This is a valuable contribution to a growing subfield that is finally examining the social construction of whiteness. I believe Jacobson's Whiteness of a Different Color to be superior, and honestly, Hale needs to lose some of the academic jargon. But overall, this is a well-researched study. I do take issue, however, with the introduction when Hale claims that whites "were not the victims of racism." Not the chief victims certainly, but victims nonetheless. Hasn't the South's reputation for backwardness and bigotry damaged its economic opportunities, and made "the southern redneck" the new villain of post-1960s pop culture? What all this emphasis on race discrimination does is to de-emphasize the class discrimination that harms whites and blacks both. To say that Billy Bob living in his trailer home has benefitted from the privilege of whiteness is farcical. Not that Hale says this, but isn't it time that more serious scholars examine the way tht race acts as a chimera to divert us from deeper divisions of class and nationality?

This is not an easy book to read either intellectually or psychologically, but this is not an easy subject to communicate, either. However difficult the academic vocabulary of the author, the fact remains that her concepts and ideas are clearly presented, the chapters well-formed, and sections thoughtfully connected. Dr. Hale's explanation of segregation, how it was developed, maintained and why, is logical, well-documented, and profound. She effectively communicates how completely pervasive, paradoxical, and pathological, segregation was. THe book also communicates how everyone, not just southerners and not just men, contributed to the culture of segregation and why. In short, Dr. Hale finally presents the BIG Picture: the reasons why "equal rights" aren't really equal, why prejudice is still rampant, and why affirmative action isn't enough. For anyone who wants to really understand segregation, the civil rights movement, and race relations in late 20th and early 21st century America, this book is a must read. IT is thought-provoking and profound.

Lately, I find myself rereading books that challenge my understanding (not to mention my preconceived notions) of race history, but none more than Grace Elizabeth Hale's "Making Whiteness." This gem of a book ultimately defines the construction of race in the early 20th Century South and is written in a style reminiscent of Du Bois and Langston Hughes. It is an intelligent and informative examination of "class exploitation, disempowerment and racial privilege" that dares to reimagine the concept of racial integration. To quote from the book: "We need to remember that difference is created within, not before, our communities; that difference is created within, and not before, our histories; that difference is created within, and not before, ourselves." Over the past few months, I have amassed several books on race, segregation, Reconstruction, lynchings, Jim Crow, etc., and I consider "Making Whiteness" a cornerstone in my library.

I feel like the lone ranger here, but I did not enjoy this book. I finished it all the time hoping that something would click, but it just never happened. I never came to care about the characters and the story dragged on for what seemed like forever.

I loved this book. I found it incredibly refreshing that this story had emotional depth as well as a compelling story. I also applaud the author for going the route less travelled and letting Sophie be less then innocent. I would recommend this book to anyone who is sick of the everyday romance novels- You will enjoy the story. Ive read all three books in the series and each one is wonderful.

In 1892, American expatriate Sophie Wentworth takes Europe by storm as her exquisite musical talent thrills patrons throughout the continent. However, when her father asks Sophie to return to Boston, Sophie agrees. Sophie misses her home SWAN'S GRACE and has waited five years for her father to ask her to come back. She wonders how her stepmother will react when she returns to New England.

However, the States prove an immediate shocker when Sophie learns the hard way that her father sold SWAN'S GRACE without even informing her. Worse yet, he completed a business deal that has her engaged to attorney Grayson Hawthorne a person Sophie is attracted to but hates for betraying her. Grayson wants Sophie just as he did when she fled for the continent. However, Sophie tries to make Grayson hate her even as she falls deeper in love with her fellow Bostonian.

SWAN'S GRACE is an entertaining Americana romance that centers on love lost and love recovered. The story line is fun as Boston in the "Gay Nineties" seems real. The lead couple is a charming duet whose feelings for one another are hidden behind cold walls of distrust. Sub-genre fans will welcome Linda Francis Lee's latest tale and want to also read her fabulous DOVE'S WAY.

Harriet Klausner

"John Updike has said that 'religion created Greek literature and died within its embrace.' Another religion may or may not have created Updike's works, but this volume of essays shows that the embrace is long-standing, seductive, many-sided, and by no means moribund. With obvious affection and clarity of vision, these crtics have hugged the Updikean shore very well indeed." Anthony C. Yu, University of Chicago Divinity School.

