The Unanwered Call

In modern society there seems to be a movement away from the sense of community and more toward a sense of the individual. Often we see people more concerned with what it takes to increase profit margins and less concerned about the need to support the community from which these profits are generated. However, in a world of convoluted moral guidance there is some semblance of community left. Robert Coles, in his book The Call of Service: a Witness to Idealism, discusses some of the astounding people that he has worked with over a thirty-year time span. As with many of Coles' works he begins with the story of Ruby Bridges. Set in 1961, Ruby was one of three black children to break the racial barriers in Boston and attend a previous all white school. Although she faced continual threats, Ruby attended school everyday without complaint. Intrigued by Ruby's courage, Coles searched for the motivating force that allowed her to face such adversity. He found that her bravery came from her propensity to contribute to the greater cause. Through facing the hatred of those crowds in Boston, Ruby helped to cut a path through racism for future generation and doing so created a strong sense of self worth. While many of Coles' stories are inspirational, they lack the sociological support necessary to make them anything more than inspirational. Coles seems to think volunteering for the sake of volunteering is enough. For this reason the book centers on the pride one might get from donating his or her time for the betterment of the community. Though the cause is admirable, execution is poor. Coles only discusses isolated cases that do not depict an objective point of view. For example in the case of Ruby Bridges, Coles only refers to her. However, during the 1960's many black children were subjected to similar abuse and did not fare as well. Coles does not discuss any of them. Instead he chooses to deal only with the stories that support his ideology. As today's society seems to value profit over the needs of the community, Call to Service falls short of providing solutions for diminishing community pride. These stories do not provide much more than pop psychology solutions to complex social problems.

This book is fantastic. Coles spent a large portion of his life living amongst, interviewing, studying, and writing about volunteer community servants and the people for whom they work. The first 3/4 or so of this book recounts some of his favorite stories from that portion of his life. It does a fine job of doing so - these stories are the kind of thing you can't put down. The last 1/4 or so of the book tries to draw morals and conclusions from the stories. This part of the book is interesting too, and well written, but not quite as good as the first part of the book. For one thing, Coles tries to draw large-scale conclusions from non-randomly picked anecdotal cases. But his conclusions are still very interesting, and the book as a whole is really astonishingly good.

Some books make you feel good, some books make you feel rotten. This book reawakened my idealism and my interest in doing good in the world. Coles describes the elements of volunteering and how we choose the work in which we become engaged. He also describes how we become disillusioned - sometimes by ignoring the significance of the work that goes on among the volunteers, sometimes by hoping too much and knowing too little, sometimes by not looking at ourselves. But he also offers pictures out of his own life and experience, sharing personal reflections and insights. Coles describes concrete situations in many different kinds of volunteer activities, reporting carefully and without a lot of unnecessary analysis, what gets said, how people look, and when volunteer gestures lead or don't lead to success. His respect for the people he meets is inspiring, as is his openness for learning and reassessing his own value system. Not least important is that Colses is both a good writer and a gifted story teller.

I bought the book, expecting to know the solution on how to raise my kids so that they become good members of the society. But what I got was just a guideline that I should teach my children well during their early years. It's all too simple to hear from such an expert. There is nothing new on how to raise a moral child compared with what I can get from a good how-to-raise-a-child book. The quality of contents in this book is no way near Emotional Intelligence

I found the authors case studies very useful and amusing. They made the subjest matter easier to grasp and understand in a way that I could relate it to my own experiences. The whole issue is a facinating and pertinant one in this day and age

The notoriety of this book rests on two pretty shaky pillars: first, the initial section of the book is supposed to reveal the effects of segregation and desegregation battles on children, mainly through their drawings, which have become almost iconographic; second, the book was the first major effort to look at segregationists as if they were normal human beings and not vile mutants. But the child studies seem dubious and the novelty of the even handed treatment of white Southerners is more of an indictment of the prevailing intellectual hegemony of the 60's than a recommendation for this book in particular.

