specimens in his home aquarium, he joined the Marine Aquarium Society of Los Angeles. A fellow member told him of a job opening as an aquarist at Marineland of the Pacific; it was just what he wanted to do, and from there he worked at various aquariums, directing the live exhibits at the Monterey Bay Aquarium until retiring four years ago. He now seems to be the most frequently consulted consultant whenever towns or nations want to set up aquariums.

Powell writes with admiration and affection about the creatures he has to capture and then keep in as home-like an environment as possible, including the wonderfully named sarcastic fringehead, the "thumbsplitter" mantis shrimp with its faster-than-the-eye claw, and many more. He tells about the process of capturing samples in many different ways, but diving and capturing fish is the easy part. Transporting them is hard. There are different gadgets and containers that have to be used, including the truck transport named the "Tunabago." It is planning the displays of the fish that obviously has given Powell the most satisfaction in his career. His description, for instance, of the responsibilities of putting up the largest window in the world, a gigantic acrylic pane fifty-five by fifteen feet, thirteen inches thick, and weighing thirty-eight tons, is completely engrossing.

Powell's book, a mixture of autobiography, oceanography, ichthyology, museology, and funny stories, is a delight. In seemingly effortless style, he conveys the excitement even in the minor aspects of his career. He gives a final essay on the importance of aquariums (disdained by Cousteau as "fish prisons") in bringing people closer to nature and in promoting the conservation that could keep the oceans healthy. His book is a worthy summary of a lifetime's effort in that cause.

Gilson brilliantly demonstrates that God's description of himself as "I AM who AM", in revelation to Moses and the Jewish people, is the foundation of western metaphysics - it is the decisive answer to the Greek's search for meaning. It was in this decisive encounter between God and his people that God showed himself to be pure Act.

"Existence is not a thing, but the act that causes a thing both to be and to be what it is. This distinction merely expresses the fact that, in our human expericence, there is no thing whose essence it is "to be" and not "to be a certain thing thing....Since the nature of no one of them (things) is "to be", the most exhaustive scientific knowledge of what they are will not so much as suggest the beginning of an answer to the question: "Why are they"? "If the nature of no known thing is "to be", the nature of no known thing contains in itself the suffient reason for its own existence. But it points to a sole conceivable cause...there must be some cause whose very essence it is "to be". To post such a being whose essence is pure Act of existing, that is, whose essence is not to be this and that but "to be" is also to post the Christian God as the supreme cause of the universe". (page 70-72).

"The true reason why this universe appears to some scienitist as mysterious is that, mistaking existential, that is, metaphysical, questions for scientific ones, they ask science to answer them. Naturally, they get no answers. Then they are puzzled, and they say that the universe is mysterious" (page 128)

For Gilson, Scientists "prefer a complete absence of intelligibilty to the presence of a non-scientific intelligibility"

"Much more common, unfortuantely, are those pseudo-agnostics who, because they combine scientific knowledge and social generosity with a complete lack of philosophical culture, substitute dangerous mythologies (progress, for example, my inference!) for the natural theology which they do not even understand (page 137). This sounds like a remarkable forewarning of what is happening in our culture where science and progress are elevated to the pantheon of the gods. Witness the complete lack of meaningful debate in the UK concering the creation of saviour siblings and human-animal hybrids for experimentation, the latter being put forward simply because there may be some benefits and hence possibly some scientific benefits.

Finally, the question which must always and everywhere be asked is "Why is there something rather than nothing"? (page 188).

Thales of Miletus, whom tradition regards as the first Western philosopher, is well-known for the rationalist view that the first principle is water, and the religious statement, "all things are full of gods." (p. 1) For Gilson, this epitomizes the problems of relating philosophy and religion. How can religious and philosophical statements about God be reconciled? For Thales and the Greeks, Gilson argues that they cannot, but that it is otherwise with the Christian philosophies of Being.

On this basis, rejects the view that Greek philosophy is a rationalization of a religious viewpoint, apparently on the basis that one cannot interpret a world of personal forces in terms of things. However, F. M Cornford and others argued persuasively for the opposite view, and seem to have in great part won the battle. For example, the classic study of the presocratic philosophers by Kirk, Raven, and Schofield, as well as anthologies by Wheelwright and Barnes, begin with a consideration of their religious and mythological predecessors. So, it does not seem one can understand the origin of Greek philosophy without considering Greek religion.

