Notre Dame Books

The book is brilliant. The caracthers are complex, except for that La Esmeralda, the city of Paris is beautiful describe and the chapter about architecture and litetarute is fascinating. Victor Hugo's style of writing is elegant and his sense of humour, sometimes really ironic, is unique.
The only low point of the book is La Esmeralda caracther. She is shallow, the typical "please rescue me" heroine and i kept asking myself praticatly the whole time i was reading it: HOW CAN SOMEONE BE SO STUPID???????? And by the end of the book, every time she said "my phoebus" i felt like slaping her. And i didn't think her love for "my phoebus" was bliding her so she couldn't see what he was really about. I think she was that dumb and stupid to not see what was right in front of her. Love isn't blind. Love is the opposite. That's why Quasimodo's love for her is so great. He is aware she doesn't love him, she doesn't even like him, she just keep on thinking about "my phoebus", he sees all that and still he loves her. That's love. What she felt was due to her stupidity.
When la esmeralda, hiding from the people who wants to hang her, hears phoebus' voice and yells "my phoebus" (it seemed that the only sentence she could say most of the book), and is found out, i thought: "she deserves to be hung, how can someone be so dumb??????".
I 'don't give 5 stars because of her.

Forget singing hunchbacks and chivalrous captains, dancing on rooftops and merry parades, and embrace the real Notre Dame of Paris. Poor, deaf Quasimodo, doggedly loyal to his vicious and stern master, delighting in his pealing bells and as flawed as every other character in the book makes a frightful counterpoint to the beautifully innocent La Esmeralda. The tale does not begin with them but events spiral around these two in a vortex of complicated plots and duplicitious people, drawing closer and closer to finally end with the two unfortunate souls. It is a single-sided Romeo and Juliet, a daisy chain of ill-conceived romance and misbegotten loves that ensanare everyone they touch. Every character has a story, from Gringoire the poet of the streets to Claude Frollo, the very model of severe ecclesiastical virtue and his miscreant brother, and even the city itself is described in occasionally agonizingly minute detail. They are at times loveable, at times odious, and forever utterly enthalling.

Victor Hugo, the French poet and writer, who wished to change how novels were written and read, wrote The Hunchback of Notre-Dame in the beginning of his career. In contrast to Les Miserables, which is his more celebrated work, and was written several decades after the Notre-dame novel, the present piece is not only laced with more humor and romance but also stands out as a piece where the young poet in Hugo pours out a ravishing range of similes. Just for the pure magic of his metaphors and similes that make all his descriptions so poetic, so powerful Notre-Dame is worth reading.

The story itself reads like a fanciful movie, an ugly hunchback, Quasimodo is brought up by a Priest Frollo, the archdeacon of Notre-dame. The hunchback is hence attached like a dog to his master to him. The English title of Hunchback of Notre-dame is a misnomer, for the original is called Notre-dame de Paris, and English title lets us assume that it is the story of Hunchback as hero, while the original title asserts it is story set in Notre-dame and has characters who reside in it, or live in its shadows. The Priest Calude Frollo, leaving his pursuit of science and philosophy meanders to a path of unrelenting lust for the gypsy dancer, Esmeralda. A writer, Pierre Grigorne, gets into a set of bizarre circumstances, where a token marriage attaches him to the gypsy. Phoebus, captain of King's Archers is the object of the affection of Esmeralda herself.

Besides these characters, there is a madwoman who lives in confinement, pining for her lost child, who was carried off by gypsies, and hates Esmeralda. There is the goat Djali, who performs tricks with Esmeralda, Jehan who is Claude Frollo's irreligious brother, King Louis IV - who interacts with Claude on issues of science, and the most important character, who lurks like an existence all though, is the Notre-Dame itself. The romances criss cross through a series of interesting episodes and drama, and that forms the crux of the story that I won't divulge here. Readers will benefit by discovering surprises and mystery for themselves, in process getting enchanted by a story that has been a popular read for centuries now.

What makes this novel a masterpiece, besides the poetic descriptions, is
Hugo's description of the cathedral of Notre-dame and the city of Paris, and his discussion of how the arrival of printing press signaled an end to the importance as architecture as the expressive art of intellectuals. The views of the author expressed in these pages and pages of delightful reading provide the reader not only with historical and architectural perspective on the buildings in Paris, but also gives us a word image of buildings, roofs, rooms, carvings, modernism, and more. In his commentaries and comparisons between writing and printing as form of expression in contrast to architecture, Hugo unmasks a wide array of issues that arrival of every new media (TV, Cinema, Internet, Digital Photography) bring. How existing precepts and concepts are revised, how adaptations occur, how each age has its own expression through any of these means- and all Hugo says so passionately about architecture or literature allows us to feel the essence of why we make monuments of stones or words in the first place.

Victor Hugo had great skill in developing characters, and describing their lives over an extended period of time, capturing how situations and people led to certain choices, behavioral changes and thought process of each. His ability of doing this, in a very detached manner, where narrative is like a camera floating into a room, and staying long enough for a distant observer to watch and identify traits of every person present there, makes him a great novelist. The novel, like all classic reads, looks formidable in size, but can be read at a formidable pace, especially after the first half of the novel is over.

Besides the merits of the novelist, and the beauty of his wordplay, the story itself is a charming one, and has been brought to screen versions many times. Reading Hugo's two major works allows one to get the same keen insight into French society of the respective times, as does Thackeray and Dickens novels for England and Tolstoy in Russia. Reading any of these masters takes time, but trust me, it is worth the patience and the effort. Recommended highly.

