All of my children have enjoyed this book for several years. Many visitors, friends,and relatives have delighted in its pleasant message, clever rhyme, and beautiful illustrations. The companion books Sir Maggie the Mighty , Handy Dandy Helpful Hal, and Max and the Big Fat Lie are great, too. It is a shame that they are no longer in print. They make great gifts.

I have three boys and each one has loved this series. We have 9 books in the series and each one is in rhyme. The books are all focused on one character theme with a printed Bible verse at the end of the story.

Michael Casey, an Australian Trappist monk, has written a wonderful primer on prayer in clear language. TOWARD GOD is an enlightening reflection based on personal experience, touching all the major aspects of the subject of prayer from the Western Christian tradition. I have read many books on prayer, including the great classics, but this is the one I have read over and over.

For anyone who wants to pray but does not know how to pray! Casey helps with a variety of methods and shows that there is not just one way to move toward God. I like the idea that one should use all these ways of praying rather than just one. Casey writes for everyone, not just Catholics. I am a Protestant who found the insights into prayer universal. Casey writes in a way that invites all to pray; gay, straight, feminist, believer or skeptic.

This is a fast-paced, engrossing fantasy, combining baseball with social commentary. Populated by many colorful characters, the story's told with a sense of cynicism, a hefty dose of fun, and a thick ribbon of baseball history woven throughout. The action builds to a crescendo at the last major league baseball game at Tiger Stadium in Detroit and a showdown between two unique rookie major leaguers. It also leaves us former baseball fans wondering where to sign up for the Baseball Liberation Front! The most entertaining sports book since "Rhubarb."

I've read way more than my share of books on the machinations of the sports industry, and nothing -- nothing -- comes close to the combination of insightful reporting, trenchant analysis, and sheer fandom that is Queen of Diamonds. The nearly century-long history of Tiger Stadium, and the bitter battle to try to save it, is one of the great sports stories of our time, and Betzold and Casey make every moment of it come alive, from Ty Cobb's violent outbursts to the infamous "rusty girder" speech of Tigers president Bo Schembechler. Highly recommended for anyone who cares about baseball, our national heritage, or life in America's cities.

This book is about a way of life of gratitude, and about being open to God's will. It is an easy read, and you can't put it down. I am buying a copy for a friend who just took the bar exam.

In recent years a spate of popular books about monasticism has appeared, some tending to trivialize this relatively rare vocation, others subtly romanticizing it. In contrast, A Guide to Living in the Truth is one of the more realistic books in the genre.

Monk and scholar Michael Casey focuses on the foundational virtue of humility, the subject of the seventh chapter of St. Benedict's Rule. After briefly considering what humility is not (passivity, self-hatred, or mere resignation), Casey provides a meditative, line-by-line commentary, drawing from sources as diverse as St. Bernard of Clairvaux and Albert Camus to clarify the sixth-century text.

The reader may feel some resistance to the message of this book. St. Benedict's view of human nature is unflinching, and his emphasis on the effort required to purge our selfishness is not for the faint-hearted. But Casey does an admirable job of framing Benedictine spirituality in the contexts of common sense, psychological insight, and the mercy of God.

Rather humbly, Casey largely leaves the reader to apply this ancient wisdom to less cloistered lifestyles. But be advised. You may find that this thoughtful introduction to the heart of the Church's original twelve-step program changes your spiritual life more than you expected.

Michael Casey (Trappist monk of Tarrawarra Abbey in Australia) turns a seemingly specialized topic into a readable and helpful book suitable for anyone seriously involved in the spiritual life. HUMILITY is not a popular term, often confused with humiliation. Drawing on the word's connection to its root (meaning "earth"), Casey treats humility as the result of deep self-knowledge: who you are, who you are not, and who you are in relationship to God. Drawing on insights from modern psychology, he considers the 12 steps in St. Benedict's ladder of humility as 12 ways of moving towards integration and transformation. Readers who are familiar with Benedictine spirituality will gain the most from this book, but it has much to offer the general reader.

