Robertson Books

This book literally changed my life. I've never been healthier since I learned to cook for myself from this book. Although I now use the recipes found in the book from time to time, it set the standard for how I eat.

i have had this book on my kitchen shelf for 10, years. i particularly love the soup recipes. laurel robertson's soups are old favorites with a new spin. many of the legume soups include potatoes, which, though seeming a strange ingredient at first, give a marvelous, velvety texture to such old favorites as pea soup and lentil soup. anyone interested in vegetarian cooking, or just cooking with vegetables, would do well to have a copy of this book in his or her library. yum!

This book is an excellent guide into the world of vegetarianism. It offers delicious recipes, loads of information on good nutrition for the vegan, and is written in a humourous, easy-to-read style. The authors give great basic instruction on making meals healthy and balanced, making it simple to take off from there and get creative in the kitchen. I have literally worn out three copies of this book over the years, and highly recommend it.

The moon is tempted to earth to see what the bogels are up to. She gets captured trying to save a boy from their clutches, and the moon disappears. The boy must figure out how to save her. The artwork is wonderfully creepy, and the clutching, grasping, creaking, slurping descriptions bring to life the will o' the wisps and the bog-filled countryside. Not overly firghtening but thrilling enough (especially the bogels) to introduce an old, spooky, English folktale to youngsters.

The book was so well illustrated and colorful. Story was real scary. What a unique book.
Sally Molock

My husband, daughters (4 & 5) and I all loved the book. Beautiful art work. A little more sophisticated story line.

This book has amazing drawings in it. Carol Jones is very talented. I rarely write reviews for books but this one has definitely impressed me. Not only are the pictures breathtaking, but many of the pages have a circular hole cut out of the middle so you get a peek at the next animal coming up in the tale, and when you look back at the previous page from the other side, you see Old MacDonald. This is truly a gem of a book. My highest praises to the illustrator!

My daughters loved it they go around asking for their E-I-E-I-O book all day long. They even ask to take it to bed. Many fights have been waged between my twins over who will get the honors.

I like the little windows on the pages which give a little away, but not too much, of the animal that is on the farm. Nicely illustrated!

A simple premise for a book...a familiar nursery rhyme song, but Carol Jones has given it a new life with her strikingly detailed illustrations. My son (4) really loves discovering the minute touches she added...a great book to sit and look through together. Definitely one we'll keep!

Robin Robertson is and absolutely amazing poet!! I loved both his collections SO much!! Anyone who hasn't read 'A painted field' or 'slow air' should definitely buy them!! They are well worth it!!

I came across this Scottish poet at a literary festival in Montreal and was completely blown away by his reading. Once I read A Painted Field, I realised that this was one of the most powerful new voices I've read - from either side of the Atlantic. His writing is taut, sensuous, beautifully imagined and often incredibly moving. He seems able to move from the terrifyingly visceral to the heartbreakingly lyrical with complete ease and confidence. Extraordinary stuff.

Rarely does one find the magisterial artistic command so evident in this book in any poetry collection--let alone in the first collection of a "new" poet. Robertson is no joke: not even the initial reviews on this website (glowing as they are) can do him anything like justice. Here appear poems that require reading, and that don't stand much discussion. That (for me) is what real works of art are like: they want to conjure up not ideas about the thing, but the thing itself.

I can't wait for the next book from this man. This is, by a very long shot, the best thing I've read in a while--in any discipline.

