McClung starts the book by explaining a theological concept: cities are ordained by God. He explains that while the Bible starts in a garden, it ends in a city. He also reminds us what that garden might have looked like if people never died and never sinned against each other.

The book contains an extensive section on the "myths" Christian's have about the city. For instance, it debunks the myths that the city is a dangerous place and that it isn't a place to raise children.

It also offers soime practical advice to those who are willing to hear the Holy Spirit's call for the Church to return to the city. I recommend it for anyone who feels they may one day live in a city.

This is a book that anyone interested in writing from Asia and the Pacific ought to read. Insightful, engaging, and a complete pleasure. Includes a great collection of Korean women writers.

This is an excellent selection of Dostoevsky's letters that show how great a writer and man he was. The compassion that developed in him and the faith in his abilities despite the terrible suffering he endured is a lesson in forebearance and inspiration to all. More than anything it shows the creative process involved which is so vital a part of being an artist: a human being interacting with the world for better or worse. Something those obsessed with all forms of literay theory should note and absorb as a tonic to get them out of their stupor.

It's not exactly pocket-sized, but this volume can be conveniently and inconspicuously carried to lunch uptown, midtown, downtown, or out of town. There is a great collection of poems here (no plays), from the short and sweet to the longer and sweeter. All set in beautiful type on nice, formal heavier paper and with the inclusion of "Personism: A Manifesto" for an introduction and the cover art by O'Hara's personal friend. The cover is more than just interesting, however, it really informs some of the questions about confessional poetry raised by O'Hara's work. Just look at it for awhile... By the way, if you haven't yet read Frank O'Hara's poetry, this volume is an excellent and accessible place to start. Grab a fork, a cup of coffee, and dig in!

Many books containing theory upon theory about self-organization in the biosphere have appeared in recent years. This book could be an important catalyst towards putting more of these theories to the test. While it has long been recognized that self-organization could be important in biological systems, many of these studies are computational models only. Many are very convincing, but unless steps are taken towards verifying these models and scrutinizing their validity, it is very difficult to know whether the theories have any real value towards understanding real life.

The strenght of this book lies in its rigorous introductions to the relevant theoretical concepts in self-organization, followed up by a general debate of self-organization versus competing explanations. The book spends many chapters looking at particular natural phenomena in detail, and examines possibilities for self-organization in these. In spite of the fact that these chapters have different authors, they follow each other well. The book is unusually well put together for this kind of collection of works by multiple authors.

The majority of the case study chapters involve studies of social insects, which narrows the topic a little in comparison with the more ambitious title. Self-organization also occurs elsewhere in biology, and personally I am a little dissapointed that a wider range of case studies were not chosen for the book. This could have spawned more interest and further work in other areas of the field.

However, the book is definitely well worth reading for biologists and other scientists interested in self-organization, and represents a major step towards establishing studies of self-organization in biology as a serious field.

A nighttime fiction writer, Steven J. Frank has a varied background. He majored in chemistry as an undergraduate at Brown University and earned a law degree at Harvard Law School. He has written short stories, scientific and legal jargon, so he is well versed in a variety of writing styles. He presently resides outside of Boston with his family.

Set in Hudson County, New Jersey, Sell-Out tells the story of a seemingly harmless old man murdered in his own warehouse filled with low-grade leather merchandise. But when the police tie him into a drug scheme, Russ Hartman, a patrol cop with aspirations towards detective, finds himself in the midst of a confusing mass of deception, ethnic interrelationships, and a maze of offshore accounts which may be related to the murder, especially after he has become involved with the niece of the murder victim:

"'Second item,' Neenan said tartly, unhappy with all the interruptions. 'A seemingly innocent relationship between a patrol officer and an attractive victim's relative whom he encounters on the job. Two earnest souls reaching out. Or so perhaps it seems to the patrol officer. But he lacks certain facts. For example, that the object of his affection had an older brother, dead at eighteen from a heroin overdose in a New Jersey City crack house. Or that her surviving brother has had numerous--well, perhaps I overstate the case--has had certain encounters with the criminal justice system.'"

Sell-out is a fast-paced, intelligently written, and at times poetic novel written in vivid color. Frank's characters and locales literally jump off the page. Franks knows when to shroud characters in secrecy, and when to expose their vulnerability. The result is a dark and intensely entertaining whodunit that keeps the reader's head spinning with possibilities until the final critical scene. Russ Hartman is an intelligent cop with a talent in the kitchen and with the ladies who adds to the luster of the tale. His own personal struggles with law enforcement only serve to remind us that there are no absolutes in life. Even as Hartman is trying to do the right thing, he is constantly subjected to being considered a murder suspect in a world where it is sometimes difficult to tell the good guys from the bad guys. A fun read.

Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer

"Shadows of Africa" is a collection of Peter Matthiessen's writings about the African continent, its wildlife and indigenous cultures. These beautiful writings, at times lyrical, at other times documentary, convey the past, present and future of the continent. The writing is supplemented by Mary Frank's beautiful impressionistic drawings that reflect her feelings toward Matthiessen's prose. The reader is submerged in East African savannas as well as in West African rainforests. The author's description of Botswana's wildlife is a real gem. The descriptions of Chobe national park, Savuti and Okavango delta transplant the reader to these magical places. The prose makes you feel, see and smell Southern African bush. This collection of nature writings and drawings is as timeless as Africa itself. Great book to read as well as to possess!

Shakespeare In Hollywood 1929-1956 is an informative historical study of five major productions and several offshoots of Shakespeare's plays by the Hollywood film studio system. The thesis is that studios like MGM and Warner Bros. make Shakespeare-based films in order to enhance their images as creators of artistic (as opposed to populist) entertainments. The films during this time span also reflect such Hollywood phenomena as contract players, overproduction, adaptations based on popular genres, that came to characterize Hollywood as an industry. Robert Wilson, professor of English at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, writes with an impressive blend of insight, scholarship, and skill to fully engage the attention of the reader. Shakespeare In Hollywood 1929-1956 is highly recommended reading for students of Hollywood film making history, Shakespearean studies, and the non-specialist general reader with an interest in how the greatest literary writer in the history of the English language fared at the hands of Hollywood movie moguls during the "Golden Age" of film and the studio system.

The work of psychologist Silvan Tomkins may finally earn reappraisal, thanks to this collection. Editors Sedgwick and Frank have chosen wisely from Tomkins' four-volume investigation of affect, Affect,Imagery, and Consciousness, presenting in this collection an overview of Tomkins'groundbreaking work.

Silvan Tomkins outlines a way of thinking about affect that is part-science, part-poetry; his work on shame, in particular, offers insights not just for psychologists but for anyone interested in the mysterious and pervasive mechanisms of shame in social and intimate life. The brilliant introduction, "Shame in the Cybernetic Fold," relocates Tomkins' work for a contemporary and interdisciplinary audience. Fans of editor Sedgwick will be fascinated, I think, by her explorations in unfamiliar territory; equally, the introduction excites interest in newcomer Frank. I found this book enthralling, leading me straight to Tomkins' own collections.

From the moment Captain Farrar takes you aboard on his first assignment, until he swallows the anchor (retires), this book will keep you spell bound. It is an absolutely fascinating, well written record of an admirable merchant marine career. Wonderful reading.