Way Books

I bought this book on a whim several years ago when I started working as a high school teacher and was concerned about my increased risk of getting sick. This book is well written, easy to understand and very informative. Rountree describes each supplement and its effects in detail and also has specific supplement regimines to treat certain ailments. I can say that I have not had a full-blown cold in the last three years. Although the supplements can be expensive, what he recommends truly work! Buy this book and you will not be disappointed and if you follow his regimine you will rarely be sick.

I HIGHLY recommend this book! I had a sinus infection that would not clear up after three rounds of antibiotics-the most severe bout I've ever had, including losing my sense of smell. I followed the doc's reommendations for sinus infections, and within one week, my sense of smell began to return, and the infection finally cleared! Dr. Rountree is a genius! I am very grateful I decided to get this book-it is now my number one health reference. And NAC is a supplement that I will always keep on my shelf. Much gratitude to Dr. Rountree.

The fact that Robert Rountree is an MD who has practiced for quite some time makes me reassured regarding his suggestions. It's also quite relevant not just for general immune function but specific illness issues one might have at present. The first section is a fascinating explanation of how our immune system functions in our body. I have been on his general adult suggested dose of CoEnzyme Q and Cholostrum for almost two months -- I believe I am starting to have energy at the end of the work day! This is a minor miracle as I started to feel tired about 17 years ago ...no thyroid issue, no diabetes ever id'd with repeated tests. I credit these changes to the CoQ and colostrum. This is truly worth the time and expense for the information!

I loved this book. It is full of wonderful ideas to improve your mental and physical health. I have started using a few of the ideas and have already noticed a difference. I highly recommend the book to anyone looking at alternative ways to improve your health.

I bought the hard cover edition of this book about a year ago because I am very prone to colds and sinus infections. I read it but did not follow the advice because you seemed to need to buy so much stuff. This past spring and summer (2001), I got an endless and particularly exhausting sinus infection. I was miserable and I remembered the book and went shopping for supplements. I warn you the advice is not cheap to follow, however, the results for me were excellent. It took a few weeks to see results but now I feel better than I have in years--greater physical and mental energy. I caught a chest cold (complete with green mucus) in September and threw it off very quickly (within a week) without antibiotics--a first for me. I would not part with my copy of the book. Olive leaf extract, NAC, coenzyme Q10, alkylglycerol etc.--I take a lot of supplements every day now but they work. I have a huge shelf full of health books and this is undoubtedly the best one that I own. I literally live by it now.

This is a book that everyone should read. I have read the left behind series and have had a harder time putting down "in the way of grace" then those books!! This story will make you laugh and cry. It is a true testament of God's love for us all and how He works through others to care for us!! Don't pass this one up!!!

PM DeMarco worked this storyline!!! I couldn't put the book down. Reading this book made me stop and think about my own life. Although this book is fiction, I could identify with the 2 main characters - and honestly made me put my life into perspective - I also have a better understanding of why people do what they do. (good and bad)

This story basically covers everything I enjoy reading. Suspense, love, comedy and Divine Intervention.

Mina is a city-girl whose tragic loss of her husband has left her in a state of spiritual and emotional distress. She is led on a path back to God, love and happiness by her guardian angel Sam, who proves that miracles do happen in this day and age.
This is a beautifully written story of loss, hope and God's love. At times I laughed out loud, at times I cried, but by the end of the book I felt as if I was a part of something really special. The characters are real, and endearing, and the story is intriguing. This is an excellent love story.

I received the book about a month ago, but because my life has been going ninety miles an hour lately, have been able to read it only in bits and pieces. Very difficult, as I didn't want to put it down!

Well, I finished it this morning, and I have to say, it was an excellent read! Very thought-provoking...

Essentially, it's the story of a seriously wounded woman -- she has lost her husband and much loved baby (at five months pregnancy). She has to bury both of her loved ones, essentially at the same time. For years, she lives with her Italian Chicago family, stewing and grieving. But God has plans for her...

The story is told from the aspect of the angels assigned to protect and watch over her and the man she meets. As I said, very thought-provoking!!