Bishop James A. Pike of the Episcopal Church was one of the 1960s' first iconoclastic clergymen to become widely known in radical circles. "Jesus was a revolutionary like the Viet Cong!" and "The God of law and order is dead!" are typical statements quoted in David Robertson's biography, these on page 196. Bishop Pike had his share of supporters and plenty of enemies. He was an early marcher in the Civil Rights Movement.
It is no simple task to define the motives of a complex, driven man who has such volatile appetites. Robertson accomplishes as much as an author can. The biography should be read anyway for its parallel history of the growing disunity in the Episcopal Church, which is still a factor nearly forty years after Pike's demise.
Lord Acton's dictum, "Power corrupts," should be amended to read "A lust for majesty corrupts." From >A Passionate Pilgrim<:
1) p. 71: Joseph L. Blau, professor of philosphy at Columbia University, complained of Pike's "expansionist, imperial policy."
2) p. 149: The Theological Committee censured Pike for past actions it characterized at "self-aggrandizement" and "publicity-seeking." Pike balked and threatened to gather support among his political allies.
3) p. 108: "When we elect a President of the United States . . , we do not ask him what he does with his genitals. We want him to do what he was hired to do well. We tacitly agree that his sex life is his own affair." The committee's report was kept at its request from most laity on a "need-to-know" basis.
4) Darby Betts accepted the offer to be Pike's archdeacon but discovered soon after his arrival at the California diocesan offices that his unspecified duties included acting as "majordomo" to Pike, attempting to prevent the bishop from publicly embarrassing himself with women or alcohol.
5) p. 176: The same month that the >Time< article appeared, Pike and Diane Kennedy had become physical lovers. Pike was supporting three households--his own with Bergrud (his other lover) in Santa Barbara, the apartment he maintained in her name and used as an office, and Esther Pike's household (the Bishop's soon-to-be ex-wife), including their two children in San Francisco.
In John Osborne's play >Luther<, the great reformer railed against such behavior by the clergy:
Tetzel: (Luther) said, "I've been to Rome once, and they didn't look very subtle to me. They were lifting their legs at street corners like dogs."
Cajetan: I hope he didn't see any cardinals at it. Knowing some of them as I do, it's not impossible.
The clergy's wrestling for the soul of the Church continues as always.

This is the biography of Pike that we've been waiting for. Robertson's achievment is awesome and this book is marvelous. Pike's many difficulties -alcoholism, ambition, theological posturing, difficulties in his family, with his women- are finally choreographed into the submissive background where they belong, as the three-dimensional Pike emerges broken and whole - a man addicted to action. Believing, warring, loving, campaigning, preaching, living and dying - Pike sat astride the rhythm of unrelenting action, for good or ill. Those who look to the inconsistencies in James Pike to find the living parts are looking too far. His great personal truth was in his every action- wild and true, beautiful, violent. Passionate Pilgrim brings it all before us. David Robertson's intelligence arrives with a stash of new ideas and insights, a scathing sympathy for his subject, and the ear of a real writer. Anyone interested in Pike's story will be mesmerized by this book that demonstrates better than any other I can think of the ecstatic dimensions of biography that can be achieved by perfect prose.

Robertson, a writer new to me but apparently one of some renown whose other books I will be sure to look out for, has written a sobering account of the 196os through a particular prism, the charismatic Episcopal bishop Jim Pike. Pike was a radical theologian and a moving speaker, whose positioning of himself as an effective force for change took him to what were pretty much the limits of free expression within the church through the 1950s and exploded, as did so much else, in the 1960s.

Here in San Francisco he is still remembered, if vaguely, as the man who held press conferences (some of which were televised) at Grace Cathedral at the top of Nob Hill to discuss his latest activities, boycotts, rebellions, hirings and opinions on national and international affairs, not only on matters of religion, for he cast a wider net. He wrote an article, "How My Mind Has Changed," which made public his doubts about the Virgin Birth of Christ and about the three-personed nature of the Trinity. He called for a stop to the practice of "speaking in tongues." More traditional Christians grew skeptical, then became resolutely opposed to his liberal ways. His heavy drinking and his affairs with women caused his wife, Esther, to seek a divorce, and their four children suffered the most.

One of them, Jim Junior, in fact killed himself in New York City, and this put the Bishop into a real tailspin. Like Conan Doyle before him, he took to seances to raise the spirit of his boy. And then he came to believe that he would find redemption out in the desert, and the whole world was shocked when his body was found in the wilderness. Robertson recites all these numbing facts ably and with deep understanding. The spectacle of a man's search for meaning is a brutal one, as he goes, punchdrunk, into one cul-de-sac of faith after another, but Robertson persuades us that, underneath it all, we are all human and we all make mistakes sometimes. He has sympathy for even Pike's most outlandish choices, and his book is all the better for it.