"From an abundant but contradictiory world as it is, John Updike has in fifty books recorded in prodigious detail 'an intense radiance we do not see.' That underglow is explored in these fifteen thought-provoking essays about the religious dimension of his work. Some essayists protray his themes as Lutheran, Barthian, or Kierkegaardian, but all see this work as a lifelong Pilgrim's Progress, with Updike a pilgrim who is sometimes in motion upwards, but at other times only watches while God moves inexorably toward him." Doris Betts, author of "Souls Raised from the Dead" and "The Sharp Teeth of Love."

James Yerkes is the editor of a wonderful collection of essays dealing with the topic of faith in a delightfully down-to-earth manner. John Updike and Religion: The Sense of the Sacred and the Motions of Grace (Eerdmans, $24). That longwinded title may scare away Updike admirers who fear wading in the dark waters of academic posturing. They need not worry, for the book is a relatively breezy read, with only a semi-occasional wandering into verbosity. For instance, Yerkes (who teaches religion at Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa.) writes about Updike in the light of having watched and enjoyed the Jack Nicholson film, As Good As It Gets. Nothing stuffy here.

James A. Schiff writes that for Updike, "God permeates every aspect of human life so that his presence is felt in and around households. Updike doesn't state his beliefs in so many words, preferring--as most artists--to "suggest that the possibility of there being something greater beneath the physical surface." As Updike wrote in Assorted Prose, "Blankness is not emptiness; we may skate upon an intense radiance we do not see because we see nothing else."

Schiff sees God presence in Updike's writing, although "beneath the surface, pushing through, as well as above the world, providing light and hope."

If you share an enthusiasm for Updike, be sure to check out editor Yerkes' excellent Web page called "The Centaurian" devoted to Updike.

Grace Halsell is such a bold author who explored into such waters that very few authors will dare to dive into. She talks about and has indeed exposed this big time secret Alliance between the State of Israel and the American Evangelical fundamentalist Movement with a population of over 70 million! - under the Leadership of fundamentalist Christians like Jerry Falwell and Bill Graham. This Alliance is determined to eradicate the Palestinian population from their Holy Land, and other Arabs in neighbouring countries (from the Nile to the Euphrates) in order for the Evangelists to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. They are determined to bring this about by any means necessary, including the use of nuclear weapons! The very reason that the book is out of print should be a reason enough to arouse the curiosity of any reader. Most likely you should be able to get it at your local library. It's one book that will open your eyes to what is going on in the world today.

An excellent book written about the truth in Palestine. A "must read" book by an American for American people. We shouldn't be too stupid to believe the media.

One of the few persons who do not mind telling it LIKE IT IS. I commend G. Halsell for her excellent research on the subject. "The Truth Shall Set You Free."

Although not as good as "Amazing Grace", this sequel touches nicely on the life of a youngster whose mother and father have divorced and life as she knows it. It demonstrates that although her father started a life with a new family, Grace is still a very important part of him and his new family.

This was a great book about non-traditional families which have now become the norm. The illustrations were great. My four year old and my 17month old both enjoyed it.

I had to read this book for a class I'm taking in college -- I'm reviewing children's books. It was actually nominated in 1997-1998 for a "Show Me Reader" award.... it is a local award in the state of Missouri. The language and writing style is rich and varied. The book has beautiful illustratios. Text and illustrations are well integrated. I highly recommend it!

This book is usable introduction to the soteriology of the Orthodox Church: the mystery of deification. God the Son became a man ("of the male sex") that men and women might "partakers of the divine Nature" (II Pet. 1:4), to share with us His Immorality, Sinlessness, and Incorruptibility. Unfortunately, the author never cites this Biblical passage and, therefore, allows St Gregory Palamas (about whom this book largely concerns) no opportunity to discourse on it. Professor Mantzardis indicates, by his exegesis of St Gregory's writings, the relevance of the distinction between God's Essence and His Uncreated Energies to deification and deification to Christian piety, but we should like to hear more about the consequence of failing to adopt this distinction. In addition, the book stumbles into various questions for which we are given no answers; for example, St Gregory states that God created the soul "immortal by nature"; but St Paul says, "God alone has Immortality." Nowhere in this book does Mantzaridis permit the Saint to explain the contradiction; nor does the author provide one of his own. Again, the author announces that St Gregory teaches the superiority of man to the angels; but the Psalmist and the Apostle Paul assert that man was made "a little lower than the angels." We are left to think that a Father of the Church opposes the Scriptures. Not unlike other scholars Mantzaaridis leaves us with the impression that the doctrine of deification is the work of the Greek Fathers --- especially St Gregory. In fact, it was also taught by the Latin Fathers --- Sts Hilary of Poitiers, Pope Leo I, Peter of Ravenna, St Ambrose of Milan, St Maxim of Turin, etc. He makes mention of them. Finally, one cannot always be certain whether he is reading Professor Mantzaridis or St Gregory Palamas. Nevertheless, the book is readable, a sound preface to a world of thought for too long closed to too many people.

