Stevens Books

Steve's talent and passion for child psychology is evident throughout the text. His mastery of Winnicott is unparalleled, as his is ability to carefully disect convoluted concepts in an easily discernable fashion. On a personal level, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who knows more about child psychology than Dr. Tuber. Having met Steve on several occassions now, I feel confident in recommending this masterpiece of his to both anyone in the psychological community, as well as anyone in the English-speaking world.

Steve Tuber's "Attachment, Play, and Authenticity" is brilliantly written, a true pleasure to read in its clarity, originality, and playful approach. Tuber's book is an especially welcome addition as a primer that makes Winnicott's complex and often-paradoxical ideas accessible to a wide range of readers. Tuber unpacks and explicates Winnicott's theories--including "good-enough" mothering, the child's capacity to play, and the "False Self"--through the use of examples from his own experiences as a clinician and as a parent. Tuber also draws on works of popular culture (J.K. Rowling and Bruce Springsteen, among others!) to illustrate the universality of Winnicott's ideas. I highly recommend this book to clinicians, parents, and anyone curious about the inner life of children.

"Attachment, Play, and Authenticity," is a beautifully written primer by Steve Tuber on the work of Donald Winnicott, detailing the richness and clarity of his writing and ideas. Tuber starts each chapter by grappling with a paradox inherent in an aspect of Winnicott's work, and then wrestles with each paradox by delving deeply into a paper or two by Winnicott that is particularly illustrative of that idea. The chapters focus on key aspects of the text, and each passage beautifully illustrates Winnicott's evocative language and depth of thought. Tuber elegantly unpacks the density of Winnicott's ideas while constructing a narrative for the reader, with each theory building on the last, leading the reader to an integrated understanding of the developing internal world of the child. Tuber uses examples from his own work as a therapist, his experiences as a parent, as well as illustrations from classic children's stories that have become classics precisely because, as Tuber shows, they so perfectly capture the emotional dilemmas of childhood. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to delve into Winnicott's work; this book is a must-read for therapists working with clients of all ages, as well as anyone who wants to better understand the emotional lives of children.

Steve Tuber's book, "Attachment, Play, and Authenticity," is an incredible resource not only for students of psychology, but for any mother or mother-to-be. Tuber transforms Winnicott's theories into accessible, everyday language and invokes familiar songs, lyrics, children's books, and other bits of popular media to highlight the manifold meanings behind every moment of mother-baby interactions. As recent mothers ourselves, we found Tuber's ability to capture and make come alive the subtleties of mother-infant interactions remarkable. He describes the importance of the mother's ability to mirror her baby's experience through her facial expressions, the particular ways in which the fluctuations of her mood contribute over time to her baby's development, and the importance of the mother's participation in baby's play--all of which are vital parts of the new mother's everyday experience. Furthermore, this book "gives voice" to the infant, providing mothers with new ways of understanding the inner life of her baby and highlighting just how very psychologically alive their babies are. Winnicott is known for the idea of "good-enough mother," and Tuber's repeated invocation of not only the inevitably but the importance of a mother's imperfect attunement to her baby is likely to resonate with and inspire confidence in mothers. So many new mothers feel overwhelmed with the "rules and regulations" of new mothering provided by the myriad books and internet sites with "to-do" and "not-to-do" lists. It's incredibly reassuring to think that we need only be good enough, not perfect, and that the mother's effort to repair a "failure" is just as--if not more--vital for the infant's emotional development than attempting to provide a perfect attunement at all times.