Don't let the low sales rank fool you. This is one of the most important books in recent years.

Robertson presents an important new perspective on the history of science in this book. We all know that computers have vastly increased our ability to study the universe around us, as well as the universe of mathematics, but Robertson puts this revolution into a wider context, as part of an ongoing process that occurs whenever our ability to observe the universe increases significantly. The invention of the telescope, for example, brought about a large quantitative change in our ability to see. However, the result in astronomy is more than just quantitative, more than just the ability to see more things in the sky, but a fundamental change in the insights that are available to us in that field.

Robertson's great insight in this book is that the telescope is only one example of this phenomenon in the history of science.

The author generalizes the meaning of "phase
change" to describe any event for which it is nearly
impossible to forecast the behavior of a system after
the event from a knowledge of the behavior of a system
before the event. He points out that such events in
science and mathematics frequently involve the
invention of a technology that allows us to observe
something that could not be observed before. He
further argues that "phase changes" cause paradigm
shifts. Examples of inventions that have caused phase
changes are the telescope in astronomy, the microscope
in biology, and the computer in every field. His
arguments are very good, and although I was skeptical,
I was convinced.

Even if you are not convinced by his
arguments, the book is enormously interesting for the
history and overview it gives of mathematics,
astronomy, physics, biology, and other sciences. I
was very impressed that one person could grasp the
essential features of so many different fields. In
addition, he expresses the ideas and history so well
that I found it enormously interesting, even in the
fields I am already familiar with.

Chapter 8 is more controversial, and although
I did not agree with everything he says, I was
fascinated to read his views. I found my mind being
stretched in enjoyable ways.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has
even the slightest interest in science, and also to
anyone who is interested in learning more about the
computer revolution.

This poem is very unique. Langland conveys many moral issues that will always be part of human existence. The poem is written in the beautiful, alliterative style. It is not quite a standard allegory and perhaps this is why I enjoyed it so much. It is masterfully composed and Piers' vision is accutely realized. Langland has an artistic touch that grabs hold of a reader and also manages to import a message. I would recommend a version that has both the original text, with all the idosyncratic spellings, and a modern English translation. Reading this is like reading Dante, Chaucer, or the Gawain Poet. A lot to chew on but well worth the trouble.

The poem of 'Piers the Ploughman' is often considered to be anonymously composed, as the name William Langland was less an authorial designation as it was an inscription on the back of a manuscript - it would be as if I would be assigned the authorship of the O.E.D. because, in some future time, the only remaining copy was missing the title pages, but still had the hard-cover with my 'ex libris' impression on it. Be that as it may, Langland is considered at least as likely an author as any other, and becomes a sort of stand-in, an 'everyman' for his time period. A few details of this Langland are known - he was a wanderer, a constant reviser (the poem goes through several revisions that scholars have designated as texts A, B, and C (and some argue for Z). This is not a spiritual autobiography, as J.F. Goodridge states in an essay about Langland in another edition, but there are no doubt autobiographical elements in the text. That the lead character is named 'Will' helps in this identification.

This poem stands alongside Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' as one of the great products of Middle English; this also has the character of being a different sort of Middle English than Chaucer's more courtly, continental influenced variety. Thus, it gives breadth to the history of the English language. Langland is often ranked as a great English poet on a par with Spenser, Milton, Wordsworth and Yeats, as representative of his age both in topics as well as language facility.

This epic poem deals with themes familiar for the time - like Dante and Milton, Langland deals with the grand ideas of the meaning of life and the destiny of humankind. However, unlike Dante and Milton, Will and Piers the Ploughman do not go through a mystical, otherworldly adventure or journey, but rather stays rooted to the earth. These are dream sequences, but these too need not be otherworldly - they are things that can happen to every person. The ideas of the seven deadly sins, the virtues, the church, and the images of heaven and hell are very much rooted to regular society images of the same. The discussion of the allegorical characters, aptly named Do-Well, Do-Better, and Do-Best, does much for the moral teaching of this poem, which would have been of primary concern to the author.

