Shepard Books

Spiritual path and makes you want to be wild and free like our ancestors and indigenous brothers and sisters.

Paul Shepard was an extremely brilliant man, most of whose writings focused on how we humans became what we are. I began with Dr. Shepard by reading his book, Coming Home to the Pleistocene.

Coming Home is a truly great book, but now I would recommend The Only World We've Got to anyone reading Shepard for the first time. It's an omnibus of some of Paul's essays and covers many subjects. It's a bit easier to read than Coming Home.

Shepard's books are not overly easy to read. They require concentration and either a massive vocabulary or a handy dictionary. (I've opted for a dictionary.) But the ideas contained in his writings are superbly enlightening.

If you're interested in how the lifestyles of our ancestors over the last several million years made us what we are today, you'll find Shepard's many books fascinating, thought-provoking, informative and enjoyable. I strongly recommend Paul Shepard's writings in general and The Only World We've Got in particular.

Have you ever wondered why we dream of animals or see them in the clouds and stars (e.g., Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, and Bootes)? Have you ever wondered why Paleolithic men decorated their caves with animal art? Have you ever wondered why we share our homes with animals, entertain ourselves at zoos, or why some of us eat meat? Or have you ever wondered why "mass society delivers itself into military hands" (p. 138), or seeks comfort in "massive therapy, escapism, intoxicants, narcotics, fits of destruction and rage, enormous grief, subordinations to hierarchies that exhibit callow ineptitude at every level, and perhaps worst of all, a readiness to strike back at a natural world that we dimly perceive as having failed us" (p. 156)? Ecophilosopher, Paul Shepard addresses all of these questions, and more, in this fascinating Sierra Club Reader. "The generic human in us knows how to dance the animal, knows the strength of clan membership and the profound claims and liberation of daily rites of thanksgiving," Shepard writes in this book's Preface. "Hidden from history, this secret person is undamaged in each of us and may be called forth by the most ordinary acts of life" (p. xx).

A friend recommended this book to me as a good introduction to Paul Shepard's ten other books. In the first Chapter, "The Eye," Shepard studies the human eye and how it differentiates us from species. In Chapter Two, "On Animals Thinking," he argues that the human mind "and its organ, the brain, are in reality that part of us most dependent on the survival of animals," that "living animals are a necessary part of the mental growth of humans" (pp. 22-3). Whereas Darwin "rediscovered" in 1859 that man was an animal, Shepard's book considers what animals tell us most about ourselves (p. 107). "Physiologically," he writes in Chapter Five, "from the neck down, so to speak, [man] is an omnivore whose diet is about three-quarters plant products, like a bear or boar. By looking only at his gut one might predict that he is a kind of oversized raccoon. Yet the patterns of life set by hunting-gathering peoples are centered on the spiritual and ceremonial eating of large mammals. Behavior and culture are more wolflike than bearlike" (p. 113). Men "wolf" their food, as they say. "Man is a fat-making, fair-weather carnivore who can eat more than three pounds of meat at a sitting. He is also a primate snacker, a connoisseur of ripe and unripe berries, of frogs, crabs, and insects" (p. 131). Like animals, "men need, in their nonhuman environment, open country with occasional cover, labyrinthe play areas, a rich variety of plants, animals, rocks, stars; structures and forms numbering into the thousands, initiation solitude, transitional and holy places, a wide variety of food organisms and diversity of stone and wood, nearby fresh water, large mammalian herds, cave and other habitation sites, and so on" (p. 135).

In Chapter Six, Shepard examines how we have "broke bonds with the earth, soil and nature," and how the human spirit has become dissociated "from seasons and celestial rounds" (p. 149). As a result, civilized culture has become stuck in immaturity; "to remain a child," Shepard observes, "is not an appropriate individual destiny, nor is it a norm for our species" (p. 160). He encourages us to free ourselves from our cultural immaturity.

Nature writer, Barry Lopez calls Shepard's writing "endlessly stimulating." Paul Shepard was an original thinker, and this brilliant book offers an eye-opening and imaginative look at ourselves, and "the only world we've got."

