Scott Books

are cleverly packaged in a novel that reveals intriguing yet believable characters. The author comforts his readers' hearts while they journey through Ryne's path to healing. Vivid depictions of universal struggles are interlaced with love, kindness, and innocence. When readers finish the journey, they have learned more than Ryne's story. They have learned how a child can lead them to a place of forgiveness, humility, and growth. Easy to read, easy to love, but not easy to forget.

The author explores religious concepts, prejudice, hatred, love, compassion, and relationships all so well in this easy-to-read novel. Real life issues to ponder with well-developed and fun to know characters. You'll be glad you read this one.

I can't imagine who wouldn't enjoy this book. Appears that everyone who reads it takes something important from the story. I loved the characters and loved the story line. It leaves you wanting more of the lives of the folks of small town Tynbee. Can't wait for another book from this author.

I wasn't too familiar with this author's other work, so I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book. What a wonderful surprise! Scott Philip Stewart weaves together a heartwarming (and sometimes heartbreaking) story filled with characters with whom you can relate...and empathize. Everyone knows couples who have tried every imaginable way to conceive a child - IVF, etc. - and the exhiliration associated with finally having one. This book draws you in with just such a couple, living in unfortunate circumstances, and keeps you pulling for them through a series of twists and turns. You have a front row seat as you witness the power of love, hate, raw bigotry, redemption, and high-minded idealism. Ryne will tug at your heartstrings, and you'll think about him long after you put this book down.

What an amazing book! I fell in love with every single character in this book (and this book has some of the most well-developed, captivating characters I've "met" in a while!) Everything about this story was well done...I literally could not put it down. Esther in particular really came alive for me...I could see her, hear her, and truly feel for her very quickly. She made me laugh out loud, cheer out loud (terrific scene where she charges into a parade and beats up an unrighteous man), and cry my heart out. As a truly avid reader (2-4 books/week for 30+ years and church librarian), it is a rare book that I can say is simply PERFECT! I hope that the author will write another book and let us know how things progress in the life of Esther, Olie, Sister Styker, the pastor and his wife, Luther, and the entire church body in Tynbee. I'll be waiting...
Very happy reader!

The Iran-Contra era. From start to finish, it was as though it was yesterday. James "Scotty" Scott timelessly elevates the era to a new level of intrigue, weaving politics and secret conspiracies across continents, bringing them through decades to a thrilling conclusion. One of the better suspense novels and authors I've read, actually exceeding the writings of more popular writers of intrigue and mystery today. You never know where truth leaves off and fiction enters in, which makes it a great and relevant read today - even as the era it exposes. Put this book and author at the top of your list! Scotty, I understand you have another in the wings. Bring it on!

Don Carmichael, Author, Warriors of Peace

Well, I have just added another person to my list of must read auhtors. This is definitel my kind of book to read! Loaded with intrigue, thrills and action galore! Mr. Scott has written a real winner here and I highly recommend that others take it up as well!

This book should come with a seatbelt. You will be holding on as the action races ahead, hoping you can last longer than some of the characters. Scott, a retired Army officer, served during the period this action takes place. While a work of fiction, his knowledge of places and events makes it all seem plausible and exciting. It is very fast paced,and just when readers think they might have it all figured out, bang, there's a new twist. If your bookshelf is filled with international intrigue and adventure, then you will want to add this one.

I have never read a book twice - until I got my hands on this masterfully written book. Not only could I not put it down the first time, but the second time was the same. I was so amazed at the multi-dimensional plots presented by James Scott during the first read that I did not fully absorb the vivid description of characters and locations. It was obvious that Scott "had been there" in all of the locations provided as backdrops to the story line. Also evident was his deep understanding of the human mind and its motivators. Greed, lust, and the role of power propel the reader in a breathless page-turning experience. I don't know which I look forward to the most - the movie version or the next Scott novel.

I purchased the book when I met the author, Mr. Scott (who promised me I'd like the story) as we talked at the Ft McPherson Mini-Mall. I must admit I was not disappointed. As a civil servant who works with military and civilians, I've seen some of the same types of characters reflected in the story. Mr. Scott captures their ambition mixed with greed which leads to this wonderful web of spiders and flies. Having been a Northern Virginia resident for many years, I found myself running through the streets of Crystal City and Alexandria along with lead character Ed Holloway who tries desparately to keep his weakneses in check while setting record straight. The Iran-Contradictions is certainly on par with products by Dan Brown or Robert Ludlum. I liked it so much I chose it a my selection for my book club members to read. A great debut Mr. Scott.

The editor's introduction delivers a very engaging and useful introduction to Burke's work that contextualizes the selections while giving the reader insight on Burke's background and career. The introduction prepares the reader for Burke's style and wit, while situating and commenting upon some of the reasons for Burke's somewhat fringe status in the critical canon and overviews the reception of his commentaries on Shakespeare and their acknowledged and tacit influence in how Shakespeare has been read by others.