Attachment, Play, and Authenticity: A Winnicott Primer
Steven Tuber is Professor of Psychology and Past Director, Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology of the City University of New York at City College. His new book on Winnicott's work will be of great interest to play therapists. Of particular interest to play therapists is his Chapter 8, "The Meaning and Power of Play." Tuber states on page 119, that Winnicott "believes that the ability to play is the benchmark for the entrance into a life of health and vitality." Tuber explains Winnicott's notion of the duality of play, "It is the milieu in which the baby discovers her True and hence utterly private self and yet the means by which she engages others and develops support" (p.122). Another important Winnicott concept of play is "Playing thereby allows the child to consistently work on the boundary between illusory omnipotence and helplessness and thus has at its essence the quest for mastery over the inner and outer chaotic (that is, not yet understood) aspects of its experience" (p. 123). Tuber cites an essential characteristic of play in general emphasized by Winnicott, but in play therapy this quest for mastery over the inner and outer worlds, creating cohesive play and later verbal narratives out of the bewildering experiences of a young child is a quintessential task. Tuber also explains that play is about repetition; play themes are endlessly repeated. This redundancy is most valuable to the play therapist because if we miss something the first or second time around, chances are it will come around again. This, however, poses a challenge to the parent, especially the mother who is typically the primary caretaker because she must attempt to maintain a "good enough" connection with the child in the face of boring, repetitions of play themes that may after a point become mind-numbing boring. Ending these play sequences often as a result of necessity involves as Tuber explains the "good-enough" mother learning to help the child make a difficult transition. Among many clinically astute and remarkable insights expressed by Tuber in this outstanding book is his comparison to the role of a child therapist in ending a play session. He states, "It makes me think immediately of what it is like to be a child therapist when the patient doesn't want to leave at the end of the session. These moments speak to how difficult it is to end the magic of play, to end the magic of relating, and for children who have had parents who have been experienced as unreliable, how frightening and/or depriving it is to end the therapy session. These children expect that the ending of the session will also not be reliably done, such that they won't get back to the pleasure of playing and the pleasure of relating" (p.124). Tuber goes on to explain that not wanting to end the session is a sign of hope in child therapy because it represents a wish in Winnicott's term of continuing the "good object" and a fear that the "good object" will not come back. Although the "good object" is viewed as unreliable there nevertheless is implied both the wish and capacity for relatedness.
Tuber beautifully expands on Winnicott's concept of a holding environment and its crucial importance in the creation of the True self. But the very process of creating a true and separate self presents the young human with the ever present prospect of aloneness. Tuber eloquently elaborates on this point, "The capacity to be alone thus implies the need for relatedness. To the extent that the baby can evoke treasured people in its play, and use the play to engage imaginatively with these people in interactions that explore every type of affect the baby knows, then the baby can tolerate the aloneness and indeed come to thrive despite--actually because of--its awareness. We can also say that the capacity to create symbols allows the child to cognitively "hold" her parent more easily, creating a salve to combat aloneness" (p.127). The above examples are samples of the richness of insight and creative clinical process that this beautifully written book offers to my colleagues in play therapy. The other 12 chapters in this book expand on Winnicott's key conceptual contributions and his approach to therapy. This book will be invaluable to mental health professionals unfamiliar with Winnicott's work or those of us who need a refresher. It is a comprehensive, wise, and unusually readable summary of Winnicott's important contributions to child and play therapy. Steve Tuber is a first rate clinician and scholar. On a personal note I met Dr. Tuber more than 30 years ago when he did a Post-Doctoral Internship at the Astor Home for Children. Even in the early days of his career, he impressed me both by his scholarship and research interests and his ability to connect with even the most unintegrated children. I regard him as well as his book as a true gift to the field of child therapy.

My 10 year old son who doesn't like to read loved this history based mystery. It was great to see him reading without me asking him to read. I read the book as well Dan Gutman did a great job of mixing an interesting story with history.

Qwerty Stevens Back In Time is a wonderful book. Dan Gutman took his time on this story and made a detailed and fun chapter book. This book teaches you important lessons such as reminding you that you should never go somewhere with out telling your parents because they will get worried! I especially liked how Dan Gutman told some fun facts about Thomas A. Edison through this enchanting story.
In the beginning of this story, Qwerty Stevens, a thirteen-year-old boy, has a tough life. When Qwerty was in his young years his father died, which made his family very unhappy. To deal with his sadness and anger, Qwerty digs in his backyard. One day he was digging in his backyard and found a box. Qwerty ran into his room and burst the box open on his bed. Qwerty's mouth dropped open and his eyes widened larger than a quarter. Qwerty couldn't believe his eyes. Qwerty Stevens had found a time machine made by Thomas A. Edison.

If you are looking for a great book read Qwerty Stvens back in time Edison mystery.It's about this boy named Qwerty that was digging in his back yard and found Edisons back in time machine. So he hooks it up to his computer and goes back in time and gets stuck.If you want to know if he comes back read this book.My favorite part is when he finds the time machine.I would recommend this book to any one who loves history because it shows pictures of Edisons labratory.

The book Qwerty Stevens-Back In Time By,Dan Gutmanis an awesome book,if you like mystery and suspense.It's about this boy who finds a wooden box with a machine inside of it while digging in his backyard.Qwerty recinizes that the box says Thomas A. Edison. Qwerty soon finds out that the machine can take you anywhere you want. After awile he finds out that Thomas never patented it. He is soon to discover that that it can take you back in time also. After a man shows up(Ashley Quadrel) thinking that Thomas made an inventioncalled the "anywhere, anytime machine". He also thinks that Thomas burried it in his backyard. So Qwerty goes back in time to ask Thomas why he burried it, But Thomas says he didn't burry it.

I like it when Qwerty hears beaping from the machine, thats when Thomas was trying to talk to qwerty on the computer. This bok is full of suspense. The main character is Qwerty. He is tall, has brown hair and brown eyes. When he is mad or frustrated he digs in the backyard(thats how he found the box with the machine inside of it).He's also a pack rat. The ending of the book is the best!

Thirteen-year-old Robert Stevens, known as Qwerty for the mistake he made in his third grade keyboarding class, unearths in his backyard a large mysterious wooden box that has the name Thomas Edison inscribed with gold lettering.

Qwerty and his best friend Joey who lives in West Orange, New Jersey in a community called Llewellyn Park bordering the mansion that Edison once lived in,locked themselves in his room to discover what was in the aged box. To their surprise, it was Thomas Edison's time Machine.

Unsure whether to give the machine to the authorities, sell it for millions, or take it to school to show off to their friends, the boys decided to find out how the time machine works before bringing it out of obscurity.

Qwerty hooked up the wires from the machine to his computer and with a touch of a button he was transported into Thomas Edison's workshop where he helped him develop the electric light bulb. Qwerty Stevens had no problem getting there. However, he needs his older sister, whom he hardly says more than one word to, to help him return home safely.