I loved the free will theme, with angels there to protect (and sometimes guide) us. It brought very clearly to light how Satan can influence our lives, and how God can intervene and bring about total change (and miracles) in the most unworthy of lives. And how man, with his God granted ability to make choices for himself, can either completely screw up his chances at life, or make the right decisions and reap great bounty!

Although I am more of a suspense, murder mystery reader - when I read In the Way of Grace, I was enthralled. Not only was it a page turner, there was plenty of suspense. The book was well written, easy to follow and the writer made the characters "come to life"! I was there in the story - didn't want to put the book down.

I predict this writer will become as well known as Mary Higgins Clark!

If you ever thought your child might have ADHD, or any other learning disability, you must read this. If you are a pediatrician, it's likely you've been pressured by schools into diagnosing patients with ADHD. Please read this before you do. Teachers/educational specialists can really learn from the masterpiece:"In Their Own Way". The brilliant author, Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., inspires us to "respect the garden of childhood" and not slap a "flawed label" such "attention deficit hyperactivity" on kids. Many kids have been branded as "underachievers", "learning disabled", simply have a nontraditional style of learning, Armstrong says. Each child has his own unique combination of multiple intelligences in learning, which must be honored and nurtured." We should not be putting these kids in remedial groups or writing them off as underachievers. Instead, he suggests: "We should use better teaching strategies appropriate to the real needs of the kids, based on their multiple intelligences." Better yet, Dr. Armstrong gives concrete teaching strategy suggestions parents and teachers can follow. He also lists learning materials, books, games,internet sites, and computer software to foster the eight intelligences. If we believe Dr. Armstrong, nurturing kids is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Children rise to the highest level of our expectations. Parents and teachers can have hope. A generation of "ADHD labeled" kids or "learning disabled" kids need not be thought of as patients needing lifelong medication or remediation, but as potential Stephen Hawkings, just waiting to be nurtured properly. It is our responsibility to help these souls find their own way. It is our future.

I encourage anyone, everyone to read about these theories and apply them as best as they can to students, their own children, other children they may encounter, if you are stuck in that must-sit-still-and-listen traditional-mindset, you owe it to yourself and others to open up your mind to how kids learn differently. Would love to have this be enforced reading for certain teachers my children and I have encountered in the past.

I read this book while on a 3 hour bus ride to St Mary's City with my son's 4th grade class. I was so overjoyed to have found something that provided a glimmer of recognition for my son's abilities. He was labled ADD and after several years of fighting it I was finally starting to say "Well, he is very bright, BUT he has ADD." Well, now I will say he is a Kinesthetic, Spatial and partially linguistic learner. He is bright and capable and he just doesnt fit into the traditional teaching styles, along with another 80% of the population. There is nothing WRONG with him. This book can help so many people regain confidence in themselves, their children and loved ones. Confidence that our tradtional school sytem has systematically destroyed in hundreds of thousands of bright, wonderful children by trying to force them to learn in a way that is not only unatural for them, but also, many times, impossible. This book helped me to understand my son, myself,and even my husband. Now I have some of the tools that can help me reach them. ADD may exist, but 99% of it is in the eye of the beholder.

This is the kind of book you have to keep replacing because when you loan it out it won't come back!

The Education Products Information Exchange shockingly reported, 80% of the content in school textbooks was known by students before they studied. If the content was known then education meant time consumption and rising tides of mediocrity. A national education reaction was expressed in the book "Nation at Risk" providing the following recommendation: 1) rigorous grading 2) more standardized tests 3) better textbooks 4) and adherence to English, Math, Science, Social Sciences, and Computer Science. The core curriculum was designed for students to compete against other nations but considered boring by students.

What does 500 million standardize test mean? First, standardized implies keeping someone out. Standardize tests force sterilization of alleged defective individuals. In 1930, standardized tests were used to keep immigrants out of the U.S. One should be asking themselves, "Is formal testing the best way to determine competency?", "What do these tests measure?" and "Do these test encourage fault finding rather than discovery of strengthens?" Business maximums absolutely focus on strengthens rather than weakness to survive. Businesses manage weakness. What doesn't the educational system do likewise? Standardizing tests are faulty in their construction, represent poor subject selection, and faulty in research design. 500 million standardize tests means significant defect!