Newstock not only did a great job of gathering and situating these scattered essays and bringing together Burke's intent of collecting all of his Shakespearean writings in one place, he also has added a valuable appendix of which offers a nice addition of other prominent discussions of Shakespeare's work in Burke's other writings.

Burke's essays themselves clearly demonstrate his affinity for the works of Shakespeare and to my mind show a level of interaction with the plays that cuts beyond common textual criticism.

Burke throughout draws references to philosophical matters and figures, social and individual psychology, cultural critique, history and also political issues (including biting commentary, such as his asides to the war on Vietnam, as in his King Lear essay). These make his essays even more broadly entertaining and engaging as he is adeptly able to step out of the context of the works in order to bring the Shakespearean works into a broader discussion, and also to play out these external discussions and intellectual considerations in the context of the plays.

Stylistically, Burke proves to be more fun and of broader interest to the non-specialist than one might expect, and for students of Shakespeare, Burke's essays offer a wealth of insight and perspective that will surely spark discussion and reconsideration of the plays themselves.

Kenneth Burke was a restless thinker ever-alert to what makes Shakespeare's plays work. Scott L. Newstok, with admirable bravura in a profession that tends to undervalue the editing of collections, recognized the importance of committing himself to the painstaking project of recovering Burke's writings on Shakespeare. The result is a treasure-trove both of some landmark essays in his career (most notably the 1951 Hudson Review piece on Othello), and also of the bric-a-brac of intellectual history scattered throughout Burke's work from the 1920s through the 1980s. Newstok unearths and reproduces sections that Burke crossed out from a lecture, thus offering windows onto his compositional process. Among other works never fully revised for publication, he edits and annotates the typescript of Burke's response to a graduate student's paper on Troilus and Cressida. As importantly, Newstok gathers what appears to be every excerpt from Burke's lifetime of writing that mentions Shakespeare. The process of obtaining permissions alone is staggering, but it is a further tribute to Newstok' s professional integrity and passion for the project that he gained full cooperation from the Burke estate and the endorsement of surviving family members.
The volume begins with a cogent survey of the key issues and terms (including a glance at Aristotle, "Burke's classical mentor") that played a generative role in Burke's Shakespeare criticism. He ends with suitably terse yet remarkably helpful notes; for example, indicting where precisely in Coleridge's Biographia Literaria we can find the reference to which Burke alludes in passing. Newstok gives sufficient identifying tags of dramatists, writers, philosophers, and artists whom Burke assumed his audience knew, and covers in detail the original settings of the works discussed and, when applicable, where they were printed previously.
This much having been said, the larger question still looms: Do we need so much--indeed all--of Burke's Shakespeare criticism gathered in one place? The answer this volume convincingly urges is: yes. The Editor's Introduction establishes the impressive influence Burke has had on a number of critics and dramatists, as well as on important movements in literary scholarship and dramatic criticism. The claim of kinship to Burke's work is wide and diverse, ranging from Edward Said to Angus Fletcher. In a long note Newstok gives an initial roll call of upward of fifty Renaissance literary scholars who have profitably engaged Burke's work. He goes on to point out that Northrop Frye annexed Burke as one of his antecedents in "the archetypal approach," and Harold Bloom called Burke "my heroic precursor." And yet it is often through indirection that debts to Burke's ideas are acknowledged. Buried in a footnote, for example, Stephen Greenblatt tellingly relates: "As so often happens, I discovered that Burke's brilliant sketch had anticipated the shape of much of my argument."
In part this reluctance to give Burke pride of place in one's own scholarly work is the result of the unmistakably Burkean tone and trajectory of thought to be found in his often idiosyncratic approach. Unlike literary critics who develop systems that others dutifully can follow, Burke does not leave a coherent methodology, notwithstanding his "Pentadic analysis" and his, at times, deeply moving readings of Shakespearean scenes. Rather readers receive insights--the kinds that he left for a general audience rather than a coterie of the initiated. Although he "appreciated the favorable attention from academia," finally he was more concerned with inspiring "others to join his ecstatic readings of Shakespeare, and gain contact with the energy at the heart of Shakespeare's plays."
One example illustrates just how useful having access to these essays can be, especially in a properly edited edition. Recently when teaching Timon of Athens to undergraduates, I turned to Burke's typical mode of beginning an investigation as presented in Newstok's book. It supplied just the heuristic jump-start required: "First, let's force ourselves to decide exactly what Timon of Athens is about." Written originally as the introduction to an edition of Timon, Burke intelligently recounted the main strokes of the play, act by act. He then treated the main characters in turn and examined their function in the drama: "Apemantus serves to keep the play from falling simply into contrasted halves." He also considered relations among the sexes, showing how women in this play function "only in a supernumerary capacity." That there are only courtesans and no mothers, sisters, or wives, fits well with Burke's judgment on Timon as "an almost brutally end-of-the-line character, his life coming to a close in rabid talk of total human rot." The one moment of pity, supplied by the faithful retainer Flavius, is a touch that Burke sees as "quite Shakespearean, at least in the sense that a Shakespearean tragedy has a scene that softens the audience with tears of pity just before the final outbreak of victimage." He compares Flavius speech instructively to Desdemona's willow song, a connection discussed at greater length in Chapter Six, Burke's landmark essay on Othello (another reason why it is good to have all of these essays collected in one volume). When all is said and done, Burke is a reliable and subtle expositor of Shakespeare's plays.
The second part of this essay turns to consider the nature of Timon as a dramaturgic invention. With all of the rigor shown in his Rhetoric of Religion (1961), Burke explores "invective," "lamentation," and "praise" seen as "the three freedoms." Fortunately Newstok restores paragraphs apparently excised by Burke's editor, Francis Ferguson. These are instructive paragraphs indeed, as they make clear why these three are linked and how they help explain the ineluctable humane movement charted out in Timon of Athens. Granting the disputation of authorship, Burke makes a solid case for Timon's "radicalism"--in its usual, literal, and etymological senses--and concludes that, although it "is not pretty," it is "extremely thorough."
Likewise Burke is thorough and radical in his approach to the plays as a whole. He covers all of the chief topical issues and he seeks to dig to the root of things that often remain undetected by virtue of alluring speeches and the fast-paced sweep of a drama's action. Consequently this is a book that should be placed next to The Riverside Shakespeare on one's bookshelf. As a teacher I anticipate returning to it often, especially when sorting out what should go into an introductory lecture on a given play. And it is for this same reason that people outside the academy will want to have ready access to Burke as well: he gets to the bottom of things.