The author cleverly depicts Edison's story while adding circumstances that bring his character into the 21st century. In addition to the text, Gutman includes a "Truth and Lies" section in the back of the book with one recommendation "Read the story first!" Also included are black and white photographs of Edison's mansion and laboratory. In the far back of the book is the chronology of Thomas Edison. Younger children will also enjoy this book as a great read aloud. Living in the next town over from West Orange, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because the author captured the authenticity of the town. Children everywhere will enjoy this book but I know it will be a big hit in New Jersey.

This book is jammed pack full of SAGA info on critters of Krynn. I have gotten a lot of useful information from it. I wish they had more than just the two books on Krynn.

This is such a good role-playing aid. it is well-written, & visually superb. it is THE BEST MONSTER MANUAL that TSR has put out. The Bomb!

This book is well-written, lots of fun to read, and the illustrations are fantastic.

Fans of the novels will enjoy this as much as game players.

If you plan to play SAGA or you just red the novels, this book is for you. It is a narrative book by Caramon Majere. He shows us all the feinds and freinds in DL. The Illustrations are great and the set up is much nicer than TSR's past Monstrous Manuals and Compendiums. The reason I gave this only 4 stars is that the book didnt include mosses and fungi, and some plants that can play a major role in a SAGA campaign.

If you play the Dragonlance adventure game with SAGA, this book will tell you all you need to know to have any creature in your game! And even if you don't, it provides excellent background knowledge and stories about the creatures. It is great!!!

What a fascinating read this is. You realize that so many products (kitty litter, liquid paper, trivial pursuit etc.) were invented by very ordinary people living ordinary mundane lives and whose lives were transformed by a great idea. Truly inspirational.

The Big Idea is a great view into the world of great business innovation. The Big Idea looks in detail at some of the great innovative products of our time such as: the remote control, Teflon, liquid paper, Velcro, Microwave oven, USA today, Silly Putty, post-it notes and many other innovative products.

The Big Idea is good at is getting to the story behind the story. I was amazed that many of these innovations where thought of in a flash of inspiration, but took many, many years to be realized as products (Xerox, Polaroid and Barbie). I was also reminded of the personal and financial hardship that many of the entrepreneurial innovators faced. Many innovators had several (many) failures among the way to reaching their success.

The Big Idea also impresses the need to copyright, patent and trademark your creation so that you can reap the rewards from the creation. There are also a couple of interesting examples of innovation within a corporate setting.

If you want to innovate you need the commitment and persistence to stay with it for the long term. The Big Idea closes with the following lessons from innovators The Big Idea covers.

1. Think of things that never were and ask, "why Not" - innovations is doing what others don't see
2. The Power of One - Behind every great innovation there is typically a single individual driving it forward
3. Keep It Simple, Stupid - complexity kills innovations
4. First is best - own the consumers mind by being first
5. Try, try again - when you fail... try again
6. Risk Business - to hit homeruns you have to swing for the fence
7. Synergy is necessary - know you strengths and weaknesses and let other's strengths offset your weaknesses

The Big Idea builds these lessons out with a good level of detail and it worth the purchase price.

This book is perfect for any entrepreneur who would like a dose of inspiration and a quick read. Strauss describes the design process and marketing of many of our favorite products (Palm Pilots, Barbie dolls, Tupperware, cell phones) along with the difficulties these entrepreneurs encountered. Although the word "visionary" is overused in today's business world, these men and women were truly visionaries who marched to the beat of a different drummer. Strauss focuses on different rules of innovation in each chapter, and the book becomes a cohesive (although certainly not exhaustive) lesson on building a business.

This is a different sort of business book. Most are boring or self-important. This book was neither. Rather, it was a very enjoyable read while still being very useful. The stories were informative and entertaining, and, I thought, drove home the salient points. As an entrepreneur, it was helpful to see how others created great companies.

I heard about this book on the radio and picked it up. It was easy to read, entertaining, and very informative. The stories were great too - how people invented and marketed things like Post Its, the computer mouse, Trivial Pursuit, Kitty Litter ... It would be good for anyone who is an inventor, entrepreneur, or simply likes pop culture. It's like those Paul Harvey "Rest of the Story" stories.

If you have prominant Pluto placements, aspects or strong Scorpio in your chart, this book is a must have. I have studied astrology for thirty years and the things I found in this book amazed me. I don't think I ever realized what magnitude Pluto held until I read this book.
If you are an astrologer, you need to have this book as a reference. Kudos to Steven Forrest.

"Let's go get stoned...or drunk. Or watch television until we're bleary eyed blobs of protoplasm. Or eat, or work, or exercise until no human feelings are left. Or, if our denial mechanisms require the apperance of nobility, fast or meditate or maintain a yogic posture until we achieve the same state. Or read self-help books until we have reduced ourselves to a flurry of concepts and insights dancing around the top three inches of our skulls...

Extinguishing consciousness is easy; generating it is difficult..."

"Pure religion and pure psychology both fail miserably at such junctures. We need something that embraces both. In practice, except among 'fundamentalists' of either category, ministers and psychotherapists often play roles that blur into one another. The same can be said, in my opinion, for any counseling astrologer who's worth a nickel."

