Williams Books

I was a little predisposed to enjoying this book for a number of reasons, and I think I should describe them before getting too much into the review.

I am nearly the same age as the author, lost my Dad in 1974 and am a lifelong Steelers fan, who grew up well outside Pittsburgh, but followed the team religiously. My Mother was a religious and caring woman, and we were raised in relative poverty. I idolized Jack Lambert (another Steeler) and my own Mother passed away around the same time in life as the authors. In short, the similarities between the author's life and mine are much the same, so that might be relevant in knowing my thoughts on this book.

"Confessions of a Hero Worshipper" takes the reader through the author's childhood and his early search for identity. It gives a vivid description of his Father's death and his attempt at identifying with the star running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Franco Harris. Dubner arranges to meet Harris and the book gives a narrative of his frustrations- sometimes comical- at understanding Franco, when in truth, the author was really searching himself. As the book develops, Dubner skillfully explores why people choose to worship heroes and what heroes are. He also discusses the religious aspects of hero worship and concludes that they are a necessity. In a surprise twist, Dubner finds heroic qualities in Mr. Harris' mother, whom he befriends late in the book. He finally breaks free of his need to see Harris as Superhuman after talking with him in a final interview in Mr. Harris' home and through the first years of Dubner's own son's life.

Although this book is (as a few other reviewers have pointed out) somewhat disjointed, the prose style is enjoyable and unpredictably funny. Frankly, I did not expect the book to provoke as much thought as it did about why people choose the heroes they do, or the larger meaning of building people into what we want them to be. With the disclaimer of what this book meant personally to me, I recommend it.

This book compares the Jewish view to that of Christians. With the Jewish ban on idolatry, there are no people -- only things and places in pictures. That's strange, as my photos are full of views, beautiful or unusual scenes and things of the past, but very few people. In the Bible, there are prophets in abundance, but in the New Testament, the pictures are most always a glorified Jesus and his apostles. A messiah is less a person than an idea, a hope, and the yearning for the world to have a happy ending.

Thomas Carlyle, a pious Scottish Presbyterian, who died in 1881, wrote that hero worship is a human condition that "cannot cease till man himself ceases." I've had many heroes in my time. One of them is listed below.

A hero is someone we admire for who he is, but not so much because he is someone special to us when we need someone to love, a person who can take the place of a busy family, someone you don't come home to and have to listen to their complaints. A hero is perfect, he's an image we conjure up in our minds as being the person we would like to be.

Lincoln was shot five days after Lee's surrender at Appomattox on Good Friday; Booth was a crazed hero-worshipper and had to die for his mistake. Each era in America has its hero. Charles Lindbergh in 1927 because he did what no one else had done. General MacArthur in WWII because of his determination and defiance to do what his heart dictated. A Civil War hero, Abner Doubleday, was dubbed "father of baseball" after his death.

We all know that politicians say one thing behind closed doors and another in public. Movie stars and pop singers were "images" created for a purpose, to give us an imaginary world to enter in the theaters. The superheroes of the comics were Jewish American creations.

All of this history to establish his hero-worship for a ball player because of his will to win, mainly the will to survive. His father had been a newspaperman. He became a writer, thus subconsciously was emulating his dead father who was the real hero in his mind. A Mother is a Mother is a Mother...how can she be a hero? This book is "especially for those who read about others to find the truth in themselves."

It's easy to get caught up in the little details of our lives, getting kids off to school, getting the car (or dog) fixed, paying the mortgage, raking the leaves, and doing the thousand other things that we do, so much that we forget or never get the big picture.

But it's impossible to get through even a chapter of Confessions of a Hero Worshipper, by Stephen J. Dubner, without stepping back taking a longer look at our own trajectories.

In fact, the book, which details a psychic journey of mythic proportions conducted by shuttle between New York and Pittsburgh, is nothing but a long look back at the childhood of the author, carefree until his father's unexpected death at 57 years of age. Dubner proceeded to do what any 10 year old kid would have done, set about to replace that figure, and he promptly selected a football player, Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who in very unlikely fashion proceeded to fill the gap in a profound way. For a time Dubner signed his school work, "Franco Dubner."

Dubner grew up, went off to college, got a job and pretty much forgot Franco, until a chance sighting of the former football star on a magazine cover ignited a fool's errand, for the author to actually meet his childhood hero and establish a connection.

In the process Dubner is forced to re-examine the loss of his father, look long and hard at how he filled that void and, more importantly, take stock of the remaining sense of loss and sorrow.

In reading the book, I found it impossible not to examine such holes in my past, as well.

I'm currently reading "Turbulent Souls," another book by Dubner, which details the strange spiritual and cultural journey taken by his parents, which led them from a life as Jews in New York City to life as committed Catholics on a farm in rural Upstate New York. That's where they all were when I came to know them during my year in Duanesburg as the 13 year shortstop of the local sandlot baseball team.

