This beautiful little book contains just a few of Borges' best works from his 1944 work Ficciones (also widely available in the 1964 collection of English translations entitled Labyrinths).

It also includes important later works of Borges, Nightmares and Blindness (transcriptions of two lectures from 1977).

His own worst nightmare involves discovering the King of Norway, with his sword and his dog, sitting at the foot of Borges' bed. "Retold, my dream is nothing; dreamt, it was terrible." Such is the power of describing, of reading this father of modern literature.

In Blindness, he examines his own loss of sight in the context of examining poetry itself. In a story right out of, well, Borges, he discusses his appointment as Director of a library at the very time he has lost his reading sight. (Two other Directors are also blind.)

"No one should read self-pity or reproach
into this statement of the majesty
of God; who with such splendid irony
granted me books and blindness at one touch."

This lecture is a moving (and brief, just 15 pages) ode to poetry . If one wants ironic context, just consider that these lectures on Nightmares and Blindness were delivered in Buenos Aires at the height of the State of Siege of the Argentine Generals.

...

It seems alternately true and false that Jorge Luis Borges lives inside each of his writings in a completely symbiotic or photosynthetic way, feeding off his own product until the man and his work are indistinguishable; the man never seemed to be able to detach himself from his story and simply write, and yet at times his expected voicing disappears and one might believe another author has usurped Borges' pen to complete another metaphysic tale. Borges wore many masks, and that fact is acknowledged by the man himself here, in the tiny, fascinating "Borges and I," in which Stevenson is both invoked and mentioned, crafting a Jekyll-and-Hydean bit of self-awareness with the unmistakable tango twist of Borges' playful Argentinian idiom. Everything and Nothing is a sampler of Borges' finest work from his fiction and nonfiction batteries, which are almost indistinguishable. They overflow with Borges' fascination with logic, labyrinths, language, and the relation between the three (for a fine nonfiction work in this vein, read Poundstone's Labyrinth of Reason) and how they figure in philosophy and metaphysics. For a more whole view of Borges, try the new large collections of his work, but for a tiny glance at the genius of this literary superstar, Everything and Nothing is perfect.

The indefinability of the self and the multiplicity of personal identity are the main lines of thought connecting these 11 pieces of excellent literature, among the finest of Borges's. An author of short fiction stories, essayist and poet -though perhaps too much of a thinker for poetry-, Borges is, without hesitation, one of the greatest writers of all time. This careful, well-thought selection gives a brilliant account of one of Borges's conspicuous, recurrent themes: the difficulty of defining self-identity, since a man's distinctive features, whether mental, physical or even metaphysical, are not unique to him. As in some of the most noted masterpieces of literature, the philosophical substrate provides the background for fascinating and intriguing stories, frequently trespassing the fantastic or the bizarre. So, we witness the struggle of an early 20th Century French novelist to write The Quixote -not a contemporary version of Cervantes's renowned work, but the original -- and succeeding! We have the occasion to come to terms with the strange world of Tlön and its uncanny understanding of reality, as shown by its diverse, odd languages. The Lottery of Babylon gives every man the opportunity to become rich, powerful and exultant...or appallingly miserable and abject -by chance? The Garden of Forking Paths is a legacy of innumerable futures -which, however, does not include all of them. Death and the Compass displays the confrontation of a detective with his murderer, whom he is chasing, in a labyrinth of clues spread throughout space and time. The brief historical and literary essays concerning the elusive and somewhat contradictory character of the Emperor of China, builder of the Great Wall and destructor of books, and the precursors of Kafka, paving the way for something they ignore and being later re-created, explore the indefinability of man's essence, in much the same way as the previous fiction stories, since one never knows quite what are the limits between fiction and fact, both inside and out of Borges's work. Borges and I and Everything and Nothing -the latter is the original title by the author in English, though the work was written, as the rest of the compilation, in Spanish- express succinctly the core argument of the book, raising an uneasy metaphysical question: Whereas man may not know exactly who he is, does God know? Finally, two conferences given by Borges close the volume, turning to episodes from Borges's own life, in order to resume somehow the book's contents by invoking the fantastic worlds of dreams -rather, of nightmares- and of blindness, that suggest a vaster and more weird reality with perhaps blurrier limits than we can possibly understand. However, there is space for man if we are able to accept what we cannot understand, as a starting point for creating our own-made life.