"...what do we mean by the word feminine? Easy, just ask Betty Crocker: "'Feminine' means emotional, nurturing, non-linear, creative...the same old traditional stereotyping that truly modern women (and men!) have been battling since long before Beatles roamed the earth...Sometimes, especially among Jungian thinkers, this old notion is dressed up in more sophisticated garb...

"There is in the human psyche a very real syndrome of interrelated, "transrational" qualities. That is a psychological fact. But in my opinion it is past time we stopped poisoning and confusing ourselves by calling them "feminine" and began calling them by their name: LUNAR traits... To be human is to access both the solar and the lunar aspects of our common humanity, and to experience their eternal cross-pollination."

"Where PLUTO lies in the birth chart, we are particularly vulnerable to distortions and navigational errors based on un- processed wounding [life] experiences...if you are pretending to be happy in your job, your friendships, relationships, religion, whatever, a Pluto...event will try to reveal that to you...what if a ...person makes a less than optimal response? The basic Plutonian contract is simple to say: you go to the dark or the dark comes to you..."

"No one has ever been, or can ever expect to be, nurtured perfectly. Parents are only human. Communities are flawed. The Shadow makes itself felt sooner or later in every life...on one hand, there is a temptation to say, "So quit your whining!" But so easily that can generate into denial and avoidance... On the other hand, there is the toxic-psychologist's exhortation that we reduce our lives to a resentful meditation upon our wounds. And given life's richness and brevity, isn't that a foolish waste?"

from Steven Forrest, THE BOOK OF PLUTO

For anyone intuitively saddened and subsequently turned off by the perceived stereotypes and actual limitations of both the disciplines of psychology and astrology, this alchemical book, combining the profound and cleansing essences of both in simple terms, will steer you down a very interesting and enlightening path. We "know" that astrology is much more than the sun signs you read in the newspaper or magazines. We "know", ironically enough, that many of the secular patron saints of many a religious conservative have been well known to use and follow the advice of professional astrologers (Ronald and Nancy Reagan immediately come to mind). But do you really believe that there is something you can be truly taught by this discipline, beyond how popular it can make you among progressive or artistic friends when you bring it up?

If you already do, you will get even more out of this book than you currently would think. Steven Forrest's approach is one that combines some of the essential ideas of modern psychology--Jungian and Freudian--with the metaphysical wisdom of the ancient and modern astrologer (and some of his own silly sense of humor) into a book that teaches you as much about yourself as it does the methods, overarching purpose and intrinsic, trans-cultural social value of this often maligned, millenia-old science/art form. If you have ever felt that the fundamentals of psychological perspectives on the human mind and heart and the astrological perspectives on the human soul are inherently antagonistic (and show themselves to be such when assessing the meaning and imapct of the same events of a human life) THE BOOK OF PLUTO will provide you with the synthesis you need to appreciate--and be healed-by both.

This book is easy to read, and very valuable. I did not find it antagonistic to religion either. I advise people to read his work in tandem with your own astrological chart, and the work of psychologist Alice Miller, to free yourself in ways you did not know you could be freed.

Steven Forrest's work on Pluto in the natal chart is a truly great work that is also incredibly useful. He introduces the beginning and advanced to the notion of the planet and astrological concepts in the chart. He infuses his own humor, charm and love of humanity throughout the book, which allows you to believe that he is there with you, as a guardian angel, as you are walking through the depths of Hades. This allows the reader to keep looking with an unflinching eye at some touchy and difficult-to-face topics in the beginning. He introduces Pluto by house, sign, and by aspect in separate chapters which are outstandingly clear and profound. He also deals with the transits and progressions . This is a book for people who want more than a cookie-cutter interpretation of their charts; the author asks that you use your imagination and your heart. It's a truly inspirational and illuminating book by a great teacher of psychological astrology, and a book I often keep going back to!

I really love in-depth and psychological books like this. Being a Pluto in 8th House person myself (with tons of Plutonian aspects), I am already quite "Plutonian" -- according to the author. I sort of knew this already, and I also knew a lot about the subject matters in this book already, as well as having researched it; but Forrest's writing is quite interesting and in-depth, and has the same intense and penetrating insight as another book on Pluto that I hold in high-esteem ("Pluto, The Evolutionary Journey of The Soul" by Jeff Green). I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Pluto, or anyone who has interest in either Pluto or Scorpio and how these dark and powerful forces affect us all.

Steve Forrest is one of the few people I would recommend to both utter astrology novices and advanced astrologgers alike. He writes very intelligently, but can phrase his ideas in very simple, earthy language. It's definitely not for the uptight and prudish.
Make sure you read his "Parable of the beer can."

This book is, in a word, extraordinary; so is the accompanying CD recording, which gives in addition to music of the Macedonian Romany people, a slice of their life in cafes and markets. One hears their daily activities, the sale of pita, and various wares, as well as juke boxes and street sounds as the Mahala awakens.

Mahala, for those unaware, is the village ghetto to which Rom people are generally confined, although the anthropologists who compiled this book do not seem to know that it is Arabic for ghetto, and the same word used in North Africa and other Middle Eastern Muslim nations to describe the Jewish and Christian ghettos in which those dhimmi groups are similarly confined. Dhimmis are the non-Muslim minorities in Muslim lands, and their treatment (and in Muslim nation remains) generally described and defined by the Islamic laws of jihad.