Dubner's book had a special meaning to me when I read it. I had just come back from a trip where I met a childhood idol of mine. While the meeting was great, somehow I came home feeling a bit of emptiness.
Dubner's tale eventually delves into this emptiness. First, he relates the story of his childhood fascination with Franco Harris, a great running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970's. It is the tale of a typical boy's love of a sports hero. Then, Dubner goes through school and leaves most of this behind. Later, as an adult when he has the chance to meet Harris, the book really hits a high note.
Dubner explores his feelings and Franco's feelings as the two meet several times. In the end, it is nothing like he expected or wanted, yet in the end it is exactly that.
Anyone who ever called himself a fan of a celebrity should read Dubner's story.

After reading Stephen Dubner's first book, Turbulent Souls, I couldn't wait to read his latest work. I thoroughly enjoyed Confessions of a Hero Worshiper. It is a poignant, beautifully-written story about Dubner, who as a ten-year-old boy, grasped on to his football hero to help him survive his loneliness and insecurity after his father died. Dubner's childhood hero was Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the "man of steel" becomes much more to the young, fatherless boy than anyone would ever imagine. In school Dubner even wrote his name as "Franco Dubner" on his papers. For the next 4 years, Dubner has the same dream every night of meeting Franco Harris, inviting him over to his house for dinner, and playing a game of football in the backyard with him afterwards. Every night in the dream, Franco breaks his ankle just as he's about to score a touchdown. He hands the ball to Dubner and tells him, "You gotta take it from here yourself, kid." The words end up being prophetic.

Fast forward about twenty-five years. Dubner is now a successful writer and former editor of the NY Times Magazine. When he spies a magazine cover sporting Franco Harris's picture, his long-buried feelings are rekindled. Dubner is overcome by a deep desire to meet his hero and let him know what an important part he played in Dubner's young life.

When Dubner finally gets to rubs elbows with Franco Harris, the time spent with him and his athlete buddies is both exhilerating and frustrating. What transpires between them over the next months enables Dubner to finally shed his childhood ghosts when he comes to an epiphany of sorts. The story is both a heartfelt and at times hilarious account of Dubner's trip back into his past as he comes to grips with the present and discovers the secret to his future.

The story is so engaging and well-written that I couldn't put it down...and me, a sports fan...NOT!

I totally agree with the previous reviewers. This world's teaching on relationships is just fluff. Sit down and read this book and you will immediately realized that what is being offered is both simple and deep. If, at the end of a day, you want to be refreshed, read and meditate on just one page. This is the kind of book that is to be read slowly and savored.

This book was a wonderful gift from a friend. I used to beat my self up when I couldn't follow the advice of the many self help books I have. The Couple's Tao Te Ching really changed the way I looked at my behavior because it didn't tell me how to behave. I memorized this passage because it has been helping me through this global, troubled time: "The world will never know love, respect, kindness and tolerance until you experience them in the safety of your love. When you do, it will." It means a lot to me. It's more than just about a relationship with another person. It makes a lot of things clear.

Each time I think it's time I settled for something less than fulfilling in life I sit down and read through this book. It calms my soul. It realigns my senses to what it is I'm truly seeking in life and in a partner. I have given this as a wedding gift to those who I think have the mind and soul for such small wisdom as this. I would recommend this book to anyone who seeks to be complete before entering into a relationship or who seeks understanding of why their past relationship failed. It has helped me to keep clarity of mind.

My lover and I often start our day by reading a chapter or two to each other from this gem of a book. It reminds us of the gift and importance of our love, brining smiles to our faces and tears to our eyes.

This is a beautiful piece of work. Everything just "made sense"! We combined several passages for our wedding reading, and our reader barely was able to choke out the words! :)

This is a wonderful story of how one organization chose to instill a quality focus in their management and front line staff. Without this focus, this organization could not have achieved such success in consolidating various major operations among 3 previously competing hospitals in the same community. This is a success that is still enjoyed today thanks to a very strong leadership team. Mr. Tim Mannello's middle name is quality and because of this, he is a role model and mentor to many in our organization. It has been my privilege to work so closely with someone like Mr. Mannello and will proudly do my best to utilize the visionary concepts discussed in his book in my daily departmental operations.

I am a nurse for the Susquehanna Health System. I was very upset re: the comments from A reader from Williamsport, VA re: the Press Ganey Results and SHS. Quality patient care has been our top priority for years. In both the 1999 and the 2003 Press Ganey results Nursing at SHS was amoung the top 2% not the bottom. From the Corporate Objectives, to our departments performance improvements quality has been our goal. Over the years Tim Manello and all of the corporate staff have guided SHS in our committment to quality. This reader obviously has something against Tim and what a shame they had to be child-like and post it for all to see. I am proud to work for SHS and be a part of the staff. I give Tim's book five stars.

