Pennsylvania Books

Born in 1959, I was going through my sexual liberation and gender identity issues as a teen in the 1970s. As a music lover and ultimate fan of rock, my "bible" was Rolling Stone Magazine. Even though I read it cover to cover every month, I never felt completely linked and connected to it. I couldn't put my finger on it. This book explains why perfectly. Jann Weiner was a classic male chauvinist pig, and may still be today. Even though the revolution was happening in the 60s and 70s, he was as old school boy network as they came, and held women down whenever possible, it seems.

This book is not all about Weiner, but about so much more. This book has informed me immensely on the role of women in the subculture of rock and roll. I relate to the groupies she writes about, and the virtues of such writers as Lillian Roxon and Ellen Willis, as well as the author herself.

My groupie experiences were so similar to those of Margaret Moser, because I was in a smaller town (Nashville) and was able to get to artists on a much more uncrowded level, and be friendly with them as an "equal" of sorts because of my skills as a photographer.

I'll leave the more academic reviews for others more eloquent, but I LOVED THIS BOOK. I feel empowered and energized to proudly let my freak groupie flag FLY! Great book, Lisa!!!

It's hard to believe that Hildegard of Bingen, world-wide hit phenomenon of the mystic nuns tradition, has only become widely popular since the 1960's. Now here is the first biography to do justice to her contemporary and arguably her soul-mate: Elisabeth von Schonau. This book puts our times in a great perspective, since Elisabeth, the spiritual daughter of Hildegard who was her friend and confidant, was actually more popularly received than Hildegard in those early crusader's times. Elisabeth's style was more dramatic and apocalyptic; she may have suffered from the lack of the freedoms that metaphorical readings of scripture can afford. However, she and Hildegard were curiously united at a distance in many profound ways, including the venerating of St. Ursula (Elisabeth was the expert here), and opposing the Cathars, who would have had the exemplary lives of the saints obliterated. This book is unique, well-organized, and all attentions it may receive would be we! ! ll-deserved.

A thrilling look at the mind behind the poems. The author makes the poetry of Emily Dickinson more accessible to the average reader with her insights to the life and time of this enchanting woman. A must read for any lover of poetry!

INDEX to the Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750-1930 by William Wade Hinshaw.

DearREADERS, "Totally thrilled" describes my feelings as I received my copy of the index to our library's copy of William Wade Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy 1750-1930. This past summer I discovered I have Welsh and English Quaker ancestry in Chester County, PA. (Merion on the Welsh Tract.) Prior to this I'd had no personal experience doing Quaker Research.

When I asked others about Quaker Research, they raved about Mr. Hinshaw's six volume compilation of Friend's Monthly Meeting records listing births, deaths, marriages and removals. That last term refers to entries in the church books when Society of Friends members moved from one area to another. They were removed from the old Monthly Meeting membership in order to join the new group.

We're fortunate to have Mr. Hinshaw's complete set of Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy at our local public library. As I uncover new names to research, I'll be turning again and again to Henshaw's Encyclopedia of Quaker Genealogy.

From the publisher: "William Wade Hinshaw's renowned Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy, originally published between 1936 and 1950. Containing approximately 500,000 entries.. each volume ha[s] a separate surname index..."

"Almost no class of records, religious or secular, has been kept as meticulously as the monthly meeting records of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). The oldest such records span three centuries of American history and testify to a general movement of population that extended from New England and the Middle Atlantic states southward to Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia; then west to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The importance of these records cannot be overstated. Not until recently have the vital statistics of Quakers been recorded in civil record offices.

Thus, for more than two centuries, the only vital records identifying these people are to be met with in the Quaker records themselves. Fortunately, the monthly meeting records contain extensive lists of births, marriages, and deaths, as well as details of the removal of members from one meeting to another. (The monthly meeting, during which vital statistics are recorded, is in fact, a business meeting.)"

Painstakingly developed from these monthly meeting records, Hinshaw's Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy is the magnum opus of Quaker genealogy. In its production, thousands of records were located and abstracted into a uniform and intelligible system of notation. The data gathered in these volumes of the Encyclopedia are arranged by meeting, then alphabetically by family name, and chronologically thereunder. Volume 1: NORTH CAROLINA Volume II: NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA Volume III: NEW YORK Volume IV: OHIO Volume V: OHIO Volume VI: VIRGINIA"

If as the publisher suggests, 50% of our pre-1850 US ancestors were Quaker, than every researcher needs a personal copy of the index, and every genealogy library needs the six volume Encyclopedia!

After a brilliant and extensive analysis of the history of the world economy after World War II and the US-Japanese trade war, Robert Kuttner sketches the challenges facing the US and its economy after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The end of the Cold War was not only the end of Soviet dominance in the East, but also of US dominance in the West.

Laissez-faire, a doctrine saying that market economies, when left alone, are essentially self-regulating, is not the solution, because world economies are heavily influenced by state intervention. Governments have foreign-policy goals that are inextricably intertwined with economic ones, have strategic trade policies intended to assist their national industries and have national social contracts that cannot be left to markets.