Simone Weil's "The Need For Roots" demonstrates the purest understanding of Christ's teaching that I have ever come across. One need not be religious to grasp or identify with this brilliant work.

This book is held together by Christ's beatitudes, parables and prayers as a way of emphasizing the need for spirituality, not organized religion, in our lives. Weil insists on vital obligations of the soul (all of which are explained in brief detail) and the importance of spirituality and self-respect in all things.

According to Weil, everything we do is to be approached with the same intense religiosity that pervaded ancient Greek culture. Love of money and glory have buried spirituality in modern societies world-wide. One of Weil's many solutions was to completely reexamine the uses of education in order to instill this spiritual understanding of human existence.

As with all great thinkers, there are countless facets of Weil's thought. The Need For Roots, therefore, is not an easy read. I found myself reading over sentences and paragraphs several times-not out of frustration, but out of an imense craving to fully understand the saintly beauty of her words.

Those who make the effort to read this book attentively will come away with a powerful, fresh perspective of life, including an understanding of the necessity of both joy and pain. Anyone with a soul should read this book.

In "The Need For Roots," Simone Weil cultivates perhaps the purest, most spiritual definition of Christianity ever put into words. She despises group thought, i.e., organized religion, while constantly referencing the words of Jesus Christ as being the essence of Christianity and a crucial model for living a "well-rooted" life.

One need not be religious at all to identify with the type of religiosity expressed in this book. Simone Weil is no preacher. Going to church every Sunday does not impress her. Dropping money in the priest's basket does not impress her. Love, on the other hand, does. And not just love of God or of religion, but love of eveything we do in life. She stresses the need for love of truth, learning, physical labor and love for what she defines as "the good."

Religion, for Simone Weil, should not just be limited to the church. Simone Weil believes that every aspect of life, everything we do, such as the pursuit of science or knowledge, should be as religious an experience as it was for the ancient Greeks; a civilization she draws reference to many times throughout the book.

Her deep spirituality is strewn throughout these pages, and wakes up the mind to the hypocrissy, spiritual crisis, and moral "uprootedness" of human nature in the modern world. In the midst of stressing this deeply spiritual message, Simone Weil attempts to open the reader's eyes to newer, less narrow-minded definitions of patriotism and greatness, as well as noting the various fundamental uses of education. For Simone Weil, education is not just a kid going to school and trying to get a good grade. Education is for those who have a love of truth, a love of knowledge and an understanding of the importance those virtues carry. It is up to a well-rooted, healthy society to instill those virtues in each individual.

Like the works of most complicated thinkers, this is no easy read. There are many different ideas spiraling around the core of spiritualism emphasized in "The Need For Roots." Simone Weil is extremely intellectual. It is unthinkable that she attained this level of brilliance by the time of her premature death at the age of 33. Most people will find themselves reading over paragraphs several times before fully understanding them. In the introduction, T.S. Elliot suggests that one reading of the book is insufficient, and he may be correct. Anyone who thinks they have grasped this book fully after reading over it once is either lazy, or, if they are correct, a freak of nature. However, the hard work required to tap into Simone Weil's stream of thought is well worth it. This is truly one of the most inspiring and provocative books I have read. While it was written in 1943 and adressed specifically to the state of France under the Vichy government, much of this book still remains crucially relevant today, perhaps even more so.

If this book is read with discernment, rather than in the casual mode in which we often read, I guarantee that a permanent tatoo of Weil's deep passion for humanity will be left on the soul.

Two major contributions to the analysis of the modern society can be found in Weil's works. In his "Essay on the causes of freedom and oppression" of the early 1930s she had given a vision of why we are left unsatisfied by progress, substituting social oppression for natural one. Here, while in London just before dying, she gets to such a deep understanding of contemporary social and spiritual problems that has very few comparisons in this century. We needs roots, she assumes, and we find them belonging to alive communities feeding our souls. An entire programme of reform of modernity is developed from this assumption, and it is applied in detail to postwar perspectives in France. According to some of us, this is still a guidebook for understanding what can be done now, a source of inspiration for rethinking how modern societies could be eventually reconverted to serve human needs, instead of representing Plato's image (dear to Simone) of the apocalyptic Great Beast.