As a healthcare professional in the field for 17 years, I have found this book to be a wonderful resource in guiding my current hospital's efforts to improve quality and patient satisfaction. We, along with most institutions, strive every day to improve our systems and the delivery of care. In addition, we asked the author to spend time with our management team to share advice and help us to focus more specifically on the relationship of the employer/employee relationship and it's effect on the employee/patient relationship. [...]

As a senior executive in a health care facility intent on improving patient care quality and customer satisfaction, Tim Mannello's chronicle of Susquehanna's initiatives effectively instructs and inspires. I have used this as a text in conjunction with leadership interventions focused on engaging staff. Results have been rewarding and Mannello's anecdotes and guidelines contribute to positive, effective culture change.

A national research firm, Press Ganey rated the Susquehanna Health System (SHS) in Williamsport, Pa. among the top 2% in nursing care and among the top 5% overall in overall patient satisfaction compared to the best hospitals in the country. How does SHS consistently earn such ratings? This book will give you the complete story.

I am currently on my second copy of this book. Someone 'borrowed' my first copy and never returned it--if you have a copy with recipes for scampi, minestrone, and dolmas handwritten on the back pages, please email them to me! And do try them, they are wonderful.

For many years, it was difficult (if not impossible) to find a really good Mexican food cookbook that contained truly authentic recipes. I'd seen books that purported to offer recipes for 'Mexican' foods, only to discover that they just weren't quite right--example: one had a recipe a for a batter, claiming that flour tortillas are 'Mexican crepes'! When I originally discovered the tome, The Cuisines of Mexico, on the bookshelf of a friend, I became entranced.

Not only did the author of this book go to great lengths and difficulties to research authentic recipes and methods, but she also painstakingly tested and recorded her observations. Something I've noticed over the years is that recipes, like language, often drift from their origins until it is nearly impossible to discern how they used to be made. With this book, you get the best of all worlds--both original recipes/methods, as well as adaptations and suggestions/room for modernizing recipes and techniques.

After reading about how a simple dish of Mexican rice cooked over an open fire tasted and smelled to Ms. Kennedy, I adapted a recipe using fresh (homegrown) tomatoes and peppers--roasted on the barbeque using mesquite chips to give them that nice smoky flavor she found so wonderful--that I cook in my rice cooker. All of my friends (many of which are of Mexican descent) say it is 'the best.' At our town barbeques, it is invariably the first thing gone--and I have a really big rice cooker. Thank you, Ms Kennedy.

All hail Diana!

Several factors have conspired to keep most North Americans
and Europeans from grasping the wonder and complexity of
Mexican food.
First, there's the smoke screen created by greasy-spoon and
fast-food imitations. It's hard to imagine great tastes when
you've just gobbled down a two-buck taco that smells a bit
funny. In fact, it's hard to find real examples of wonderful
Mexican food outside of that country.
Then there's the question of fashion: in the first
world we are eating a slimmer and healthier cuisine these
days and a lot of Mexican dishes with their high saturated
fat and sodium, seem to be the opposite of that.
There's also the problem of hard-to-find ingredients and the
taste of cornmeal which is problematic for those of us
raised on wheat-breads and pasta.

So Diana Kennedy's The Cuisines of Mexico is both a cook-
book and a revelation. Just the acknowledgement that there
are more than one Mexican cuisine will be a surprise for many.
Her discussion of the ingredients and procedures of those
cuisines will be a revelation to even most sophisticated
cooks. This discussion comprises the first of three parts of
the book and as a prod to the imagination, is worth the price
of the book. Kennedy's view of kitchen equipment is Mexico-
centric and one could imagine an update that included more
on food processors, blenders and pressure cookers.
Then the recipes begin. Contrary to the title's promise, they
are not organized geographically, but rather by food type. Some
of these recipes are breathtaking. Two moles, the poblano and
the green mole with duck will probably change the way you
think about stews forever.
The recipes for beans could keep you entertained for a month.
Frijoles colados y refritos a la Yucateca can be modified to
make an almost-instant treat that's remarkably healthy. (see
the Amazon.com site for Beano )
You should also take some time to learn from Buñuelos (fritters)
and the remarkable Budins-puddings that unite vegetables and
cheese.
This book is the perfect gift for any imaginative cook.

--Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE and
the forthcoming novel bang BANG from Kunati Books.ISBN
9781601640005

Diana Kennedy's The Cuisines of Mexico is a fabulous book for those who are interested in making the best tasting Mexican food you have ever had. Not only are the recipes fantastic, but she also includes detailed explanations of ingredients and a pronunciation guide. This book is worth every penny just for part one, which is the ingredients and procedures. You will learn everything you need to know in order to cook truly authentic and fantastic Mexican food.

While Diana Kennedy does offer a source list for ingredients, I would like to add that the online store Mesa Mexican Foods offers many of the authentic Mexican ingredients needed to make Diana's great dishes.

This is actually the second authentice Mexican cuisine cookbook that I have purchased. The recipes are very authentic (from what my Mexican friends have told me) and I can tell you from personal knowledge that the recipes are delicious. Among my favorites are the frijoles recipes and duck mole. I would consider this book a must have for any kitchen that serves or seeks to serve authentic Mexican food.