This work gathers together all of Kenneth Burke's writing on Shakespeare, thirteen major essays and a host of notes and remarks scattered throughout his writings. It contains an introduction by its editor,Scott L. Newstok which explains his own work on the volume, and Burke's general approach to Shakespeare criticism. The book also contains on its back cover laudatory words from among others Harold Bloom and Stephan Greenblat, that is from among the most distinguished literary critics working today.
Burke is an original in his approach to Shakespeare. He focuses often on the opening of the play, and is very concerned with the effect of the play on the audience. He again and again shows how Shakespeare is master playwright creating the effect he wants the work to have on the audience. For Burke whose basic view of drama derives from Aristotle 'action' plays the central role.'Character' is if not subordinated then not given the central place in his analysis as it has in the work of arguably the greatest Shakespearean critic of all A.C. Bradley.
While understanding Burke's brilliance and originality I have never been a strong fan of his writing. I have always found it somewhat difficult and academic. His learning is vast and he makes sudden shifts in his discourse which I find hard to follow. I too find often that the kinds of dramatic questions, the questions relating to how the dramatist achieved the effects he did, are not those which primarily concern me.
However the volume as scholarly collection and edition of Burke's work is comprehensive and carefully referenced. It is a real contribution to Burke scholarship and should be made good use of by all those who take interest in his scholarship.

The most valuable aspect of Scott L. Newstok's recent "Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare" is his inclusion of a talk, delivered by Burke, entitled "Introduction: Shakespeare Was What?," which serves as a useful primer to Burke's system of reading Shakespeare. As the lecture establishes, Burke is ultimately concerned with what literature does (i.e. how it functions). Accordingly, Shakespeare is, in Burke's mind, an artist who "spontaneously knew how to translate some typical tension or conflict of his society into terms of variously interrelated personalities." As Burke explains, Shakespeare's ability "was to let that whole complexity act itself out, by endowing each personality with the appropriate ideas, attitudes, actions, situations, relationships, and fatality" (18). Shakespeare, above all other dramatists, constructs plays in which his characters' engagements with each other constitute the play's movement while dictating meaning to its audience. And Burke, perhaps above all other critics, articulates the anatomy of these engagements for us.

Without a doubt, Burke scholars will find Newstok's compilation of additional references to Shakespeare invaluable. While the sections that Newstok provides can't possibly offer full context, the well-versed Burkean will certainly have the texts in question (A Grammar of Motives, Attitudes Toward History, and so on) at hand. An impressive piece of scholarship, Kenneth Burke on Shakespeare will prove to be an essential work for a variety of audiences, including Shakespearians and Burkeans.