The Offenhauser is arguably the most successful racing engine ever designed, and this book traces its earliest incarnation (when it was the "Miller") to the last turbo-charged days...Inbetween it powered an staggering number of conseutive Indy 500 winners, plus AAA/USCA sprint and midget champions, not to mention IMCA and amazingly even some road racing wins (not to mention possibly the least succesful grand prix car of all time, the Scarab) The "techie" will find loads of specs, cross-sections, and line drawings, the vintage race fans plenty of photos of the cars of the era. (Note to the author: a larger color section in the next edition please.)A really great addition to those of us interested in the history of auto racing....

I have just finished Gordon White's book on Offenhauser Racing Products, and fascinating is a word that comes to mind to describe the effort. Idid not attend the Indy 500 until 1994 and missed all those wonderful years when the Miller/Goosen/Offenhauser engines dominated the race. I was lucky enough to attend several years of Championship Car races at the old Sacramento Fairgrounds and witnessed the Offy in action. Gordon has done a fine job bringing back some of those memories, and making a strong case in my view that these individuals were American heroes! If you are at all interested in things mechanical, this is a must read!

Offenhauser tells the story of the engine that dominated American Championship, sprint and midget and even sports car racing for nearly a half-century. It is surprising that such a book was not written long ago, but the author has done an amazing job of research into racing's past. He tells both the human story of the men who built the Offy - Miller, Goossen, Sobraske, Meyer, Drake and Fred Offenhauser himself, and the technical and political story of the old four-banger's rise to victory at Indianapolis, its long domination there, its fall in 1965, rebirth with turbocharging and final demise in the 1980s. The collection of photographs is amazing - many I never saw before as well as those of well-known drivers such as Foyt who drove Offenhauser-powered cars. Anyone remotely interested in auto racing should definitely have this book.

The Saint of Letting Small Fish Go is well-seasoned, wicked smart on wry, with a side of love and collards.

Eliot Wilson's The Saint of Letting Small Fish Go is one of the most accomplished books, first, second or ninth, I have read in quite a long time. I think the book's best recommendation is its fierce intelligence: the poems never lapse into sap or unearned sentiment. And its heart is fierce as well. The title poem is some kind of masterpiece, a re-invention of the elegy, making the form utterly contemporary. And all the other poems seem to breathe with real life, real energy. Great stuff.

"We're long overdue for such poetry." says Tim Seibles of Eliot Khalil Wilson's stellar debut. And we are. The poems in this collection are large of heart & mind. They are not elitists or obfuscators but generous, brilliant companions with sly, wry, souls, with dark visions, with grand, grand good will and wicked humor. When political, Wilson's work is never didactic, but never timid either. The poems feature complicated characters such as Isaac, "our Arab gunner...and just how mixed he was, dropping incendiary bombs and Hershey bars at the same time, Viet'smores we called it..." When damning and in despair--as when considering human cruelty in a poem about Vietnam called "Blank Verse for the Man we Threw from the Sky," the speaker humbly reminds us: "I'm not offended at our likeness: demon-apes, empty of everything else, prehensile hands, demon hands, just like mine." This collection is loaded with some of the most exacting imagery and some too, of the most gorgeous; yet the poems never shy away from the ugly, the mean, the unflattering descriptions and depictions when those seem most necessary. Necessary is what this book is--timely with the wish for mercy & the disappointed chaser to that wish at the world's tendency to cry out "the way a half-ruined thing cries out to be ruined utterly". From Virginia to Spain, from Wedding Vows to crucified Barbie dolls, from "mourning to morning", this book carries the reader through time, war, thrift shops, Mexican villages, love, a child's burn unit,strip clubs, bowling alleys, pecan groves, Vietnam, mortuaries, talk shows--even the Argentinas of the mind and the afterlife supermarket where Earl feeds on exotic fruits with the dead Uncle Brownie. The imagination is superb, the images flawless. An important, pressing collection.