G. Merritt

I used Shepard's works a few years ago among supplemental books for a course I taught theological students regarding their awareness of science and nature. People may recognize me today as the co-author of the recent "Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius" (1999)(which I must mention to make my major point about Shepard and his books). My point concerns the world's own "right of passage" regarding urgent dictums akin to "its the only world we've got". What we see in Paul Shepard and his work reflects a level of awareness typifying the keenest of polymathic minds from, say, the 1970-1990's. However, many people do not realize that before that (before the major books of environmental awareness were well-known to the public [Carson, Ehrlich, Meadows et al., etc.] and thus germinal in most minds) writings about nature by even celebrated literary writers, like Vladimir Nabokov [as in The Gift], or great "nature writers", like Edwin Way Teale, peculiarly LACK a sense of this urgency. Recent writings on these latter authors (who shared 1999 as their centenary year) brought this question to the fore when comparing them to the "levels" of modern eco-awarenss in men like Shepard. Observers were stunned-- how could men like Nabokov and Teale who wrote so genuinely, and with wondrous detail, concerning nature, "miss the point" [i.e. no "urgency"] regarding what we see as the environmental crisis today. A fine reading of Shepard's works (this "Reader" among them), provides the answer. If ones reads far enough back in Shepard's writings-- and then follows the development of his major theses enculcating URGENCY in eco-awarenss-- one realizes that what one is seeing IS precisely the germinal stage of that sense worldwide. Before that, for writers even as sensitive to nature as Nabokov or Teale, its seemed that no matter how assaulted nature was around them, and in their writings, "it still had someplace else to go". Somehow, great writers of nature of that earlier era never had that "personal epiphany" when a "line in the sand" was drawn for them. It seems so odd to scientists today (especially those working overseas) who experience that epiphany very day. With this in mind, Shepard's works are perhaps one of the best examples of that awakening and seeing them in that historical perspective gives them even more life.

Paul Shepard (who also wrote The Tender Carnivore, which is also highly recommended)was one of the most insightful and brilliant thinkers of our century. This book has the power and impact of Thom Hartmann's "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" and the insights of Michael Tobias's "World War III." Highly recommended.

I love this book so much! I wish they would reprint it I would buy a copy for every baby shower I went to. Precious book!

A wonderful, seasonable drama that involves all the colorful activities that small children are fascinated by, i.e. dogs, wind and leaves, outdoor messes, etc...

Shirley Hughes wrote this with a musical ear for language. It is presently my hands-down favorite for reading to my two-year old. It is writing that adults can appreciate for almost haiku-like grace, and that appreciation can be passed on to the youngest readers. The illustrations match the poems superbly, and there are four mural-like double-page spreads, one for each season, that are each pictures the child can wander about visually, and I have had long talks with my son about what he sees in these pictures. An almost ideal children's book in my opinion.

This book makes a fabulous addition to any children's library ages 3-8. My daugthers, 4 and 7, love the detailed beautiful illustations and the poems that walk through the seasons. A great combination of 'picture book' for the youngest and a great first reader for the older set.

In total agreement with other readers, I admire this book very much. I wanted recently to buy two copies, one for each granddaughter and lo, it is out of print. Furthermore, I have listed it in the books for children section of the yet-to-be published 7th edition of -Science Experiences for the Early Childhood Year. And I read it to my classes. I hope it comes out in paperback!

The pictures are elegant even if the subject isn't. Very beautiful book. Know that the book is not intended to show you all aspects of life in Soviet Russia. It focuses more on the downside of life.

Having traveled in Russia during the Soviet era, I believe that Sherbell, in words and images, has captured the essence of the latter stages of the Empire. The picures and text show a deep understanding and appreciation of the problems of the Soviet system. More importantly, the beauty, humanity and resiience of the Russian people come shining through. It is a terrific photo book.

One can always tell looking at a book if the photographer was just a "tourist" in the area, on a brief assignment from a magazine, or if he really "lived" in the story and made it part of his life. There have been numerous failed attempts by western photographers to capture this period of history. Shepard Sherbell's book is different. He obviously not only put his heart into every image, he made this work a part of his life, spending several years in Moscow and in different Soviet republics before, during and after the USSR fell apart. His photographs speak about the human spirit, the dignity of the people, their feelings and day to day worries. It is well balanced.
But for someone unfamiliar with the subject the advise is - don't try to "consume" all the images at once. The material is too rich. One has to sink into the book little by little, explore it and revisit it again and again.

Sherbell is a master of his craft. He takes the reader on a virtual tour of the former Soviet Union. This talented photographer manages to convey the personality and texture of a complex country and period of history with sensitivity and wit.

"Soviets" is a book that is best savoured one page at a time. The photographs are matched only by the text which, unlike many photography books, adds another level to the work. This is a book that could be placed in the history section of any library as easily as photography.