An iconoclastic American intellectual, the late Kenneth Burke (1897-1993) was an exceptional and prolific literary critic whose writings and commentaries were respected -- even by those who occasionally disagreed with either his assumptions and conclusions. In the pages of "Kenneth Burke On Shakespeare", academician Scott L. Newstok (Assistant Professor of English, Gustavus Adolphus College, and Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale University) has gathered together under one cover all of Burke's Shakespeare literary criticism (including previously unpublished notes and lectures) that had such wide-spread influence on his contemporaries. Drawn from a profusion of sources, including literary magazines, academic journals, Newstok has accomplished a truly impressive task of research and recovery. The result is a compendium of analytical commentaries on Shakespearean dramas and comedies. Enhanced with the inclusion of an appendix (Additional References to Shakespeare in Burke's Writings), extensive notes, and 'Index of Works by Shakespeare', and a general index, "Kenneth Burke On Shakespeare" is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to academic library Shakespearean Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

Scott Hahn has been leading a double life. While writing numerous popular books on Catholicism for a mass audience and gaining a wide following, he also has published scholarly papers for Catholic theological journals. He is not the only author to have had this scholarly/popular dichotomy in their work - Anglican bishop N. T. Wright is perhaps the greatest in this regard - but until now Hahn has made no attempt to bridge the gap between the academy and the pew.

In Letter and Spirit, Hahn states at the outset that this book will be different. While steering away from an overly technical presentation, there is no doubt that he is seeking to raise the bar on the conversation he normally has with his popular audience with this discussion of one of his favorite topics: the connection between Holy Scripture and the Divine Liturgy of the Church. This theme has appeared often in his books - most notably in The Lamb's Supper - but now he devotes an entire book to an exposition of the subject that is steeped in the patristic understanding of the role of Holy Scripture and the Church's liturgy.

After an introductory chapter on the importance of the ancient witness of the Church, Hahn explains three terms that appear throughout the patristic witness and form the foundation of his exposition in the chapters to follow. The first of these is `economy' - the divine plan of God's revlation and communication of Himself to mankind. The study of God's economy differs from theology - whose subject is the innermost life within the Blessed Trinity - but each informs the other.

The second term Hahn defines is `typology' whose subject is the discernment within God's work in the Old Covenant of prefigurations to what would be accomplished in the fullness of time through Jesus Christ. Events in the life of key Biblical figures such as Abraham, Moses, and David are seen as types pointing to their fulfillment in Christ and those men themeselves are seen as having roles that will find their perfection in Christ. Similarly, the Bblical people of Israel are seen as types pointing to the Church as its fulfillment as God's people. As Hahn points out, the exegesis of Holy Scripture by the Apostles and the Fathers was steeped in typology and any proper understanding of the books the Church determined to be canonical must take their view of these books into account.

The last of the three key terms `mystagogy' whose subject is the liturgy of the Church. Hahn's portayal of the role of mystagogy to liturgy to be analagous to that of exegesis to Holy Scripture. Mystagogy is said to reveal the mysteries hidden in Scripture and celebrated in the liturgy by the people of God who are called to worship God in spirit and in truth. The worship of God's people - whether it be Israel under the Old Covenant or the Church under the New Covenant - understand the Holy Scriptures and the liturgy to be intimately linked. In this context it is thus to be understood that Scripture is not to be considered as something separate from worship but rather to find its greatest meaning in the liturgical act.

Having set the basis for the discussion, Hahn then builds upon this by then discussing in more detail the interconnectedness of Scripture and liturgy. The Biblical texts in their words and even their structure are intrinsically liturgical and the liturgy is itself formed from and by the Holy Scriptures. Hahn goes into detail on the liturgical and sacramental nature of particular Scriptural accounts and notes that for most of history, it was in the corporate liturgical acts and not in private reading that the people of God would hear the Scriptures and learn their meaning. Moreover, the primary factor in determining the canonicity of the Scriptures was its universal acceptance within the liturgical context.

Having given notice to the relationship between Scripture and liturgy, Hahn then goes beyond the surface to explore the reasons for this connection. He points to the relationship between God and His people given in the covenants throughout the Old Testament and culminating in the New and everlasting Covenant between Christ and the Church. The covenants establish a relation of kinship that is based upon God's promises and sealed with a liturgical action. Thus the accounts of God's actions in Holy Scripture and the words and rubrics of the liturgy are necessarily interwoven.

Hahn then discusses how the reading of the Scriptures functions within the liturgy. The Scriptures have power within the context of the liturgy that does not depend on the people's response but by their hearing the Word of God proclaimed. The interaction of Scripture and liturgy is one of announcement and actualization.

Turning next to the idea of corporate memory, Hahn explains how liturgical actions serve to make present past events and unite God's people through time. The believer is drawn by the liturgy as a participant in the divine economy of salvation and allows the discernment of the typological structure of God's plan as it is worked out through salvation history. The liturgy unites the preaching of the Word with the mystery of the Sacraments and transforms the believer and the world.

Hahn then asserts that the connection between Christ and His Church through the proclamation of the Gospel in the liturgy includes the His presence in the Eucharist. This type of coming or parousia, though different in nature than his earlier coming in humility and his eventual coming in glory, is none the less real and has always been held to be so by the Church. This is the great mystery that is the apex of the liturgy of the Church and unites Christians past, present, and future to those in eternity and looks forward to the heavenly banquet.