Unlike most other recent books about the Rom, this one contains a massive amount of research on the lives and music of these people, as they live it; but what I like the most are the oral histories that provide readers with a real sense of the hardships suffered by the Rom in Greek Macedonia. While the book mentions the great and disastrous Turkish invasion of Greece in 1922, it does not note the great massacre of an estimated 150,000 Christian Greeks and Armenians in Smyrna on the Aegean coast that year. This undoubtedly included some Rom, as the town was then (as now) central on the Turkish coast.

But without knowing it, the authors have demonstrated some of the ill effects of Muslim rule, for they do discuss, via oral histories, the great liberation experienced by Greek Roma in 1924, when Turks were repatriated to Turkey and 1 million Greeks from Turkey to Greece. The latter may have lost some territory, but she gained liberation from Muslim oppression.

As Greeks from Turkey poured into Greece, the town fathers in Jumaya, for example, and presumably everywhere else the Roma then lived in Greece, began to allow the Roma to go to school with Greeks. Beforehand, the Turks had imposed separation on non-Muslim peoples. But with Turks gone, Greeks exiled the old cast system too, thereby relinquishing the system that had helped imprison Greek Roma in lives without equal education. Now, suddenly, the Rom could attend the same school as everyone else.

There are many wonderful features of this book, including the photographs and the music CD at its end. But make no mistake, the oral histories are the best feature, making this one of the best books on the Rom I have read to date.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

When you get Bright Balkan Morning you are likely to open it up and then leaf through it, looking at the photographs. After a few minutes of this you'll remove the CD from the inside back cover and put it on. Then you continue looking at the photos while listening to the sounds.

That in itself is a rich and satisfying experience. But don't stop there. Read the text!

It tells of Roma (aka Gypsy) musicians who have cornered the market on live music in polyglot Greek Macedonia. While they are at the bottom of the social order, anyone who wishes a proper wedding, festival, or party of any kind hires these musicians. The musicians generally perform in trios, one playing a bass drum while the other two play the zurna - a double-reed woodwind found throughout Eurasia and Africa. Their repertoire is drawn from the peoples who live in the area, or passed through at one time, and is sometimes more Oriental, sometimes more European - whatever the customer wants.

Keil and Keil give detailed accounts of several performances - a baptism, a wedding, and a saint's day festival - tell the life stories of a dozen or so musicians & family, and recount the broad history of the Roma in the Mediterranean as well as presenting a more focused account of their sojourn in Greek Macedonia. Blau's photographs range from intimate portraits, to dancers in full party whirl, through street scenes jumbled or measured, to serene landscapes. Some of his shots are so strikingly composed - the cover image, for example - that the effect is both subjective (Blau's aesthetic) and objective (we're looking at things, out there, in the world). Steven Feld's soundscapes give us the living flow of sound. Not only do we hear the twin zurnas flying through drum rhythms, but dancing feet, shouts of joy and exertion, motors churning, sheep braying, and Stevie Wonder piped in through a tinny sound system.

Bright Balkan Morning is a milestone. See it, hear it, read it. Take pleasure in it.

In the rich and wonderful BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING: Romani Lives and the Power of Music in Greek Macedonia (Wesleyan University Press. Includes a CD), Charles and Angeliki Vellou Keil write of how, since the earliest days of Byzantium, commentators have remarked, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, on the power of the Romani people to "steal your heart." With its stunning photographs by Dick Blau and its evocative CD produced by Steven Feld, this book is just one more instance of stolen hearts. The Romani, who are sometimes called gypsies, have stolen the authors' hearts and are well on their way to stealing my heart as well.

I urge you to buy this book. I say so as someone who almost never reads anything published by an academic press. I am definitely not an anthropologist or a social scientist of any kind. What I know about the raw and the cooked doesn't get very far beyond my kitchen, but I couldn't put BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING down. This book ought to be that rare thing: an academic book with popular appeal.

The easiest way into the riches of BRIGHT BALKAN MORNING are Blau's black-and-white photographs of the Romani playing their instruments for weddings, wrestling matches, and the little parades that apparently form wherever they go. When the dances started up, I have a feeling that Blau joined in, for these pictures just pulled me along. I could smell the perfume in the grandmother's handkerchief as she held it out to Blau and, through him, to me, as we all danced together. I could see the textures of the road when I took my place in the wedding parade; I could almost hear the sound of the zurna (a kind of outdoor oboe) being played in my ear.

Of course Steven Feld's CD brings the actual sounds to life. The CD begins oh so slyly by introducing Romani music emerging from the ambient sounds of twentieth-century Macedonia. The Romani are, if nothing else, great survivors of history's cultural wars, and you can hear so many diverse musical strains-from the Muslim to the techno pop. Eerily enough, the rhythm of the dauli (a two-headed bass drum) being played sounds exactly like the bass-drum pounding at a high-school football pep rally.

I wasn't as happy with the book's writing style, but then the authors seem to be wrestling with shaping this heartfelt information of theirs into all the requirements of academic publishing, and that struggle oddly mirrors the lives of the Romani. This sometimes awkward prose becomes just one more instance of the dance the Romani inspire everywhere they go as they blend in and out of the moment's culture.

