Bingo! You've found it. One of those "kid" books that are perfect for adults. Superbly illustrated, unafraid to present complex ideas, explains lots of practical applications of lasers that you've never heard of ("they do *that* with lasers, too?"), rewards concentration (talk about a threat and a promise!).

This book is a wonderful tool not only for learners of French but for professionals too. It is easy to use, for the order and presentation of each of the articles is very clear, and it gives a great amount of information on usage and style. Le Bon Usage helps the learners discover new features of the language and it offers the professionals (such as Translators or Teachers) very useful tips as to the usage of words, expressions, and verbs that are specific to the French language, making its contents clear through a great variety of examples. Just like in his other books, M. Grevisse does a thorough and excellent research of the French language to offer us readers one of the best works on usage of French ever written.

Renaud Barbaras is undoubtedly one of the most interesting philosophers working currently in the field of phenomenology. "Le tournant de l'experience" is a collection of articles - some of which have been previously published in various journals - on Merleau-Ponty but this does not mean to say that Barbaras is not an original philosopher. Throughout the book, he develops his own phenomenological project whose aim is to synthetise the philosophy of Husserl, late Merleau-Ponty and Bergson. The most important topic Barbaras is concerned with is the problem of perception - apart from the phenomenological view od perceptive acts, he is influenced by Bergson's "Matiere et Memoire" (especially by the first chapter). According to the author's own conception, the perceptive act may be understood, roughly speaking, as a continuous saturation (which is, however, never achieved) of an ontological distance between the perceiving subject and the perceived being. The subject is, therefore, understood as a form of movement conditioned by what Barbaras calls ontological desire. The book may be strongly recommended to anyone interested in phenomenology and in the problem of perception.

This is a very important book. In it Dirac reviews his modified Hamiltonian formalism, including constraints, so that systems which do not have a proper hamiltonian can be canonically quantized anyway. For Dirac sustains that one only knows how to quantize a system when it has a Hamiltonian. So, if the system doesn't have one, what is a guy to do? He teaches how to generalize the canonical formalism and construct an effective Hamiltonian which is sufficient to do the job. These ideas gave origin to a flow of papers dealing with the matter, and to several good books. Still, Dirac's original lectures are the best introduction, in my opinion. Not to be confused with the famous "Principles of Quantum Mechanics" , the great expository classic. This book I am reviewing is more of a research document.

Left Out tears the veil of anti-Communism away to reveal the insurgent origins of Communist-led unionism in America. The Communists didn't "infiltrate" or "colonize" unions, but were instead the backbone of popular struggles for decent working conditions, racial equality, women's rights, and participatory democracy. Culling and compiling data from many sources, Left Out reveals a broad, grassroots support for the Communists in America's industrial unions stretching from the long decade of the 1930s through the early 1950s. The postwar decline of organized labor is, then, tied to the aggressive purge of Reds and radicals of all hues and the failure of the expelled Communist-led unions to forge their own labor federation. Left Out goes against the shibboleths of our time and questions the inevitability of American labor's self-destructive accommodation to corporate capitalism. Courageous, clear and compelling, this is counterfactual history at its best -- history returned to the actors who make it.

Don't even open this book if you have important plans for the next three days.

*Nance Dude* grabs you from the first sentence and compels you to pick it up again and again until you have read the last line.

Based on a true story, it tells of a women who killed her own grand-daughter in the mountain country of North Carolina in 1913. You know immediately who did it, the outcome and some of the people involved, but the why's and how's are more compelling than in Capote's *In Cold Blood.*

Still Nance is not a killer story. It is a story of love, compassion, redemption and ultimately the tale of a down-trodden person, who, like *Everyman,* represents all down-trodden people. Nance Dude becomes, through Stanley's skillful handling, a symbol for the black plight, battered women, abused children, those physically and emotionally impoverished.

One cannot help but think of *Cold Mountain* because of the time and the setting, but Nance goes far beyond *Cold Mountain.* In it, Stanley carries you to every human emotion in your psyche. You will laugh, smile, become enraged, cry, feel fear, but most of all you will be constantly surprised and impressed at the buttons Stanley has pushed in you that you thought were hidden.

