The historical information is on a grade-school level, but the background information on the King James translation committee is a welcome entry to a large void of common misunderstanding and ignorance of the origins of this revered version, and a real plus to the value of the book.

The author leans toward a literal translation, and rightly so, in this reviewer's opinion. A helpful chart lists several translations in use today and their degree of literalness or looseness in conforming to the original language texts.

Unfortunately, the section on theological bias gives little clarification of it's legitimate role in translating, and promotes that idea that one should shop around for a translation to buttress one's own theological bent. Translations that veer from the author's own pet theological bias are clearly denigrated for doing so, even if their renderings are philologically accurate.

In line with the title, the author throughout promotes the notion that everyone should pick the ONE Bible translation that will be the basis of their faith. Oddly, it is not suggested that a Christian might regularly use and study several different translations, and no encouragement is given toward the use of an interlinear translation with a lexicon.

Still, for readability, for the information on the King James translation committee, for the useful chart on literalness vs looseness (I find myself consulting it frequently, as I build my collection of different translations), and for valuing literalness in a translation, I rate this book a 3-plus, and recommend it as a starting point for someone desiring to embark on the road to the study of the modern Bible translation, and the history of its textual transmission.

Cayce is a fascinating character. Because of his deep faith, he wrestled with the concept of reincarnation and tries to reconcile a biblical explanation for what he experienced in the "life" readings. I found the final chapters of the book more interesting than much of the rest of the book. But it deserves better treatment overall than was given by Kirkus.

Edgar Cayce is also known as the "Father of Holistic Medicine," whose unorthodox naturopathic cures, while helping many regain their health who had been given up as hopeless by the medical establishment, once led to his arrest on grounds of practising medicine without a licence.

In "My Life As a Seer," we get to know the Edgar Cayce who struggled with self-doubts regarding his psychic gift, and with concerns about the impact which the information from his readings might have on those who sought his counsel. We meet Cayce the family man, a photographer by profession, whose deep faith sees him through a series of defeats, including the destruction by fire of his studio; the closure, for lack of funds, of the hospital he had spent years trying to build; an eviction from his home; and physical injuries suffered while being the target of a humiliating attempt to expose him as a fraud. Through it all, Cayce remained a sincere and humble man,who was motivated not by fame nor by riches (which eluded him all his life), but by an overwhelming desire to serve God and help his fellow human beings.

"My Life As a Seer," as grandson Charles Thomas Cayce says in the foreword, represents "the first account of Edgar Cayce's life told completely in his own words. He does not dwell on all of the personal aspects of his life, but focuses primarily on those experiences that marked him since childhood as decidedly different from anyone else in his world."

Reading this fascinating book is the closest most of us will come to talking with Edgar Cayce in this lifetime.

This book is designed as a reference not a study guide.This is one of the best Intranetware books I have read to date.

While this is a good book for beginners, intermediate and advanced talents can appreciate it for one reason; I used this book to create the complete chess set. It really is an impressive one (for origami, especially)!

That's all I've used this book for, and I don't think I'd pay for it unless I was a beginner (and even then, I may not). Getting it from the library was an ideal solution for me.

If you have never done origami before, or if it has been "years" since you last did, this is the book to get! While there are many "beginner's" origami books on the market, most are aimed at children, and most contain the same set of traditional models. Almost a "if you've seen one you've seen them all" thing.

But, as the commercial says:
"This isn't your parent's first origami book"

This book contains a collection of models by Robert Neale that haven't (to my knowledge) been published anywhere else. Which makes this a great book for collectors as well as beginners. Robert's models are simple to fold, but they contain a beauty that is not easy for an origami creator to capture. Thomas Hull's prose is funny and friendly, and makes me feel like he is looking over my shoulder helping me along.

My favorite models from this book are:
"Frog with a Big Mouth" - the first model I teach anyone new to origami - extremely simple, yet it captures the essence a frog marvelously!
"Da Wabbit We-wised" - much like the traditional rabbit, except lots better!
"Magic Ring" - changes from a frisbee with a hollow center into a spikey ring, and back again (and again, and again, and again, and... you get the idea!)

Two Folds Up!
-Doug

You get enough to wet your appetite. Makes you want to look for something more indepth, etc. Worth buying, though, as it is written by a genuine fan of Monk and the whole jazz scene. I don't regret getting it.