Learning Disability implies a specific neurological disorder. Interestingly, no biological neurological correlation has been proven indicating learning disorder students have a problem. So no biological proof exists that these student's brains are different. Diagnostics do not access the students learning style. Instead, the learning disability diagnostics are used to pick and pry for weakness administered by certified qualified experts. These qualified experts do not have comparable academic qualifications such as Phds in professional psychiatry or psychology. Yet the experts are making professional assessments about the student education capabilities. Experts diagnose to the following disabilities: dyslexia, hyperactivity, dysfunctional auditory, sequential memory, attention deficit, reading difficulty, math block, underachievement, and overachievement.

Learning Disability is revolutionary in scope, 50% of the students are labeled with a certain degree of learning disability, including overachievers. Perhaps these students just learn differently and the mere suggestion that one model for learning applies to all students is irrational. For example, Norman Geschwind, observed those "dyslexic" students, "probably a mythical made-up term", have: unusual drawing and artistic skills, a strong mechanical aptitude, and above average special dimension capability. A learning diagnostic revolution has permeated the education system. Students are required to sit for long periods of time and decode long complicated instructions. Teachers talk too much, 1/5 of the day is spent in teacher explanations and instructions. Too much talking "at" and not "to" the student; too much money interest, $1.5 billion in textbook sales ensure that product is politically and culturally marketed and declarative statements help ensure students believe absolutely; too much task analysis, task analysis represents a fragmented approach to learning where each activity is broke in parts and performance measured against the parts. The end result is a current count of 2 million students labeled as having a learning disability. The percent increase of 21.5% in 1977 too 40.9% by 1983 suggests more students need special education services and these services need federal additional funding. Few of these educationally handicapped children ever make it back into mainstream education.

Contrarian's evidence builds up. Any contradictory evidence is viewed with skepticism and rejection, but gradually contrary evidence builds until such time it cannot be rejected. Teachers teach from their lesson plans. Lesson plan educational training ignores the multiple intelligence of the student. The huge number of "Home-Schooler's" and their movement suggests evidence that learning intelligence models have become an issue. The problem is not the system structure: public verse charter/private nor public verses home-school, but in the ignorance about learning intelligence.

Can the system really have so many learning disabled students? A new learning model must emerge. Many parents feel they need to motivate their children to learn. Perhaps learning starts by determine the type or combination of intelligence types, your child exhibits: linguistic learn best by saying, hearing, and seeing words; logical learn best by forming concepts and looking for abstract patterns and relationships; spatial learn through images, pictures, and color; kinesthetic learn by touching, manipulation, and movement; musical learn through rhythm and melody; interpersonal learn best by relating and cooperating; intrapersonal learn best when left too them selves. Learning how to get your c

Skarzynski and Gibson provide great insights into the challenges and opportunities associated with innovation. The information provided in this book is straightforward and insightful. Further, the concepts and components throughout the book are essential for successful organizations and leaders in the 21st Century. I use Innovation to the Core as a resource in my innovation and leadership consulting, writing, training, coaching and teaching.

It is a must read for anyone interested in moving their idea, company or community forward!

Innovation to the Core is an excellent book! I can recommend this book to anyone working in large enterprises on innovation, innovation processes or business strategy. While not going deep into the question why innovation is important, the authors role out an extensive plan how to make innovation a core capability of your organization. It is assumed that successful application of this "blueprint" will ultimately lead to sustained competitive advantage through continuous breakthrough innovation both in products and in the business model. The examples of Whirlpool, P&G, IBM, GE and others are used to proof this assumption.

The book is very much focused on the importance of people behind innovation and discusses a wide array of business elements that may need to be changed in order to implement and operate a holistic, seamlessly integrated innovation process. The transformation process and key issues are repeatedly compared to the development of TQM many years ago. An idea that I like because it allows us to learn from experience in the past where companies were challenged with a focus on quality similar to a focus on innovation today.