How well does Gilson understand Greek religion? Is it true that "A world where everything comes from without, including their feelings and passions, their virtues and vices, such was the Greek religious world." (p. 13) As E. R. Dodds has pointed out, this did not seem to deprive them of a sense of responsibility. Before criticizing Gilson too strongly, we should remember that God and Philosophy originates in the Mahlon Powell Lectures on Philosophy at Indiana University in 1938-1939, and that Greek thought and religion are not really his specialty. Historical details aside, Gilson always raises pertinent questions.

Gilson aptly states the philosophical problem of God not only for the Greeks, but philosophers generally: "how to identify their principles with their gods, or their gods with their principles." (p. 22) Christian thought concerning the nature of God owes much to Plato's Form of the Good, Aristotle's Unmoved Mover or Self-Thinking Thought, and Plotinus' One, but it is difficult to give them a full religious value, although I cannot agree they have none at all. I may say that Gilson provides a marvelously condensed account of Plotinus' philosophy of the One which may well be basically correct. (Pp. 45-50)

For Gilson, the Greek essentialist philosophies could not help but consider God as a thing. When it comes to Christian philosophies of Being (a controverted subject), Gilson argues that the philosophical God and the religious God can be the same Being. This is a very attractive position considered in itself. I think. But, his historical analysis is less certain. It may be that many Christian thinkers have rendered the cryptic phrase for who God is in Exodus 3:1 as "He Who Is." This, however, has exegetical difficulties. Suffice it to point out that the New Revised Standard Version translates the phrase as "I AM WHO I AM," and offers two alternatives in the footnotes, "I AM WHAT I AM or I AM WHAT I WILL BE." So, while Gilson argues persuasively that religious thinkers such as Augustine and Aquinas, among numerous others, have interpreted this as meaning God is Being, it doubtful whether this a good exegesis of the text.

Gilson is one of the greatest Descartes scholars, but I must forgo discussing his insights in any detail. He cites O. Hamelin for the opinion that Descartes, the founder of modern philosophy, followed after the ancient philosophers as if nothing had happened in between. Gilson has very effectively attacked this view a number of times, especially as to his notion of God.

"Whatever his name, his rank, or his function, not one of the gods of Greek religion had ever claimed to be the one, sole, and supreme Being, creator of the world, first principle, and ultimate end of all things. Descartes, on the contrary, could not approach the same philosophical problem without finding himself confronted with the Christian God." (p. 79)

So Descartes' attempt to philosophize about God apart from religious revelation was doomed to failure from the start. Gilson argues that it is extremely difficult to philosophize about God apart from religious revelation, simply because philosophers must have some pre-philosophical idea of God in the first place. The God of the philosophers generally becomes a thing, a philosophical principle.

Frankly, after Descartes, the book becomes somewhat disjointed, filled with brilliant insights though it may be. I will mention Spinoza, who wished "to achieve salvation by means of philosophy only." His brand of salvation is really available, at best, to a select few, who can understand nature "as an absolutely intelligible reality." In passing, he discusses such varied thinkers as Pascal, Malebranche, Leibniz, Kant, Comte, English and French Deists, Sir James Jeans, who gets several pages, and Julian Huxley. One must remember that the book originated in a lecture series, which must have been brilliant.

Gilson quite sensibly holds that religion is existential, that it concerns our lives. It is not how the universe works, but why, and the ultimate why is, in Leibniz's formulation: why is there something rather than nothing?

"To this supreme question, the only conceivable answer is that each and every particular existential energy, each and every particular thing, depends for its existence on a pure Act of existence."

Gilson goes on to argue that this pure Act must be self-subsistent, knowing, and free, and hence, a person.

Ninian Smart, who qualified both in the history of religions and analytic philosophy, has argued forcefully that too many philosophers who discuss religion know very little about the history of religion. Gilson, however, really knew quite a lot about religion, and his position is quite attractive. Though many of his historical interpretations are debatable, with Gilson's philosophical and literary acumen, God and Philosophy remains one of the best introductions to many of the themes of the philosophy of religion.

i gave this book 4 stars because it has motivated me to pursue more study on Aquinas. as for the book itself, it's far from perfect. i agree with the other reviewer in that, towards the end of the book, Gilson's thoughts seemed to lose structure and purpose. By the last chapter, I was scratching my head trying to figure out what his point was in adding another chapter. it was fairly organized right up to the discussion of the Deists, which seemed to be just thrown in so that no part of natural theology in the modern period would be left out. I could appreciate a few pages discussing the faults with following a strict scientism, which has seduced contemporary thinkers, but to devote an entire chapter to saying the same thing over and over again is just a waste of time. Overall, it was worth reading, but I doubt anyone will be convinced by any argument presented in this book. I think Gilson is preaching to the converted, because i doubt anyone but fellow Thomists and Christians agree with Gilson's assessment of the history of the relationship between religion and philosophy. If you've not familiarized yourself with Aquinas' thought, however, reading this book might challenge you to do so.