If you peruse through all the reviews of this book, you will notice that not one review is less than five stars. There is a reason for that. This is a phenomal book. As many have pointed out, to call it "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is a fallcy; Quasimodo is NOT the main character; he is barely even a secondary character and I might even go as far as to call him a tertiary character. Esmerelda is really the main character. Hugo wrote the book to attempt to get Paris to restore Notre Dame cathederal and, as many reviewers have already pointed out, the cathedral really is the focal point. But the story is phenomenal. So dark and terribly sad. Hollywood has tended to butcher this story. Not one version tells the story as Hugo intended. Forget all the movie versions and just read the book. The experience is MUCH richer and MUCH more rewarding intellectually than any of them.

Victor Hugo never did anything by halves. His NOTRE-DAME DE PARIS begins as a tour of Gothic Paris and ends as a monumental and melodramatic Grand Guignol. Needless to say, all the film versions focus on the wrong character: Quasimodo is by no means the main focus of the novel, and the novel certainly is misnamed when called THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. The hero, if there is one, is the cathedral itself, brooding over Renaissance Paris like a horror from another age.

The only character who is not not overdramatized appears only once in an unforgettable vignette at the very end: Louis XI, King of France, who has been called by the historian Philippe de Commynes "The Universal Spider." Louis; his grasping barber, Olivier le Daim; and his grim hatchet man, Tristan l'Hermite are unforgettable and more sharply drawn than any other Hugo characters I can recall.

John Sturrock's translation is well done except for his occasional inclusion of an archaic term without footnote or any other comment. Most notable are two items of apparel I still cannot visualize, namely bycokets and actons. Yet every Latin phrase, and there are many spoken by Pierre Gringoire and the student Jehan Frollo, is faithfully translated.

Also useful would have been a map of Louis XI's Paris. I was frequently confused about where the action was taking place, because most if not all of the place names were later superseded by others.

I would venture to say that no one reading this novel will ever forget it. I first read it more than twenty years ago, and it still sprang into my mind as sharply-etched as before.

This edition is unabridged. Although Hugo sometimes tended to go off on tangents, I could not think of a single chapter I would axe. Even where it does not add to the plot, it adds to the atmosphere of a city in which life and love were cheap, and no infraction was ever left unpunished by the most dire means possible.

My friend Mary Sue sent me Precious Bane when I was very ill, hoping it would get me reading again. She was right.

The time of the tale is not clear. It was written in 1926 but has a Hardy-like tone which would place it in the mid-to-late 19th century. The location is Shropshire, England. You can reference a Shropshire word list on the Internet, but after a while I preferred to let the dialect flow over me and learn some of the meanngs the way we first learn a language.

The premise is that it is customary in Shropshire to hire a sin-eater, usually someone poor, when someone dies, who will take over the sins of the dead person. The Sarn family is too poor even to do this when the father dies, so the son, Gideon, offers to be the sin-eater in return for taking ownership of the family farm. He works the farm with his sister Prue.

The second plot is a love story. Prue is a woman with a hare lip, a beautiful body and character above reproach, who is struck by lightning with love when she first sees Kester, an itinerant weaver.

Other scenes of interest take place during market which introduce various characters, reveal through gossip the attitudes about them and explain customs.

I read that Precious Bane is tobacco, but it seemed rather to refer to foxglove, which takes an important turn in the plot.

The writing is excellent. The characters are true. Some readers compared this book to Cold Comfort Farm. I have read Cold Comfort Farm, and although I enjoyed it didn't find it to be similar, as the heroine is a flapper in the 20's.

The only thing that might have perfected the book would be to liken Gideon's sins specifically(he had many) to the sins of his father, which she didn't do. The lack of detail didn't seem to detract much, as the point was explained at the beginning.



Thank you, Mary Sue.

The story is this: A young woman, Prudence Sarn, is born with a harelip, which makes her subject to superstition and ridicule from the small-minded country folk who surround her in early 20th-centry Shropshire, England. Because of her deformity, Prue is told again and again that she will never marry; her brother, Gideon, more or less conscripts Prue into serving him on the family farm, telling her that if she follows his plan that she will at least have money and respectability someday. Prue follows along with this plan, envisioning the day that she will have enough money to make herself "beautiful as a fairy" - a dream that takes on concentrated exigency in Prue's mind when she falls in love with the handsome weaver Kester Woodseaves. Prue thinks that no man could ever love her as she is, "cursed and hare-shotten," and when one tragedy after another strikes the Sarns, she wonders if true happiness will ever touch her life.

It's rare that a book moves me to tears, but in the course of reading this novel I grew so attached to Prue that I felt as if she were speaking to me as a sister. The delicate, simple distinctions of this story ring true in every word; it was as though the secrets, disappointments, and beauties of the English country were visible in the spaces between words on the page. At first the language, written in vernacular of the time, was hard to read, but once I grew accustomed to it I was transported to a remote and seemingly miraculous place where Prue discovered and treasured profound beauty in unlikely places. The same can be said of discovering Prue herself, whose compassion, wit, love, and faithfulness shine in everything she does. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone - it is undoubtedly a story about love, but not in the conventional rom-com or Harlequin-paperback way that's so prevalent nowadays. This is a story about strength of spirit, about unconditional goodness in the face of cruelty, mockery, and calamity. If that's not a real "love story," I don't know what is.

