This book covers every aspect of equine reproduction from the preperation of a stallion prior to the start of the breeding season all the way through to the care and management of the mare and foal post partum. This book covers in absolute detail, the step by step format of every situation that would or could occur during the 15 to 18 month period that leads from conception to post foaling management. This is a book that every farm manager as well as the weekend horse breeder should have access to 24 hours a day.

Collaboratively edited by Pat Belanoff, Marcia Dickson, Sheryl I. Fontaine, and Charles Moran, Writing With Elbow is an erudite and informative body of literary criticism specifically examining the life, work, and literary legacy of author Peter Elbow's . A variety of superbly crafted and insightful essays by a number of distinguished critics carefully and meticulously survey Peter Elbow's postmodern politics, the influence Michael Polanyi has had on Elbow's work, Elbow's use of personal voice and physical rhetoric, and much more. A stand-apart volume of solid, college-level writing analysis, Writing With Elbow is an impressive work of seminal scholarship and a strongly recommended contribution to academic reference collections.

After years without picking up a novel by Dickens (memories of starchy classes at school), I decided to plunge into "Bleak House", a novel that had been sitting on my bookshelf for about ten years, waiting to be read. Although I found it heavy going at first, mainly because the style is so unfamiliar to modern readers, after about ten pages I was swept up and carried off, unable to put the hefty tome down until I had finished it. This book is a definite classic. The sheer scope of the tale, the wit of the satire (which could still be applied to many legal proceedings today) and the believable characters gripped me up until the magnificent conclusion. One particularly striking thing is the "cinematic" aspect of certain chapters as they switch between different angles, building up to a pitch that leaves the reader breathless. I can't recommend "Bleak House" too highly. And I won't wait so long before reading more Dickens novels.

This is the second book by Dickens I have read so far, but it will not be the last. "Bleak House" is long, tightly plotted, wonderfully descriptive, and full of memorable characters. Dickens has written a vast story centered on the Jarndyce inheritance, and masterly manages the switches between third person omniscient narrator and first person limited narrator. His main character Esther never quite convinces me of her all-around goodness, but the novel is so well-written that I just took Esther as she was described and ran along with the story. In this book a poor boy (Jo) will be literally chased from places of refuge and thus provide Dickens with one of his most powerful ways to indict a system that was particularly cruel to children. Mr. Skimpole, pretending not to be interested in money; Mr. Jarndyce, generous and good; Richard, stupid and blind; the memorable Dedlocks, and My Lady Dedlock's secret being uncovered by the sinister Mr. Tulkinghorn; Mrs. Jellyby and her telescopic philanthropy; the Ironmaster described in Chapter 28, presenting quite a different view of industralization than that shown by Dickens in his next work, "Hard Times." Here is a veritable cosmos of people, neighbors, friends, enemies, lovers, rivals, sinners, and saints, and Dickens proves himself a true master at describing their lives and the environment they dwell in. There are landmark chapters: Chapter One must be the best description of a dismal city under attack by dismal weather and tightly tied by perfectly dismal laws, where the Lord Chancellor sits eternally in Lincoln's Inn Hall. Chapter 32 has one of the eeriest scenes ever written, with suspicious smoke, greasy and reeking, as a prelude to a grisly discovery. Chapter 47 is when Jo cannot "move along" anymore. This Norton Critical is perhaps the best edition of "Bleak House" so far: the footnotes help a lot, and the two Introductions are key to understanding the Law system at the time the action takes place, plus Dickens' interest in this particular topic. To round everything off, read also the criticism of our contemporaries, as well as that of Dickens' time. "Bleak House" is a long, complex novel that opens a window for us to another world. It is never boring and, appearances to the contrary, is not bleak. Enjoy.

"There is little to be satisfied in reading this book"?? I couldn't disagree more. Bleak House left a profound impression on me, and was so utterly satisfying a reading experience that I wanted it never to end. I've read it twice over the years and look forward to reading it again. Definitely my favorite novel.

I don't know what the previous reviewer's demands are when reading a novel, but mine are these: the story must create its world - whatever and wherever that world might be - and make me BELIEVE it. If the novelist cannot create that world in my mind, and convince me of its truths, they've wasted my time (style doesn't matter - it can be clean and spare like Orwell or verbose like Dickens, because any style can work in the hands of someone who knows how to use it). Many novels fail this test, but Bleak House is not one of them.