Gilson's book is simply a masterpiece! The brilliance of this work is shown in its clarity and simplicity of thought and development of philosophy from the ancient Greeks on. Too often philosophy reads these days have become complex and frustrating, but not with Gilson. A true Christian philosopher, it is unfortunate that a reader might think this work concludes with the idea that "God is dead." This is not the intent of Gilson at all; rather, that of the exact opposite! Find out for yourself...

God and Philosophy is an outstanding exposition how the thought of 'God' has emerged into what Eitenne Gilson has persuaded himself to believe as "HE WHO IS." EG first begins this task by exploring the notion of 'God' in Greek philosophy from Homer's Iliad to Plato and Aristotle. Then, EG explores the early Christian tradition of 'God' from Augustine to Aquinas. Next, EG contrasts Descartes' 'God' with Spinoza's 'God'. Finally, EG investigates the problem and brings to light the error that has been rampant from Greek philosophy to Contemporary Thought of 'God'. The problem has been an existential one. That is, an existential notion of 'God' has been lacking. The error has been utilizing the method of "science" or the "science of metaphysics" in our search for 'God'. This method does not get us any closer to finding 'God' as "HE WHO IS." Lacking an existential notion of 'God' takes us further away from finding 'God' and only gives us a 'God' as an "object of knowledge" (109) but not 'God'. I agree for the most part with EG. Because we have not found "HE WHO IS that which is" (both Being and Essence) we have created a world full of gods. "For when gods fight among themselves, men have to die" (137) - physically and existentially, emphasis mine. Based on man's anthropomorphic grounds in his affirmation of 'God' "HE WHO IS" never was... Indeed, "God is dead!"

It doesn't take many pages of "Hog Farm Chronicles" to know that
Allen Powell knows kids -- and himself. What unfolds in this short and delightful book is the chronicle of an adult learning from a group of kids about the mutuality of respect. Allen learns to respect them for their heroic struggles to be themselves in a system that doesn't fit. His respect of them results in their respect, and when you have theirs, they'll die for you. {Adult respect is in precious short supply in some lives.)

The book is an important one, although it may not appear so at first. I believe that it is an important one for those teaching and administering kids in schools because it clearly shows that the normal mold of schools will not work with some kids. They need alternatives -- alternatives that respect the skills they do have and wish to exercise. Indeed, their aberrant behaviors towards "the enemy" display brilliant tactics artfully employed to "get even."

For anyone who has shared a classroom with a motley bunch of early adolescents and grown to love them over time, I invite you to enjoy this book. For anyone who has shared a classroom with a motley bunch of early adolescents and has grown to hate them, you must read this book. It contains truth -- something rare in the halls of education. It also helps each of us come to a better understanding of our limits as teachers in "making" kids do our bidding.

With candid wit and humor, Mr. Allen Powell dares to bring to print his wild and touching stories as a teacher. Refreshing and real, I laughed as he told one story after another with such awesome expression of boys struggling with life on life's terms.

I hope teachers,educators and parents will give themselves the gift of Mr. Powell's short stories. We are not alone with our trials, struggles as well as heartfelt moments.

Thank you, Mr. Powell, for sharing your unique and uplifting perspective.

This funny, sad, irreverent, hopeful, painfully honest, personal recounting of a brand new teacher's experiences with students with different problems, attitudes, and needs who are enrolled in a non traditional program of vocational agriculture in high school should be required reading for all beginning teachers, irrespective of the subject or level that they teach. Once you start reading, you won't put it down until you finish because it holds your attention. Powell illustrates vividly that students are people with feelings and needs, that they deserve the very best from the teacher, that they will respond to opportunities, that they will take initiative, that they are not losers, and that both teacher and students will be successful if the teacher accepts and allows nonconformity and uses ingenuity. While the author writes unnecessarily in a coarse and crude manner in a couple of passages, this does not distract from the human story being recounted with all the attendant implications for achieving success in teaching/learning. Principals, also, should read this short book and then ask themselves how they support teachers with nonconforming ideas.