T.S. Eliot is a major figure in 20th century literature for criticism, publishing and poetry. On the critical front he is known for his 'rediscovery' of the Metaphysical poets Donne and Marvell, his collections of essays 'The Sacred Wood' and 'The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism'; as a publisher he was a director of Faber and built up a stable of 'modern' poets such as Auden and Ezra Pound.

It is, however, for his poetry that he will surely last and this collection gives a marvelous selection of his works. The first poem in this collection 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' is a masterwork with superb imagery and a marvelous sense of humour and irony as it gives us the words of a man who seems much older than Eliot must have been when he wrote it, it was first published while he was in his twenties.

While some of his poetry seems to miss the mark as too dense and perhaps overly constructed others have rich layers of imagery and allusion that reward a little effort and rereading with a sense of large and vivid meaning and depth. 'The Waste Land', one of Eliot's most famous poems and responsible, along with other poems of the period such as 'The Hollow Men', in giving Eliot a reputation as one of the 'disillusioned' modern poets. Eliot denied this, saying he gave 'the illusion of being disillusioned.' 'The Wasteland is four hundred lines long and is quite enigmatic, some scholars have said that it may have been less enigmatic before Ezra Pound helped and convinced Eliot to cut it back from an original 800 lines.

The last major work in this volume is 'The Four Quartets.' It is impossible in a short review to summarise the brilliance of these works. Written in the late thirties they are a masterful summation of the concerns of Eliot's earlier works and a culmination of his examination of his own personal Christianity.

Between these three peaks are many works almost their equal. 'Sweeney Agonistes', 'Ash Wednesday', 'The Hollow Men', and excerpts from the 'The Rock' among them.

To conclude this collection is a wonderful summary of the poetic works of one of the major literary figures of the twentieth century. For a complete overview of Eliot you should read at least one of his plays ('Murder In The Cathedral' is my favourite) and one of his volumes of critical essays such as the two mentioned earlier. I would recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys poetry, particularly those who enjoy reading poetry over and over again.

I thought that this book was a great introduction to T. S. Eliot. It contains most of his really famous pieces, including The Waste Land, The Hollow Men, Ash Wednesday, A Love Song for J. Alfred Prufrock, and many others. If you like it, you might also try "Murder in the Cathedral."

T.S. Eliot writes with such fluidity, you would think that he was inspired by spirits, who, by virtue of being dead, have all the time in the world to come up with such eloquence.

Sentiment and emotion ride the waves with scholarly precision as Flinn pens the book Dean Koontz wishes he could write but knows he can't. Masterfully ignoring the conventions of the techno-thriller, this book steps boldly where Tom Clancy fears to tread. If you liked "The Bridges of Madison County" or "Trade and Tariff Policy in the Weimar Republic," this is the book for you.

In clear prose, with a distinctive, piercing style, the author addresses the subject and exposes its surfaces and depths. Anyone interested in these poets should be sure to purchase a copy

Few people had such an opportunity to view the events of WWII at sea as did Samuel Eliot Morison. Since it was Morison's own idea, the credit must surely go to him as well as to FDR. The visit between Roosevelt and Morison which set the stage for Morison's role as the official WWII naval historian was probably not so much a meeting between a lofty president and a lowly Harvard professor as it was a friendly get-together between two fellow preppies and Harvard grads of approximately the same age. I have assumed that this bond did not unduly influence Morison's evaluation of FDR's performance as Commander-In-Chief.

The introduction to THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC 1939-1943 gives a good account of the state of U.S. Navy preparedness between the two World Wars. The appencices help the reader to appreciate the relative strength of the combatants. It is important to realize that the Navy was already making its weight felt in various parts of the world before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States Navy was forced into this situation by the rapidly evolving predicament of Great Britain and her allies. The Nazis had overrun Greece and Crete and had put Russia deep in a hole. It appeared possible that Germany and Italy would soon control all three entrances of the Mediterranean - The Straits, The Dardanelles and the Suez Canal. Much of this book describes in great detail how the tide of war turned from this low beginning to a much brighter picture for the Allies by April 1943. By then Germany had lost the strategic initiative when it failed to capture Stalingrad. The German Black Sea Fleet was fighting a losing battle and Germany was forced to evacuate its remaining troops from North Africa. In addition, the Allies were organizing an invasion of the European Continent while Japan was on the defensive in the Pacific.