The pederastic preschool hysteria and recovered memory of Satanic rituals scare have amply demonstrated (if Freud himself hadn't) that child psychologists/psychiatrists tend to find whatever they expect to find when they head into child interviews. So I think we have to question the validity of Coles child research.

As for examining segregationists fairly, while it may have been revolutionary at the time Coles wrote, we now live in a political culture that is so thoroughly racialized that the attitudes of segregationists seems fairly unremarkable. After all, how different is the Alabama parent of 1956 who wanted his kids to go to an all white school from the 1990's inner city parent who wants her kids to go to a Black Muslim school? How different is the all white police force from the force that has to meet rigid racial quotas? Race is still the determinative factor in these distributions of power, we've just tweaked the distributions a little.

I suppose Coles deserves some credit for undertaking such a project, which clearly ran counter to popular perceptions of his day, but the most important conclusion in the book is the following:

We all have our hates, but most of us do not get them involved with social and political issues to a degree that becomes frantic and all consuming. It is remarkable and almost frightening to see how quickly a new generation can abandon the ruthlessly indoctrinated and maintained ideology of its predecessor. In the South, as segregationist customs have collapsed, most white people have yielded to what they once said they could never accept.

Duh! Whites fought tooth and claw to keep power in the South, but when they lost, they accommodated to the new reality.

For some reason, race and sex have the capacity, like The Shadow, to cloud men's minds. It should be, and should have been, perfectly obvious that segregation was simply a political arrangement whereby one group sought to maintain their own power. Take power away from the Southern Whites, as the Federal government did, and the need for a racial theory to support that power disappears. (Books like C. Vann Woodward's The Strange Career of Jim Crow (1955), had amply demonstrated the fundamentally political background of segregation.) But somehow the focus on race gave the whole deal a peculiar resonance that made logical discussion nearly impossible and still affects our ability to consider these matters, even with historical perspective.

A great book is waiting to be written about Desegregation; one that combines Woodward's understanding of the historico-political roots of segregation, with the epic scope and mundane detail of Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters, and with the intellectual honesty to examine the consequences of race based solutions to race based problems that authors like Thomas Sowell and Charles Murray have demonstrated. This is not that book; it succeeds only on the very limited terms that it sets itself.

GRADE: C

Albert Schweitzer wrote on a wide range of topics. This book is an excellent introduction to Schweitzer's views on art, music, philosophy, religion, ethics, colonialism, science, and more. What I found frustrating is that the book consists of short extracts from Schweitzer's writings. It is like looking at still photographs of scenes from a movie rather than watching the complete film. Or eating appetizers and never getting the full meal. The book's format did not allow me to experience the fullness of Schweitzer's thoughts on any subject. To be fair, the editor, Charles R. Joy, states that it is his hope that the reader will be motivated to read Schweitzer's works in their full as a result of reading this anthology. I appreciated the biographical chronology at the end of the book. It gave a good overview of Schweitzer's work and extensive travels.

This book is a compendium of irritating whinings by a naive liberal intent on saving the world. I was very much disappointed. Skip. Or borrow the book from the library.

I'm a law student in Taiwan. I read this book in its Chinese version and this book reveals to me the mental transformation of a law student in the American's top law school.The function of Harvard law school,the holyland a law student might dream of, through its 3 years' top educational resources and first class faculty, is to make a liberal-mind student to be a cold-blood wealth searching lawyer.How terrible it has been and what's wrong with the legal education?And Harvard just represents all of this.Don't doubt that I am an anti-Harvardist, I also dream that one day I could be accepted in this school which is situated on the top of hierarchy....

The author wrote this book in a sence of irony and humor.But the truth is so horrible. I think that all who is dedicated himself or herself in this field could think twice about what you are doing now.

yes, at times, the author does come across as elitist, but at least he tried really hard to get postions in public interest and gov't..although i agree that some gov't positions are just as self-serving, his actions do indicate a committment to public service..after all, he gave up a very high paying corporate job for a low paying gov't one..if he was so fake, he wouold have sold out like other so-called liberals had. Of course, if you are into corporate law, this book will not be compelling..would a book about Malcom X be moving for a Nazi?? Anyway, the book is very emotional and provides a lot of insider info about Harvard Law. Although things have become easier for public service minded law students, this book still is helpful

Erin Murphy
Spitz, E. (1999). Inside picture books. Yale University Press.