The Scriptures and the liturgy, Hahn goes on to say, are themselves placed within the larger context of the Church's living tradition from which they are properly understood by the faithful. In order to fully realize the meaning given in the proclamation of the Word and the celebration of the mysteries, each must be read with the Church's eyes and take advantage of the fruits of its typological exegesis, its mystagogy, and its understanding of the divine economy.

Hahn then asserts the liturgical act as one that not only is connected to the past but also to the future end of days and Christ's eternal offering in the heavenly realm. Centering this part of the discussion on the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Book of Revelation, his exposition makes clear the liturgical fabric that is at the heart of the two books. The patterns of the Church's liturgy are themselves a reflection of the heavenly liturgy and the knowlege of both are requisite to the proper understanding of their message. Economy, typology, and mystagogy are basic to the Church's understanding of the liturgy and through the liturgy the faithful experience the veil between the temporal and eternal opened. Heaven has come to earth.

Hahn closes the book on the nature of the proper understanding of Holy Scripture. Exegesis of the Biblical texts should proceed in a trajectory from the literary sense to the historical truth to the divine meaning which is the goal of Scriptural interpretation among God's people. Such an exegesis does not take place in a vacuum but is to be guided by the Church's tradition which preserves the richness of its thought and, of course, includes the understanding of the faith preserved in the liturgy. It is an understanding woven around the themes of economy, typology, and mystagogy and is etched into the Christian tradition.

Overall, Letter and Spirit is one of the better books on the place of liturgy written for a popular audience in recent memory. Given that much of Hahn's previous popular work has relied on a somewhat folksy approach, this book may give a bit of a jolt to his readers. However, the investment of a little more contemplation of the ideas presented is certainly a worthwhile investment. Those concerned with Hahn's standing as a Catholic apologist need not be put off as his approach as any partisan concerns are put on a short leash. Whether one accepts all of Dr. Hahn's conclusions or not, any Christian with an interest in the historic worshio of the Church will find it an important and challenging read.

Wow! By the grace of God, I was blown away by this book! In these pages, I was given great insight into the profound relationship between Scripture and Liturgy and how we participate in the saving grace of Christ. I am astounded by the fact that the Liturgy makes present "the works brought about by God in the history of salvation." (p. 101 quoting John Paul II) and that I'm able to share in their graces today!

In my opinion, this is the best work by Dr. Scott Hahn so far. It is warmly written coming from his heart as well as his mind. I enjoyed how he interwoven the themes of covenant, tradition, economy of salvation, typology, and mystagogy.

This book helped me to revitalized my knowledge and participation in the sacraments. I am very grateful to God and to Dr. Scott Hahn.

To say that this book is simply a continuation of what Dr. Hahn began in The Lamb's Supper is inaccurate. Yes, he does treat on the book of Revelation in this book, and yes he does deal with the Mass, but this book is a tour de force in its own right. It is perhaps one of his denser and more challenging books; gone are the cutesy "punnish" section headings and it its place is much more scholarly language. This is not to say though that the book is inaccessible, rather it is very rich and nourishing. Dr. Hahn's main focus in this book is to explore the fact that the scriptures are most at home in the heart of the Church; liturgy illustrates scripture and vice versa. Again he makes frequent reference to the Church fathers and prove that rather than being a "Romish" innovation, such an understanding of the relationship between Liturgy and scripture has been with the Church since the beginning.

In this detailed study, Dr. Hahn takes us on a biblical and historical journey to discover the preeminence of liturgy in the Christian's life. The Protestant accusations of vain repitition crumble under the weight of importance scripture provides for liturgy. As with so much, it seems, we have thrown out the baby with the bathwater - becoming so blinded by our doctrinal presuppositions as to miss a key theme in scripture and history. Dr. Hahn has done a great service in regaining our attention. Very well done and very well-reasoned call to the liturgy and sacraments in worship and as part of our daily lives.

This is a very interesting and inspiring book. If you ever wanted to know how the church fathers determined which writings would be included in the approved group we call the New Testament and how our understanding of their meanings developed, this is a good book to read. It is involved enough to be interesting, but not so involved that you need to be an academic to enjoy it.

Maahvelous sparkles with such heart and originality in both text and images that I am breathless. The noise of sameness is silenced in this inspired book by Chambliss and his outside the box interpretation of humanity, adventure, and hope.
LOVED IT!!!!

What a delicious, gorgeous and riotous romp! The physical-book itself is a marvel, and the artwork is stunning. I adore the story of The Princess and her pal Dali. The Italian and French word puns are hilarious. All of it makes for a knockout book debut for Mr. Chambliss! FUNISSIMO indeed! Keep em' coming!!

Scott Chambliss has created a fascinating book! The illustrations are remarkable, the characters very likeable, the message of hope, tolerance and acceptance is thoughtfully , yet gently revealed as the story unfolds. A very special book full of humor, warm feelings and soul. In essence, a wonderfully written and well packaged book!