Even the US system is seen as ad hoc mercantilism with weapons procurements, farm price subsidies, quotas and various restraints extracted from trading parties.
The US call for free trade is made a mockery by the 'socialist' huge US military and intelligence budgets (now 50% of the total US budget).
A policy of laissez-faire would ultimately lead to the (real) impotence of a (would-be) omnipotence.

The problems facing the US are multiple and deep: low savings rate, spotty educational and training system, decaying infrastructure, military bias in governmental research and technology, speculative capital markets, dysfunctional system of labor-management relations, corporate manager's short run consciousness, ideological confusion about military and economic security.

Robert Kuttner's proposed remedies seem obvious: a higher savings rate, capital markets for the long run, a competitive workforce, public investments (not military), regulation (not deregulation), healthcare for everybody, more government instead of no government.

But what are we seeing today: the savings rate is catastrophic (as well as foreign debt); the short run perspective in capital markets is more stressing than ever; the cost of education is prohibitive; corporate loyalty is seen as a weakness (Jack Welch); military investments are higher than ever; the Kyoto protocols were rejected; the number of US citizens without healthcare protection is at an all time high; the credo of the free market became a State religion.

Robert Kuttner's very sensible propositions were a call in the desert.
Will would-be omnipotence become real impotence?

A very necessary book and a must read.

Engels' Condition of the Working Class in England is one of the great studies of capitalism, and initiated the early Marx into the study of political economy. These essays tell the tale of the endgame, the fate of the vehicle created by Marx so soon frittered away in the period of Engels, in the ambiguities of Hegelianism, the dialectic as science, and the dangers or blessings of revisionism. Echoes of Norman Levine's The Tragic Deception force the question of Engels betraying the fine edge of the original theoretical Marxism, fair or not, and an egregious issue to those who find the real and deeper flaws in Marx's foundations. This version, however of the seminal Marx and the reifying Engels does not quite match the deeper difficulties, among them the obvious dangers of chaotification in making crypto-Hegelianism into the principles of a mass movement, in age also beset by the worst kind of positivist scientism.
One essay, Engels, Lukacs, and Kant's Thing in Itself, unwittingly and quite poignantly suggests the prophecy of the unstable post-Hegelian philosophic orphan spawning a dialectical tragedy that befell the whole project, in the era of Bernstein,and then Lenin.

The author and photographer of this new guide to the Ephrata Cloister show their love and understanding of this unusual historic site. John Bradley does a wonderful job of capturing tons of history and the flavor of this religious experiment in a few, well-crafted words. The photographer, Craig A. Benner, obviously selected only the best of a lifetime of great photographs that take you to all corners of the Cloister and capture the distinctive look of the medieval-style architecture and peaceful atmosphere. There's nothing in my extensive collection of books on this site that captures the experience of this unique place as well as this book. Short of a visit there's nothing I'd recommend more... and then, the book would serve you well with it's map and site guide.

During the last ten years, radical American feminists have created a new conception of the life force, Eros. In Eros and Power, Haunani-Kay Trask explores the substance of this "feminist Eros," locating its origins in women's everyday experiences as erotic/reproductive objects while pointing to its expression as a utopian vision of the future.

The alternative vision of the "feminist Eros" challenges the fundamentals of patriarchy by offering a feminist conception of power and love based on the life-protecting bond with the mother and, by extension, with other women.

Eros and Power will be of value to scholars interested in feminism, women's history and literature, political theory, and American social and political movements.
--- from book's back cover

Farley's topic, a theory of knowledge, sounds dull, but Eros for the Other is thought-provoking, eloquent, mind-transforming. With her previous book, Tragic Vision, she is making me believe she is the greatest young theologian in America.

Reid's philosophy was very influential in the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, his fame declined. But contemporary analytic philosophers recognize his contribution, and Reid is again very influential. Reid is a philosopher of historical importance and contemporary relevance.
This work is an unsurpassed philosophical masterpiece. It may contain more truth than any other classic of philosophy. Reid's style is more beautiful than any other classic of philosophy that I've read. Reid surpasses Hume in grace, clarity and truth.
This is Reid's most extensive and systematic work. Reid develops a detailed account of human mental powers, including perception, memory, conception, abstraction, judgment and reasoning. He responds to skepticism by rejecting the theory of ideas and introducing his own account of perception. He has something brilliant and original to say about almost every topic in philosophy. Reid's method is characterized by careful empirical observation along with keen philosophical analysis and argument.
This edition is the best edition of Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man, based on the only edition published during Reid's lifetime. It includes a very brief introduction, footnotes, index and Reid's manuscript lectures on the soul and afterlife. Every serious scholar and student of Reid will want this edition.
Unfortunately, this edition is expensive, at least at the time of writing this review. Lehrer and Beanblossom's single volume edition of Reid's three major works is cheaper, but is an abridgement. There are also the old editions of Hamilton and the edition of Brody.
In his book "Thomas Reid", Lehrer conveys a story about the great twentieth century philosopher, Roderick Chisholm. A busy man who was interested in reading one serious book in philosophy contacted Chisholm for a recommendation. After some reflection, Chisholm recommended that the man read Reid. Chisholm's advice was surely correct, and I strongly recommend this critical edition for all serious scholars and students of Reid.