--R. M. Ryan
Duncans Mills, CA

Last night I planned to read this book for just a few minutes before going to sleep. Hours later, instead of sleeping I was transformed into the world of the Balkan Roma musicians and their incredible culture! I simply couldn't put this amazing book down. I love the stories and interviews with the old musicians, the informative history of the Roma people and their culture, the full-of-life photos, and the CD with soundscapes. All these pieces combine to give the reader a great view of a people and their heritage, and one that has been largely overlooked in the past. I found the work ethic of the musicians described in this book to be very inspirational. To be able to play all kinds of requests for days on end is really something to admire. Musicians of any genre could learn a whole lot from reading about the musicians in this book. Years ago, these authors turned me on to the subculture of polka in the USA (and made a polkaholic out of me) with their super "Polka Happiness" book. They have clearly done it again - informed the world about an incredibly rich culture that was largely hidden from view.

This book responds to my interest in the social context of folk music and dance. The focus was on the lives of the people who make the music, in this case the Roma of Jumaya (Iriklia) in Greek Macedonia. The writers give you quite a rounded view, describing how the music is performed, at what kinds of events, how people relate to the music and each other, how the musicians see themselves and their occupation and how making a living as a Roma musician fits into Greek society. There is also a strong sense of history and how things have changed over time in many ways - the history of Roma in Greece and other Balkan countries, the specific history of Roma in Jumaya, and the stories of individual musicians and their families. The consistently positive way that the writers approach their subject is also refreshing - they describe how Roma have used music to survive and, in some cases, prosper, and how in doing so they have contributed to the multi-layered fabric of Greek-Macedonian ethnic identities.

What is especially interesting to me is the authors' view of how multi-ethnic society works in Greek Macedonia as compared to Bulgaria or Former Yugoslavia, and how the strategy of Roma musicians is different in these different countries. In Greek Macedonia the musicians play the music of all ethnic groups in order to maximize their flexibility and income. During multi-ethnic celebrations the musicians follow a strict policy of playing everyone's requests in the order requested, so that no one feels that they have priority. There is a fascinating description of an ethnically mixed wedding where the families have to adjust their various wedding traditions to accommodate each other, making it up as they go along to some extent.

The authors compare and contrast this with the approach taken by Roma musicians in other areas of the Balkans. In Kosovo in the 1980s the Roma musicians are said to have purposely selected music from traditions from other than Serbian and Albanian in order to avoid conflicts. In Bulgaria the wedding band tradition is described as leading to a new pan-Balkan "fusion" style which borrows from many cultures but still feels Bulgarian. Ultimately the motivation behind each strategy is the need of musicians to make a living.

The book is interesting reading from a North American perspective as well. Keil contrasts the multi-ethnic consciousness of Greeks, where the same person may have several types of ethnic and national identities simultaneously, with the concept of "multiculturalism" which he describes as slices of a pizza in which there are lots of ethnicities but everyone is either one thing or another. This raise the question of what is really going on in such immigrant nations as Canada and the United States.

The accompanying CD is a potpourri of sounds, including music of various types, and there is a section of the book describing the contents of the CD. Some of the track titles are Market Day in Jumaya, Afternoon at a Mahala Café, At Home in the Mahala, New Year's Party in Serres, Taverna Party at Nikisiani. The combination of the text, the many high quality black and white photos and the soundscape are successful in putting you into the experience, as much as this is possible. There was also a nice balance between Angeliki Keil's straight-forward and very readable reporting of the lives of the musicians and Charles Keil's more theoretical musings about ethnicity, the music and the role of the musicians. My only complaint about the book is its weight - it's printed on very heavy, glossy stock, no doubt adding to the quality of photographic reproductions, but it is so big and heavy that you pretty well have to read it sitting up. An alternate title could be, "Your Big Fat Roma Music Book."

Steven Shrewsbury's DACK SHANNON is bigger than life with adventures that need to be read in the light of day. I recommend all DACK books written by Mr. Shrewsbury. I own them and they were well worth the money. By the time you finish the book you'll be calling for more Dack Shannon.

Can't deny Steven L. Shrewsbury here especially with a character as Dack Shannon. I read a few of Steven's work on The House of Pain, and that was my first introduction of Majestic Services. Dack Shannon is a bad ass of a character who I could imagine going to the big screen. Thank you Steven for writing this book and I just got done reading "Dust" -- this is a dark collection and read Black Helicopter on his website, much as Robert E. Howard created Conan The Barbarian; Dack Shannon is the modern version of Conan. One part detective fiction, one part action, and one part horror then you are halfway there. Steven is the 815 area's best kept secret. Pick up this collection and be looking for his next story coming out soon. I won't say of the details right now because I want him to speak of this story; but one thing is this -- there is no stopping Shrewsbury, and it will be an honor to be in the same anthology as him. I offered to loan him my spiders from House of Spiders to give Dack Shannon something to shoot at.

I'm not a fan of Steven Shrewsbury's chosen genres, but have become addicted to reading his books on a regular basis. The hero of Bulletproof Soul - Dack Shannon - has helped win me over.