Ellen Handler Spitz's Inside Picture Books is a nonfiction book. The book should be read by parents or teachers who are interested in finding out about picture books and want what the books are about and if they will have a positive or negative on the children. The theme of the book is children's picture books. Spitz talks about many different picture books and tells how the books will affect the children positively or negatively.
Spitz's book is broken down into chapters and each chapter has a different concept. She discusses books that are about bedtime, books dealing about accidents and death, and books that talk about children who do not always behave. Spitz uses the pictures to explain the message of the story.
The one thing that I liked about Spitz's book is that she described many different picture books. Most of these books I have never read and some I had never even heard before. Another thing that Spitz does with her book is that she focuses on the many aspects of the books, such as, the pictures and the language.
There are some things, however that I did not really like about this book. For one thing, she spends a lot of time talking about the pictures of the book, but rarely shows any these pictures in the book. I think that it would have been more effective if, after describing a picture, to include the picture next to the description. She would not necessarily have to do that for every picture she describes; only for the ones that would be more memorable.
Also, I think she analyzes the books way too much. Younger readers probably would not look that much into these books. They would read them because they like the book and like the pictures. Parents will probably just read these books to their children because they enjoyed them as children and will want to share that enjoyment with their children. I do not think that they will sit and analyze the books with their children after reading the book. In my opinion, she ruins a lot of the books by analyzing them to death.
I do not know if I would recommend this book to other readers or not. The book is good if someone wanted to find out about picture books. It has a good amount of children's books listed. On the other hand, it analyzes these books a little too much for my taste. For those readers who want to enjoy the books they read as children with their own children, I suggest that they do not read this book because it may ruin the books they love most forever. I think that I would give this book two stars.

Although Ellen Handler Spitz's is written for anyone who deals with children, I found the book somewhat hard to follow. Beside the fact that she refers to books assuming that everyone has read them, most of the books that she does mention are very old books. I also thought that she was analyzing some of the books to death. In the Good Night Moon section, Spitz finds strange reasons for almost every object in the room, such as the red balloon representing another children's book. I think that this is reading too far into the pictures, which lessens the enjoyment of reading the book. As mentioned before, it was also difficult to read and follow what she was talking about when she mentions books that some people may not have read. She refers to them in order to make a point, but her point is lost if you have not read the book being referred too.
The part of the book that I did like was that it was easy reading and that almost anyone would be able to understand it.

Ellen Handler Spitz has a way of explaining the enchantment of children's favorite picture books that no one will want to miss. Grandparents, parents, and caregivers who buy this book will find themselves enriched and intrigued with every insight.

Ms. Spitz is not only an expert in art and literature; she also knows children. Absolutely everything she wrote rang true to my experience as a mother of two young boys. If you want to understand more fully how words and text make lasting impressions on children, you'll want to have a copy of Inside Picture Books. I've recommended this book to all of my friends, as well as to grandparent visitors to Grandloving.com, my monthly website for caring grandparents.

That Robert Coles' heart is in the right place and that his experience working with children is extensive, no one can dispute. But his writing is characterized by wordiness - even chattiness - and it undermines the serious nature of his topic. Perhaps the loose writing style is an attempt to make the book appeal to "every parent," - and not just educators - but instead it renders the whole work laborious and permeated with a condescending, patronizing tone. In the current political culture, a book on the moral life of children written by an educator of Coles' calibre would be expected to nail a spot on the N.Y. Times bestseller list for weeks, if not years. The fact that less than two years after publication I picked up a hard cover copy at a book clearance for 75% off is a testimony to lazy editorship more than anything else. What a huge loss for our society.

In The Moral Intelligence of Children, Robert Coles outlines his considerable experience with the moral thinking of children. He finds that even the very young can reason using sophisticated moral logic, and makes numerous recommendations for how parents might try to raise a virtuous child. Sadly, I cannot recommend this book to a wide audience, as its fundamental assumptions have not been borne out by modern research.