Whether or not you ever visited the Soviet Union in its dying days, Shepard Sherbell's photographs will grab you. His images of that moribund nation reveal the darkest secrets of the U.S.S.R. Those of us who lived through those final moments will recognize the chilling faces of a great power in demise. The crumbling buildings, cracking monuments and crushed spirits of a once-mighty state are beautifully portrayed in this book. It's an eyewitness to a land of infinite impossibilities.

Make no mistake: THE SOVIETS is not another collection of snapshots from Red Square and the Bolshoi Theater. Instead, its pages are populated with glimpses into the real life of that now-extinct country. Unless you'd lived there, this is a side of the Soviet Union you probably never saw.

Brace yourself.

This book delights my daughter over and over again! And I don't dread reading it over and over again! I like it because it subtly reminds us that the best antidote to our deepest fear is courage to face it. Once Frances finds the courage to confront the witch and venture into the basement alone, she sees that the witch is gone. It's is a very empowering message embedded in a fantastic kid's story. The illustrations are also very interesting to my daughter. She especially likes the one with the cross-section of the house. Frances imagines that the witch has captured her and everyone in Frances's family is looking for her all over the house. But she is tied up in the basement. My daughter likes to "instruct" the searching family, "Hey, look in the basement!!" And her eyes always get big when she sees the witch's hands coming out from the stairs to grab Frances. (This sounds a bit scary as I am writing it, but it's not at all. All this is handled with comic relief). A great story. It would make a great Halloween gift!

When my now 14 year old son was a toddler this was his favorite book. We read this book literally dozens of times. Those were some of our best moments.

I read this book to the younger classes that I substitute for. Their eyes are wide open and they sit very still; quietly listening to every words. Whenever we need a quiet time I get out this book.

This book has gotten wonderful reviews from educators and kids alike. My preschool twins love it and request it from their teachers regularly. I'd like to get it from our local library but it's out of print. Why don't the publishers note the requests and make paperback copies?

This book is to date the most favorite book for all my children!

well written story, cool new world. the characters feel real, easy to relate to. Megan, in particular, is not just a submissive woman; she's smart, fierce, emotional. her trials and errors are believable. many times i thought "i would have reacted like her." a thorougly enjoyable reading experience.

Two Moons is a page turner! The characters are believable and endearing, the plot is fun and intriguing, and the sex scenes range from emotional to extremely hot. Planet Khyra has become my new dream destination! And the Khyrians are sooo sexy.

I grabbed this book on a recent smutty fiction shopping spree. This was the best of the books I ordered.

The basic plot is that Megan lives a humdrum life until kinky aliens (Khyrians) kidnap her and whisk her away to a planet where everyone is sexually liberated and BDSM is considered not just normal, but honorable. "Two Moons" isn't a bunch of sex scenes strung together, but instead deals with Megan's attraction to the Khyrians along with her fear and confusion. Additionally, we find out about Khyrian society without the author giving us a 2 page info-dump. I really enjoyed the characters and plot, as well as the erotic scenes. I plan to purchase more of her books.

Mmmmm, if her short stories are the knife, this is the cake we've been waiting for Chelsea Shepard to bake. Of course, being Adrian Hunter's partner in crime and especially punishment might be time-consuming. Encore!!!

Finally! What an awesome 4-star read. Ms. Shephard has a unique ability for true character development along with inventive scenes. I was immediately pulled into the richly developed story line and could hardly put this one down! I truly hope this author is sequestered as we speak, writing MORE!!! I am anxiously looking forward to the sequel which this book definitely deserves and hope she will be able to maintain the high standard she has set for herself with Worthy of a Master. Kudos to Chelsea Shephard and "look out" to Adrian Hunter!

My 16-month-old loves this book--and we do, too! The author's illustrations are very simple/uncluttered so that we can point out everyday objects in the pictures very easily--high chair, duck, ball, etc. It's a very clever book and the repetitive text is great for babies and young toddlers. We will definitely be on a hunt for other "Nicky" titles! This is one book that I don't mind reading again and again.

Although the pictures are not my favorite (I find they are rather ugly), it is a book I am so happy to have. My son loves it and is so exicted to "read" it himself, laughing as I say the phrases and he finds a page to match. As early as 10/11 months he is really engaged by this peek-a-boo book. Board Book material is rather easily chewed though.