St. Gregory Palamas, a 14th-century Archbishop of Thessalonica, was one of the Christian Church's five most significant theologians. (Only St. Athanasius the Great, St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. John the Theologian/Evangelist rank with him.) Here is a nice introduction to his teaching on the aim of Christian life: coming to share in the uncreated Light of Mt. Tabor -- the energies of God. While the book suffers from a few grammatical problems typical of works translated from modern Greek into English, it is an excellent work for the ignorant and the well-informed alike. Please, read this book; it may change your life.

Coming to faith in the Protestant tradition, I'd never heard of the concept of "deification." This book is a wonderful introduction to a truly life transforming doctorine!

I was not very impressed by this book. Its stories were disjointed and repetitive. When properly done, a complex narrative style can be very rewarding(e.g. Thomas Pynchon). However, in this case all it did was confuse the issue. I quickly became disinterested in what the book had to say. Even after a second reading, many of the stories lacked any sort of coherence. I would not recommend this book.

This is one of the best books of American short stories, period. Whether you sympathize with Paley's politics or social concerns, it's irrelevant. Her stories beautifully capture the minutiae of everyday life and expose it for it's life-changing import. A simple sentence of Paley's can say as much as another author's entire novel. If you're at all interested in the short-story form or good writing in general, don't pass this book up.

I want use this book for my class.

Ann McNichols' novel, Falling from Grace, follows the teenage protagonist, Cassie, through some of her troubling adolescence. Cassie is exposed to death, departure, and adultery at the young age of thirteen. Her hardships and her struggle to overcome them makes her comparable to protagonist Ella in the story of Ella Enchanted. Both stories are similar in that the protagonists in each experience some of the same problems. In the beginning of Ella Enchanted, the reader learns that Ella's mother has passed away, and Ella feels that loss throughout the whole novel. This loss is comparable to Ella's because Cassie feels abandoned and alone when her sister leaves, and she wishes for her return throughout the story. Both characters have to find a way to carry on after the departure of a loved one. Another similarity between the two novels is the realization that fathers are not perfect. In Ella's case, her father tries to hide the fact that they have no money and married Madame Olga for her inheritance. This decision allows Madame Olga's daughters to control Ella as they wish. Cassie's father also makes a mistake that scars Cassie. He is tempted by another woman and commits the sin of adultery. Cassie's father, like Ella's, confesses his mistake, but the damage is hard for Cassie to forget. Both fathers are ashamed of what they have done; however, Ella's father continues his marriage to Madame Olga while Cassie's father breaks off the affair. In the end, both fathers admit imperfection and try to make life better for the family. One last similarity is that each of the girls find her own prince. Early on, Ella meets Char, a true prince, and they fall in love with one another by keeping in touch with letters throughout the story. Ella, not being of the wealthy upper-class, is not a likely choice for Prince Char, but their love persists, and they marry at the end of the novel. For Cassie, her prince is a foreign boy named Jan. He is not a real prince, but he has all the characteristics that make Cassie all the more interested. The roles are reversed in this story: Jan is not the usual choice for Cassie since he is foreign; nevertheless, Cassie admires him for who he is inside. Both the girls' princes help to give them a little time away from their problems by being a positive light in their lives. Since Ella Enchanted is a version of Cinderella, Falling from Grace also has certain characteristics of a Cinderella story. There are no princes, step-sisters, or glass slippers, but there are hardships, abandonment, and the love of a young man . Professor Pee, an English professor at the University of Rochester sees the classic fairy tale as "far more than a story about a young woman who was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. It's a paradigm about growing up, a symbol of hope for the marginalized, a tool for defining culturally acceptable gender roles." Regardless of the fact that Falling from Grace does not have the magical characteristics of Ella Enchanted has, both stories parallel each other in what they teach. Lessons such as fathers aren't perfect can be found in both novels. Other lessons of loving someone for what they are inside and becoming independent are the links that combines these two Cinderella type stories.

Levine, Gail Carson. Ella Enchanted. New York: Scholastic Inc., 1997.

Mooney, Carol J. "An English Professor's Love Affair with Cinderella." Chronicle of Higher Education 39.46 (July 21, 1993)A5.