This book is so fun and so innovative that it's a pleasure to see and own. The artwork clearly shows the creative hand of a Hollywood production designer...and finally a "hero" is not cloaked in darkness, but in all the glamour and exitement of international travel. Just a wonderful book.

This is the best book I've ever written and illustrated!
And it's also the first book I've ever written and illustrated!
So beware!
What may follow may be even better or even worse!
But in any case,
I'm glad you're here!
And YOU'RE MAAHVELOUS!
xoxoxScott

"Been there, done that, and here's the proof". Not merely anecdotal information, this book leaves you wishing that Scott Berkun worked down the hall from you. Straight to the point, he defines what works, what doesn't, and why. He lays out the real world examples that create the framework to support his teaching. For a book on project management, this is an easy read. Better yet, the information is easily applied to your current project.

This gives some great insight, not only on how to do project management well but on how to manage people in general. I wish more of the managers I have worked with over the years had had this available.

If you are not a manager, but work in IT this is still worth your time. It gives a great look into just what project managers are dealing with, and how you can best help them succeed.

The concepts and advice are all things that I would want every team member to know well, with any team I was on. And it is all born out of hard work and excellent experience. This isn't a bunch of purely idealistic advice - it is grounded in reality.

I've read first edition of this book and Scott's other book - Myths of Innovation. Was very happy about both of them.

So when time came to recommend good book for my manager I had no doubt. After that he was screaming everywhere how this book is :)

[...]

In these last days of vacations, I've managed to finish reading this really cool book on project management. Even though I'm not a project manager, this was one of those books I've heard lots of good things about and I can tell you now (after finishing reading it) that I wasn't disappointed with it.

Besides being fun and easy reading, you'll find lots of great tips on this book. For instance, I'll be using some of the ideas presented on the Skills and Management parts on my work from now on. If you ask me, I'd say that the last chapter (Powers and Politics) is more than enough for justifying the book's price!

Overall, I'm giving it 9/10 and I'm putting it on my special reference shelf, where I've already got Peopleware (ok, I've just noticed that I haven't publish a review on this book on my blog. I'll do it on the next days), The mythical man-month, etc. So, if you haven't read this book and you're on the development business, do yourself a favor and pick a copy and then read it from cover to cover! You should to be a better professional after reading it!

Scott does a great job again in the new edition of this book of providing well-organized, practically useful guidance on how to work on and run a project. Even if you're not actually in charge of a project, I'd recommend this as a book to help you understand what should be getting done on it. The three biggest areas he focuses on are how to ensure a project has proper focus and clear priorities, how to run meetings and do feature-level design, and how to handle a project as it moves from start to finish.

The key to proper focus and clear priorities is the tie between the mission, goals, features, and tasks in a project. Scott provides a great framework for tying them together, ensuring they're created, and ensuring the team understands them.

The advice on running meetings and doing feature-level design is the only area that might not work as well for those outside of Microsoft. While I highly identify with it, and think that he's clearly stated the best practices for our environment, your mileage may vary.

Finally, he does a great job of talking about the difference between the start, middle, and end-game. Many people try to use a single process throughout and either overburden the start of the project or allow the end-game to spin wildly out of control. Scott's very clear about how to apply the right level of touch and raise the process bar at safe but necessary increments as a project goes on.

For this new addition, he addressed all of the negatives of the original - honestly, it's so good that if you have the first I recommend buying the second! I particularly enjoy the exercises, especially the reflective ones, as they help to cement all of the lessons I should've learned when I read the first version...

I'm so glad that all these bits about The WNU have been collected in one volume. I first got interested in PJF's concept when I read his Doc Savage bio. I've been lucky enough to track down a mint HC version of it...at a very reasonable price! This book has made me almost miss my Metro stop on more than one occasion. If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, pulp heroes, or just want to read some very creative writing then you must buy this book. I plan on giving a couple as gifts this year.
I am also lucky enough to have been accepted into the Johns Hopkins University's Master of Arts in Writing Program. I showed this book to one of my instructors and he was fascinated by it. I gave him the nutshell explanation of WNU and told him that, after I get my degree, I would like to teach a course or two about it. If you are already an English/Writing teacher, please do the same. Let's srpead the fun around!!!

I have read this book and can only say that the "supposed scholarly articles" contained with are pretentious, and convoluted. The wold-newton writers pay no attention to continuity of previous created characters and canon. The authors tend to stray from a character's source material, established chronologies, and written canon to suit their own maligned purposes and agendas, often rewriting a character's whole history, so that they can delude themselves into the belief that they are true writers and being in some way creative. The articles are extremely distasteful, and in my opinion to distort the original source material does a true disservice to the original author. For a writer to state that they are unable to incorporate their own ideas about a character along with 99.9% of the previously published material reveals a true lack of imagination, creativity and writing skills. I would highly discourage anyone from wasting their time reading or heaven forbid purchasing this book. I checked it out from the library to read and have regretted it ever since.