We've had this book for years and have enjoyed most recipes - there was one lackluster soup we tried. The duck mole is so amazing and easy!! We even tried it with watercress in place of radish leaves and used leftover cornmeal & ground walnuts (used to coat our souffle pans) in addition to the pumkin seeds she calls for - excellent! We finally mastered her Mexican rice - you really do need to put the cloth on it at the end - but so delicious!!! The turkey mole makes for a great change for Thanksgiving!

When the author of the wildly popular "The Da Vinci Code" insisted that his novel was factual, he lit a firestorm among academics and theologians. One response, "Cracking Da Vinci's Code," shot to the top of the bestseller lists. As the film soared to the top of the box office, pastor and theologian James Garlow returned with a dictionary style listing of information that readers and moviegoers will need, if they're interested in the facts, and just the facts. Thorough and credible.

There have been roughly 14 books that spun off the writing of Dan Brown's novel, 'The Da Vinci Code.' Some are commentary, some are scathing commentary, and some discuss the facts and fictions of the book and movie. This book does the latter.

This is not a commentary on Gnostic or Christian thought, although the authors are a pastor, a doctor of theology and an art historian. The book serves as a reference discussing the proposed facts by Dan Brown, who has caused confusion in some when saying in his novel that the facts within his book, The Da Vinci Code, are accurate and well researched.

The book is laid out in an encyclopedic format, discussing topics alphabetically that may weigh or have been discussed in Brown's book and movie. The authors' theology is that of conservative evangelicals. For those who are not of this theological persuasion: this book shows little in the way of slant, so don't be turned off by this. The main area where non-evangelicals might disagree is in the discussion of the Canon, but otherwise, this book is neutral in its defining of terms and ideas from the movie.

Since Brown's work centers around art to a large extent, having an art historian as co-author lends credence to this work discussing Brown's proposed facts. Several glaring mistakes by Brown are described in detail in this book.

This book does a superb job as a research tool to discern fact from fiction in 'The Da Vinci Code,' which is the stated purpose of the writing. In fact, I gave this book 5 stars because it fulfills its stated task so well. So, if you are interested in finding out where Brown was right and where he was wrong, this would be one of the first and easiest places to go.

In The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown presents a mix of fact and fiction certain to lead many to question the Bible's integrity and Christianity's impact on history. Since fact checking does not seem to be a strong suit for Brown, this reference guide, The Da Vinci CodeBreaker, provides well-researched answers, both theologically and historically, to questions raised after reading Brown's book.

The topics are in alphabetical order. Maps, charts, photos, and symbols help discern fact from fiction in a clear, concise manner. Even if you've never read The Da Vinci Code or seen the movie adaptation, you'll still find great information in the book. The chart explaining when and why each book of the Bible was canonized is especially helpful.

The Da Vinci CodeBreaker by James L. Garlow (with Timothy Paul Jones and April Williams) is perfect for anyone who seeks to know the historical truth about Jesus and the Christian faith. This book will have you prepared to provide answers when someone asks you about the claims made in the novel and the film.

The Da Vinci Code Breaker is the first reference style response to The Da Vinci Code. Formatted much like a miniature encyclopedia, it claims to provide information on over five hundred facts and terms.

Entries in this book range from one sentence to several paragraphs. They cover historical persons, church councils, and even contemporary writers and their critics. It also covers early church, Gnostic, and other apocryphal writings and concepts. Charts are provided periodically for help in breaking down complex topics, such as the content of the Nag Hammadi Library. For a few select individuals, timelines are constructed highlighting important points in their lives. At the back of the book are a few maps and advertisements for additional resources.

Not only is The Da Vinci Code Breaker unique in its format, it's also unique in quality. It covers every issue, item, and person relevant to the subject in an accessible and informative manner. It helps delineate the facts from the fiction in an easy-to-use format, as it claims. Whether it's used on its own or in conjunction with other responses to Dan Brown's novel, The Da Vinci Code Breaker is a necessary resource for those who seek to be informed about the truth.

Even though I am predisposed to dislike "The Da Vinci Code," reading James Garlow's book has given me many more reasons. It is an easy dictionary for names, places, and terms referenced in or related to Dan Brown's novel. Though it appears to be written for the reader who is already familiar with the novel, I haven't read it all yet and didn't find The Code Breaker less easy to understand.

Garlow says that hosts asked him during interviews for his preceding book, Cracking Da Vinci's Code co-authored with Peter Jones, why he was attacking a work of fiction. The reason is Brown claims that only the story is fiction. All the historic details, he says, are true. Garlow says the average reader can't tell the fiction from the fact, which I can understand completely because so many tiny details are untrue.