This book is my two year old daughter's absolute favorite. She is charmed by the engaging red-haired toddler and loves to discover his peek-a-boo "hiding" places. This book is really perfect for young children. My five year old loves to read the repetitive text to his sister, while remembering how much he loved this book,too.
There are several "Nicky" books around by this author--some easier to find than others---but our library has all of them. They are truly wonderful.

"Where's Nicky?" Just ask our 1 year old daughter, who will run and pull this delightfully entertaining book from her book basket and utter the words "Shhhhhh. There's Nicky?". A story everyone can enjoy, regardless of age. Superbly illustrated and easily read by all of our children, this book is a must read for any family!

Our whole family loves this book! My 1 year old son always picks it up and points to where Nicky is. My 6 year old daughter reads it to him every night before bedtime. The illustrations are great as well. I highly recommend this book for the babies in your life!

BRAVO! Rush out and buy all Mr. Dennis' recordings

Mr. Dennis has a exemplary way of charming young and old alike with his renderings of the works of A.A. Milne. No wonder the U.S. Government considers him a national treasure. Anyone will treasure owning his entire collection.

Peter Dennis is extraordinary as the interpreter of these classics. I've seen him perform as well as listen to all of his tapes and I am charmed more each time! He is warm, subtle, whimsical, graceful, and funny all at the same time. 5 stars!

Perhaps, at one time or another, each of us has read Winnie the Pooh aloud. We may even believe we did it rather well, but the experience you will have with Peter Dennis reading Winnie the Pooh is simply stunning; quite more than you expect.

The CDs [there are two sets of two] are accompanied by booklets which introduce you to all the major characters who had a part in the creation of these classics--A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin Milne, E.H. Shepard [the illustrator], Peter Dennis [the actor] and the inimitable Pooh.

But of course it is the stories of Pooh and his friends, and the poems of A.A. Milne, which are the substance being reviewed, and the voice and magical depth which Peter Dennis gives to each of the characters which I commend. I cannot imagine any two qualities meeting more harmoniously--Pooh's words and Dennis' voice--nor with greater power to sweep you off to the 100 AKER WOOD and to the world of Pooh.

For each character Dennis has devised a "voice" and other sound characteristics which identify the players and help to move the stories/poems along. These are certainly the essence of the magic; you cannot hear these sounds and words and be the same.

Winnie the Pooh has been around since the Christmas season of 1925. Some years ago Disney acquired the rights to all the film and television presentations of Pooh, so the compact disc is our only access to what is surely the most splendid merger of word and voice in all these many years. It is not only that the words are those of A.A. Milne and are the Finest of all Words, nor that the voice is a British voice, which is much the Best Way of sounding, but that the combination is like a kind of enchanted music, which Accounts for a Good Deal. Indeed, It Explains Everything!

Initially we purchased the"Winnie-The-Pooh and When we were very Young " cassettes for the children to listen to on long car journeys; I vaguely remembered the stories from my own childhood in England and it was a delight to find that the extremely talented Peter Dennis has a wonderful English voice (call me biased but Winnie-The-Pooh is a very British bear!). Peter Dennis totally captures the characters and nuances of A.A. Milne's delightful creatures; we may have bought the tapes for the children but the adults share equal pleasure when listening to them. To anyone who wants to journey back to a time of simple pleasures and pure enchantment I thoroughly recommend "Winnie-The-Pooh and When We Were Very Young" performed by Peter Dennis.

This book is rigorously researched and very readable. It is a fantastic reference book for anyone teaching Bible or writing homilies or sermons. It is on my shelf for ready reference, and it can be bought new for as little as $21. I know of no other compendium that covers the content of this book as deeply. I only wish there were an equivalent volume by these authors on the men in the Bible. As stated by other reviewers, the articles at the beginning of the book are excellent.

Leading Biblical scholars provide the best, latest scholarship on biblical women and provides an important volume bringing together the works of over seventy scholars who provide entries on over two hundred named and six hundred unnamed women. All the women of the Bible, from deities to personifications of symbols, are represented in a fine dictionary reference.

Women in Scripture is just the resource I have been waiting for; in one volume I can find brief, but thorough, well written articles on all the women of the Bible, which incorporate the insights of the best of contemporary critical biblical scholarship. And don't miss the introductory articles. They are worth the price of this book by themselves. This book is a must for all pastors, serious Bible students, and all laypersons interested in learning about the women of the Bible as they are presented in the Bible, not as they have been culturally presented. I highly recommend it!