While this book is great when read with a focus on the key issues surrounding cultural change, values and corporate learning, I can not agree that it is a complete blueprint for making innovation work. The key topic of IT and processes did not get the attention it should have received to complete this book. According to my own experience with global organizations and also to other authors like Prahalad in his latest book on innovation, are IT systems and processes two of the key success factors to a sustainable system of innovation inside the enterprise. Skarzynski & Gibson devote several chapters to processes and IT but only at a very high level without making clear that infrastructure transformation is a key challenge of large enterprises with their zoo of grown systems and millions of dollars wasted every year in efforts to transform these systems into something efficient. If the authors could upgrade the chapter on IT to show how the architecture can be transformed in a workable way this book would be just perfect!

Innovation to the Core provides easy-to-understand, useful information about how to implement a "systemic enterprise capability" that will sustain innovation as a way of life. Rowan Gibson and Peter Skarzynski have given us a breakthrough book about breakthrough innovation.

I was captivated by the book. It is well written, clear and an inspiration to read. Without hesitation I recommend this as a must read for anyone interested in how to implement and sustain innovation in their organization. It is a one-of-a-kind book that kept me reading late into the night until I had finished it. I read a large number of books on innovation and it ranks among the best.

We have interviewed co-author Rowan Gibson about Innovation to the Core and his clarity of thought and insights about innovation are truly admirable.

I loved this book. The methodology is sound, applicability is high and content is very strong. Congratulations to the authors.

This is an outstanding book, it distills ideas from other books into a step by step format! If you've read Gary Hamel's work, this books takes most of his insights and puts them in a how to format. Very insightful! It's great for startups also as it lays the foundations of the seeds to place. Buy it, read it, carry it with you and share it. No more excuses for not making innovation a daily conversation at your company.

I must admit, I am an Osho addict! It's rare that you find someone who truly has an understanding of what intelligence is. Osho puts it in a way for everyone to comprehend, ESPECIALLY artists, and that's why I continue to read his books. He doesn't add all the unnecessary language that most people wouldn't grasp. At the same time, he opens your eyes and really gets you to think and become aware of your actions. Now I know that responding to now is a much more effective approach to any situation than finding answers through your memory which may be outdated. Once again, Osho has opened another door...!

It is very difficult to see good books on topics such as "Intelligence" and "Intuition". I have read many (well written & researched) books that talk about workbook techniques to increase one's intelligence. But, their syllabus like content makes them rather uninteresting to read and I have never been able to sustain my interest in them beyond a couple of days.

This book will not tell you about techniques to build intelligence because intelligence is innate. It'll help you rediscover it, understand it and ultimately use it. Intelligence is very liberating, it helps removes all dependencies and quell agonies from the past and worries of the future. The book will also define and describe the real meaning (and manifestation) of ubiquitous terms like simple, simplicity and personality. The book is like a narration and there is some repetition, but even the repetition makes compulsive reading.

I won't say that this is the best book that I've ever read, but it is certainly the most enlightening and eye-opening.

Difficult at best to put down once you begin - the words maybe from Osho but the meaning comes from beyond them - each page spoke to my soul - his humor mixed with his message is so easy to grasp.

Great Book, if you love Osho's discourses, you will love this book.

The author deals with a complicated subject very simply. He gives
great credit to animals for the intuitive reasoning that they
possess in the conduct of daily life. According to Osho, intelligence is not per se subject to precise measurement.
In addition, there are conditions which impede intellectual
rationalizations and applications. For instance, great stress
can inhibit our ability to function meaningfully on the creative or intuitive level. The author gives credence to the notion that relaxation methodologies; such as, formal meditation
provide the requisite environment for the creative side of our
intelligence to flourish and grow. The book provides a fresh
perspective on what constitutes intelligence and creativity.
It would be appealing to a wide constituency of readers in
business, academe and the general readership.
It is a good value for the price charged.

I have read both Starting and Running a Profitable Investment Club: The Official Guide from the National Association of Investment Clubs and The Investment Club Book in addition to this book.