Instantly,the characters in this author's first novel come alive and lets the reader know exactly where they are. The sense of place and locale grows on you as you read on and on. Barrels of humor and well placed touches of romance and tragedy decorate the pages. One has to think of greater and more successful writers when reading this. Writers like Faulkner, Welty, Morrisson, and Erdrich mastered this same sense of place that McNichols entertains. Right at the time when the reader should be comfortable with a sense of place, Jan comes in. Now the reader is not so comfortable. Yet still, the sense of place dictates. A wonderful offering as a first novel.

Ann McNichols has written a gem of a story! It is so much fun to read! The things that take place in the story are written in such an entertaining fashion. I especially get a kick out of her discriptions of the Sunday School lessons. She brings a life to the characters that makes me feel like I'm watching them in a movie and not just reading a novel. This is a story that even adults could enjoy reading. If you're like me and would rather see a movie than read a book, you'll probably enjoy reading this book. I sure did! Now I want to see the movie! It's such a heart warming story.

Much like Boswell's Life of Johnson, this book sacrifices some measure of objectivity and thoroughness to achieve a complete and convincing portrait of the subject in question. Basing her work on the 25 years she has known Prinze, Catalano brings to life the garrulous, insatiable, charming man. The work does drag a bit near the beginning, but bildungsroman has ever been the bête noir of biography. A classic which every bibliophile should own.

This book was great. When I went to Borders bookstore, I looked and looked for a Freddie biography, and this was the only one there. I am looking forward to finding the others too, but this one was excellent! it was entertaining, and provided a lot of good information, about his childhood, and about his movies. I am a big fan of Freddie's, and this book made me want to see his earlier works a lot more (To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, The House of Yes). Freddie fans will enjoy this book! And even if you're not a Freddie fan... well, try it anyway. It's worth reading. =) The only problem is that it was written before some changes occured, such as Freddie and Kimberly breaking up, so it was a little irritating to read about them going out. But it was still factual (of the time that it was written) and it was helpful to know who she was, and how their lives were intertwined. Anyway, read the book, it's enjoyable!

I am a very BIG fan of Freddie and find it hard to find things about him. This book was great and i was so happy to find it. I ma one of his largest fans in australia. The book shows that Freddie is a real nice guy and reading this i am sure that you will love him even more. I hope you all enjoy the book!

I enjoy meditation and I'm always looking for books to bring my intuitive powers to the surface. I really enjoy the concept and I have had a great deal of success from other books. Maybe I could have success with this book if the author weren't forcing religion down my throat. I am not religious and I don't care to be brainwashed. I can overlook the mention of religion because I feel everyone has the right to his or her own feelings. In this case, however, I will need to return this book. "God" is typed 9 times on page 2. I flipped through the pages and at a glance I would venture to guess "God" is prevalent throughout the book along with quotes from the bible. As I said, I have no problem with what anyone else does but no where in the synopsis does it say this is a religion book or I for one certainly would not have purchased it. I'm writing this comment to forewarn others that may feel the same way I do. I throw all little "Greatest Gift" pamphlets away. I certainly won't pay for a book based on the same principles.

I found this book to be most helpful in my personal development of what proves to be a strong intuitive ability. I must disagree with one of the other 'critics' reviews as I felt the references to God were not offensive. We live in a world with many different cultural and religious beliefs. Why can't we look to our 'neighbors' and realize we are different and accept without condemning? One should not take offense at such. I am not religious, but very spiritual and I believe that the world NEEDS multiple religions to satisfy so many different souls. So what if God were mentioned! There were also quotations by Emerson! Let it be and listen for what you went to the book to hear. Every experience in life adds to how we evolve as spiritual beings. I felt the book gave me insight in areas I lacked.The book basicly flows as a teaching tool, with feedback at the end of every chapter.

I think this has been the best book that I have ever used and worked with to truly understand myself. It has helped me to see things in a positive way, obtain goals, and affirm what I want or need -- and to let go of guilts, fears, and "hang ups" that I have 'acquired" over my lifetime. Working with this book, and Betty's "The Dream Book" have become a way of life for me. It's a great feeling and EASY -- I truly owe it to these books and Betty's EASY meditation technique taught in both books for the positive growth that I have made. Perfect book to start your own workshop with friends to get in and change yourself for the better. Consists of 7 chapters and "worksheets" at end of each chapter to explore yourself and your feelings. You OWE it to yourself to give it a try!