This is one of those rare stories that seeps into your soul and leaves a lasting impression. The language itself, while a bit difficult at first becomes a song you want to sing and long to hear it spoken. The story, sometimes achingly sad and violent is ultimately triumphantly romantic - with a sequence of events that leaves the reader breathless and yearning for more. Shortly after reading Precious Bane, I was lucky enough to discover a small theatre group in Chicago performing the stage version. My husband and I were in a packed theatre of about 30 people, where I sat front and center with the actors not more than two feet in front of me. Knowing the story line as I did, I made a spectacle of myself sobbing through the second half of the play. I'm sure the actors were gratified that they had such a strong effect on their audience. Suffice it to say, no one who picks up this book will be disappointed, nor will they ever forget it.

Once in awhile, you run across a book that's like coming home, that places you in a persona and setting that is hazily familiar. Mary Webb's Precious Bane does that for me. Set in rural England in the early 19th century, it tells the story of Prudence Sarn, a young woman whose mother encountered a hare while she was pregnant with Prue. The baby was born with a harelip.
For those who knew her, it meant that Prue would never marry--what man, after all, would want to kiss her? For those who did not know her, it was an excuse to make up tales that she "roamed the country at night in the body of a hare" and that she could curse with a look. For Prue, it was reason to hide from the man she loved, the weaver Kester Woodseaves.
Prue worked like a slave for her brother Gideon's dream of wealth and power in exchange for his promise of money to have her affliction cured when they were rich. But Prue took moments to appreciate the lilies on the lake's edge, the molting of the dragonflies, and the heady scent of apples in the attic where she retreated to write in her diary.
Mary Webb (1881-1927) lived most of her life in Shropshire County, England, where she and her father wandered the hills and lanes, a pastime she continued after he died. Later, Webb--who was also a poet--enhanced her stories with the naturalism and mysticism she learned from her father and the land.
Shropshire English is heavily influenced by the Welsh language, creating a lively and colorful dialect that Webb has distilled in her novels. It takes some getting used to, but once you catch the rhythm, it's hard to let go. Webb's prose will sing in your mind days after the book is closed.
She also used local traditions such as telling the bees when someone has died, and the employment of a Sin Eater, who, for a fee, consumes the sins of the dead person in a glass of wine and a crust of bread. When Gideon's and Prue's father died, Gideon agreed to eat the sins of his father if his mother, who was upset because her husband "had died in his wrath, with all his sins upon him," turned the farm over to him.
But it was the people she met on her wanderings and trips to the market where she sold flowers and produce from her garden that proved Mary Webb's greatest resource. Her novels are enriched by minor characters like Isaiah in Seven for a Secret, who said little but "Ha!" That one syllable was enough to make him a wealthy farmer because people felt they had been found out and out of guilt gave him their best prices. Sarah, the housekeeper in The House in Dormer Forest, broke the favorite china and vases belonging to whomever she was angry with.
Mary Webb's protagonists make her novels shine. Hazel Woodus in Gone to Earth seems more animal than human; she is as wild as her beloved Foxy. Deborah Arden, in The Golden Arrow, loves deeply and totally with all her soul. Robert Rideout, in Seven for a Secret, composes music and poetry while he herds sheep. Prudence Sarn is Webb's greatest achievement as she brings the reader to care passionately about Prue .
The novelist was able to draw from within herself to create Prue Sarn because she suffered most of her life from the facial disfigurement brought on by Grave's Disease.
Precious Bane is a masterpiece. Mary Webb's other novels do not reach that pinnacle--they are too didactic and sometimes simplistic, but they are well worth reading as they poetically explore love, passion, and social norms.

This is an amazing book which should be read by all those who enjoy British literature. It is a touching, romantic story. The writing is sensual in that there are sounds, smells, sights, tastes and textures to be experienced in its textual descriptions. The natural setting almost becomes a "character" in and of itself because you could not take the story out of the beautiful, natural, country setting Webb creates.
Look at other reviews to understand the plot. However, it truly doesn't make sense to try to recount it. Be patient when waiting for the "hook", when you won't be able to put the book down, it will come. Also, allow yourself a bit of time to learn to read and hear in your mind the syntax and sound of the words. Mary Webb takes you to a different place and time and you come to understand what it would be like for a young woman with intelligence, family devotion, character and longings who happened to be born with an external defect.
May this book become one of your favorites as it has become one of mine. (If anyone knows how I might obtain a video/DVD of the Masterpiece Theatre version with Janet McTeer and Clive Owen, please let me know.)

Of the three Josef Pieper books I have read (namely i) the anthology and ii) Faith, Hope and Charity and this present one), this has been the best for me. Pieper excels in crystalline clarity of thought; he exudes the wisdom of St Thomas. The brilliance of this book lies in Pieper's ability to see the depth of meaning in things, how we human being are configured towards right order and that when we damage and destroy this order, such as by committing an injustice, we not only damage others but counterintuitively harm ourselves more. Pieper examines Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance, shows their ranking in the order of virtues and shows how they interrelate.