Coles argues that children learn what moral behavior is through observation and immersion. In this regard he is similar to the Russian psychologist Vygotsky. Unfortunately, a great deal of research since Vygotsky's death causes me to doubt Coles' claims. Some of the evidence against this claim is found in W. Rottschaefer's Biology and Psychology of Moral Agency. In particular, infants as young as a few weeks display empathic behaviors, and this tendency grows immensely over the first year. It is hard to imagine how a child's moral sophistication is related to the observation of parents when their empathic behavior develops at such a young age, faced with no moral problems of their own.

Additional evidence comes from Jonathan Haidt's social institutionist model of moral reasoning. Haidt feels that morality does develop from a social context, but demonstrates that the "reasons" offered by adults and children, however cute or sophisticated, are little more than rationalizations for deeper emotions inherited from earlier development.

Finally, even if kids did learn from their parents, as soon as the child steps out of the home his reasoning will be shaped by his peers, not by his parents. To date, there is no compelling evidence that parents have a significant impact on the morality or personality of their kids beyond their genetic contribution. Judith Harris utterly crushed that area of research in her book, The Nurture Assumption.

Coles' book is full of interesting stories in a fairly warm and talkative style. If you're as fascinated by children and their stories about themselves and each other as I am, you'll enjoy this book. Just don't take it too seriously as a manual for raising your child.

It is evident that Robert Coles has an immense amount of insight on the psychology of young children. His work in this book extends to young children of all ages. He doesn't waste time spilling disheartening statistics that scares the reader. Coles discusses the issues and concerns of young children that help link their moral intelligence to moral life. His background in children psychology is deep and experienced, using ideas and shared beliefs with other professional masterminds of children psychology. Children believe that they are the world and everything revolves around them. Robert Coles dissects the moral intelligence by sharing his personal experience and observations with children of all ages. It is clear that Coles has a deep passion in his work. His feelings for the children he has worked with go beyond than just an observer. As Coles explains, moral intelligence derives from the surroundings that children observe. He seems to provide a solution to all aspects of child psyche. He covers angles in which parents and teachers can handle certain situations. Coles uses this book to fill the voids that children need. The moral intelligence is created by the child, but can be molded by proper guidance. Although children create personal shield around themselves, Coles offers a solution to the guidance that is vital to the development of the child. This book is a great tool to help teachers and parents how to adjust to the child who suddenly is becoming distant to moral reasoning. Coles perspectives are eye-opening and brilliant. Behaviors you would normally avoid and consider abnormal can be catered to by the help of this book. It just makes you want to serve and protect young

I am not familiar with the particular family that is the focus of the book and documentary, but having lived in Eastern Kentucky all my life, I can attest to the fact that this family represents the exception and not the rule. It is quite dangerous to generalize that the entire region is full of families living in such conditions. There are poverty-stricken people in every region, even in inner-cities. Documentaries like this serve to perpetuate the "hillbilly" stereotype that is so demeaning and destructive to the proud people of Appalachia. Most of us are not living without modern conveniences, technological advances, or even advanced education. I would have appreciated the spirit of this effort if there had been any attempt to distinguish the experiences of this family from the majority of the population of Eastern Kentucky. Instead, they are presented as a typical example of the "modern" Appalachian family. That is a shamefully deceptive myth.

I am not from Kentucky but I personally know relatives of this family and I have visited this mountain area with them. This is really how this family lives and I find the documentory and the book to be actual fact regarding this situation. Many of the relatives have left the area over the years and do lead fine lives in other states. This would represent the remainder of the family that chose to stay with their roots.

In my opinion, the American Hollow is not the author's literary and photographic perception of life in Appalachia. It is an unbiased view of life in the hollow as seen by one family. The author did not attempt to label the family as being representative of the population in general. Whether the family is atypical of the average Appalachian family is irrelevant. The determination of authenticity can be more appropriately evaluated by the participants, the actual family members depicted in the book and film. If the family and neighbors recognize the depictions as creditable, then the author has done a good job of telling it like it is, without approval or disapproval, but merely acceptance that this is one Appalachian family. I missed the documentary on HBO and have searched high and low for it without success. Would be interested to know where I might obtain a copy...all comments welcomed.