Father Casey's book is a thorough and scholarly walk through the history and contemporary significance of the practice of Lection Divina; almost too much so for the beginner who wishes to learn how to incorporate the practice into his/her prayer or meditation. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good treatise on the subject, albeit perhaps a little too regimented and "monastic" for me... for instance, his insistance that the practitioner of Lectio work their way slowly through one biblical book rather than attempt to target meaningful texts, strikes me as a little over-controlling; applicable to a serious monastic maybe, but for us regular folks who are just interested in deepening our practice, a gentler technique may be just as useful. A great book for beginning inquiry into Lectio is S. Thelma Hall's "Too Deep For Words"; then tackle this book as you investigate more deeply.

I have underlined half of the words in this book! It was very readable, pertinent and usable as a guide to strengthening my connection with God and his Holy Word. Casey offers a very interesting history of lectio divina; however, practicality is what sparkles in this book. No longer intimidating, lectio divina will henceforth be practiced in my home.

An outstanding book--the single best book on lectio that I have ever read or used. I recommend it highly.

any time a book comes out that can help the average home owner to the professional with something that has to be done any where is some thing that you need to go out and get. this book shows you what is needed, when you need it, and at what stage of your project.this ,by no means, is to take place of actual codes or instructions from your local building code office.this is a tool that will help you but if used incorrectly will cost you.

Cheap, easy, and fun to read. Well-organized. It's good for simple stuff... stair/railing dimensions, distance from spa to cutoff switch, etc. But as another reader says, in such a small book, don't expect the entire building code to be in there. Still, if I lost my copy, I'd run right out and buy another one.

I read a couple negative reviews of this book and almost didn't buy it! If you have common knowledge of construction and building this book will be an invaluable reference for you. Many things are abbreviated, so it might look confusing at first. Using some common sense and the abbreviation key in front will get you through the initial learning curve. This book will help you comply with electrical codes, plumbing, etc., with sketches only where needed. I rebuild houses on the side, and this book is invaluable.

Michael Casey, Obscenities (Yale, 1972)

Casey, the 1972 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets award (judged and introduced by Stanley Kunitz) offers up what Kunitz believes is the first artistic comment on the Vietnam War. Solely on that merit, the book demands close scrutiny. Casey reads like a kind of odd cross between Mark Twain and T. S. Eliot, in that his spare lines encompass the many dialects across which he ran during his time in-country. Eventually, though, the mind and the ear both tire of the unending stream of dialect and wish for one of the very few poems here (I recall two) in which Casey reverts to non-dialect-spelling English and flashes the ability to put words together that so obviously impressed Kunitz:

Her back is arched
Like something's under it
That's why I thought
It was booby-trapped
But it's not
It just must have been
Over this rock here
And somebody moved it...

Casey, like most of the Yale Series, definitely had some raw talent, and it would have been interesting to see what became of him. Unfortunately, also like many of the Yale Series, it looks as if Casey may never have published another book. ** 1/2

The previous reviewer bemoaned the disappearance of Michael Casey. At the risk of starting an "Elvis Sighting" type phenomenon, I just saw him last night. He was at a "Poets for Peace" reading at the old North Church in Portsmouth NH last night [November 13, 2001]. I absolutely love his style. Gone are all the gooey and fay poetisms, all the 'delicate flower' stuff of the past. Here is a guy who refines each poem until it is as true to the way people are and the way people speak as possible. *I* should be so true to my ears! And, in case you're interested in pursuing things, his other books are: The Army at War, Millrat, and the brand new book he had at the reading last night: Million Dollar Hole. Such an Irish mensch you won't believe!

This book is a well written piece of information centering on past power center development. It is a little outdated currently; however, it does show the pitfalls and highpoints of a large number of quite successful power center development projects. Unfortunately it does not cut much below the surface of these projects and offers little practical advice. Good for understanding past projects in a slightly different time and market. I would not recommend it to anyone searching for a how-to book since it is little more than facts and numbers about past projects and not ideas.