There is action, suspense, romance, epic tales covering a hundred years, sadness and mystery. What's more Stanley is such a skilled writer that he compresses all of this emotion and time into 253 pages. Writing with the excitement of Grisham, the fine ear for dialog as Goldman, the tenderness of Wolfe and the compassion of Capote, Williams, McCullers and Welty, Stanley will not let you alone, once you have picked him up.

Put this book at the top of your list. But remember, cancel everything on your calendar for the next three days.

(The book is -- as of 12/99 -- back in print from Marblehead Publishing, Raleigh NC.)

Maurice Solovine explains in his introduction to this book how he came to meet Albert Einstein in Berne, when he was teaching physics for three francs an hour. At their first meeting, Solovine explained that he was "studying philosophy, but wanted to delve into physics so as to acquire a thorough understanding of nature". On the third day of their meetings, Einstein told Solovine, "As a matter of fact, you don't have to be tutored in physics; our discussion of problems that stem from it is much more interesting. Just come to see me and I will be glad to talk with you." Thus began the long friendship of Maurice Solovine and Albert Einstein -- and this book is a compilation of many letters from Einstein to Solovine, with photocopies of the German originals and translations to English following. While physicists may be somewhat disappointed to find that these letters to Solovine contain very little discussion of physics, most fans of Einstein will be enchanted to see him express his feelings about his family, his work, his peers, and politics.

I remember watching ants as a child and wondering why they do this, and how do they do that?. well this great book explains it all.

This collection of Sasse's essay written between 1927-1939 are thus particularly fascinating and enlightening as the context of the Nazi regime and intro to American Christianity way heavy on the author.

Here one will discover what it truly means to confess one's faith in light of pressure and temptation. Thus, the lonely way.

Confessional words from this studied church historian and exegete and ecumenist pour forth on observation of his own ecclesiastical scene as well as ours here in the States.

The opening essay is fascinating, since it entails Sasse's initial visit to America. His comments are penetrating and analytical, e.g. "This churchliness of life has a down side to be sure: the secularization of the church. ... Tkhey have opened their doors in part to modern civilization, which has endangered the purity and depth of the faith. Here is the reason for that superficiality of American church life which repulses us Germans." "The consequence of this, along with the concurrent leveling effect of American life, is an elimination of confessional anthitheses. .... All this has created a common religious atmosphere, in which the confessional lines are blurred. Thus fighting has been replaced by cooperation, one of the great American catchwords."

Delivered in 1928, an essay on the church as body of Christ is yet another of Sasse's confessional themes, strongly confessing the Lutheran substance of sacramental presence of Christ: "The church is the body of Christ, is identical with the body of Christ, which is really present in the Lord's Supper. The participation in the body and blood of Christ present in the Lord's Supper is synonymous with membership in his body."

Instructive thoughts and admonitions which provide more than ample reflective thought of their adaptation and input to current theological issues and ponderings.

A valuable resource for the church of the Reformation and those interested in listening in on this timeless saint of the Lord's literary output.

It might be a lot deeper than you think. Woody Allen is a fantastic artist and this book explores the artistic side of his movies. The meaning behind what you see on the screen and hear from the characters.

For example, do you think Allen's first film "Take the Money and Run" was just a silly spoof? Yacowar would have us believe differently. Right from the name of the main character, there is meaning. Quoting from the book: "The film pretends to be a documentary about the criminal hero, Virgil Starkwell (Allen). His Christian name evokes Allen's familiar associations with virginity and bookishness; his surname alludes to Charles Starkweather, a famous marauder of the later 1950s." And that's only the beginning, we learn that the movie is full meanings and messages that we may have never thought of.

That's what this book did for me and why I enjoyed it so much. It is very thought provoking. Of course, I kind of feel like Allen may have been answering this kind of examination of his movies in "Stardust Memories" when someone asks him, "What were trying to say in this picture?" Woody's answer, "I was just trying to be funny." You can decide for yourself.