Pieper has shown me something I would simply never have come to know myself, namely that prudence (as classically understood, not the cunning of the tactician, as understood in modern times) is the pre-eminent virtue. But, not only that, he shows clearly the true nature of the virtues and distinguishes them from the counterfeit virtues which society labels by the same name. Pieper is particularly good at showing how counterfeits of these virtues are in fact manichaeistic in nature, often showing disdain of the body. Thus, he cites St Thomas as saying that in paradise the pleasure which man derived from the sexual act would have been greater rather than impaired by an over-spiritualism. He is also excellent on anger. The tendency towards an overly spiritualist attitude with disdain for the body has resurfaced in recent years (see, for example, the talks of Anthony de Mello SJ where he indicates that Christ's manifestation of the natual passions, such as anger, is indeed a short coming!). Referring to St Thomas, Pieper shows that "anger" at times may be in fact a manifestation of right reason and the lack thereof may show deep spiritual disorder.

In this book, one finds one continually surprised, almost taken aback by a train of thought. The real star of the book is the Great St Thomas, mediated by the great Josef Pieper!

This book contains four separate sections, one on each of the cardinal virtues. In each of these, Pieper takes a look at the virtue as defined, or often mis-defined by the contemporary world and he contrasts this with how the Church in general and St. Thomas in particular understand that given virtue. What emerges is a picture of true humanity. Often what the world offers us is appealing but insufficient, God calls us to go deeper and strive to reach higher, and in return He promises us true joy. As other reviewers have noted, this is a challenging but rewarding read. The insights it provides leave much to ponder as to how we can truly begin to live more richly in God's desire for us.

Simply brilliant reading. Living naturally is what the crux of this book is all about.

The book delves into ethics, civics, justice, philosophy, psychology, and I think it is a healthy tool for understanding classical literature: Shakespeare, for example, and the inner psychology of his characters as this moral plain, that Pieper describes, is so much closer to his than most of what we hear in our modernity.

Pieper, here, spends time defining what the classic moral compass is, taken primarily from the last officially sanctioned church doctor St. Thomas Aquinas. Pieper brings Aquinas and other philosophers' language up to date, for the ears of the modern mind. Christianityfs definition has too much to do with how it's enemies, or alterior users, wish to define it and Pieper spends a short time correcting this in places.

If you liked this you might like Pieper's Virtues of the Human Heart which is a bit less discriptive but more powerful.

Pieper also makes the point that the most important stuggle is the internal struggle for meaning and direction in any organization or person.

Tapping into the core of the western philosophical tradition, Pieper shows the reader how the ancient virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance, have a universal and pressing contemporary application, in the world of human decision making....i.e., the right thinking that clears a path ahead. Formulated out of the Greek, Roman, Hebrew, and Christian traditions, he reminds of their elemental spirtual basis in Faith, Hope, and Charity.

He notes with special emphasis, the primacy of the Cardinal Virtue of Prudence, as the clear eyed and humanly perfectable, effort to take a hard, and as objective as possible, look, at the entire factual context of a decision. And, in one of the most beautiful chapters among many in this wonderful book, is Pieper's elucidation of how this caluclation is aligned and informed by the the Spiritual Virtue of Charity.

I find the book to be both a practical and a spiritual insight into human awareness itself.

I first came into contact with this work because it was a required text for my seminary class on ethics. Pieper is a first rate German philosopher and expert on the works of St. Thomas Aquinas.

If you study this book, The Four Cardinal Virtues (fortitude, temperance, justice, and prudence), along with his other book, Faith, Hope, Love (the three theological virtues), you will have a wonderful primer on ethics.

One word of warning. Philosophy is not light reading. I know, it was one of my majors. Philosophy written in German and translated into English produces a book not for the timid. If you are willing to take on the challenge, more power to you. It is worth the effort, but you should know what you are getting into before you put down your money. This is a book for those who want to think and wrestle with ethics. It is not for everyone.

I really am pleased that I read this book because within its pages you can see the birth of our modern world.

Despite the fact that Rene contorted himself to try to prove that God exists; he still managed to create a great work. He began the inquiry into reality wherein we try to understand the world through experimentation. I think he failed in many ways to develop a coherent philosophical structure due to his attempts to please the Church but given the social conditions of the day this was the best that he could do. Even in this flawed analysis Rene paved the way for what would later become the Scientific Method.

I only wish that he could live today and write without fears of reprisal from religious entities.

well..descartes is kind of long winded.
he's trying to prove we can KNOW things about the natural world, which he does. fantastic.
the problem now is by decartes standard can there be agnostic or atheist scientists?

In the 17th century, the world underwent dramatic and incredible changes. The Scientific Revolution was gathering pace, Europeans had experienced the Reformation and the Renaissance, and boundaries and horizons in all areas were being expanded and changed at a breakneck pace.

Into this time of upheaval comes Descartes, one of the greatest Philosophers to ever live anywhere in the world. While 'modern' philosophy, which broke off its roots from Scholasticism, does not necessarily begin only with Descartes, it is true in Descartes the agenda of post-Scholastic philosophy is most clearly and beautifully expressed in logical terms.

Descartes's project is to take into account the implications of the scientific revolution for philosophy; for Descartes, it is no longer religious authority or pure philosophical speculation which tells us the most accurate truths about the cosmos, but science based on observation and the use of mathematical and logical methods employed by the aid of natural human reason.

Descartes sets into motion an astonishing project into motion; to basically remove Scholasticism and its corrupt and inept attempts to understand the universe and replace it with a complete and unified system of knowledge, based on certain truths clear and knowable to anyone, whatever their class or background.