Dack Shannon is a flawed man beset by inner demons. He has a soft spot for children, war veterans, and innocent folks at risk. But God help the bad guys who cross his path.
Dack is a larger-than-life character, intriguing and unusual.
Abandoned at birth, he was raised in a Catholic orphanage and holds few things dear to his heart. As a black ops specialist, his allegiance is to Majestic Services and his mysterious superior, Hank. Dack is an albino, 6'5" and skilled at rooting out and killing those who are deserving of such ends. He operates outside the law, accountable to no one as he fulfills each grim assignment. Dack does the dirty work, and in most cases law enforcement gets the credit as he fades into the night.

In these twenty related tales, Dack Shannon and his compadres take on evil doers in their quest for justice. Whether it be drug dealers, NSA spooks, a demented arsonist, or Goth grave robbers, no criminal prevails for long. The strength of this anthology is the author's vivid imagination as a story teller. His characters have depth and charisma. Steven L. Shrewsbury is making a name for himself, one book and one distinctive character at a time.

The albino bad boy is back! I am honored to get a copy from Shrewsman himself! Twenty stories that make one keep turning the pages. These are stories that get in your face and make you shake your head at times. I really liked them all, but a few more than most. "Damnation Angels" rocked. The aging porn star as a bio weapon--Jesus! How did he think of that?

That said, the idea of the loner agent, Dack Shannon, is a good one. He works well as a diseffected, cold angel of death in these stories. I loved Nocturnal Vacas, and this is a super follow up.
The book itself is well made and I liked the anarchy symbol embedded on the back cover. 2 thumbs up!

First off, I'd like to say I loved reading this book. The tales were action-packed, and the characters were all intriguing. I found myself reading along, and getting so entranced in the plots of each story, I didn't want to put the book down.

This is honestly the first fiction anthology I've ever read, so a few things were new to me. Most of the tales are written from different points of view, which was of great benefit, I thought, to the overall collection. You tended to get a different feel for the characters, seeing them first from the third person perspective, and then later in first person, a new look from inside Dack's mind. Definitely have to give a thumbs-up there.

I especially loved the general notion of most all of the stories, in the fact they were mostly 'vigilante justice' tales. The fact a group of individuals (such as the super-secret group, Majestic) can operate outside the normal rules and laws definitely lends itself to some great fiction. Granted, it also lends itself to some hefty barbarism, so I'd have to put a disclaimer in here: this book probably wouldn't be a great gift for children, or those with weak stomachs (myself, I loved every minute of it).

All in all, the entire book was great, and I recommend this book to everyone.

The entire "Busy" series is engaging and fun for kids and parents alike. A great way to introduce your child to books, nature, language.

My 18-month-old daughter loves the books. The photos are great, texts are witty. This book is not as funny as Busy Doggies and Busy Kitties but is a wonderful addition to my child's bookcase anyway.

my son, 18 mos, really likes this book. he also likes busy doggies. i plan to purchase more books in this set. good pics, simple text. no regrets.

What do farm animals do all day? Well, they certainly stay busy, busy, busy! Kind of like the kiddos that will read all about them in Busy Barnyard.

Sixth in Tricycle Press' Busy board book series, Busy Barnyard takes an up close and personal look at farm animals on-location doing what they do best. In lyrical fashion, the author/photographer team perfectly complement one another to catch the essence of barnyard life. This isn't your typical "cows moo" book either. No, instead the animals romp, kiss, scrub and boss--and there is a little humor also with crossing chickens.

I've never met a child that wasn't fascinated with farm animals. This sturdy board book will be a welcome addition to any toddler's library.

Armchair Interviews says: Busy Barnyard is a lively look at farm life for the toddling crowd.

My son, now 2 years old, has loved all the "Busy" books by John Schindel since he was about 18 months old. He especially loves Busy Piggies, Busy Penguins, Busy Doggies and Busy Kitties...goes through them almost daily still. Now he loves Busy Barnyard...the photos are great! Unlike the other books, Busy Barnyard has a wide variety of different animals: cows, chickens, horses, goats, geese, pigs, rabbits, cats and lambs. Fun for both kids and parents!

This book offers a solid overview of Lutheran theology. It is written from a conservative, confessional standpoint and provides references to scripture and the Lutheran Confessions (The Book of Concord) for each chapter.

The subjects covered in each chapter:
1. The Task of Theology
2. Revelation and the Word of God
3. Law and Gospel
4. The Triune God
5. Creation
6. Humanity
7. Sin
8. The Gifts and Grace of God
9. The Person of Christ
10. The Work of Christ
11. Justification
12. The Holy Spirit
13. Conversion and Faith
14. God's Gracious Election
15. Sanctification
16. The Means of Grace
17. Baptism
18. The Lord's Supper
19. Prayer
20. The Church
21. Priesthood and Ministry
22. The Christian in Society
23. The Last Things

This is the third book on Lutheran Doctrine that I have read and it certainly is the best work to date. It covers the the whole of Lutheran doctrine in a clear and concise manner that makes the work a useful book in any Lutheran's library. Unlike other scholarly works that tend to be dry, and boring, Dr. Mueller has done an excellent job at making his book readable; no easy task given either the material or the depth that Dr. Mueller covers the subject. This work has an audience that is not limited solely to pastors, but extends to the laity as well. We will be using this text as a basis of a series of doctrinal reviews for our congregation over the next two years and I personally would not have a problem with quoting sections to an adult study group. Pastors will find it useful for directing congregational members who have questions they wish to research on their own. I have found the work very useful as a reference work for bible studies and for material to use in confirmation training. I heartily recommend this book!