While the other two books are very thorough and very well done, this one is the easist to read and understand.

I recommend all new Investment Club members to try this book.

My friends and I (all women) just recently started an investment club and this book was just great. It provided useful forms, guidelines and warnings on how to setup your club and who should be in your club. A lot seems like common sense and lot isn't. We took this book with it's nice forms, etc. and ran with it. Today we have a bonafide investment club, filed our taxes and have been making investments that make us happy (not necessarily rich).

Like some of the others I bought other investment club books but you really don't need them. This one will do just as well and it's entertaining to boot.

My friends and I at my work place were interested in starting an investment club but we were not sure how to do it until one of the women said: "Aha, Motley Fool has put out a book about it!" So, we ordered the books, highlighted everything, and got excited about starting a club. And we did it all because of this book.

My sister and I were looking for info on starting an investment club for our family and we turned to the Motley Fool book. It was great for everyone in our family as we are all novices to the investing game. It was easy to read and everybody got through it before our first meeting. A big, big help!!!!

In starting an investment club it's important that everyone involved has a good idea of what to expect from a club. In signing agreements and feeling as though you are going to be bound to a group for a long term endeavour, this book helps to ease the anxiety that goes along with the club forming experience.

As with any other Motley Fool book this one has a reasonable balance of good, clear concise information, and foolish humor.

As a primer for beginners, this book is the best I've seen. It has lots of samples of forms and the agreements and by-laws. It is written at a level that any investor should understand what is going on.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in starting an investment club.

"For theater lovers, this holiday brings books that should satisfy even the pickiest soul. My favorite is a gossipy portrait of Broadway over the past 60 years - IT HAPPENED ON BROADWAY, AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WHITE WAY..... It's fun to browse in (lots of nice pictures), but addictive as a bag of potato chips."

This is a one of a kind Broadway book. The stories, the photos, the whole feel . . .it is like table hopping at Sardi's.

IT HAPPENED ON BROADWAY: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WHITE WAY By Myrna Katz Frommer & Harvey Frommer

The Bloomsbury Review, November-December 1998

What better way to write a history of the last fifty years of Broadway theater than to get the information from those who made it all happen! The Frommers have compiled an oral history that is told by many of those wonderfully talented, hardworking people who spared no effort to create great hits and, yes, occasionally, flops. More than one hundred actors, directors, choreographers, producers, composers, lyricists, and playwrights as well as set, costume, and lighting designers, extras, and publicists have contributed to this deliciously enjoyable compilation of material about the great white way.

It Happened on Broadway is filled with background information about the Broadway shows of the last half century, and the successes, failures, struggles, and uncertainties of many personalities. Many interviewees have been household names for generations, others are just achieving recognition, and some names are not likely to mean much to most readers. Yet they all bring us some of the most interesting experiences and insights about the Broadway theater of recent years. One wonders how the Frommers managed to persuade so many luminaries to share their tales.

The first chapter "Broadway Calling," should be required reading for every theater student, aspiring actor, and budding theater professional. To hear Carol Channing, Jerry Herman, Betty Buckley, Manny Azenberg, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Al Hirschfeld, Richard Kiley, Leslie Uggams, Louise Lasser, Charles Durning, Patricia Neal, Jerry Zaks and many more tell how they got started in their careers is an education in itself and makes for superbly entertaining reading as well.

Much of the book is devoted to musicals, since those were the majority of "name" Broadway shows of the last half century, but there are also stories of the Theater Guild, from Eugene O'Neill and Bernard Shaw to William Inge and Sean O'Casey and the last week of Clifford Odets, and about the extraordinary talents of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams and such performers as Marlon Brando and Tallulah Bankhead. Celeste Holm tells how her Broadway career began when she was cast by Lynn Fontanne in The Time of Your Life together with Gene Kelly and William Bendix. And there is talk about the groundbreaking impact of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

In one chapter "Look, Look, Look Who's Dancin' Now," Gwen Verdon, Marge Champion, Donna McKechnie and others share stories about Agnes DeMille, Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, and the creation of Chorus Line and Chicago.