1. Do you know who founded Paris? A Gallic tribe called Parisi. Brown gets that wrong.
2. Do you know how many glass panes are in Le Louvre Pyramide? It isn't 666. The museum reports 673.
3. Brown describes La Pyramide Inversée as having a tip "suspended only six feet above the floor"; below it is "a miniature pyramid, only three feet tall." The tips of these two structures are "almost touching." Doesn't a yard's distance seems a little far for "almost touching"?
4. That miniature pyramid is described as coming "up through the floor," but a close observer can see that it actually sits on the floor and can be moved aside for sweepers.
5. Leonardo Da Vinci did not name his famous painting Mona Lisa, so he wasn't sending a message through the title. Brown says L'isa is an alternative name for Isis. The Code Breaker states that it isn't. The English name Mona Lisa was given to the painting by a Da Vinci biographer many years after the artist's death.
6. Leonardo made notes while painting The Last Supper in which he refers to the figure at Jesus' right hand as a man, clearly from the artist's context to be the Apostle John, not Mary Magdalene.

Details like these wouldn't make up the text of many books if Brown hadn't boasted his accuracy at the start of his novel and in interviews afterward. I don't doubt he believes the hoax and that he thought he got many minor details right; but The Da Vinci Code and his other novels suffer, at least a little bit, from careless research.

But The Code Breaker reveals more disturbing errors or hoaxes which many people will assume to be true. Why make up stuff like this?

1. The Vatican, which Brown says ruled Christianity and suppressed the true accounts of Jesus' life in the fourth century, existed only as a simple church at that time. It was not building its new power base, as Brown claims.
2. The books and letters which make up the New Testament were not declared God's Word by a council. Most of them had been accepted by disciples of Jesus since the time they were first circulated.
3. Brown says English is a pure language, free from the corruption of the Vatican. This is idiotic. The English language comes to us from the German language, so wouldn't German be far more pure than it? Also, many English words were imported from Norman French.
4. Finally, in a section which makes me laugh from a literary perspective, main character Robert Langdon states the church burned five million women as witches over several centuries. The Code Breaker points to sources which record only 55,000 witch trials which resulted in executions and over 20% of the convicts were men. Many of these trials were done by common people, not the Catholic Church.

The Da Vinci Code Breaker calls itself "an easy-to-use fact checker," and I agree. Not only does it include corrections to the novel, but it also describes why the Gnostic writings were rejected, how the Bible was assembled, and other writings or recordings on the issues distorted in The Da Vinci Code.

I am a reader of historical novels but this non-fiction book is as easy to read as a novel!

Brad Matsen is an excellent historian. Not only is Matsen' book a first rate adventure story about Beebe and Barton's explorations in the Bathysphere but he gives historical prospective on the times they lived in, including the influence of the media and the politics of science and exploration in the 1930s. If you ever wondered what it would be like to sit in a four foot metal sphere a half mile under water, read this book.

The deep-sea expeditions of Otis Barton and William Beebe revolutionized undersea concepts and exploration - and at the height of the Depression years, when money was tight. Beebe was a famous naturalist who became obsessed with oceanography, and had his own research station off Bermuda, along with the support of many industrialists of his times. The younger Barton was heir to a fortune and had his own dreams of deep-sea exploration and adventure. Together the two opened a new world, directly observing new life in the abyss until a bitter dispute left them estranged. Descent: The Heroic Discovery Of The Abyss re-creates their adventures and discoveries.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends DESCENT by BRAD MATSEN as a fascinating time capsule of the early beginnings of oceanographic exploration, as well as a detailed narrative of scientific vision & determination set against the 20th century era of great wealth & discovery. An absorbing recreation of the life & times of Barton & Beebe, their Bathysphere & what they survived & discovered as they descended into the abyss of the Caribbean.

The reviewer below says that this book is a historical novel: it is not. This book is historical fact.

This book could easily have become another banal coffee table "picture book for grown-ups"; big on visual display and short on commentary. It did not. The author has expended a great deal of effort into capturing the essence of a woman who single-handedly revolutionized the concept of fashion magazines.

The book simultaneously chronicles the events in Ms. Vreeland's life among the international glamor set and showcases her astounding professional achievements. Dwight's prose is so evocative that we feel that we are in the Vogue office or at a fashion shoot, while Ms Vreeland makes her trademark dramatic pronouncements with theatrical gestures. As madcap as her ideas seemed, they captured the imagination of the fashionistas and people in the industry, sky-rocketing sales of the avant garde Vogue (previously a staid, niche publication).

Ms.Vreeland comes across as someone who approached everything she did with wholehearted passion. Shown in the book are photographs of Ms.Vreeland with her suavely attired husband and sons, with friends, models and designers. In every photograph we see her totally in the moment, a larger-than-life but also very human diva. She was a genuine original, a woman of extraordinary talent and vision. It would be hard-put to do justice to her life and spirit, but Dwight has stepped up to this demanding task. Bravo!