Educators will enjoy this insightful and realist revisit to the first years of their teaching experience and smile and laugh out loud at the author's recounting of those trepidacious and sometimes daunting times. Parents will see their precious piglets through the eyes of what is surely a caring and special educator. Everyone will have a pleasant and thought provoking respite while reading, as they are entertained and reminded that this business of successfully educating all of the children of all of the people is only possible when the teacher is a unique blend of gentleman farmer, philosopher, humanitarian and CEO.

We are all rewarded when someone takes the time to write a intelligent and philanthropic message from the heart and this is what Allen Powell has done.

Myra C. Reynolds, Educator

Allen Powell's "The Hog Farm Chronicles" is without a doubt the most humorous and entertaining book I've read in many, many years. It is a "must read" for anyone ever involved in working with young people, particularly in education. BE WARNED: You'll laugh until you cry . . . I did and ruined a new pair of contacts.

This book is very intense and becomes personal. While reading this book, you become involved in the life of Nathan and his women. Plus - you meet the hunter. He is definitely a "sick ticket". I lost sleep trying to keep reading and reading! You will feel the need to know what is going to happen next. (It is not a book for children or even young teens to read.)

I highly recommend this book!!! glg

I had a bit of a tough time starting out, but once I got into it I loved it! Lots of detail and a wonderful opportunity to learn more about a sport, or should I say lifestyle, I know nothing about. I encourage you to get this book!

I am about a quarter of the way into the book and am loving every word of it. The author gives you an insight into the martial arts world, the medical world, the feelings evoked by relationships, and the mind of a killer. Anyone involved in the martial arts or medial field will appreciate the attention to details. The author has also captured the emotions and conflicts we go through in personal relationships. I can't wait to finish the book but in same respect I hate to see it end. I will write another review when I do finish to be fair... So far though, I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone but especially those in the martial arts or medicine.

New novelist bursts on the scene with a genuine knowledge of the martial arts world. He protrays the art vividly in this book; its like you are involved in the actual events. The book is a great read, holds your attention and makes you want more!!! The tender scenes are exceptional for a male writer. Buy it..you'll be glad you did.

Hunter and Hunted is my first full-length novel. It was much more work to get the book into its final form than I would have first ascribed to the process, taking a bit less than a year to write the first draft, but a full year and ahalf to edit into its final form.
I set out with the intention to write a book that compares in plot structure to some of my favorite authors novels. If you enjoy John Sandford's Prey Series, involving the character Lucas Davenport, then you should also enjoy this one. Other influences on my writing are John Grisham, Stephen Baldacci, Dean Koontz, and even a little of Tom Clancy. I can only hope that some readers enjoy my story as much as I have enjoyed those several noteworthy mentions to my list of influences.
One word about content. I did find myself writing the book with a level of realistic, gritty detail. I did not pull any punches, no pun intended, with the content of the violent or sexual encounters, as they are intrinsic to the story. I merely mention this in the review so that parents who do not wish to expose their children to that type of writing can withhold the book for themselves, and not make of it a birthday present to a child. As an example, I would not let my own 12-year-old daughter read it now, but I wouldn't think twice about giving it to her when she is sixteen. Just my thought.
I put a Five-Star rating on this review, because I'm the first review, and I wrote it. Thus, I'm quite biased, but I've got nothing but positive feedback from all who have read Hunter and Hunted, so I feel confident that if you enjoy suspense thrillers with an action bent, you'll like my book. -- J3

This is the second of Phil Rickman's stories featuring Merrily Watkins that I've read. Originally, I wasn't sure that Merrily, who is an Anglican minister and Deliverance Consultant (exorcist) would be the kind of character that to whom I would be attracted. Stories with romantic underpinnings put me off, and Kay Scarpetta stories have permanently put me off troublesome teenage daughters. Because Rickman has written several horror stories that I like I decided to take the leap of faith. I have to admit that I've been very pleasantly surprised.

Let me say right off that if you are expecting these tales to be horror stories you are in for a surprise. Rather, thing of them as detective/suspense with a spiritual element. Merrily Watkins, having lost her husband, was drawn to the church, and then into the ministry. When a surprising turn of events revealed some unexpected sensitivities, Merrily is trained as a Deliverance Consultant and given Ledwardine as her post. With her is her daughter Jane, a seventeen-year-old with a sharp, questioning mind, who hovers between mature insight and girlish obstinacy. Another frequent participant is Lol, a recovering addict and musician who has a close, but difficult relationship with Merrily.