Most new shows go through a difficult gestation period before they are ready to be presented to the public. In some instances, a late edition of a song or conversely, deletion of some material can turn a potential loser into a future hit. Backstage tales, candid comments on their own performances and those of their fellow actors, the roundabout ways in which producers obtained production rights, often after years of effort, all make for fascinating reading.

This book gives the rare opportunity to hear the comments of those who were involved in the creation of Guys and Dolls, Cabaret, Zorba, Wonderful Town, On the Twentieth Century, The Will Rogers Follies, Annie, Nine, Grand Hotel, Titanic, and many, many more.

To sum up, the Frommers have combined these interviews and stories into a rich, seamless, history that masterfully captures the essence of Broadway's last five decades in a most enjoyable fashion. _____ __

Paging through this book is like stepping back through those years in the mid to late 20th Century when Broadway was bursting with fresh talent and wonderous creativity. Fantastic photos (many of which I have not seen elsewhere) and the collected personal memories of an army of Broadway veterans. Instead of muddying these memories with reams of connecting text, the editors have grouped related anecdotes into chapters and let those who lived this history speak for themselves. A great read for anyone who loves the theatre -- Broadway in particular.

The stars, both onstage and off, that have helped create the Broadway theatre of today have committed their lives to one of the most important and vital of all the arts. This book gives them their due in a way few others have. It Happened on Broadway is a very well-done book recording for posterity the fine tradition that is Broadway theatre, using almost entirely the words of the people that actually lived their lives there. It is funny, touching, englightening, and a must-read for anyone who loves Broadway and theatre as much as those in the book who gave their lives to it.

One typically encounters a diminution of quality in "follow-up" cookbooks, but that's not at all true in this instance. I'm convinced at this point that Jacques Pépin could cook an appetizing groundhog if he set his mind to do so.

Perhaps the most important facet of this cookbook is that it's a companion volume to Jacques' terrific PBS Cooking Show. The DVDs are available too: Jacques Pepin: More Fast Food My Way. While the video is both fascinating and entertaining, it's really not essential to carrying out the details of these superb recipes. The directions in the cookbook are plenty clear.

While this work is not really a foundational or general cookbook, the dishes herein will help you pull off supper when you're stumped. The book is also invaluable for those who entertain as there are some really magnificent appetizers and desserts in here.

In summary, I highly recommend this one, as I do Jacques' earlier companion volume: Fast Food My Way.

Not having seen the TV programs I bought the book based on some of Jacques Pepins prior work. The format and the menu suggestions are great!

The idea of using the supermarket as your prep cook is wonderful.

however, the preparation time required for recipes in More fast food my way is significantly less.

As a very busy professional woman - time is a premium commodity - so cooking has in the past not been a top priority. I love excellent tasting French and Italian food and for years, like many of us, simply gave up cooking most evenings because of the time required to do the shopping, prepping and then cooking and cleaning. Yikes - it was simply more cost effective to go to restaurants - even if it meant taking it home and eating it. As many of us start to learn more about nutrition and the incredible importance of organic vegetables, fruit and meat - if we want longevity and health - we naturally realize we need to make a time investment in preparing good, healthy food. So then came how to do it without getting frustrated about the time and making sure we truly enjoy our sense of taste. As someone who has travelled so much in Europe the bar is high. So imagine my delight when I found Jacque Pepin's book - Fast Food My Way - I could not get enough - so thrilled now to have this new cook book as well. I have already hosted multiple dinner parties with real "foodies" who could not believe how easy and delicious everything tasted. So, I have probably been a major cookbook distribution channel for Jacque! I also bought the accompanying DVD's - why Because as a business person, you certainly get the importance of not just taste but presentation - so watching his preparation and presentation really made a giant difference in both my skill and confidence. On my last business trip, my airplane seatmate delivered a very quirky expression when he saw me in my biz suit - switching from updating an Excel spreadsheet to watching a DVD on how to cut and prepare smoked salmon...pretty funny. "Cooking dinner for an important client..." was my response. He smiled and nodded in sympathetic understanding. If you like butternut squash - try the soup - its is a fantastic, delicious and actually cost effective starter - as many are looking to cut costs but still want to entertain - you dont have to cut taste or quality or feel exhausted at the end of the day. Get these books and you will feel and look like a star chef! Strongly suggest practicing on dishes beffore you serve them to company however....