Descartes, following a plan of 'meditation', withdraws from the senses and attempts to consider the universe as it is to the intellect. Descartes carefully invokes several skeptical doubts about our knowledge, the existence of the external world, and our own existence and attempts to set out what he felt was true and what is not. The famous phrase 'Cogito ergo sum' is one result, though Descartes's overall system and arguments are more complex.

Descartes argues that the cogito, along with the goodness of God who does not make a creature merely in order to decieve it, ensures there are certain and indutible truths about ourselves and the world which will ensure his project will be a successful one. But Descartes encourages the reader not merely to accept his arguments but to put them into practice themselves, hoping in doing so they will discover new truths about the universe which will be plain to anyone using the light of reason.

Descartes in his other works uses this method as a justification for his approach to science and mathematics. Descartes was in every sense a polymath; a trained lawyer, an excellent writer, a student of human anatomy (in which Descartes made many pioneering experiments and observations), a brilliant philosopher and (for his time) physicist, and a mathematician of genius. However, while much of his science is now plainly wrong and was superseded by better scientists such as Galileo and Newton, the agenda Descartes set for philosophy remains much the same even today, especially in the Analytic tradition. Philosophy owes to Descartes two great achievements, one, in applying more rigorous logical methods to philosophical problems while paying attention to the results of science, and second, the re-introduction of skepticism into philosophy which provides a valuable check against dogmatism, but which would only truely be extended to its fullest possible means by David Hume.

Whether or not one ultimately agrees with Descartes's arguments, it must be acknowledged he is a great geius who stands shoulder to shoulder with people like David Hume, Liebniz, Spinoza and Kant, who all radically changed the way philosophers look at the world and the problems it poses.

I needed this book for my doctoral studies. I needed it for research and needed it quickly. I am very pleased with the delivery service and the book

I leave it to the reader to determine the merits of Descartes' thinking; that this work is seminal is obvious and needs no exegesis (nor does explanation of the text do any good for those who have yet to read it). The Cambridge edition is in my opinion the best out there for the English speaking world. It is a clean, literal rendering that does a great job of capturing the Latinate sense of Descartes' terminology in English with minimal obfuscation.

I gave this book to my 12 year old son after reading some of the reviews. I gave it to him as one of his many Christmas gifts but never realized that I had also given myself a great treat. He & I shared reading the book and both of us truly enjoyed it. It's about a young man who dreamed and set a goal of playing football for Notre Dame. It follows his ups & downs and the strength and intestinal fortitude it took to hang in there as a non-scholarship "walk on". My son also plays football (as well as other sports) and like many young kids his age dream of playing in college and the "big leagues" when they get older. This story doesn't "sugar coat" what it takes and portrays the emotional turmoil it took for this young man to hang in there. While I won't ruin the ending for you, as a dad of a young aspoiring athlete I can confidently recommend this book for both young & old.

I picked this book up on Amazon because a friend of mine recommended it to me. I was expecting a "Rudy," type story. There were parallels to be sure, but this book was so much more than that. It is an autobiography of the ups and downs in a four year premier Division I program. The book is a quick read and I didn't want it to end. I found myself cheering for Timmy O'Neill that his hard work would finally pay off. And by the end of the book, you are right there with him as he starts to realize some of the fruits of his labor. Overall, a very enjoyable and well written book. Would recommend very highly, especially to anyone who has ever been told that they couldn't do something.

This book is the Caddilac of Notre Dame walk-on books. From page one to the end, the book is filled with excitement, laughter, and tears of joy. Not only do I recommend this book to children of all ages, I encourage this to middle-aged people as well that are looking to get over the 'hump'. I read this book 6 times and I'm still determined to make the team as a walk-on. I will write Timmy O'neill's name in for the next presidential election.

I bought and read this book after I found this under a "football search" on Amazon. I was looking for a good book for my nephew. Having been a former college running back myself at 5'9" 195lbs, I continually broke stereotypes as Timmy has done in this book. How many times do you hear a sport commentator say something like, "even though he's 5 foot something, he an incredibly gifted runner" It never made sense, because what better height to be as a running back--low to the ground--than 5 foot something!..I never found any advantage to being a taller running back unless you're blowing open holes with your blocking...look at the best, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, etc. Every Play Every Day is about breaking perceptions and beleiving in yourself, and I thoroughly enjoyed it and passed it along to my nephew who loved it as well!

Tim is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. As a freshman I was fortunate enough to live across from Tim and his roommate, Murph. They were the older brothers I never had. The book is a testament to hard work and determination. I read the book over the Thanksgiving holiday, I recommend the book to all sports fans. Tim is the real deal, I hope someone puts his ND and high school highlight tapes up on youTube.

All I can say is, this book is amazing. I loved it so much. I cannot wait for Kelly's next book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. While Moose Krause isn't the most recognizable figure in Notre Dame sports history, his story certainly makes him one of the most interesting. Congrats to Mr. Kelly for his enthusiastic, page-turning masterpiece!

This is an absolutely wonderful accounting of a man who had a vision of the proper place of athletics in American life. By the end, I had a tear in my eye, even though I have no direct connection to ND.

as a teacher, i will encourage all my students to read this book. through this marvelous book, i began to appreciate the character of this man called "moose." aside from being a fine athlete and coach, kraus lived his life the way to which we should all aspire. whether or not you're a notre dame fan, this is a great read.