Langland's text is often more Old English than Chaucerian in ways. It is far more alliterative, a strong component taken from Old English. Also, it is less metrical in rhythm than Chaucer - there is a pause in each line akin to older English poetry, but the metre is less secure.

This translation is done in alliterative verse by E. Talbot Donaldson (the 'E' stands for the very olde Englishe sounding name of Ethelbert). There are notes, essays and other helpful material provided by Elizabeth Kirk and Judith Anderson. There are over 50 non-related texts of the poem that have survived the Middle Ages, that vary from minor to major changes throughout. Reconciling these is rather like attempting to reconcile the gospels of the Bible, and then adding to that task the discovery of other non-canonical gospels. It leads to rich discussion, but less agreement.

The introductory material helps set the stage for reading, and the appendix gives a more thorough development of 'The Dreamer' from the C text.

Perhaps one of the reasons I like this text so much is that the persons involved were known to me, or friends of friends. Donaldson was the founding editor of 'The Norton Anthology of English Literature', a broad, wide-ranging text. However, it was 'Piers Plowman' that was to be a continuing favourite study for him.

This is one of the classics of English literature, perhaps the least known among them.

This poem is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. I am not a specialist in Middle English, so I cannot say what was lost in the translation into Modern English. I have a copy of the B-Text version which is in Middle English, and if you are like me and have no background therein, this is definitely the version to possess.

It was written circa 1380 and gives an excellent account of life in Plantagenent England and the behavior of the people. The money economy was relatively new, and he saw the negative effects that it had upon both the secular authorities and the Church. The poem is written as an allegory in which the author tries to reconcile the needs of human society with satisfying our Lord our God. Similar to Pilgrim's Progress, the author has a vision, in which he is encounters different aspects of humanity (Covetousness, Sloth, Soul, Knowledge, etc.) on his attempt to find Truth (or God). It is definitely not light reading, and there is so much deep thought that one has to spend a lot of time reading it slowly, as I am sure it was done in the 'Middle Ages'.

The author thought that End Times were near after the Black Death and the utter corruption amongst secular and clerical authorities at the time. The fact that something so penetrating and inspirational was written and found such an appreciative audience that it has survived till now shows that the society then was not so bad. Highly recommended.

I came across my copy of this book some time in the early 1970's in a bookstore in Long Beach, CA. I was stationed on my first ship, stayed in my seabag for each transfer, and even went with me on submarine deployments where storage is at a premium. And it still resides in my bookshelf some 34 years later. No, it is definitely NOT for sale! It has provided me many hours of fun reading and rereading.

The poems run the full range of human experience. But, there is one poem I wish on my tombstone:
"Between the mighty legs of Death,
we play our school boy pranks of breath.
And scrawl our challenge on his sodden boot,
the while he coils his cypress root."

I loved the others when I first got it. Now that I've been married, divorced, remarried, and have raised my children I appreciate many of them even more. You'll find poems to send to someone who broke your heart. Or to recite when your children get on your nerves. Most will surprise you with their wit.

Buy the cleanest copy you can find. You won't want to give it up.
If you are asked to loan it out...just say "no".

I discovered "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing" in a bookshelf in the sunroom of my (rich) uncle's house in Larchmont, NY when I was around 12 years old and immediately wondered "why don't they ever teach us stuff like THIS in school?" Fifty years later I can still quote about half the book by heart (but I won't right now). Hoffenstein's verse is at once rueful, wise, insighful, light and drop-dead funny -- a fabulous combination! Get the collection of his complete verse, if you can -- Modern Library published a collection in the 1950s.