The Lamp of the Wicked starts out as the story of one serial killer, Roddy Lodge, who Merrily accidentally 'outs' while helping a friend. But it quickly becomes the story of another killer entirely around whose periphery the likes of Roddy and the citizens of the town of Underhowle are entangled. One killer dead for three years, and the other shortly into the book, this story is really about the web of evil that grew out of a set of chilling events in the past and how it took on a life of its own. One doesn't exorcise ghosts, only demons, but hidden in a deserted Baptist chapel in Underhowle is something that desperately needs to be laid to rest.

As Rickman likes to do, there are parallel themes that tangle the plot. The foremost of these is a building study of the effects of close exposure to radiant power (as in electrical towers). This has been an issue in the states for some time, but it rears its head in the little town of Underhowle as well. Rickman comes up with enough facts to disquiet the reader as this thread moves from alien abduction to temporary insanity. In addition to this, Jane is in the midst of a crisis of faith that has her in a permanently sarcastic and depressed mood. In fact, all of the Ledwardine characters have something on their minds, from a contractor whose partner went up in flames with his business, to Lol, who is struggling with his fears of performing again.

These stories are apt demonstrations of Rickman's abilities. He brings to life this part of England with its conflicts between the modern and old with an easy, fluent style. His characterization, no longer driven by the need to have inhuman monsters, has grown by leaps and bounds. He manages to create interest in characters that seem unlikely heroes. Even his theological meanderings avoid the dry or overly dramatic and simply become part of the developing atmosphere.

The Lamp of the Wicked can stand by itself, but I found having read one of the early books helped in understanding some of the key relationships quickly. As you might suspect, this helps. But nothing happens that you can't work out on your own, so dive in where you may.

After reading the first Merrily Watkins novel, Midwinter of the Spirit, I grabbed every Phil Rickman book I could find. Although I enjoyed them all, it is the Merrily series that has won my heart.

What a fabulous job Rickman does at creating three-dimensional, believeable characters! Merrily and her daughter are modern women, spirited and complex, with all the doubts and insecurities of any modern woman. Merrily, a single mom and Anglican priest, has been made the diocese exorcist, which is bound to put a strain on her relationship with her teenaged daughter, Jane, who leans more to paganism than organized religion.

As a background for these mysteries, the complex relationship between the troubled teenager and her mother provides a counterpoint to the greater conflict between good and evil that permeates these books.

This book in particular is especially interesting. A village man has confessed to horrific murders, and there is no doubt that his fellow villagers consider him very odd indeed. But, as Merrily is dragged into this situation, she has to deal with the fact that his actions may have been influenced by something beyond his control--but is the evil that influenced him man made or demonic? And are there other evil-doers at work?

I found this book to be a very satisfying mystery, and enjoyed the way that the relationship between Merrily and her daughter continues to unfold.

This is a well-written and thought-provoking book which transcends any classification as a genre novel. I'm a generalist reader with no special preference for horror, the supernatural, or detective fiction. I look for books with believable characters and interesting situations, and this book certainly delivers. There are several story lines which the author for most part weaves together well, but a novel this long and complex presents some challenges that I didn't think were completely met. The biggest problem for me was the author's obviously sincere effort to arouse public interest in a real mystery story that will perhaps never be fully investigated. The author combines the imaginary adventures of his fictional community and characters with the career of an actual serial killer, the notorious Fred West of Gloucester. West's arrest made the headlines in the mid 1990's, and he was widely believed to be guilty of many more crimes than the ones to which he actually confessed. While it is not unusual for fiction to include real historical events, it is tricky to make this narrative device work when the real history is so recent and so emotionally charged. The strong element of horror in the novel comes not only from the events that the reader knows are fictional, but also from what he or she believes actually happened to West's victims. For me, this uneasy mix of fascinating fiction and horrifying fact made the book alternately hard to put down and hard to pick up. Seriously, expect disturbing dreams if you read this book! In addition, I found the plotting a bit messy and hard to follow at times, but the superior quality of the writing kept me going.

Be advised that this is not the kind of suspense story in which all is neatly explained at the end. The main characters are all in their own way on a philosophical journey of discovery, plagued by doubts, fears, and confusion. The reader who travels with them will have a challenging but exciting journey.

I've read all of Phil Rickman's previous novels, and this is yet another winner. Rickman has perfected the art of creating characters that become 'real' enough to care about - and his best creation to date is the smoking, slightly confused but always sincere female minister, Merrily Watkins.

This story is made all the more interesting because it addresses some of the pressing but as yet officially unrecognised problems of today's society, such as the mental and physical effects of living in close proximity to high powered electricity lines and telephone towers. The electrical hypersensitivity suffered by one of the characters and his subsequent actions are frighteningly close to home. I've suddenly become aware of how many telephone towers surround us - and lo and behold - I've actually seen them on church steeples!