I am not a Notre Dame fan, but my husband is and he strongly urged me to read this book. I couldn't be more thrilled that I did! It was enjoyable throughout and I was sad when it ended. Everyone should read this- sports fan or not, Notre Dame fan or not.

A Notre Dame grad, I picked up this book expecting it to be a glowing tribute to various parts of our football fanbase, hoping it would at least contain a few good stories that I hadn't heard at pep rallies, tailgates, or over dining hall trays. Instead, I was thrilled to find a series of topics that Scott has clearly researched on a level that those at ESPN and SI have never reached.

There are, of course, interviews with alumns (subway and graduated) and their reactions throughout Notre Dame's long history. But these provide some buffer and outsiders' perspective to chapters that delve deep into the University's financials, or pieces together administrative politics from interviews with Holy Cross priests and press script transcripts. Most memorable were the sections detailing Notre Dame's history in ways I had never once heard or read of in my four years. Detailing the fans at ND-Army games in Yankee stadium, Rockne's avoidance of playing other Catholic schools, and pre-Hesburgh administrations are just three quick examples of some of my favorite stuff. Where and how Scott dug this up will surely be a question many "know-it-all" fans and Observer sports columnist should be asking.

Most interesting (to me) was Scott's investigation into the uber-popular fansites like NDNation that so many fans belong to. He neither condemns it nor condones it; the book gives a fair, unhysterical overview of the process, text, and reaction to the internet-fueled "Call For Change" movement but also gives a lot of Monk's view of this growing mobocracy and their inability to ever be fully satiated. Most of the topics are dealt in this similar light: I walked away feeling there are shades of gray about online fandom, academe aspiration, subway alumni, and collegiate football.

Scott's ability to create a richer, detailed story stands out in a genre that seems to be content playing up all the same tried stories at a superficial level to the fans to sell copies on game day. (see: Return to Glory) The book is appropriately long, but ends right when you feel you've had about enough Notre Dame for awhile. His prose is thoughtful, investigative fair mixed with interview quotes that do not shy away from the profane and the profound.

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants an understanding of the Notre Dame football fan experience from the perspective of a recent alum.
If you have not attended a game in South Bend, this book will make you feel as if you have never missed one.
The pull of the place to folks who have never attended a class at any University is attempted to be put in words....It is a must read for a College Football fanatic.

First, I have to admit for clarity that Scott's book includes about 1 page about my brother and I. I also signed the C4C (if you don't know what that means, read the book). So I guess that makes me biased.

Following the 2003 season, I didn't think I would face a worse situation than what unfolded in 2004. Bad losses to good teams, even worse losses to bad teams and the eventual misfirings on trying to land the "savior" coach at ND. In a phrase, it was a CF.

Now, through the writings of Scott, I relived that season but through the eyes of others who maybe lived and died a bit more with the game of ND football than I. Going in I thought the book was going to be a more factual account of what happened in 2004. But Scott does more than tell the facts - he tells the story behind the facts. Through meeting subway alums and their history and the role that the Internet played in bringing change to ND football, this book tells a good story.

If you are not a ND fan, you might find this book limited in its contents. However, if you suffered through the past 10 years of ND football, then you must read this book. You will have a renewed passion for Our Lady.

While Notre Dame haters will probably not care for this book, both fans of ND and those interested in college football in general will find it both fascinating and entertaining. By presenting stories of fans from around the country, as well as the historical conext of Notre Dame football, Mr Eden does a wonderful job of explaining how Notre Dame, warts and all, came to occupy a unique spot in college football: A small catholic university in the midwest with unparalleled football success and a truly national fan base.

"Touchdown Jesus" began as a small article describing the relationship between faith and fandom at Notre Dame, but evolved into a tour de force that introduces various Notre Dame enthusiasts from different backgrounds during a turbulent period for the University. These interested parties, many of whom author Scott Eden met tailgating prior to Irish football games, include university administrators, students, alumni, local residents, Internet posters, and "subway alumni," fans who did not attend the University but pledge die-hard allegiance to the University. To many of these fans, the direction of Notre Dame at the beginning of the 2004 football season was a cause for concern. The three pillars on which Irish enthusiasts take pride in--strong academics, nationally competitive football, and Catholic identity--were thought to be in crisis amidst alleged de-emphasis of football and aspirations to achieve similarity with elite, secular universities. The stories of the fans during this time are told through extensive research and personal interviews while detailing the events leading to the unexpected retirement of University President Father Edward Malloy and the firing of head football coach Tyrone Willingham.

Many authors have put forth books about Notre Dame, yet Scott Eden has produced a book that occupies a unique and important place in the Irish canon. A Notre Dame alumnus himself, Eden shares the passion for Notre Dame with the fans he describes, yet approaches the events with a detached, journalistic perspective. For the Notre Dame faithful, this book will serve as the definitive novel of this era, one that breaks ground in describing the events that occurred and the forces behind them. For others, Eden presents a piece that transcends a historical narrative by delving into the psychology behind devoted fandom. The result is a book that will be compelling for any audience.

This is an interesting book that shows the potential in the recruiting and training tactics of the communist party. It shows how leaders, particularly Christian leaders, expect too little from their members and get what they expect. The principles in this book match those taught in college courses on education: to set the bar high and people will live up to what you expect; if you expect little, you will get little.