I too, waited on pins and needles as Ms. Dwight's book was delayed and delayed. I had preordered it and it was a considerable wait. It was worth the wait. I bought it and read it in a couple of sittings, loved it so much I bought copies and sent to dear friends. One sent me a thank you card which read "WHY DON'T YOU hire a jet plane and fly to see me so I can thank you for this wonderful (struck out) NO, DELICIOUS book. Id' say that pretty much sums it up.

It was great to read about her lower profile, but still dramatic homelife. Her husband was equally style conscious and quite the fashion plate himself. Their children grew up remarkably well adjusted. I wish we had more Diana Vreelands in this world. She spurned a half loaf. She did it her way!

You will love this book!

She was,is and still to this day considered an Icon in the Fashion industry.

Diana Vreeland was born homely into a family where beauty was rife. So what did she do? She invented herself! This is the most important lesson on style that she has bequeathed us: we are not born with style, we can acquire it. Diana Vreeland is an example of self-improvement, of how to do the most of your poor features and blow yourself up into a lady through the sheer force of your uniqueness. She taught herself poise and class and strived hard to render the world around her more beautiful in her personal, exquisite way. Apart from that, she led a very interesting life. From long sojourns in Europe as a child, where she had the chance to attend performances of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes to our times, where she hobnobbed with the rich and famous and was privy to the backtages of the fashion world as editor of Vogue magazine, in this all-out, thoroughly researched and profusely illustrated biography we get to know better this inspiring woman whose positive outlook on life and strong personality make her a role model of style to women from all walks of life. Very entertaining reading and very thought-provoking.

Immediately after finishing D.V., I ordered this book. I will warn you that reading both of these books will make you absolutely besotted with the divine Mrs. Vreeland. On the face of it, it doesn't seem possible that a book mainly about someone's professional life could hold so much interest. You are happily wrong if you thought that. There is just something about Diana V that gets under your skin and works it's way into your psyche, until you are absolutely mad about the woman. She is absolutely fascinating, entrancing, and possibly one of the most aggravating women of all times. But that is all part of her considerable charm. Even years after her death, she continues to fascinate. The story itself is first rate, and the stuff of dreams and motion pictures. Homely girl marries handsome man, lives beyond her means, and becomes one of the most influential people in the worlds of fashion and culture. I read the book in two days, but the day I recieved it, I spent a good hour devouring photographs. The one quibble I had with Vreeland's autobiography was that there weren't enough pictures. There are almost enough in this wonderful book to satisfy even the most diehard Vreeland fanatic. And oddly enough, the writing and pictures are more personal and informative than in Vreeland's book. She influended nearly all the fashion people of her time and beyond. I am only sorry that I finished the book so quickly. I would have been happier had the book been longer and not found it the least bit tedious. Despite the fact that many of the pictures are from definite time periods, you can see people today that dress the same way. Vreeland's taste was impeccable, classic, timeless, and iconoclastic. She knew what suited her, and she knew what she suited. What a fabulous character. Vreeland is like a fine wine in that she grows better with time. The presentation is wonderful. When you open the box, you see a bright red book that almost looks like a lacquered box. Then after you sigh with pleasure over visual impact, you open the covers, and are lost in her fascinating world. This book is worth any price you have to pay for it. I suppose some people might consider this a coffee table book, but I wouldn't. I would never put this out where people would see it, because then they would want to borrow it, and that is never going to happen! Engaging, well written, and perfectly executed. I am going to see what other Vreeland books are available. Too much is never enough of this delightful woman. Her friends and acquaintances would fill a who's who of American culture in the 20th century. While certainly not classically beautiful, she was attractive, and her face had great charm, intelligence, and nobility. She was vain, theatrical, and always the little girl who revered beauty and created her own instintice and personal beauty. It will last forever. Her mother told her that she was a very ugly little girl, and when I read that, I wanted to shake her nasty conceited mother until her teeth fell out. Definitely that incident shaped Diana for life, and probably went a long distance towards making her what she was. But all the same, her mother was a monster, and I can not think of her with less than contempt. Vreeland herself noted that it took her many years to come to terms with her mother. I applaud her for making the effort, and being gracious and truthful at the same time. That's a difficult feat at best. What a wonderful, delightful woman. While living a very public life, she was an intensely private person. A delightful enigma. Nobody will ever know the real Diana Vreeland, but this book will help get you as far as you can go.

I think this is a great reference book to have for anybody who is interested in the world of philosophy and religion. However its only shortcoming is there is more coverage on western civilization than others. It is understandable in any case because of the great difficulties involved in covering all civilizations. I hope the future expanded editions may remedy this to some extent. I am very glad to have a copy of it.

The ordered book arrived on time in good condition. Thanks.

When I am bored with everything, this is one of the books I like to pick up and browse through. There's so much material here, I'm bound to find something interesting or even inspiring.

This is one of the most readable books that I own, which seems out of character for a "Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion" but it is very true. I can sit down with this book for hours at any given time. I think a big part of that is the excellent cross-reference system, so you can start anywhere and then see the linkages between different thoughts; which means that every reading of the book is like a journey. Another great feature of the book is that it covers both ideas and the people who forwarded them in the linking system so you can start with a study on epistemology and then end up ranging over half the book because you link to the people with the ideas and then back to the other ideas that the particular philospher had.