The inclusion of the horrific real life monsters Fred and Rose West adds another chilling dimension to the story. An unsettling mystery thriller and a cracking good story.

Over the years, I have gotten used to the fall off of quality as series stretched out. In this, Phil Rickman has proven himself to be a delightful change of pace in this "rule".

This is, imo, the best Merrily Watkins book yet with a clever blend of real life serial killers and the supernatural. As for Merrily, Rickman continues to allow the character to grow.

I'm glad the US market has finally wised up and made the acquisition of Rickman's books easier on us. For years, I've had to rely on British book dealers to feed my hunger at very steep prices for mass masrket paperbacks. It's nice to see RIckman finally getting the notice that he should here on this side of the pond.

Dr. Powell does a great job of making the often confusing profecies make sense. This book is easy to read and not overwhelming. It focuses on the character of the anti-christ, not as an evil monster, but as a product of his society, trying to do what he feels is best. He is a very sympathetic character, which adds to the believability of the book.

Very moving. Really made me look differently at my life

The Last Trumpet is thought provoking and moving. A must read for everyone!

The Last Trumpet is a novelistic overview of the final book of the Bible. This book, Revelation, due to the complexity of its' symbolic language, is difficult to understand and can be interpreted in several different ways. This fictional story helps to breakdown the inevitable future into an easier, more comprehendable perception of what is to come.

The Last Trumpet is a fiction novel based on Bible Prophecy: It looks in a novelistic fashon at the Rapture, the Antichrist, the Beast(system of Government), the Mark of the Beast, the Number of the Beast 666, the Tribulation, the Return of Christ, the Antichrist being cast alive into the Lake of Fire, the bibding of Satan, the Judgment Seat of Christ, the One Thousand Year Reign of the Lord on the earth, the destruction of Satan, the Great White Throne of Judgment, the eternal Lake of Fire, the New Heaven and the New Earth, the Holy City, and there is a glanceat eternity with God

A wonderful way to relax over a rainy weekend. If you've been to London, it will take you back. If you haven't, the tape will prepare you for when you do go. Powell livens up the tour with interesting, amusing, and startling facts and anecdotes. The contemporary and historical information, the accents, the readers, the mood - all make for a quick trip to the U.K. in one little box. Very much enjoyed it.

Great book. Tours are easy to follow and take you into some really great parts of London that even locals don't know. I got to school our host on Aldephi.

Having read London by Rutherfurd made the tours even better.

The huge and bustling metropolis of London does not reveal itself to the casual visitor. To discover its hidden wonders, you must investigate streets and alleyways on foot. Now with the LONDONWALKS auido guide, visitors to London can put on earphones and slip a LONDONWALKS tape into their portable cassette recorder and start walking, while they listen to the history, scandal, and intrigue of one of the most magnificent cities of Europe. Each of the four audio walking tours in this two-cassette package takes about two hours, or as long as a morning or aternoon. They are narrated by the English actress Jean Marsh.

Self-directed (and very explicit in terms of getting you around) this book is a wonderful find. If I want to re-think all the great times my friend and I had trekking through districts/neighborhoods, I don't go look at my photos... I grab this book. The gentleman who wrote it (at the time we visited) also led guided tours of the areas described in the book ..20 pounds! Do it yourself for the price of the book. Funny, informative, and definitely worth the bucks.

We also bought the New York Walks (Manhattan) and found it equally informative, although written by a bunch of people from the NY "Y". Hester Street, Lower East Side, Upper East Side, etc., etc. GREAT.

LONDONWALKS Audio tours was the high point of our quick trip to London last month. We did two of the four walks and now we must return to do the rest. We will be looking for more Sound Travel Audio Guides. What a great idea!

I was fortunate enough to have Mark Powell as a English teacher in college. I deliberately never missed a class - his teaching methods are as captivating as his writing methods. It was difficult to put 'Prodigals' down. Each chapter left me anxious to read the next. In college, he always told me that my descriptive essays were good, but I know now that they were no comparison to his. His use of description really makes you feel as though you are right there in the moment, experiencing everything the character is. And being from Georgia, I also appreciate his description of the beauty of the south. If you can appreciate novels with southern dialect and intriguing mystery, you'll love this plot. Thank you, Mr. Powell, for a beautiful story!