This is not as specialized a reference work as you would suspect from the title. The six introductory articles are among the best I have read on the development of the canon, hermeneutics, and the status of biblical scholarship. These run a mere ten or sixteen columns each, yet feel comprehensive. They reveal the editors' infatutuation with statistical information (numbers of male named in the Bible vs. the number of females; the number of named women vs. the number of unnamed women; names that recur most frequently, etc.), and their interest in exploring what these statistics hint at. Clearly the editors and authors enjoyed creating this landmark publication. While the authors are not timid scholars, they seem to know when they have reached a dead end or hit an informational barrier. When the Bible is silent on an issue, they are comfortable acknowledging it.

Also worth praising is the organization of the book. Part I consists of all the women named in the Bible (including the Deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books) in alphabetical order; Part II lists all the unnamed women (or groups of women, such as, "Daughters of Lot" and "Women at Vashti's Banquet") in Bible book order (following the NRSV sequencing) by their earliest significant Scripture reference; Part III, perhaps the most fascinating section, is a compilation of female deities and personifications (such as, "Asherah/Asherim," "Female Images of God in the Hebrew Bible," "Woman Wisdom," and "No 'Male and Female' in Christ Jesus"). While great care has been made in providing cross-referencing, there is no general index to the volume. Readers will need to be very intuitive (and perhaps keep a concordance handy) if they want to find entries in Part II (the largest section of the book) by any method other than Bible book order. The volume is completed by an annotated listing of "Additional Ancient Sources," which directs the reader to some important texts that never made it successfully through the maze known as canonization, but which are sure to provide some interesting information on the status and role of women at different points in the ancient world.

I regularly conduct Bible workshops on the topic of Women Prophets and frequently recommend this dictionary to my audiences. This book is easy to use and is an update of the classic by Edith Deen.

It may sound weird to compare a book about a Jewish playwright's memoir about his career and working with famous director Joe Chaikin to Erica Jong - however, that's what came to mind. I remember when I first read "Fear of Flying" I was so taken with the character, so intrigued by her life and her adventures, that I took the book everywhere with me. This book has Chinese food all over it because I would cross the street from my home to the local Chinese restaurant, sit at the table each night, and spill food on it while enjoying every single word. It is hysterical, very moving and gives one a great deal of insight into the world of a neurotic playwright who is struggling with personal demons - and having the ride of his life. I'm glad the author took us with him.

This is a terrific book. It's a great read, a marvelous look at the struggles of an artist trying to make a living in the theater, and a must buy for anyone who plans to make the theater his or her life.

This book may seem at first glance like something for a "niche" market -- people in the theater or the like -- but it's actually so entertaining, funny, skillfully written, moving and wonderfully offbeat that it speaks to any reader no matter what their interests. Fife has found a way to resonate with the universal experience of success/failure that we all share while still remaining excrutiatingly personal, honest and true to his own real story - and that's what memoir should do! All students of the theater should read this, but so should all students of life. And if you do, I guarentee it won't feel like "studying"...enjoy!

I know that a book is good when I have to put everything else on hold until I finish it. This one grabbed me right from the beginning. On the very first page I felt as though I was the playwright, experiencing the highs and lows of being accepted, rejected and accepted again as an artist. This book was a lot of fun, full of dry wit and good humor. I especially enjoyed getting the inside track into the world of Broadway and film and finding out from a first-hand source what some of those Oscar-winning superstar actors are REALLY like.

superb program. good general information. program focuses on overall athleticism/power, including reasonable agility, stretching and plyometric regimens (which is rarely seen but a necessary part of a premiere program). program is applicable to nearly all athletes (perhaps not ideal for a pro/college athletes, solely because they would have programs designed to peak at the season of their sport).

I am a Division one track and field athlete. I have been looking for an out of season lifting program that will help make me stronger and faster. I was never a fan of these core lifts until I bought this book. The variation that is available really caught my attention. For example, the power clean has been an exercise that I refuse to do and this book offers many other options. Instead I perform a hang clean. So far, I think that this program will do nothing but improve my athletic ability.

This is a great book for any athlete out there high school or college, it teaches great techniques for lifting and also gives great variations on the already well known core lifts. This book is not for the weak or undisciplined it should only be used by people that are willing to work hard and give everything you got to be the best.

My degree is in physical education and I have been teaching for 11 years. Shepard's Bigger Faster Stronger program is among the best I have found. The biggest benefits of this program are in sports requiring explosive strenth such as judo, wrestling, boxing, field events, and sprints.