This book attempts to persuade the reader that businesses are best managed by customer portfolio management, a method consisting of three general parts: (a) mathematical modelling and computation of "customer value" (b) segmenting customers in "value groups" (c) optimize revenue by focusing on the "value groups" offering highest revenues

The authors' calculation of value does not include the indirect results of the customer's patronage. Will their buying habits influence others, such as their children, to remain loyal to the brand? Will their recommendations influence others to buy? This whole chain of reasoning appears absent from the text -- a puzzling omission since the importance of referrals as a positive influence in affecting sales has been known for eons.

Similarly, the authors are strangely absent with regards to providng value and quality across all products and services, not just those offering the most attractive "customer value". It should be remembered that today's carpenter, may be tomorrow's subcontractor and then may be a future home builder. By selecting and focusing only on select groups, the company's performance may be viewed by such a customer as inconsistent or spotty. Indeed, such a customer may very well ask themselves, "Will I be in the next group slighted because I'm viewed as 'low value'?" (NOTE: This is not to say that differing services can be provided to different types, levels or classes of customers. On the contrary, to fail to offer this would be foolish. Companies can, however, offer customers the *choice*, and not pre-ordain their fates, esp. when such a fate is dictated by such an abstraction.)

Relying on a highy volatile measure such as "customer value" is inherently very, very risky and one wonders if the recurrent churning of those calculations would, in fact, yield meaningful results in a fast-paced business environment.

Customer connection
After reading this book, you will know what is the customer relationship model, that is the value compass and foundation of customer connection strategy.
I do agree that the author did present the book in an academic way which is quite bored. For the value compass, it is a complicated model and it is not easy to be understood. However, I remember that the author did distinguish the difference among the product manager, process manager and the network manager, this part is quite good and clear.
Also the author did explain the customer equity by using the equation, it¡¦s quite good and impressed.
Generally, I think you can learn something from this book, for example, we know that we need to create long term relationship with our customers and the critical success factor for running a business is to create value to the customers but not to reduce cost for the business.

I found that this book is useful as it introduced a useful tool for customer relationship. The author introduced a great customer relationship model, ¡§The Value Compass¡¨.

I think that it is important for the company to understand that ¡§reduce cost¡¨ is not the most important element to achieve success. Instead, company should put effort on creating value in order to achieve goal. And we have already known that the cost of retaining customer is much lower than the cost of acquiring new customers. So, why look for new customers, when you can improve the ones you¡¦ve already got?

Customer satisfaction is one of the elements of retaining customers. And customer satisfaction can be done by ¡§creating value¡¨. This book introduced you with ¡§The Value Compass¡¨ which provided you a great tool to create value and thus build up long-term customer relationship.

With the help of ¡§The Value Compass¡¨, company can position itself among different dimensions of relationship value. After know ¡§where you are¡¨, company should decide ¡§where are you going to be¡¨, according to ¡§The Value Compass¡¨. Then the company can achieve the target position by prepare customer connection strategy, which has discussed by this book.

So, if you are in the management level of your company, if you want your company to create value to the customers in order to build long-term customers relationship, you may read this book to achieve your goal more efficiently and effectively.

This is a good example of how NOT to write history. In about 200 pages we have a brief over-view of the whole history of France. Unfortunately, Cole tries to say too much--too many names and dates. In order to get all his names in Cole has little room left to explain anything important about history: wars "break-out" and artists "come to" Paris. Why any of this happens is without explanation.
Even for the traveller with a passing interest in the history of France, this book in inadequate. There is no special attention paid to places of interest to travellers; there is little mention of the great artists and cultural figures of France, and the history included in often written in an uninspired manner that will bore most readers.
If you are going to France and what some history, look elsewhere.

This is an excellent book for pre-trip reading or to include on your trip if you have space as you'll refer to it frequently. France for the general reader, not the French History expert.