I just finished this novel this week, and I find its message still haunting to me -- but wonderfully so. Powell's language is beautiful, and his sense of place is strong and clear. After reading the novel, I was forced to give more thought to the meaning of the word "prodigal" and to the meaning of this book and my life. Although the novel is set in the aftermath of World War II, this book is extremely relevant to our modern lives.

Mark Powell has written a haunting tale of life in World War II era South and North Carolina. After taking a course in Southern Lit at the University of South Carolina, I highly recommend Powell's work. He follows other southern writers in portraying life in the south but adds his own unique perspective. I found his work to be thought provoking. Anyone who has an interest in mystery or just wants to be challlenged to see life outside the normal box should read this work.

I have just finished one of the finest novels anyone will ever have the privilege to read. The author is Mark Powell. The novel is Prodigals. Powell is at once historian, folklorist, and theologian. After purchasing a copy of this book, you must put on some soup. Once the book comes and the soup is ready, sit down and fall into the clutches of Ernest Cobb, June Bug, and Jimmy Morgan. You won't put this novel down until your soup is cold.
Clayton

Mark Powell's ear for dialogue and for dialect is absolutely first class. His prose is a joy. I kept nudging my wife awake and reading passages to her. There's a delicious sadness to the writing, a texture both elegiac and wise, a sensibility whose roots lie in the depths of tradition, like the blues. This is the real deal, people. Prodigals is a gem.

I took a Sociology of Minorities class in college. This was the required reading and I found it to be incredibly intriguing. This book does a very thorough job presenting the information.

I taught this as an undergraduate sociology course at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and I looked through about 20 textbooks before I found this one. It's the ONLY textbook on race and ethnic relations that doesn't only or primarily focus on the United States. Race happens in other countries! Americans can be so U.S.-centric. One can only really understand one's own country when comparing with others. Especially with race, which is so ingrained in us, it greatly helps to step out of the box and then be able to come back to our society with a more balanced perspective.

Also, Marger's writing is crystal-clear, insightful, organized, and very balanced and knowledgeable. You won't believe the number of textbooks which never adequately and clearly define the basic and complex concepts such as race, ethnicity, prejudice, stereotype, and discrimination. Also, Marger is one of the few authors who talks about the mostly-overlooked concept of the importance of form of contact (e.g., voluntary migration, forced migration, annexation, conquest) in determining the character of ethnic relations.

With most textbooks, students come away with, "Blacks are like this, Whites are like this, Hispanics are like this, Asians are like this," but with no overall understanding of the nature and social forces of ethnic relations. With Marger's book, the reader is able to make broad generalizations that characterize ethnic relations and understand the conditions which produce various outcomes.

I am super-impressed with this book, and I look forward to continuing to use it for years to come.

I don't know much about this book, but I do know that Martin N. Marger is a class act tride and true. Had his class my freshman year at Michigan State University and really got a lot out of it. Great person

I have read this book and must say that Mr. Marger is brilliant. This book is fantastic if you want to learn about all races and ethnicities. I was so attached to this book each day that I read the material, it was very hard to place down, even for a second. I now have a clearer understanding and sincere respect for other races and cultures.

I first read this book my junior year of college when I took a sociology class titled "Racial and Ethnic Relations." I learned so much information from reading this book, and I recommend it to others who either teach college-level courses or who are writing research papers and need a good reference book. As an anthropologist, I am extremely critical of the way my field inadequately handles the scholarly study of racial/ethnic conflict - particularly anthropology's lack of a coherent theoretical framework for analysis of prejudice and discrimination. Fortunately, Marger introduces students to various psychological and social theories and does so without employing heavy, technical jargon. Another great aspect of this book is its cross-cultural examination of racial/ethnic relations in Brazil, Canada, Northern Ireland, and South Africa.

Reading this book as a junior in college fueled my intellectual curiosity to comprehensively examine racial and ethnic relations.

Smile of a Ghost is undoubtedly the best of the Merrily Watkins series--and the best of all Rickman's books. Though there is a slight paranormal flavor, the book works best as a straight mystery, one involving many different people and their actions. Mr. Rickman takes these strands and weaves them together beautifully to the final outcome. The main character, the Rev. Merrily Watkins is still charming but slightly anxious in her role as Diocesan Exorcist, and the scenes involving church politics are spot on. Secondary characters are not relegated to "supporting role" status but are integral to the plot. I started reading on a Thursday afternoon and finished it the next day--it's that kind of book.