Having read both this book from cover to cover and the reviews that are posted on this sight, I can only conclude that one of the reviewers has an axe to grind with one or more of the writers responsible. Don't let that sway you; this is an excellent book that, yes, occasionally offers up contradictory information - if you take the time to read the introductory portion CAREFULLY, you will note that not only does Mr. Eckert acknowledge as much, but goes on to state that this is part of the fun in the game these writers are playing. Some people should lighten up and learn how to have fun already!

This is a further exploration of the relationships in Philip Jose Farmer' s Wold Newton Universe, as seen in books like Tarzan Alive, Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life, and the Other Log of Phileas Fogg.

Myths for the Modern Age is worth it for the Captain Nemo is Moriarty piece alone, not to mention the fabulous cover, complete with Modesty Blaise!

Here you have a collection of essays that inter-relate various characters, families and other information, by several different authors, including a compatriot, as well as Eckert himself, not to mention Farmer himself, so you could call this an anthology.
Please be aware that this is not a novel, if that is what you are looking for.

Eckert has a passion for this stuff, yes, you could call it obsessive monomania, but that is what collecting, which is really what this is all about, 'collecting' characters into universes and relationships, and utter, utter, fandom.

He is also a Philip Jose Farmer expert, to boot.

This is just fantastic stuff. Check out his and Farmer's various websites too, they are great. There are also related mailing lists that are worth it, if you are interested to this level.

Something else I have found : if you ask these authors a question, or anything like that, they will answer. They are completely devoted.

Outstanding book, in presentation, content, and participation. I am sure Farmer is quite pleased.

5 out of 5

Philip Jose Farmer had created the Wold Newton Universe. The 'stargate' necessary to access that Universe is the book in question. Read it fast and by the end of it, you would be hooked. Read it slowly, you might feel sleepy. Neverthless, the book is wonderful.

I found "Open My Eyes, Open My Soul" by Yolanda King to be a wonderful collection of essays by people from all walks of life about their own experience with either intolerance or a gift of tolerance and love.
This is a book the world has been needing. I will frequently refer to it in my speaking engagements and will recommend it along with future editions that will be printed. Thank you Yolanda. You are a blessing to this world.
Carrie bluehawk601@yahoo.com

Everyone has a story to share of a defining moment (or many!) when they see past the surface images to the humanity that connects us heart to heart. I think the best "media pairing" of the message would be this book with the movie, "Love Actually". Both clearly and often joyfully illustrate that no matter what your casual or even paranoid observations regarding the world may be, or your current loss of hope or elevated fears for the future, Love IS all around, and it is everywhere, within everyone, ever eager to burst into bloom. I highly recommend this book, a collection of personal "moments of awakening and realization" to anyone who needs an emotional lift and to anyone who loves and wishes to open their hearts even more. Blessings to you both, dear Yolanda King and Elodia Tate!!! Looking forward to more of the same soon!

This book leaves a lasting impression of love and commonality of the human spirit no matter the race, culture, or beliefs. We are one humanity, one world. Every story shows how people touch each other's lives in a positive way. Both celebrities' stories and "other author" stories remind us that we have so much in common.

Marie McBride

If everyone in the world read this book, all fighting would stop because people would see every other human being as a brother or sister--not someone "different" just because of the color of their skin or their religion or particular culture. This book is a wake-up call that spawns peaceful feelings and longings for a harmonious world. This book is for everyone--not just members of minority groups. I happen to be Caucasian, but reading these heartfelt stories makes me want to shake people who hate and remind them of what Dr. Martin Luther King sacrificed his life for.

This book lifts up, acknowledges, rejoices in, and teaches us about our wonderful differences. We learn through this book that we all receive gifts of lessons and experiences handed down through our cultural ties. It shows us how strong, powerful and united we can be. Share this book with loved ones and those who need to hear the message.

Paul Scott's following is small, but Loyal. He is a fantastic writer. The Raj Quartet by far, is my favourite favourite series of books by him because of its complexity and such extraordinary characters. His charactres are so indepth, so well played out that the reader feels that he or she knows them thouroughly. Its a historical epic, very well written, and its absolutely a must read.

About 25 years ago I got a list of the best 100 books of all time, and found "The Raj Quartet" by Paul Scott listed. I started at the beginning with "The Jewel in the Crown" and got bogged down. Coincidentally, PBS started its Masterpiece Theatre version. I watched a few of the episodes (actually all of them, eventually) and got back to reading. What I discovered was the best set of novels I've ever read, and each one an individual "jewel" as well. A pebble thrown, the towers of silence, and many other images stay with me, as well as the memory of Scott's beautiful writing and well-developed, complex characters, and the scope and importance of the story. If there wasn't so much else to read, I'd reread the whole set--sounds like a good retirement project some day.