The drawbacks to such an approach are clear. After all, the book has to have some limitation to its length and it is covering many authors who wrote many thousands of pages on their own ideas, so the articles have to do quite a bit of summing up. Since it is absurd to expect deeper coverage from such a book anyway, I feel just fine highly recommending it.

I have been using this book for years, but I never had to learn anything that is in this book, being so amateur in philosophy that I don't have to trouble myself with the ideas for which most of the people in this book have become famous. I have usually expected things to be much simpler than the information which this book has to offer. It has nice definitions of some Greek and Latin words that I find meaningful, once I know what they are supposed to be about. On the Hebrew source of the word "Gehenna," the place used for "the city dump of Jerusalem" where fires burned constantly, the extra information, "according to tradition, [first-born] children had been sacrificed there to the god Moloch," provides a lot of insight into its use in The New Testament, where the King James Version often uses "hell."

For years, this book was my main source of information on Giordano Bruno (1548-1600). I suspect that it is right about "he was condemned to death, and burned alive in the Campo Dei Fiori on February 17, 1600." I have tried to make sense of a few of Bruno's books, like THE EXPULSION OF THE TRIUMPHANT BEAST, but I'm inclined to accept the list of main ideas in this dictionary as the sum of his accomplishments. Dying for the idea that "The universe is infinite" makes more sense than some of his monads, and "To consider reality in its multiplicity" is an achievement that I can appreciate.

On the other hand, the entry for Paul Tillich (1886-1965) illustrates a theologian's ability to distinguish "between three forms of reasoning~heteronymous, autonomous, and theonomous." I thought heteronymous would be pretty good, but Tillich thought that even "Autonomous reason takes its principles from within, but thereby reveals itself as vacuous and tautological." Being able to accept that Tillich would say that is part of being able to appreciate what this book is all about. I'm not saying that these guys are always right about anything.

The front of this book says it is, "A Superb Book" It does not lie. It further states this book should be considered "A Classic of Civil War fiction." It is that. It ranks right up there with "The Black Flower" by Howard Bahr and Cold Mountain," by Charles Frazier. A love story set amidst the ravages of war, it is a masterpiece of emotional reading. for the Civil War buff, a must read, for everyone else, an excellent book to spend some time with. A Hallmark card of 300 pages. Get yourself something to drink and set yourself down in a nice, comfortable chair.

Philip Lee Williams' poignant Civil War novel about the beginning of the 1864 Atlanta campaign is a classic. Charlie Merrill, the central character, is everyman. He is the essence of THE Confederate soldier late in the Civil War when defeat was known to be inevitable yet duty, honor, and country demands to soldier on. Mr. Williams portrayal of the battles are historically accurate and well done, yet he uses his poetic license to examine the psyche of the common confederate soldier in the total context of those horrific times. Sad yes, but oh so glorious in a spiritual sort of way. The horrors that young Merrill sees and experiences are all too graphic yet he continues on wrapped in the friendship of his comrades.
The story is really a 3 part examination of Charlie Merrill's life during those difficult days. Mr. Williams artfully weaves the younger Merrill's life with the horrendous fighting of the 1864 Atlanta campaign, and his older life 50 years later when he is to give a keynote address to his hometown about the Fall of Civil War Atlanta. Charlie Merrill is a complex character that is slowly developed by Mr. Williams. Charlie is everyman of those chaotic times. He loves, cries, grows, and eventually understands the meaning of it all. Times change but memories endure.
Overall an amazing book. Outstanding character development in all respects. The complex relationships between Charlie and others in the book are well developed and although sad represent the circle of life in all its profoundness.
No gratuitous sex, language, or violence. The battle scenes are well done and not too graphic but necessary to the story.
Highly recommended, especially to those interested in the Civil War. A superb novel that anyone would enjoy. Good job Mr. Williams.

A book most readers would enjoy. If your looking for "The Red Badge Of Courage" or "Killer Angels" you may wish to look elsewhere. Not enough battle scenes/army life in this book though.

While young Charlie Merrill can hit a target 2,000 yards away with a Whitlock rifle, he is an unlikely soldier. We see him before the war as a frail, sickly teenager who is well-schooled in poetry and classical literature, living in one of the many North Georgia towns that is not altogether convinced in the wisdom of secession, much less war. We see Charlie Merrill in 1914 as his home town prepares to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the battle of Atlanta, thinking back on the loss and the sacrifice and the love that tied them together. And those of us who have walked the old works of Kennesaw Mountain where hikers now commune with a quiet wood and families spread out blankets and picnics on the warm grass of summer afternoons, see Charlie Merrill in in the contrasting bloody hell of 1864 rendered here in graphic detail. This novel received the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction in 2004. It is a well-deserved honor, for A Distant Flame stands very near the top of the 80,000 books published about the civil war.