Bleak House succeeds in creating a wonderfully dark and complex spider web of a world. On the surface it's unfamiliar: Victorian London and the court of Chancery - obviously no one alive today knows that world first hand. And yet as you read it you know it to be real: the deviousness, the longing, the secrets, the bureaucracy, the overblown egos, the unfairness of it all. Wait a minute... could that be because all those things still exist today?

But it's not all doom and gloom. It also has Dickens's many shades of humor: silliness, word play, comic dialogue, preposterous characters with mocking names, and of course a constant satirical edge. It also has anger and passion and tenderness.

I will grant one thing: if you don't love reading enough to get into the flow of Dickens's sentences, you'll probably feel like the previous reviewer that "...it goes on and on, in interminable detail and description...". It's a different dance rhythm folks, but well worth getting used to. If you have to, work your way up to it. Don't start with a biggie like Bleak House, start with one of his wonderful short pieces such as A Christmas Carol.

Dickens was a gifted storyteller and Bleak House is his masterpiece. If you love to dive into a book, read and enjoy this gem!

This book, from beginning to end, is somewhat misleading. Fortunately, for the novice student of Mariology, it is partially informative, and written in a very simple, understandable style. Unfortunately, the reader will find very quickly that Dickson's arguments are based more on his ecumenical desires to unite the Protestant and Catholic branches of Christianity than on historical fact. Indeed, even the title is a misnomer. The book should be called "A Lutheran Ecumenical Pastor-With Hopes of Making the Roman Catholic View of Mary More Palatable to Protestants-Looks At Mary".

Having read several books that discuss the role, history, and doctrines of the Virgin Mary within the different branches of Christianity, I can honestly say that this one was the most disappointing. Protestants most often disagree with Roman Catholic Mariology in the following areas: Mary's Assumption, her Immaculate Conception, and her intercessory powers. Unfortunately, Dickson's attempt to shed light on the Catholic reasons for holding such doctrine is weak. Regarding Mary's alleged Assumption, Dickson simply regurgitates age-old Catholic arguments that support this doctrine (p.84). He does nothing to improve these arguments, thus the educated Protestant-who already disagrees with the Catholic reasoning-will gain nothing from Dickson's attempt. Regarding Mary's alleged "Immaculate Conception", the author also fails to improve past Catholic reasoning (p.88). Accordingly, here too he does not construct any "bridge of understanding" over which Protestants with ecumenical desires can walk towards their Catholic brothers and sisters. Perhaps the most dismaying aspect of this book is the complete lack of endnotes and footnotes that verify the author's sources of information. The astute reader, consequently, cannot even check to see from which historical "facts" Dickson gets many of his arguments.

It is important for readers to remember that, among all Protestant denominations, Lutheranism is probably the most similar to Roman Catholicism in many doctrinal areas. Accordingly, if we survey the spectrum of Protestant theology, what is acceptable to a Lutheran, may not be acceptable to more mainstream, evangelical, and/or conservative Protestants. Thus, Dickson's book perhaps will only be able to create more sympathy for Roman Catholic Mariology among Lutherans who were already closer to Catholics on the theological spectrum to begin with. I do not recommend this book for readers unless they are already educated enough about Marian historical theology to recognize that Dickson does no more than merely repeat the age-old Roman Catholic arguments for their particular perspective on Mary.

This book is SUPERB! I am a Roman Catholic, and this book by a Protestant is the BEST book about the Holy Virgin I have read to date. This book made me cry and it made my spirit laugh. After reading this book, few people will be able to deny Mary's role in the lives of ALL Christians, nor will they WANT to deny it. By reading this book, we learn how the Rosary is for ALL Christians and it is not the meaningless repetition of blasphemous prayers so many non Catholics imagine it to be. This book also helps construct a bridge between Christian groups. It attempts to establish some much needed common ground(With lots of success). Will Protestants and Catholics ever be able to agree about Mary? Well, this book sure will help that happen! I HIGHLY recomend this book to ALL Christians, regardless of denomination or lack of denomination.