Hoffenstein was quite a polymath; his main business was writing for the movies (he is credited with "Laura" and part of "The Wizard of Oz", among other well-known movies) and also composed music. I believe he also appeared occasionally at the Algonquin Round Table, and that he was Ogden Nash's favorite poet.

No one should ever think of "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing" as a romantic book. But to this truth I say it is as romantic a book as you'll find on any shelf dwelt by Byron or Neruda.

When the evening candles are lit, and the music entangles her perfume and traces her smile, and you pause to wander through the volumes set upon the wall, you would not be wise to pick up even the slimmest selection of T. S. Elliot's poetry. Your wisdom would be questioned if you glanced even for a moment at Shelley or Keats, no matter how much their words may smolder. Your brilliance will lay in picking something better than the ordinary. With discretion, you could find "Poems in Praise of Practically Nothing" as nothing ordinary. She will think you chose it spontaneously. Instead, you planned to share it with her long before the wine was purchased.

She, your lovely date, will have never heard one line you will read to her from Samuel Hoffenstein's collection. She will have heard Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" a sickening number of cliched times, but you can presume she has never heard the poem called "I,"

"Nothing from a straight line swerves
So sharply as a woman's curves,
And, having swerved, no might or main
Can ever put her straight again."

Always tasteful, but with a slight wink and nudge, Hoffenstein will help take off the edge of a new relationship.

The poems taste like Ogden Nash, but are seeped in the spice of Edward Lear. Where they lack in depth, they burst in flavored multiple entendre fun. With your beautiful friend sitting beside you, you'll read together and laugh. Rather than musing with intellectual stares and murmurs, you both will enjoy the evening. The value of a traded smile is worth more than any discussion of melancholy and Keats.

This book is humor, through the vehicle of light verse. In its day, it was quickly known as a classic, and favored by Dorothy Parker and H. L. Mencken. 100,000 copies were sold as of 1941. This book is a sure thing, and should be strategically placed on a shelf prior to any date.

--Brockeim

If you like rice then you will love this book. The dishes are
savory, sweet to spicy with an abundance of flavors from the
Mediterranean, Middle East, India, Caribbean, stir fries from
East Asia, risottos from Italy & more. Every thing is simple to
make and the seasonings are easy to find at any grocery store.
This has become one of my favorite cookbooks.

This book if full of excellent vegetarian (suprisingly!) one-dish meals. The author's tastes run along my own lines. In this book you'll find recipes that come from Japanese, Indonesian, Indian and Thai roots as well as American eclectic innovations. The author has included main dish, soup and dessert recipes.

I'm not a vegetarian, but have been pleasantly surprised at how satisfying the dishes are. I never thought that vegetarian dishes could be so good. Rice is, of course, the common thread that ties all of the collected recipes together and the author has devoted the first chapter of the book to educating the reader about the different types of rice and how to prepare rice in a foolproof manner.

What I loved about the book is the way I changed my eating habits by getting hooked on the simplicity of the one-dish meals contained within, the flavors of the dishes (incredible) and the way I felt after eating (full, but not stuffed = more energetic).

This is my current favorite cookbook.

I think I have every one of Robin's books, except the Apocalypse Chow one. I find her books to be reliable, but this one might possibly be a fave, if I had to pick one. The lemon-mint pesto rice with beans was one of the best meals I've had and the leftovers were great cold. Make some extra rice tonight and have dinner started for tomorow! Also includes recipes for lesser known rices.

Another incredible adventure! This one took me back to Paris, a place I truly love. Except this time, I got to travel back in time. I learned all about the World's Fair. What a fun way to share history with kids! You just can't put it down!

This was a super book!! I thought it was very exciting because I thought that Rosemary Rita was going to be stuck back in time forever. I would recommend this book to any girl who likes to read really cool books. Buy this book or you'll miss out on all the fun!!

I liked this one even better than the first Hourglass Adventure. Rosemary Rita is awesome as she tries to capture the jewel thief. This is a very exciting book. I couldn't put it down. It made me feel like I went back in time to Paris in 1889. I think that everyone should read this book. I really loved it!!!