I had to read this book for a class in college, and suprisingly it wasn't that bad at all. I thought "Oh great, another boring textbook," but this book makes Doctrine interesting and easy to understand.

Definetly something everything religion buff needs at their disposal.

"Called to Believe, Teach, and Confess" is the best and clearest introduction to Lutheran doctrine available. It is written at the university level without watering down the quality. It is an excellent book for 1) pastors to review their doctrine 2) for interested laypeople 3) for lay level study groups who want to systematically study Christian doctrine 4) university students 5) non-Lutherans who want to learn more about traditional conservative Lutheran theology from a reliable source. The book makes conservative, confessional Lutheran theology accessible to the average layperson and non-Lutherans because is clearly explains Lutheran theology without having to know Greek, Latin, German or "Lutheranise". The book has a very useful glossary of theological terms. Also at the end of each chapter there are questions for study and review, key terms, a bibliography for further reading that includes sections of the Book of Concord that are relevant to the topic. The only drawback is that it is a little pricey for a paperback, but since the content is excellent and uniquely written, you will find it worth every cent.

If you want a more academic/scholarly treatment of Lutheran doctrine I would recommend "Christian Dogmatics" (4 vols.) by Francis Pieper and the "Book of Concord".

I had the honor of being Rev. Dr. Steven P. Mueller's work study student at CUI while he was putting the finishing touches on this text. It is excellently written and formatted for clarity and ease of understanding. I am not someone who grasps theological concepts readily, but I found this text to be very informative, interesting, and easy to comprehend. I highly recommend it.
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Review from publisher website:

Called to Believe, Teach, and Confess offers an overview of the major doctrines of Christianity in a comprehensive, but accessible way. Written from a Lutheran perspective, this book is a helpful resource to those within that tradition and to others who seek a deeper theological understanding. Firmly rooted in Scripture, this book emphasizes the interrelatedness of all Christian teaching, with its central teaching being the doctrine of justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
This book is ideal as a text for university students and other educated Christian adults who seek to expand their knowledge of God's revelation and its application in human lives. It introduces and uses classical theological vocabulary and terminology, while offering clear definitions and application. Key terms, study questions, glossary, and sidebars help make this a valuable resource. Suggested readings from Scripture, the Lutheran Confessions and other secondary sources guide the reader into deeper study.

This valuable resource achieves faithful accuracy and commendable clarity. Students of doctrine need both. This book supplies both. Following the traditional order of the ecumenical Creeds, the authors deftly place each locus in biblical context and connect each with Christian life today. This volume fills a need for an accessible undergraduate text and could also enrich congregational study groups. Anyone seeking a ready resource for exploring the foundations of orthodox Christian teaching will welcome this book.

--James V. Bachman, Dean, School of Theology, Concordia University Irvine

(Steven P. Mueller is Professor of Theology and Dean of Christ College at Concordia University, Irvine, California. His other publications include Not a Tame God: Christ in the Writings of C. S. Lewis)

"The book presents its ideas and strategies so as to be accessible and applicable to parents, youngsters of every age and professionals alike. Its roots go deep into the theories and philosophy of Individual Psychology. It covers every aspect of anger in families progressively. Written in a readable and informative style, the issues, some of them highly sensitive and controversial are dealt with openly, honestly and with appropriate clarity, appealing to the reader's curiosity and interest in tackling anger's destructive powers reframed toward positive outcomes. No stone is left unturned."

Children who are frequently exposed to anger often become adults who use anger to control their partners, their children, their friends, and their workmates. They express this anger on the roads and in the workplace, as well as in their families. Now we have a common sense, extremely readable book that can give direction in helping turn around the lives of people of all ages who want support in dealing with difficult emotions. Calming the Family Storm is written by Gary McKay and Steven Maybell, psychologists who truly know their subject. They have taught and written about families and their emotional management throughout their long, productive careers. Put this book at the top of your 'must read' list.

This book will calm many family storms around the world as it provides the best of all anger managment techniques! And it specifically caters to the needs of families tired of facing anger, conflict and disharmony in their home. Also, the perfect resource for family counselors!

Kelly E. Nault,MA
Founder of "Mommy Moments"
Author of "When You're About to Go Off The Deep End,
Don't Take Your Kids With You

Calming the Family Storm by Dr. MacKay & Dr. Maybell is a rare gem. It addresses a huge modern problem - time pressed families don't have time to communicate or to communicate well. The book is easy to read and chock-full of practical tips. I would recommend it unreservedly for any family or counselor.
W.F. Peate, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Clinical Family and Community Medicine
Associate Professor of Public Health
University of Arizona, Arizona Health Sciences Center
Co-Director, Tucson Health Promotion Initiative
Principle Investigator, Southwest Public Health Leadership Institute

This book is a clearly written, well-organized, step-by-step and practical approach to which all family members can relate. Basic principles of Adlerian psychology, such as equality, respect and the use of encouragement in the family system are integrated throughout the book. Relevant examples are plentiful throughout the chapters. The detailed step-by-step procedures make it easy for individuals and families to transfer learning to application in daily life. The major points are reviewed at the end of each chapter to emphasize key information. This would be an excellent tool to incorporate a chapter or section at a time in weekly family meetings.