You don't want to be a lawyer or a psychiatrist in a Phil Rickman novel. If you show up, you'll be treated like dirt because you are dirt. However, it's okay to wander around with an embalmed baby in tow, and treat your live kin as if you wish they were dead. `Eccentric' is usually stretched to `lovable' in the Merrily Watkins mysteries, but I can't quite bring myself to love the crazy lady of this novel.

"The Smile of a Ghost" is very much about relatives and the awful things they do to each other, including driving the more vulnerable ones to suicide. When a fourteen-year-old boy who is mad about medieval history, takes a dive off of Ludlow Castle, people wonder whether it was a suicide, an accident, or murder.

By book's end, we are pretty sure it wasn't an accident or suicide, but are not positive as to the identity of the boy's killer. I personally didn't care for Merrily's suspect. The retired police officer's suspect was an evil twerp, but I was pretty sure he wouldn't work outside of his own turf. The one suspect that did make sense to me was the weird goth-woman's choice of killer, but I refuse to agree with her on anything. You'll have to decide for yourself.

Evidently bomb-makers are not the only type of terrorists working for Great Britain's National Health Services. You'll meet another type in "The Smile of a Ghost" that Lol had the misfortune to fall under the care of while he was incarcerated in a mental institution. When he composes a song about his experience, bad things begin to happen to him and Merrily. However, Lol solves his problem brilliantly and he is one of the real heroes of this complex, multi-layered mystery.

But if Lol can show enough maturity to confront an evil psychiatrist from his past, why can't he and Merrily stop sneaking into each other's bedrooms and just get hitched? It should put a stop to the poison-pen letters once and for all. Does anyone recall a reason why they shouldn't get married? Bishop Bernie could officiate in his purple shirt, and Gomer Parry, the manic digger-for-hire could be the best man. Jane, pagan that she is, could be the maid-of-honor. Let's drop all of this artificial angst and get on with life. Lucy, one of the many ghosts in this novel would certainly smile on the union.

If I had known before I bought the first Merrily Watkins novel (The Wine of Angels) that Merrily is an exorcist, I probably would have saved my money. But I didn't know, and now I'm hooked.

The characters are fabulous - Merrily, the sometimes hapless vicar; Jane, the pagan daughter; Gomer, the archetypal local; Lol, the fragile folk-rock mystery. Any and all of these will fix your attention and concern, to say nothing of a wide array of secondary characters and ghosts. OK, the ghosts sound hard to take, but Rickman carefully constructs Merrily's vocation, making the line between spiritual work and work with spirits very faint indeed. The vicar's faith is remarkably practical and so are most of the problems she faces.

The plots grow out of the settings on the Welsh border, exquisitely detailed in all the books. In Smile of a Ghost, the town of Ludlow becomes another character, in some ways the principal victim. Of all the books, this one has the most subtly integrated element of the supernatural: you can take it or leave it.

If the exorcist plot makes you nervous, start with this book and see if your concerned affection for Merrily, Lol, Jane and others doesn't over-come your hesitation.

The seventh Merrily Watkins book, this one tops the list. Rickman has the skill to present characters who are so real you are sure you know them, a plot so intriguing that you become engrossed in the action, and a way of writing the draws you on through the story. The dilemma is whether to spend time with the characters or turn the page and get on with the story. Here the venue of the mystery is almost a character in itself: what is it about the castle and the town which shapes the story? As always with Rickman one finds oneself on the border between the rational and the non-rational, the quotidian and the mysterious. One finishes with a respect for that which is finally beyond explanation but open to understanding.

In this the seventh of his Merrily Watkins novels, Phil Rickman once again proves that you really can't get too much of a good thing. While The Smile of a Ghost does not find the Rev. Merrily Watkins in such dire or dark supernatural peril she has contended with previously, the demons she must face are just as chilling -- the possible elimination of her very role as Deliverance Minister by modernizing forces in the Church as well as by her own self-doubt. And this crisis couldn't have come at a worse time -- in the midst of a tragic trend of teen suicides, possibly influenced by a 12th century ghost and a very hauntingly real "ghost" of sorts from Merrily's Goth days of the more recent past.

In spite of this novel's thematic seriousness, Rickman manages to weave subtle strands of wit and humor throughout, and his astounding facility with character and dialogue only gets better with each book. Through his superb crafting of narrative perspective, the personalities of Rickman's characters seem to hijack their way from chapter to chapter with an amazing fluidity that makes the book very hard to put down.

If you're a regular reader of Rickman's novels, this newest one will not disappoint. If you're new to the novels of Phil Rickman, you're in for a treat. Either way, The Smile of a Ghost will leave a reader smiling.