The best book on leadership I've read. Douglas Hyde, a british ex-communist leader, exposes the methodological success of Communism. He doesn't delve into Communism's ideological fallacies (although alluded to). He rather lays out communistic functions that led to it's incredible growth in such a short period of time. Throughout the book he comments on both Communist and Chritian potentials that culminates in the choice between total Communism or total Christianity. One of the most intriguing chapters is "The Story of Jim." Hyde told those in a Communist leader seminar that the Communist party could take anyone willing to be trained in leadership and make a leader. Hyde describes Jim as, 'very short, grotesquely fat, with a flabby white face, a cast in one eye and, to make matters worse, a most destressing stutter.' You'll need to read the book to see what became of Jim.

In the first three quarters of the twentieth century, communism moved from a minority political movement in a few European countries to become a major political force with over a third of the world's population under its sway and signficant intellectual influence even in the countries that remained most opposed to it. Douglas Hyde was one of those who diligently to further its influence. In 1948, he surprised his friends and enemies alike by resigning his position as editor of the London based communist paper the Daily Worker and converting to Roman Catholicism with his family.

This book grew out of a series of lectures he conducted that tried to explain the successes of Communism to a Christian audience and to answer the question "Is there anything in Communist methods that can be adapted to serve nobler causes?". The answer to that question is an emphatic yes. Hyde strips away the preconceptions of how Communists recruited and motivated party workers and how they developed them into leaders capable of developing other communist workers.

The main theme of the book is contained in the title. According to Hyde, dedication is a prerequisite for true leadership. The communists had a well defined purpose that every communist could understand and believe in: the hope of a Communist world. In pursuit of that goal, members were asked to make great sacrifices. Rather than driving people away, this demand draws out the idealistic element in them and inspires the sort of dedication needed.

Hyde develops this theme in a number of ways. He discusses how short term campaigns worked, how party education worked, how members were encouraged to excellence in other areas of their life in order to give the communist message credibility with non-Communists.

Looking at the state of communism today, one might question whether there is any value in this book after all. Indeed, Hyde faced the same question himself in the late 80s and refused a reprint of the book because he thought that communist commitment was no longer what was described in the book. In my opinion, the failure of communism was due to its successes proving its invalidity, not to the methods by which it had enjoyed those earlier successes. Militant Islam seems to be the ascendant ideology of our times, and to the limited degree that I am aware, it seems like the Islamists are employing similar techniques. If we are wise, we will choose to learn from them rather than dismissing them outright.

This is one of those rare books that demands the purchasing of multiple copies. You will want to keep one for yourself with all your underlinings and notes, and keep at least one to lend out. Any sort of organisation could benefit from the lessons to be learned here, but Hyde's message is chiefly to Christians. Any believer distressed about the weak impact his church is having should immediately read this book.

For many years Hyde was a leader of the Communist Party in Great Britain. In 1948, the Communist stalwart shocked all Britain by resigning as editor of the daily paper of the British Communist Party and leaving the Party.

        He became a Christian and wrote Dedication and Leadership as a guide to political skills for anti-communists, particularly Christians. After reading it, you will understand why communism endured for so long. Much of its success, Hyde shows, was due to its use of philosophically neutral techniques of communication, recruitment, training and organization.

This is truly a fascinating book. In it, Mr. Hyde takes us into the inner working of the Communist Party in which he was a member for more than twenty years. With utter clarity, he shows us that the dedication of the average communist worker was not the result of brain washing, but was the result of exceptional leadership. Throughout this excellent book Hyde contrasts the weak and anemic leadership styles of the church with its corresponding weak following, to the strong leadership of the Communist Party and their dedicated following.

I was especially impressed by the first part of the book where Hyde takes the reader step by step though the process by which a young communist recruit is trained to be a leader of men. High expectations (you are joining an elite organization) and high purpose (you are going to make a difference in the lives of men) combine to get to form the foundation of dedication. The only apparent weakness of the book is it's "Britishness." The Brits do write in a style that is difficult for their American cousins to follow.

This book is transformational. Everything I have learned about leadership dove tails right into what Hyde is saying: The need for public witness, ministry before training, life application teaching, strict accountability, high expectations, beginning with felt needs, a commitment o excellence, are all themes common to great leadership.

As an old-time radio fan who has just recently discovered the magic of Don McNeill's "Breakfast Club" program (and WHY aren't there more surviving recordings of this series currently in circulation among collectors?), I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Doolittle's new book. I found it to give fascinating and in-depth looks into the "behind-the-scenes" workings of the show, the network and sponsor difficulties with the TV version, and the careers and private lives of the McNeill family and the various cast members. I found the section regarding Kay McNeill's (Don's wife) mental and physical decline from Altzheimer's Disease to be particularly poignant and heartbreaking...especially considering what a vibrant person she seemed to be prior to her illness. In a previous review, Mr. Slobb criticizes the book for treating Don McNeill as if he were God...I respectfully disagree. The book deals with the two personas of Mr. McNeill....How he could seem outgoing on the program and be quite introverted, even sullen, in real life. However, after reading the book one gets the impression that Don McNeill was basically a fine person. After working with Mr. McNeill for a number of years and numerous broadcasts, Mr. Slobb's complaints are that Don McNeill never spoke to him, or that Don gave Mr. Slobb "cheap" Christmas presents....I don't think that those issues really put Don McNeill into the "ruthless S.O.B" category. Unlike fellow "morning man" Arthur Godfrey, who truly alienated his cast members and had some very ugly parting of the ways, most of Don McNeill's regulars stayed with him for YEARS. There were male and female singers who would leave the show to get married and raise families, tour on club dates, go into the service, etc. Don had a friendly "open-door" policy with these departed singers.....Most of them would return to fill in when their replacements would be out sick, on vacation, etc., and these "pinch-hitting" former regulars were always made to feel welcome. I'm sorry to digress from the book itself, but I felt that the preceding needed to be said. I found this book to be enlightening, interesting, inspiring and a LOT of fun...sort of like an actual "Breakfast Club" broadcast! I recommend it highly!