The story is a wide-ranging one because the area involved in the Battle of the Atlantic is so vast. At one end we have the supply run to North Russia to give that beleagured country the essential means to continue to fight. At the other end there is the important contribution of Brazil to the ultimate victory by the Allies. In between there is the very dangerous threat of the German submarine offensive and our paralyzingly slow response to it. The tragedy of our substantial merchant marine losses in the early part of hostilities is described in some detail by Morison but the explanation of exactly how this situation developed is one of the more disappointing aspects of the book. The responsibility for the calamity is still being debated and explored. Morison does not go much below the surface in his account of this sordid affair although the author is not necessarily an unqualified fan of Admiral Ernest J. King.

THE BATTLE OF THE ATLANTIC 1939-1943 is a very detailed historical record in spite of the book's few shortcomings. My respect for Samuel Eliot Morison is increased by reading it and I highly recommend the volume to anyone interested in the history of WWII.

When the great narratives of World War II are collected in an archive for future generations, this should be the first set of books added to the library. Morison is one of the finest historical writers of all time and any book of his is worth reading. I have read 8 different volumes in this series and always feel that I am in the middle of each conflict (as well I should, since the author was there). I hope, when I retire, to acquire the entire 15-volume set and read it from cover to cover. It makes me hope for early retirement!!!

Octavio Paz, A Draft of Shadows (New Directions, 1979)

I am kicking myself for having had this book in my collection for long enough that I don't remember buying it and not getting around to it until now. Paz is the most exciting poet I've run across since discovering the work of Ira Sadoff five years ago. His work, more than capably translated here by Eliot Weinberger (with a few translations from others thrown in for good measure), is a perfect blend of the art and craft of poetry. It is also the finest overtly political work I have read since Aime Cesaire last put pen to paper. Paz understands that if the poetry is good enough, the message of the poetry will come out on its own, something nine hundred ninety-nine out of every thousand political poets never grasp. Those who would dispute it need only read the title poem here and hold it up against the best works by inferior political poets. The difference is stunning, and obvious.

When Paz won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1990, the committee stated that his writing was characterized by 'sensuous intelligence and humanistic integrity.' Indeed. This is poetry the way it's meant to be. **** 1/2

Excelent translation. Like "Eagle or Sun", "A Draft or Shadows" is the best Paz's poetry. Without doubt, some of the best poems I have ever read. East and West, Water and Stone, White and Black... encounter each other... on the other side.

Its the best book out there on Laos. The information seems to be correct and comprehensive. It is easy to follow and extremly helpful. I like that it always says good things about every hotel and restaurant. I doesnt critizise or generalize which is good!
You pretty much now where you want to go, how to get there and enjoying it with the help of this book!
I stayed in Laos for 2 months and this book made my stay there a whole lot easier! In the end of my stay I had very little money and the "catalogizied" sections of "cheap places to stay or eat" really helped me to work out my economy. There is also sections for medium or pricy places too.
This book has it all!
Buy this book, you will be happy you did!!!

It is refreshing that a travel book plunges you into the details of getting you around and through country before providing the background information that may be on interest to the reader while en route. The authors have provided detailed maps of the major cities (four for Vientienne of different focus of detail), a suggested walking tour of Louang Prabang (along with illustrations of the types of house design to find there) and the names and addresses of many guest houses - especially important for Louang Prabang as the more modestly priced places tend to fill up quickly. The authors present a knowledgeable level of detail which makes the reader think that they have actually been to the places they describe. I have compared their maps of some of the smaller northern cities (such as Muang Sing) to those prepared by locals and there appears to be no major discrepancies. They are not totally comprehensive - they give no mention to the boat route to Louang Namtha from Huay Xai and short shrift to the boat route to Xieng Khok from Huay Xai - which is disappointing as Huay Xai is one of the major entry points to Laos. The map at the end is not particularly detailed and is missing some small but interesting towns. The strengths of this book far outweigh these minor flaws and I look forward to the next edition.