Jacques is my absolute favorite american chef. His recipes, with the shadows of France and Italy, entice me the way few other chefs do.

This book is beyond good, it's a continual declaration of Jacques' dedication to his art. His production quality is high, like always, and when you sit back and *read* the book, well, it hits the mark.

Which mark? How to make great food on a Tuesday night, in no time at all.

The title is deceiving! This book is anything but a realigious poem book. A friend showed me this a while ago and I totally loved the poem "Take Things From Work" it's a must read for all opressed workers!! Ha ha

Okay, I'm not that big of a fan of poetry myself, but Hall's writing is genious. I first learned of Hall through King Missile- a band that basically takes John's poetry and places some wack music in the background. I loved the lyrics of the songs and Jesus Was Way Cool offers almost the same entertainment as the music.

All of the works here are extremely clever, funny and entertaining. Most of the pieces are almost stream-of-conscious and leave you wondering what it would be like to be in the author's head. You don't have to be well-read to enjoy this poetry even though it is obvious that Hall is. His references to history and use of words illustrate that point.

To really enjoy the poetry though, I highly recommend listening to King Missile. If you like this poetry, hearing John speak the words he writes will double your listening pleasure.

Really funny, more fun to read than most poetry books (whoops, that probably makes me sound uncultured) -- but you might have to be a King Missile fan to appreciate it completely.

Really great book. Lyrics to many of King Missile's songs, as well as regular spoken word pieces, all of which make really good reading. If you know any of King Missile's stuff (especially if you know pieces other than the overplayed "Detachable Penis"), then you know how funny they were. Even the funny pieces in this book -- and most are hysterically funny -- are also surprisingly thoughtful and have many layers of meaning.

John S. Hall knows where it's at. This book is my favorite & nicest collection of masterpieces of poems ever. His mixes of mysticism, religion, pop sexual blatancy & the essential concepts of world philosophy finesse into normal sentences that are so nice they can be sung or voiced to melody... & he does do that on cd's & on stages.
I've seen the title piece "Jesus Was Way Cool" quoted in dictionaries like Shakespeare to define language. My other favs like "Open" & "Sensitive Artist" are just a few more cornerstone watermarks for history. ( John, does that part make sense? please edit ...he didn't get back to me fast enough, im writing this on my own, usually he helps me, he wrote the intro to my first great Work, "document zippo" & i consulted him & referenced him in dialogue prose in "Xero, turn-of-the-millenia," he is also my attorney. i wonder if he can sue himself for this.)
Compared to his newer pieces like "America Kicks Ass" which is brilliantly...[i was going to have him edit this part & make this a sentence] his Work sustains itself blah blah [actually can you end it for me please? i asked him, but these are important times, & he is probably doing something important right now & perhaps even political!]

B"H

Excellent book!! Really gives insight and helps further trust in HaShem. I would recommend this book to all. I would recommend this author to all as well.

This highly uplifting tome is pragmatically oriented spirituality, primarily derived from Hasidic sources. IMHO its emphasis is on d'vekut--cleaving to God: pp. 6-10: "All your actions, speech, & thoughts be directed by God, who is within you. The person who has attained to this high level will have continuous God consciousness at all times...God-consciousness is the purpose of the main mitzvah of the Torah, when they are performed with complete intentionality...If you want to do something & see that this action will increase your God-consciousness & love of God, then know that this is a mitzvah & God's will...The goal of Hasidim d'vekut is continual God-consciousness." The author advises the reader to p. 51: "Choose a practice that fits your mood & spiritual level", To this end, many techniques are given & described including: frequent repetition of holy phrases & words (pp. 36 & 444), equanimity (p. 474), forgiveness (p. 543), spiritual sex (p. 589), nonattachment (pp. 590 & 675), spiritual seclusion/hitbodedut (pp. 614 & 632), selflessness (p. 675), generosity/tzedaka (pp. 458-9), gratitude (p. 457), overcoming anger (p. 634), accepting the bad with the good (p. 517), and meditation. pp. 379-80: "Hasidic spirituality is ideally one continuous meditation on God by diverse means...Sefer Haredim quotes the Ari as saying that a meditation for achieving d'vekut is `seventy times more valuable for the soul than Torah study'...Certainly Torah study & doing mitzvot involve d'vekut but it is less than that d'vekut directly achieved by meditation." Examples include: p. 109--Breathing Meditation, p. 436: blessings (as short meditations), p. 451: visualization of God's name & concentration on the mind of God, pp. 378 & 466: understanding your thoughts as coming from God, everything coming from God (p. 672), and meditating on the skies (pp. 321, 498-502, & 678).