The Don McNeill Breakfast Club was a comfort of home, a memory of cherished moments sitting by the radio with my family. When I heard that a book had been written about the program I had high expectations. I was more impressed than I could have imagined. Not only did I feel a stronger sense of who Don McNeill was, I also gained perspective on American History through radio, which was so perfectly encompassed in The Breakfast Club. For anyone who remembers the lazy mornings by the radio, or for anyone who is interested in American culture and history, this book is a must!

Although I am old enough to have been able to remember Don McNeill's Breakfast Club I have only heard of him, and wanted to learn more about this popular radio show. Author John Doolittle has done an excellent job in bringing out the personality of Don McNeill. Don was a devoted family man who, despite an extroverted personality when interviewing people, was more of an introvert away from the show. Don was devoted to the midwest and chose to keep his show in Chicago from various downtown locations. I would say the primary reason for the success of the show was his sincere interest in people in addition to his willingness to pay the price in preparation time. Those who filled in for him found out there is more involved than chatting with members of the studio audience. The silent prayer and the march around the breakfast table were interesting staples of this show that I wasn't aware of. Don McNeill was a sincere man both on the show and in his private life. The CD that came with the book I bought provides interesting snippets on some of his shows and was especially interesting to listen to after having read the book. Don McNeill was a giant of radio who had a lot to contribute to other people and did.

This is a fascinating journey back through radio and american history.

The "Breakfast Club" was a morning radio program staple in hundreds of thousands of homes across America beginning in 1933 until its final broadcast in December of 1968. Don McNeill hosted this program which was completely unscripted and involved a lot of studio audience participation. Now John Doolittle has memorialized that unique and beloved radio show host and his program in Don McNeill And His Breakfast Club. Here is the history of a man and a program that developed an enormous and loyal listenership in an era when broadcast radio was the major daily mass media for information and culture in the country. Doolittle's informative, enthusiastically recommended history is enriched with the inclusion of an accompanying CD with sample clips from the show to give the reader an authentic flavor of what the program was like and why it became (and stayed) one of the most popular components of morning radio.

Ah, St. Mary's College. The name conjures up myriad images of my school days, spent in academic splendor amongst the tree-lined avenue, the goose-lined lake, and (in winter months, or late at night) the majestic underground steam tunnels. Those steam tunnels have long since been sealed off forever from students. But readers can revisit the St. Mary's of a decade ago in Mary Beth Ellis's book Drink to the Lasses: Notes From a Women's College Womb (Cold Tree Press).

Make no mistake: Drink to the Lasses is no misty-eyed nostalgia. Neither is it a collection of spring break stories that would horrify even the most hardened of college-student parents, nor a treatise on the relationship between St. Mary's and its famous green-wearing "brother" school. The Leprechaun and his ilk do come up as Mary Beth narrates her personal tale of campus life from freshman year to graduation. She does not shy away from describing her struggles with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, but this is not a how-I overcame-my-disease story.

Instead, Drink to the Lasses is an unrelentingly funny read that skillfully combines all of the above. Mary Beth Ellis honed her comedic skills in her years working on the St. Mary's/Notre Dame/Holy Cross newspaper The Observer. Since then, she's further refined her humor with her blog [...]. In Drink to the Lasses she focuses her comedy beam on subjects such as going to dances with various blind dates, the dangers of room selection, and the dissection of a fetal pig.

Current and former SMC Chicks and Domers will enjoy this book, as will their parents, and members of the extended St. Mary's and Notre Dame family. So will anyone who's about to go off to college for the first time; read this book and be warned. Drink to the Lasses is also recommended for anyone who wants to laugh along with a witty peek into the lives of college women.

Mary Beth Ellis grabs the gold ring on this one. If you want to laugh, go for the "...Lasses..." This girl's got talent. Whether you went to SMC, ND or just need to split a side or two, get it!

Drink to the Lasses was hilarious! There were points where I was doubled over laughing, and narrowly escaped killing myself on a treadmill because of it. The book is even better than her brilliantly funny blog and highly entertaining MSNBC articles.
I easily fell into Ellis' college world, probably faster than most because I also attend a woman's college in Indiana. The similarities between SMC and SMWC are almost freaky, and Ellis' experiences can easily be identified with. This is an awesome and totally un-boring college memoir!

As a SMC chick myself (1990) I really had a great time reading this book. The SYR dances, the tunnels, roommates, etc. really brought me back to those days of college. Fun, fun book about college life!

Mary Beth Ellis' witty writing style made this a 2-day read for me--it's the first book I've finished in 9 months (since my 1st child was born!). I didn't want to put the book down! I made my husband read it too, and he was laughing out loud! It's a well-written and hysterically honest look at college life that I think anyone who has ever been to college, or wants to go, would enjoy. I loved it!