A literary Civil War novel that alternates between Charlie Merrill's grim existence as a sharpshooter in the Army of Tennessee, his sickly but love-touched boyhood and his old age.

I have very mixed feelings about this novel and I note from the other blurbs and reviews it's gotten that my opinion is a somewhat contrarian one.

I certainly have no issue with the research, which appears to have been painstaking. I found, though, that my engagement with the story wavered many times as I read. I honestly can't decide if this is a significant literary work told in a poetic style or if it's essentially sentimental in its themes and given to purple prose in its execution. I had trouble with the narrative's total humorlessness, with the saintly profundity of every character, with the endless repetition of variants on "Slavery was wrong." Yeah, obviously slavery was wrong. Every modern reader, hopefully, realizes that. But I'm not really convinced that the nineteenth-century Georgian character Charlie Merrill would realistically feel so unequivocally about it, and, as ever, the statement would have worked better shown than told. The race relations shown in the novel are all actually idyllic.

And along those same lines, I'm tired of reading about Confederate characters who don't believe in what they're fighting for. I think sophisticated modern readers can deal with protagonists who are fighting for a variety of reasons, some of which we do not consider today to be good. Merrill's lack of commitment to any aspect of his cause (whether resisting invasion or states' rights or his comrades, except for his single companion Duncan, or slavery) actually makes his battlefield actions more, not less, morally questionable for me. It severely undermines the quality of moral spokesmanship that I think the novel is trying to give him.

I was more moved by the failed-romance aspect of the story than I was by the war aspect, which is unusual for me.

I think this would probably appeal to readers who enjoyed books like Cold Mountain more than to readers who enjoy, say, David Poyer's Civil War novels. As for its overall quality, I'm just not sure.

This book was great. Good story line and char. I would recomend this book to friends and will read it again.

Well I just got done reading this book and must issue the following warning to those who read this.DO NOT READ THIS BOOK IF YOU ARE: a)trying to go to sleep. This book will upset your sleep patterns and you will regret this.b)lacking any form of a sense of Humor. If you don't got it, you won't get it.c)under any way shape or form driving.It could kill you and that's not good.d)taking any medication or suffering from recent surgery in the abdominal area. Too much laghfter could split stiches or cause a reaction with medication. If your not suffering from any of the afor mentioned things then read on.
One prepare for many puns.Lots of puns. Some like to hide in wait and ambush you, while others stir themselves over a long period of time. Prepare for a massive assault on anything and everything. Nothing is safe from being used. Even Fed Ex gets hit at one point. Enjoy this book and have much fun for several hours/days/weeks or however long it takes to fininsh.

At first I was daunted by the task of reading this brick that deforested half of Equador, but as soon as I started reading the book I could not put it down. I knew I would enjoy it from the moment I saw those first three quotes: two from Shakespeare - The Tempest and Hamlet - and one from Monty Python's flying circus: "And now for something completely different." This was my type of humor. And as for humor this is probably the best book to read for that. That is if you like puns. Wm. Simmons knows how to use the right amount of puns, and doesn't go overboard, though I am sure that is tempting. As I read I was drawn into the world of the game and of the story. Part of the reason I loved it was because of the characters who were believeable and lovable... and in some cases not so loveable. I wanted to know what would happen to them. I almost cried when... well, that would give some stuff away. The story was the best part. I lost myself in those books (though in the middle of math that might not be a good thing) and read them constantly. After I finished each book, it would seem like I was waking up from a dream, or another world. And then I fell right back into the dream in the next book. Wm. Simmons is a wonderful story teller, and those who read this book will not be disappointed if they are looking for a book that has a serious plot with lotsa laughs.

I bought a first printing (only Printing) of "In a Net of Dreams" at an airport magazine stand. Little did I suspect it would be my all-time favorite book. Only tape holds my poor battered copy together.

So when I discovered this compilation, I had to have it. And it was worth it.

Sc-fi, Fantasy, Comedy, Drama, pop-culture references, and bad puns, this series has it all. And wraps it up with engaging, well developed characters.

Why are you still reading this? Order this book now. And pray with me that there will be another sequel.

Wm. Mark Simmons, the fastest pun in the West, is back, and he's done it again! "Woman of His Dreams" crowns the Dreamland Chronicles trilogy after a long wait by his fans. I have loved and laughed through all of the adventures of Ripley and his cohorts, and this latest installment is the best yet. Simmons' trademarks are strong characters, thought-provoking philosophical twists of plot, lots of action, and truck-loads of wit. Even though familiar with his style, I still was not prepared for the finale. I found myself watery-eyed at the last page, and sad to see it end. This is a book I have given to friends and had them call me in the middle of, just to tell me it's the first time in years they've laughed out loud while reading a book. Simmons may or may not have screenplay experience, but his novels read like movies, extremely visual. Now...if only Spielberg would read them...