The plethora of techniques allows one to pick & choose those activities appropriate to one's nature & life situation at a moment in time. There are a great many wonderful quotes (I added pages of them to my collection); my favorites include some advocating role reversals:
pp. 458-9: R. Aaron of Apt--When a poor person accepts Tzedaka...if the poor person receives it with this kavvanah..."If I have to take, I am going to do so to give merit to the rich person who gives me the tzedaka,' then he is doing a mitzvah. This is what our Sages of blessed memory said: `More than what the householder does for the poor person, the poor person does for the householder.' (Leviticus Rabbah 34:10)
p. 675: R. Yitzhak of Vorki--No one ever stole anything from me for each day I give up all my possessions, abandoning my claim to their ownership. So whatever anyone stole--it was from what was already without an owner.
This is a fabulous book for anyone wishing to understand Hasidism but even more for someone wishing to add to his or her spiritual repertoire or activities/techniques. It may be an expensive book, but it's the size of 3 books--and it's worth much more than most. Highly recommended!

Yitzhak Buxbaum has made a tremendous contribution to the world of Jewish Learning with this book. He collects Hasidic hanagot ( customary practices) and considers the way they can enrich one's spiritual life and practice. He teaches in the work how the religious Jew can in every detail of his life, in every experience transform the ordinary into the sacred. He teaches how the Jew can transform his consciousness to greater ' devekut ' clinging to God.
This book has been one of the most important in my own life. Time and again it has given me new insight into Jewish practice and thought. It is written in a most clear and understandable way.
It too , it seems to me, without advertising itself as such provides a framework for Jewish thought and belief as strong as any other work I know. If I had to recommend one book to be in each Jewish home ( aside of course from the canon of Sifrei Kodesh ) it would be this one.
What a great great great book.

Yitzhak Buxbaum has done a great service in compiling these Jewish spiritual practices from a variety of sources, many of them Chassidic. The book is so helpful and informative in its tone, that it is easy to overlook the amount of research, scholarship, and organization which underlies it. For the Jew wondering how to enhance kavannah, how to make another part of daily life more kodesh, and how to benefit from the particular religious genius of our forebearers, this book will be a welcome, and oft-perused addition to the family library. Synagogues would do well to make this book available to their membership as well.

I teach Kabbalah classes and lead a Jewish Renewal women's havurah. (For more information about Jewish Renewal, the newest denomination in Judaism, go to www.aleph.org). I recommend Yitzhak Buxbaum's "Jewish Spiritual Practices" to all of my classes and have put it on their reading lists.

For years I searched for a practical book that would offer a comprehensive overview of simple techniques to enhance a person's practice of Jewish mysticism and enable them to deepen their connection with God.

Many Kabbalah books I consulted were exasperatingly esoteric, were not Jewish-oriented, were too simplistic, had too many techniques from other religions, etc. Then I found "Jewish Spiritual Practices" in a bookstore, and was overjoyed. It has over 2,000 simple Jewish spiritual practices from the classic Hasidic tradition, all clearly explained.

I have read the book twice. It is one of the most valuable books in my Jewish spirituality library. I plan on rereading the book (God willing) several more times in my lifetime. It immeasurably deepened my personal spiritual practice.

Don't be put off by the price of the book. I would have gladly paid twice as much.