This book (or series of books) is so sprawling and intricate, like India itself, one might say, that it is impossible to "pin down", as it were, in a review like this. The thing to do, I think, is to cover the most salient aspects of the work separately. Otherwise, one will become lost, as many of the characters herein do. So, salient aspect numbers:

1.) History - This is the novelistic equivalent of Gibbon concerning the British Empire. It might even be called "The Decline and Fall of The British Empire." As a reviewer for the Sunday Times puts it, "A history student years from now should be able to say to his professor, `Yes, but what was it REALLY like in India in the last days of the Raj?' and be told, `Read these four books and you'll not only know, you'll understand...' " The "understand" part is especially significant in that these books will have you totally spellbound by Scott's deft character portrayal and psychological insight. It is no exaggeration to say that one feels one has lived in India from 1939-1947 after having emerged from the nearly two-thousand pages that comprise this work. But the deft character portrayal leads me to a more troublesome, salient point:

2.) Ronald Merrick-A host of characters populate this work, portrayed with deep sympathy herein. And yet, one can't help but feel, upon closing the pages, that the work might also be called, "Ronald Merrick: An in-depth Portrait of a Psychotic in India". It is a tribute to Paul Scott that we do not discover the depths of the....evil (Sorry, I can't think of another word that fully encompasses the character.) of Merrick until the tag end of the work. Yes, Hari Kumar is the other major character who, to a certain extent, offsets Merrick. But he fades into the background after his interrogation by Nigel Rowan with Lady Manners looking on in the second book, The Day of the Scorpion. Merrick, so to speak, stays on until the very bitter end. Not only does he stay on, but he lingers in the mind. What is he? What does he represent? The British Raj itself, as some would have it? Partly, I would say, but there is something about Scott's obsession with this fellow that refuses to be pigeonholed. It's all very eerie. By the end of the book, you won't be able to hear the word "Merrick" without a troubling frisson running through you. - He is not mad like, say, Susan Layton, who rather resembles a character from one of the Bronte novels. - His nature and the nature of his evil are complex. They defy reduction. So, I shan't venture on a futile quest to do so but rather come to salient point:

3.) The brooding fatalism that overhangs everything here. Of course, one knows before one picks the book up that the Brits in India are doomed. But, well, I'll just let Daphne Manners' quote from the first book, The Jewel in the Crown, give the reader notice of the feeling that permeates this work:

"We were sitting on the verandah. Oh, everything was there - the wicker chairs, the table with the tea tray on it, the scent of the flowers, the scent of India, the air of certainty, of perpetuity; but, as well, the odd sense of none of it happening at all because it had begun wrong and continued wrong, and so was already ended, and was wrong even in its ending, because its ending, for me, was unreal and remote, and yet total in its envelopment, as if it had already turned itself into a beginning. Such constant hope we suffer from!"

Salient points covered...except that the reader might do worse than to do as Perron does at the end and look up Philoctetes, not a futile quest by any means.

My yardstick for excellent writing about a foreign culture is probably Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet", which was the basis for the BBC TV series "The Jewel in the Crown". I think these four books are a real tour de force - he writes in several different voices throughout, but remains - I think - completely sensitive to the political and social complexities and subtleties of the situation in India towards the end of the British occupation. Very nuanced, extraordinarily sensitive writing.

It's not just the writing: the stories that unfold in this masterpiece will draw you in, grip you, and break your heart.

It has been too long since I read this book [probably 15 years ago] for me to offer an erudite and detailed analysis. But I do remember vividly that when I read it that the word "masterpiece" came repeatedly to my mind. In a league with Thackeray's "Vanity Fair" and Naipaul's "A House for Mr. Biswas". Find the time to read it; you won't regret it.

I purchased this book for a family member and now they swear by it. It is a good book for everyone to read so that those in the work place can work better together.

This is one of the best business books ever! Five stars is to low for such an outstanding work as 100 ways to motivate others. Steve Chandler and Scott Richardson have a writing style that really hit home for me. Order this book now and your return on investment could be huge. I loved every word. I have already ordered all of Steve Chandler's books as a result of my satisfaction with this effort. . 10 Stars - 2 hour 40 minute very easy read. This book offers steps leaders can take to increase composure and results.

John Halloran
CEO [...]
CEO [...]

Great tips and ideas for motivating others, especially in the business world. Some of them include, "Know Where Motivation Comes From, Teach Self-Discipline, Stop Criticizing Upper Management, Keep Giving Feedback, Get Input from your People, Accelerate Change, Don't Confuse Stressing Out With Caring, Manage Your Own Superiors, and Manage Agreements, Not People." If you want to become a great leader, I highly recommend this book.

I've listened to these CD's more than once while driving. There are lots of great tips - and a couple opened my eyes to some areas where I had been stuck. Not every point was new to me. I have recommended it to others and shared some of the individual points with friends.

Steve Chandler drives home the keys to becoming a great leader in a way that is easy to understand and implement. This should be required reading for anyone in a leadership role. David Otis Author of "Walk Fast, Talk Loud and Smile."